Chevron Corp. expects to write down as much as $11 billion in the fourth quarter, more than half of it from its Appalachia natural gas assets after a slump in prices.

The U.S. oil giant is considering the sale of its shale-gas holdings, along with its Kitimat liquefied natural gas project in Canada, it said in a statement Tuesday. Chevron said it will keep its 2020 capital budget at $20 billion, the third consecutive year it hasn’t boosted spending.

The company’s actions come from a chief executive, Mike Wirth, whose mantra has been capital discipline. This year Wirth earned $1 billion for the company by walking away from a bidding war for Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron is the best performer among the five major Western oil companies this year, but it has faced mounting costs at its Tengiz project in Kazakhstan.

“The Appalachia write-down should be baked in, but the others are incrementally negative” for the stock, said Muhammed Ghulam, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates. “I would expect most companies to have to write down gas assets this year.”

Chevron follows oil-services giant Schlumberger Ltd. and Spanish oil and gas producer Repsol in ascribing a lower value to their assets at a time when the growing adoption of cleaner energy stokes speculation that demand for fossil fuels may peak in a few years, while supplies keep rising. Schlumberger posted a $12.7-billion write-down in October, and Repsol took $5.3 billion off its balance sheet last week.

Chevron’s stock fell 0.5% to $117.27 a share in after-hours trading, giving back the gain it made in regular trading Tuesday before the write-down was announced. The stock is up about 8% for the year.

The gas glut is particularly pronounced in North America, where shale production is flooding local markets. Wirth said his decision to walk away from certain gas assets illustrates Chevron’s discipline in protecting shareholder funds.

“The best use of our capital is investing in our most advantaged assets,” Wirth said in the statement. “With capital discipline and a conservative outlook comes the responsibility to make the tough choices necessary to deliver higher cash returns to our shareholders over the long term.”

Wirth has made crude production from the Permian Basin a centerpiece of his global strategy, with a budget of $4 billion for the shale play next year. The giant Tengiz joint venture in the Caspian Sea, whose total cost has surged to about $45 billion, will receive $3.75 billion from Chevron in 2020.

U.S. natural gas futures prices have slumped this year amid a supply glut and are now averaging about $2.54 per million British thermal units. If it finishes the year at that level, it’ll be the lowest average price since 1999.

The move to write down Appalachian gas is likely to pressure other producers in the region to do the same. Newly built gas export terminals along the U.S. Gulf Coast have so far failed to absorb the excess supply.

Chevron held more than 750,000 net acres in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, which stretch from West Virginia to Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to a 2017 fact sheet on the company’s website. The write-down also encompasses the Big Foot oil platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which began producing last year.

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — 

Saudi Arabia’s oil company Aramco gained 10% in its first moments on the stock market Wednesday in a dramatic debut that held until closing and pushed its value up to $1.88 trillion, surpassing Apple as the largest listed company in the world.

Trading on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange came after a mammoth $25.6-billion initial public offering that set the record as the biggest ever in history, overtaking the $25 billion raised by China’s Alibaba in 2014.

Demand during the bookbuilding period for Aramco’s IPO reached $106 billion, with most of that generated by Saudi investment.

Aramco, owned by the state, has sold a 1.5% stake in the company, pricing its shares before trading at 32 Saudi riyals, or $8.53.

At pre-trading auction earlier in the morning, bids for Aramco had already reached the 10% limit on stock price fluctuation allowed by Tadawul. That pushed the price of Aramco shares in opening moments to 35.2 riyals, or $9.39 a share, where it held until closing at 3 p.m.

A stunning attack in September blamed on Iran struck Aramco’s main processing facility. Still, the company remains attractive to many local investors. Aramco is worth more than the top five oil companies — Exxon Mobil, Total, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and BP — combined. It also has one of the lowest costs of production, estimated at around $4 a barrel.

Internationally, however, investors have been spooked by the geopolitical risks associated with Aramco, as well as the Saudi crown prince’s policies and the stain on the kingdom’s reputation following the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Turkey last year.

Rather than float internationally, Aramco sold locally 0.5% of its shares to individual retail investors — most of whom are Saudi nationals — and 1% to institutional investors, most of which are Saudi and Gulf-based funds.

The retail portion was limited to Saudi citizens, residents of Saudi Arabia or nationals of Gulf Arab states.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman plans to use the money raised from the sale of a sliver of the kingdom’s crown jewel to diversify the country’s economy and fund major national projects that create jobs for millions of young Saudis entering the workforce.

What the 34-year-old prince had initially sought was a $2-trillion valuation for Aramco and the sale of up to 5% of the company — on an international stock exchange as well as the Saudi market — that could raise $100 billion.

Instead, potential buyers outside Saudi Arabia thought his $2-trillion valuation was too high. With the gains made on Tadawul and a strong local push, the company moves closer to clinching that $2-trillion mark without even listing internationally.

Less than a quarter of institutional investment generated in the IPO, or 23%, was raised from non-Saudi investors, according to lead advisor Samba Capital.

Saudi companies and government institutions raised 51% of the overall demand, with public and private funds contributing to the remaining 26%, Samba Capital said.

“They have had to launch the IPO on their own stock exchange as the valuation was unlikely to be achieved elsewhere,” said John Colley, associate dean at Warwick Business School in the U.K.

He said the surging price on launch suggests that buying may be from those affiliated with the crown prince.

In the lead-up to the flotation, there had been a strong push for Saudis, including princes and businessmen, to contribute to what’s seen locally as a moment of national pride, and even duty.

A brief ceremony as trading started Wednesday saw a countdown in Arabic, the sounding of a bell, a light show with music and applause all around. At the celebration at the Fairmont hotel in Riyadh, Aramco Chairman Yasir Rumayyan described the sale as “a proud and historic moment for Saudi Aramco and our majority shareholder, the kingdom.” He said it demonstrates further significant progress toward Saudi Arabia’s transformation and economic growth.

