News in brief

Taliban to meet US officials on Monday
Reuters, Kabul
Representatives from the Afghan Taliban will meet U.S. officials in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, the movement’s main spokesman said as diplomatic moves toward agreeing to the basis for talks to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan continue.
Zabihullah Mujahid said representatives from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE would also take part in the meeting, which follows at least two meetings between Taliban officials and U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar.

Maldives President calls India ‘our
closest friend’
AP, New Delhi
The new president of the Maldives has called India the island nation’s “closest friend,” welcome words for New Delhi after years of growing economic influence by Beijing.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih spoke Sunday in New Delhi, on his first overseas trip since his election. In September he defeated strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who had forged increasingly closer ties to China during his five years in office.

DR Congo to vote in end-of-an-era poll
AFP, Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of Congo goes to the polls this week in elections which could see the country emerge from 17 years of conflict-ridden rule under controversial President Joseph Kabila. Twenty-one candidates are running to replace Kabila, whose hand-picked successor Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary is one of the front-runners.
At stake is the political stewardship of a mineral-rich country that has never known a peaceful transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.

Indian politician convicted in 1984 anti-Sikh riots
AP, New Delhi
An Indian court has convicted a former politician of helping incite violence during anti-Sikh pogroms that left thousands of people dead.
The Delhi High Court on Monday reversed an earlier acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 riots, which broke out after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards.

China is driving use of armed drones in ME
AP, Beirut
The use of armed drones in the Middle East, driven largely by growing sales from China, has grown significantly in the past few years with an increasing number of state and non-state actors using them in regional conflicts.
That’s according to a new report by the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI. The report was released on Monday. It found that more and more Mideast countries have acquired armed drones, either by importing them or by building them domestically..