World News at a Glance

Skepticism Deepens After Saudis’ Explanation for Journalist’s Death

Saudi Arabia’s explanation of Jamal Khashoggi’s death only added to the international uproar Saturday over the killing. Even as President Donald Trump said this new account — that Khashoggi was strangled after a fistfight — sounded credible, skeptics focused on apparent gaps in the narrative, and Turkey threatened to undermine the Saudi account with its own rival investigation. Doubters questioned why it took 18 days since Khashoggi disappeared in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul for the royal court to admit knowledge of his fate. Nor did it explain why Khashoggi, a 60-year-old writer, sought to resist in a fight against multiple Saudi security agents.

‘People’s Vote’ March on Brexit Draws Thousands to Streets of London

Thousands of Britons took to the streets of Central London on Saturday for a “People’s Vote” march, demanding that the government call a new referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union. By 3 p.m., organizers said the rally had drawn more than 600,000 for what the event’s website calls “The Independent March for the Future,” a cross-party, grassroots campaign. Mayor Sadiq Khan was among those set to address the march. A petition presented by organizers has drawn more than 320,000 signatures, with a goal of 350,000 goal. Demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as: “Brexit: Ugly word, ugly idea.”

Afghans Vote for Parliament on Day of Violence and Complications

Voting under threat of Taliban violence, Afghans across the country cast ballots in parliamentary elections held during one of the most fragile moments in 17 years of the war. It was an election that was supposed to happen three years ago, delayed by widening political schisms and worsening security. There was no voting at all in two critical provinces. A rough tally from security and health officials after polls closed showed that at least 78 people, including 28 members of the security forces, were killed and least 470, mostly civilians, were wounded in smaller attacks targeting dozens of districts.

Sweden Indicts Woman Who Tried to Block Afghan Man’s Deportation on Flight

Swedish prosecutors have indicted a woman who in July staged a standoff on a plane to prevent the deportation of a rejected asylum-seeker to Afghanistan. The woman, Elin Ersson, 21, filmed herself in a standoff with the cabin crew of a Turkish Airlines flight at Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg. The indictment, issued Friday in a district court in Gothenburg, said Ersson had violated the Swedish aviation act by remaining standing when the plane was set to take off. Eventually, the captain ordered her and the Afghan man off the plane, and it was able to take off. The man was eventually deported.

Faced With Reality of Job, Mexico’s Next President Scales Back Promises

Andrés Manuel López Obrador won election as Mexico's next president after campaigning on pledges to battle corruption, reduce soaring violence and tackle the country’s entrenched inequality. Now, however, his speeches have taken on a different tone as the challenges facing Mexico have led him to hedge on some of his commitments. Some analysts say the shift might be the pragmatic and necessary adjustment to the reality of governing, after the hyperbole of campaigning. López Obrador “is seeing Mexico with different eyes for the first time,” said Jesús Silva-Herzog, a political scientist. He now has a “heavy responsibility on his shoulders.”

Ceremony for Stalin Victims Is Blocked in Moscow, Group Says

Moscow officials have abruptly withdrawn permission for the annual commemoration of the victims of Stalinist repression that has been held at a memorial stone near the headquarters of the Russian intelligence services since 2007. The human rights organization that organizes the event said Friday that city officials had revoked permission, citing “repair and construction work that is threatening to daily life activities” at the site. Descendants of the victims of Josef Stalin’s Great Terror and opponents of Soviet repression usually gather for a stark ceremony Oct. 29. In 2017, 5,000 people attended the memorial, which lasted nearly 12 hours, according to news reports.