NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT MONDAY 12/16/2019

(LIMITED SERVICE WHEN ABLE THROUGH LATE MONDAY)

Boeing has decided to suspend production of its 737 Max aircraft next month.    The suspension is called temporary with no layoffs for the company's workers.

But suppliers are expected to be affected by the suspension of production.

Boeing had continued production of the 737 Max even as the aircraft was grounded worldwide following two deadly disasters in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Aircraft regulators around the world still working with Boeing to find an acceptable solution to problems with the the 737 Max.

The "Moon of Alabama" website offered up commentary on the Boeing 737 Max issue last Friday....LINK

WE'VE HEARD IT BEFORE IN CASES LIKE THE BUNKERVILLE STANDOFF CASE WHERE THERE WAS A MISTRIAL DECLARED FOR KEY DEFENDANTS OVER WITHHOLDING OF EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE BY FEDERAL PROSECUTORS.

AND THEN THERE'S A RUSSIAN COLLUSION INVESTIGATION WHERE EXCULPATORY INFORMATION WAS HELD BACK FROM THE FISA COURT WHEN A SURVEILLANCE WARRANT WAS OBTAINED BY THE FBI.

PLUS THE GENERAL MICHAEL FLYNN CASE THAT CAME OUT OF THE ROBERT MUELLER RUSSIA COLLUSION PROBE WHERE EVIDENCE PROVING INNOCENCE WAS HELD BACK BY FEDERAL PROSECUTORS.

NOW ITS BEING BROUGHT UP IN THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL CASE AS LAWYERS FOR ACTRESS LORI LOUGHLIN SAY THE FEDERAL PROSECUTORS THERE ARE ALSO HOLDING BACK EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE PROVING HER INNOCENCE.

THE LAWYERS ARGUED IN A MOTION FILED FRIDAY THAT THE JUDGE IN THE CASE NEEDS TO INTERVENE WITH PROSECUTORS IN THE CASE USING A DISCLOSURE STANDARD THAT DEPRIVES LOUGHLIN AND HER HUSBAND OF THE "INFORMATION NECESSARY FOR PREPARE THEIR CASE AND ENSURE A FAIR TRIAL"

MORE ON THIS FROM 'CBS NEWS'.......LINK

The protests continue in Lebanon with a sectarian twist tonight as Shia Muslims tried to storm a square where anti-government protesters are camped.

Their attack in response to a video that the Shia considered offensive.

The Lebanese army and police held them back with tear gas.

"Lets get this done"

That's the message from US North Korea representative Stephen Biegun today.   He's visiting South Korea as the North conducts tests and demands that US change its position in nuclear negotiations including the lifting of sanctions or else.

Biegun says that recent North Korean statements have been "hostile, negative and so uneccessary".

The High Commissioner for Pensions in France, Jean-Paul Delovoye, resigned today following his disclosures to an ethics agency late Friday.

Delovoye, appointed to his post in September 2017, developed the controversial reform plan of President Emmanuel Macron that is now being opposed by a nationwide protest movement punctuated by a national railway strike.

He says he's resigning so he will not "hinder the action of the executive" as Macron tries to push his pension reform plan through parliament.

Protests across India opposing the new citizenship law that started last week are continuing into this week and they've spread from the northeast part of the country to the large cities including the capital, Delhi.

The law is designed to give citizenship to immigrants from nearby Muslim countries who are not Muslim.

In northeastern India there is fear of a massive influx of immigrants.    In the major cities hostility to the new law calling it "anti-Muslim".

The internet has been shut down in parts of India to help suppress the protests.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealing for calm via Twitter saying:

"No Indian has anything to worry regarding this act.   This act is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go except India" 

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he's not sure if Turkey's president is serious about closing down US bases there.

Esper commenting a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a Turkish media outlet "A Haber" that if the US chooses to impose sanctions on Turkey for buying Russia's S-400 air defense systems closure of the Incirlik and Kurecik will be done "if necessary".

The arrival of a Turkish drone in the Turkish controlled north of Cyprus the latest sign of tension over gas exploration nearby.     Turkey said the drone will escort its drilling ships in the area.

Cyprus, Greece and Israel working on a joint project in the area with countries excluding Turkey.

But Turkey is launching exploration efforts in some of the same area that the other nations claim.

More from the BBC.....LINK

THE EX-BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER AND CO-FOUNDER OF SYRIA'S CONTROVERSIAL "WHITE HELMETS"  DIED FROM A FALL.

THAT IS THE CONCLUSION OF TURKISH INVESTIGATORS.   JAMES LE MESURIER FOUND DEAD IN THE STREET BELOW THE BALCONY OF HIS HOME EARLY ON THE MORNING OF NOVEMBER 11TH.

THIS IS THE BBC VERSION OF THE STORY......LINK

The Syrian President Bashar Assad discussing American troops in his country and American politics in an interview with a Chinese media outlet "Phoenix".

He says private US companies operating in his country are not included in the number of American troops deployed and words are twisted to keep different factions happy.

The Syrian ruler saying:

"The funny thing in American politics is that they announce the number between thousands and hundreds.  When they say thousands:  it is to make the pro-war lobby-particularly the arms companies, happy that they are in a state of war.    When they say hundreds they are addressing the people who oppose the war by saying that there are only 'a few hundred'.

In actual fact both figures are incorrect for a simple reason, even if these figures were correct, they are based on the number of American soldiers and not the number of individuals fighting with the American army"

More on this interview from Iran's "Press TV"....LINK

In the Belgian town of Bastogne today the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge remembered with veterans of the battle and dignitaries from various countries including US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

More from "Fox News"......LINK

And for now that's the way it really is Monday December 16th, 2019;.