Saudi Arabia sentences five to death over Jamal Khashoggi murder - CNN

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and a Washington Post columnist, was critical of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's policies. He was allegedly killed and dismembered on October 2, 2018, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by men with close ties to the highest levels of the Saudi government and bin Salman.

In a press conference reported by state media Monday, the prosecutor also said former royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani was investigated but "no evidence" was found against him.

Ten defendants were release due to insufficient evidence, the prosecutor added.

More to follow...

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2019-12-23 10:52:00Z
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Saudi Arabia sentences five to death for killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside Turkish consulate - The Washington Post

The country’s top prosecutor said three more people were sentenced to jail terms totaling 24 years. Saud al-Qahtani, an aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the most senior official implicated in the plot to kill Khashoggi, was investigated but cleared of wrongdoing.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.

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2019-12-23 09:58:00Z
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John Bolton criticizes Trump’s approach to North Korea amid heightened tension - Fox News

John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, criticized his old boss over the administration's misguided "rhetorical policy" toward North Korea along with its failure to exert "maximum pressure" during the high-stakes nuclear talks.

Bolton’s comments, which were published late Sunday on Axios, come at a precarious time between Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. What once showed glimpses of an unlikely and historic foreign policy victory for Trump, now appears to be teetering on the brink of collapse.

Bolton said he doesn't believe the administration "really means it" when they talk about stopping North Korea's nuclear ambition. He said if they did they would "pursue a different course."

JAMES CARAFANO: NORTH KOREA-US HAVE CHANCE TO BREAK LOG JAM 

U.S. officials on Sunday were on high alert due to a possible North Korean missile launch that has been menacingly referred to by Pyongyang as a "Christmas gift." Bolton said in the interview that if Kim makes good on the threat and launches a missile the White House should do something "that would be very unusual" and admit that they were wrong.

Bolton said-- in the event of a missile launch-- he hopes the White House can admit to the failure and then works with allies to "demonstrate we will not accept it." Bolton is seen as a hardliner towards North Korea and has said in the past that as it stands Kim "will never give up the nuclear weapons voluntarily."

Trump fired Bolton in September amid policy disagreements over North Korea and other issues. Trump said at the time that Bolton's view set the United States back "very badly" in talks with the North and added that "maybe a new method would be very good."

The relationship between Trump and Kim has been rocky at best and despite high-profile meetings and positive descriptions from Trump about their relationship, experts have raised concerns about Pyongyang becoming more of a threat.

Anthony Wier, a former State Department official who tracks nuclear disarmament for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, said Pyongyang has “been building new capabilities.”

"As long as that continues, they gain new capabilities to try new missiles to threaten us and our allies in new ways," he said.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters earlier this week that the U.S. has heard all the talk of a possible upcoming test around Christmas.

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"I've been watching the Korean Peninsula for a quarter-century now. I'm familiar with their tactics, with their bluster," he said. "We need to get serious and sit down and have discussions about a political agreement that denuclearizes the peninsula. That is the best way forward and arguably the only way forward if we're going to do something constructive."

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report 

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2019-12-23 08:10:25Z
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‘In a Wall of Fire’: Australia’s Deadly Blazes Intensify and Destroy - The Wall Street Journal

Firefighters battles a blaze west of Sydney on Saturday. This year’s fire season began early, a combination of extreme heat and a severe drought. Photo: Dan Himbrechts/Associated Press

By

Mike Cherney

Mike Cherney
The Wall Street Journal
• Biography
• @Mike_Cherney
• mike.cherney@wsj.com

Dec. 22, 2019 7:15 am ET

Wildfires intensified near Sydney over the weekend, threatening houses on the fringe of Australia’s largest city and devastating a small town about 50 miles away.

Officials warn that wide swaths of the country are still at risk in one of the country’s worst fire seasons in years.

Australia typically has wildfires in its summer months, but this year’s fire season began early—a combination of extreme heat and a severe drought, scientists say. As with California, the trend is moving toward bigger, faster-moving and more destructive wildfires, due in part to climate change.

“The things that produce high fire danger—that is high temperatures, the drought factor and so on—are literally becoming more frequent with climate change,” said Nigel Tapper, a climate scientist and professor at Monash University in Melbourne. “There’s virtually nowhere that isn’t dry at the moment.”

Fire officials don’t expect significant rain until late January at the earliest, and they warned about 77,000 square miles—an area the size of Nebraska—was at risk of burning in New South Wales state alone. Already, more than 11,500 square miles have burned in the state, an area larger than Massachusetts.

