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Al-Sarraj was planned to arrive in Khartoum for a two-day visit for talks on bilateral relations

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Prime Minister of Libyas unity government Fayez al-Sarraj

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM

Prime Minister of Libyas unity government Fayez al-Sarraj cancelled a scheduled visit to Sudan on Wednesday due to the security unrest in the capital Tripoli, according to the Sudanese foreign ministry.

Al-Sarraj was planned to arrive in Khartoum for a two-day visit for talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on bilateral relations.

The Libyan leader, however, has postponed his visit due to insecurity in Tripoli, which has made his movement very difficult, the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, the Libyan foreign minister has conveyed al-Sarrajs apology to the Sudanese president over cancelling the visit.

Violence flared in Tripoli in recent days amid clashes between forces loyal to the unity government and a rival militia.

Last month, al-Sarraj survived an assassination attempt when his convoy came under fire in Tripoli.

Libya has been wracked by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody uprising ended with the ouster and death of Muammar Gaddafi after 42 years in power.

In the wake of the uprising, the countrys stark political divisions yielded two rival seats of government, one in Tobruk and the other in Tripoli.

In an effort to resolve the political standoff, Libyas rival governments signed a UN-backed agreement in late 2015 establishing a government of national unity.

Continued here:
Libya PM cancels Sudan visit over Tripoli violence - Anadolu Agency

Letter dated 7 March 2017 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council

I have the honour to convey herewith a report of the Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on the status of the implementation of the plan for the destruction of Libyas remaining category 2 chemical weapons outside the territory of Libya (see annex). The report, dated 24 February 2017, covers the period from 23 January to 22 February 2017.

The report was prepared in accordance with the relevant provisions of OPCW Executive Council decision EC-M-52/DEC.1 of 20 July 2016 and Security Council resolution 2298 (2016) of 22 July 2016, for transmission to the Security Council.

I should be grateful if the present letter and its annex were brought to the attention of the members of the Security Council.

(Signed) Antnio Guterres

Annex

I have the honour to transmit to you my report entitled Status of the implementation of the plan for the destruction of Libyas remaining category 2 chemical weapons outside the territory of Libya, prepared in accordance with the relevant provisions of decision EC-M-52/DEC.1 of 20 July 2016 of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Security Council resolution 2298 (2016) of 22 July 2016, for transmission to the Security Council (see enclosure). The report covers the period from 23 January to 22 February 2017 and meets the reporting requirements set out in Executive Council decisions EC-M-52/DEC.2 of 27 July 2016 and EC-M-53/DEC.1 of 26 August 2016.

(Signed) Ahmet zmc

Enclosure

Report of the Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Status of the implementation of the plan for the destruction of Libyas remaining category 2 chemical weapons outside the territory of Libya

1. At its Fifty-Second Meeting, the Executive Council (hereinafter the Council) adopted a decision on the Destruction of Libyas Remaining Chemical Weapons (EC-M-52/DEC.1, dated 20 July 2016) and requested the Director-General to assist Libya in developing a modified plan of destruction of Libyas Category 2 chemical weapons. On 22 July 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2298 (2016), welcoming and endorsing the decision by the Council and requesting the Director-General, through the Secretary-General, to report to the Security Council on a regular basis until the destruction is complete and verified.

2. At the conclusion of its Fifty-Second Meeting, the Council adopted a decision entitled Detailed Requirements for the Destruction of Libyas Remaining Category 2 Chemical Weapons (EC-M-52/DEC.2, dated 27 July 2016). In operative paragraph 17 of that decision, the Council requested the Director-General to report to the Council on a monthly basis on the implementation of the decision. This sixth monthly report covers the period from 23 January to 22 February 2017.

Progress in the elimination of Libyan chemical weapons by the State Party hosting destruction activities

3. Gesellschaft zur Entsorgung von chemischen Kampfstoffen und Rstungsaltlasten mbH (GEKA mbH), the designated destruction facility at Munster, Germany, completed the destruction of the 2-chloroethanol in Incineration Plant 1 (Munster-1) on 17 December 2016.

