During a break during former FBI Director James Comey's heated closed-door testimony on Capitol Hill on Friday, incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler confirmed to reporters what many had already suspected: That Nadler (and probably his fellow Democratic leaders) would put the kibosh on the House's investigation into alleged political bias at the highest levels of the FBI and DOJ as they launched an investigation into the Trump campaign - an investigation that eventually morphed into the Mueller probe.

While Democrats prepare to ramp up investigations into everything from Trump's "war on the media" to his involvement in his family business, Nadler told a group of reporters that he intends to end the House Judiciary Committee's involvement in the Congressional probe as soon as he takes the reins next year.

A carrier strike group led by the Nimitz-class supercarrier USS John C. Stennis has arrived in the Middle East, ending an eight month period without a US carrier based in the region, the US Navy has reported.

The carrier group will be based with the 5th Fleet, whose zone of responsibility includes the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and will be stationed in the region for at least two months.

Washington media exploded Friday night following the publication of sentencing memos filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and prosecutors with the SDNY which called for Cohen to serve a "substantial" prison sentence (NY prosecutors recommended a "slight downward variance" of 42 months), arguing that the attorney's decision to rat on his former boss with his back against the wall wasn't a noble act and didn't excuse his many criminal acts - from bank fraud to violations of campaign finance laws - that were committed with the assumption of impunity, and without the knowledge of the family Cohen has claimed to be trying to protect.

The statement issued by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on December 4 regarding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty following the meeting of the foreign ministers of the alliance in Brussels puts the seal on the US decision to withdraw from the pact.

Washington has successfully rallied its European allies. Armed with NATO solidarity, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave Russia a 60-day ultimatum to return to compliance with the Treaty. Pompeo hopes to make Russia the culpable party.

However, quite some time ago, the US had already made up it mind to scrap the treaty. The Congress even made provision in the Pentagon budget for R&D relating to intermediate missiles. But an alibi was needed. In 2002, the US unilaterally withdrew from the ABM Treaty and dealt a body blow to international security without bothering to explain. On the contrary, INF Treaty is vital to European security and an alibi is necessary.

Michael Cohen was paid more than $4 million by several firms for promising access to his former client Donald Trump.

A federal prosecutor told a judge on Friday that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen should spend between 51 and 63 months in prison for a range of federal crimes including tax evasion and violating campaign finance laws.

Now federal prosecutors provided new details on the extent of former Donald Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s attempts to cash in on his access to President Trump.

They claimed that Cohen extracted more than $4 million from major corporations in return for his supposed insight into White House policy making.

US President Donald Trump is to name State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as his new envoy to the United Nations. Bloomberg and Fox News reported on the likely appointment on Thursday, citing sources. This comes after Nikki Haley, the current US ambassador to the UN, announced her resignation in October.

During the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last week, Argentina and China reached a trade agreement on, among other things, cherry exports, as the South American country strives to become “the world’s supermarket.”

The agreement will be signed on Sunday by Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Argentina's agro-industry secretary, Luis Miguel Etchevehere, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) Saturday.

As transgender male athletes exploit weaker women for personal gain, LGBTQ activists honor them in puzzling fashion, despite the protests of said weaker women.

What’s the expression …. ‘Wish in one hand and …”
Oh yeah, and then there’s ‘Be careful what you wish for.’

Iranian naval forces plan to stage a large-scale drill in the Indian Ocean to boost and put on display the country’s military prowess, a senior commander says.

The maneuver will be held this winter within the perimeters of Iran's southern territorial waters and high seas, Deputy Navy Commander for Coordination Rear Admiral Hamzeh Ali Kaviani told IRNA on Saturday.

He added that the Navy's state-of-the-art equipment, including two Ghadir-class submarines that recently joined Iran's naval fleet, would take part in the drill.

Some 53 percent of Yemen’s population, 15.9 million people, is now facing “severe acute food insecurity” as the direct result of a Saudi-led invasion of the impoverished country and the ensuing economic collapse, a survey says.

The survey, whose results were published on Saturday, was conducted by Yemeni officials and international experts during the month of October based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), also known as IPC scale.

According to the IPC’s five-point scale, 3 stands for “crisis”, 4 is for “emergency” and 5 is used to refer to “catastrophe” and possible famine.