As of Sunday morning, more than 105 fires were burning in New South Wales, the country’s most populous state and home to Sydney, and 59 of those were considered out of control.

In Australia, temperatures broke records, rising well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, as wildfires rage. Several states have issued emergency declarations. WSJ’s Rachel Pannett explains the economic toll the extreme weather is taking on the country. Photo: DAN HIMBRECHTS/EPA

The state’s premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said there is “not much left” in the town of Balmoral, which had a population of about 400 people and is nestled in the highlands southwest of Sydney. Officials estimated Sunday that 100 buildings across the state burned down over the previous 24 hours, and were working to assess the extent of the damage in Balmoral.

“The team inside there said it was devastating,” Shane Fitzsimmons, commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, told reporters.

Two firefighters were killed and three were injured in the area when their truck rolled over after hitting a tree, fire authorities said Friday. No civilian deaths in New South Wales were reported over the weekend.

Through mid-December, 724 homes had been destroyed in New South Wales this fire season, officials have said.

Smoke from the fires has been settling over Sydney for weeks, making it difficult to breathe, prompting health officials to warn people with respiratory conditions to stay inside.

At times, the smoke was so thick it obscured views of the city’s iconic harbor, a tourist hot spot known for the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Research firm SGS Economics and Planning has estimated that the smoke is costing Sydney’s economy up to $35 million a day.

There’s also been political fallout—Australia’s conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison cut short a holiday to Hawaii over the weekend after being criticized for taking vacation during the wildfire crisis.

A car burns in Balmoral, southwest of Sydney, on Dec. 19, 2019. New South Wales state premier Gladys Berejiklian said there is “not much left” in the town. Photo: peter parks/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

In Buxton, a town near Balmoral, Geoff Brown planned to stay home to protect his property from embers that might blow in from afar. But a few days ago, as the 60-year-old watched the smoke near, he decided he wasn’t prepared to ride out the blaze. It was only the second time he had fled a fire in more than 20 years, he said.

As he drove out of town, Mr. Brown noticed fires on the side of the road. Soon, the smoke was so thick that he could barely make out the lane markings.

“I was basically in a wall of fire,” he said. “It was terrifying.”

Mr. Brown, who was able to return home with his family Sunday night, said the property was littered with burned debris but had otherwise escaped undamaged.

Further south, in the coastal area of Callala Bay, Wayne Smith said a wildfire prompted authorities to close the roads into town shortly after he returned home from the beach on Saturday. He didn’t see any flames during the drive, but said there was a lot of smoke and ash raining down.

“The smoke came in and it started getting really dark,” Mr. Smith, 50, said Sunday. “By 5 yesterday, it looked like it was 9 o’clock at night.”

—James Glynn contributed to this article.

Write to Mike Cherney at mike.cherney@wsj.com

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2019-12-22 12:15:00Z
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Newly released emails provide details in White House pause of Ukraine aid - NBC News

Newly released emails regarding Ukraine defense aid held by the White House show that a request to withhold funds came less than two hours after President Donald Trump's July phone call with the Ukrainian president that has served as the backbone of the impeachment proceedings against him.

The Center for Public Integrity obtained 146 pages of heavily redacted emails through a Freedom of Information Act request and court order.

The nonprofit released the emails late on Friday, revealing a discussion between the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Pentagon over the defense aid owed to Ukraine just hours after Trump spoke to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration's plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional [Department of Defense] obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process," Mike Duffey, a political appointee serving as associate director for national security programs at the OMB wrote on July 25 to OMB and Pentagon officials.

Government officials raised concern over the much-discussed phone conversation as it appeared that Trump improperly asked Zelenskiy to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden — one of Trump's chief political rivals in the 2020 election.

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The administration put a hold on critical defense aid for Ukraine as early as the week of July 18, one week before the phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy, at the direction of acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, two administration officials and a senior Democratic aide briefed by the State Dept. told NBC News in September.

The funds were eventually released on Sept. 11.

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In a statement to NBC News early Sunday the OMB sought to play down the significance of the new emails.

“It’s reckless to tie the hold of funds to the phone call," said spokeswoman Rachel Semmel.

"As has been established and publicly reported, the hold was announced in an interagency meeting on July 18. To pull a line out of one email and fail to address the context is misleading and inaccurate.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC News.

Dec. 21, 201902:11

It appeared that those involved felt the hold could be problematic, considering Duffey wrote to officials in his office and at the Pentagon to keep it all close their chest.

