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December 2017

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has decided to retire by March as he has come under fire from Republicans in Congress due to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russia. McCabe took over the FBI after Trump fired James Comey in May, but he has surfaced in the news recently after he supposedly appeared in anti-Trump texts between two FBI employees. He spent seven hours in front of the House Intelligence Committee earlier this week, frustrating Republicans with his non-answers.

Earlier this week, the FDA announced a coming crackdown on "potentially harmful, unproven homeopathic drugs". Homeopathic drugs are holistic and said to stimulate the body's power to heal itself by focusing on the entire picture of health and not only the ailment needing treatment. Some swear by homeopathy, even if there's little science to back it up.

The FBI arrested 26-year-old Everitt Aaron Jameson and charged him with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.  Jameson's planned terror attack included setting off an explosive device on San Francisco's Pier 39 on Christmas Day. Jameson, a tow truck driver born in Modesto, California, was discharged from the Marine Corps for fraudulent enlistment when it was discovered that he failed to disclose his latent asthma.  Prior to being discharged, Jameson earned a sharpshooter rifle qualification.

There have been some interesting developments related to North Korea this week. The U.S. military is conducting a series of drills with South Korea's military.  The training is intended to boost tunnel-warfare capabilities.
Hundreds of troops from the U.S. and South Korea conducted a joint training exercise dubbed “Warrior Strike” last week, South Korean military sources told the country’s Yonhap News Agency.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled against President Trump's Third Travel Order on virtually the same grounds it blocked a March iteration of the order. A copy of the Opinion (pdf.) is embedded at the bottom of this post.

Fox News reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has decide to open a formal investigation into whether the Obama administration interference in law enforcement attempts to shut down a Hezbollah international criminal ring running drugs into the U.S. This arises out of Politico investigation into Project Cassandra, which we covered in our post, Obama allowed Hezbollah cocaine running into U.S. in quest for Iran nuke deal. See that post for the details, but here’s the top line from the Politico reporter Josh Meyer:

When Donald Trump announced a phased-out end to Obama's illegal DACA program, which made an executive branch end round around the Constitution and Congress, Trump made clear he wanted Congress to pass legislation dealing with the problem.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously has imposed new sanctions on North Korea. Yes, unanimously, which means North Korea's allies China and Russia even voted yes. From Bloomberg:
Specifically, the new resolution cuts deliveries of products including diesel and kerosene by almost 90 percent, to the equivalent of 500,000 barrels per year starting Jan. 1. In September, the council had already demanded imports to be cut to 2 million barrels from 4.5 million barrels. The new resolution would also cap crude imports at current levels of about 4 million barrels annually.