VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,144 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2018

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WASHINGTON — Top Saudiintelligence officials close toCrown Prince Mohammed binSalman asked a small group ofbusinessmen last year about us-ing private companies to assassi-nate Iranian enemies of the king-dom, according to three people fa-miliar with the discussions.

The Saudis inquired at a timewhen Prince Mohammed, thenthe deputy crown prince and de-fense minister, was consolidatingpower and directing his advisersto escalate military and intelli-gence operations outside the king-dom. Their discussions, more thana year before the killing of thejournalist Jamal Khashoggi, indi-cate that top Saudi officials haveconsidered assassinations sincethe beginning of Prince Moham-med’s ascent.

Saudi officials have portrayedMr. Khashoggi’s death as a roguekilling ordered by an official whohas since been fired. But that offi-cial, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri,was present for a meeting inMarch 2017 in Riyadh, the Saudicapital, where the businessmenpitched a $2 billion plan to use pri-vate intelligence operatives to tryto sabotage the Iranian economy.

During the discussion, part of aseries of meetings where the mentried to win Saudi funding for theirplan, General Assiri’s top aides in-quired about killing Qassim Sulei-mani, the leader of the Quds Forceof Iran’s Revolutionary GuardsCorps and a man considered a de-termined enemy of Saudi Arabia.

The interest in assassinations,covert operations and militarycampaigns like the war in Yemen— overseen by Prince Moham-med — is a change for the king-dom, which historically hasavoided an adventurous foreignpolicy that could create instabilityand imperil Saudi Arabia’s com-

SAUDIS DISCUSSEDHIRING ASSASSINS TO KILL IRANIANS

YEAR BEFORE KHASHOGGI

Businessmen Met WithPrince’s Aide About a

Common Enemy

This article is by Mark Mazzetti,Ronen Bergman and David D. Kirk-patrick.

Mohammed bin SalmanGIUSEPPE CACACE/A.F.P. — GETTY IMAGES

Continued on Page A9

PARIS — Dozens of leadersfrom around the globe marchedin the soaking rain down theChamps Élysée on Sunday, ex-pressing solidarity for an inter-national order that had its ori-gins in the end of a world war 100years ago, an order now underincreasing pressure on bothsides of the Atlantic.

Only after these leaders ar-rived by foot at the Arc de Triom-phe did President Trump showup, protected from the rain as hemade an individual entrance. Afew minutes later, PresidentVladimir V. Putin of Russia didthe same.

For Mr. Trump, at least, theseparate arrival was attributedto security concerns. But some-how it felt apt that these twoleaders would not arrive with thecrowd.

No one has done more to breakup the postwar global system inthe last couple of years than Mr.Trump and Mr. Putin. As theanniversary of the armistice thatended World War I was com-memorated on Sunday, Mr.Trump’s brand of “America First”nationalism was rebuked fromthe podium while he sat stone-faced and unmoved, alienatedfrom some of America’s strong-est allies, including his Frenchhosts.

But while he may have beenout of step with many of theleaders gathered around him, Mr.Trump remains at the vanguardof forces that are redefining theWestern political paradigm incountries like Poland, Hungary,Italy and Turkey. In Britain andGermany, two of the Continent’smajor powers, nationalist move-ments have upended the estab-lishment.

So a ceremony meant to cele-

‘America First’Draws Rebuke

At CeremonyStill, Much of EuropeEchoes Trump’s Views

NEWS ANALYSIS

By PETER BAKERand ALISSA J. RUBIN

Continued on Page A10

President Trump was out of step with many of the leaders gathered in France on Sunday for the centennial of the end of World War I.TOM BRENNER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

PARADISE, Calif. — Thou-sands of residents in the woodedtown of Paradise did what theywere told to do when the morningskies turned dark and an infernoraged across the hills: They got intheir cars and fled. What hap-pened next was the vehicularequivalent of a stampede, packingthe roads to a standstill.

