NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT FRIDAY 2/28/2020  NEWSDUMP FRIDAY ESCALATION IN SYRIA, TRUMP SUPPORTS TURKISH-AL QAEDA ALLIANCE IN SYRIA CLAIMING 'HUMANITARIAN' DANGER

(THIS NEWS SUMMARY WAS FIRST POSTED LATE THURSDAY AND  WILL BE UPDATED INTO FRIDAY)

(POSTING WHEN ABLE WITH FINAL POSTING LATE FRIDAY INTO EARLY SATURDAY)

A federal court ruling against a border control policy ordered by President Trump, 3 cases of the coronavirus in the United States and a peace deal with Afghanistan's Taliban is just hours away but first......

President Donald Trump spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today and the Turkish government says that the two agreed on:

"additional steps without delay in order to avert a big humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the Idlib region"

THE WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT SYRIA, RUSSIA AND IRAN MUST HALT THEIR 'OFFENSIVE' IN THE REGION AND SAID THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP "CONDEMNED YESTERDAYS ATTACK THAT KILLED TURKISH PERSONNEL"  FIGHTING ALONGSIDE AL QAEDA AND OTHER JIHADIST FORCES IN NORTHWESTERN SYRIA.

THE HILL NEWS STORY

Today the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley discussed the situation in Syria with his Russian counterpart, the Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov via phone......TASS NEWS REPORT

All Syrian troops are now "hostile targets" according to a spokesman for Turkey's ruling AK Party....TASS NEWS STORY.    The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 20 Syrian soldiers have been killed in Turkish attacks in recent hours.

Yesterday Turkey says that dozens of its soldiers were killed in a Syrian airstrike as they operated in support of Al Qaeda and other jihadist opposition forces in the Greater Idlib region.

Turkey says that retaliatory strikes have been launched in the aftermath of yesterday's Syrian air attack.

Syria's ally Russia which launches air strikes in support of the Syrian military says Turkish soldiers were with terrorist groups when they were hit....RUSSIA TODAY NEWS STORY

Russia says its moving warships towards Syria....MOSCOW TIMES STORY    NATO conducting an emergency meeting to discuss yesterday's Syrian air attack with Turkey calling for a 'no-fly zone' in Syria.  

NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg condemning the Syrian attack on the Al Qaeda allied Turkish troops......LIVE UPDATES FROM DEUTSCHE WELLE GERMANY ENGLISH

Stoltenberg indicating that NATO will continue to maintain measures including support for Turkey's air defenses.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today to discuss the situation......TASS NEWS STORY  Talk that the two leaders may meet in Moscow next week.

Turkey demanding an immediate "cease-fire" after their gains on the ground yesterday and a UN Security Council emergency meeting was held.

At that meeting the Russian UN representative expressed regret over Turkish and Syrian casualties and called for a thorough implementation of deconfliction measures agreed to by Russia and Turkey previously that have not been adhered to by Turkey.   He also said that Syria has a right to respond to terrorist attacks on its territory...TASS NEWS STORY

The Turks announcing in the aftermath of the escalation in Syria in recent hours that migrants will be allowed to move freely towards Europe with no attempt by Turkey to stop them....REUTERS NEWS STORY but the EU is saying that Turkey is giving assurances it will not allow migrants to cross into Europe.

Less than three months after a Saudi pilot staged a terrorist attack at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida that killed three and wounded eight,  Saudi pilots have now  resumed training at US military bases......BLOG STORY

A federal appeals court ruling against President Trump's policy of sending migrants from Mexico back to Mexico to await their immigration hearings.

The ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals applies to the entire southern border and would cancel a policy that went into effect in January 2019 that has kept almost 60-thousand people from entering the United States.

The court put implementation of its ruling on hold late tonight at the request of the federal government with officials fearing a rush on the southern border.....CNN NEWS STORY

A proposed "safe injection site" for illegal drug use in Philadelphia will not open next week as planned.   The non-profit group that won a court fight to open the facility opting not to open the facility saying it was time for "meaningful conversations" with the community instead.   Strong opposition to the planned facility  with a protest planned for Sunday.....BBC NEWS STORY

Here in the United States three coronavirus cases detected so far with test kits beginning to move out across the country.    Two cases in California and one in Oregon involving an employee of a school in Clackamas County who may have exposed students and staff to the virus.    That school being closed for deep disinfection.

The coronavirus in France with 57 cases reported there as of Friday night.    Health officials recommending that people refrain from shaking hands.

The number of  coronavirus cases reported in South Korea increased to 2,022 Friday morning  AND WAS REPORTED AT 2,931 BY SATURDAY MORNING LOCAL TIME.   There are now 16 deaths reported in the country from Covid-19.

Markets are reported in decline including oil with Brent crude now down below 50 dollars a barrel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average down 12 percent this week, the worst decline since the financial crisis of  2008.

Updates on coronavirus via the BBC News blog........LINK

The US Navy says that a Chinese warship employed a "weapons-grade laser" on a US Navy surveillance aircraft last week.  The US calling the Chinese actions "unsafe and unprofessional"......BUSINESS INSIDER STORY

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested by authorities in Hong Kong acccused of illegal assembly and intimidation.   Lai accused of attending a pro-democracy march on August 31st last year and of being in an altercation with a journalist in 2017.   

Two other high profile pro-democracy actvists also arrested Friday......BBC NEWS STORY. 

In just hours a peace deal will be signed between the United States and the Taliban of Afghanistan.   President Trump says that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be witnessing the signing of the deal.   The signing of the agreement in Doha, Qatar will lead to talks between Afghanistan's government and the Taliban.    President Trump urging them to "seize this opportunity for peace".

The deal expected to lead to a reduction in US military personnel in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600.....VOICE OF AMERICA NEWS STORY

The final polls allowed by law are coming out ahead of Israel's third election in less than a year Monday.   They all show a continued deadlock in Israeli politics.    The Likud and Blue and White parties lead with the "Left" and "Right" blocks unable to get 61 seats in the 120 seat parliament needed for a majority.

Holding the balance of power with a handful of seats is the Yisrael Beiteinu   (Israel Our Home) party of Avigdor Lieberman. 

The polls are all summarized at this link....2020 ISRAELI ELECTION POLLS

President Trump again nominating Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas to be Director of National Intelligence.   Ratcliffe had pulled out when he was nominated the first time with questions being raised but following an Inspector General's probe, he is being nominated again......PRESIDENT TRUMP TWITTER

New Zealand's Prime Minister of the "Left" Jacinda Ardern hitting hard at her Australian counterpart, the Prime Minister of the "Right" Scott Morrison, during a joint public appearance today.

Speaking in Sydney, Australia Ardern said in part that Australia should stop deporting:

"your people and your problems"

Australia is expelling New Zealand citizens from the country.

More on this story from the AFP news agency as published in the "Straits-Times" of Singapore....LINK

The Anti-Defamation League says that in the decade that ended last December 435 people have been killed in the United States by "extremists" with most of them "far-right".

More on the research of the ADL from "Israel National News".......LINK

That's the way it really is Friday February 28th, 2020/