U.S. drones strike ISIS in Libya; 8 dead
The United States military carried out an airstrike against Islamic State fighters in southern Libya on Thursday in a reminder of the terrorist group’s continuing operations and resilience far from its main guerrilla strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
The Pentagon’s Africa Command said in a statement Friday that the strike — which other officials said was carried out by an Air Force Reaper drone based in neighboring Niger — killed eight militants in a compound in Murzuq, Libya, nearly 600 miles south of Tripoli, the capital.
It was the first U.S. airstrike this year in Libya against Islamic State or alQaida fighters, after the military conducted six aerial attacks last year, most recently in November 2018.
Counterterrorism analysts inside and outside the government have pointed to recent signs of the Islamic State gathering new strength in Iraq and Syria, after Americanbacked campaigns recaptured territory that made up the group’s religious state, or caliphate. The group’s far-flung affiliates — in places like West Africa, Libya and the Philippines — have also demonstrated resilient insurgent operations.
“The strike serves to remind us that while ISIS and al-Qaida are not at the forefront of the fighting in Libya these days, these groups still remain a threat to Libya, neighboring countries and the international community,” said Bill Roggio, the editor of The Long War Journal, a website run by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies that tracks military strikes against militant groups.
Zimbabwe fears famine
The worst drought in almost four decades, cycloneinduced floods and an economic collapse have left Zimbabwe on the verge of its worst-ever famine.
The southern African nation will probably run out of corn, its staple food, by January, and about three out of five Zimbabweans won’t have enough to eat, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.
While Zimbabwe has experienced intermittent food shortages for the last two decades, the problem has mostly been limited to rural areas. This time, 3 million of the 8.5 million people at risk of food insecurity are in cities, said Eddie Rowe, the WFP’s country director in Zimbabwe.
The government has already declared a state of disaster because of the drought, which has decimated harvests. One of the strongest-ever cyclones in the southern hemisphere also destroyed crops in March and a deepening economic crisis has limited the government’s ability to address the looming shortfalls.
Since a parity peg to the U.S. dollar was dropped in February, the local currency has slumped to 13.85 to the dollar, making it the world’s worst performer.
Art sales hurt by strife
Winter is coming for the art market.
Uncertainty caused by Britain’s prolonged attempt to leave the European Union, mass protests in Hong Kong and the U.S.China trade war are weighing on collectors as top auction houses gear up for their major year-end auctions.
Their challenges are further complicated by the absence of works from big estates, such as the Rockefeller collection that brought in $835.1 million for Christie’s last year.
“I am not consigning a single thing to London sales at either Sotheby’s, Christie’s or Phillips,” New York art consultant Gabriela Palmieri said. “My clients are nervous about Brexit.”