News Headlines - 16 October 2018

▽The Jamal Khashoggi Case: Suspects Had Ties to Saudi Crown Prince - The New York Times

One of the suspects identified by Turkey in the disappearance of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was a frequent companion of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman... Three others are linked by witnesses and other records to the Saudi crown prince’s security detail.
A fifth is a forensic doctor who holds senior positions in the Saudi Interior Ministry and medical establishment, a figure of such stature that he could be directed only by a high-ranking Saudi authority.
If, as the Turkish authorities say, these men were present at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul where Mr. Khashoggi disappeared on Oct. 2, they might provide a direct link between what happened and Prince Mohammed.

▽German prosecutors fine Audi 800 million euros for diesel violations | Reuters

German premium car brand Audi, a division of Volkswagen, said it was fined 800 million euros (703.40 million pounds) on Tuesday for violations tied to heavily polluting six- and eight-cylinder diesel engines.

▽Police start arrests in land scam of Sekisui House developer：The Asahi Shimbun

Police on Oct. 16 began arresting 12 people connected to a land fraud ring that cost a major housing developer billions of yen.
Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested Masami Haketa, 63, and others on suspicion of using counterfeited personal documents and attempting to include false information into public electronic records.
Arrest warrants have been obtained for 12 people, who are being sought by police.

▽China’s Growing Influence on Hollywood

For years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been using a variety of methods to infiltrate the Hollywood film industry. In the remarks U.S. vice president Mike Pence delivered on Oct. 4, he gave two examples about Hollywood films having been revised in order to pass the CCP’s censorship so that they could enter the huge Chinese market.
Pence explained how the CCP tries to penetrate the United States in all aspects.

▽Winamp returns in 2019 to whip the llama’s ass harder than ever | TechCrunch

Winamp was the MP3 player of choice around the turn of the century, but went through a rocky period during Aol ownership (our former parent company) and failed to counter the likes of iTunes and the onslaught of streaming services, and more or less crumbled over the years. The original app, last updated in 2013, still works, but to say it’s long in the tooth would be something of an understatement (the community has worked hard to keep it updated, however). So it’s with pleasure that I can confirm rumors that substantial updates are on the way.