Saudi prosecutor seeks death penalty for Khashoggi murder, says journalist was killed by sedative overdose

(CNN)Saudi prosecutors said Thursday they would seek the death penalty for five people allegedly involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A total of 11 people were charged, the Saudi Public Prosecutor's office said, adding that the five people facing capital punishment were directly involved in "ordering and executing the crime."

The prosecution also shared details of the journalist's murder, saying Khashoggi was killed on October 2 following "a fight and a quarrel" at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Prosecutors say Khashoggi was tied up and injected with an overdose of a sedative that killed him, then his body was dismembered and removed from the consulate by five people and given to a local collaborator.Saudi prosecutors said Thursday they would seek the death penalty for five people allegedly involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Saudi Public Prosecutor's office added that former Saudi deputy intelligence chief, Ahmed al-Assiri, ordered a mission to force Khashoggi to go back to Saudi Arabia and formed a team of 15 people.They were divided into three groups, it said: a negotiation team, an intelligence team and a logistical team.

It was the head of the negotiating team who ordered the killing of Khashoggi, the prosecution said.

"The head of the negotiation team concluded that it would not be possible to transfer the victim by force to the safe location in case the negotiations with him to return failed. The head of the negotiation team decided to murder the victim if the negotiations failed. The investigation concluded that the incident resulted in murder," the prosecutor said.

The head of the mission and the head of the negotiating team decided together to write a "false report" to the intelligence deputy chief saying Khashoggi left the building after the failed negotiations, the prosecutor added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called the Saudi Public Prosecutor's statement "unsatisfactory," reiterating a call for the culprits to be prosecuted under Turkish laws.

"They say (Khashoggi) resisted going back to their country and was killed. However, this murder was premeditated as we had announced before," Cavusoglu told reporters.

"The dismembering of the body is not an instant decision. They brought the necessary people and tools to kill him and dismember the body in advance," he added.

Saudi operative dressed as Khashoggi, Turkish source says 02:12

While Cavusoglu said that the Saudi decision to charge 11 defendants was a "positive step," it's "not enough."

"The identity of those who gave the orders should be revealed. It should not be covered up," he added.

The prosecution also revealed that the Royal Court advisor, Saud Qahtani, is banned from traveling pending the investigation into the murder.

Qahtani led the communications team of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and was removed from his role last month following Khashoggi's death.

All told, 21 people were arrested and six officials have been removed from their positions, according to the prosecutor and the Saudi Foreign Minister.

US issues sanctions

The US Treasury announced on Thursday in a statement that it was issuing sanctions on 17 Saudis for their roles in the murder of Khashoggi."The Saudi officials we are sanctioning were involved in the abhorrent killing of Jamal Khashoggi," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement.

"These individuals who targeted and brutally killed a journalist who resided and worked in the United States must face consequences for their actions," Mnuchin added.

"The Government of Saudi Arabia must take appropriate steps to end any targeting of political dissidents or journalists."

He said the US would continue to "ascertain all of the facts" and hold those guilty accountable "in order to achieve justice for Khashoggi's fiancee, children and the family he leaves behind."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also released a statement about the sanctions, saying they were the result of "serious human rights abuse."

"At the time of Khashoggi's killing, these individuals occupied positions in the Royal Court and several ministries and offices of the Government of Saudi Arabia," Pompeo said in the statement.

As a result of the sanctions the assets within the US jurisdiction of those sanctioned are blocked, the statement said, and "US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them."

"The State Department will continue to seek all relevant facts, consult Congress, and work with other nations to hold accountable those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi," Pompeo added.

Audio recording: 'Tell your boss' the Saudi Crown Prince

The details that emerged Thursday come after The New York Times reported that people familiar with the audio recording say it contains an instruction to "tell your boss." American intelligence officials believe is a reference to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the audio recording was a "true disaster" that "shocked" the Saudi intelligence officer who heard it, pro-government Turkish newspaper the Daily Sabah reported on Tuesday.

CNN has not heard the recording and is unable to verify the voices on the tape or what they're purported to say.

Meanwhile, Riyadh has maintained that neither bin Salman nor his father, King Salman, knew of the operation to target Khashoggi, an American resident.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir addressed a news conference in Riyadh on Thursday and reiterated that bin Salman had no involvement in Khashoggi's murder.

Saudi Foreign Minister al-Jubeir reiterated to reporters on Thursday that bin Salman had no involvement in the killing of the journalist.

"The Crown Prince has nothing to do with this issue," al-Jubeir said.

