On Tuesday, Dec. 11, the legal team representing General Michael Flynn, Trump's former NSA adviser who was convicted by the Mueller Special Counsel of a single count of perjury, made a legal filing in the court of federal judge Emmet Sullivan.

That legal filing was very revealing, but to understand why it is such a bombshell requires briefly going over the timeline of events in this most unusual case.

1. On Dec. 1, 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty before Judge Rudolph Contreras.
2. On Dec. 7, 2017, Judge Contreras was suddenly removed from the case without any public explanation.
3. That same day it was announced Judge Emmet Sullivan would be replacing Judge Contreras.
4. On Feb. 21, 2018, Judge Sullivan filed what is known as a "Brady Ruling" instructing the prosecution team to hand over any exculpatory evidence to Flynn and his legal team that had been withheld from them up to that point.
5. The Mueller team then spent the next 11 months asking for Flynn's sentencing to be delayed, pushing the date back three times, until finally a firm date of Dec. 18, 2018, was set.
6. Having a firm date set at last allowed both sides involved in the case to file the required pre-sentencing memorandums.

(Note: A Brady disclosure filing is made when a judge wants to make absolutely sure before proceeding to sentencing that a defendant who pleaded guilty received all the favorable evidence from the prosecutors. For prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence from a defendant who pleaded guilty is one of the most serious legal and ethical violations that an officer of the court can commit.)

Riyadh has denounced the US Senate resolution that blamed the Saudi Crown Prince for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, as baseless allegations and a blatant attack on the Kingdom's sovereignty and internal affairs.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia rejects the position expressed recently by the US Senate, which was based upon unsubstantiated claims and allegations, and contained blatant interferences in the Kingdom's internal affairs, undermining the Kingdom's regional and international role," its Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry emphasized that "surprising" actions and statements by American officials had diminished the "stature" of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who'd worked for decades on building economic and security ties between the countries.

The Kingdom has previously asserted that the murder of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi is a deplorable crime that does not reflect the Kingdom's policy nor its institutions.

But even though the US Senate had sent a "wrong message" that had damaged bilateral relations, Riyadh is nevertheless willing to maintain ties with the US, with the ministry reminding Washington that the Gulf state acts as a "cornerstone" of peace and security at both regional and international levels.

On Thursday, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution saying it "believes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the murder" of the Washington Post columnist, effectively undermining the Trump administration's effort to play down and contain the fallout from the high-profile assassination.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel has the capabilities to reach any target in the Middle East with offensive missiles. Netanyahu visited Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on Monday where the Chairman of the board Harel Locker, as well as President and CEO of IAI Nimrod Sheffer presented the Prime Minister with ways to strengthen Israel's national security. Netanyahu said:

"There is an accumulation of very talented minds and people here who are developing the cutting edge of the defense of the State of Israel, from micro-satellites that we will launch into space to missiles, only part of which you see here behind me. Space is a huge sphere that the State of Israel is entering.

"They are developing offensive missiles here that can reach anywhere in the area and any target. This is the offensive power of the State of Israel which is very important for us in all sectors. They are developing weapons systems here with special capabilities that no other country has."

IAI Chairman Harel Locker spoke enthusiastically about the company's abilities, saying:

"You have seen and heard here a little of our abilities. This is the realization of the Jewish genius to its fullest. IAI knows how to reach anywhere for the benefit of the people of Israel. Decide and we will go anywhere we like. The sky is the limit."

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) representatives have started checking Moscow laboratory data, access to which was granted by the Russian authorities as part of a deal reached between the two sides.

The five-person WADA delegation, headed by independent expert Jose Antonio Pascual, is planning to conduct a three-day inspection in order to check the database and doping samples which have been stored in the laboratory since 2011.

By providing access to the Moscow lab, Russian officials fulfilled a final requirement stipulated by the world anti-doping watchdog which reinstated the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in September ending a three-year doping saga which undermined Russia's credibility on the international stage.

Access to the laboratory was a key factor in RUSADA's restoration, with WADA emphasizing it would suspend the body again if the commitment was violated. WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said in a statement on Friday:

"Gaining full access to the laboratory and the data contained within it was the reason behind the 20 September decision (to reinstate RUSADA) and it is satisfying that we are another step closer to realizing that. The raw data is the missing piece of the puzzle that will complement the duplicate LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) database that is already in WADA's possession and help conclude WADA's McLaren and Operation LIMS investigations."

French firms are planning to take part in a Russian-Chinese project to build a wide-body long-haul passenger airplane, according to Bertrand de Lacombe, Director of International Cooperation at French Civil Aviation Authority.

"France is interested in participating in the project together with Russia and China," Lacombe told journalists on the sidelines of the Russian-French Council for Economic, Financial, Industrial and Trade Issues (CEFIC).

