IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Saudi Arabia

5 face death penalty for writer's murder

Five Saudi officials face the death penalty for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was killed inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate, the prosecutor said on Thursday. The announcement followed growing outcry over the killing of Khashoggi, who was last seen entering the consulate on Oct 2 to obtain paperwork for his marriage. Khashoggi died after being drugged and then dismembered, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said in the first Saudi confirmation of how he was killed. His body parts were then handed over to an agent outside the consulate grounds, the spokesman said.

United States

White House senior adviser to leave

The White House said on Wednesday that its deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel will leave her current post after first lady Melania Trump said earlier that the official did not deserve to work for Trump. In a statement issued by spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, White House did not reveal what Ricardel's new job would be. In an unusual move to weigh in on personnel matters in the realm of national security, the office of Melania Trump on Tuesday called for the ouster of Ricardel, saying "it is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House".

Sri Lanka

Parliament erupts in chaos for 2nd day

Sri Lanka's Parliament erupted in violence on Thursday as several legislators called for another no-confidence vote on Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse shortly after Rajapakse invited all parties to go in for a parliamentary election to solve the ongoing political crisis. Legislators from Rajapakse's party and ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's party began fighting on the floor of the House and objects were also hurled at Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. He had to leave the floor of Parliament, television footage showed. Some legislators suffered minor injuries while one legislator was rushed to hospital.

France

New planet found in orbit around star

A "super-Earth" has been discovered orbiting the closest single star to our Sun, scientists said on Wednesday in a breakthrough that could shine a light on Earth's nearest planetary neighbors. The planet, estimated to be at least 3.2 times more massive than Earth, was spotted circling Barnard's Star, a type of relatively cool and low-mass star called a red dwarf, about 6 light-years away from our solar system, comparatively close in cosmic terms. "Super-Earth" is a category of planets more massive than Earth but smaller than the large gas planets.

Xinhua - Ap - Afp

(China Daily 11/16/2018 page12)