"In fact, the security adviser in the US said this. This was a rogue operation," he added.

"This was individuals exceeding their authority and going beyond their mandate.

"These individuals made a tremendous mistake and for this mistake they will pay a price and their case is in the court system."

Al-Jubeir went on to say that criticisms on Saudi Arabia "are baseless and illogical."

"Regarding the Turkish and Qatari media, I believe there was a vicious campaign directed at (The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and this is unfortunate," he added.

Prosecutors say Khashoggi was killed following "a fight and a quarrel" at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Turkey has claimed for weeks to have audio evidence that exposes how the Saudi journalist was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain papers for his upcoming marriage.

The Turkish chief prosecutor has previously said that Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate as part of a premeditated plan, and his body dismembered.

The Saudis, meanwhile, have presented shifting stories about the journalist's death, initially denying any knowledge before arguing that a group of rogue operators were responsible for his death.

US officials have speculated that such a mission -- including the 15 men sent from Riyadh -- could not have been carried out without the authorization of bin Salman, heir apparent to the Saudi throne.

After Saudi Arabia admitted that Khashoggi was killed in its Istanbul consulate, five high-ranking officials were dismissed, including bin Salman's media chief and the deputy head of the Saudi intelligence service.

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Saudi crown prince's 'fit' delays UN resolution on war in Yemen

Washington (CNN) Multiple sources tell CNN that a much-anticipated United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities in Yemen and for Saudi Arabia to allow humanitarian aid to reach millions of starving people was "stalled" this week after the resolution's sponsor, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, met face-to-face with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Two sources said the crown prince "threw a fit" about the resolution. Two other sources with knowledge of the discussion didn't go so far as to describe the crown prince as angry, though they didn't deny he was annoyed.

Putting it into more carefully diplomatic terms, one said, "He didn't like the idea." According to the other source, the Saudis "have their reservations," but the source said it remained a courteous discussion.

As part of a British effort to draft a Security Council resolution against the continued fighting and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Hunt flew to Riyadh this week to sit down with bin Salman, who has faced intense criticism and scrutiny over the brazen killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in early October at the hands of officials in his inner circle.

'What is your plan?'

Sources say Hunt took the draft with him and discussed it with the crown prince, who wanted changes or better yet, no resolution at all. Bin Salman, known in diplomatic circles by his initials, MBS, viewed the pending resolution as weakening the Saudi position in the conflict over Yemen and emboldening its Houthi rebel rivals.

"MBS didn't like the resolution on principle," said a source familiar with the Riyadh meeting.

But the message Hunt delivered was a strong one, a fourth source said, and came after he'd consulted with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. "'This is what Western powers think, and this is what you need to do. What is your plan to stop this?'" Hunt conveyed to the Saudi, according to this source, who added, "He heard what we said."

In what's seen as a positive move, the Saudis have now agreed to facilitate Houthi negotiators' travel to Sweden for talks.

Hunt left with the understanding that he would work on changes to the resolution with his team, as well as with his counterparts in the US and elsewhere. These allies share concerns that a bad reaction from Saudi Arabia to a strongly worded UN resolution could set back the start of a process to resolve the war in Yemen.

Even so, one of the sources familiar with the Riyadh meeting said Western allies "are not inclined to act on all of MBS's recommendations."

At a Security Council meeting on Friday, British Ambassador Karen Pierce said the UK would introduce the new resolution on Monday.

The Department of State and Saudi Arabian Embassy in the US did not respond to requests for comment.

The encounter puts in stark light the efforts of the UK, US and other allies to hold the kingdom's leadership accountable for serious alleged human rights violations, while still maintaining good working relationships with Saudi Arabia in the volatile region.

The US and UK were the top two arms sellers to Riyadh in 2017, with $5.2 billion and $1.2 billion in sales, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Babies like ghosts

Hunt's meeting with the crown prince also underscores bin Salman's resistance to pressure on Yemen, which has become the world's worst man-made humanitarian disaster, as babies, children and adults slowly starve to death.

The three-year conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and its enemies, Iran-backed Houthis, has devastated the country and killed at least 10,000 people. UN experts say the Saudi coalition's bombings of civilians are potential war crimes. The world body has also said the Saudis' partial blockade of the country means 18 million people don't have reliable access to food, creating the conditions for the worst famine in 100 years.

The World Food Program warned Friday that the country is "marching to the brink of starvation." Its executive director, David Beasley, who just returned from Yemen, told reporters he touched babies who felt like "ghosts" due to starvation.