In the hours after the devastat-ing wildfire broke out around Par-adise on Thursday morning, tree-lined streets in the town swiftlybecame tunnels of fire, blocked byfallen power lines and burningtimber. Frantic residents, encir-cled by choking dense smoke andswirling embers, ran out of gasand ditched their cars. Fire crewsstruggling to reach the town usedgiant earthmovers to plow aban-doned vehicles off the road as ifthey were snowdrifts after a bliz-zard.

By Sunday night, the Camp Firehad matched the deadliest in Cali-fornia history, the Griffith ParkFire of 1933, with 29 fatalities. Sev-en of the victims in Paradise diedin their vehicles.

Farther south near Los Ange-les, where another vast fire con-tinued its destruction, a massevacuation was also all but haltedat times by snarled roads. The LosAngeles County Sheriff’s Depart-ment said that two bodies hadbeen found severely burned in-side a stopped vehicle on a long,narrow driveway in Malibu.

At a news conference late Sun-day, Sheriff Kory L. Honea ofButte County said that 228 peoplewere still unaccounted for inNorthern California; state offi-cials said they were not aware ofanyone missing in connection tofires in the south. Statewide, about149,000 were still under orders toleave their homes.

Again and again in California’sbattle with wildfires, roads haveemerged as a major vulnerability

for those escaping.There was only one way out of

Paradise for residents fleeing thefire, the four-lane road known asSkyway, which quickly becameparalyzed by traffic, a situationsimilar to what residents of Mal-ibu endured along the PacificCoast Highway, another chokepoint.

Lauri Kester, a caretaker for theelderly in Paradise, said it had tak-en an hour to drive three miles on

Thursday as the firestorm rippedthrough the town.

“There were cars behind, carsin front and fire on both sides,” Ms.Kester said. A police officer run-ning past her told her to abandonher Subaru.

So Ms. Kester, 52, ran down theroad with her dog, Biscuit, in herarms. “I thought, ‘This is not how Iwant to die,’” Ms. Kester recalledon Sunday morning in Chico,

In Flight From California Fires, Highway Becomes a DeathtrapThis article is by Jack Nicas,

Thomas Fuller and Tim Arango.

Cars abandoned along the main road out of Paradise, Calif., when a fast-moving fire approached.JIM WILSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A14

WASHINGTON — Two days af-ter midterm congressional elec-tions that handed them control ofthe House, triumphant Demo-crats dialed in to their first confer-ence call since winning the major-ity to strategize on the way for-ward.

But the call that RepresentativeNancy Pelosi of California, the mi-nority leader, convened on Thurs-day with Democratic lawmakersand their newly elected col-leagues was not a planning ses-sion on how to protect health carecoverage or lower prescriptiondrug prices, thematic pillars of the

party’s successful campaigns. Itwas a briefing about PresidentTrump’s latest move — his deci-sion, hours after the last pollsclosed, to fire the attorney general— and a discussion of how Demo-crats would address the cascadeof potentially grave constitutionalconsequences that could follow.

The strategy session high-lighted the central challenge thatDemocrats face as they prepare toassume control of the House in anew era of divided governmentthat begins in January. Demo-crats, who remained remarkably

A Maxim for the New Majority:Pick Your Battles. Stay Focused.

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

Continued on Page A16

WASHINGTON — North Koreais moving ahead with its ballisticmissile program at 16 hiddenbases that have been identified innew commercial satellite images,a network long known to Ameri-can intelligence agencies but leftundiscussed as President Trumpclaims to have neutralized theNorth’s nuclear threat.

The satellite images suggestthat the North has been engagedin a great deception: It has offeredto dismantle a major launchingsite — a step it began, then halted— while continuing to make im-provements at more than a dozenothers that would bolsterlaunches of conventional and nu-clear warheads.

The existence of the ballisticmissile bases, which North Koreahas never acknowledged, contra-dicts Mr. Trump’s assertion thathis landmark diplomacy is leadingto the elimination of a nuclear andmissile program that the Northhad warned could devastate theUnited States.

“We are in no rush,” Mr. Trumpsaid of talks with the North at anews conference on Wednesday,after Republicans lost control ofthe House. “The sanctions are on.The missiles have stopped. Therockets have stopped. The hos-tages are home.”

