LINK

NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT FRIDAY 1/3/2020 NEWSDUMP FRIDAY

(SERVICE WHEN ABLE THROUGH LATE TONIGHT TO 1230 AM SATURDAY EASTERN US TIME)

THE LATEST WORD FROM IRAQ IS THAT THERE'S BEEN ANOTHER AIRSTRIKE EARLY SATURDAY MORNING IRAQ TIME AIMED AT LEADERS OF THE POPULAR MOBILIZATION FORCES.

A US DRONE INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK.   THIS STORY PUBLISHED BY "NEWSWEEK" ABOUT IT.....LINK

BUT THE STORY FROM THE IRAQI GROUP TARGETED IS THAT ITS LEADERS WERE NOT KILLED IN THE ATTACK.   A REPORT FROM TURKEY'S ANADOLU NEWS AGENCY....LINK

UPDATE:    THIS ATTACK IS NOW DENIED BY BOTH THE US MILITARY AND THE IRAQI PMU MILITIA. BOTH ARE SAYING IT DID NOT HAPPEN..

"The assassination of an Iraqi military commander in an official post is an aggression against the country of Iraq, its state, its government and its people"

The words of the Prime Minister of Iraq Adil Abdul-Mahdi in describing the early Friday morning drone strike near Baghdad International Airport that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units.

The Iranian-supported PMU is part of Iraq's military that have been fighting against ISIS in recent years.

The US Embassy is telling Americans to leave Iraq immediately.

The Iraqi Prime Minister calling an extraordinary session of parliament for Saturday to decide the future of America's military presence in the country.  He also says the assassination ordered by President Trump would:

"spark a devastating war"

More on the Iraqi Prime Minister's comments from France's AFP news agency as published by the "Malay Mail" in Malaysia......LINK

Iran has summoned the Swiss diplomat who represents US interests in Iran twice today.

The BBC also publishing a live blog..... LINK

Commentary today on the "Sic Semper Tyrannis" blog from former CIA employee Larry C. Johnson asks if President Trump has lit the fuse for a new war in the Middle East......LINK    Among the issues Johnson brings up is the fact that Iran has engaged in very little terrorist activity in the last decade.

At the "Moon of Alabama" blog today this statement:   "Today the US declared war on Iran and Iraq".....MOON OF ALABAMA BLOG

THE SITUATION IN IRAQ WILL CONTINUE TO UNFOLD IN THE HOURS AHEAD WITH THE COUNTRY'S PARLIAMENT TO MEET IN SPECIAL SESSION TO TO VOTE ON A PROPOSAL TO EXPEL US MILITARY FORCES FROM THE COUNTRY.

THE FUNERALS FOR GENERAL SOLEIMANI AND THE IRAQI POPULAR MOBILIZATION UNITS DEPUTY COMMANDER ABU MAHDI AL-MUHANDIS ALSO SET FOR SATURDAY IN IRAQ.

LIVE VIDEO FROM IRAN'S PRESS TV.......VIDEO LINK

Oil prices on the rise today in the wake of the assassination with a four percent rise in Brent crude to $69.50 at one point.    Oil stocks were also rising.

AT THE PUMPS HERE IN THE YORK PA AREA WHERE I AM PRICES JUMPING TEN CENTS A GALLON OVERNIGHT.

President Trump warned Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against "foreign interference" in Libya in a phone call yesterday.

The President calling the Turkish leader after the country's parliament approved a military deployment to Libya in support of the United Nations recognized Government of National Accord.

The deployment could begin within hours officially limited to advisory and support personnel but unofficial fighting forces that have supported Turkey in Syria are said to have been sent to Libya.

The GNA is fighting the Libyan National Army for control of the country.    The LNA backed by Egypt and the Untied Arab Emirates among others.     President Trump spoke last year by phone with LNA leader Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Egypt opposing the Turkish deployment along with Israel, Greece and Cyprus.     The leaders of those three countries calling the Turkish move a "dangerous threat to regional stability".

The former Renault-Nissan CEO who fled house arrest in Japan while awaiting trial, Carlos Ghosn, could be summoned before a judge in Lebanon next week.     This will be in response to an arrest warrant from Interpol.

Ghosn arrived in Beirut last Monday and Lebanon's government says he entered the country legally.

A Turkish private aviation firm says a rogue employee falsified records of two flights that brought Ghosn from Japan through Istanbul and onto Beirut.

One dead and two wounded in a knife attack in the Greater Paris area (Villejuif, France) today.    The attacker shot dead by police.  The name of the community where today's attack occurred translated into English is "Jewish settlement".

The attacker described in media reports as a 22-year old man with psychiatric issues who was telling witnesses he had run out of medication.

Grafton Thomas, the man accused in the attack on a rabbi's home in Rockland County, New York last Saturday, indicted by a grand jury on six attempted murder charges.    He's also charged with assault, attempted assault and burglary.

Thomas already federally charged with committing the stabbings as a "hate crime"

More from the "New York Post".......LINK

In New York City itself a 24-year old woman being held on 10-thousand dollars bail in an attack on a Jewish man Wednesday afternoon in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

Jasmine Lucas entered a not guilty plea.   Israel National News has more......LINK

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the deployment of three thousand soldiers to fight the bush fires that are again flaring up.

Its now Saturday afternoon in Australia fires raging in three states with two killed on Kanagaroo Island in South Australia.

The ABC Australia live blog with embedded live video from the ABC News Channel in Australia......LINK WITH EMBEDDED LIVE VIDEO

Amazon is moving against employees who want the company to do more about "climate change".   The group "Amazon Employees For Climate Justice" says Amazon is threatening to fire employees for violating company policy.

Amazon says it has a policy on employees speaking publicly and it is not new and covers all who work for the company.

The BBC has more on the story.......LINK

And what about climate change activist celebrity Greta Thunberg?   The latest buzz about her concerns a BBC show where a guest asked to name her came up with name "Sharon".

In recognition of what happened, Thunberg changed her screen name on Twitter.

The BBC explains what its all about.....LINK

And for now that's the way it really is for Friday January 3rd, 2020.