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A whirlwind week in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russian meddling probe is set for a dramatic triple-threaded conclusion Friday, as fired FBI Director James Comey prepares to testify before House Republicans and prosecutors ready pivotal sentencing documents on former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and onetime campaign chairman Paul Manafort. With multiple reports and other indications suggesting the long-running Russia probe that began in May 2017 is nearing its conclusion, Mueller faces court-imposed Friday deadlines to explain how Manafort allegedly broke his cooperation agreement with the government, as well as how Cohen should be punished for lying to Congress in 2017...

Three people have come forward with hundreds of pages of evidence of potential wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation, including misappropriation of funds and allegations of quid-pro-quo promises made to donors during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told Fox News on Thursday. Meadows, the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, is also the chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations. The panel is set to hold an investigative hearing next week on the status of the Foundation case. U.S. Attorney John Huber was tasked to investigate the foundation last year by then-Attorney...

The Environmental Protection Agency acted again Thursday to ease rules on the sagging U.S. coal industry, this time scaling back what would have been a tough control on climate-changing emissions from any new coal plants. The latest Trump administration targeting of legacy Obama administration efforts to slow climate change comes in the wake of multiplying warnings from the agency’s scientists and others about the accelerating pace of global warming. In a ceremony Thursday at the agency, acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a proposal to dismantle a 2015 rule that any new coal power plants include cutting-edge techniques to capture...

Stocks closed well off their session lows on Thursday after news broke that the Federal Reserve could tighten monetary policy at a slower pace than previously expected. The Wall Street Journal reported the central bank is considering whether to signal a wait-and-see approach to rate hikes at its upcoming meeting this month. The report said Fed officials do not know what their next move on rates will be after December. “What this week and a half shows is an extraordinary sensitivity to headlines, more so than usual,” said Delores Rubin, senior equities trader at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management. “It’s been...

When the Trump administration blocked the merger of Qualcomm and Broadcom it singled out the risk that the deal would give Huawei an advantage in developing 5G technology. Bloomberg quoted an analyst in China who sees the arrest as the result of the national security White House staff pushing back against the Wall Street-friendly China doves in the White House, led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who pushed for the trade truce.

The scene on the plane during landing was calm, according to passengers. "We didn’t realize what was going on, it was that fast," said a passenger, Gary Scott. "It got very bumpy and I felt the front of the aircraft sink in a little bit ... and then it was like 'OK, were done.'" Scott said he knew the plane had skidded off the runway when he saw mud splashing against the windows and the headlights from cars on the road behind the airport wall. Passengers said the pilot warned them that the landing would be rough when they first...

Former President Barack Obama recently continued his series of public broadsides against his successor, President Donald Trump. Obama's charges are paradoxical. On one hand, Obama seems to believe that he, rather than Trump, should be credited with the current economic boom and the emergence of the United States as the world's largest energy producer. But Obama also has charged that Trump's policies are pernicious and failing. Apparently, Obama believes that all of Trump's successes are due to Obama, and all of Trump's setbacks are his own. Obama certainly forgets the old rule: Presidents, fairly or not, get both credit and...

He’s given up on running — now he’s focused on climbing. Just days after announcing he won’t run for president in 2020, attorney Michael Avenatti said he is now representing Therese “Patricia” Okoumou, the woman who was arrested in July for scaling the Statue of Liberty to protest President Trump’s immigration policies. Avenatti, who is best known as the lawyer for porn

Wrestling legend Larry "The Axe" Hennig died at age 82, WWE confirmed Thursday. According to WWE, Hennig suffered from a lengthy illness as well as kidney failure. Hennig is a legend in his own right as a result of his time with the American Wrestling Association, where he was a four-time tag team champion. His bigger legacy, though, came as the patriarch of the Hennig wrestling family, which includes (grandson Curtis) Axel and Axel's father, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. According to the Internet Wrestling Database, Hennig last wrestled for the AWA in 1985, teaming with Mr. Perfect in a losing...

5. Alec Baldwin. 2016: "Alec Baldwin totally nailed Trump on the 'SNL' premiere." 2017: "Alec Baldwin Admits He's 'Bullied Women,' Calls for a Change in Hollywood." 2018: "Baldwin bombs: Alec posts dismal numbers in his talk show debut on ABC, with premiere episode featuring Robert De Niro pulling in less than 2.5M viewers." 2018: "Alec Baldwin Arrested After Fight Over Manhattan Parking Spot." 2018: "'Alec Baldwin Show' Bumped to Saturdays in December on ABC." 16. George Clooney. 2016: "Clooney's Vow: Trump Will Not Be President; See Trump's Response." 2017: "Clooney's 'Suburbicon' tanks, 'Saw' sequel No. 1 with $16.3M."

