NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT FRIDAY 2/21/2020  NEWSDUMP FRIDAY

(SERVICE WHEN ABLE WITH CONCLUSION LATE FRIDAY INTO EARLY SATURDAY)

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone today with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Syria.

The Kremlin issued a news release noting that Putin expressed concern about "ongoing aggressive actions of extremist groups".....TASS NEWS STORY

Russia's defense ministry says that large numbers of Turkish armored vehicles and huge caches of ammunition entering northwestern Syria point to apparent preparation for a large scale military operation that Turkey has been threatening for weeks......IRAN.... PRESS TV NEWS STORY.....SOUTHFRONT STORY

Russia countering mainstream media reports suggesting that as many as a million people are trying to flee the Greater Idlib region of Syria......TASS NEWS STORY   This report by Qatar's Al Jazeera is typical of those stories.....AL JAZEERA SYRIA 'BLOODBATH' STORY

Also word that Turkey denied Russian aircraft the ability to fly over its territory while enroute from Russia to Syria.....SOUTHFRONT STORY

THE PENTAGON AGAIN REVISING UPWARDS  FOR THE FIFTH TIME THE NUMBER OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES RESULTING FROM THE JANUARY 8TH MISSILE ATTACK BY IRAN ON THE AL-ASAD AIR BASE IN IRAQ.     THE NUMBER NOW SAID TO BE 110 INJURIES AMONG MEMBERS OF THE US MILITARY BASED THERE.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting with Saudi Arabia's top leadership in Riyadh.   Here is a statement on the meeting with King Salman....STATE DEPARTMENT STATEMENT

Pompeo also met the Deputy Defense Minister of "the Kingdom" and the de-facto ruler of the country Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.....STATE DEPARTMENT RELEASE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN MEETING

Pompeo in the nearby kingdom of Oman meeting its leaders today.

Saudi air defenses intercepting Houthi drones and missiles targeting the industrial city of Yanbu.   The Houthi rebels of Yemen saying the attack was a response to Saudi airstrikes that killed 30 civilians in Yemen.

CANADA'S PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU APPEARING BEFORE THE MEDIA LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON TO SAY THAT INDIGENOUS BLOCKADES OF CANADA'S RAIL NETWORK ARE 'UNACCEPTABLE AND UNTENABLE' AND THAT THEY  MUST COME DOWN.

THE BLOCKADES ARE IN SUPPORT OF A WESTERN TRIBAL GROUP WHOSE BLOCKADE OF A NATURAL GAS PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION ROUTE WAS BROKEN UP BY THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE.....CBC NEWS STORY

Germany taking steps to protect mosques and other locations following the attack on Turkish tobacco bars in the city of Hanau Wednesday night that killed nine and wounded others.   Additional police being deployed to places that might be attacked by what authorities are calling "far-right extremists".

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer linking hostility to Muslims to hostility to Jews saying in part:

"The security threat from right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism and racism is very high".....BBC NEWS STORY

Iran now says that there are 18 coronavirus cases in the country with four deaths.    13 new cases announced today.    A woman in Canada who visited Iran has been diagnosed with the virus.

Two South Korean cities have been declared "special care zones" because of the spread of the coronavirus.     There are 52 new confirmed cases in the country Friday with 53 reported on Thursday.......BBC NEWS STORY

The Russians are at it again we are being told.   Russia accused of interfering in the 2020 presidential election.     The source of the information is an aide to the acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.

That aide Shelby Pierson briefed House lawmakers with the information on Thursday February 13th.

President Trump opting this week not to make Maguire the permanent DNI chief, instead choosing US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell for the post.....FORBES.COM STORY

Speaking this evening in Las Vegas the President said that any notion that Russia is interfering in the election to help him is propaganda from the Democrat Party.

From Moscow the Kremlin spokesman speaking of what's being said inside the intelligence community in the US as "paranoid"....TASS NEWS STORY

Also Russia is being accused of staging a cyber attack on the neighboring Republic of Georgia.

Bernie Sanders with a warning to Russia to "stay out of American elections".   Sanders says that intelligence officials told him last month about Russian efforts to aid his presidential campaign.

Sanders calling Russia's President Vladimir Putin an "autocratic thug" who is spreading propaganda in the United States to sow division.

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MICHAEL BLOOMBERG IS SAYING THAT HIS COMPANY IS READY TO BACK OUT OF THREE NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS WITH FORMER FEMALE EMPLOYEES.     THE WOMEN REPORTEDLY HAD COMPLAINTS ABOUT WHAT BLOOMBERG HAD SAID TO THEM.

Ireland's parliament found itself in deadlock when it came back into session following the recent elections.    The "mainstream" Fianna Foil and Fine Gael parties reduced while the left-wing Sinn Fein party rose in support.     The leaders of all three parties nominated to be Prime Minister and all failing to get majority support in votes last evening. 

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald getting 45 votes of support, the most of the three leading party leaders.   Some 80 votes would be needed to form a government.  

 The current Prime Minister Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar resigning to stay on in a caretaker role until a new government can be formed.

More from "RTE News" in Ireland......LINK

The "reduction in violence" period of confidence building between the US and Taliban in Afghanistan set to begin Saturday.

"This is an important step on a long road to peace" the words of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Late word is that an agreement is slated to be signed next Saturday February 29th between the US and Taliban that will lead to withdrawal of some of the US troops in Afghanistan and talks between the Taliban and US government.  

President Trump travelling to India next week putting him in close proximity to Afghanistan and to Doha, Qatar where US-Taliban talks have taken place.   Will he participate in the signing of an agreement?

Israel's election just 10 days away and the polls are coming fast and furious.     One poll for the third election in less than a year shows the Blue and White Party of former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz at 36 seats with Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud at 33 seats.    Neither bloc of "Left" parties or "Right" parties able to command the 61 seats needed for a majority.....ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS STORY

Israel's arch-enemy Iran holding elections today.    Many names on the ballot but only those candidates approved by the country's religious leaders.    The Shia Muslim ayatollahs hold ultimate power over the government.

The government urging Iranians to show up at the polls to show defiance of the United States led sanctions campaign against the country.

A court in Thailand ordering dissolution of the Future Forward Party because of a loan from its leader.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit led anti-government protests in the Thai capital of Bangkok last year.  He and 15 other party executives ordered banned from politics for 10 years....UPI NEWS STORY

Wells Fargo Bank is paying a 3 billion dollar fine to resolve a civil suit and criminal prosecution by the federal government.

The case involves the establishment of fake accounts by Wells Fargo done to reach sales quotas to create new accounts.    This was done without the knowledge or consent of the people who had the accounts established in their names.

More from NBC News......LINK

There will be a fifth day of jury deliberations Monday at the Harvey Weinstein rape and sexual assault trial in New York.    Today the jurors asked for testimony from the trial leading observers to believe jury may be deadlocked over the most serious charges against the movie mogul and long time Democrat Party donor.......CBS NEWS STORY VIDEO EMBEDDED LINK

And that's the way it really is Friday February 21st, 2020/