Wednesday, January 2, 2019

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT WEDNESDAY 1/2/2018


(UPDATES, EDITING, EXPANSION ARE POSSIBLE UNTIL 7 AM EASTERN)

Good Morning.

Today is the last day Republicans control both houses of Congress amidst a failure to pass funding President Trump wants to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico.

There is also a partial shutdown involving five federal government departments because of the failure to include the wall funding in a spending bill.

What may or may not happen today remains unclear.

President Trump has emphasized the need for Democrats to get on board and give him 60 votes in the Senate to approve the funding.

But some have suggested that the GOP in the Senate exercise the "Nuclear Option" in this case, change the rules, and go for the 51 vote simple vote majority in this matter, then revert to the standard 60 vote rule again.


Writing in an opinion piece for the "Washington Post", incoming Republican senator from Utah and former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said this about President Trump among other things:

"Trump's words and actions have caused despair throughout the world"


Trump endorsed Romney for the US Senate during the primary process last year.


President Trump tweeted Sunday evening that he looks forward to a meeting with North Korea's ruler Kim Jong-un.   Kim's messages at the beginning of the New Year expressed a desire for more summit meetings and also a desire for US reciprocity on denuclearization.

Four people were injured in a western German town New Year's Eve in what authorities are calling a "racist attack".

A 50-year old German man arrested after he drove his car into pedestrians in Bottrop, Germany just after midnight.  He tried to run into other pedestrians before his arrest.

The pedestrians identified as "mostly foreigners"

The authorities say the suspect had "xenophobic" views and they say there is preliminary evidence of the suspect having "mental illness".

Armed men killed 37 civilians in a New Year's Day morning attack on a village in the African nation of Mali.  Hundreds have died in ethnic violence in the country during the last year.

Jair Bolsonaro was inaugurated as Brazil's new president in the capital city of Brasilia on New Year's Day.    Bolsonaro calling for unity and end to "ideology", an apparent reference to left-wing ideas.

His inaugural speech backed away from attacking the Left like he did during the presidential campaign.   Bolsonaro stressed in his speech the fight against crime and corruption and he promised to build a  "society without discrimination or division".

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brazil after the inauguration in Brazil to discuss the US military withdrawal from Syria.   Administration sources told the mainstream media it will be a four month process.

Pro-Syrian government and pro-Israel twitter feeds have been noting the missions of Israeli surveillance aircraft over Lebanon and along it coast and on the Israel-Syria border with speculation on each side about when or if the next Israeli air strikes on Syria like the one Christmas Day will occur.

Meanwhile, the pro-Israel "Instant News Alerts" Twitter posted this in the last 24 hours:

"#Israel is increasingly worried about growing Iranian influence in #Iraq and the possibility that they may use it as a platform from which to attack #Israel.   The potential is there for IAF strikes now in #Iraq in addition to #Syria#Iran#Hezbollah"


Iraq's government has asserted itself in recent months with its Prime Minister refusing to meet President Trump on a US base during his recent visit to US troops there, insisting it be on Iraqi soil.   Iraq has also begun military operations in Syria with air attacks on the Islamic State.

Six people were killed in a train accident on a bridge linking two islands in Denmark today.  16 others were injured in the accident involving a commuter train headed for the Danish capital of Copenhagen this morning.

Rescue efforts to reach many who are trapped still underway.    The accident is said to have happened during a storm when a tarp from a freight train caused the passenger train to break suddenly.

A group of 50 Yellow Vests protesters were removed from their blockade of an oil depot near Rouen, France this morning at around 9am local time, 3am in the Eastern US.   The group had set up their blockade earlier in the morning but were removed by the police.   The Rouen oil depot was blocked twice by protesters last month.

Opinion polling following French President Emmanuel Macron's New Year's Eve speech shows that while he has gained a little support, a large majority oppose him and doubt his sincerity.

60 percent not convinced by his speech, 60 percent still support the Yellow Vests protest movement.

87 percent of those who support the National Rally opposition party and Marine Le Pen are dissatisfied with Macron while 67 percent of those who support the Left and Jean-Luc Melenchon are dissatisfied with Macron.

Public opinion split down the middle over the continuation of the Yellow Vests demonstration 50 percent for, 49 percent against.

The latest Harris Interactive poll in France shows 31 percent support for President Macron.

Israeli politics involves a constant shifting of personalities and political parties jockeying ahead of the April 9th election.

On the Left in Israel Tuesday a big split as the Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay announced the breakup of the Zionist Union he had formed with opposition leader and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Gabbay publicly announced the breakup with Livni and her Hatunah Party with a surprised Livni sitting next to him at news conference.

Gabbay said the combination of the two parties was not popular and he frankly said it was difficult working with Livni.    A direct quote from Gabbay:

"I took s**t from Livni"


China's President Xi Jinping  says that the people of Taiwan need to accept that the island nation "must and will be" reunified with China on the mainland.

Xi's message on the 40th anniversary of closer ties between the two countries was that independence was among other things is a "dead end" that will bring "hardship".   Xi added that China reserves the right to use force to reunify with Taiwan.

Netflix has removed an episode of a comedy series from its streaming service in Saudi Arabia.

The "Patriot Act" series episode featured comedian Hasan Minhaj satirizing Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.  Minhaj was critical of Bin Salman over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2nd.

Netflix said it removed the episode because it was forced to comply with Saudi law.

And  the Al-Hayat newspaper in London owned by a Saudi prince is reporting that Israel's former Defense Minister and leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party contesting the April 9th election told Palestinian Authority officials about President Trump's "Deal of the Century" peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians.

Avigdor Lieberman resigned as defense minister last month in protest over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Gaza policies which included allowing tens of millions of dollars of Qatari cash into Gaza to pacify the Palestinians.

And that's the way it really is this Wednesday morning January 2nd, 2019.

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