Once again Judicial Watch is doing the heavy lifting. Judicial Watch appeared in a DC federal court last month on a motion to compel more testimony from Hillary Clinton as well as to make public video recordings of depositions of top Clinton aides such as Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills. The court ruled that Hillary Clinton must answer more questions about the setting up of her private server. Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said that the court denied their request to unseal the video depositions of Clinton’s aides. On Thursday, a federal court blasted the DOJ and State Department on...

A large clinical trial launched this week will test a new, gel-based form of male birth control, Gizmodo reported Friday. If it proves safe and effective, the gel could finally expand the very short list of contraceptive options that can be utilised by men. "Many women cannot use hormonal contraception and male contraceptive methods are limited to vasectomy and condoms," study investigator Diana Blithe, said in a statement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is funding the trial. "A safe, highly effective and reversible method of male contraception would fill an important public health need." The gel, applied...

ITALY, December 3, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Amid what Italian media is describing as “open war” on school nativity scenes, Italy’s Education Ministry has slapped back, granting approval to installing crucifixes and reinstating nativity scenes in the nation’s classrooms. “The crucifix is for me the symbol of our history, our culture, our traditions,” said Education Minister Marco Bussetti, speaking to the Federation of Catholic Schools’ annual congress in Rome. “I don't see how it can cause any irritation in our school rooms, on the contrary it may help kids to reflect on our history.” Bussetti is not alone. When a school...

In my continuing series of Christmas songs that are not tired and overplayed, I bring you "Christmas Eve" by Blackmore's Night. Blackmore's Night is a folk/rock band consisting of Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow) and his girlfriend Candace Night. Hence "Blackmore's Night." In 2006, the band released "Winter Carols", which is overall a very strong Christmas album. However, "Christmas Eve" is the stand-out track and really should be a holiday standard.

Jets fly over for the George Bush funeral

Kiev, December 5, Interfax - The statute regarding Ukraine's "unified local church" drawn up by the Constantinople Patriarchate does not actually provide for this church's autocephaly, contrary to Kiev's expectations, the online Ukrainian publication Vesti reported on Tuesday. According to Vesti, some key provisions of this statute show that there is no reason to expect the autocephaly (independence) of the new church; it will be fully subordinate to Constantinople as a metropolitanate. One of the key provisions of the statute stipulates that the Ukrainian church will be inseparably linked to the Constantinople Patriarchate and, through it, to all other Churches....

Award-winning director and producer to push LGBT political candidatesLOS ANGELES (ChurchMilitant.com) - Ryan Murphy, an active homosexual and the producer behind dozens of award-winning television shows like Glee, American Horror Story and Pose, declared he will be pouring money to block so-called anti-LGBT candidates from taking office in the 2020 elections. He announced his new effort, Pose Gives Back, on Sunday while getting an award at the TrevorLive gala sponsored by The Trevor Project, an organization promoting homosexuality and transgender ideology to young people. The project will donate money to 20 pro-LGBT political candidates running opposite pro-family and pro-life candidates...

Users can inform on people who hold unauthorised beliefs or unorthodox interpretations of the six religions recognised by the state. Human rights groups have criticised the software, arguing that it will only serve to undermine religious tolerance in the country.Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office launched a new smartphone app that would allow Indonesian citizens to report suspected cases of religious heresy. Users of the app can report groups practising unrecognised faiths or unorthodox interpretations of Indonesia’s six officially recognised religions, (Islam, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism and Confucianism). It features a list of religious edicts issued by the country’s...

Remember when half of American white males over the age of 40 declared themselves for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016? There were so many candidates that they couldn't fit them all on two packed debate stages. One guy stayed in after receiving a grand total of 12 votes in the Iowa caucuses; in New Hampshire, Jim Gilmore's showing improved to 133, an unprecedented 1,000 percent increase. Reader: He didn't withdraw for another six days.

~Favorite Light or Dark Songs~ "Shine" by Collective Soul *Video* Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - If You Leave *Video* op thread