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Distance Learning Launched in Libyan Capital

Distance Learning Launched in Libyan Capital
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Distance Learning Launched in Libyan Capital

Distance Learning Launched in Libyan Capital

Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) launched on Tuesday a virtual platform for distance learning, maintaining anti-coronavirus measures in place.

This came at a time the UN voiced its concern towards the negative effects the war in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, could have on measures to stem the spread of the virus.

GNA’s Education Ministry said that the platform launched is part of its efforts to ensure the continuation of the education process amid the shutdown of schools.

In mid-March, the ministry decided to close all schools and use television channels and electronic platforms to broadcast lessons. Since that date, it has spoken of resorting to new distance learning programs in cooperation with UNICEF, but that was not activated until Tuesday.

Education Ministry Deputy Adil Jomaa, last week, said that the joint committee of the National Center for Disease Control and the Ministry of Education discussed recent recommendations for the gradual reopening of schools.

Jomaa pointed out that the recommendations were submitted to the Supreme Committee for Confronting the Coronavirus.

The National Center for Disease Control announced that its labs received 100 new samples to test for COVID-19. All samples, according to the Center, tested negative.

The Center clarified that coronavirus data indicated that there are 64 positive cases nationwide, 28 of which have recovered. There have been three deaths so far.

In other news, Libyan Customs revealed that 300 Tunisians stranded in Libya due to coronavirus measures have returned safely after passing through Ra's Ajdir border crossing.

Libya is expanding quarantine facilities across the country, and the Sabha municipality in southern Libya said Tuesday that it has opened a 60-bed center to treat people infected with the virus.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Libya remains "extremely vulnerable to coronavirus due to intensified fighting and insecurity, despite prevention and preparedness by authorities with UN support to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Arab World

Lebanese Soldiers, Including Officer, Killed in ‘Barbaric’ Israeli Strike

Lebanese army soldiers stand in front of a house that was destroyed in the recent clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops in Dibbine village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, June 5, 2026, a day after Israeli forces withdrew. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese army soldiers stand in front of a house that was destroyed in the recent clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops in Dibbine village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, June 5, 2026, a day after Israeli forces withdrew. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Lebanese Soldiers, Including Officer, Killed in ‘Barbaric’ Israeli Strike

Lebanese army soldiers stand in front of a house that was destroyed in the recent clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops in Dibbine village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, June 5, 2026, a day after Israeli forces withdrew. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese army soldiers stand in front of a house that was destroyed in the recent clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops in Dibbine village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, June 5, 2026, a day after Israeli forces withdrew. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Several soldiers have been killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in south Lebanon, the Lebanese military said Saturday, days after the two countries announced a conditional truce following talks in the United States.

"A number of military personnel, including an officer, were martyred in a barbaric Israeli raid targeting a military vehicle on the Khardali-Nabatieh road," the Lebanese army said in a statement posted to X.

A ceasefire that was supposed to end the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on April 17, but has not been respected.

Hezbollah and Israel have frequently exchanged accusations of violating the truce, with each side justifying its attacks with alleged violations committed by the other side.

A further conditional truce was announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys this week in Washington.

It would require Hezbollah to stop firing, withdraw from near the Israeli border and would see Lebanon's army deploy to new "pilot zones" in the area, where it will exercise exclusive control.

But Hezbollah has rejected the agreement, calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

On Saturday, Israel renewed evacuation orders for five villages in Lebanon's south and east, telling residents to move north of the Zahrani River.

"In light of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is forced to act against it with force," the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on Telegram.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in an interview with CNN that aired on Friday that Iran must stop interfering in Lebanon.

"It's not your country, it's our country," he said. "It's not your job to interfere into our country."

"They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States. It's unacceptable," he added.

"Hezbollah must understand that (there is) no other way but to sit and talk, no other way to solve this problem and to save what's left except through negotiation and diplomacy," Aoun added.

"The majority of the Lebanese people are fed up with war."

Arab World

Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Infant in West Bank

Fahd Abu Heikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Fahd Abu Heikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
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Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Infant in West Bank

Fahd Abu Heikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Fahd Abu Heikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israeli troops killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy after firing at his parents’ vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed Friday evening, and his parents were wounded while driving in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron City, according to the ministry.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the infant was critically wounded after being struck in the jaw by the same bullet that injured his mother. He later died of his injuries.

His father, Fahd Abdul Aziz Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, was shot in the hand. They were traveling from Bethlehem to visit family in Hebron when soldiers opened fire, the agency reported.

A man inspects the shattered family vehicle of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Heikal, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israel’s military has scaled up military operations in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

The United Nations said last month that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the war began, at least 240 of them children. Forty-nine people have been killed since the start of this year, it said.

The army said an initial inquiry found that the injured were uninvolved civilians and said the situation is under review.

Israel's military said Friday that soldiers shot at a vehicle that was perceived to be accelerating toward them in the Hebron area. It said soldiers responded with single shots, wounding three Palestinians who were evacuated for medical treatment.

Arab World

Yemeni Gov’t Accuses Houthis of Assassinating Senior Development Official

Yemeni Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan (Government media)
Yemeni Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan (Government media)
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Yemeni Gov’t Accuses Houthis of Assassinating Senior Development Official

Yemeni Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan (Government media)
Yemeni Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan (Government media)

The Yemeni government has accused the Houthi group of assassinating one of the country’s most prominent development officials, in a case that has drawn wide attention because of the victim’s stature and his role in leading an important development program.

The accusation was made during talks between Yemeni Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan and European Union Ambassador to Yemen Patrick Simonnet.

Haidan briefed the ambassador on the latest findings in the investigation into the killing of Wesam Qaid, Acting Executive Director of the Social Fund for Development (SFD), and on the measures taken by security agencies since the incident, according to official media.

The program has worked for decades to support local communities and ease the impact of humanitarian crises.

Haidan said the investigation had led to the arrest of several suspects. He also pointed to evidence that authorities said proved Houthi involvement in planning and carrying out the killing.

The case adds a new dimension to accusations exchanged between the government and the group over the targeting of civilian cadres and workers in humanitarian and development fields.

According to Yemen’s Interior Ministry, the investigation produced what it described as decisive results, prompting authorities to hold the Houthis responsible for the assassination.

Qaid had led an institution that played a central role in carrying out development and service projects across Yemen’s governorates.

Haidan told the EU ambassador that security agencies were continuing to complete the investigation, collect evidence, and pursue those involved. He said the crime could not be separated from the complex security climate Yemen has faced for years.

He also linked the case to the Houthis’ continued detention of a number of United Nations employees and staff from international organizations, saying such practices reflected an escalating pattern of restrictions on humanitarian and development work.

Government circles see the killing as a painful blow to development efforts in Yemen.

The SFD is considered one of the country’s most important institutions, having maintained its work during the years of war and helped provide jobs and improve basic services in the most vulnerable areas.

The assassination case was discussed as part of broader talks on security cooperation between Yemen and the EU. Haidan praised the EU’s support for the Yemeni government and its programs to build the capacity of security agencies.

He said his ministry hoped to expand its partnership with the European Union, particularly in combating illegal migration and cross-border security challenges. He stressed the importance of joint coordination to protect mutual interests and promote stability.

Simonnet, for his part, reiterated EU’s support for Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and government. He also confirmed continued cooperation with the Interior Ministry in various security fields to help consolidate security and stability, according to official media.

The support comes as the government seeks to mobilize more international backing to confront worsening security, economic, and humanitarian challenges, amid the continuing conflict and declining international funding for relief and development programs.