KTFA: 

Samson:  Parliamentary investment: the 2020 budget will be operational after the agreement with China

19:23 - 01/19/2020
The Parliamentary Investment and Economy Committee confirmed on Sunday that the draft federal budget law for 2020 will be operational after the economic agreement with the Chinese side.

Committee member Nada Shaker said in a statement to "Information", that "the 2020 budget will be operational after referring all service and investment projects to the Chinese agreement," noting that "the agreement with China will contribute to solving all service crises from infrastructure and residential complexes."

She added that "the economic agreement with China is a positive gesture for building cities and salvation from the housing crisis and lack of services," noting that "referring projects to the Chinese agreement will reduce the deficit rate in the expected federal budget by more than 40 trillion dinars."

The deputy from the Alliance of Fath, Fadel Al-Fatlawi, had confirmed, today, Sunday, that the government approved the sale price of a barrel of oil at $ 50 within the federal budget bill for 2020, pointing out that the budget deficit does not exceed 30 trillion Iraqi dinars.  LINK

DocK:  Wow great article , China deal is wiping out 40T of the deficit. In effect before Chinese New Year hopefully..

MilitiaMan:  The 2019 Financial Management Law Amendment will open the door for China and they have played their Trump Card to get it done too... Imo!! ~ MM

Samson:  A deputy reveals the price of a barrel of oil in the 2020 budget and the size of its deficit

18:01 - 01/19/2020
The House of Representatives has decided, today, Sunday, next Wednesday to hold its next session due to the lack of a quorum, as the session was expected to discuss the mechanism for the government to send the federal budget bill for the year 2020. 

The deputy of the Al-Fateh Alliance Fadel Al-Fatlawi revealed, on Sunday, the price of selling a barrel of oil within the federal budget bill for 2020, among which the fiscal deficit in the 2020 budget will not exceed 30 trillion Iraqi dinars.

Al-Fatlawi said in a statement to the "information", that "the government approved the sale price of a barrel of oil at $ 50 within the federal budget bill for 2020, according to the oil minister," noting that "the fiscal deficit in the budget does not exceed 30 trillion Iraqi dinars."

He added that "what the media reported, quoting government figures, that the deficit will reach 42 trillion dinars is inaccurate and an exaggerated matter," noting that "the House of Representatives is currently discussing a legal justification allowing the government to send the budget law to it."  LINK

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Samson:  Trump: Agreement with China is much better than expected

20th January, 2020
US President Donald Trump, welcomed the trade agreement with China, saying it was "much better" than he expected.

"This is a great success for our whole country," Trump said at a meeting in Austin, Texas, in front of the farmers ’employer association. "I think China will do everything in its power to demonstrate that the signed agreement is a good agreement. It is much more important and better than I expected to obtain," he added. Trump praised the new chapter in relations with Beijing, which he considered "the best between us for several years," saying that "China respects us now," according to "AFP."

On Wednesday, Trump and Chinese Vice Prime Minister Liu He signed a trade agreement, which he said was a "historic leg" that suspended the unprecedented trade war between the world's two largest economic powers. For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a message to Trump and read by the Chinese negotiator, announced that the agreement would be beneficial "to China, the United States and the whole world." China has pledged to purchase additional US $ 200 billion worth of products over the next two years, under the agreement, the full text of which was published on its 94 pages on Wednesday.

One of the most important demands of the White House is to increase Chinese imports of American products. The interim agreement also includes provisions relating to the protection of intellectual property and the conditions for the transfer of technological knowledge, which are also among the first American demands.   LINK

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Samson:  An upcoming meeting between Trump and Barzani to agree to build the largest American base in Barbell

11:57 - 01/20/2020
The military expert, Safaa Al-Aasam, revealed, on Monday, an upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and the President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, at the Davos conference to discuss the establishment of the largest American base in Erbil.

"The United States of America does not plan to withdraw from Iraq, but has started establishing two new military bases in the Nineveh and Erbil Plain," Al-Asam told Al-Maalouma. He added, "The President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Masoud Barzani, will meet in the coming hours with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Davos conference."

"The meeting will discuss the establishment of the largest American military base in the region and the transfer of the headquarters of the US forces in the Middle East in Erbil, as an escalation step against the Iraqi government and parliament," Al-Aasm said.   LINK

Don961:  President Barzani to meet US President Trump at Davos summit

15 hours ago

Mohammed Rwanduzy

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani has announced he will meet US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which begins on Tuesday.

