×

World briefing

Part of Khashoggi audio revealed

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president says he has heard an audio recording in which a suspected killer of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi allegedly says: “I know how to cut well.”

Speaking Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan added that the man heard in the recording was a high-level soldier and “morgue employee” who “openly” said he could dissect a body. Turkey has shared the audio recording with Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany and others.

Turkey says a 15-person hit squad killed Khashoggi on Oct. 2 in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate. His remains have not been found.

Erdogan also criticized the Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman for saying the journalist had left the consulate, a claim he later reversed. “This nation is not dumb, it knows how to hold (people) accountable,” said Erdogan.

Marine, 4 police killed in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s federal police say three members of its force have been killed in an attack in the western state of Michoacan.

Police said late Thursday that they mourned the deaths, but did not provide further details.

Local media reported that they died on the side of a highway next to their bullet-ridden patrol cars.

Mexico’s navy said in a statement that one marine was also killed and three were wounded in a separate confrontation Thursday in the northern border state of Coahuila.

The navy said that the agents came under fire near the town of Hidalgo, which is about 80 miles from Laredo, Texas.

It said the wounded marines did not have life-threatening injuries, and two of their attackers were killed in the shootout.

Leaders work for limited budget

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European leaders agreed Friday to press ahead with work toward a limited, common eurozone budget and took other steps to strengthen the currency union’s resistance to downturns and crises.

The budget proposal leaves its size undefined and it appeared to fall short of more sweeping ideas pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The European Union leaders said that finance ministers would work out the precise features of the budget with an aim to reach an agreement on them by June.

Macron has pushed for a large eurozone budget that could support member states that run into economic trouble. That would help close a key vulnerability of euro monetary union, which has one currency but 19 different governments. The euro bloc’s weaknesses in adjusting to trouble were exposed during a financial and economic crisis that threatened to break up the currency union from 2010 to 2012.

The leaders’ statement Friday after a summit in Brussels said the eurozone fund would be part of the overall EU budget, suggesting it is likely to be smaller than Macron’s proposal.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today