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National

Nearly 250,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes in Southern California as the Woolsey and Hill fires continue to wreak havoc the region.

The damage: The Woolsey fire, in particular, has covered 35,000 acres, the L.A. Times reports, and is still on the move as it creeps towards the coast through Oak Park and Thousand Oaks sustaining wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. The fire has taken at least 100 structures, according to the Los Angeles fire chief. Among the damaged structures is Paramount Ranch in Agoura where HBO's "Westworld" has been filmed.

President Trump tweeted his dissatisfaction with the management of California’s forests, Saturday morning, threatening to pull federal funding for the state. He later tweeted a warning to residents of the affected areas, calling on people to “listen to evacuation orders.” 

Wind driven flames of the Woolsey Fire moving through Malibu Creek State Park. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

A deputy retreating from the flames of the Woolsey fire. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

Flames blowing from homes burned down in the Woolsey fire. Photo: David McNew

Smoke from the Woolsey fire. Photo: September Dawn Bottoms/ SOPA via Getty Images

A traffic jam from citizens evacuating Malibu. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images

Clouds of smoke hovering over the beach in Malibu. Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

An owl on the beach as the Woolsey fire burns. Photo: Wally Skalij/The Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

In Northern California, the Camp Fire has destroyed 90% of the homes in the town of Paradise, and at least nine people have been killed.

Go deeper: Historic California wildfires destroy towns, turn deadly

Trump threatens to pull California federal funding over wildfires

Thousands evacuated as 3 California wildfires ravage the state

In photos: Woolsey fire wreaks havoc on Southern California

Llamas tied to a lifeguard stand at the beach as the Woolsey fire burns on. Photo: Wally Skalij/The Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Science

California

Energy & Climate

Just after Florida’s secretary of state announced a recount of their governor's race Saturday, Democrat candidate Andrew Gillum withdrew his concession to Republican Ron DeSantis, per CNN.

One key quote: "I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call we count every single vote," he said.

Andrew Gillum withdraws concession in Florida governor's race

"We count every single vote," Gillum said.

Andrew Gillum. Photo: Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images.

Politics

Andrew Gillum

Saudi Arabia will no longer receive aerial refueling assistance from the U.S. in Yemen, according to statements released by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Friday. 

The big picture: Pressure has been building on the U.S.-Saudi relationship since the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the increased attention on the atrocities taking place in Yemen. The move comes as the U.N. envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths is working to gather the warring parties in Yemen for peace talks, which Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have thrown their support behind. 

"Recently the Kingdom and the Coalition has increased its capability to independently conduct inflight refueling in Yemen. As a result, in consultation with the United States, the Coalition has requested cessation of inflight refueling support for it's operations in Yemen. ‏The Coalition Command expresses its hope that the upcoming UN sponsored negotiations in a third country, will lead to a negotiated settlement in accordance to UNSCR 2216 and see an end to the aggression by the Iranian backed Houthi militias' against the Yemeni people and countries in the region..." 

"We support the decision by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after consultations with the U.S. Government, to use the Coalition’s own military capabilities to conduct inflight refueling in support of its operations in Yemen. We are all focused on supporting resolution of the conflict, led by UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths. ... The U.S. will also continue working with the Coalition and Yemen to minimize civilian casualties and expand urgent humanitarian efforts throughout the country." 

U.S. to stop aerial refueling of Saudi coalition aircraft in Yemen

The Saudis said the coalition has "increased its capability to...conduct inflight refueling."

Men inspect a destroyed structure in Yemen.

A Hodeidah factory allegedly targeted by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in July. Photo: Abdo Hyder/AFP/Getty Images

World

Yemeni Civil War

White House Middle East peace envoy Jason Greenblatt said in a speech at a closed event in London earlier this week that the U.S. "will soon be ready to publish" President Trump's long awaited plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, people who attended the event told me.

Timing: On September 26th, Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York and said he will release his peace plan within two to four months. This means the plan could be release as soon as the beginning of December. White House officials declined to say what Greenblatt meant when he said "soon." However, the main challenge for Trump's "peace team" is the fact the Palestinians have cut ties with the White House over the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
 

The details: At the London event Greenblatt made clear the Israelis and the Palestinians will have to compromise. He said: "Neither side will like everything in the plan, but we are confident both sides will understand why we came to the conclusions that we did — if they are willing to engage."