Aramco, which has exclusive rights to produce and sell the kingdom’s energy reserves, was founded in 1933 with America’s Standard Oil Co. before becoming fully owned by Saudi Arabia four decades ago.

Strong demand for Aramco’s stock has so far been mostly generated by Saudi funds, rather than the wider net of international investors the crown prince’s economic diversification plan may need to succeed.

The sale of Aramco is a step toward raising new streams of capital for the government’s Public Investment Fund, but it is only part of a much larger transformation needed to move the economy away from reliance on oil exports for revenue.

Zachary Cefaratti, chief executive of Dalma Capital, which invested in Aramco through funds, said he anticipates the company could as early as Thursday become the first in the world valued at over $2 trillion if another day‘s worth of 10% gains are met.

To encourage Saudi citizens to buy and keep hold of Aramco stock, the company says it will pay a dividend of at least $75 billion in 2020. Individual Saudi investors who hold their shares for six months from the first day of trading can also receive up to 100 bonus shares, or one for every 10 held.

The government additionally encouraged Saudis by making it easier to access credit for stock purchases.

The result was that just over 5 million individuals, nearly all of them Saudi nationals out of a population of around 20 million citizens, generated subscriptions of $13 billion.

With oil prices hovering around $63 a barrel, the kingdom needs a break-even oil price of $87 a barrel to balance its budget and climb out of the deficit, according to Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

One of the biggest expenditures is government salaries for the millions of Saudis that work in the public sector.

Aramco’s flotation could help generate billions of dollars in capital to invest in job-creating projects that benefit private businesses and keep unemployment from rising beyond current levels of roughly 12%.

If you have a plant-related class, garden tour or other event you’d like us to mention, email [email protected] — at least three weeks in advance — and we may include it. Send a high-resolution horizontal photo, if possible, and tell us what we’re seeing and whom to credit.

Through Jan. 5
L.A. Zoo Lights includes animal-themed light displays, 3D projections, disco-ball forest, “Twinkle Tunnel” and — new this year — the “World’s Largest Illuminated Pop-Up Storybook,” from 6 to 10 p.m., closed Dec. 24-25, at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens at 5333 Zoo Drive in Griffith Park. Odd Market Nights, a holiday gift bazaar featuring crafters and live music, on Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 22. Tickets $11 for members; nonmembers pay $15-$22 for adults 13 and older, $12-17 for children 2-12.lazoolights.org

Descanso Gardens’ Enchanted Forest of Light is a gentle 1-mile walk through the gardens highlighting some of the most popular locations with large-scale light displays. New this year is a “magical ‘stained-glass’” creation at Mulberry Pond by contemporary sculptor Tom Fruin. This year’s exhibit also features updated versions of the popular “Celestial Shadows” display of spinning polyhedrons, the “Lightwave Lake” light show and Jen Lewin’s flowing interactive landscape of meandering pathways called “Aqueous.” Students from California School of the Arts will perform Dec. 13-14. Member-only nights Dec. 20-23 and 26-28. General admission tickets start at $30; members pay $5 less. Children 2 and younger, free. Tickets must be purchased in advance. descansogardens.org

Dec. 10-15, 17-23 & 26-30
San Diego Botanic Garden’s Holiday Nights in the Garden promises a family-friendly range of activities such as nightly “snowfall” and a play area with real snow, visits with Santa (through Dec. 23), holiday crafts, a 10-foot-tall poinsettia tower and a “romantic mistletoe hideaway” (something to keep the parents busy perhaps, while the kids are tossing snowballs?). Admission prices range from $25 for nonmembers on weekends to $17 for children 3-17; prices slightly lower on weeknights. 230 Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas. SDBGarden.org

Dec. 10
California Native Plant Society board President Steve Hartman recaps his 45-year history as a CNPS volunteer and conservationist during the monthly meeting of the Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the First United Methodist Church of Santa Monica, 1008 11th St. Admission is free. lasmmcnps.org

Dec. 11
The Southern California Garden Club is dedicating a Blue Star Memorial Marker at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, 40 Presidential Drive, in Simi Valley at 11 a.m. The Blue Star Memorial Marker program was started in 1945 by the National Garden Clubs Inc., to honor those serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, past present and future. southerncaliforniagardenclub.com

Dec. 11-13
Rancho Los Alamitos Holiday Open House will light up the grounds of the 18th century ranch house and gardens between 4 and 7 p.m. each night. A special event for children ages 3 to 8 is set for Dec. 12, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., and reservations are required. The children’s event includes stories about holiday parties and family traditions from the Rancho’s past, as well as an interactive concert by the Long Beach Camerata Singers and craft activities in the barnyard. Children must be accompanied by an adult. $15 adults, $10 children under 12. Children 2 and under are free. The three-day evening open house features music, light refreshments at the barn, seasonal displays outside and tours of the ranch house decorated for the holidays at 6400 E. Bixby Hill Road in Long Beach. Admission is free but parking reservations are required; call (562) 431-3541. rancholosalamitos.org

Dec. 12
Mike Evans, founder of the Tree of Life Nursery for native plants, discusses how to create bold landscapes and design with native plants at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens’ monthly Garden Talk in the Ahmanson classroom of the Brody Botanical Center, 2:30 p.m. A plant sale follows the talk. Admission is free. huntington.org

Dec. 12-15, 19-22
The sixth Nights of 1,000 Lights at Sherman Library & Gardens celebrates the holidays with a 12-night garden light show Thursdays through Sundays. The event, which includes music, has been expanded this year. Ticketed guests get free photos with Santa, a chance to make a traditional Scandinavian Julehjerter (heart-shaped Christmas decoration), complimentary coffee, hot chocolate and s’mores around a bonfire, along with beer, wine and other food on sale. Tickets on sale now: $15 members, $25 nonmembers, children 3 and under free. 6 to 9 p.m. at 2647 E. Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. slgardens.org

