Briefly

YEMEN

Houthis agree to give UN access to tanker

Yemen's Houthi movement has agreed to provide the United Nations access to a stranded oil tanker that risks causing an environmental disaster off the coast of the war-divided country, two UN sources familiar with the matter said. The UN earlier last week said it was extremely concerned after water entered the engine room of Safer tanker, which carries 1.1 million barrels of crude oil and has been stranded off the Red Sea oil terminal of Ras Issa for over five years. The sources said that the Houthi group, which controls the port, sent a letter approving the deployment of a UN technical team to the tanker. The UN is also discussing with Yemen's warring parties about arranging the sale of the crude and dividing proceeds between Yemen's government and the Houthi group that ousted it from power in the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014.

EGYPT

Brotherhood member's sentence upheld

An Egyptian court has turned down an appeal by Muslim Brotherhood member Mahmoud Makawi Afifi, upholding a 20-year prison sentence by a criminal court over his involvement in violence that took place in 2012. The case involved violence against protesters who were holding a sit-in in front of the Ittihadeya presidential palace in Cairo, during which al-Husseini Abu-Deif, a journalist, was killed, the official Ahram Online news website reported. The Egyptian Court of Cassation also upheld the verdict against the late deposed President Mohamed Morsi and leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood including Mohamed al-Beltagy, Issam al-Erian, and six others in the same case. The Brotherhood leaders were sentenced to a maximum of 20 years' prison, Ahram Online said. The cassation court's ruling is final.

POLAND

Voters go to polls in presidential runoff

Voters in Poland went to the polls on Sunday in a razor-blade-close presidential election runoff between the conservative incumbent, Andrzej Duda, and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski. Duda was being backed by the ruling right-wing party and the government as he sought a second five-year term. Trzaskowski, a former European Parliament lawmaker, was standing for the main opposition Civic Platform party that was in power in from 2007 to 2015.Both candidates are 48. Amid calls from both sides to about 30 million eligible voters to cast ballots, turnout was expected to be higher than the 64 percent in the first round late last month, in which Duda got 43.5 percent of the vote and Trzaskowski 30.5 percent. The final official results are expected early in the week.

Agencies - Xinhua