Briefly

SAUDI ARABIA

Eight jailed over Khashoggi killing

A court on Monday sentenced eight for the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, state media reported, four months after his family forgave his killers and enabled death sentences to be set aside. State media reported that five people were handed 20-year prison sentences, one person was sentenced to 10 years and two people received seven-year sentences for the killing. None of the defendants was named. Khashoggi was last seen at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2, 2018, where he had gone to obtain documents for his impending wedding. His body was reportedly dismembered and removed from the building and his remains have not been found.

EUROPEAN UNION

Serbia, Kosovo warned over Israel step

The European Union warned Serbia and Kosovo on Monday that they could undermine their EU membership hopes by moving their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, as US President Donald Trump's surprise announcement about the change left officials in Belgrade and Pristina scrambling to limit the political fallout. In an unexpected move last week, Trump said that Serbia and Kosovo had agreed to normalize economic ties as part of US-brokered talks that include Belgrade moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo. The 27-nation EU's long-held policy is that Jerusalem's status should be worked out between Israel and the Palestinians as part of broader peace negotiations.

UNITED KINGDOM

Man arrested after weekend stabbings

British police arrested a 27-year-old man on Monday on suspicion of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, following a string of stabbings in a busy nightlife district in Birmingham over the weekend. Police said the suspect remains in custody after being arrested at around 4 am. The arrest followed a large police manhunt in the wake of the stabbings in the early hours of Sunday morning. Police released CCTV footage of the man they said was wanted on suspicion of murder. A 23-year-old man was killed in the attacks and a man and a woman, aged 19 and 32, remain critically ill in hospital after suffering serious stab wounds.

SRI LANKA

Ships, aircraft fight new fire on tanker

Ships and aircraft from Sri Lanka and India intensified efforts to extinguish a new fire on an oil tanker off Sri Lanka's coast on Tuesday, two days after the previous three-day blaze was doused, the navy said. The MT New Diamond is carrying nearly 2 million barrels of crude oil and Sri Lankan officials have warned of possible massive environmental damage to Sri Lanka's coast if the ship leaks or explodes. The navy had said the initial fire began in an engine room boiler but did not spread to the tanker's oil storage area and no leak had been reported.

Agencies - Xinhua