Daily World Briefing, June 7
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah on Friday ordered an investigation into clashes that broke out Thursday in the northwestern coastal city of Sabratha.
The Information Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement that Dbeibah had instructed the commander of the Western Military Zone "to start an immediate and thorough investigation" into the clashes.
"The instructions are part of orders made yesterday to assign the Western Military Zone commander to urgently interfere on ground and stop the fighting," the statement added.
According to local media, clashes broke out on Thursday between rival armed groups in Sabratha, some 70 km west of the capital Tripoli, and lasted until Friday morning. No casualties have been reported so far.
NATO defense ministers struggle to bridge divides over military spending goals
NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday "broadly" agreed to pursue a significant increase in member states' military spending to 5 percent of GDP. However, sharp disagreements over the timeline and spending categories revealed deep divisions ahead of the alliance's upcoming summit in The Hague, scheduled for June 24-25.
"There's broad support. We are really close," Mark Rutte, NATO's secretary general, told reporters after the meeting. He stressed that he has "total confidence that we will get there" by the next NATO summit in three weeks.
Rutte proposed a compromise plan: setting a target of 3.5 percent of GDP for core military spending, and an additional 1.5 percent for broader security-related areas such as infrastructure, by 2032.
Wildfire smoke causes poor air quality in major Canadian cities
Smoke from wildfires burning in northern Ontario and the Prairies of Canada caused poor air quality and reduced visibility in major cities including Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal on Friday.
Environment Canada issued special air quality statements for these areas on Friday, warning that people most likely to suffer health effects from air pollution should avoid strenuous activities outdoors and seek medical attention if experiencing symptoms.
Environment Canada's David Phillips said on CTV News that as wildfires ramp up across the country, air quality is deteriorating.
"What we've seen this week, of course, in Ontario is a lot of that smoke from fires has come south," Phillips said.
Trump to sell his Tesla car as feud with Musk carries risks for both: report
U.S. President Donald Trump planned to sell the red Tesla car he said he bought in March, reported The New York Times on Friday, noting that Trump originally purchased the car to demonstrate his support for Elon Musk amid a backlash over his role in the administration.
"Administration officials said Mr. Trump showed little interest in engaging with Mr. Musk, even after the billionaire signaled he would be open to de-escalating the fight" they currently have, added the report.
Late Thursday, Musk backed off a threat to "immediately" decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which transports NASA astronauts and supplies to and from the International Space Station. A short time later, when Bill Ackman, the hedge-fund billionaire, posted on social media that the two men "should make peace for the benefit of our great country," Musk responded, "You're not wrong."
"For Musk, a prolonged feud with Trump could be hugely expensive," noted the report. His companies, including SpaceX, have benefited from billions of dollars in government contracts and were positioned to receive billions more. Trump threatened on Thursday to end those contracts.
United Airlines resumes flights to Israel over month after Houthi airport attack
U.S. carrier United Airlines has resumed flights to Israel after a suspension of more than a month.
Flight UA84 departed from Newark Liberty International Airport in New York on Thursday and landed at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Friday.
United Airlines suspended its operations in Israel on May 4 after a missile fired from Yemen by the Houthi group exploded near Ben Gurion Airport. The incident prompted several international airlines to suspend flights to the country, with only a few having since resumed service.
Among those resuming operations is Latvia's national airline, airBaltic, which completed a flight from Riga International Airport to Tel Aviv on Friday.
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