KTFA:

Samson:  Tuesday is a public holiday for Ashura

8th September, 2019
The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers announced on Sunday that the tenth day of Muharram Al-Haram, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein will be next Tuesday.

The Secretariat said in a statement that the Ashura holiday would be on Tuesday, not as social networking sites circulated that the holiday was on Monday.   LINK

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Samson:  Tomorrow .. Baghdad and the provinces without markets and deserted streets

9/9/2019 11:53

Commercial traffic throughout the province of Baghdad and the central and southern provinces completely stop on the occasion of the tenth of Muharram.

And will close all shops until the time of the afternoon to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) the tribe of the Prophet (pbuh) and respect for the sanctity of this day. Entertainment venues, clubs and malls will also be closed. The Baghdad Operations Command decided to close clubs, nightclubs, coffee shops and liquor stores.

The Secretariat of the Council of Ministers announced today the suspension of official working hours on Tuesday on the occasion of Ashura. Believers celebrate Ashura tonight as the funeral processions spread throughout the central and southern provinces of Iraq.   LINK

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Samson:  Barzani: Our talks with Baghdad continue to reach an agreement that guarantees the rights of the Kurds

9/9/2019 15:06

The head of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masroor Barzani, on Monday, that talks with Baghdad continue to reach an agreement that guarantees the constitutional rights of the Kurds.

According to his media office in a statement received (Euphrates News) a copy of it, "The President of the Kurdistan Regional Government Masroor Barzani, received today, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, Jenin Hennes-Blachart." He added, "The meeting was discussed during a number of developments in Iraq and the region."

He continued, "The President of the Kurdistan Regional Government highlighted the relations between the Kurdistan region and the federal government," pointing out that "the meeting dealt with the situation in Kirkuk, and converged views on the importance of the implementation of Article 140 of the Constitution and the normalization of the situation."

Barzani said, "Our talks with Baghdad are continuing, and our main goal is to reach an agreement that guarantees our constitutional rights."    LINK

Samson:  Parliamentary Finance: Parliament is leading a move to spare the country significant economic risks

September 8, 2019 7:43 PM  Author: alzawraapaper

Baghdad / Al-Zawraa
The parliamentary Finance Committee, on Sunday, a government insistence on the adoption of the sale price of oil at $ 56 within the federal budget law for 2020, pointing out that Parliament is leading a move to reduce the price in order to avoid the expected deficit before the economic situation is exposed to significant risks. 

The committee member Hanin Kaddou said in a statement: that the decline in world oil prices and stability of up to $ 50 will negatively affect the general budget for next year.

Dollars. 
He added: The government is determined to adopt $ 56 as a price to sell a barrel of oil within the 2020 budget to achieve employment opportunities and complete service projects, noting that Parliament is leading a move to reduce the sale price of oil to avoid the expected deficit before the economic situation is exposed to significant risks.     link

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Samson:   Iraq Stock Exchange rises at the close of trading on Monday

9th September, 2019
Ended the general index of the Iraqi Stock Exchange trading session on Monday to rise by 0.13%, at the level of 471.08 points, gaining about 0.61 points.

Out of the 103 listed companies, 28 companies were traded, 8 rose, 8 declined and 12 remained unchanged. The number of shares traded amounted to about 186,093,124 dinars, while the number of shares reached about 119,540,788 shares, the number of deals amounted to about 222 transactions. The number of shares purchased from non-Iraqi investors about 418 thousand shares worth about 25.094 million dinars through the implementation of 8 deals, on the shares of one company. The number of shares purchased from non-Iraqi investors in the second market 1 million shares valued at 2.600 million dinars through the implementation of 10 deals, on the shares of one company.

The number of shares sold by non-Iraqi investors in the formal market 6.834 million shares valued at 4.730 million dinars through the implementation of 8 deals, on the shares of two companies. The number of shares sold by non-Iraqi investors in the second market reached 1 million shares valued at 2.600 million dinars through the implementation of 10 transactions, on the shares of one company. LINK

Samson:  Iraq begins preparations for hosting the Conference of Arab Parliaments

9th September, 2019
The Committee on Foreign Relations of Parliament, on Monday, began to prepare for the preparation of the Conference of Arab Parliaments to be held in Baghdad next November, stressing that Iraq will seek during the conference to work to liquidate the Arab and international atmosphere in the region.

A member of the Committee Amer Al-Fayez said in a statement to the information, that "the Committee on Foreign Relations in the House of Representatives has begun to prepare for the convening of the Conference of Arab Parliaments, which will be held in Baghdad next November."

Fayez added, "The choice of Iraq to hold the conference is proof of the Arab confidence in hosting such a conference and thus is a diplomatic success added to Iraq after the elimination of terrorist groups such as ISIS and its sisters."

He pointed out that "Iraq will take advantage of the conference is an opportunity to clear the atmosphere and an introduction to the solutions to the Arab and international crises plaguing the region," noting that "Iraq has the potential to be a key mediator in contributing to find solutions."

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Samson:  100 Tons in months .. China stores gold to face Trump

9th September, 2019
With the escalation of the already simmering trade war between the United States and China, a report told "Bloomberg" for US economic measures taken by Beijing, and cast a shadow over the whole world, through resorting to gold.

Since last December, China has added huge amounts of precious metal to its reserves, which has significantly affected gold prices, rising 18 percent since the beginning of the year.  Beijing has added more than 94 tonnes of gold to its reserves since last December, which could justify the rise in the price of gold since the end of last year.

Bloomberg quoted the People's Bank of China as saying. National Bank of Australia economist John Sharma said central banks, including China, had used the trade war as an incentive to try to diversify their reserves. "Gold provides an ideal protection," he said, while political uncertainty prevails.

The rise of gold, in line with the escalating US-China trade war, is a big sign that investors are worried about the state of the economy, and traders' appetite for bonds and gold shows investors are flocking to safe havens in times of turmoil. Gold is currently at its highest level since February 2013, indicating the impact of the trade war on the global economy, while central banks around the world have cut interest rates in a bid to combat the economic slowdown.

The International Monetary Fund, issued a list last June, disclosed the largest reserves of gold in the world. Although it is widely believed that the IMF has the largest gold reserves due to its importance in the economies of many countries, this international body occupies the third place after the second Germany, and the United States of America, which tops the list as follows:

China (1885 tons).
Russia (2168 tons).
France (2436 tons).
Italy (2451 tons).
International Monetary Fund (2814 tons).
Germany (3369 tons).
United States of America (8133 tons)  LINK

Sigshome:   very interesting !!! 
If they are buying gold shouldn’t we personally be buying it  ????  IMO yes

Cleitus:  But we are..., the US Treasury has, IMO, trillions of dollars worth of dinar as reserves. And, backed by plenty of gold from Iraq's untapped mineral resources.  As Frank stated on several occasions there are mounds of it underneath the earth that has yet to be reconciled in their GNP. To me who needs to buy it since we have "control" of it!