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MOSCOW Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar was due to arrive in Moscow on Saturday ahead of a meeting with Russia's foreign minister, RIA news agency reported, citing a Russian negotiator.

UNITED NATIONS United Nations children agency UNICEF warned on Wednesday that more than half a million children in Libya need help and called on warring parties to end the violence and negotiate a political solution to the crisis.

DUBAI/SINGAPORE Saudi Arabia will cut crude oil allocations to its customers worldwide in September by at least 520,000 barrels per day, an industry source said on Tuesday, as the top oil exporter makes good on its pledge to help rein in a global supply glut.

BENGHAZI, Libya/TUNIS Residents of Derna in east Libya say they are facing critical shortages after Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) tightened its longstanding siege around the city last week.

BENGHAZI, Libya A blast hit worshippers leaving a mosque in the east Libyan city of Benghazi on Friday, apparently targeting a key tribal ally of eastern based commander Khalifa Haftar for a second time, security and medical officials said.

(In this August 2nd story, corrects para 3 to show boat has not been moved from Lampedusa)

ROME Italy began a limited naval mission on Wednesday to help Libya's coastguard curb migrant flows, which have become a source of political friction before national elections expected early next year.

BENGHAZI, Libya A fighter jet from eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army was shot down in Dahr Al-Hamer district in Derna and its two crew detained, an air force spokesman said on Saturday.

BRUSSELS The European Union gave 46 million euros ($54 million) to Italy on Friday to help it protect Libya's northern and southern borders, part of the bloc's efforts to stem arrival of African migrants across the Mediterranean.

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Libya | Reuters

Doctors Without Borders said Saturday that it is temporarily suspending the activity of its rescue ship due to alleged threats from Libya's coast guard, which has become more aggressive in patrolling the coasts where human traffickers launch boats crowded with migrants desperate to reach Europe.

The humanitarian group said the rescue coordination center operated by Italy's coast guard had informed it Friday that the Libyan threats pose a security risk. The group added that Libyan authorities declared their own rescue area, extending into international waters, the same day.

Doctors Without Borders says its medical crew will keep working from a ship operated by another aid group while its vessel, Prudence, is not involved in migrant rescues.

The Italian government agreed last month to dispatch a naval mission to assist the Libyan coast guard with anti-smuggler patrols. Hundreds of thousands of rescued asylum-seekers, many of them fleeing poverty in Africa, have been brought to safety in Italian ports in recent years.

The government also has pressured rescue groups to sign on to rules that would forbid them from entering Libyan waters to save migrants without specific authorization and require them to agree that armed Italian judicial authorities may board their ships.

Italy is requiring groups operating rescue ships to subscribe to the rules or risk not being allowed to dock in Italian ports. Doctors Without Borders has refused to endorse the rules, while some other humanitarian groups have given their approval.

Critics of the new policies say they could put lives at risk by delaying rescues in Libyan waters. They also contend that if the Libyan coast guard blocks smugglers' boats, migrants will be returned to inhumane conditions, including beatings and forced labor, in Libyan detention centers.

"If humanitarian ships are pushed out of the Mediterranean, there will be fewer ships ready to aid persons before they drown," Doctors Without Borders Italy President Loris De Filippi said in a statement. "And whoever doesn't drown will be intercepted and brought back to Libya, which we know to be a place of absent legality, arbitrary detention and extreme violence."

A Spanish humanitarian group, Proactiva Open Arms, said the Libyan coast guard ordered its rescue ship to move north and fired warning shots last week when the vessel was involved in search-and-rescue work outside of Libyan territory.

Humanitarian groups have had ships monitoring the Mediterranean Sea outside of Libya's territorial waters to help rescue migrants from smugglers' boats in distress. The Italian coast guard coordinates the rescues, including those conducted by naval vessels from other European countries.

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Doctor Without Borders suspends rescue ship off Libya over security concerns - Los Angeles Times

The deputy Minister of Education, Adel Jumaa, stated that the date for the announcement of results of the first round of exams for primary education pupils will be next Monday at 1:00 pm. Juma added in a statement published on the official website of the ministry on Friday that students can obtain results online by following the linkas soon as it is activated and placed on the Ministry's official website The Libyan Ministry of Education or on Facebook. The person can obtain their results by entering their registration number in the box allocated, then follow instructions on screen.

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Oil field workers at the Sharara base have warned that the level of oil production at the field is declining gradually due to a lack of security and repeated armed robberies on workers during the past week. Workers said in a statement on Friday, that production at the field was at a steady 290 thousand barrels per day but that number is steadily declining and the oil field workers have called on officials from the company's management and the National Oil Corporation to intervene quickly to extend security in and around the Sharara field so that work can continue at full capacity.

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The head of the Administrative Control Authority have requested from the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the UN proposed government, to implement procedures concerning the importation of livestock to ensure that the goods reach the citizens of Libya at the right price. The request by the control authority comes in light of high prices of livestock and meat especially during the period of Eid al-Adha.

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The Illegal Immigration Agency deported 127 illegal immigrants from Nigeria on Thursday. The immigrants were deported to their country from Matiga International Airport after the Libyan Navy seized them as they began to migrate to Europe. The head of the Deportation Office confirmed that the deportation is part of a voluntary flights system where the agency periodically operates flights in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration.

