The Latest: UN urges lifting of diplomatic immunity in probe
The Latest on the disappearance of a Saudi writer who Turkish officials fear was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul (all times local): 1:50 p.m. The U.N. human rights office is calling for the immediate and 'absolute' lifting of diplomatic immunity enjoyed by any officials or premises in the investigation into the disappearance and suspected slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the 'inviolability or immunity' of people or premises granted under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 'should be waived immediately.' She said Tuesday the 'onus is on the Saudi authorities' to reveal what happened, and insisted 'no further obstacles' should be placed in the way of a quick, thorough, impartial and transparent investigation. Bachelet stopped short of calling for an international investigation. Rights office spokesman Rupert Colville said 'we hope the lifting of immunity is absolute' and that 'investigators need to be able to investigate everything they may wish.' ___ 1:30 p.m. Turkish media are quoting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying police investigators have searched for traces of 'toxic materials' at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul where Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared two weeks ago. NTV television says Erdogan made the comments to a group of journalists on Tuesday. Turkish officials believe Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate. Saudi Arabia previously called the allegation 'baseless,' but reports suggest they may acknowledge Khashoggi was killed there. Turkish forensic investigators searched the consulate overnight. A Turkish official said on Tuesday the top Saudi diplomat's residence in Istanbul would also be searched. State-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying Turkey wished a 'result that allows us to reach an opinion' as to what happened to the journalist. ___ 12:30 p.m. A Turkish Foreign Ministry official says Turkish authorities will search the residence of the top Saudi diplomat in Istanbul over missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance. The official did not say when the search of the consul's home would take place. The official spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations. Khashoggi disappeared two weeks ago on a visit to the consulate. Turkish officials fear Saudi officials killed and dismembered the writer inside the mission. Saudi Arabia previously called the allegation 'baseless,' but reports suggest they may acknowledge Khashoggi was killed there. Overnight, Turkish forensic teams searched the consulate building in Istanbul where Khashoggi was last seen entering. Turkish officials have not said if any significant evidence was found. Surveillance footage leaked in Turkish media shows vehicles moving between the consulate and the consul's home after Khashoggi's disappearance. —Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; ___ 12:05 p.m. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting now with Saudi King Salman over the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. Pompeo arrived at a royal palace in Riyadh on Tuesday. The king greeted Pompeo by saying: 'I hope you are comfortable here.' Pompeo responded: 'Thank you for accepting my visit on behalf of President (Donald) Trump.' Pompeo is to also meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Mohammed, whom Khashoggi wrote critically about in The Washington Post and whose rise in power saw the writer go into a self-imposed exile in the U.S. Khashoggi disappeared two weeks ago at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Turkey fears Khashoggi was killed and dismembered at the consulate. Saudi Arabia previously called the allegation 'baseless,' but reports suggest the kingdom may soon acknowledge the writer was killed there. ___ 11:45 a.m. The United Nations' high commissioner for human rights is urging Saudi Arabia and Turkey to 'reveal everything they know about the disappearance and possible extrajudicial killing' of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. Michelle Bachelet made the comment on Tuesday as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia to talk to King Salman about Khashoggi's disappearance. Meanwhile, Turkish forensic investigators overnight searched the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where Khashoggi disappeared Oct. 2. Bachelet said: 'Given there seems to be clear evidence that Mr. Khashoggi entered the consulate and has never been seen since, the onus is on the Saudi authorities to reveal what happened to him from that point onwards.' ___ 9:55 a.m. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman over the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. Pompeo landed on Tuesday morning in Riyadh and was to immediately meet the king over the crisis surrounding Khashoggi, who disappeared two weeks ago on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials say they fear Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate. Saudi officials previously have called the allegations 'baseless,' but reports in U.S. media on Tuesday suggested the kingdom may acknowledge the writer was killed there. ___ 7:20 a.m. