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Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi was a columnist for the Washington Post Turkey has given its first official statement on how it believes writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed, saying he was immediately strangled. The statement follows weeks of media reports about the murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. Turkey has yet to provide evidence. Chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan said a meeting with his Saudi counterpart on Monday yielded "no concrete results". Saudi Arabia has not commented on the meeting. The Turkish statement said: "In accordance with plans made in advance, the victim, Jamal Khashoggi, was choked to death immediately after entering the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia." His body was then dismembered and destroyed - "again, in line with advance plans", it added. Khashoggi, a Saudi national working for the US press, was a well-known critic of his home country's rulers. His body has not been found, but Turkey, the US and Saudi ...

Being overweight or underweight could knock four years off life expectancy, a study in a Lancet journal suggests. The report, one of the largest of its kind, involved nearly 2 million people who were registered with doctors in the UK. Researchers found that, from the age of 40, people at the higher end of the healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) range had the lowest risk of dying from disease. But people at the top and bottom ends of the BMI risked having shorter lives. BMI is calculated by dividing an adult's weight by the square of their height. A "healthy" BMI score ranges from 18.5 to 25. Most doctors say it is the best method they have of working out whether someone is obese because it is accurate and simple to measure. 'Optimal level' The study, published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, showed that life expectancy for obese men and women was 4.2 and 3.5 years shorter respectively than people in the entire healthy BMI weight range. The...

Image copyright GETTY IMAGES Image caption The "statue of unity" has been billed as a tourist attraction. India has unveiled the world's tallest statue, which cost 29.9bn rupees (£330m; $430m) to build. The 182m (600ft) high structure in the western state of Gujarat is a bronze-clad tribute to independence leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the "statue of unity" would serve as a major tourist attraction. But locals say this is as a waste of public money and that the funds could have been put to better use. Mr Modi, who unveiled the statue at a grand inaugural event, said it is "a symbol of India's integrity and resolve." Air Force planes showered flowers on the statue, which was designed by decorated Indian sculptor Ram V Sutar. According to local reports, thousands of policemen have been deployed across the district, where protests over the effigy have turned violent. Police detained farmers and triba...

Infamous Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger has been found dead in a US federal prison in West Virginia. The 89-year-old was discovered unresponsive in his cell at the maximum security facility shortly after being transferred there from a Florida jail. US media report the former mob boss was killed on Tuesday morning at the penitentiary. The life of Bulger, who was convicted in 2013 of 11 murders, inspired several films. He was captured in California in 2011 after a 16-year manhunt. The former leader of South Boston's Winter Hill gang inspired the film Black Mass featuring Johnny Depp, and The Departed, which won the Academy Award for best picture in 2006. His death comes on the same day that he was transferred to the Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia, which houses 1,385 inmates, according to reports. An inmate with mafia ties is now under investigation for Bulger's killing, three sources briefed on the incident told the Boston Globe. Bost...

Media caption Debris found from Lion Air crash in sea An Indonesian airliner has crashed into the sea with 189 people on board. The Boeing 737, owned by the low-cost airline Lion Air, went down after taking off from the capital Jakarta. Flight JT 610 was headed for the western city of Pangkal Pinang. Rescuers have recovered some bodies and personal items, including baby shoes. There is no sign of survivors. The cause of the crash, which involved a plane that had been in operation since August, remains unclear. The incident is reported to be the first major accident involving a Boeing 737 Max - an updated version of the 737. "We need to find the main wreckage," said Bambang Suryo, operational director of the search and rescue agency. "I predict there are no survivors, based on body parts found so far." Image copyright EPA Image caption Belongings - including a handbag - and debris are being recovered from the suspected c...