NEWS SUMMARY-INTELLIGENCE REPORT THURSDAY 2/27/2020 TURKISH, ISRAELI AIR STRIKES ON SYRIA

(LIMITED SERVICE WHEN ABLE THROUGH LATE THURSDAY)

                          LATE BREAKING NEWS  

The Turkish government said late tonight that Turkey has begun to use airstrikes against Syrian forces in northwestern Syria following the deaths of Turkish soldiers supporting Al Qaeda and other jihadist opposition forces fighting the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad......TASS NEWS REPORT....The Turkish government is claiming tonight that 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in a Syrian government airstrike?????.........BBC NEWS STORY.......Opposition groups in Syria posting videos said to be related to the Syrian government airstrike....SOUTHFRONT STORY WITH EMBEDDED VIDEO

In the aftermath of these developments Turkey's Foreign Minister calling the NATO Secretary General and the Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin speaking with US National Security Adviser Robert O' Brien.      This according to the Associated Press.

The UN Secretary General calling for an immediate cease-fire in Greater Idlib.

Syrian media reporting that Israel helicopters carried attacks on Syrian army targets tonight in the south of Syria near the Golan Heights.   Three Syrian soldiers said to have been lightly wounded in the attacks with a late report from the anti-government Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claiming one dead and seven wounded.......ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS REPORT

Turkish-led forces of opposition jihadists in northwestern Syria were being repelled from repeated attacks on the town of Saraqib but there is reporting that during the day today Saraqib was retaken by the jihadists with Turkish support.

In other parts of Greater Idlib Syrian government forces were reported to be advancing earlier today.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke earlier today before the latest more serious developments of "three martyrs" in the latest fighting the implication being that there are three more dead Turkish soldiers.

Russian media reporting on Turkish use of anti-aircraft weapons against Russian and Syrian aircraft on the battlefield......REUTERS NEWS STORY

Meanwhile Syria's ally Russia holding consultations with Turkey today over the situation in the "Greater Idlib Region".   But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says there are no plans for any meeting next week between the Russian and Turkish presidents....TASS NEWS STORY

Turkey had set a Saturday deadline for Syrian forces to pull back in Greater Idlib or face a major Turkish military operation.

In Libya today the Mitga International Airport in Tripoli shut down for four hours amidst shelling from the Libyan National Army.  The LNA battling the Turkish backed Government of National Accord.

The United States designating the Secretary General of an Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit (Kata'ib Hezbollah),  Ahmad al-Hamidawi, as a terrorist.    The US is accusing the group of involvement in attacks on US facilities in Iraq that included the killing of an American defense contractor and of shooting at civilian protesters in Iraq protesting for "reform".

In one Chinese province 14 percent of those who recover from the coronavirus contract it again.....TASS NEWS STORY

The number of coronavirus cases in South Korea stood at 1,595 Thursday morning with 13 deaths reported.    Testing for the Covid-19 virus going on among members of a religious sect believed to be at the center of the rapid spread of the disease......

An Israeli who visited Italy has tested positive for the coronavirus.   Israelis returning from Italy will go into two week quarantine.   More  from "Haaretz".....LINK

Two new cases in England from people who traveled to Italy and Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands.

The BBC News blog on the coronavirus today......LINK

One economic result from the Covid-19 situation so far appears to be a drop in crude oil prices.  Brent crude moving down below 51 dollars a barrel today.

An eight cent a gallon drop in gasoline prices observed here today in the area where this blog is posted in south-central Pennsylvania.

Also in Canada today the Toronto Stock Exchange shutting down due to what is said to be a "glitch" after it lost two percent of its value by 2 pm local time.

Dozens injured on two Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea near Turkey.   Angry residents protesting plans to build new camps for migrants on the islands of Lesbos and Chios.     The BBC offers its version of the story.....LINK

IN CANADA TALKS SET FOR TODAY BETWEEN HEREDITARY CHIEFS OF THE WET'SUWET'EN FIRST NATION AND FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL OFFICIALS.   THE TALKS ABOUT THE LAND RIGHTS CONTROVERSY STIRRED UP BY CONSTRUCTION OF A NATURAL GAS PIPELINE ON SACRED TRIBAL LAND IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.....CBC NEWS STORY

Former President Barack Obama is crying foul over an ad attacking former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of the crucial primary in South Carolina Saturday.   The BBC reports on this story.....LINK   An opinion poll released today by Monmouth University in New Jersey claiming that Joe Biden has a 36-16 percent lead over Bernie Sanders in South Carolina.

That's the way it really is Thursday February 27th, 2020.    Newsdump Friday is on the way with massive developments expected and already in the pipeline including the decision to resume flight training for Saudi pilots less than three months after the terrorist attack by a Saudi pilot in Pensacola, Florida.........