NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT MONDAY 12/24/2018 NEWSDUMP EDITION
(SUMMARY PREPARED MAINLY BEFORE 1AM EASTERN AND UPDATED IN PART, EDITED IN MORNING)
President Trump spoke with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.
They discussed the fight against ISIS, the issue of Syria including coordination of the US military withdrawal from Syria and expanded trade with Turkey that has been on hold in recent years as relations were strained.
In a Sunday night tweet the President said Erdogan told him "he will eradicate whatever is left of ISIS in Syria.....and he is a man who can do it..."
In a Sunday night tweet the President said Erdogan told him "he will eradicate whatever is left of ISIS in Syria.....and he is a man who can do it..."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Turkish president Erdogan an "anti-Semitic dictator" on Sunday saying among other things about Erdogan:
"He is obsessed with Israel. He knows what a moral army is and he knows what a genuine democracy is, as opposed to an army that massacres women and children in Kurdish villages and a state which, to my regret, is becoming more dictatorial day by day"
On Saturday Erdogan, speaking at the Turkish Youth Federation, said that "the Jews in Israel kick people when they're lying on the ground" adding:
"In fact, Jews kick not only men, but women and children as well....as Muslims, we will confront these people, if they have courage to deal with us. We'll teach them a lesson."
The war of words has been harsh in recent days with Turkey's Foreign Minister calling Prime Minister Netanyahu a "cold-blooded killer of modern times" who has massacred Palestinians by the thousands.
The Turkish DHA news agency reported military reinforcements moving towards Turkey's border with Syria on Sunday. After President Trump's announcement of a withdrawal of troops from Syria, Turkey said it was delaying a military offensive into northeastern Syria to destroy Kurdish military units.
Israel's Education Minister and leader of the Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett, says President Trump's Middle East peace plan includes a Palestinian state in the West Bank.
Bennett says he will oppose what Trump calls "the deal of the century" to settle Israeli-Palestinian differences.
Bennett spoke with "Galei Tsahal" Israel's "Army Radio" and said in part:
Israel's Education Minister and leader of the Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett, says President Trump's Middle East peace plan includes a Palestinian state in the West Bank.
Bennett says he will oppose what Trump calls "the deal of the century" to settle Israeli-Palestinian differences.
Bennett spoke with "Galei Tsahal" Israel's "Army Radio" and said in part:
"Trump's deal of the century includes a Palestinian state; under certain conditions. We will object to that because that means there will be another Arab entity west of the Jordan (River)"
LATE WORD FROM ISRAEL THIS MORNING THAT THE DATE FOR ELECTIONS IS APRIL 9TH. A NEW ELECTION HAD TO BE CALLED BY NOVEMBER OF NEXT YEAR. IN ANNOUNCING THE NEW ELECTIONS, PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU SAID IT WAS TOO DIFFICULT TO PASS LAWS SO AN ELECTION WAS NEEDED.
President Trump has named Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan acting Secretary of Defense as of January 1st. Shanahan will replace the outgoing Jim Mattis.
The speedup in the change at the Pentagon from Mattis's planned February 28th departure is apparently the result of the resignation letter pointing to differences in policy between General Mattis and President Trump.
A sealed order from the US Supreme Court's Chief Justice John Roberts Sunday temporarily halting a contempt citation from a lower court against an unknown foreign company.
The company is in a secret case over its fight with a grand jury subpoena related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe. What is known about the company is that is owned by a foreign government.
Fines against the company are halted and Mueller's lawyers have until Dec. 31st to file a response to the Supreme Court. The full court will have to vote on whether they want to intervene in the case.
US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin put out the word Sunday evening that he has spoken with the CEO's of the six largest US banks and they told him they have the assets needed to serve their customers.
His calls follow a rough week on Wall Street last week.
Fears of another tsunami on the coasts of the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra as the Krakatoa volcano continued its series of eruptions on Sunday.
Saturday's eruption is believed behind a deadly tsunami Saturday night that killed at least 334 people and injured more than 1,000.
Police using tear gas and apparently more in the African country of Sudan as protests against the government spread across the country.
Hundreds of demonstrators clashed with riot police in the country's capital, Khartoum, on Sunday. The protest began as fans emptied out of a soccer stadium after a match.
The opposition says 22 have died in the protests but official figures from the government are lower. Doctors say they are treating cases involving gunshot wounds that caused death and injury to protesters.
