Middle East & North Africa

SANAA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Houthi rebels in Yemen on Saturday pledged to attend the upcoming peace talks in Sweden, a Houthi chief said.

The commitment was made by Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Houthi revolutionary committee, during his meeting with visiting UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths in Sanna.

"Griffiths received affirm confirmation from the revolution to support peace efforts and attend peace talks," al-Houthi said in a statement.

"Griffiths told me that he bears good impression from his yesterday's visit to Hodeidah," he added.

24 Nov 2018; AFP: Israeli lawyers have filed a class action against Airbnb after its decision to remove Jewish settler homes in the occupied West Bank from its rental listings.

A spokesman for the attorneys, who spoke to AFP Friday on condition of anonymity, said the lead plaintiff was Maanit Rabinovich of Kida settlement in the West Bank.

Rabinovich says Airbnb never contacted her to warn her of its intention.

24 Nov 2018; AFP: Bahrainis headed to the polls Saturday amid calls to boycott the parliamentary election in which dissolved opposition groups have been banned from taking part.

The country's two main opposition groups, the Shiite Al-Wefaq and secular Waad, were barred from fielding candidates, prompting renewed calls for a boycott.

The polls opened at 8am local time (0500 GMT) and are set to close at 8pm.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A prominent Saudi royal said Saturday that whether or not heads of state gathered in Argentina next week for the Group of 20 summit warmly engage with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he is someone “that they have to deal with.”

Prince Turki al-Faisal told The Associated Press the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul last month is “an unacceptable incident that tars and mars the long record of Saudi Arabia’s own standing in the world.”

Hodeida; 23 Nov 2018; AFP: UN envoy Martin Griffiths arrived in the battleground Yemeni port city of Hodeida on Friday to encourage the warring sides to exercise restraint ahead of planned peace talks in December.

Griffiths's visit is intended to send a message to the rebels, who control the Red Sea city, and the government forces, who have been attacking it with support from a Saudi-led coalition, to keep a lid on hostilities in the runup to the talks in Sweden, a UN source told AFP.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister has criticized President Donald Trump, saying the U.S. leader appears to want to turn a blind eye to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

Mevlut Cavusoglu also described many European nations’ response to Khashoggi’s killing as “artificial” and “cosmetic.” Cavusoglu was referring to bans imposed by some countries on the Saudi citizens detained in Saudi Arabia over the killing, from entering European nations.

Cavusoglu spoke to Turkey’s CNN-Turk television on Friday.

LONDON (AP) — The ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in London said Friday his government is studying whether to grant clemency to a convicted British academic sentenced to life in prison for espionage.

Ambassador Sulaiman Hamid Almazroui said that academic Matthew Hedges’ family has requested clemency and the government is considering it.

He said the espionage case against the 31-year-old Hedges “was an extremely serious case” and that he had been convicted based on “compelling evidence” after a full and fair judicial process.

ANKARA, November 22. /TASS/. Turkey is looking forward to getting the first batch of Russia’s air defense systems S-400, but at the same time stays ready to consider a good proposal for acquiring US systems Patriot, should it be made, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told a conference entitled Russian-Turkish Relations: Shaping an Image of the Future on Thursday.

GAZA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday published eight pictures of an Israeli army undercover unit infiltrating into the Gaza Strip on Nov. 11.

The pictures, published by Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades on leaflets sent to the press, included two women, six men, a vehicle and a truck used by the Israeli soldiers.

Hamas, which controls Gaza Strip, said that after investigation, "we managed to unveil in details the mission and who carried it out and who was behind it."

RAMALLAH, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Thursday slammed the decision of Israel's High Court of Justice to displace 700 Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

The ministry said in a statement that the verdict was based on "false and contradictory pretexts," while criticizing the court for adopting "legally faulty" documents.