Dec. 13-14 and 20-21
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden’s Luminaria Nights will illuminate this botanical garden devoted to California native plants with more than 1,000 hanging lanterns and musicians providing “a contemplative and serene ambiance,” 6 to 9 p.m. at 1500 N. College Ave. in Claremont. Members pay $12 for adults, $8 for seniors/students/children. Nonmembers pay $16 for adults and $12 for seniors/students/children. rsabg.org

Dec. 13-Jan. 5
Jungle Bells at the San Diego Zoo transforms the zoo with music, lights, animal-shaped light sculptures, special animal experiences and holiday-themed entertainment, including acrobats and Dr. Zoolittle, the zoo’s costumed characters and Santa Claus (through Dec. 25). 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. except Dec. 24, when the zoo closes at 5 p.m., at 2920 Zoo Drive in San Diego. Free with admission to the zoo, $46 ages 3 to 11, $56 12 and older. sandiegozoo.com

Dec. 14
A free garden tour at the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum is set for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the museum grounds, 18127 South Alameda Street in Rancho Dominguez. The tour by the museum’s Rose Garden Curator Michael Horibe will point out the ranchero’s historic orchards, rose and cactus gardens and hidden grottos on its 17-acre grounds, and include a description of how the plants were on the historic ranch of the Dominguez family. the first Spanish land grant in California. dominguezrancho.org

A free home composting workshop by horticulturist Steve List is being hosted by the city of Los Angeles and L.A. Sanitation, at the Griffith Park Composting Facility, 5400 Griffith Park Drive, from 9 to 10 a.m. City of Los Angeles residents can get free mulch (bring your own shovel and container) and are eligible to purchase composting bins for $20 (checks only). Representatives from the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power will provide conservation tips and rebate information. lacitysan.org

Dec. 21 & 28
A free home composting and urban gardening workshop by horticulturist Steve List is being hosted by the city of Los Angeles and L.A. Sanitation, at the South L.A. Wetlands Environmental Education Center, 5413 S. Avalon Blvd., in the South Park area of Los Angeles, 9 to 11 a.m. on Dec. 21. The gardening topic is “Winter Gardening Do’s and Don’ts.” The workshop will take place again on Dec. 28 at the Lopez Canyon Environmental Education Center, 11950 Lopez Canyon Road, in the Lake View Terrace area of San Fernando Valley, 9 to 11 a.m. City of Los Angeles residents can get free mulch (bring your own shovel and container) and are eligible to purchase composting bins for $20 (checks only). Representatives from the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power will provide conservation tips and rebate information. lacitysan.org

Jan. 11, 25 & Feb. 8, 22
The L.A. Arboretum sponsors a landscape design course for people who want to use regenerative practices to redo their yards, every other Saturday starting Jan. 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the arboretum. The courses, taught by landscape architect and certified arborist Shawn Maestretti, will cover a range of topics including the basics of design and how to capture rainwater, nurture living soil, use native or climate-appropriate plants and implement permaculture techniques to reduce green waste. Preregistration is required; call (626) 821-4623. The cost is $250 for Arboretum members or $300 for nonmembers. Couples pay $310 for Arboretum members, $360 for nonmembers. arboretum.org

House Democrats will charge President Trump with at least two articles of impeachment.

Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

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TOP STORIES

Two Impeachment Articles, One Trade Deal

What a difference one hour makes. In that span on Tuesday, House Democrats moved to impeach President Trump, then hand him his biggest legislative win of the year by agreeing to a long-stalled trade deal.

Tonight, the House Judiciary Committee will begin a session to approve at least two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — and possibly add more. The session could last until Friday, and assuming the articles are approved, the full House would then vote on whether to impeach the president before leaving for the holiday next week.

After asserting in the nine-page impeachment document that Trump “ignored and injured the interests of the nation,” House Democrats then announced they and the White House had reached a deal that clears the way for passage of a revised North American free-trade pact. The House is expected to vote on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement next week, with the Senate taking it up after the impeachment trial, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

More Politics

— Atty. Gen. William Barr, continuing his attack on an inspector general’s report released this week, leveled blistering criticism at how the FBI’s Russia investigation was conducted, claiming that it was based on a “bogus narrative” that the Trump campaign might have conspired with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

— The White House says Trump warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about election interference during an Oval Office meeting Tuesday, but there’s plenty of reason to question whether Trump did so.

— A federal judge has barred Trump from using $3.6 billion in military construction funds to pay for a border wall. The decision could hinder the ability of lawmakers to agree on a fiscal 2020 spending bill package this week.

More Hard Times for Asylum Seekers

In July, the Trump administration announced a new rule to effectively end asylum at the southern U.S. border by requiring asylum seekers to claim protection elsewhere. Now, it’s starting to send some families to Guatemala, even if they are not from the Central American country and had sought protection in the U.S. And for those who are staying in Mexico as they await court hearings in the U.S.,. migrant rights activists say, the federal government is using medical screenings as a tactic to discourage asylum seekers.

‘It’s My Truth’

The 2013 killing of Gabriel Fernandez was one of the most infamous and chilling child abuse cases in California history. For prosecutor Jon Hatami, it had extra meaning. Shortly after winning a conviction in the case, he told a stunned news conference gathering that he too had been the victim of childhood abuse. Today’s Column One shows how the trial reawakened some of Hatami’s demons, pushing him to grapple with old memories and study his own psyche.

From H to Ohm

Is renewable hydrogen, created by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, the way to power L.A.’s future? As the city weans itself off coal-generated electricity, it’s opting for a natural gas-fueled plant in Utah that the L.A. Department of Water and Power wants to transition into one that burns renewable hydrogen. One potential hitch: It’s never been done before. But if it succeeds, the plant could become a model around the world.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

Prospecting for gold… in the Los Angeles River? That’s what some enterprising Angelenos did, at least before the river was clad in concrete.

