International

JUBA (Xinhua) —  The China medical team in South Sudan on Saturday donated food items and offered free medical assistance to a children's home in the capital Juba.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced five people to death Monday for the killing of Washington Post columnist and royal family critic Jamal Khashoggi, whose grisly slaying in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul drew international condemnation and cast a cloud of suspicion over Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that he was not ruling out calling witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial — but indicated he was in no hurry to seek new testimony either — as lawmakers remain at an impasse over the form of the trial by the GOP-controlled Senate.

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II plans to acknowledge that both Britain and her family have endured a difficult year by saying during her Christmas message that it has been a “bumpy” time.

PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame kept Christmas going even during two world wars — a beacon of hope amid the bloodshed.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — A court sentenced a Chinese man on Monday to 14 months in prison, suspended for three years, for intruding into war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo and damaging a drape by throwing ink on it earlier this year.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — In an eastern downtown area of Tokyo, known for its Thai community, classes are being held in a six-story building promoting Thai language and culture.

CHONGQING (Xinhua) — Two pairs of panda twins marked their half-year anniversary Sunday in a zoo in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, as they cuddled around and climbed a tree.

BEIJING (AP) — The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea are holding a trilateral summit in China this week amid feuds over trade, military maneuverings and historical animosities. Most striking has been a complex dispute between Seoul and Tokyo, while Beijing has recently sought to tone down its disagreements with its two neighbors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House argued Sunday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put herself in an untenable position by stalling House-passed articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in hopes of shaping the upcoming Senate trial.