World News Roundup: Jamal Khashoggi probe, Yemen school bus air strike, Russian space rocket fails

Trump: the U.S. working with Turkey, Saudis on journalist probe

The United States has investigators overseas to assist Turkey in its probe over missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday, adding that they are also working with Saudi Arabia. "We're being very tough. And we have investigators over there and we're working with Turkey, and frankly, we're working with Saudi Arabia. We want to find out what happened," Trump said in an interview the Fox News "Fox & Friends" program.

Young survivors of Yemen school bus air strike return to class

In a small school in Yemen's Saada province, the absence of dozens of their classmates killed in an air strike on a bus weighed heavily on the young survivors as they returned to classes. Ahmad Ali Hanash, 14, struggled to hold back tears as he recalled the friends he lost in the attack by a Saudi-led military alliance on a market in Saada in northern Yemen in August.

Turkey cannot remain silent over Khashoggi's disappearance, Erdogan says

Turkey cannot remain silent over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by Hurriyet newspaper on Thursday, adding Turkey is investigating all aspects of the case. Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to get documents for his forthcoming marriage. Saudi officials say he left shortly afterwards but Turkish officials and his fiancee, who was waiting outside, said he never came out.

Russian space rocket fails in mid-air, two-man U.S.-Russian crew lands safely

The two-man U.S.-Russian crew of a Soyuz spacecraft taking them to the orbiting International Space Station had to make a dramatic emergency landing in Kazakhstan on Thursday when a rocket failed in mid-air. U.S. astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin landed safely without harm and rescue crews who raced to locate them on the Kazakh steppe quickly linked up with them, NASA, the U.S. space agency, and Russia's Roscosmos said.

Tony Blair sees 50-50 chance of another Brexit referendum

Former British leader Tony Blair said there was a 50-50 chance of another Brexit referendum as Prime Minister Theresa May will be unlikely to secure a parliamentary majority for any divorce deal. Less than six months before Britain leaves the European Union, there is little clarity about how post-Brexit trade between the EU and the world's fifth largest economy will function.

Alarm bells for Merkel as Bavarian allies face election slump

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Bavarian allies are heading for their worst showing in a state election in over 60 years, a setback that risks widening divisions within Germany's crisis-prone national government. Polls show the Christian Social Union (CSU) will win at most 35 per cent on Sunday, losing the absolute majority with which it has controlled its southeastern heartland for most of the post-war period.

Some journalists in Bangladesh allege 'breach of trust' over press freedoms

More than 100 journalists staged a protest in Bangladesh's capital on Thursday, their faces covered in black cloth, accusing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of breach of trust in enacting a law they fear is aimed at curbing press freedom. Hasina's government has defended the Digital Security Act, passed by parliament last month, saying it aims to control cyber crimes.

South Korea says no change on North Korean sanctions

South Korea never considered lifting sanctions against North Korea imposed over the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship, the country's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said on Thursday. South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Wednesday that the sanctions, imposed against Pyongyang following a torpedo attack on a Corvette that killed 46 South Korean sailors in 2010, were under review.

Under pressure from a parliamentary partner, UK's May meets ministers on Brexit

Prime Minister Theresa May will meet some of her ministers on Thursday to discuss Brexit, hours after her parliamentary partner threatened to withdraw its support if she accepts what it calls a "draconian solution" from the European Union. Just six months before Britain is due to leave the EU, the two sides differ on their view of the talks - the bloc says a withdrawal deal is within reach, while British officials say "big issues" still lie in the way of any agreement.

Dozens killed in Afghan clashes as the election nears

At least 15 Afghan border police were killed battling Taliban insurgents on Thursday, an official said, as fighting continues ahead of this month's elections, with 21 Taliban killed in an operation in Wardak, west of the capital Kabul. Amruddin Wali, a member of the provincial council in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, said 15 members of the paramilitary border police were killed when Taliban fighters attacked a checkpoint in Qala-e Zal district.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(With inputs from agencies.)