Libya's new leaders meet 1st U.S. envoy
CAIRO -- A top American diplomat arrived Tuesday in Libya's capital, marking the first visit by a senior U.S. official since the U.N.-backed election of an interim government in February.
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joey Hood affirmed the U.S.' full support of Libya's transitional authorities and urged an end to foreign military intervention in the North African country.
Libya's government of national unity is expected to enforce a cease-fire agreement signed in October and lead the country into general elections in December 2021.
"Today's meetings demonstrate the commitment of the U.S. government and our strong diplomatic support for the progress the Libyan people have made towards an inclusive negotiated political solution," Hood said at a joint news conference with Libya's Foreign Minister Najla al-Manqoush.
Along with U.S. Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland, Hood met with Libya's Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and Mohammad Younes Menfi, head of Libya's Presidential Council.
N. Macedonia tells Russia diplomat to go
SKOPJE, North Macedonia -- North Macedonia is expelling a Russian diplomat from the country, but authorities on Tuesday didn't give any explanation for its decision.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had summoned the Russian ambassador to the ministry last Friday to inform him of the decision concerning one of the senior diplomats in his embassy. The diplomat, whose rank and identity hasn't been made public, was given seven days to leave the country, the ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that the decision was "in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," but gave no further explanation for its decision. Article 9 states that any state may declare a diplomat from another state "persona non grata," without having to provide an explanation.
A spokeswoman at the Russian Embassy in Skopje, Ekaterina Akopjan, confirmed that a diplomat had been declared "persona non grata" and said Russian authorities were reviewing reciprocity measures. She wouldn't confirm whether the diplomat had already left North Macedonia.
This is the second time that North Macedonia has expelled a Russian diplomat. In March 2018, the country expelled an unnamed Russian diplomat, citing domestic security reasons and solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain for which the U.K. has accused Russia.
Germans nab 5th suspect in jewel heist
BERLIN -- German investigators have arrested a fifth suspect in connection with the theft of 18th-century jewels from a Dresden museum in 2019.
Prosecutors in Dresden said Tuesday the 22-year-old man, the twin brother of one of the men already in custody, was arrested at an apartment in Berlin on Monday evening, the dpa news agency reported.
Four suspects were arrested in the German capital in November and December over the Nov. 25, 2019, theft of a large diamond brooch, a diamond epaulette and other treasures from Dresden's Green Vault Museum, but the man now arrested had twice managed to avoid capture. The suspects are accused of organized robbery and arson.
Searches at more than a dozen locations so far have not yielded the missing treasures.
The Green Vault is one of the world's oldest museums. It was established in 1723 and contains the treasury of Augustus the Strong of Saxony, comprising around 4,000 objects of gold, precious stones and other materials.
Relatives of the twin brothers now in custody over the Dresden theft were convicted last year for a similarly spectacular heist, the theft of a 220 pound Canadian gold coin dubbed the "Big Maple Leaf" from Berlin's Bode Museum in 2017.
Oil rig crew saves migrants off Tunisia
TUNIS, Tunisia -- More than 50 migrants have drowned or disappeared off the coast of Tunisia, while 33 others were rescued by workers from an oil platform, the Tunisian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
Ministry spokesperson Mohamed Zekri said that the boat carrying migrants capsized Monday off Sfax, on Tunisia's southeast coast. He said that personnel on the oil platform who saw the boat going under alerted authorities, and navy units were sent in to search the water for missing passengers.
Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesperson for the Mediterranean coordination office of the International Organization for Migration, said on Twitter that the 33 survivors were all from Bangladesh. The boat departed from Zawara, Libya, on Sunday, he said.
The nationalities of the people who died were not immediately clear.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports