On his 95th birthday, one of the Cold War's most famous spies, who served as a double agent for the Soviet Union and escaped to Moscow after being caught by Britain, insists that intelligence services can still play a decisive role in international affairs.

"There is a real war going on between good and evil," George Blake wrote in a message addressed to "young recruits" at the SVR, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service. "Your mission will be a difficult one - to save the planet when its destruction in a nuclear war has again become a possibility due to the irresponsible actions of politicians, and where terrorism leaves its bloody traces in every part of the world."

Without specifying names, he said intelligence officers were battling a "devious enemy, the possibility of whose final defeat gives me energy to live."

Kellyanne Conway, who serves as a counselor to President Trump, said Monday that former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton "just won't go away," noting the Trump administration "would be happy" to no longer discuss the president's former political rival.

"Look, we would be happy to stop talking about Hillary Clinton and the campaign. We dispensed with her a year ago. But she just won't go away," Conway told "Fox & Friends."

Clinton, since losing the election to Trump, has come out with a book detailing the campaign and her loss. She has also spoken about both the campaign and the Trump presidency in multiple interviews.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has responded to the call of the French President to hold talks on the country's ballistic missile program, firmly rejecting the idea and noting that it is solely defensive in nature.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi has rejected any possibility of negotiations on the country's ballistic missiles. The diplomat stressed that the country's missile program is designed for its defense and has no relation to a nuclear agreement with the world powers.

"France is fully aware of our country's firm position that Iran's defense affairs are not negotiable," he said in a statement posted on the ministry's website on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia, May 2017. A private yacht sails into the port at Jeddah under heavy guard. The yacht's identity is hidden even from the port authorities. Only a handful of people are allowed near it. They deliver several boxes on board and the yacht sails away.

The boxes contained cash. $1 billion cash. A "gift" from the inner circle of Saudi Clown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS).

And the mysterious yacht? It belonged to The Trump Organization, and the whole mysterious incident took place while Trump was busy bowing to MBS' father, King Salman.

An incredible story, to be sure. Phenomenal, even. Trump bribed by the Saudi Crown Prince to the tune of $1 billion? The beloved POTUS selling out his country in return for some cold hard cash? It could be the scandal of the century, and it seems to explain so much.

After all, Trump's genuflections toward the Saudi royals (literal as well as figurative) and his profusions of "great confidence" in those same royals even as they commit a chaotic and bloody purge stand in stark contrast to the rhetoric of candidate Trump. Lest we forget, it was just over one year ago that Trump was railing against Clinton for accepting money from those gay-killing, women-enslaving Saudi fiends and openly ruminating about Saudi connections to 9/11.

...But is it true? Was there really a private yacht in Jeddah Port? A team of shadowy men from MBS' inner circle? The billion dollars in cash? Who knows!

The story comes from @mujtahidd, an anonymous Twitter user who has two million followers and claims to have sources close to the royal palace. And, true or not, it's being reported on by "reputable" outlets. And why not? It's salacious. It's tantalizing. And it makes just enough sense to be not entirely implausible.

Will Robert Mueller's investigation ever be reined in? Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's pre-election meeting with Gen. Michael Flynn is being probed by the Special Counsel.

NBC News reports:

Investigators for Special Counsel Robert Mueller are questioning witnesses about an alleged September 2016 meeting between Mike Flynn, who later briefly served as President Donald Trump's national security adviser, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a staunch advocate of policies that would help Russia, two sources with knowledge of the investigation told NBC News.

The meeting allegedly took place in Washington the evening of Sept. 20, while Flynn was working as an adviser to Trump's presidential campaign. It was arranged by his lobbying firm, the Flynn Intel Group. Also in attendance were Flynn's business partners, Bijan Kian and Brian McCauley, and Flynn's son, Michael G. Flynn, who worked closely with his father, the sources said.

