LIBYA

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is launching legal actions against media in Italy and abroad, including Britain, France and Spain, for libel in their coverage of his private life, his lawyer said on Friday.

Verenex Energy Inc. said on Tuesday its agreement to be bought by China for $460 million remained in effect and talks to resolve its impasse with Libyan authorities continue.

Russian mid-sized oil firm Tatneft (TATN3.MM) said on Tuesday it had successfully drilled a well on an oil block of Libya's Ghadames Basin, some 345 kilometres (214 miles) south of Tripoli.

Scotland's justice secretary Monday defended his decision to free the Lockerbie bomber on humanitarian grounds in the face of severe criticism from the United States government and relatives of U.S. victims.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi hugged the convicted Lockerbie bomber and promised more cooperation with Britain in gratitude for his release, while London and Washington condemned his hero's welcome home.

Britain on Friday condemned celebrations in Tripoli to mark the return of the Lockerbie bomber, and scrambled to deflect international fallout from the decision to free him on humanitarian grounds.

President Barack Obama said Thursday it was a mistake to release the Lockerbie bomber by Scottish authorities on grounds of compassion.

The Libyan man convicted of blowing up a US airliner over Lockerbie in 1988, killing 270 people including 189 Americans, has arrived at home Thursday and he was greeted as a hero after being set free.

The United States strongly condemned Thursday's decision by Scottish authorities to free a terminally ill Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing, saying there was no justification for his release.

A former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people flew home on Thursday after Scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer.

The United States strongly condemned Thursday's decision by Scottish authorities to free a terminally ill Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing, saying there was no justification for his release.

Scotland released on Thursday a former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, most of them Americans, because he is dying of cancer.

A former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, most of them Americans, is to be freed on Thursday, the Scottish government said.

In a move that could speed his release, Scotland's high court agreed that a Libyan jailed for the 1988 bombing of a plane over Lockerbie can drop his appeal against conviction.

Canada's Verenex Energy Inc posted a narrower quarterly loss, and said it continued to seek consent from Libyan authorities for the sale of the company.

UAE telecoms firm Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) could invest at least $500 million if it wins a tender for a telecom licence in Libya as it looks to boost its customer base into North Africa, a top executive said on Tuesday.

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) closed the 15th summit Thursday with a declaration to continue supporting each other as well as to promote disarmament and international security, peacekeeping, human rights and democracy.

G8 leaders pledged $20 billion (12.3 billion pounds) in farm aid to help poor nations feed themselves, surpassing expectations on the final day of a summit that has yielded little progress on climate change and trade.

The Libyan government had invested $500 million of its cash reserves with accused swindler Allen Stanford's firm as of late 2008, a court filing showed on Tuesday.

North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday, South Korea's defense ministry said, in an act of defiance against the United States as Washington cracks down on the secretive state's weapons proliferation.

Two losing contenders in Iran's presidential election denounced the result on Wednesday in clear defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's next cabinet would be illegitimate.