Your Weekend Briefing

California, Facebook, Thanksgiving View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Sunday, November 18, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Weekend Briefing]( By ALAN YUHAS AND LANCE BOOTH Eric Thayer for The New York Times Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead. 1. The Camp Fire, still tearing across Northern California, has become the deadliest wildfire in the state’s recorded history. The fire has incinerated more than 10,000 homes and businesses — [a small city’s worth]( — and reduced the town of Paradise to ash. We have reported on the tales of those who fled — some [escaped]( tunnels of flame — and on some of the more than [70 lives lost](. The fire has draped [a choking blanket of smoke]( as far south as San Francisco, where schools closed and residents put on masks to step outside. The authorities are searching for [more than 1,000 people]( and [clues about a cause](. In the south, two other wildfires are also burning. “California,” one doctor said, “is being reset to a new reality.” Have you been keeping up with the headlines? Test your knowledge with [our news quiz](. And [here’s the front page of our Sunday paper]( [the Sunday Review]( from Opinion and our [crossword puzzles](. ____ Huseyin Aldemir/Reuters 2. The crown prince of Saudi Arabia ordered the killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi, the C.I.A. concluded. American officials have believed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman culpable for weeks and supported their new conclusion with two sets of intercepted communications: his calls in the days before the killing, and a call afterward by a member of the kill team, who told an aide to the prince to “[tell your boss]( the mission was accomplished. This week the Trump administration, which has allied itself closely with Prince Mohammed, [imposed sanctions]( on 17 Saudis accused of involvement in the killing. With surveillance footage, our reporters [reconstructed the killing and botched cover-up]( in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. And our correspondent there reported on the reaction in Turkey, above, a country where dissidents like Mr. Khashoggi have suffered [one crackdown after another](. ____ Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times 3. Amazon is coming east. The infinite retailer announced its second headquarters would be split into offices in New York and Virginia: one in Long Island City, Queens, and one in Crystal City, near Washington. New York’s mayor and governor agreed to give Amazon a package of[incentives worth at least $1.7 billion]( and allow a helipad for the company’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos. The plan has [prompted outrage]( from some New Yorkers — whose subway system is [underfunded]( in perilous disrepair — and concern from residents of [the nation’s largest housing project]( who live nearby. ____ Tom Brenner for The New York Times 4. And another tech giant, Facebook, is under scrutiny. Our reporters learned that as the company’s leaders realized how much misinformation and hate speech was on their site, they withheld evidence from the public and waged a campaign [to stifle criticism and shift blame]( even hiring a firm to try to discredit protesters. (You can read the [six key takeaways]( here.) The revelations have [cost Facebook powerful friends in Washington]( especially among Democrats who are weighing whether to push regulation. ____ Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times 5. Going to Congress is typically like going to college. But these are not typical times in Washington. Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [joined activists in a protest]( outside Representative Nancy Pelosi’s office, above, putting leaders on notice that [the new House may be divided.]( Ms. Pelosi [is still confident she can fend off]( any challenge to become the next speaker. But Republicans did the defending this past week, in two major elections for governor. In Florida, the race [effectively ended]( after Ron DeSantis, the Republican candidate, gained enough of a lead to avoid a manual recount. In Georgia, Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate, acknowledged she did not have the votes to become the nation’s first black woman elected governor. She [did not concede]( however, saying “disenfranchisement, disinvestment and incompetence” had kept voters from the polls. We took a look at the mistakes, confusion and alleged malfeasance around Election Day — and the [vulnerabilities in the country’s patchwork election grid](. ____ Daniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 6. Britain’s exit from the E.U. moved a major step closer, after officials on and off the Continent [reached a draft agreement]( on the troubled divorce. The cabinet of Prime Minister Theresa May, above, approved the draft — and then two of its members quit, [threatening the deal]( and her leadership. The details of the deal, or lack of them, could affect [hundreds of millions]( in world trade. (If you’re catching up on the slow-burning crisis, we’ve got a guide: [Brexit for the Non-Brit]( ____ Daniel Tapia/Reuters 7. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was secretly charged by U.S. prosecutors in federal court. Mr. Assange, his face depicted above, has lived for years in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London and would have to be arrested and extradited to face the criminal charges, which were [accidentally revealed]( in an unrelated case. During the 2016 presidential election, WikiLeaks published thousands of emails stolen from Democrats by Russian intelligence officers; the special counsel is investigating that Russian interference. While campaigning, President Trump praised WikiLeaks. Soon after taking office, his top advisers[directed the C.I.A.]( and Justice Department to investigate and consider charges against Mr. Assange. The charges, still unknown, have [raised fears]( about undermining press freedoms. ____ Joshua Bright for The New York Times 8. Juul suspended sales of most of its flavored e-cigarette pods, in response to [mounting pressure]( from the government to curb teenage vaping. Two days later, federal regulators [announced new rules]( e-cigarettes and outlawing menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. Though e-cigarettes have been marketed to smokers [trying to quit tar-laden tobacco]( millions of teenagers, raised knowing the dangers of cigarettes, adopted them, too. Experts are concerned about what [nicotine addiction]( does to teens’ developing brains. ____ Ava Williams/NBC 9. On “Saturday Night Live” this week, Steve Carell, above right, [returned to host the show]( for the first time in over a decade, and appeared in a reunion of sorts with some of his former cast mates from “The Office.” Later, Kate McKinnon reprised her role as Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a hip-hop tribute to the justice [after her recent hospitalization](. ____ Christina Holmes for The New York Times 10. We’re four days from Thanksgiving — turkey and stuffing, the fabled food coma, a feast for gratitude — a holiday that has perplexed generations of new arrivals to the U.S. After three years as refugees from Syria, that’s how Mayada Anjari, above, and her family felt when they first experienced it in 2016. Now she has [given Thanksgiving feasts in her family’s style]( turkey made like kabsa, brussels sprouts dressed with tahini and yogurt, butter-rich ma’amoul dough for apple pie. And if you’re in need of last-minute tips, we’ve got you covered with guides to [wine]( [leftovers]( and [eight delicious pies](. ____ William E. Sauro/The New York Times 11. Finally, don’t miss our [Best Weekend Reads](. This week, we remember Stan Lee, the superhero of Marvel Comics, above; talk with Viola Davis and Steve McQueen about a civil rights movement for Hollywood; and journey to the best slice joints in New York City. And in case you need it, here’s [the Week in Good News]( starring 4,000 dogs. For more suggestions on what to watch and listen to, may we suggest the latest small-screen recommendations from [Watching]( and our [music critics’ latest playlist](. Have a great week. ____ Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern. You can [sign up here]( to get our Morning Briefings by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning, or [here]( to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights. Browse our full range of Times newsletters [here](. 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