“Yes, sir, plenty of gold — also silver, copper, brass, lead and iron — within two miles of City Hall by airline,” Don Ashbaugh reported in the Dec. 12, 1938, edition. He spoke with one man, Guy Ritter, who grew up on a ranch in Oregon and discovered the riverbed gold claims.

“My old man told me when I left home that I was on my own — that if I ever took charity I’d be a disgrace to the family and he’d disown me. I came down to Hollywood to show some of those movie cowboys how a real cowboy should act. I didn’t get anywhere. When I was broke I remembered dad’s words. I saw all this sand and decided there must be something in it,” Ritter told The Times. “I have my own apartment. I can always pay the rent. I wear good clothes and Mister, I’ve always got money in my pocket.”

CALIFORNIA

— A state panel says officials and lawmakers need to move faster to fight sea-level rise in one of the most comprehensive assessments of the crisis.

— Polluted stormwater is fouling Southern California beaches, but little has been done about it, according to an environmental nonprofit’s new report — the first comprehensive look at the growing problem. It blames a lack of transparent requirements for monitoring the runoff.

— Two new lawsuits argue that the University of California is violating state civil rights laws by requiring applicants to take the SAT or ACT, which they say unlawfully discriminate against low-income and underrepresented minority students.

— The attorney general’s office plans to subpoena half of the state’s Catholic dioceses as part of a growing investigation into how the church handled sex abuse cases, several of them say.

— The group that sued the LAPD over its controversial data policing programs claimed victory after the agency released key details, including the names of hundreds targeted.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Did a canceled sci-fi drama come to Amazon because it’s Jeff Bezos’ favorite TV show?

— Netflix says 26.4 million households watched “The Irishman” in its first week on the streaming platform.

—There’s a storm brewing over Clint Eastwood’s new movie “Richard Jewell” and its plot point insinuating that a reporter — a real person, now deceased — slept with a source. Her newspaper says there’s zero evidence that ever happened.

— Vanna White is hosting “Wheel of Fortune” while Pat Sajak recovers from surgery, upending a long history of dudes in suits as game-show hosts.

NATION-WORLD

— In Jersey City, authorities say six people, including a police officer and three bystanders, were killed in a furious gun battle that filled the streets with the sound of heavy fire for hours.

— Bill Cosby has lost the appeal of his sexual assault conviction.

— A former top Mexican security official has been arrested in the U.S. for allegedly taking millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa drug cartel once headed by “El Chapo.”

— Decades after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi is now in The Hague rebuffing charges that her country carried out genocide against Rohingya Muslims. That’s prompted soul-searching among some in the human rights community.

—How the viral protest “A Rapist in Your Path” became a defiant anthem for 2019.

BUSINESS

— Even as other Chinese developers pull back from L.A., one just bought prime land downtown for a $1-billion housing and retail complex.

— Want to test out your delivery technology and transportation apps on San Francisco streets? Better get a permit first.

— The retirement crisis is real and frightening, as these six charts show, columnist Michael Hiltzik writes.

SPORTS

— The Anaheim City Council is expected to approve a sale of the Angel Stadium property next week. But it could be years before Anaheim gets paid.

— The Toronto Raptors have built a mentality for winning without Kawhi Leonard.

— During his stint with the team, Leonard didn’t spark Canada’s love of basketball, he completed it. Today, Canadian players — once on the fringes of the game’s attention, outsiders in a hockey-mad country — play in one of the world’s hoops hotbeds.

OPINION

— Maybe the Republicans directing their ire at Democrats should instead get mad at Trump for imperiling their party by acting like a mobster, Robin Abcarian writes.

— The FBI owes Carter Page an apology … and has another black eye, Doyle McManus writes.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— The ripple effects of taking away food stamps from one person. (The Atlantic)

— Megafarms and deeper wells are creating a water crisis in rural Arizona. (Arizona Republic)

— American farms in need of labor are recruiting Mexican veterinarians, ostensibly for jobs as animal scientists — then putting them to work milking cows and cleaning pens for low pay. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

ONLY IN L.A.

If you’re looking for almost every kind of regional Chinese cooking, you can spare yourself the 13-hour flight and head directly to the San Gabriel Valley, a 20-mile-wide swath that is the biggest and best Chinatown on this continent. In this week’s episode of the show “Off Menu,” host Lucas Kwan Peterson heads east of Los Angeles for hot pot, Taiwanese breakfast and northern Chinese dumplings — and a discussion of growing up Asian American.

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends. Comments or ideas? Email us at [email protected].

LONDON — 

British political leaders rose early Wednesday to pursue undecided voters on the eve of a national election, zigzagging across the country in hopes that one last push will get the wavering to the polls.

Though opinion polls have consistently shown Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party in the lead, surveys suggest the margin may be narrowing before Thursday’s contest. All the parties are nervous about the verdict of a volatile electorate weary after years of wrangling over Brexit, and increasingly willing to abandon long-held party loyalties.

All 650 seats in the House of Commons are up for grabs in the election, which is being held more than two years early in a bid to break the political impasse over Brexit.

Johnson has tried to focus on the potential of an uncertain result and a divided Parliament, which would endanger his plan to lead the U.K. out of the European Union on Jan. 31. He started his day before dawn, helping load milk and orange juice bottles onto a delivery vehicle in northern England.

“This could not be more critical, it could not be tighter — I just say to everybody the risk is very real that we could tomorrow be going into another hung Parliament,” he said. ”That’s more drift, more dither, more delay, more paralysis for this country.”

The main opposition Labor Party said polls showed that momentum was moving in its direction. The party has tried to shift attention from Brexit and onto its plans to reverse years of public spending cuts by the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010.

Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigned in Scotland and urged people to elect a government that would “give real hope.”

