The Disappearance of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi
The news have been dominated by the disappearance and, at this point confirmed by all parties, death of Washington Post columnist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul Turkey. Khashoggi, originally from Saudi Arabia, was an avid critic of the ruling monarchy and lived in self-imposed exile in the US. Saudi Arabia is blamed by Turkish officials of brutally murdering Khashoggi when he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the 2nd of October.
Jamal Khashoggi entered the consulate to obtain documents related to his upcoming marriage. He was seen entering, but not exiting, the consulate on surveillance cameras. Turkish officials claim they poses evidence proving how Saudi agents possibly tortured him, murdered him and dismembered his body with a bone saw. Flight records show Saudi agents entering and leaving Turkey only hours before and after the time of the murder.
There has been heavy pressure by the international community on Saudi Arabia to reveal what really took place. The official story changed several times, but now the officials admit he was murdered, but blame it on a "rogue operation". US president Donald Trump went back and forth between believing and not believing the Saudi explanation, but made it clear he didn't want this situation to interfere with a 110 -billion dollar arms deal between Saudi Arabia and the US. Trump himself has many personal financial dealings with Saudi Arabia, with his son-in-law Jared Kushner acting as an embassador. Kushner was recently reported to have questionable connections there.
Concern has raised for the safety of the free press over this Khashoggi incident and others like it. It will be interesting to see how strict of a line the international community take on this issue. Trumps comments of how the press is "the enemy of the people" reflect a sentiment held dearly by many authoritarian governments and their leadership around the world. In Trumps case it is just words, but elsewhere in the world it can be far more serious than that.
Kimi Won, Finally
After 113 races the Finnish Formula 1 legend Kimi Räikkönen won his first race in over five years. Press around the world has celebrated this unexpeted result in the USGP. This reddit post on r/formula1 apparently broke the reddit record for most golds on a post. It's been a long time coming, but it's nice to see the 39-year-old F1 veteran finally win. Torille!
Conclusion
There hasn't been anything that significant in the news besides the Kharshoggi death this week. The US midterm election is coming up on November 6th, and I'll be following that for sure. There is significant potential for a massive comeback by the Democrats, possibly taking control of the House of Representatives. Until next week, I guess.
Thanks for reading!
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