While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Oct 17

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) meets with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct 16, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS

Trump says Saudi prince denies knowing what happened at consulate

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (Oct 16) that Saudi Arabia's crown prince told him he did not know what had happened in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi went missing two weeks ago.

"Just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate," Trump said on Twitter, referring to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Khashoggi, a US resident and leading critic of the crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in the city on Oct 2. Turkish officials say they believe he was murdered there and his body removed, which the Saudis strongly deny.

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Armenian PM resigns to clear way for snap election

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday (Oct 16) he was resigning from his post in order for parliament to be dissolved and an early election held.

The former opposition leader was put in power by a parliamentary vote in May after weeks of mass protests against corruption and cronyism, but there have been no parliamentary elections since the revolution last spring.

Pashinyan has said the composition of parliament does not reflect the country's new political reality.

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Northern Irish writer Anna Burns wins Booker Prize


Author Anna Burns on Tuesday (Oct 16) became the first Northern Irish writer, and the first woman since 2013, to win Britain's renowned Man Booker Prize for her novel Milkman.

Judges of the annual award praised the work, an exploration of Northern Ireland's three decades of sectarian violence told through the voice of a young woman, as "utterly distinctive".

"None of us has ever read anything like this before," said Kwame Anthony Appiah, chair of the 2018 judges, in announcing the winner.

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Cuban diplomats at UN stage noisy protest at US event

Cuban diplomats shouted slogans and noisily pounded tables at the United Nations on Tuesday (Oct 16), disrupting a meeting organised by the United States on the plight of Cuban political prisoners.

The diplomats managed to drown out the US representative, Kelley Currie, during her remarks at the UN's Economic and Social Council, prompting her to demand that security guards remove them from the hall.

The diplomats shouted "Lift the blockade of Cuba!" and "Cuba yes, blockade no".

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Football: Groeneveld bags first Dutch goal in friendly draw with Belgium

Dries Mertens volleyed an excellent opener for Belgium after five minutes, but the young Dutch side grew into the game and were level before the break thanks to Groeneveld.

It was the first draw in 13 matches for Belgium, who had won 11 of their previous 12 games, the only blemish being the World Cup semi-final loss to eventual champions France in July.

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