Turkey seeks arrest of 2 former aides to Saudi crown prince
AP, Istanbul
Turkey is seeking the arrest of two former aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who were dismissed amid the fallout from the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said a court approved arrest warrants for former royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and former deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri, who are believed to have overseen the team that killed and dismembered Khashoggi at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in October.
US renews ‘permanent diplomatic presence’
in Somalia
Reuters, Nairobi
The United States has renewed a “permanent diplomatic presence” in Somalia, the State Department said, nearly 30 years after the U.S. embassy was closed as a civil war raged in the Horn of Africa country. Somalia has been trying to recover from the conflict that engulfed the country in 1991, when clan warlords overthrew a dictator and then turned on each other.
Sweden talks best chance yet to end Yemen war
AFP, Dubai
The first Yemen peace talks since 2016 are the best chance yet to end the war, analysts say, as the international community throws its weight behind resolving the devastating conflict. UN envoy Martin Griffiths flew out of the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday with a delegation of Huthi insurgents, heading to Sweden for negotiations with the Saudi-backed government.
Slovakia expels Russian diplomat
Reuters,Bratislava
Slovakia has expelled a Russian diplomat after information from military intelligence showed he engaged in espionage activities in the NATO and European Union member country, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said on Wednesday. “We expelled him on November 22 and he left Slovakia within 48 hours,” Pellegrini told reporters.
UN seeking access to China’s re-education camps in Xinjiang
Reuters, Geneva
The top United Nations human rights official Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that her office is seeking access to China’s Xinjiang region to verify “worrying reports” of re-education camps holding Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. China rejects criticism of its actions in Xinjiang, saying that it protects the religion and culture of minorities, and that its security measures are needed to combat the influence of “extremist” groups that incite violence there.
S Africa names first female top prosecutor
AFP, Johannesburg
President Cyril Ramaphosa named a respected female lawyer on Tuesday to head South Africa’s prosecuting authority which had been accused of improperly protecting former president Jacob Zuma.. His appointment of Shamila Batohi further distances him from Zuma’s scandal-tainted rule during which several top jobs, including head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), were filled with loyalists.
