News Daily: 'Worst cover up' and Brexit border warnings

By Victoria King BBC News

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'Ruthless action'

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Donald Trump says whoever ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi "should be in big trouble", adding: "The cover up was the worst in the history of cover-ups.". Mr Khashoggi - a US resident and prominent critic of the Saudi government - disappeared after visiting the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi authorities' version of events has shifted over time, but they now say he was murdered in a "rogue operation".

The US has promised a strong response, but is seen by some as having diluted that by stressing Saudi Arabia's importance as an ally. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, though, told reporters in Washington he and Mr Trump were "making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this ruthless action", and had revoked the visas of some of those it thinks were responsible.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the journalist's murder was premeditated.

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Clogged up

With Brexit talks stalled, plans for no-deal are ramping up. There are fears about the possible imposition of tighter border checks on the flow of key goods like medicines, and now ferry and freight firms are being urged to plan alternative routes via Belgian and Dutch ports if - as feared - the crossing between Dover and Calais becomes clogged up.

The advice emerged after what we're told was a "passionate" cabinet meeting looking at worst-case scenarios. BBC Newsnight's political editor Nick Watt says ministers discussed the possibility that there could be a 75-80% drop-off in traffic across the Calais-Dover route. A senior government source, though, denied reports that there were any plans to buy or charter vessels to guarantee supplies.

It comes as a warning is issued by a government watchdog that new UK border controls may not be ready in a no-deal situation and the hundreds of new staff necessary not recruited in time. What else could no-deal mean? We've broken it down.

'Internment'

The BBC has uncovered new evidence that China is locking up hundreds of thousands of Muslims without trial. Satellite imagery reveals a number of large prison-type structures that have been built across the western region of Xinjiang in the past few years. Local people in a town close to one referred to it as "a re-education school" - one said people sent there "have some problems with their thoughts".

China denies the claims, saying people are willingly attending special "vocational schools" which combat "terrorism and religious extremism". But the BBC's John Sudworth says it's clearly internment by any other name and history holds many troubling precedents about where such a project might end up.

Young couples 'trapped in car dependency'

By Roger Harrabin, BBC environment analyst

It must be miserable: you’ve saved for a newly-built home past the town’s ring-road, but now you're trapped too often in a metal box with wheels. You spend hours in traffic ferrying yourself and your children around because your estate has no shops; no pub; no doctor; no school; no jobs. A report says this is the buttock-numbing fate of numerous young couples. It's come about because planners allowed edge-of-town housing estates where car travel is the only option. Intriguingly, the research has been backed by a motoring group.

Read the full article

What the papers say

A mixed bag this morning. The Daily Telegraph says it's been gagged by a leading businessman to stop it publishing allegations of sexual harassment and racial abuse made against him. The Guardian carries a joint investigation with ITV News which found landlords who've been banned from operating using legal loopholes to continue to rent their properties. The Times is one of several papers to print a photograph of a meeting between Saudi Arabia's crown prince and the grieving son of Jamal Khashoggi. With the headline, "If looks could kill", the Metro says Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi "locked eyes" with the man suspected of ordering his father's death. The Daily Mirror says 50 MPs have received "freebie trips" - worth more than £300,000 - from what it calls Saudi Arabia's "murderous regime". Finally, an upbeat prediction from the Daily Express ahead of next week's Budget: It's "time to splash the cash", it says.