NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT TUESDAY 12/31/2019  NEWSDUMP NEWS YEAR'S EVE

(POSTING WHEN ABLE THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT)

KIM JONG-UN SPEAKS SAYING 'THE WORLD WILL WITNESS A NEW STRATEGIC WEAPON' FROM NORTH KOREA 'IN THE NEAR FUTURE' MORE LATER ON BUT FIRST......

Part of the alert brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Kuwait tonight, some 750 US soldiers.   More to follow in the coming days according to US Defense Secretary Mark Esper.....DEFENSE SECRETARY MARK ESPER TWITTER

This after thousands of protesters in Iraq attacking and some entering the US Embassy grounds in Baghdad forcing US forces to disperse them with tear gas today.

The protesters angered by the US air strikes in Iraq and Syria  Sunday against an Iranian backed militia group that attacked a military base last week killing a US civilian contractor.

Word is that Iraqi security forces allowed protesters to scale a barrier to enter a reception area of the embassy.

Reuters reported that the US ambassador and his staff were evacuated.

Additional US military personnel have been sent from bases in Iraq to secure the embassy which is in lock down mode.

President Trump accusing Iran of "orchestrating" the attack in a morning tweet.

Later the President tweeting more and saying in part that "Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE!.  This is not a Warning, it is a Threat.  Happy New Year!"

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said to have received assurances that Iraq will provide security for the embassy.

The BBC reporting on this......LINK

The French AFP News Agency reported destruction of surveillance cameras, lighting of fires and chants of "Death to America" during the protest.

Iran's Press TV headlining the evacuation of the embassy in its reporting and you can see it with video embedded at this link......IRAN PRESS TV EMBASSY ATTACK STORY

Chelsea Manning, who gave Wikileaks documents on human rights violations by the US military, is being tortured in federal detention in Virginia.

That is what UN official Nils Melzer said in a letter written in November, but only made public today.

Melzer says that Manning is being subjected to "increasingly severe measures which include all the elements of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment".

She is refusing to testify before a federal grand jury and has been jailed indefinitely and increasingly fined for refusing to do so.

Manning's testimony is sought by federal prosecutors seeking to build a case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, currently in a British prison, awaiting extradition to the United States.

More from "The Guardian" in the UK......LINK

The Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif visiting China.

China's foreign ministry speaking of  "steady development" of a "strategic partnership" between the two countries and the need to "safeguard" the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement that the United States has withdrawn from.

China buys oil from Iran.

NORTH KOREAN RULER KIM JONG-UN SPEAKING NEW YEAR'S  DAY SAYS THE WORLD WILL SEE A 'NEW STRATEGIC WEAPON' FROM HIS COUNTRY IN 2020.

KIM SAID THAT DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW WEAPONS SYSTEM HAD BEEN 'PERFECTLY CARRIED OUT'.

HE IS ALSO WARNING OF 'SHOCKING' ACTION IF THE US POSITION IN NUCLEAR TALKS DOES NOT CHANGE.

KIM JONG-UN ALSO ANNOUNCING THAT NORTH KOREA IS BACKING AWAY FROM ITS MORATORIUM ON NUCLEAR AND LONG-RANGE MISSILE TESTS.

MORE FROM THE VOICE OF AMERICA.......LINK

Protests in Hong Kong with roving groups of pro-democracy demonstrators at various shopping locations in the city New Year's Eve eventually making it onto the streets later in the evening.

Early New Year's Day riot police using tear gas attacked demonstrators in the street..... VIDEO LINK

In Libya more fighting reported with the Turkish News Agency Anadolu saying that the Government of National Accord repelled an attack by the Libyan National Army in the Tripoli area killing 10 LNA members.

Turkey's parliament will debate legislation Thursday to authorize Turkish military intervention in Libya to support the GNA.

LNA leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar traveling to a nation that supports him Egypt where an emergency meeting of the Arab League is underway.

The French President Emmanuel Macron standing firm on his planned overhaul of France's pension system.   In his New Year's Eve speech Macron said he will see the "pension reform" through.

Macron called for a "rapid compromise" on the issue which is being contested in a nationwide strike by railroad workers that has disrupted transportation in France since early December.

The US Army is banning the Chinese-owned video app TikTok.   The US Navy already has done so.

The Army says the app is a "cyber threat" that is not "allowed on government phones".

The Defense Information Systems Agency recommended earlier this month that Defense Department employees not use TikTok. 

More from "NBC News"......LINK

President Trump said today the much talked about "Phase One" trade deal with China will be signed on January 15th. 

China is reported agreeing to buy more US agricultural products and US will roll back some tariffs on Chinese goods.

Australia is asking the US and Canada for "specialist aviation resources" to support the fight against historic and catastrophic brush fires.

Australian military helicopters, aircraft and navy vessels are moving to provide humanitarian assistance and be ready for evacuations.

Two have been confirmed dead in recent hours as a result of the fires that have forced thousands to flee their homes and caused damage across New South Wales and Victoria.

The latest live reporting on Australia's brush fires from ABC in Australia....LINK

"I am now in Lebanon and will no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied.   I have not fled justice-I have escaped injustice and political persecution."

The words of the former Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn who escaped house arrest in Japan and arrived in Beirut. Lebanon yesterday.

A Lebanese television station MTV reporting that a large case for a musical instrument was used in the escape.

More from Australia's "Sydney Morning Herald".....LINK

"InfoWars" media activist Alex Jones ordered to pay 100-thousand dollars in legal fees by a judge who also refused to dismiss the lawsuit against him.

Texas State District Judge Scott Jenkins in Austin has ruled that Jones is trying to prevent the lawsuit from moving forward by refusing to produce witnesses in the suit.

The lawsuit being brought by a parent of child killed in the mass murder at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December of 2012.

A story from the Associated Press as published by "Global News" in Canada.....LINK

And that's the way it really is on New Year's Eve  December 31st, 2019