NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT SATURDAY 1/5/2019
(UPDATES, EDITING, ADDITIONS ETC. POSSIBLE UNTIL 830 AM)
In Paris today Act 8 of the Yellow Vests protests coming out of the holiday period with renewed vigor following the arrest of a protest figure several days ago and a harsh crackdown agenda laid out by French President Emmanuel Macron in a New Year's Eve message.
Protest on the Champs-Elysees in Paris got underway at 10am local time (4am Eastern US time). There were protests in cities large and small and in small towns across France today.
Common themes included calls for President Emmanuel Macron's resignation and for an initiative to gather signatures to force passage of laws to be submitted to the voters in referendums.
Breaking News post on today's protests here....LINK
Common themes included calls for President Emmanuel Macron's resignation and for an initiative to gather signatures to force passage of laws to be submitted to the voters in referendums.
Breaking News post on today's protests here....LINK
Another Friday in Sudan meant another day of protests against that country's government and economic conditions there. Thousands taking to the streets and being met with tear gas barrages.
Protesters calling for the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in "Arab Spring" style protests.
The President is looking for financial support to help his country and al-Bashir says that he's been told that having better relations with Israel would help him to get it.
A protest set for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem this evening.
Jewish teenagers from the "West Bank", three in all, are being held without access to lawyers accused of being terrorists.
Another matter of concern to Israelis in the Judaea and Samaria regions this week was the forced removal of settlers from a settlement ruled illegal in the judicial system. Police and settlers were injured as some 200 were taken away by the police.
Prime Minister Netnayahu put out word Friday claiming he ordered that the forced removal not take place but that his military aide, a Brigadier General, had been negligent in passing the order.
3 dead and 4 wounded in a shooting incident at a bowling alley in Torrance, California near Los Angeles. Police were called minutes before midnight, 3 am Eastern time.
Eyewitnesses said an argument among women led to men getting involved then shots were fired.
A protest set for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem this evening.
Jewish teenagers from the "West Bank", three in all, are being held without access to lawyers accused of being terrorists.
Another matter of concern to Israelis in the Judaea and Samaria regions this week was the forced removal of settlers from a settlement ruled illegal in the judicial system. Police and settlers were injured as some 200 were taken away by the police.
Prime Minister Netnayahu put out word Friday claiming he ordered that the forced removal not take place but that his military aide, a Brigadier General, had been negligent in passing the order.
3 dead and 4 wounded in a shooting incident at a bowling alley in Torrance, California near Los Angeles. Police were called minutes before midnight, 3 am Eastern time.
Eyewitnesses said an argument among women led to men getting involved then shots were fired.
More meeting and talking at the White House today to break the impasse over funding for a border wall and restore funding for the five federal departments operating under shutdown conditions.
President Trump and the Democrats failed to reach agreement on Friday with the President suggesting he could declare a national emergency to build a wall and that he was prepared for a partial government shutdown that lasts years.
President Trump and the Democrats failed to reach agreement on Friday with the President suggesting he could declare a national emergency to build a wall and that he was prepared for a partial government shutdown that lasts years.
There is no timeline for the US military withdrawal from Syria. That's what the US State Department is saying after President Trump announced a withdrawal last month at first believed to be 30 days, with Administration officials putting out a four month timeline to the media later on.
The State Department announcement of 'no timeline' reaffirmed that President Trump had made a decision to withdrawal troops from Syria, though.
These statements accompanied announcement of a trip by Seceretary of State Mike Pompeo to the Middle East. Pompeo will begin a visit to eight Arab countries next Tuesday to lay out the US plan for the entire region on Syria, Iran and Yemen.
The Turkish government has taken exception to Pompeo's comments about the US preventing Turkey from 'slaughtering the Kurds' in Syria.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement Friday says the Secretary of State shows a "worrying lack of information" for making it appear that Turkish military activities against YPG fighting units of the Kurds it considers terrorists are actions against the Kurdish people as a whole.
The "Lima Group" of Latin American nations on Venezuela met Friday and issued a statement from 12 nations calling on Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro not to take the oath of office for a second term next week.
Mexico abstained from voting.
The nations called on Maduro to turn power over to the opposition controlled National Assembly until new elections could be held in the country. They said they will not recognize Maduro as the president of Venezuela.
The American being held on espionage charges in Russia, Paul Whelan, is a dual citizen. He is also a citizen of the UK and the British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Whelan should not be a pawn in game of "diplomatic chess".
Mr. Whelan was born in Canada to British parents before coming to the US as a child and is the director of global security for BorgWarner, a producer of auto parts.
The US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman visited him this week and told his family that he was fine and looking healthy. His family says Mr. Whelan was in Russia to attend a wedding, not for spying.
News reports also say that Whelan holds an Irish passport and I've learned this week that EU member countries have "European Union" on their passports so I guess one could argue that he is a citizen of many nations.
And that's the way it really is on this Saturday morning, January 5th, 2019.
The Turkish government has taken exception to Pompeo's comments about the US preventing Turkey from 'slaughtering the Kurds' in Syria.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement Friday says the Secretary of State shows a "worrying lack of information" for making it appear that Turkish military activities against YPG fighting units of the Kurds it considers terrorists are actions against the Kurdish people as a whole.
The "Lima Group" of Latin American nations on Venezuela met Friday and issued a statement from 12 nations calling on Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro not to take the oath of office for a second term next week.
Mexico abstained from voting.
The nations called on Maduro to turn power over to the opposition controlled National Assembly until new elections could be held in the country. They said they will not recognize Maduro as the president of Venezuela.
The American being held on espionage charges in Russia, Paul Whelan, is a dual citizen. He is also a citizen of the UK and the British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Whelan should not be a pawn in game of "diplomatic chess".
Mr. Whelan was born in Canada to British parents before coming to the US as a child and is the director of global security for BorgWarner, a producer of auto parts.
The US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman visited him this week and told his family that he was fine and looking healthy. His family says Mr. Whelan was in Russia to attend a wedding, not for spying.
News reports also say that Whelan holds an Irish passport and I've learned this week that EU member countries have "European Union" on their passports so I guess one could argue that he is a citizen of many nations.
And that's the way it really is on this Saturday morning, January 5th, 2019.
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