Libya‘s eastern administration on Tuesday officially handed over power to a new executive that is meant to unify the war-torn country and steer it towards elections late this year.

Abdul-Majd Kosher, head of Libya’s Contractors Union affirmed that Libya requires an estimated 450 billion dollars over the course of the next five years to be able to rebuild the country.

NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday that the NATO alliance is prepared to support security work in Libya, in view of the new government assuming its duties, providing it be requested by the Libyans themselves.

The Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Ned Price reported today that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Libyan Government of National Unity prime minister Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba.

The Libyan Media Corporation (LMC) announced that the state-run Libyan News Agency (LANA) that had been split into two entities since 2014 has been reunified.

Brigade 444 said its forces had neutralized criminals’ hideouts in Nessma area – about 200km from Tripoli – arresting 16 smugglers, whom it said were criminals wanted by the authorities but had never been apprehended.

Libya’s newly confirmed Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Debaiba has revealed the details for his government’s proposed budget for the country, pending approval by the parliament.

A decade after the fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and the end of his regime’s stranglehold on information, hopes for a free media remain a mirage.

Speaking to media in Rome yesterday on the occasion of the first anniversary of Operation IRINI, EU High Representative Josep Borrel said ‘‘Through Operation Irini we have been contributing substantially to create a stable environment that will allow for reconciliation and to go forward’’.

The alliance bombing campaign had a devastating toll—but, a decade after the war, leaders have still not taken responsibility.