News | 18 October 2018

US requests Khashoggi recording +++ Brexit transition period ‘could be longer’

US requests Khashoggi recording +++ Finance ministers pull out of Saudi conference +++ Brexit transition period ‘could be longer’ +++ Kurz to address refugee quota scheme +++ Crimea mourns victims of college shooting +++ Honduran migrants arrive on Mexican border +++ The weather

18. November 2018, 02:00

News | 18 October 2018

US requests Khashoggi recording

The US President Donald Trump has asked Turkey to provide a copy of a recording that's reported to show strong evidence that the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Trump said he's not yet sure the tape exists - but graphic details of the alleged killing have appeared in the Turkish media. The Saudi leadership has denied ordering any such murder.

Finance ministers pull out of Saudi conference

The Dutch and French finance ministers have both announced that they won't be attending a key investment conference in Saudi Arabia next week. They are the latest in a growing list of government ministers and prominent business people to withdraw from the event, following the suspected killing of Khashoggi.

Brexit transition period ‘could be longer’

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has told European Union leaders that her government might consider extending a post-Brexit transition period for a few months - to help resolve the sticking point of the Irish border. Speaking in Brussels this morning, she said she didn't expect the measure to be necessary: "We are working to ensure that we have that future relationship in place by the end of December 2020. I'm clear that it is possible to do that, and that's what we're working for. And in those circumstances there will be no need for any proposal of this sort." May has been facing a backlash from Brexit supporters in her own party about allowing more time for the transition.

Kurz to address refugee quota scheme

EU leaders are focusing on migration and internal security issues at a summit in Brussels today. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is expected to make another pitch at trying to resolve the row over a failed refugee quota scheme. He will propose so-called "compulsory solidarity" - meaning that countries that refuse to take in refugees would have to provide other kinds of support.

Crimea mourns victims of college shooting

Crimea has begun three days of mourning following a gun and bomb attack at a college in the city of Kerch yesterday. 20 people died, most of them students. More than 40 people are being treated in hospital. Russian investigators say the assault was carried out by an 18-year-old student who opened fire on fellow pupils. He later killed himself. His motive for the attack is still unclear.

Honduran migrants arrive on Mexican border

The first wave of around three thousand Honduran migrants, who want to get into the United States, has arrived at the border between Guatemala and Mexico. President Trump says he'll cut aid to countries that don't stop the migrant caravan.