Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed the International Criminal Court's intention to probe the situation in Palestinian territories. According to Netanyahu, the ICC has no jurisdiction to conduct an investigation in Palestine.

"The court has no jurisdiction in this case. The ICC only has jurisdiction over petitions submitted by sovereign states. But there has never been a Palestinian state," Netanyahu said on Friday.

The court's prosecutor Fatou Bensouda earlier in the day said that she would not require the authorisation of the Pre-Trial Chamber to launch the investigation as Palestine had asked for a probe.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to commit Wednesday to delivering articles of impeachment to the Senate, citing concerns about an unfair trial on removing President Donald Trump from office. "So far we haven't seen anything that looks fair to us. That would've been our intention, but we'll see what happens over there." Pelosi's comments inject new uncertainty into the impeachment timetable and send the House and Senate lurching toward a potential institutional crisis.

Though the House adopted two articles of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of congressional investigations, it must pass a second resolution formally naming impeachment managers to present the case in the Senate. That second vehicle triggers the official transmission of articles to the Senate. By delaying passage of that resolution, Pelosi and top Democrats retain control of the articles and hope to put pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to adopt trial procedures they consider bipartisan.

The White House lashed out at the move. "House Democrats have run a fatally flawed process with fake facts, and now they want to deny the President his day in court with another procedural maneuver that proves anew they have no case," said Eric Ueland, Trump's top congressional liaison to Congress.

"The only thing that matters is the president of the United States was impeached today," said Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

"We defended the Constitution and we defended our democracy," said Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). "Right now, that's the story."

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.): "The House could use the delay to continue to build on its evidence for impeachment, and possibly to score additional legal victories that could unlock troves of new evidence."

"People have read that article, discussed it. People have come up to me, discussed it," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. "We will talk about it in some point in time. It's within the speaker's purview, obviously, she'll make that decision. And I also think she'll do it in discussions with McConnell and [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer."

The sudden foot-dragging from the congresswoman whose party has been clamoring for impeachment for most of the president's time in office pushed some Republicans over the edge. "Democrats have finally realized they have a very WEAK case which NEVER should have been brought forward to begin with," said Lindsey Graham.

By sticking to complaints that the ground rules for the Senate trial are "unfair," Democrats can pretend they're merely waiting for a more advantageous climate to pursue a conviction.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer sent McConnell a lengthy wish list of demands earlier this week, including the right to call four witnesses who already refused to testify during the House inquiry and other perks the Republicans did not enjoy during those hearings, guaranteeing McConnell would refuse his terms.

"Due to Democrats' misguided obsession with impeachment, they neglected moving forward on this pro-worker and pro-growth trade agreement for far too long," said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), ranking Republican on the House Ways and Committee. "Nonetheless, today I am so encouraged that we're here finally moving forward."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) offered similar praise: "This vote today, Madam Speaker, is a reminder that even while the House was working on a serious matter regarding the president's accountability for abuses of office, we are still working hard to deliver on our promises to the American people to focus on economic opportunity," he said. "And in this instance, we are working together."

Trump's scorn for NAFTA was crucial to his support among disaffected Democrats in industrial states that lost thousands of jobs under the 1994 pact. His vow to replace NAFTA helped propel him to electoral victories in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which had reliably supported Democratic presidential candidates since 1992.

Pelosi brushed off concerns that Democrats could give Trump "a victory to boast about," calling it a "collateral benefit if we can come together to support America's working families. The president wants to take credit? So be it. That would not stand in the way of our passing this."

"On every conceivable front, we have improved the old NAFTA," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (Mass.), the Democratic leader on trade policy. "You can vote for what we've negotiated, or you can embrace the status quo. If this fails today, that's precisely what you're doing."

The changes were enough to win over some of the fiercest Democratic critics of free trade deals, including Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who blame NAFTA for thousands of job losses in their states. "I was determined to make sure that any new trade agreements did not undermine U.S. wages and salaries, accelerate outsourcing, or continue to hurt working people," wrote DeLauro, one of the chief Democratic negotiators in talks with Lighthizer, in a Friday letter to colleagues. "USMCA is not a model moving forward, but it establishes important principles we can build from."

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), who bristled at Neal's pitch to support USMCA and not maintain the status quo. He argued that the deal would still treat Mexican workers "like chattel" and "American jobs would still flow to other countries. Me and the status quo don't agree most of the time," Pascrell said. "I mean, I even got a Jerry Garcia tie on today."

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), a staunch conservative, said he would oppose the deal over its "myriad provisions to warm the hearts of protectionists."

But that Brown, DeLauro and organized labor could support a trade deal proposed by a Republican president reflected the ways Trump has transformed the congressional landscape on trade policy.

Commentary on Thursday's vote was varied, with some camps hailing the outcome as a triumph for the President, while others saw it as proof that Democrats could get things done even while preoccupied with impeachment.

The sweeping trade deal was passed in the House on Thursday 385-41 and is set for a Senate vote sometime after the new year.

Effectively an update to the prior three-way agreement [USMCA is] built with a 16-year sunset clause which sets an expiration date for the deal.

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In 1998 Benazir went into self-imposed exile in Dubai where she remained until she returned to Pakistan on 18 October 2007 after reaching an understanding with CIA-asset President Musharraf, who took power in a military coup in 1999.

[...]

As the PPP party leader announced her death, the Pakistani people knew instantly where to look for the culprits as they erupted into shouts of "Musharraf is a dog". Let's not forget who his masters are.