“In this city of Glasgow, which has some of the poorest people in this country, which has wards which contain the lowest life expectancy all across this country, they need an end to austerity,” Corbyn said. “They need a U.K. government that will invest all across the country.”

For many voters, Thursday’s election is an unpalatable choice. Both Johnson and Corbyn have personal approval ratings in negative territory, and both have been dogged by questions about their character.

Corbyn faces allegations that he has allowed anti-Semitism to spread in the left-of-center party, and is seen by some as a doctrinaire, old-school socialist.

Labor was embarrassed Tuesday by the leak of a phone recording of the party’s health spokesman suggesting that the party would lose Thursday’s election because voters “can’t stand Corbyn.”

Jonathan Ashworth said his unguarded remarks were merely banter with a Conservative friend.

Johnson has been confronted with past offensive comments, broken promises and untruths. This week he was caught out making a hamfisted and seemingly unsympathetic reaction to a picture of a 4-year-old boy lying on a hospital floor because no beds were available.

Johnson ally Michael Gove said Wednesday that the prime minister was deeply concerned with the boy’s plight but had suffered “a single moment of absent-mindedness.”

HONG KONG — 

For Hong Kong spectators mentally and physically drained from six months of pro-democracy protests that have convulsed the city, a rousing performance of “Les Miserables” proved almost too much to bear.

Audience members wept, dabbing their eyes with handkerchiefs, big tears rolling down their cheeks, as a Hong Kong theater troupe aiming to both comfort and reenergize emotionally battered spectators belted out the rousing musical based on Victor Hugo’s classic tale of rebellion in 19th century France.

Audience members said images from the protests flashed through their minds as they soaked up the free outdoor performance on Tuesday night.

The crowd, several hundred strong, joined with the troupe in singing “Do You Hear the People Sing?” — the stirring lyrics eloquently putting to words what many Hong Kong protesters feel.

“It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again!” they sang. “Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me?”

The amateur troupe, dressed in black, which has become the color of protest in Hong Kong, is made up of volunteers who responded to an online appeal for singers and musicians.

Singer Harriet Chung said their aim is to take the show to all 18 of Hong Kong’s districts. Tuesday’s performance was the troupe’s third, staged in a park in Tai Po in the New Territories that are north of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon and which butt up against mainland China.

“It is a very powerful work that everyone needs in such a time in Hong Kong,” Chung said. “There’s a lot of violence. There’s a lot of injustice around. But this piece is about love and power and what you can do for love, for your ideals, for your ideas, so that is why we want to pass this message to everyone in Hong Kong.”

With no costumes and minimal lighting, the show lacks the big-ticket stagecraft of its Hollywood, Broadway and London West End cousins but packs a powerful emotional punch in the febrile atmosphere of antigovernment protest in Hong Kong.

Wiping away tears that welled behind his glasses, red-eyed spectator Herman Tang said the song “Bring Him Home” made him think of protesters who were trapped by a police siege of a university campus last month.

“Very moved,” he said. “Some of the words in the song echo the current situation in Hong Kong.”

Organizers made booklets of the lyrics, in Chinese and English, for spectators to download onto their cellphones, so they could sing along. Audience members waved illuminated phones in the air during songs, creating a tapestry of lights. At the end, the troupe and the audience, accompanied by the orchestra, joined in a hair-raising rendition of “Glory to Hong Kong,” an anonymously penned anthem that has become the protest movement’s signature song.

Chung, the singer who works as a writer in her day job, said she’s long been a fan of “Les Miserables,” but that it strikes an especially deep chord now.

“It’s like pictures after pictures of happenings in Hong Kong passing through my mind when I sing the lyrics. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking. Sometimes it’s heartwarming,” she said. “There are pictures of protests, police violence, and the life we have lost, the brothers and sisters we lost in this movement, so it is a very emotional journey and I can feel that from the audience too.”

Spectators who came to the show worried that the protest movement is flagging as it enters a seventh month went away feeling energized and sounding recommitted to a long-haul struggle. The movement is pushing five key demands, including full elections for Hong Kong’s legislature and leader and a probe of the city’s police force, which has fired 26,000 tear-gas and rubber-baton rounds at protesters and arrested more than 6,000 people.

“When people unite together, there is power,” said audience member Yan Chan. “We have energy and power to make Hong Kong better.”

THE HAGUE — 

In an appearance that further marked her fall from grace, Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi mounted a defense of her homeland Wednesday, calling claims of genocide “incomplete and misleading” a day after a tribunal heard damning accounts of atrocities inflicted on Rohingya ethnic minorities.

The 74-year-old disgraced human rights figure, speaking on the second day of a three-day hearing before the United Nations International Court of Justice, reiterated her government’s position that Rohingya insurgents were to blame for instigating a conflict starting in 2016.

U.N. findings and media reports, however, show Myanmar’s army and security forces engaged in an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Muslim Rohingya, forcing more than 700,000 to flee to refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh to escape mass killings, rape and terror.

Suu Kyi’s defense largely amounted to this: How could Myanmar commit genocide if it subsequently opened its own investigation into the conflict and advocated repatriation of Rohingya and social programs to ease ethnic tension.

“How can there be an ongoing genocide or genocidal intent when these concrete steps are being taken in Rakhine?” Suu Kyi said, referring to the western state bordering Bangladesh where the Rohingya are confined.

Those steps, however, have widely been dismissed by experts as disingenuous, particularly efforts to hold the military to account. The army, for example, cleared itself of allegations that it carried out ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has blocked U.N. investigators from visiting Rakhine.

“Myanmar’s efforts in this regard have been meager and conducted in bad faith,” said Aaron Connelly, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore. “Military and civilian bodies repeatedly cleared the military of any wrongdoing in 2017; later inquiries were only set up to forestall international efforts to secure accountability.”