The UK's willingness to make changes to the resolution to ease Saudi concerns drew sharp criticism from human rights advocates."The Saudi sway over some members of the UN Security Council has become a serious liability," said Akshaya Kumar, the deputy United Nations director for Human Rights Watch. The UK for months has resisted bringing a UN resolution on Yemen and the US has been loath to criticize Riyadh for the destruction there.

"It's absolutely mind-boggling that the world's most powerful body has chosen silence for months even as warnings of famine have mounted," Kumar said. "At this point, vague appeals to 'all parties' to improve their behavior won't work. Any resolution that doesn't specifically mention the Saudi-led coalition by name and call it out for its role in the carnage in Yemen won't have the required effect in Riyadh."

In an effort to win an edge in any negotiations, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly tried to gain a definitive military edge before agreeing to talks. Khashoggi's killing, tied to bin Salman's inner circle, put Saudi Arabia on the defensive diplomatically, giving the US and UK an opening to press Riyadh.

In late October, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Pompeo called on all participants in the civil war to agree to a ceasefire "in the next 30 days," amid criticism of US support for the Saudi-led coalition in the conflict. The administration will likely face greater pressure to restrict arms sales to Saudi Arabia and act on Yemen now that midterm elections have given Democrats control of the House of Representatives.The UK Foreign Office said in a statement that Hunt's trip, which also included meetings with the United Arab Emirates and Yemeni leaders, "helped improve understanding on steps that would lead to a cessation of hostilities. The Foreign Secretary had constructive discussions on pathways to achieve de-escalation and reduce tensions, and was clear that both sides would need to play their part in the confidence-building measures."

The fourth source familiar with Hunt's discussions said the foreign secretary was in the region "to talk about a full sweep of issues in relation to Yemen" and as a result, also visited the UAE, a core member of the Saudi coalition.

Hunt also spoke to the Saudi crown prince about the country's standoff with Qatar and about the need for accountability in Khashoggi's killing. On Thursday, the Saudi Public Prosecutor's Office charged 11 people and sentenced five to death for the Virginia resident's killing.

One source with knowledge of the discussion between Hunt and the crown prince told CNN that such a meeting, between a British foreign secretary and the Saudi de facto head of state, is unusual; that based on diplomatic protocols, the foreign secretary would normally meet with a lower-level counterpart to talk over a pending action.

'Reality on the ground'

The fourth source familiar with Hunt's meeting said the Saudis "have their reservations" about the resolution, "but it's a tool to get both sides to come to the table. And it does need to reflect the reality on the ground."

One source with knowledge of discussions says the US has not been shying away from supporting the resolution, and that US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has been enthusiastic about getting something done.

The source said others in the US administration don't seem to be as willing as Haley to forcefully call out Saudi Arabia in this way.

But MBS's serious pushback to a potential statement by the UN Security Council -- merely a resolution calling for humanitarian aid and stopping the fighting -- also shows that such moves have an impact at the highest level of Saudi government.

"The Saudis are hugely sensitive -- ultra, ultra sensitive -- to international perceptions," a diplomatic source told CNN. "They hate criticism. And MBS brings a whole new level of paranoia about this."

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Asia Bibi's lawyer flees Pakistan in fear for his life, associate says

Karachi, Pakistan (CNN)The lawyer representing a Pakistani Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after almost eight years on death row, has fled the country in fear for his life, an associate told CNN on Sunday.

Asia Bibi's acquittal last week prompted violent protests by the Islamist movement Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), and on Friday her lawyer Saiful Malook told CNN he was concerned for his life.

Two days later, an associate who asked not to be named for security reasons, told CNN that Malook had left the country "for Europe."

Supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik chant slogans Wednesday during a protest against the acquittal of Asia Bibi in Lahore.

His departure comes as Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, begged the United Kingdom, the United States or Canada to grant his family asylum, in a video message seen by the Guardian.

Masih also said he feared for his wife's safety in prison, and that the family had "no security and are hiding here and there, frequently changing our location," in an interview with Germany's public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

He added that the Supreme Court acquittal had initially "created a ray of hope" and that Bibi's family "were excited that we would meet her soon."

"My daughters were dying to see her free," Masih told DW. But he said Bibi will now have to stay in prison until a review petition -- submitted by the Islamist movement TLP -- is decided.

Pakistani paramilitary soldiers stand guard outside the Supreme Court building in Islamabad on October 31.

