NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT MONDAY 2/10/2020

(LIMITED SERVICE WHEN ABLE THROUGH LATE MONDAY)

THE NUMBER OF INJURIES SUSTAINED BY US TROOPS IN IRAQ FROM LAST MONTH'S IRANIAN MISSILE STRIKE IS AGAIN BEING REVISED UPWARDS BUT FIRST......

Five Turkish soldiers reported killed by Syrian government forces in northwestern Syria today.   Turkish officials telling the media that Turkey has launched retaliatory strikes for the attack on its forces.....YENI SAFAK TURKEY NEWS STORY...The Turks say they've hit 115 targets in retaliation.

Word from the Syrian side is that Turkish forces are now active on the ground in support of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Al Qaeda) jihadists in the area of Saraqib in Idlib province.....SOUTHFRONT STORY...the Al Qaeda militants are using military equipment provided by Turkey in the fighting.....SOUTHFRONT STORY

The Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu calling for an immediate cease-fire as talks between Turkey and Russia continue over the situation in northwestern Syria.  Talks said to be going on between Turkey's presidential spokesman and the Russian delegation in Ankara.

The two nations previous agreement on a cease-fire there fell through amidst repeated opposition attacks on government forces........TASS NEWS STORY

The Russian air base in northern Syria at Hmeimim targeted by drones tonight but both of them were repelled by the base's air defenses......TASS NEWS STORY

And finally the late word from Turkey is that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met with top officials saying that the Syrian attack on Turkish forces would be "responded to as many times as possible so the blood of the martyrs would not be shed in vain" according to the government owned Anadolu News Agency......LINK

PENTAGON OFFICIALS SAY THE NUMBER OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES SUSTAINED BY US FORCES IN THE JANUARY 8TH IRANIAN MISSILE ATTACK ON THE AL-ASAD AIRBASE ARE ABOUT TO BE REVISED UPWARDS FOR THE FIFTH TIME.

THE NUMBER GOING UP FROM 64 TO 109.

MORE FROM TIME MAGAZINE......LINK

US Attorney General William Barr announcing that four Chinese military officers are charged in the 2017 data breach involving credit ratings agency Equifax.    Personal information of more than 147 million Americans taken back then.

CORONAVIRUS STATISTICS FROM TUESDAY MORNING IN CHINA ARE 1,016 DEATHS AND MORE THAN 42,200 CASES.

CHINA ANNOUNCING THE REMOVAL OF SENIOR OFFICIALS IN HUBEI PROVINCE WHERE THE VIRUS ORIGINATED.......BBC NEWS STORY

The woman designated as Chancellor Angela Merkel's successor leaving as leader of the Christian Democratic Union and backing away from being Merkel's successor.

Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer stepping down amidst the controversy over last week's selection of a new government in the state of Thuringia where the CDU joined with the anti-mass immigration Alternative for Germany to install Free Democrat Thomas Kemmerich as premier.

Merkel was angered by the move with a high-ranking CDU official fired for being too sympathetic to the AfD.

Mr. Kemmerich has resigned as premier in Thuringia leaving the state without a government and Mrs. Merkel is said to be trying to get the former premier of the Left Party (former Communists) reinstalled as premier.

The vote count continued to its finale in Ireland's Saturday general election today.   Sinn Fein won the popular vote for 159 out of 160 seats in Ireland's parliament but ran only 42 candidates for those seats.

The party has won 37 seats with all seats decided.      The other parties with large blocs of seats are Fianna Fail at 38 seats and Fine Gael at 35 seats.   No party has gained a majority and a coalition will be required to govern the country.

The incumbent Prime Minister Leo Varadkhar, whose Fine Gael party lost 15 seats is firmly opposed to Sinn Fein participation in a new government.    Sinn Fein has demands for its participation in a new government including a five-year plan for Irish reunification.

RTE in Ireland is reporting the latest election results.....LINK

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is moving to shut down broadcasting by the ABS-CBN network over its coverage of him.    Lawyers have filed a petition with the country's Supreme Court to shut down the network's broadcasting operations because overseas investors are allowed to participate in its ownership.

The move denounced as an attack on freedom of the press.    More from "The Guardian" in the UK.......LINK

Russia's energy minister says the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to bring natural gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea will be finished in spite of the "unprecedented" opposition from the US, which has imposed sanctions on European companies helping to build it.   Russia intends to finish the pipeline early next year on its own.

More from Tass in Russia.....LINK

And with the first votes in New Hampshire just minutes away, that's the way it really is Monday February 10th, 2020.