NEWS SUMMARY AT THIS HOUR-WEDNESDAY

                                         (EDITING AND UPDATES THROUGH 745AM)

Russian and Syrian aircraft attacked opposition targets in northern Syria Tuesday with a ground offensive anticipated in the region in coming days.

Behind the Syrian government lines in northern Syria there was an Israeli air attack with Syria saying five missiles were intercepted by air defenses.  One person killed and 12 injured in the attack.

An Israeli defense source has told the media that Israel launched 200 attacks on Syria in the last year involving 800 missiles,   That's one attack every 45 or 46 hours and one missile every 2.2 hours.

A warning from the White House about the use of chemical weapons in Syria.  The Press Secretary Sarah Sanders warning that the United States and allied nations would respond "swiftly and appropriately" to any chemical attack.

Russia and Syria say that a false flag chemical attack is planned in Syria to justify military action by the United States and allied nations.  They say that British intelligence is working with jihadist Al-Qaeda fighters to create a phony attack.

The British authorities have just rolled out pictures of two Russians they claim were involved in the nerve agent incident that sickened three people and killed one earlier this year in the Salisbury area.  They gave names for the men pictured but said the men were probably using aliases.   Russia's foreign ministry says the two men and their names "do not mean" anything to them.

Tropical Storm Gordon came ashore on the Gulf Coast last night near the Mississippi-Alabama border with gusty winds and heavy rains.   The storm has weakened overnight.   The National Weather is warning of the potential for heavy rains and flooding.

A big hurricane is building up in the Atlantic Ocean.  Hurricane Florence has maximum sustained winds of 105 miles per hour as of 5am Eastern this morning.    Its well out in the Atlantic some 1200 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands of the Caribbean Sea.

At least 10 are dead after Typhoon Jebi came ashore in Japan hitting major cities like Kyoto and Osaka.  300 are reported injured,

A man with a long political resume, former Republican US Senator and Congressman John Kyl, has been appointed to replace the late John McCain in the Senate.   Arizona Governor Doug Ducey making the announcement Tuesday.

A lot of drama at the first day of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh.   70 protesters arrested for disorderly conduct, 61 in the hearing room itself.

Republican and Democrat senators also traded emotional arguments for much of the day.

Finally Judge Kavanaugh got a chance to make his opening statement saying he believes in "interpreting the Constitution as it was written" and that he believes in "interpreting laws as written".

Strong denials from the White House and top Administration officals regarding quotes in a new book about President Trump authored by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Bob Woodward.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issuing a statement saying in part:  "The book is nothing more than fabricated stories".

Top Google executives will not attend a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing today, according to media reports.   The hearing is entitled "Foreign Influence Operations Use of Social Media Platforms".    Twitter and Facebook will be represented at the hearing.    Democrat Senator Mark Warner says an empty chair will be at the hearing to represent Google's absence.

There's been a leak about Special Counsel Robert Mueller;s investigation.  The word is that Mueller would accept written answers from President Trump to questions submitted by his office as a first step.

But Mueller would not rule out a follow up interview on those questions.

The information was given to the "New York Times" with the "Times" saying Mueller's office had no comment on the information.

During Kenneth Starr's probe into former President Bill Clinton in the 1990's information was leaked to the media by Clinton's lawyers and blamed on Starr.

Monica Lewinsky said "I'm not going to be able to do this" and walked off a stage in Israel on Monday when a leading Israeli news anchor asked her if she still expected a personal apology from Bill Clinton.

Lewinsky said the question was off limits.   The Israeli media company said it had not deviated from her request regarding questioning.

She was in Israel as an anti-bullying spokesperson.