Barzani announced his attendance at the forum in Davos, Switzerland in a statement released on Sunday.

“On the sidelines of the summit, President Nechirvan Barzani will hold meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and the United Nations’ Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The President is also expected to meet with a number of other world leaders, ministers and high ranking officials.,” the statement said.

“In the meetings, the President is expected to focus on strengthening Kurdistan Region’s relations with the international community and to convey the policies and position of Kurdistan Region on regional and world affairs.,” the statement continued.

Barzani will be speaking at a panel at Davos titled “An Unsettled Middle East”, the statement further added.

Scheduled for January 21 to January 24, this year’s summit is themed “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”. It brings the world’s political leaders together with kingmakers of some of the world’s biggest corporations.

According to the WEF, the 2020 meeting is slated to be “among the most sustainable international summits ever held”, with focus on the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Sunday’s announcement sets a time and place for a Barzani-Trump meeting, after the KRG leader told al-Monitor on Thursday that there was a standing invitation to meet the US President with a date not yet set.

US and Kurdish officials have met and spoken frequently in recent weeks as Washington’s tensions verged on breaking point, following the assassination of high-profile Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on January 3. Barzani and other Kurdish leaders have insisted they do not want the Kurdistan Region to become a battleground on which US-Iran tensions play out.   LINK

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Don961:  Trump to headline Davos summit as Iran drops out

Updated / Friday, 17 Jan 2020 09:27

Donald Trump, pictured at Davos in 2018, is expected to be the star attraction this year

US President Donald Trump will be the star attraction at this year's Davos forum, which will also focus on the fallout of climate change and a more inclusive model of capitalism, organisers have said.
The annual gathering of global movers and shakers in the village of Davos in the Swiss Alps will draw a total of 53 heads of government and state for four days starting on January 21. 

But Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who had been due to attend, cancelled his visit amid a spike in global tensions following a US drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani. 

The 50th edition of the Davos Forum will have more than 2,800 participants, including Swedish teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg, who will renew her call on attendees to stop subsidising fossil fuels. 

"We demand that leaders play their part in putting an end to this madness," the 17-year-old, who is also due to take part in protests outside the summit, said. 

The World Economic Forum, which organises the summit, said other participants will include Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Donald Trump will be accompanied by his daughter Ivanka and her husband and top presidential adviser Jared Kushner, as well as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. 

The situation in the Middle East will be a key focus for the summit. 

Soleimani's killing near Baghdad international airport on January 3 has sparked fears of conflict between Iran and the US.

Iran has also been shaken by demonstrations after admitting it "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet a few hours after a retaliatory missile strike against US bases in Iraq. 

"I think we have to understand the cancellation from the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif against the backdrop of the uncertainty in the region and what is unfolding in Iran," WEF president Borge Brende said.

But Brende said other key figures will be present, including Iraqi President Barham Saleh and the president of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani. 

Notable absentees include British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is busy finalising Britain's departure from the European Union at the end of this month after a drawn-out political crisis. 

But Prince Charles, who is trying to mend frayed relations within the royal family over his son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's shock decision to give up on high-profile royal duties, will be there.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe have also pulled out to concentrate on preparing for the election in February.

The meeting's theme this year is "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World" and organisers said they would ask participants to sign up to a "Davos Manifesto" for a more inclusive model for capitalism.

"The world is in a state of emergency and the window to act is closing fast," Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman at the World Economic Forum, told reporters. 

"We do not want to face continued political and economic disintegration, we do not want to reach the tipping point of irreversibility on climate change and we do not want that the next generations to inherit a world which becomes ever more hostile and ever less habitable," he said. 

After some criticism last year over the number of private jets ferrying political and business leaders to the summit, organisers were also keen to show off the meeting's environmental credentials. 

For the first time this year, solar panels and geothermal heating have been introduced in the Congress Centre and there will be a temporary railway station to encourage participants to use public transport. 

Ahead of the meeting, the Swiss army has begun deploying in the area around Davos under a security plan that will involve up to 5,000 soldiers. 

Swiss broadcaster SRF estimated the costs of policing the summit at 45 million Swiss francs (€41.7m).

LINK