The spending represents 13 per cent of global GDP and is roughly the combined value of the economies of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Spain and Brazil.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar, known as the "one-eyed sheikh" has been killed in a US air strike, according to Libyan authorities.

Fishermen and coast guards who raced to the scene of the migrant disaster in the Mediterranean have described their dismay at what they found, as the Italian prosecutor leading the investigation confirmed that most of those on board were forcibly locked i

A shocking new video appearing to show at least 30 Christians being beheaded and shot by Isis in Libya has been released.

Once the stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi, the coastal town of Sirte has now been transformed into a symbol of the insidious rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Libya.

NZ doesn't have a 'realistic option of doing nothing' in the fight against Isis, PM John Key says ahead of Cabinet's decision on whether to send troops to Iraq.

"Urgent. Soldiers of the Islamic State captured 21 Christian crusaders," was a barely noticed statement issued on social media last month by Isis - not in Syria, Iraq, but in Libya.

A New Zealand woman and her British boyfriend who were shot dead on a beach in Libya in January were in the "wrong place at the wrong time", a British coroner says.

The fiancee of actor George Clooney could soon find herself in the public eye for reasons other than being engaged to one of the world's most famous film stars.

The trial of the sons of Col Muammar Gaddafi has begun in farcical circumstances, with both central figures and several other defendants missing.

Libyan police may never be able to arrest whoever is responsible for the execution-style murders of New Zealander Lynn Howie and her British boyfriend Mark De Salis, a close associate of the Briton says.

They lied, they're still lying, and they'll go on lying until Libya calms down enough to allow a thorough search of its archives, writes Gwynne Dyer.

The family of a New Zealand woman shot on a Libyan beach say they have been "devastated by the loss of a loved mother, sister and friend".

Four people have reportedly been arrested in connection with the execution-style killings of New Zealander Lynn Howie and Briton Mark De Salis in Libya on Thursday.

The apparent execution-style killing of a NZ woman in Libya has sparked concerns for five others still in the country.

The motive for the killings of a British man and his female New Zealander companion on a beach in Libya could be criminal as well as political, investigators have said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was last night working with Libyan authorities to establish the identity of the NZ woman shot dead in Libya.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking into reports that a New Zealand woman has been shot dead, along with a British man, in western Libya.

The Libyan capital was braced for fresh violence after a day in which at least 37 were killed and more than 400 wounded in a confrontation outside a militia headquarters.

Libyan militiamen have attacked peaceful protesters demanding the disbanding of the country's rampant armed groups, killing at least 22 people as they opened fire on the march with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.