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Libyan traveler Busiri Khamis arrived in the city of Qatrun at the end of the first phase of his peace journey which started from the village of Targhi in the very far south after traveling more than seventy km on foot. Busairi will continue his journey to Sabha through Um Alaranib, Taraghan and Ghudwa, covering an amazing 432 kilometres.

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The Educational Facilities Authority announced the start of maintenance projects in more than 1000 schools in all educational districts in Libya. The Director General of the Department, Samir Coco, explained that they are in communication with a number of local companies to start maintenance work in accordance with established regulations, stressing that these projects will be completed before the start of the new school year. Coco also pointed out that priority will be given to the most dilapidated schools within municipalities under their scope.

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Social networking sites reported that citizens found three illegal immigrants on the side of the road near Nesma, 150 kilometers south-west of Tripoli. One of them was in critical condition and was taken by ambulance to Bani Walid Hospital. The hospital refused to admit him so the person was transferred by ambulance to Gharyan hospital which also refused to admit him. The person was returned to Nesma and died from his wounds, while the other two suffered fractures and minor wounds. The injured men apparently fell from one of the many smugglers trucks.

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The Committee formed by the Municipal Council of Sirte and charged with searching for bodies inside the city as a result of the war against ISIS; have extracted more than 25 unidentified bodies in different areas in Sirte. The committee chairman, Khalifa Ghaith, said that they have handed over the bodies to the crime team in Misrata and added that the committee are continuing their work through cooperation with the Libyan Red Crescent in the city by extracting any remaining bodies.

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Libya's national football team has been ranked 83rd in the world rankings, which is an improvement of four places when compared with the last results. FIFA posted on their official website, showing the Libyan team ahead of its previous ranking of 87th.

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News Roundup - Sat, Aug 12, 2017 - The Libya Observer

The UNICEF Regional Director, Geert Cappelaere, said that 550,000 children need assistance due the political instability, on-going conflict, displacement, and economic collapse after years of the Libyan crisis.

Cappelaere said in a statement after visiting Libya for the first time in the past couple of days that violence in the country forced families to leave their houses, warning that more than 80,000 children are internally displaced.

"Migrant children in Libya are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, including in detention centers." Cappelaere's statement reads.

He also indicated that since 2011, UNICEF has been expanding its assistance to respond to childrens needs on the ground as more than 1.3 million children were vaccinated against polio last year.

"UNICEF and partners, including national institutions, were able to maintain nearly universal immunization coverage even when violence was at its peak." The statement adds.

UNICEF partnered with 28 municipalities across Libya under the Together for Children Campaign to support childrens basic rights, the statement that was posted on UNICEF's website explains.

Next October, UNICEF plans to have all its international staff operating full-time from Libya. UNICEF will further scale up its assistance to reach 1.5 million girls and boys and support strengthening of national institutions and civil society." The statement concludes.

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UNICEF: Over half a million Libyan children require humanitarian aids - The Libya Observer

BERLIN Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to cooperate more closely with Libya to stem the influx of migrants from North Africa to Europe via perilous Mediterranean crossings.

The process is in its infancy, but its supposed to develop like [the refugee deal with] Turkey once did, the chancellor told journalists Friday following talks with senior officials from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR).

To achieve this, Merkel said, its crucial to strengthen Libyas government and improve conditions in detention centers across the country.

Dodging a question on whether she supported a proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron to set up hotspots to handle asylum requests from start to finish in Libya, Merkel said efforts to improve the situation should not fail over money, promising the organizations up to50 million this year for new operations on the ground in Libya.

Fridays working lunch, set up at Merkels request, took place as the Italian government attributed a sharp drop in the number of refugees arriving at its southern shores to closer operation with war-torn Libya.

During the first 10 days of August, the number of migrants making the crossing to Italy fell by 76 percent compared to the same period last year; last month, the number of arrivals had already halved compared to 2016. Interior Minister Marco Minniti told POLITICOon Thursday this was a direct result of Italys attempts to boost the Libyan navy and coast guards ability to deal with vessels carrying migrants.

However, talk of a potential turning point in the migration crisis along the Central Mediterranean route, which has become the main entry point for undocumented migrants to Europe, is premature, the IOMs regional director for the EU, Norway and Switzerland cautioned ahead of the meeting with Merkel.

These sort of comparisons need to be done over a longer period of time, Eugenio Ambrosi told POLITICO in an interview at the IOMs Berlin office.Its enough to have two weeks of bad weather more than last year, and you have a drop [in numbers.]

Ambrosi acknowledged that the Italian measures could have had an impact but stressed that other factors such as a significant reduction of the number of people entering Libya from sub-Saharan Africa, as well as well as the slow stabilization of the political situation in parts of Libya, were equally decisive.

Whats more, most migrants picked up by Libyan ships are brought back to detention centers where conditions are not acceptable, he added.So you have taken them out of a nasty situation at sea, but you are putting them in an equally nasty or at times worse situation on land.

Asked about Macrons suggestion of hotspots in Libya, Ambrosi said that although the idea seemed excellent on paper, there currently were some insurmountable problems such as the lack of a legal framework for such centers, and that only a few European countries are willing to take in refugees whose application for asylum is approved.

We [first] need to have many more assurances from EU member states that those that would be recognized as refugees in these offshore processing centers are then actually accepted for resettlement, he said. And the track record, so far, of Europe as a whole, of course with exceptions is not necessarily encouraging.

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Merkel identifies Libya as key to migration crisis - POLITICO.eu