Suu Kyi’s startling appearance at The Hague, which was not required for someone of her stature, appears to be a political maneuver to placate powerful army generals at home and win nationalistic support with an election looming next year. Many of the country’s majority Buddhist Bamar view the Rohingya as interlopers and have cheered Suu Kyi’s decision to defend the country.

Rohigya activists, meanwhile, said they were appalled by Suu Kyi’s remarks as she seemed unmoved by the harrowing testimony delivered a day earlier about atrocities such as the stabbing of infants and sexual mutilation of women.

“I thought she would change her mind and stand for justice,” Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, said from inside the court. “But I was wrong. History will remember that a Nobel Peace laureate stood for genocide.”

Suu Kyi told the panel of 17 judges Wednesday that mistakes were probably made by the military, but that it was being handled by Myanmar’s justice system.

“It cannot be ruled out that disproportionate force was used by members of the defense services, in some cases, in disregard of international humanitarian law, or that they did not distinguish clearly enough between [Rohingya insurgents] and civilians,” she said.

Charges of genocide were brought against Myanmar by the small Western African nation of Gambia, which is backed by the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Gambia is seeking an injunction against Myanmar to prevent any continued persecution of Rohingya.

Special correspondent Diamond reported from The Hague and Times staff writer Pierson from Singapore.

There’s an action sequence in director James Gray’s sci-fi thriller “Ad Astra” that’s packed with thrills but also rife with nuance. Brad Pitt is Roy McBride, an astronaut who finds himself saving mankind from a threat deep in outer space. U.S. intelligence has asked him to send a message from Mars to a long-forgotten mission captained by his father (Tommy Lee Jones). To get to the Red Planet he must first travel to the moon, and while on it, he’s chased down by rover-driving vigilante pirates.

Here, the filmmakers reveal how the death-defying pursuit came together, along with script excerpts by James Gray and Ethan Gross.

EXT. LUNAR BASE
The lunar roving vehicle (LRV) departs, bursting forward with ferocity.

Production traveled to the Dumont Dunes of the Mojave Desert for six days to shoot with stunt doubles driving rovers that would be blended with close-ups of Pitt and the other actors shot in studio. “James wanted this movie to be informed by science where every detail had a purpose,” says production designer Kevin Thompson. “For the moon, we wanted it to feel conquered by contractors, the private industry and national projects. To have a real mix of things that feels slightly familiar.”

In the desert, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema used a 3-D rig to mount two cameras; one capturing 35-millimeter film, the other digital, recording infrared. Instead of configuring the cameras side-by-side they were overlaid so each camera captured an identical image. “With Hoyte shooting infrared it turned the desert blue skies dark and the sandy terrain a grayish white,” says visual effects supervisor Allen Maris. “It gave us something great to start with. Then we extracted the color information from the film camera to composite the infrared footage to create the high-contrast look of the moon.” Visual effects then removed the sand dunes and hills in the image and replaced them with the correct geography and texture found on the lunar rock.

EXT. THE MOON – MOMENTS LATER
A caravan of rovers appear on the horizon, coming toward our GUYS.
They open fire on our LRV.

Boom! The first shot just misses Roy, and the team led by Willie Levant (Sean Blakemore) calls in a mayday that they’re under attack. More shots are fired and two of the rovers go down. Another shot punctures Roy’s oxygen supply. He must close it before he dies. The Max Richter score magnifies the intensity.

“We made sure we stayed within Roy’s point-of-view as much as we could as it all unfolds,” says co-editor Lee Haugen, who worked alongside co-editor John Axelrad. “Whether it was visuals or sound, we felt the action was built better around his perspective.”

Supervising sound editor Gary Rydstrom says, “One of the keys to it all is that you’re hearing things from what Roy would hear and what would resonate in his suit or through his microphone.” In creating the sound palette, Rydstrom aurally detailed feedback and distortion. “It’s somewhat embarrassing to admit as a sound designer because there’s nothing easier to create than feedback and distortion, but the scene is almost completely made up of all the sounds I tried to avoid in my career,” he says.

The driver can’t react in time. SLAMS INTO THE BARRICADE.

A pirate rover drives straight toward Roy’s vehicle. Roy pumps the brakes and the pirate rover zips by, slamming into a concrete structure. It flips into the air, shredding into pieces. To replicate the atmosphere, filmmakers referenced the Al Reinert documentary “For All Mankind,” which follows the true story of the moon landing.

“The moon is about one-sixth the gravity of Earth, and we took that into consideration,” Maris says. “We wanted to re-create the real thing so the rovers are moving the way they should on the moon’s surface.” Van Hoytema detailed the look further by shooting the entire sequence with a slightly higher frame rate to subtly add slow motion to the accelerating vehicles and impacts.

The picture editors intercut shots of Roy’s visor that reflected the destruction. “It was storyboarded that way and added to the perspective. Even the voices that were not Roy’s were filtered so that only his was left clean,” Haugen notes.

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It took several months to finish cutting the sequence, and the editors admit it felt claustrophobic when they first put it together. It wasn’t until the addition of sound, music and overhead angles, which added to the geography and tension, that they started feeling the shape of the scene.

“The whole movie was challenging and a test in how to get internally into a character,” Axelrad says. “The further Roy goes out into space, the deeper we dive into the conscious mind. But even with the action sequences, we wanted to find a balance between making it entertaining and finding the emotion.”

How to re-create a festive winter vibe without the stress (and snow)? Simple: Transform your interiors with the scents of cypress, juniper, pine and sandalwood.

Here, we offer seven holiday candles that are all hand-poured by makers in L.A. Some are sweet, others are smoky; all are festive.

Best of all: When the candle is finished, simply reuse the glass container as a planter — we’ll explain — and offer it as an inexpensive, up-cycled hostess gift.