According to the official, French producers are ready to bid for a tender that is currently being set by Russian and Chinese manufacturers. Lacombe didn't specify precisely what kind of contribution to development and production French enterprises are ready to make. However, he stressed that they can provide a wide range of opportunities, including producing engines and other principal parts.

"We already expressed our interest towards the project at China's Zhuhai Air Show in November," Lacombу said. "They [Russian and Chinese partners] let us know that they are also interested in participation of French companies in this project."

Parties will cooperate in the project on a competitive basis if French suppliers meet economic and technical demands and are ready to work under sanctions, according to Ravil Khakimov, the head of the department of aviation sector at Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The UN Global Migration Compact will legalise illegal immigration and regularise rapid, unsustainable, mass migration. Sputnik spoke about this issue with Dr Waheed Uddin - a professor, consultant, former UN expert, author of books on infrastructure, and contributor to books on climate.

Sputnik: How could the UN migration pact resolve the migration crisis?

Dr Waheed Uddin: The migration of people due to non-political and non-ethnic/religious reasons is entirely an issue for the law makers and judicial process within the jurisdiction of each independent country. The UN migration pact is infringing on the governmental authority of each country according to the country's own constitution and policies.

The pact is not going to solve the overwhelming issue of unwanted migration on mass scale that is caused by poverty and ethnic suppression. These must be addressed by the government of each country itself and UN should provide expert help to provide guidance based best practices.

Former FBI Director James Comey is back on the Hill for an encore, after a controversial appearance more than a week ago in which he told lawmakers seeking answers over the FBI's handling of the Trump-Russia collusion probe some version of "I don't know" at least 245 times.

Comey is set to testify behind closed doors again Monday morning, before members of the House oversight and judiciary committees.

The prior Dec. 7 session left lame-duck Republican lawmakers fuming as Comey repeatedly said "I don't remember," "I don't know" and "I don't recall" when grilled about investigations Republicans believed were aimed at hurting President Trump. The questioning covered the FBI's probe of Hillary Clinton's email server and how a counter-intelligence investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election morphed into an all-encompassing probe of Trump's inner circle, including the obtaining of FISA warrants used to spy on American citizens.

The body count from the conflict in Yemen surpassed 60,000 last week, according to an independent tally, yet mass media continue to cite old figures that heavily underestimate the devastation, an informed researcher has told RT.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in Yemen since January 2016, according to a new report by Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), which estimated that nearly half of those deaths occurred this year.

"From what we can see from the reporting at least, there has been quite a general lazy attitude in using, for instance, the 10,000 figure provided by the UN, the sole official figure since 2016. And still many newspapers and media outlets are using that, which significantly downplays the devastation," said Andrea Carboni, one of the researchers behind the report, who feels the crisis in Yemen has gone largely under-reported.

The death toll is likely to increase further, amid an ongoing battle for Yemen's port city of Hodeidah, despite a UN-brokered ceasefire. It was agreed between the Saudi-backed government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebel group last Thursday, but the truce was pushed back at least until Tuesday, as warring parties refuse to honor it. According to reports, the Arab coalition launched new airstrikes on the port city on Sunday, while clashes continue to plague the region.

There is really almost no way that General Flynn lied to the FBI when being interrogated four days into the Trump Administration. There must be some reason for his guilty plea, but lying to the FBI is almost certainly not what he did.

General Mike Flynn was berated by the media in January 2017 for alleged illegal activities with Russians. The far-left media was in a frenzy about an article released by the Washington Post on January 12th based on classified information that was stolen and leaked to the press.

Later that January, only a few days after the Trump Administration moved into the White House, General Mike Flynn, the decorated war hero, was set up and interrogated in the White House.

As TGP previously reported in February 2018, according to Mike Cernovich, fired and corrupt former FBI Head Andrew McCabe altered far left FBI investigator Peter Strzok's 302 notes on his interview with General Flynn. And then McCabe destroyed the evidence.

In early May of 2018, Senator Grassley demanded the FBI and DOJ produce the transcript of Flynn's intercepted calls with Russian Ambassador Kislyak and the 302's by May 25th. The DOJ and FBI ignored him. They either refused to provide them or they were altered and deleted as previously noted.

The Avangard is a strategic intercontinental ballistic missile system equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle

First Avangard hypersonic missile systems will enter combat duty in 2019 at the Dombarovsky missile division based in the Orenburg Region in the south Urals, Strategic Missile Force Commander Colonel-General Sergei Karakayev said in an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

"First complexes are planned to be put on combat duty at the missile regiment of the Dombarosky division starting next year," Karakayev said.

The Avangard is a strategic intercontinental ballistic missile system equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle. According to open sources, the 'breakthrough' weapon was developed by the Research and Production Association of Machine-Building (the town of Reutov, the Moscow Region) and was tested from 2004. The glide vehicle is capable of flying at hypersonic speed in the dense layers of the atmosphere, maneuvering by its flight path and its altitude and breaching any anti-missile defense.