His statement was true in just

Hidden BasesIn North Korea

Suggest Deceit

By DAVID E. SANGERand WILLIAM J. BROAD

Continued on Page A9

JINZHOU, China — Zhang Zhe-jun used a fat plastic straw to gen-tly tap the pale yellow pharma-ceutical powder onto a piece of sil-ver foil that lay on an electronicscale. He made sure the amountwas just right before he poured itinto a clear capsule.

When making cancer drugs athome, the measurements must beprecise.

Mr. Zhang had no medical expe-rience and no background in mak-ing drugs professionally. He didthis out of desperation. Hismother suffered from lung cancerand required expensive drugsthat China’s ambitious but trou-bled health care system couldn’tprovide.

He was aware of the risks. Thedrug he was making had not been

approved by regulators in Chinaor the United States. Mr. Zhanghad bought the raw ingredientsonline, but he was not sure fromwhom, or whether they were evenreal.

“We’re not picky. We don’t havethe right to choose,” he said. “Youjust hope the sellers have a con-science.”

It is a desperation born of ne-cessity. China’s aging populationis increasingly stricken withdeadly diseases like cancer anddiabetes, but many cannot find orafford drugs.

The country’s rudimentary in-surance system does not begin tocover the ever-rising prices oftreatments and drugs. Coveragealso depends on where somebodylives, and some rural residentsstill lack access to certain drugs.

Despite a costly new safety netfrom the government, illness re-mains the leading reason Chinesefamilies fall below the povertyline, according to official figures.

Many of China’s problems areself-inflicted. Major bureaucratichurdles keep lifesaving drugs outof the reach of millions who needthem. Drug approvals, while ac-celerating, remain dauntinglybacklogged. Until October lastyear, pharmaceuticals approvedin the United States and Europehad to go through an extensivevetting process in China. Evennow, foreign-made drugs have to

In China, the Desperate Make Medicine at HomeBy SUI-LEE WEE Weak Safety Net Keeps

Lifesaving DrugsOut of Reach

Continued on Page A6

The former first lady’s memoir tells ofher childhood, her marriage and hertime in the White House, but it alsoassails President Trump. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Michelle Obama’s StoryThree migrant women were elated tosee a Border Patrol agent. But theirrelief soon turned to terror. PAGE A12

NATIONAL A12-18

Nightmare at the BorderThe residents of Nazaré, Portugal, usedto fear the deadly swells until the townbecame a surfers’ mecca. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-11

Waves That Only Surfers Love

Multiple questions are swirling aroundthe vote tallies in three statewide racesthat are undergoing recounts. PAGE A18

Election Chaos in FloridaA covert mission apparently went awry,leaving one Israeli soldier and at leastseven Palestinians dead. PAGE A7

Gaza Raid Threatens Truce

Two years have passed since the Mexi-can drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loerawas extradited to New York. His trialbegins on Tuesday. PAGE A19

NEW YORK A19-21

El Chapo Heads Back to CourtHow does an aspiring tennis playerfollow in the footsteps of a parent whohappens to be one the sport’s greats?Leo Borg, a top Swedish prospect, isfinding out. PAGE D1

SPORTSMONDAY D1-7

Big Sneakers to Fill

Charles M. Blow PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

The government’s efforts to forgive loandebt for those whose degrees are nowworthless have stalled. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-9, 12

Cheated Students Are in Limbo

Veterans of presidential campaignsoffer reporters options for dealing withhim, Jim Rutenberg writes. PAGE B1

Should Press Boycott Trump?

Willie O’Ree, 83, is being honored notonly as the N.H.L.’s first black player,but also for his decades of working tohelp young hockey players all overNorth America. PAGE D1

Hockey’s Jackie Robinson

Late EditionToday, some sunshine giving way toclouds, high 49. Cloudy, rain arrivingand becoming heavier, low 45. To-morrow, rain tapering to showers,high 54. Weather map, Page D8.

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