Greenblatt said the Trump administration is not looking for an interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinians and wants to try and change the status quo. "The standard talking points to the conflict will not bring us closer to peace. The United States will no longer invest in temporary solutions. We understand that temporary solutions do little to improve Palestinian lives, and prolong the cycle of suffering and violence," he said. 

The big picture: In the last several months, Palestinian leadership has said multiple times it will not engage on the Trump administration's peace plan and that the plan will be biased in favor of Israel. Greenblatt tried to push back on this claim explaining. "[b]efore you pass judgment, read the plan from beginning to end. Don’t listen to rumors and reports from sources other than the Trump Administration. Judge it for what it is intended to be – a comprehensive proposed solution to the conflict."
 
A White House official declined to comment on the matter directly saying, "we are not going to comment on the veracity of alleged comments from an off the record event/closed press event."

Trump's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan will be published "soon"

It could be released as early as December.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump shake hands at the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Israeli-Palestinian peace process

Israel

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

Florida's secretary of state has ordered recounts of both the governor and senator races with candidates in each race within a half of a percentage point of each other, the AP reports. 

The details: Florida, by law, must conduct a recount when results fall within the margin of error, the AP explains. Ron DeSantis, Republican candidate for governor currently leads the race with 49.6% of the vote while Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate, holds 49.2%. Rick Scott, current governor and candidate for senator, holds 50.1% of the vote in the Senate race while incumbent Senator Bill Nelson holds 49.9%.

Driving the news: President Trump accused Florida Democrats of attempting to fix the election in favor of Gillum and Nelson despite having no supporting evidence to back up his claim.

On Saturday, Trump responded to the recount, again accusing the elections of attempting to be stolen. 

Scott filed a lawsuit against Broward County's supervisor of elections and accused officials of withholding information as the race tightened after he declared victory over Nelson. 

What's next: The recount order applies to the entire state, so all 8,302,983 votes must be recounted over the next five days, the Miami Herald reports. 

Florida Senate and governor races head to recounts

Both races are within a half of a percentage point of each other.

Bill Nelson,Rick Scott, Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis. Photos: Getty Images

2018 midterm elections

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Finish Line

Axios Finish Line

Concern about antitrust action from Washington may be influencing how Amazon selects its much-sought new headquarters — specifically pushing it to favor the D.C. area. We asked legal scholars whether the government actually has a case against Amazon — as President Trump has threatened — and what antitrust action would look like.

The backdrop: One of the leading thinkers on an Amazon breakup is Lina Khan, author of a seminal paper called "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox" while at Yale Law School. Khan argues that antitrust laws that focus on prices are ill-equipped to address Amazon's market power.

Even if the e-commerce giant keeps prices very low and customers very happy, Amazon's mountains of data on shoppers, and its dominance across a multitude of industries give it outsize influence that is anti-competitive, Khan writes.

That's precisely what European Union regulators are probing: whether Amazon's consumer data gives it an inherent — and unfair — advantage over rivals.

"If the [U.S.] agencies investigate, they will focus on the questions raised by specific conduct; for example, the use of leverage to exclude rivals, keep them at bay, and entrench market power by doing so."

Eleanor Fox, antitrust law expert and professor at NYU

But some legal experts tell Axios that Amazon is in the clear:

"The two most antitrust common complaints about Amazon concern low prices and acquisitions. As to the former, the fact that Amazon grew for many years while not running company-wide profits most likely reflects consumer-friendly but lawful prices and aggressive investment in product improvements and new lines of business. The public criticisms fall far short of demonstrating a pattern of unlawfully low prices. As to acquisitions, I am not aware of any instance in which Amazon has obtained market power by merger or acquisition."

Doug Melamed, antitrust law professor at Stanford

Amazon and antitrust

We asked legal scholars whether the government actually has a case against Amazon.