A main Israeli TV station has revealed that the regime in Tel Aviv is seeking full diplomatic relations with the Saudi Arabian government and wants to make their ties official within the next few months.

The Hadashot TV news, the main news bulletin watched in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a report late Saturday that, according to its sources, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was seeking to formalize ties with Riyadh before the next election which is slated for November next year.

Many expect Netanyahu to push the votes to earlier in 2019 to avoid a forced exit from power due to various scandals that have gripped him over the past months.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan Pakistan has stood up to the United States from its position as a sovereign nation, and is demonstrating a clean break from the past, according to Adam Garrie, an independent political analyst and writer based in London.

Garrie made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday while commenting on a statement of Prime Minister Khan where he expressed regret over Pakistan’s past dealings with the United States, adding that Islamabad will not act as a “hired gun” for the US anymore.

“I would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun — given money to fight someone else’s war. We should never put ourselves in this position again,” Khan said in a Washington Post interview on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump has announced that he would nominate a battle-hardened commander who led American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, General Mark Milley, to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

If confirmed by the Senate, the four-star general, who is currently the Army Chief of Staff, will succeed current Marine General Joseph Dunford later next year.

"I am pleased to announce my nomination of four-star General Mark Milley, Chief of Staff of the United States Army – as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing General Joe Dunford, who will be retiring," Trump tweeted Saturday morning.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the United States seeks to engage Asian countries in wars and acts of terror with the purpose of exhausting their resources and hindering their progress.

Larijani made the remarks in Tehran on Saturday in an address to the closing ceremony of the second Speakers' Conference on the challenge of terrorism and inter-regional connectivity, attended by speakers from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey.

He added that the US had created terrorist groups in Asia because the region enjoyed great economic and energy potential.

For this reason, Asian countries have been engaged in wars over the past three decades and now most of terrorist groups are in Asia, the top Iranian parliamentarian said.

Israeli troops have fired warning shots near the border with Lebanon in light of a recent operation by the Israeli military to block what it claims are tunnels the Hezbollah resistance movement has dug into the occupied territories.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that Israeli forces had shot in the air across from Meiss Ej Jabal village in the Marjeyoun district of the southern Lebanese province of Nabatieh on Saturday, after they were “surprised” by an army patrol that had been obscured by a thick fog.

The Israeli army, however, claimed that it had opened fire at Hezbollah activists.

The flu shot is only the fifth most popular vaccine in the United States, however it is by far the most dangerous, according to a report released by the Department of Justice that confirm more than half of all claims settled by the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program involve the influenza vaccine.

As reported by Health Impact News, during the period covering 16 August to 15 November 2013, 139 claims were settled by the Vaccine Court, 70 of which received compensation. Of these settled claims, 42 – or 60 percent – were for injuries caused by the flu vaccine. The remaining 40 percent were for injuries caused by 11 other vaccines.

DEMOCRATIC SEN. BEN Cardin is making a behind-the-scenes push to slip an anti-boycott law into a last-minute spending bill being finalized during the lame-duck session, according to four sources familiar with the negotiations.

The measure, known as the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, was shelved earlier amid concerns about the infringement of free speech, after civil liberties groups argued that the original version would have allowed criminal penalties for Americans who participate in a political boycott of Israel. Some of the more aggressive elements of the provision have been removed under pressure, but the American Civil Liberties Union, which spearheaded the initial opposition to the bill, is still strongly opposed.

On Saturday, Hungarian trade unions protested a change in the country's labor code in Budapest, increasing a workers’ allowable overtime from 250 to 400 hours a year in a move union leaders have dubbed as a “slave law.”

Union workers claim that the law, which was proposed by the right-wing Fidesz party, headed by Prime Minister Victor Orban, is a way to increase Hungarian companies' profit at the expense of workers by adding an extra workday per week.

One of the charts that has kept deflationists asleep at night for the past two years and provided cover to the Fed it its tightening strategy was the one below showing the exponential surge in transportation prices as a result of an acute scarcity of truck drivers which has sent trucking prices soaring, and led to a historic spike in Class 8 truck orders as supply scrambles to keep up with demand (much of which is the result of businesses rushing to front-load trade ahead of even higher tariffs with China).

