Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Iraq are in talks to finalize a currency swap agreement in a bid to boost trade ties between the two neighboring countries, a trade official was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency on Sunday.

Iraq is a lucrative market for Iranian goods, and Iranian exports to the Arab country have increased by 30 percent over the past seven months, Yahya Ale-Eshaq, chairman of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce said.

In the mentioned period, goods worth about 6 billion U.S. dollars have been exported from Iran to Iraq, Ale-Eshaq said.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban have held three days of talks with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Gulf state of Qatar, where the Afghan insurgent group has a political office, a Taliban official and another individual close to the group said Sunday.

The talks are aimed at renewing the Afghan peace process and eventually winding down America’s longest war. Seventeen years after the U.S.-led invasion that ended Taliban rule, the militants control nearly half of Afghanistan and carry out near-daily attacks on local security forces and government officials.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he was heading into a meeting with his top coalition partner in a “last effort” to prevent the collapse of his government, which has been rocked by the resignation of its defense minister over a cease-fire agreement with Gaza militants.

17 Nov 2018; AFP: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party denied Friday that he had decided to call a snap election, as he battled to keep the government afloat after his defence minister quit over a Gaza ceasefire.

Netanyahu's ruling coalition was left with a single seat majority in parliament after the walkout on Wednesday by Avigdor Lieberman and his hawkish Yisrael Beitenu party.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. envoy for Yemen announced Friday the country’s internationally recognized government and rival Houthi Shiite rebels have agreed to attend talks aimed at ending their three-year war, which has created the globe’s worst humanitarian crisis by pushing the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s top prosecutor said Thursday he’s seeking the death penalty for five suspects charged with ordering and carrying out the killing of dissident Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

The disclosures by the prosecution appear aimed at distancing the killers and their operation from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose decision-making powers have thrust him into the center of a global outcry over the killing.

14 Nov 2018; DW: Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has resigned due to differences with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a Gaza ceasefire. The move may trigger early elections.

Israel's hard-line defense minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation on Wednesday and called for snap elections after a row over a ceasefire with Gaza's rulers Hamas to end a two-day flare up in violence

ATAQ, Yemen (AP) — The United States has waged a drone war in Yemen for 16 years, trying to suppress al-Qaida’s branch here. But the campaign has had a hidden cost: civilians cut down by the drones’ missiles.

There is no comprehensive count of civilian deaths because of the difficulty of confirming identities and allegiances of those killed. But in an examination of drone strikes this year alone, The Associated Press found that at least 30 of the dead likely did not belong to al-Qaida.

ANTALYA, Turkey; 12 Nov 2018; AA: France's foreign minister accusing Turkish president of 'political game' on Khashoggi case is 'rude,' says Cavusoglu.

French criticisms of the Turkish president’s handling of the case of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi crossed the line, said Turkey’s foreign minister on Monday.

"The French foreign minister went too far, and he has to know how to talk to a president," said Mevlut Cavusoglu, accusing Jean-Yves Le Drian of not telling the truth.

12 Nov 2018; AFP: At least 149 people including civilians have been killed in 24 hours of clashes between government loyalists and rebels in Yemen's flashpoint city of Hodeida, medics and military sources said Monday.

A military official in Hodeida confirmed seven civilians had died, without giving further details.

The Red Sea port city, controlled by Yemen's Huthi rebels since 2014, is a vital entry point for aid into the impoverished country.