Do you have a favorite holiday candle of your own? Let us know at [email protected]

Cupressus (Cypress)

From: Barratt Riley & Co

Smells like: Patagonian cypress, fir needles, oakmoss and cedarwood

About the makers: Phoenix psychologist Tyler Barratt and Beverly Hills beauty guru Christian Fitzgerald Riley have teamed up to create an artisan line of coconut wax candles scented with botanical essential oils. The candles are hand-poured in Los Angeles and include a botanical series, a floral assortment and a farmers market collection. Candles may be applied as a body moisturizer, massage oil or fragrance, and come packaged in a muslin bag and box for gift-giving.

Info: $52, barrattriley.com

Spruce

From: P.F. Candle Co

Smells like: Blue spruce, cedarwood and citrus

About the makers: Kristen Pumphrey and Thomas Neuberger started P.F. Candle Co as an Etsy shop in 2008. They found success by working events like the Renegade Craft Fair and recently opened bricks-and-mortar stores in Echo Park and Culver City. “Having physical retail locations gives us the opportunity to connect with our customers like we did in our craft fair days,” Pumphrey said. “With our Culver City shop, we also have a space where we can host workshops and events, which celebrates our DIY roots and allows people to come experience scent in person.” Amber & Moss, a year-round candle featuring sage, moss and lavender, is another great forest scent for the holidays.

Info: $20, pfcandleco.com

Mistletoe reclaimed wine bottle candles

From: Stone Candles

Smells like: White mountain aurora pine and melon

About the makers: Michael and Daniel Wainer’s candle bar in Santa Monica offers natural, hand-crafted coconut wax blend candles and a variety of candle-making workshops. “We wanted Mistletoe to smell like morning mountain dew in the forest,” said Daniel. Return with the wine bottle — or any container — and you can refill it with the scented wax of your choice, $15 minimum. The father-and-son company has also partnered with Exceptional Children’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to creating opportunities for people with disabilities, in creating Light 4 Life Cause, a private label manufacturing facility in Inglewood.

Info: $25, stonecandles.com

Emerald Forest

From: Apothenne Los Angeles

Smells like: Blue spruce, rose, patchouli, fir and sandalwood

About the maker: Jacqueline Bradley named her independent candle company using the words apothecary and doyenne to honor powerful female makers. The Apothenne Los Angeles candle line is handcrafted with 100% non-GMO soy wax and a blend of essential oils and fragrance oils. Candles are available in three different glass jars including pink, amber and clear and a cylinder gift box.

Info: $32, apothenne.com

Holiday Hinoki Fantome

From: Boy Smells

Smells like: Resin, hinoki, cardamom, jasmine and moss

About the makers: The Pico Union brand began as an experiment in 2016 when real-life partners Matthew Herman and David Kien created a coconut and beeswax line in their kitchen. The couple went on to create a candle line that was gender fluid by incorporating masculine and feminine scents simultaneously. “This year we wanted to do something that felt sophisticated,” said Herman of the Hinoki Fantome, Cedar and Ash limited-edition candles. “Our holiday candles are smokier and moodier. We call the Hinoki our apocalyptic holiday candle. Even the wax is a smoky hue. It’s spice heavy and more about renewal than nostalgia. I’m a big believer that something amazing can be reborn from the ashes this year.” Boy Smells is hosting a pop-up through December at Poketo at Row DTLA featuring their full collection, seasonal scents, new products and free gift wrapping.

Info: $34, boysmells.com

Fir Balsam

From: Daniel Stone of Stone Candles

Smells like: Cedarleaf, patchouli, pine fir needle, cedarleaf, eucalyptus, cedarwood and vanilla musk

Info: $45, stonecandles.com

Over the Brim

From: Torch

Smells like: Juniper, pine, evergreen herbs and balsam fir

About the maker: Claunesha “Cjay” Jones created her handcrafted coconut wax candle line (T.O.R.C.H is an acronym for Thoughts of Rich Choices and Habits) with “luxury meets eco-friendly” in mind. Her candles are non-toxic and can be used as a lotion or massage oil. Torch candles are also available at the Atwater and Hollywood farmers markets.

Info: $30, torchla.com

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How to turn your candle holder into an up-cycled planter

When the candle has finished burning, place the glass container upside down on a lined cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 200-degrees, so any leftover wax can melt onto the sheet. This works better than the freezer method. Allow container to cool, and clean before filling with soil and succulents. (The lack of drainage holes means very little water is needed to keep the succulents thriving.) Pilea peperomioides cuttings work well too. You now have a repurposed gift for the plant-loving millennial in your life.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, expects the panel to vote soon, possibly this week, on at least two or more charges against the Republican president.

Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

The Big Impeachment Reveal

This morning, House Democrats plan to announce their impeachment articles against President Trump after a high-level meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last night. Democrats are widely expected to accuse Trump of abuse of power and attempting to obstruct congressional investigations.

The announcement follows yesterday’s final House Judiciary Committee hearing, which began with a protester accusing the committee’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, of treason and grew only more rancorous from there.

Republicans repeatedly tried to grind down the proceeding with objections, while Democrats accused Trump of jeopardizing the nation’s democracy in a reckless bid for political survival.

17 Problems, but Partisan Bias Isn’t One

In the latest investigation of an investigation, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog has issued a 434-page report that sharply criticizes the FBI for its clandestine surveillance of a former Trump campaign advisor suspected of working with Russian intelligence.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz cited 17 “significant errors or omissions.” But Horowitz also said his investigators uncovered no evidence that the mistakes were intentional or influenced by political bias, as Trump has repeatedly alleged.

More Politics

— The World Trade Organization’s dispute-settling system is about to get knee-capped by Washington.

— Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has been freed from a confidentiality pact that barred him from publicly identifying the clients of McKinsey & Co., a management consulting firm that employed him a decade ago.