Mueller is reviewing emails sent from Flynn Intel Group to Rohrabacher's congressional staff thanking them for the meeting, according to one of the sources, as part of his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

‌MBS used to refer to mortgage-backed securities. But that's so-last-decade. Henceforth, it stands for Mohammed bin Salman, the 31-year-old upstart crown prince of Saudi Arabia who last week fired the prime minster of another (ostensibly sovereign) country - Lebanon - while purging some 200 Saudi royal VIPs from their posts, their pocketbooks, and - in at least a couple of cases - their lives. The official Saudi position is that everything is "Iran's fault". The official US position is that everything is going to plan. And the unofficial internet position is that the Saudi regime is imploding, which would likely take the petrodollar and US hegemony down with it.

Meanwhile, Trump has been storming around Asia making deals and doing his best to make the 'Russian collusion' allegations, that have dogged him since before he was even inaugurated, a thing of the past. But he has his work cut out for him, because powerful people in Washington are determined to ensure that the Trump-Russia axle of evil remains front and center in the minds of the 'freedom-loving peoples of the world'. Why?

Tune in to Behind the Headlines at 6-8pm CET (4-6pm UTC / 12-2pm EST), as we discuss the latest Middle East mayhem, among other breaking news over the last week.

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Judge Roy Moore, the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate here in Alabama, received a standing ovation from veterans and Republican supporters here at a public library at his first public event since the Washington Post smeared him earlier this week.

Moore's condemnation of the Post came towards the end of a nearly 30-minute rousing speech honoring veterans and standing up for the principles of the United States just outside Birmingham here on Saturday morning.

"Now I want to address something that some people have come here to hear about," Moore said in front 50 or so supporters, turning his attention to the giant pack of media who came to Alabama to report on this. "Shortly after becoming the Republican nominee for the United States Senate, the Washington Post began an attack on the Foundation for Moral Law, on my wife, and on me. For weeks, we read about my salary which they distorted, about taxes where they said we were paid, money we never got. But we endured that."

Billionaire Democrat mega-donor Tom Steyer is doubling down in his campaign to urge his party to impeach President Donald Trump, spending another $10 million on his advertising campaign, he announced Thursday.

The Los Angeles Times notes that Steyer, who has already spent $10 million on the effort, is enthusiastic:

"The American people have responded beyond our expectations to this message, and it's clear we're giving voice to the deep concerns about this president," Steyer told reporters on a conference call.

He said that in addition to millions of viewers of the "Need to Impeach" group's television ad, 1.3 million people have watched the spot on YouTube and 1.9 million have signed a petition calling for the president's removal from office.

Steyer said the group plans to unveil two new TV ads in coming weeks.

Donald Trump seems disappointed that he has so far failed to make friends with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying he would never call Kim "short & fat," in contrast to Pyongyang, which keep calling him names.

With tensions running high over North Korea, Trump mocked his nemesis Kim, deviously calling him "short and fat," after Pyongyang's spokesman dubbed Trump a "dotard."

"Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat?" Trump tweeted Saturday from Vietnam, as he continues his 12-day Asian tour. "Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!"

Trump's Asian tour has not been welcomed by the North Koreans, who view his visit to the region as a diplomatic effort to garner enough support to attack North Korea.

Google could face its second fine in a year

The EU is preparing to fine Google over its multi-billion dollar advertising empire as a high-profile investigation into its Android operating system is pushed back to next year.

Europe's competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is gearing up to hit the web giant with an antitrust penalty over AdSense, its powerful advertising network, with a decision expected in the next few weeks.

It will be the second fine in less than a year, after Google was ordered to pay €2.4bn (£2.1bn) in June for abusing its internet search monopoly to promote its online shopping service.

While June's penalty was a record for a European competition case, it was merely the first in a hat-trick of antitrust investigations into Google. Last year the commission issued two further "statements of objection", claiming the company attaches onerous requirements to the Android operating system, and that it ties websites that use AdSense to exclusivity arrangements that throttle competitors.