Terror chiefs believe a devastating chemical weapons attack in Britain is now ‘more likely than not’, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The chilling assessment follows the interception of ‘chatter’ between senior figures in Islamic State (IS). The terror group has been inspired by the poisoning of former KGB agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, by Russian agents in March.

Before the novichok attack in Salisbury, the Government’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) put the risk of a chemical weapons strike by jihadis at 25 per cent.

With a heavy heart, I feel compelled to write about the European issue again. I am sick of it. I want it to be over. I would, by now, accept almost any arrangement if only this ignorant, stupid squabbling would stop.

People who only five years ago dismissed the whole subject as irrelevant are now on fire with mad passion for one outcome or another.

They have no business to be. I recall trying to persuade Tory politicians, now brawling, red-faced and panting, about backstops and customs unions, that the EU mattered at all.

Outside the Palace of Westminster on Thursday I saw the driver of a massive cement lorry wind down his window to bellow in an angry Geordie voice. His target? A rent-a-mob of anti-Brexit demonstrators.

‘It’s about time you learned to respect the decision of the working class!’ he roared.

What can he have made of the farce now engulfing Parliament itself? Or of professional politicians united in their conviction that when it comes to the most momentous decision to face us since the Second World War, they can agree precisely nothing?

The outcome of the 2016 referendum was clear.

Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron have ordered a new swimming pool to be installed a few feet from their private beach - so as to avoid people taking pictures of them sea swimming.

The Elysee Palace confirmed the five figure expenditure at the Riviera retreat where France's presidential couple will spend their summer break.

It also confirmed that the French taxpayer would be paying for the new swimming pool.

While the dust has not yet settled in the streets of Paris, after sweeping protests against fuel tax hikes, it just so happens that France has taken the crown from Denmark as the most taxed country in 2017, the OECD found.

Among the 34 developed members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Emmanuel Macron leads the nation with the highest tax-to-GDP ratio, the organization reported. France leads with 46.2 percent of GDP against the average of 34.2 percent of other members, thus dropping the long-standing leader in the rating, Denmark.

The Scandinavian country’s numbers, meanwhile, shrank to 46 percent, down by 0.2 since last year. Sweden, Italy, and Greece round out the top five, while Mexico is the last on the list at 16.2 percent.

Beijing has threatened Ottawa with consequences if it doesn't release Huawei's chief financial officer. The executive was detained over her alleged connection with a company that tried to smuggle embargoed phones into Iran.

“China strongly urges the Canadian side to immediately release the detained person, and earnestly protect their lawful, legitimate rights, otherwise Canada must accept full responsibility for the serious consequences caused,” Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said on Saturday.

France has been gripped by rallies as Yellow Vests demand new concessions from the government. Hundreds of protesters, including the movement’s leader, were detained during the demonstrations.

Yellow Vest mayhem has hit the country for the 4th consecutive weekend. Protests in the capital this Saturday resulted in clashes between demonstrators and police, with officers resorting to tear gas. Hundreds were detained and taken into custody in the capital.

The Georgian Defense Ministry has signed another contract on the deliveries of air defense management and control systems with France, the ministry's press service said in a statement on Saturday.

"In the field of air defense Georgia and France have embarked on a new stage of cooperation. The Georgian Defense Ministry has signed a very important contract with the French party relating to air defense management and control systems, under which the process of air defense systems purchase will be continued," the press service said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated Saturday that Turkish police were frequently accused of using force, however, he pointed to the situation in France and urged to note how the local police treated people there, the Anadolu news agency reported.

According to the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan cited by the Anadolu news agency, the Yellow Vest protests pointed out to Europe's failed democracy, human rights and freedom, adding that Europe's security was threatened by the native population.

"The walls of security and welfare that they so cherished started to be shaken not by migrants or Muslims, but by their own citizens," Erdogan said.

As many as 450 people were detained in an unauthorized yellow vest protest in the Belgian capital of Brussels on Saturday, with 10 individuals having appeared in court, the city's prosecutor's office said.

"The Brussels Prosecutor's Office can provide the following information. At this stage, the issuing of arrest orders has been confirmed for 10 people," the prosecutor's office said in a statement, adding that as many as 450 people had been subject to administrative detention.