Fighting the Power

After years of deadly wildfires and a season of sweeping blackouts, a new poll of California voters conducted for The Times finds most would impose major changes to the operations and control of Pacific Gas & Electric, a company beleaguered by sharp criticism and struggling to dig out of financial troubles.

Fewer than 1 in 8 likely voters surveyed want PG&E to fix its own problems and maintain its current structure once it emerges from bankruptcy next year. So, what would they like to see instead? That’s where it gets dicey.

How to ‘Adult’ in Six Easy Lessons

Romantic relationships. Money management. Home maintenance. These are among the proverbial things they don’t teach you in school. Except these days, there are classes on “adulting” for college students and postgrads, and they’re proving to be quite popular. Even UC Berkeley is offering a student-run course.

101 More Reasons to Love L.A.

Fish steamed with aromatics, finished with hot oil, and served in a spare and oddly angled room. A carnitas mixta taco known as the “Aporkalypse.” The perfect pastrami. These are just three of the culinary wonders that await in the 101 Best Restaurants of L.A. list, this time adjudicated by our restaurant critics Bill Addison and Patricia I. Escárcega. It’s online now and in print on Sunday, but you have to be an L.A. Times subscriber.

Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

On this day in 1939, Los Angeles voters passed a law banning pinball games by a wide margin, with about 161,000 votes for and 113,000 against.

The Times reported the next morning: “Pin-ball games, marble boards, scoop claws and similar devices, under the ordinance approved yesterday by the people, will be declared nuisances in public places, and therefore subject to seizure by the police … Mayor Bowron and his Police Commission urged the adoption of the anti pin-ball law on the grounds that the machines are used for petty gambling, so widespread that the police are totally insufficient in number to enforce the law.”

The ban would eventually be overturned decades later, in 1974 — but in the meantime, plenty of pinball machines were destroyed.

CALIFORNIA

— Does the financing of a Disneyland parking garage amount to a city subsidy? A new lawsuit by a group of resort workers argues it does, and that the Anaheim resort is violating a 2018 ballot measure by failing to pay them a living wage.

— The state wants to hit CVS with a $3.6-million penalty after dozens of its stores declined to redeem cans and bottles — part of California’s broader effort to pressure retailers to accept recyclable containers from consumers.

— A Newport Beach woman has agreed to plead guilty in the the college admissions scandal, admitting she plotted to have mastermind Rick Singer’s employee take online classes for her son and submit them to Georgetown University.

— Amid the wasteland of the Salton Sea, a miraculous but challenging oasis has been born.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Propelled by Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic “The Irishman,” the searing divorce drama “Marriage Story” and the Vatican-set “The Two Popes,” Netflix racked up 17 Golden Globes nominations in film alone. It signals a new era for cinema.

— The snubs and surprises were many, but we rounded up the biggest. In the TV categories, the Globes overlooked people of color, shutting out Ava DuVernay’s Central Park Five documentary “When They See Us” and the alternate-history drama “Watchmen.” The full list of the nominees includes TV’s first Muslim American sitcom and made for plenty of excited reactions, and includes a handful of head-scratchers.

— In movies, the best director category was again bereft of any women. Charlize Theron calls it “really ridiculous.” And our critic Mary McNamara points out the Globes’ gender problem isn’t just about directors — it’s about what kinds of movies get nominated.

— Before her annual benefit show for homeless LGBTQ youth, Cyndi Lauper talked with us about her new musical, her time in L.A. and how she sees herself in Lizzo and Billie Eilish.

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NATION-WORLD

— The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a Kentucky law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and show the images to patients seeking abortions.

— The presidents of Ukraine and Russia have agreed to revive the peace process on the bloody separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine and exchange all their prisoners, but they failed to resolve crucial issues.

— As Sanna Marin takes over as Finland’s prime minister, the 34-year-old is becoming the world’s youngest sitting head of state. But she’s breaking the mold in other ways, too.

— In the modern West Bank city of Bethlehem, Christmastime religious tourism is a boon for the local economy. But many Palestinians, feeling it ignores modern residents, are offering other kinds of tourism, too.

BUSINESS

— Under a settlement with the feds, the country’s biggest blueberry producer can’t recruit foreign agricultural guest workers for three years and must pay $3.5 million in back wages and penalties.

— ViacomCBS is considering selling the historic CBS headquarters known as “Black Rock” in midtown Manhattan.

— Under pressure from the #PayUpHollywood campaign, the talent agency Verve is boosting assistants’ pay and other benefits.

— A new study of Obamacare proves that having health insurance will reduce U.S. death rates, columnist Michael Hiltzik writes.

SPORTS

— Russia’s doping scandal just got it banned from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and other major sporting events over the next four years. But critics say the punishment isn’t severe enough.

— Two linemen have now de-committed from USC in three days, after the university announced Clay Helton was staying on as head coach.

OPINION

— In inexplicably rushing to an impeachment vote, Democrats are forgoing the subpoenaing of key witnesses who could shed light on potential abuse of power, writes Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law expert whom House Republicans called to testify last week.

— Drug companies’ reliance on Chinese ingredients puts both our health and our national security at risk, write former FDA official Henry I. Miller and former congressional lawyer John J. Cohrssen.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— For nearly two decades of fighting in Afghanistan, U.S. leaders have said they are making progress. Documents from government interviews show they weren’t, and they knew it. (Washington Post)

— “You keep loving each other.” In chronicling her grandfather’s dementia, a photographer offers an intimate window into the end of a life, and a lifelong partnership. (STAT News)

— The $120,000 conceptual art piece involving a banana duct-taped to a wall has created a reaction that is bananas. (ArtNet)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Does it seem as if no one in California knows how to drive? (Present company excepted, of course.) Then look no further than the Department of Motor Vehicles handbook. Critics say its prose is just too hard to navigate. Even the DMV admitted to consumer columnist David Lazarus that “the handbook is written at a level that is above where it should be.” Here’s how it could turn the page.

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