NEWS SUMMARY AT THIS HOUR-MONDAY 9/17/2018

                                          (UPDATES, EDITING, ETC. UNTIL 815AM)

Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual assault.   The alleged victim had contacted Democratic members of Congress months ago anonymously with Democrats revealing the matter after Kavanaugh's nomination hearings ended.

California college professor Christine Blasey Ford says the incident occurred when she was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17 in 1982.  Another person was present and that person, Mark Judge, calls the allegations "absolutely nuts".

Ford released a statement identifying herself to the "Washington Post" yesterday.

Kavanaugh has said  "I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation" when the allegation first surfaced last week.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will now be speaking with both Kavanaugh and Ford about the allegation.

In Sochi, Russia today President Vladimir Putin is meeting the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Syria.

Turkey has expressed its opposition to a Syrian government offensive in the northern province of Idlib.

Speaking to Turkish media today, Erdogan said his efforts so far have helped to maintain peace and stability in northern Syria.

Over the weekend a Russian general said that militants have moved canisters of chlorine into a village in Idlib in preparation for a false flag chemical attack that would be used to justify an attack on Syria by the US and allied nations.

The Syrian military said its air defenses beat back an Israeli attack Saturday night near the Damascus International Airport.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a weapons warehouse for Iranian and Iranian allied forces was the target.

The Israel Defense Forces had no comment on the matter.

Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has called for an investigation into the top Israeli official said to be involved in the activities of Paul Manafort in Ukraine.

Manafort was found guilty on some of the charges against him last month and cut a plea deal last week with Special Counsel Robert Mueller right before he was set to go on trial again this week.

 The Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" was unable to obtain the name of the high ranking Israeli official involved from Mueller's office.   It will not reveal the names of individuals not charged in the investigation.

"Haaretz" is also unable to get that information in Ukraine with potential sources expressing fear of being labeled "anti-Semites" for providing the name.

Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says that Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan is comparable to the surrender to Norman invaders in the year 1066.  Johnson wrote this in his column for the "Daily Telegraph".   Johnson said May's plan for Northern Ireland under Brexit would keep most sectors of the British economy under European Union control.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister May told the BBC's "Panorama" program her Checkers plan for Brexit is the only plan or there will be no deal for Brexit.

And throwing her weight into the notion of Brexit without a deal was the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde.  Speaking in London, Lagarde said a no deal Brexit would have "substantial costs" to the British economy.

Voters in Canada's second most populous province, Quebec, go to the polls two weeks from today.

The latest polling data shows the CAQ Party leading with 35 percent of the vote.   The CAQ advocates against mass immigration into the province and is calling for newcomers to adapt to a secular society that speaks the French language.  CAQ also advocates cuts to school taxes and governmental waste.

With four political parties picking up double digit percentages of support in the polls the CAQ may be able to command a majority of the 125 seats in the National Assembly of Quebec even if it gets under 40 percent of the popular vote on October 1st.

Flooding is now the problem in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.  Wilmington, North Carolina is reported cut off by the flood waters.   Florence is now a tropical storm spreading heavy rains northwards into Virginia and West Virginia.   There are at least 17 deaths reported because of the storm.

Typhoon Mangkhut is continuing its path of destruction into China with at least two deaths reported.

The storm caused dozens of deaths in the Philippines before moving west to hit southern China.   More than 2 million were evacuated in China ahead of the storm.

And in the Philippines rescuers are digging through the rubble of buildings and mud from landslides looking for survivors.