News Headlines - 12 October 2018
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered an operation to lure Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia from his home in Virginia and then detain him, according to U.S. intelligence intercepts of Saudi officials discussing the plan.
The intelligence, described by U.S. officials familiar with it, is another piece of evidence implicating the Saudi regime in Khashoggi’s disappearance last week after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials say that a Saudi security team lay in wait for the journalist and killed him.
▽New York City creates gender-neutral 'X' option for birth certificates | Reuters
People who were born in New York City and do not identify as male or female can now opt for a third gender category of X on their birth certificates.
Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the provision into a law on Tuesday, making New York City the fifth place to do so after California, Oregon, Washington state and New Jersey. Three states and Washington, D.C., also allow gender-neutral driver licenses.
The Christian owners of a bakery have won an appeal at the UK's highest court over a finding that they discriminated against a customer by refusing to make a cake decorated with the words "Support Gay Marriage".
Five Supreme Court justices allowed a challenge by the McArthur family in a unanimous ruling in London on Wednesday in what has become widely known as the "gay cake case".
▽Maryse Conde wins alternative award to Nobel literature prize | DW
The New Academy Prize in Literature goes to Maryse Conde, the Swedish organization announced on Friday.
Kim Thuy and Neil Gaiman were also on the shortlist, as was Haruki Murakami before he withdrew his nomination, claiming he needed to focus on writing.
The New Academy is a provisional self-organized group of over 100 volunteers that emerged to provide an alternative global literature prize this year, after the Swedish Academy decided it would postpone its 2018 award.
▽Free at Last: Andrew Brunson Released by Turkey After Two Years | Christianity Today
American pastor Andrew Brunson has been released after being detained for two years in Turkey.
At a hearing this morning, a Turkish court freed him from judicial control, which lifts his house arrest and travel ban.
Despite a guilty verdict sentencing him to 3 years, 1 month, and 15 days in prison, Brunson may return home to the United States as soon as today due to good behavior and time already served.