"Given the sensitive nature of the request," Duffey wrote on the afternoon of Trump's call with Zelenskiy, "I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute direction."

The emails also provide insight into administration officials' feelings once the funds are finally released, though their reasoning for distributing the aid suddenly appears to be redacted.

Elaine McCuskker, the Pentagon's comptroller, said there was "increasing risk of execution" in continuing to hold the funds.

Three House committees announced that they would launch a wide-ranging investigation into the allegations against Trump two days prior to the release.

On Sept. 11, Duffey shared his feelings of relief to McCusker a few hours after alerting her that he would be releasing all of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds.

"Glad to have this behind us," he said.

Duffey is one of the officials at OMB who has steadfastly refused to comply with House subpoenas for deposition in the impeachment inquiry, along with his boss, Russ Vought, OMB’s Acting Director. However, another OMB official, Mark Sandy, did appear for a deposition after being subpoenaed.

The House voted to impeach Trump on Wednesday. He is only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.

A trial in the Republican-controlled Senate to decide whether Trump will remain in office is expected to begin January, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that he has reached an “impasse” with Democratic leaders over moving forward with the rules governing the trial.

It is likely Trump will be acquitted, as it would require a two-thirds majority for a conviction.

Winston Wilde

Phil McCausland

Phil McCausland is an NBC News reporter focused on the rural-urban divide.

Hans Nichols contributed.

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2019-12-22 10:20:00Z
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Trump wanted Ukraine-aid details weeks before Zelensky call: documents - New York Post

President Trump prodded staffers for details about US military aid to Ukraine five weeks before his July 25 phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, a heavily redacted batch of internal administration documents reveal.

Emails sent between officials at the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget show that the hold on the aid was placed just hours after the two leaders spoke.

Michael Duffey of the OMB told the Pentagon to freeze the payments “in light of the Administration’s plan to review assistance to Ukraine.”

Democrats said the documents, posted online by the Center for Public Integrity late Friday, proved Trump’s “direct involvement” in the Ukraine matter.

“Frankly it’s just the 77th piece of evidence confirming the same thing,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted Saturday.

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2019-12-22 01:11:00Z
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'Everything is Burning': Australian Inferno Continues, Choking Off Access to Cities Across Country and - Common Dreams

Australia is on fire. 

The country on Saturday saw delayed flights on the second day of a national state of emergency due to raging brushfires near every major city and choked out smoke conditions. 

Australian reporter Saffron Howden used a map from the Government of Western Australia to show how the blazes have ringed the entire continent.

"My god," Howden tweeted.

The fires in Australia's southwestern state of New South Wales (NSW) were at the "catastrophic" level on Saturday, according to the BBC. 

"These fires are likely to continue to spread well past Christmas," said NSW Rural Fire Services Inspector Ben Shepherd.

Photos shared on social media showed hazy skies around the country. 

"Everything is burning," said one Twitter user. 

As Common Dreams reported Thursday, Australia just endured a heat wave that broke records for temperature in consecutive days. 

"I think this is the single loudest alarm bell I've ever heard on global heating," said Kees van der Leun, a director at the American consultancy firm Navigant.

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Temperatures dropped on the back of a cooling wind on Saturday, but, as The Guardian reported, the wind brings with it other problems:

A southerly change swept through at 5pm, making the fire even more erratic and changing the fire direction. Around this time, NSW authorities began warning of a bushfire-generated thunderstorm that had formed over Currowan and Tianjara fires in the Shoalhaven area, on the NSW south coast.

The fire service said this would lead to increasingly dangerous fire conditions. Such storms, known as pyroCB, can produce embers hot enough to spark new fires 30km from the main fire.

While his country was on fire, right-wing climate-denying Prime Minister Scott Morrison was on vacation in Hawaii. Morrison returned to Australia on Saturday after two firefighters died fighting one of three huge blazes near Sydney. Morrison's absence during the crisis pprovoked outcry from constituents. 

One Twitter user posted a picture showing from above the blazes around Sydney as Morrison was arriving in the city, reportedly after circling for an hour due to runway closures. 

A map of the city showed only two routes out of Sydney due to the fires. 

"Today has been an awful day," NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmon told reporters. 

Fitzsimmon added that the fires were largely out of any meaningful control barring nature taking a hand. 

"We will not get on top of these fires until we get some decent rain—we have said that for weeks and months," said Fitzsimmon.

According to Reuters, the Australian Bureau of Meterology has reported there will be no significant rainfall in the country for at least the next two months.

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2019-12-21 18:17:12Z
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