Future

Amazon

Business

Big Tech

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

The escalating U.S. fear of Beijing's spies chipping away at the American tech edge has a new focus: Chinese scientists who are recruited to return to their homeland.

Driving the news: China is making its Thousand Talents Plan — a widely publicized government program that has lured an estimated 7,000 Chinese scientists back home to date — disappear, reports Nature. The program has been wiped from government sites, and interviewers have reportedly been instructed no longer to mention the initiative by name when speaking with prospective recruits.

The big picture: Scientific cooperation between the U.S. and China is splintering amid the full-blown trade war and intensifying Washington rhetoric around Beijing's economic espionage. It threatens to slow scientific advances across the world.

"My sense is that things in this space are going to get worse before they get better," says Chris Johnson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Thought bubble, from Axios science editor Andrew Freedman: China is making great strides in multiple fields, including supercomputing, AI, gene editing (biology), medicine, atmospheric sciences and space exploration, to name a few. Their goals are ambitious, and it's not so much that luring scientists back home will set scientific progress back, but more that it'll probably benefit China versus other nations, like the U.S."

Xi Xiaoxing, a physicist at Temple University, told Nature: “Every scientist should be concerned — not just scientists of Chinese origin." Xi was arrested by the FBI for sharing sensitive information with China, but his case was later dropped. 

The scientists caught between the U.S. and China

Scientific cooperation between the U.S. and China is splintering

A row of people in lab coats looking into microscopes

Scientists at Central South University in Hunan, China. Photo: Guang Niu/Getty

China

The California Camp Fire has burned more than 100,000 acres and is at 20% containment Saturday morning as it ravages the state as the most destructive wildfire in its history. 

The trends: The Camp Fire that tore through Paradise, California, is not an anomaly, Axios' Andrew Freedman explains. The Golden State is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons on record, having had its hottest month in state history in July, along with the largest fire the state has ever recorded. According to Aon Insurance meteorologist Steve Bowen, 7 of the top 20 most destructive fires in the state have occurred since October 2017.

By the numbers: The fire has destroyed at least 6,713 homes, businesses and other structures. 

80% to 90% of the homes in Paradise have been destroyed, according to CNN.

This fire surpasses the damage from the previous record-holder, which was the deadly Tubbs Fire, which devastated Santa Rosa in the state's wine country just 13 months ago.

Cal Fire Captain Steve Millosovich carries a cage full of cats that were found in the road after the Camp Fire moved through the area. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Abandoned burned out cars sit in the middle of the road after the Camp Fire moved through the area. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A chimney remains at the site of a home that burned as the Camp Fire moves through the area. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A home burns as the Camp Fire moves through the area. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Hospital workers at the Feather River Hospital work in a triage area while evacuating patients as the Camp Fire moves through the area. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A business burns as the Camp Fire moves through the area. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Go deeper: California wildfire is the most destructive in state history

In photos: See the devastation left by California's most destructive wildfire

The California Camp Fire has burned more than 100,000 acres.

A Cal Fire firefighter monitors a burning home as the Camp Fire moves through the area. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Wildfires

Climate change

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that an audio recording of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's last moments in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has been given to the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, and Britain, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: There are still a number of questions surrounding the murder of Khashoggi, whose body has not yet been found. CIA Director Gina Haspel reportedly heard audio of his interrogation and killing after traveling to Turkey.

Erdogan says he gave audio of Khashoggi's killing to U.S.

There are still questions about what happened inside the consulate.

Axios

Saturday's top stories

In photos: Woolsey fire wreaks havoc on Southern California

Andrew Gillum withdraws concession in Florida governor's race

U.S. to stop aerial refueling of Saudi coalition aircraft in Yemen

Trump's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan will be published "soon"

Florida Senate and governor races head to recounts

Amazon and antitrust

The scientists caught between the U.S. and China

In photos: See the devastation left by California's most destructive wildfire

Erdogan says he gave audio of Khashoggi's killing to U.S.

The midterms winners who got outspent

Some strongmen are power-grabbers, others just cheaters

The uprising for higher wages

Paradise lost: California wildfire is the most destructive in state history