NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT FRIDAY 2/14/2020  NEWSDUMP FRIDAY (HOLIDAY WEEKEND)

(SERVICE WHEN ABLE CONCLUDING EARLY SATURDAY MORNING)

Jury deliberations in the rape and sexual assault trial of movie mogul and Democratic Party donor Harvey Weinstein set to begin Tuesday.

Final arguments wrapped up today in New York......NY 1 SPECTRUM NEWS STORY

Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who was a vocal critic of President Trump and lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against the President, found guilty of attempted extortion in New York federal court today.

Avenatti accused of trying to extort 25 million dollars from Nike......BBC NEWS STORY

The Russian and Turkish military leaders talking about the situation in Syria's Idlib province by phone.   Turkish forces intervening there in support of jihadists fighting the Syrian government of Bashar Assad.   Assad's forces rely on Russian air support for their fight.    More from the pro-Turkish government media outlet "Yeni Safak".....LINK

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says he's confident that Turkey will ensure the safety of Russia's ambassador and Russian nationals in Turkey.   Turkey stepping up security measures amidst death threats against the Russian ambassador amidst the tensions over Syria.

In Syria today two Syrian soldiers killed when their helicopter was downed with Turkish weaponry......SOUTHFRONT STORY WITH VIDEOS

Another pro-Israel delegation making a trip to Saudi Arabia.    This time the group was from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations spending four days in "the Kingdom".    They met with various Saudi dignitaries from political and religious circles during a four-day visit that ended Thursday.....JERUSALEM POST STORY

Within the last year two delegations of pro-Israel Evangelical Christians made trips to Saudi Arabia.

The Acting US Attorney in Washington DC opting to drop a criminal investigation into former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe for leaking information to the media about the "Russia collusion" probe against President Trump and his 2016 campaign.

Going into the Newsdump Valentine's Day-President's Day weekend US Attorney General William Barr saying he "won't be bullied by anyone" and that President Trump's tweets make it "impossible for me to do my job".

Barr's comments to ABC come in the aftermath of President Trump's strong reaction to the proposed seven to nine year sentence against longtime Republican political operative and supporter of his 2016 campaign Roger Stone.

The White House saying that President Trump does not disagree with Barr's comments.

On CNN Don Lemon discussed the matter seeing Barr's comments as a put-on, a show, a distraction from other matters related to the Justice Department like the Durham investigation into the origins of the "Russian collusion" probe against President Trump and his campaign in 2016.....

DON LEMON ON CNN DISCUSSES ATTORNEY GENERAL BARR COMMENTS REGARDING PRESIDENT TRUMP

At 833 am Eastern time today via Twitter President Trump noted that he has the legal right to intervene in criminal cases with the Attorney General, but so far has chosen not to do so....DONALD J TRUMP TWITTER

The US Justice Department ramping up its legal action against the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei.

Huawei accused of a decades long plan to steal technology from US companies.

Meng Wanzhou, the company's Chief Financial Officer, being held in Canada with the US seeking her extradition on charges of fraud and violating sanctions.

Huawei says its being targeted because it is a threat to US business competitors.

More from the BBC....LINK

THE LATEST STATISTICS ON THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID 19) IN CHINA AS OF SATURDAY MORNING LOCAL TIME ARE 1,523 DEAD, OVER 66,400 INFECTED AND 8,096 HAVE RECOVERED FROM THE VIRUS......TASS NEWS STORY

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper meeting Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani in Munich today with a truce imminent in Afghanistan amidst agreement on a peace deal with the Taliban.

There is word that the deal will involve a reduction of violence to build confidence and if that is successful the Afghan government and the Taliban will begin talks.     The US military force in the country would be drawn down from some 13,000 to 8,600 under the deal.

World leaders gathering in Munich this weekend for the Munich Security Conference.

HOUTHI REBELS IN YEMEN SAY THEY HAVE SHOT DOWN A ROYAL SAUDI AIR FORCE TORNADO AIRCRAFT TONIGHT.   THE SHOOT DOWN IN A NORTHERN PROVINCE OF YEMEN....SOUTHFRONT STORY

The Pentagon says a Navy warship seized weapons believed to be of Iranian design and manufacture from a ship in the Arabian Sea last Sunday.    The weapons believed to be headed for Yemen to support the Houthi rebels.

More from Ynet News in Israel........LINK

A federal judge ordering a halt to Microsoft's work on a 10 billion dollar deal for a "cloud" for the US military.

The decision a win for Amazon with that company claiming President'Trump is biased against it in a lawsuit filed last year.

The Pentagon chose Microsoft over Amazon for the contract.

More from "Fox Business"......LINK

Canada's rail network remains crippled tonight with Mohawk tribal protesters blockading a key rail line in solidarity with a western tribe opposing a natural gas pipeline.

The blockade near Belleville in Ontario continues with police declining to remove it in spite of a court order.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is seeking "dialogue and constructive outcomes" to resolve the blockade.   Opposition leader Andrew Scheer calling for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to be called in to remove the protesters.

A meeting set for Saturday morning at 10 am between Mohawk representatives and Canada's Indigenous Services minister Mark Miller......CBC NEWS STORY

 

A pro-independence Catalan party is supporting Spain's Socialist-led government but only if Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is serious about moving forward with talks to achieve an independence referendum for Catalonia and amnesty for jailed Catalan leaders.....REUTERS NEWS STORY

FROM FRANCE  THE CANDIDATE OF PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON'S POLITICAL PARTY FOR MAYOR OF PARIS, BENJAMIN GRIVEAUX, DROPPING OUT AFTER PRIVATE MESSAGES RESEMBLING THOSE OF FORMER CONGRESSMAN ANTHONY WEINER WERE REVEALED ON SOCIAL MEDIA.   

GRIVEAUX NOT CONFIRMING THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE INTIMATE PICTURES INVOLVED.  (WARNING:  THE LINKED ARTICLE MAY BE OFFENSIVE).....DAILY BEAST STORY

THE WEBSITE THAT PUBLISHED THE VIDEOS OF GRIVEAUX SHUT DOWN AT AROUND NOON EASTERN US TIME TODAY.    THE SITE THAT LAUNCHED IN NOVEMBER WAS REGISTERED WITH GOOGLE IN THE UNITED STATES AND CREATED WITH THE HELP OF A SERVICE PROVIDED BY AN ISRAELI COMPANY, WIX.

Also in France the board of the Cesars, the country's Oscar awards for excellence in motion pictures, resigning amidst controversy over this year's nominations.     Award nominations given to director Roman Polanski for his film  "An Officer and A Spy".     Its a story about France's "Dreyfus Affair" the Anti-Semitic accusation leveled at Captain Alfred Dreyfus more than a century ago.

Polanski is accused by more than a dozen women of sexual misconduct according to French media and here in the United States Polanski is wanted in connection with the statutory rape of a 13 year old girl in the 1970's.

More form the BBC.....LINK 

German police arresting suspects accused of being part of a "far right terrorist group" that planned to attack migrants in the country.

30 killed including nine soldiers in a series of attacks in the African nation of Mali today.    The country troubled by Islamic jihadist violence for eight years but the BBC reports that a tribal militia opposing jihadist violence was involved in one attack that killed 21 civilians while nine soldiers were killed in the other two attacks.....LINK

That's the way it really is Friday February 14th, 2020 Newsdump Friday.