In an effort to end protests, the government on Friday struck a deal with the TLP movement -- including agreeing not to oppose a review petition filed against the Supreme Court's judgment. The petition is not legally binding at this time.

The government also pledged not to oppose a TLP application to add Bibi to a list preventing her from leaving the country. And the government agreed to release everyone detained in connection with the protests.

Bibi's husband Masih told DW that the deal had "sent a shiver down my spine."

"My family is frightened, my relatives are frightened and my friends are also frightened," he said, adding that the judges had "delivered the verdict after taking into account all aspects of the case."

'Taking revenge'

Bibi, a mother of five from Punjab province, was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 and sentenced to hang after she was accused of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during an argument a year earlier with Muslim colleagues.

The workers had refused to drink from a bucket of water Bibi had touched because she was not Muslim. At the time, Bibi said the case was a matter of women who didn't like her "taking revenge."

On Wednesday, she won her appeal against the conviction and death sentence.

The TLP had previously vowed to take to the streets if Bibi were released, and large protests broke out in Islamabad and Lahore soon after the ruling was announced.

Under Pakistan's penal code, the offense of blasphemy is punishable by death or life imprisonment. Widely criticized by international human rights groups, the law has been used disproportionately against minority religious groups in the country and to go after journalists critical of the Pakistani religious establishment.

Bibi's case has attracted widespread outrage and support from Christians worldwide. Conservative Islamist groups in Pakistan have demanded the death penalty be carried out.

Sophia Saifi reported from Karachi, Sheena McKenzie wrote in London. Laura Smith-Spark and Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report.

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Death toll rises to 29 in Italy's historic storms, flooding

A flooded house where nine people in the same family died after a small river burst its banks in Casteldaccia near Palermo on the southern Italian island of Sicily.

(CNN)With the deaths of 12 people in Sicily, the death toll in Italy's historic flooding has grown to 29, the country's interior minister said.

"Twelve dead in Sicily, people that were having dinner and were swept up by the water," Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said in a statement to the press in the northern region of Veneto.

Nine of the people were members of two families dining together when the house was submerged by water from a nearby river that overflowed suddenly, the Fire Brigade said on Twitter.

The Fire Brigade said on Twitter that its divers had found the bodies. Among the victims were two children, 1 and 3 years old.

The Civil Protection Agency said it's still looking for a doctor who had been on his way to work at a hospital Saturday night and is now missing.

High winds and heavy rain have devastated parts of the country over the past week, causing the worst flooding in at least a decade in Venice, damages of more than 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) in Veneto and landslides that have cut off villages, authorities said.

The situation in Sicily is "dramatic," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Sunday.

Conte will call a cabinet meeting to announce a state of emergency in affected regions, he said at a press conference in Palermo, Sicily.

Italy's Civil Protection Agency continues to monitor the situation, issuing weather warnings via Twitter, while volunteers from the Italian Red Cross work to rescue people.

Several of last week's deaths were caused by falling trees as winds as strong as 190 kilometers per hour (118 mph) toppled acres of woodland, including the famous "Violin Forest" that provided wood for violin maker Antonio Stradivarius' instruments.

Two young people died south of Rome when a tree hit their car. Another was hit by a falling tree while walking in Naples.

Around 300,000 trees were flattened after winds swept through the Val d'Assa in the Asiago plateau, Roberto Ciambetti, president of the Veneto Regional Council, told CNN.

"Tens of thousands of tall trees were felled like toothpicks," he said.Much of Venice was under water as strong winds on Monday drove the high tide to one of the highest levels ever recorded.

St. Mark's Square became a lake, and floodwater spilled across the ancient marble floors of St. Mark's Basilica.

"In a single day, the basilica aged 20 years, but perhaps this is an optimistic consideration," Carlo Alberto Tesserin, head of the board responsible for St. Mark's Basilica, said in a statement.

Floodwaters also covered several dozen square meters of the 1,000-year-old marble pavement in front of the alter of the Madonna Nicopeia, a 12th-century icon, and submerged the Baptistery and the Zen Chapel, Tesserin said.Flood barrier project incomplete

This week's flooding was caused by a seasonal high tide and a strong low-pressure system in southern Europe that brought strong winds from the south and pushed water up the Adriatic Sea into Venice. This is the peak time of the year for seasonal flooding known as acqua alta, or high water, in the city.Flooding at high tide has become much more common in Venice because of climate change -- a problem that will continue to worsen as seas rise because of increasing temperatures and melting ice sheets, according to CNN meteorologists.