4. A team from the Technical Secretariat (hereinafter the Secretariat) inspected GEKA mbH from 23 to 27 January and reported that, as at 20 January 2017, 238.655 metric tonnes, or 100% of the tributylamine had been destroyed. This destruction was accomplished using the afterburner of the plasma arc system. No problems were encountered with the destruction process.

5. GEKA mbH informed the Secretariat that, due to delays in obtaining the final approvals for the neutralisation system, destruction had begun using the incinerator at Munster-1. The first tank to be processed contained a mixture of PCl3 and POCl3, as determined during initial sampling. This tank presents fewer hazards due to the combination of chemicals. The contents will be fed slowly into the incinerator to prevent damage to it, and the feed rate will be increased based on the reaction. Samples from the remaining tanks indicate the contents as PCl3. GEKA mbH will continue to pursue the required permits and will change over to neutralisation upon receipt of the approvals.

6. Secretariat personnel will travel to Germany to conduct an inspection at GEKA mbH from 27 to 30 March 2017, and will be accompanied by two observers from the Libyan National Authority. Observations from the inspection of the destruction activities will continue to be included in the monthly updates.

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Status of the implementation of the plan for the destruction of Libya's remaining category 2 chemical weapons ... - ReliefWeb

File: Oil pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that were destroyed with dynamite. The country is expected to produce about 1.43 million barrels per day, down from 1.54 million in December. Photo: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP

LONDON - When Opec reached a deal last year to cut oil output, the decision to exclude Nigeria and Libya from the restrictions was seen as a risk to the group's efforts to curb a global crude glut.

An oil price rally has already stumbled since the deal, but Nigeria and Libya are not to blame. Output from both nations has slipped since December and violence in the two African states makes their ambitions to hike production look optimistic.

"The success of these cuts, debatable as they may be, will not hinge on Nigeria and Libya," said ING analyst Hamza Khan.

Opec members and non-Opec producers agreed to cut output by 1.8 million bpd for six months from 1 January. Opec has broadly cut the amount pledged, while others have not delivered in full.

After rallying above $58 a barrel in January, Brent has now slipped to around $51, under pressure from bulging US inventories and rising US shale production.

Since the Opec deal, Libyan production has dipped to 615,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 630,000 bpd in December, as militias battle to control export sites in the east of the country. Libya was producing 1.6 million bpd in 2011.

READ:Libyan faction takes fight to eastern commander, exposes oil port defences

In Nigeria, militant attacks in the oil-producing Niger Delta have hobbled output, forcing the closure of the Trans Forcados Pipeline for all but a few weeks since February. Maintenance on the Shell-operated Bonga field has also weighed.

Nigerian output in March is now expected to be about 1.43 million bpd, down from 1.54 million bpd in December, after February's brief rise to 1.65 million bpd. Nigeria is chasing a target of 2.2 million bpd, last achieved in 2012, according to Reuters calculations.

Morgan Stanley forecasts Libyan production could rise to 900,000 bpd in the second half of 2017, while Nigeria could produce 1.6 million bpd in the same time frame. But the U.S. bank says unrest could undermine both those targets.

"It is possible that unplanned disruptions increase further," Morgan Stanley said in a March 10 research note.

Unpredictable

Libya's prospects look particularly unpredictable. Since Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011, the North African nation has fractured as militias battle for power.

"With three rival governments, extremely weak state institutions, and an abundance of armed actors, Libya is anything but a stable and reliable producer," Royal Bank of Canada analysts wrote in a note.

In Nigeria, industry sources have told Reuters that repairs are nearing completion on the Trans Forcados Pipeline, which could swiftly add 250,000 bpd to output.

But attacks have repeatedly put the pipeline out of action and could do so again if peace talks with militants seeking a bigger share of oil revenues fail.

Even if Nigeria and Libya deliver on production goals -adding a combined 550,000 bpd, based on the most optimistic forecasts - it will still pale compared to the challenge OPEC faces from U.S. shale oil producers, who are adding capacity.

Buoyed by the price revival since Opecagreed cuts, US shale firms are expected to add 79,000 bpd of extra production in March alone, reaching total output of 4.87 million bpd.