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way to Saudi Arabia to speak to its king over the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. Pompeo was in the air when a Turkish police forensics team wrapped up its hourslong search of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul early Tuesday morning. Khashoggi vanished on a visit to the consulate two weeks ago. Turkish officials fear he was killed and dismembered. Saudi Arabia has called those allegations 'baseless,' but has been unable to explain what happened to him. Reports overnight by U.S. media suggest Saudi Arabia soon may concede Khashoggi was killed at the consulate in an interrogation. The kingdom has not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Far from coast, rural counties also recovering from Michael
Haylie Byler and her husband were just beginning life in their new home when Hurricane Michael's monstrous winds mowed down a dozen trees on their property, more an hour's drive inland from where the storm made landfall. They had made only one house payment and no payments yet on his new truck when Michael slammed a tree onto the dwelling, another onto the truck and a third on their other car. For four days, Byler had to climb over huge pine tree trunks to get in and out of her home. 'I have cried two or three times a day,' the 26-year-old elementary school teacher said as chain saws buzzed behind her, wielded by church volunteers from more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) away who arrived out of the blue to help. While much of the world's attention has been focused on badly battered coastal communities like Mexico Beach and Panama City, Michael also devastated mostly rural areas all the way into Alabama and Georgia. Marianna, in Jackson County, was hit with stronger winds than it has ever seen despite being about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Mexico Beach, where Michael came ashore. Days after the storm, 268 people there were still in shelters, power was out throughout the county and cellphone service had only been restored within Marianna. Outlying areas have had no way to communicate. Emergency workers were still conducting search and rescue operations because many people were still stuck in their homes. Similar destruction visited community after community in Florida, all the way from coastal Gulf County to the Alabama border, where seaside escapes give way to cotton fields, cattle and timber. Parks Camp, the science and operations officer at the National Weather Service Tallahassee office, said winds reached 102 mph (164 kph) before its measuring devices failed in the middle of the storm. Wind speeds could have gone higher, he said. Jackson County emergency management director Rodney Andreasen — whose own home was destroyed — said in his 21 years in the military and 18 years in his current position, he's never seen anything like this destruction. Andreasen said the county's power grid was destroyed and it could be a month until it's restored, and the number of damaged and destroyed homes is too high to even estimate. One person died when a tree crushed him during the storm and the death toll could still rise, Andreasen said. 'Our house was destroyed. We're homeless right now,' Andreasen said, as his wife Donna sat nearby. 'We're victims.' Many in Florida's inland communities usually don't make the same preparations as people closer to the coast. Few evacuate, and the frantic run for food, water and supplies also isn't as great. Shauna Benefield, 20, and her boyfriend, Alex Edwards, 21, live just north of Marianna's historic downtown in his family's home, and they didn't stock up. After the storm cleared, Edwards had to drive 50 miles to DeFuniak Springs for water, food and gas. There was nowhere nearby to get any in the immediate aftermath. Trees surrounding their home snapped in half, some landing on the roof and sending his family to the basement for shelter. They've cleared limbs from the roof, and replaced them with blue tarps. But they still have no water or electricity. Still, they say there's been a strong neighbor-helping-neighbor response. They've given out water and bananas. 'It's not just about us, it's about everyone,' said Edwards, shirtless with a tattoo on his chest that reads 'Walk with God. Die when my time's up' as he helped clean the mess around the house. That same spirit of generosity is evident across the ravaged region. 'We've got a lot of people who've lost their farms, their barns, their crops,' said Jill Braxton, 46, of Vernon in Washington County, which is north of Panama City and west of Marianna. She had a pickup truck full of hay to distribute to other horse owners. 'We've got no power and we had some downed trees but our house wasn't touched. We're good,' she said. 'We're just trying to help other people.' Haylie Byler said she's thankful for help from strangers who 'just showed up at our doorstep and just started clearing things. I don't know what I would have done. It's a God thing. I don't know what you believe, but God has definitely shown up and showed out for us.