Work to install innovative underwater flood barriers to protect Venice from serious flooding, known as the Moses Project, has been underway for years. However, it has not yet been completed, thanks in part to corruption and spiraling costs.

A spokesman for the Civil Protection Agency in Venice told CNN that the Moses system could have mitigated the impact of salt water on the city's historic sites.

"Of course if the Moses project was completed the damages we are seeing now would not have happened," he said, "but the project was not completed because of the high cost."Children play in a puddle by the ancient Colosseum in Rome on Tuesday, a day after strong winds and rain hit the city.

The spokesman for the mayor's office called for the project to be completed.

"The Moses project is important to the Venetians," he said. "This infrastructure must be completed to avoid extraordinary waters, like what happened on Monday."

A spokeswoman for the New Venice Consortium, which is responsible for the Moses system, told CNN: "The work on the Moses began in 2003. At the moment it is 92-93% concluded."

Venice also has a system in place to monitor tides and warn of high water levels.

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Lion Air crash: Signal from black box lost, searchers say

Jakarta (CNN)Divers searching for the wreckage of Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610 can no longer hear a signal from the aircraft's missing cockpit voice recorder, the head of Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency said Sunday.

Diving teams have been working to locate the device, commonly known as a black box, which could help investigators piece together the final moments of the brand-new Boeing 737 before it crashed, killing all 189 people on board.

Muhammad Syaugi, head of Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, Basarnas, told reporters in Jakarta Sunday that a "ping" from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was heard Saturday but "we don't hear the ping signal today.""We checked that spot, located around 50 meters from the location of finding the first black box. But we can't find the CVR yet," Syaugi said.

Meanwhile, the plane's first black box, the flight data recorder, was located Thursday, and investigators said it showed Flight 610 had performed 19 flights -- including its final flight.

Six black box experts from four different countries were now analyzing the flight data recorder to piece together the last moments of the new Boeing 737 before it crashed.

Syaugi said that the search operation had been extended and would continue through Wednesday.

The focus of continuing efforts will be to recover additional victim remains and to locate the CVR, he said.

Analysts say finding the cockpit voice recorder is imperative if investigators are to determine whether the crash has implications for other airlines collectively operating thousands of Boeing 737 flights around the world each day.Search for victims continues

Flight 610 was supposed to take its passengers on a one-hour journey from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang on the island of Bangka. Instead it crashed 13 minutes after takeoff. The pilots had asked to turn around but didn't transmit an emergency call.

At least 65 body bags have been gathered since the start of the search-and-rescue operation, though each bag could contain remains of more than one person.Investigators will have to rely on DNA samples to identify victims because of the condition and size of the remains found. Police have 181 DNA samples from victims' families and are working to match them to 272 human tissue samples.

Lisda Cancer, head of Disaster Victim Identification, told reporters Friday that just one person has been identified so far, a female, through a fingerprint.

On Wednesday, authorities started bringing relatives to the port to identify victims' personal belongings, which lay piled up next to cushions and other debris that appeared to be from the aircraft.

Epi Syamsul Qomar, whose 24-year-old son was on the flight, broke down in tears when he recognized his son's shoe.

"I saw my son's black sneaker," he told CNN. "I also saw his bank checkbook."One diver has died

The fast-moving currents and muddy waters of the crash site in the Java Sea have hindered recovery efforts since the plane came down Monday shortly after taking off from Jakarta.

On Saturday, Syaugi confirmed that one of the more than 100 divers involved in the search had died.

Syahrul Anto, 48, was found unconscious Friday after his diving partner noticed he had disappeared, said Syaugi. He was immediately brought back to shore and was attended by doctors but Syaugi said that "God had a different plan."

Anto was a qualified, senior diver "who devoted his life for our country," Syaugi said.

Syaugi, who is responsible for the diving team, said those involved "are very qualified divers, outstanding divers, with long experience. They are come from Navy special task forces, from the police, from the Basarnas team, and some are volunteers from diving clubs."Pilot reported plane issues

The jetliner had experienced technical issues the day before on another route, passengers aboard that flight revealed to CNN.

On Sunday the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft -- a new plane, which had only around 800 flying hours on the clock -- had flown Lion Air's Bali-Jakarta route and had experienced a significant drop in altitude, passenger Robbi Gaharu said."After 10 minutes in the air the plane dropped as if it was losing power. People panicked. It dropped about 400 feet," said Gaharu, adding that he had confirmed the height of the drop on a flight-tracking website. He said the drop felt like falling into "a really, really deep hole."