Meanwhile, rising US inventories are overshadowing Opec's efforts, with the US Energy Information Administration reporting a rise in the week to March 3 of 8.2 million barrels to a record 528.4 million barrels.

"Storage numbers out of the United States, that's what would be keeping the bulls up at night," said ING analyst Khan.

Reuters

10 March 2017

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery, slid $1 to $49.28 a barrel, its first close under $50 since December 7.

15 February 2017

US gasoline stocks also hit a record, rising 2.8 million barrels to 259.1 million barrels.

13 February 2017

OPEC and non-OPEC producers including Russia agreed late last year to reduce output by about 1.8 million barrels per day in a landmark deal that followed a sharp drop in oil prices

The rest is here:
Libya and Nigeria still on slow oil-recovery path - eNCA

Niki Ashton speaks as she participates in the first debate of the federal NDP leadership race with Guy Caron, Charlie Angus and Peter Julian, in Ottawa on Sunday, March 12, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton has removed a meme from her social media accounts after being criticized for appropriating Black culture.

Ashton had posted a meme on Facebook and Twitter referencing the lyrics to the left from the Beyonc song Irreplaceable.

A Black Lives Matter Vancouver Twitter account accused her of appropriating black culture to promote her campaign by using the line from the song.

Ashton replied that she removed the post, saying her campaign hadnt intend to appropriate or offend.

Ashton, who is campaigning to move the NDP further leftward, has gone out of her way to pitch her leadership bid as appealing to minority groups.

At her campaign launch in Ottawa, she had praised Black Lives Matter for challenging racism in Canada, saying that the movement has made it very clear how real racism is in our own country.

While she put out that social media fire, she was then promptly criticized online for acquiescing in a knee-jerk fashion.

Ashton is a fan of Beyonc she said at the first NDP leadership debate on the weekend that Beyonce is one of her favourite musicians, and tweeted in February that she should get album of the year (which ultimately went to Adele over Beyonc at the Grammys).

Heres the song she referenced:

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Ashton removes Beyonc meme after backlash from Black Lives Matter - iPolitics.ca (subscription)

A candid conversation with Nathaniel Khaliq Nathaniel Khaliq addressing the crowd at press conference regarding Philando Cristle shooting July 7.

Sometimes the term living legend simply fits. Point in case, Nathaniel A. Khaliqs life, career and legacy. The St. Paul native son has fought on the frontlines for civil rights longer than many of us have been alive with a sense of unstinting commitment to community.

He served as president of the Board of Directors of the St. Paul NAACP and the Islamic Center Masjid An Nur. He is a trusted liaison between the grass roots and mainstream and has served on on search committees for the police chief and fire chief of St. Paul. Hes accepted numerous appointments from the mayor of the City of St. Paul and the governor of the State of Minnesota.

Importantly, Khaliq was involved in initiatives to improve opportunities for housing, economic development and criminal justice for African Americans. These accomplishments have been recognized with the inaugural Elizabeth Clark Neighborhood Activist Award, William Mitchell Law School Community Service Award, Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers Profiles in Courage Award, the Minnesota Minority Lawyers Profiles in Courage Award, and St. Paul Urban League Family of the Year Award.

He co-founded BNV Properties with his wife Victoria Davis to provide affordable housing, an increasingly invaluable resource. Marine Corps veteran, graduate of St. Paul College and Dunwoody Institute, he is retired from the St. Paul Fire Department. Ms. Davis reflects on being shoulder to shoulder with her husband through the years of fight for whats right.

It has been an amazing journey, she says. The best part was watching God reward his spirit of love for family and community with a bold commitment to serve.

Easygoing, unassuming, over coffee in his kitchen, Nathaniel Khaliq (NK) relates historic events in an iconic era of social progress with candid, thoughtful recollection.

MSR: How did it all begin?

NK: I got involved in community politics and being a community activist when Dale and Selby was a real hotspot so far as Black-on-Black crime. At a certain establishment brothers were being killed up there, being beat up, shot, stabbed.

My nephew was 15 or 16. A guy threatened one of his friends. They went up there, confronted the guy, and the guy shot him dead on the street. After that, a friend of mine, Leroy Parker, was boxing with a guy. The other brother pulled out a knife and cut him open on the same corner. I was complaining about how this [was] allowed to continue with nobody challenging it.