Opposition leaders in the country have been arrested.
The protests began after bread and fuel prices were raised.
A call for "order" from French President Emmanuel Macron as the "Yellow Vests" protests continued for the sixth Saturday in a row over the weekend. Only 40-thousand protesters involved but on Saturday evening groups of protesters clashed with police in the center of Paris.
At one point Saturday evening protesters attacked police at an intersection on the Champs-Elysees in Paris with one of the police officers pulling a gun to hold back the demonstrators. There was strong reaction to the attack and the police pulling the gun with criticism from all sides...LINK TO VIDEO
Macron was on a visit to French soldiers in Chad on Saturday and said there should be "severe" judicial responses to the actions of the protesters.
The former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been sent back to prison on a seven year sentence. He was convicted by an anti-corruption court of having investments beyond his reported assets.
More than 80,000 on hand in Tokyo Sunday to pay respects to Japan's Emperor Akihito on his last birthday on the throne.
The 85 year old emperor spoke to the crowd offering his thanks to the people of Japan for their support.
He expressed his condolences to those who have died in natural disasters in the previous year.
And the emperor expressed his hope that Japan would welcome newcomers to the country under new legislation to make it easier for foreign workers to enter Japan. The legislation is said to be needed to ease a labor shortage caused by an aging population.
Akihito is relinquishing his throne in April to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito.
And that's the way it really is, Monday morning Christmas Eve December 24, 2018.
The speedup in the change at the Pentagon from Mattis's planned February 28th departure is apparently the result of the resignation letter pointing to differences in policy between General Mattis and President Trump.
A sealed order from the US Supreme Court's Chief Justice John Roberts Sunday temporarily halting a contempt citation from a lower court against an unknown foreign company.
The company is in a secret case over its fight with a grand jury subpoena related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe. What is known about the company is that is owned by a foreign government.
Fines against the company are halted and Mueller's lawyers have until Dec. 31st to file a response to the Supreme Court. The full court will have to vote on whether they want to intervene in the case.
US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin put out the word Sunday evening that he has spoken with the CEO's of the six largest US banks and they told him they have the assets needed to serve their customers.
His calls follow a rough week on Wall Street last week.
Fears of another tsunami on the coasts of the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra as the Krakatoa volcano continued its series of eruptions on Sunday.
Saturday's eruption is believed behind a deadly tsunami Saturday night that killed at least 334 people and injured more than 1,000.
Police using tear gas and apparently more in the African country of Sudan as protests against the government spread across the country.
Hundreds of demonstrators clashed with riot police in the country's capital, Khartoum, on Sunday. The protest began as fans emptied out of a soccer stadium after a match.
The opposition says 22 have died in the protests but official figures from the government are lower. Doctors say they are treating cases involving gunshot wounds that caused death and injury to protesters.
Opposition leaders in the country have been arrested.
The protests began after bread and fuel prices were raised.
A call for "order" from French President Emmanuel Macron as the "Yellow Vests" protests continued for the sixth Saturday in a row over the weekend. Only 40-thousand protesters involved but on Saturday evening groups of protesters clashed with police in the center of Paris.
At one point Saturday evening protesters attacked police at an intersection on the Champs-Elysees in Paris with one of the police officers pulling a gun to hold back the demonstrators. There was strong reaction to the attack and the police pulling the gun with criticism from all sides...LINK TO VIDEO
Macron was on a visit to French soldiers in Chad on Saturday and said there should be "severe" judicial responses to the actions of the protesters.
The former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been sent back to prison on a seven year sentence. He was convicted by an anti-corruption court of having investments beyond his reported assets.
More than 80,000 on hand in Tokyo Sunday to pay respects to Japan's Emperor Akihito on his last birthday on the throne.
The 85 year old emperor spoke to the crowd offering his thanks to the people of Japan for their support.
He expressed his condolences to those who have died in natural disasters in the previous year.
And the emperor expressed his hope that Japan would welcome newcomers to the country under new legislation to make it easier for foreign workers to enter Japan. The legislation is said to be needed to ease a labor shortage caused by an aging population.
Akihito is relinquishing his throne in April to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito.
And that's the way it really is, Monday morning Christmas Eve December 24, 2018.
I hope that POTUS at least protects the Kurds.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression someone else is their protector in this situation but we shall see.
Delete