Lion Air confirmed to CNN that the aircraft that crashed on Monday had been used to fly the JT43 Bali-Jakarta route the day before, and Indonesian authorities confirmed that the pilot on Sunday's flight reported a problem with one of the plane's instruments.

Capt. Daniel Putut Kuncoro Adi, managing director of Lion Group, said that all information had been handed over to Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Commission and he could not answer any questions about the fault because of a nondisclosure agreement signed to accommodate the investigation.

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US Navy has had 18 unsafe or unprofessional encounters with China since 2016

(CNN)The US Navy has had 18 unsafe or unprofessional encounters with Chinese military forces in the Pacific since 2016, according to US military statistics obtained by CNN.

"We have found records of 19 unsafe and/or unprofessional interactions with China and Russia since 2016 (18 with China and one with Russia)," Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet, told CNN.

A US official familiar with the statistics told CNN that 2017, the first year of the Trump administration, saw the most unsafe and or unprofessional encounters with Chinese forces during the period.

At least three of those incidents took place in February, May and July of that year and involved Chinese fighter jets making what the US considered to be "unsafe" intercepts of Navy surveillance planes.

While the 18 recorded incidents only involved US naval forces, the Air Force has also had at least one such encounter during this period.

"Our continued presence in the region highlights our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and demonstrates that the US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows," Christensen added.

The US Navy told CNN that, in comparison, there were 50 unsafe or unprofessional encounters with Iranian military forces since 2016, with 36 that year, 14 last year and none in 2018. US and Iranian naval forces tend to operate in relatively narrow stretches of water, such as the Strait of Hormuz, increasing their frequency of close contact.

The Navy averages hundreds of air and sea operations annually in the South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan, and officials say they take such unsafe interactions seriously.

"Make no mistake, the safety of our forces is paramount, and any time there is an unsafe and/or unprofessional incident, we are concerned," a US Navy official told CNN. "To address these incidents, the US responds through appropriate diplomatic and military channels."

The relative frequency of such interactions raises the possibility of a collision or clash that could spark a crisis or even a conflict between the two major powers.

In 2001, a collision between a US surveillance plane and a Chinese jet fighter led to a major diplomatic crisis between Washington and Beijing.

The most recent encounter with China took place last month while the Navy destroyer USS Decatur was sailing within 12 miles of two of the Spratly Islands as part of what the US calls a "freedom of navigation operation."

During that operation, a Chinese destroyer came within 45 yards of the US warship, forcing it to maneuver to avoid a collision. The US labeled the Chinese warship's actions unsafe and unprofessional, while Beijing said the US was threatening the safety and sovereignty of China.

Tensions over militarization of islands

Secretary of Defense James Mattis is expected to meet Friday with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Wei Fenghe, in Washington. Mattis has sought to cooperate with Beijing were possible while also pushing back on what the US sees as China's militarization of the South China Sea.

"We will cooperate where we can," Mattis said Monday at an event at the US Institute for Peace, while adding the US "will confront them where we must, for example, freedom of navigation in international waters and that sort of thing."

The US has ramped up its criticism of China's militarization of islands in the South China Sea, emphasizing that the US military will continue to operate in that area to contest what the US views as Beijing's excessive claims.

"What we don't want to do is reward aggressive behavior like you saw with the Decatur incident by modifying our behavior," Joe Felter, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, told reporters last month while Mattis was traveling in the region.

"That's just not going happen," he added. "We're going to continue to exercise our rights under international law and encourage all our partners to do the same."

Mattis said at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in Singapore last month following a meeting with Wei: "China's militarization of the South China Sea and aggressive action in international waters destabilizes the region and threatens shared efforts to promote security."

The US regularly sails vessels and flies aircraft in the South China Sea, but Beijing is particularly sensitive about the operations when they come near areas where the Chinese government has built islands and established military facilities on disputed maritime features.

Chinese warships will often shadow US vessels operating in the area, as they did last month while two US Navy ships were transiting the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese military also kept a close eye on a recent joint US-Japan military exercise involving over 50,000 US and Japanese personnel,

US-China tensions have risen in recent weeks, with President Donald Trump accusing China of interfering in November's midterm elections and the countries embroiled in a high-profile trade dispute.

But on Friday Trump told reporters he had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the two leaders wanted to work towards a trade deal and also discussed North Korea.

The Trump administration also recently sanctioned Beijing over its purchase of Russian weapons systems.

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