Politicians, so-called community leaders, said, Why dont you stop complaining about it and do something? So, I called the president of the city council at the time, Ron Maddox. He gave me the runaround. I talked to some of the Black ministers and they said, If we close that down, theyll just go somewhere else and kill each other.

So, I went and got a petition to close the establishment. And got with Kwame McDonald, Bobby Hickman, Katie McWatt and a couple other folks to go down to City Hall with our petition. We told them if this was happening in any other neighborhood they would shut it down, wouldnt allow it to happen. Thats how I got involved.

MSR: How rewarding has it been to work toward social justice and do it with Victoria right beside you?

NK: Very rewarding, because not only is she my wife and the mother of my children, Vicky is my closest confidant. [She will] always look me in the eye and tell me if I was right or wrong. Always had suggestions on how to move things along. Shes been involved in the educational issues affecting our community while my road took me to deal with other issues such as quality of life, trying to change the negative behavior of brothers, how that impact was affecting us.

I was a knucklehead myself as a young man. Born and raised on Rondo, got involved in a lot of stupid things. I knew it was wrong. Had folks to offer me advice, but got caught up. Even when I came out of the service, hanging out on Selby at a place called the Celebrity Lounge. Meeting my wife helped to raise my consciousness to the point where the same energy I used to do negative things, I turned around and started doing positive.

MSR: You and she ever had different ideas on how to get the job done?

NK: Oh, yeah. But it never got out of hand or ugly. We were able to carry on our lives, raise our kids, enjoy each other and so forth. The biggest challenge was to separate community politics from our personal life.

The passion she dealt with and, you know, shes a real smart, smart sister graduated from Spellman. We had different backgrounds. One of the things that always amazed me about her, she was able to control her emotions and stay on an even keel, keep her eyes on the prize.

A lot of times my emotions would get the best of me. And she would assist me in putting that in check so I didnt resort to that street mentality in dealing with folks, say things that were inappropriate.

MSR: Providing housing to low- and moderate-income people, you agree thats a form of activism itself?

NK: Yes. We owned an apartment complex, renamed it from Jamestown to Malcolm Shabazz. We were able to hire Black subcontractors, tradesmen. That was reminiscent in my mind of the old Rondo area I was raised in, which was a self-contained community where a dollar was spent and stayed in the community, kept turning over.

The other thing we were able to do, brothers and sisters coming out of institutions may not have qualified to get in other complexes because of their records. We did that, bringing in folks that were having trouble finding housing. We used our faith in them that they were able to do the right thing. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didnt. But the main thing, we were able to have the resources to give someone a second chance.

MSR: Dick Gregory once said that unlike slave parents, hed never had to pray for a deformed baby that couldnt be sold, and that was all the progress hed give this country. What real progress have you seen?

NK: These are the best of times and the worst of times. Im 73, and 25 years ago I was thinking by the time I reached my twilight many of the issues we deal with today we wouldnt have to deal with. Weve seen a Black mayor, Black police chief. At one time, if you looked in Ebony or Jet Magazine, the Twin Cities was rated one of the top 10 places for Blacks to relocate to for the job opportunities, the housing, environment.

As you know, today were at the bottom of the list, one of the worst metropolitan areas in the country for education, job disparity, the gap so far as wealth. I see progress on one hand, but then I see weve lost so much on the other hand if we wouldve just continued to build.

Im encouraged and hopeful about these young folks. Black Lives Matter, Ive supported them. One thing Ive always been concerned about, and Ive told them, You gotta more be than a moment, you gotta be a movement. Theyre fighting for equality on a regular basis and have been able to inspire others. Im hoping and praying they can take it to the next level.

Many of the issues confronting us are more than police brutality, more than the criminal justice system. Its the educational system, a whole list of things.

Id hope the lesson they learn and we hadnt learned is that you cant depend on these other folks to get in there and do things for us. We have to get in there ourselves.

Dwight Hobbes welcomes reader responses to P.O. Box 50357, Mpls., 55403.

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Activist living legend finds hope in Black Lives Matter - MSR News Online