KTFA Members "News and Views" Tuesday PM 3-17-2020
KTFA:
DELTA: GREAT JOB SUPER SAMSON..........CAME DIRECTLY FROM ALAQ.........
Samson: The central bank exempts merchants and citizens from the commission of using POS for a period of 6 months
17th March, 2020
The Central Bank of Iraq announced, on Tuesday, that it will exempt merchants, business owners and citizens from the commission of using POS for a period of 6 months.
The bank said in a statement, Alsumaria News received a copy of it that "on the call to use electronic payment tools in financial dealings and avoid dealing in cash in order to preserve public health, the commissions on the citizen and the merchant when using POS devices will be zero and for a period of 6 months starting from 17 March."
The bank called "all banks the need to contribute effectively to support the current stage by providing financial and banking products and services to encourage different groups of society to use electronic payment tools."
It is noteworthy that the Central Bank is seeking during the coming period to use the card and business card for the process of trading, buying, selling and gradually dispensing with the transactions in banknotes directly.
Samson: The President of the Republic assigns Adnan Al-Zarfi to officially head the government
17th March, 2020
President Barham Salih, on Tuesday, assigned Adnan Al-Zarfi to officially head the government.
A brief presidential statement, which Mawazine News received, said, "The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, commissioned today, Adnan Al-Zarfi to form the government."
The commission came after a meeting held by President Saleh with al-Zarfi in the presence of the President of the Federal Court, Judge Faeq Zaidan. LINK
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Samson: Demonstrators burn the governor’s house in Nasiriyah to protest the continued marginalization of protesters ’demands in the country
16th March, 2020
Sources reported from eyewitnesses in Dhi Qar, Monday 16 March 2020, that angry demonstrators burned the building of Dhi Qar Governorate and the governor’s house.
The sources said that the demonstrators set fire to the Dhi Qar Governorate building by burning tires and cut off the intersection of the lobby
She indicated that the demonstrators also cut off the civilizational bridge and the iron bridge in the governorate, noting that the demonstrators burned the house of the governor of his post, Adel Al-Dakhili, in the Ur neighborhood
The operations of burning the headquarters of political parties return to the forefront from time to time, as a result of the continued marginalization of the protesters' demands in the country, and their failure to meet them, while the protesters accused these parties of securing their personal interests and grants, at the expense of the interests of the people LINK
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Don961: Watch the historical moment: the first person to undergo a Corona vaccine
2020-03-16
Follow Iraq:
Today, Monday, American doctors and scientists injected the first American woman named Jennifer Haller as the first person to be injected with the new vaccine for the new Corona virus.
VIDEO LINK LINK
Molson88: I have been following a lot of President Trump's speeches lately surrounding the CoronaVirus.
It could be that I just have "dinar colored" glasses on or that I consider my self to be "awake" (some would call it being conspiratorial) and see everything with my eyes wide open...but i have noticed with a lot of the President's speeches, he keeps making comments like, "this will blow over and the economy will come back stronger than ever".
He has been making several of those types of statements. I can't help but wonder if he has some "inside information" about one or more world currencies resetting and/or increasing in value very soon?? All this imo.
On one hand I know everything that President Trump says is very calculated. On the other hand, I also know that he has a (respectfully saying this) a huge ego, AND also delivers big results at the same time.
Family, which do you feel it is? Or maybe a little of both, or something different? Have you been noticing the same things as me??
Popeye7: Your perception of President Trump's speeches is accurate Imo... He definitely is hinting without flat out declaring it in plain language... Time will tell..
Ryan1216: It seems the Dinar RI/RV is following the coronavirus timeline as Frank said in his opinion on last night's cc. I believe that although Trump has been speaking of a stimulus package that everyone in the US will receive a yet to be announced amount from. There's no better time for the CBI to pull the trigger than in the midst of all this. Time will tell. Praying any day now this investment is over
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Clare: Trump wants to send Americans checks ‘immediately’ in response to coronavirus, Mnuchin says
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to send checks to Americans “in the next two weeks” in an effort to help people cope with the economic fallout due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re looking at sending checks to Americans immediately,” Mnuchin said during a press briefing from the White House. “Americans need cash now, the president wants to get cash now. I mean now—in the next few weeks.”
WHITE HOUSE EYES MASSIVE $850B STIMULUS PACKAGE NEXT, AS SENATE MOVES ON LATEST CORONAVIRUS BILL
As the White House held its press conference Tuesday -- with President Trump, Vice President Pence, Mnuchin and the coronavirus task force present -- the Dow rallied nearly 1,000 points, after sustaining historic losses on Monday.
“The president has instructed me we have to do this now,” Mnuchin added, though did not give specifics, except to say that the amount would be significant and that millionaires would not receive it.
Fox News has learned, however, that Mnuchin is pressing GOP senators for a package that would send $200 billion-plus of payments to Americans by early April.
Mnuchin’s comments came as the White House is in negotiations with lawmakers on Capitol Hill for Congress to approve a sweeping economic stimulus package to help U.S. businesses and taxpayers deal with the economic fallout from the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus.
CLICK FOR THE CORONAVIRUS GUIDELINES RELEASED BY THE WHITE HOUSE
Mnuchin, on Tuesday, also announced that the Treasury Department would not extend the deadline to file taxes by the April 15 deadline, as much of the tax filing can be done online.
“We encourage Americans who can file taxes to continue to file taxes on April 15 because for many Americans, you will get tax refunds and we don’t want you to lose out on those tax refunds,” Mnuchin said.
Mnuchin added that if individuals or corporations owe money to the Internal Revenue Service after filing their taxes, those payments now are able to be deferred for up to 90 days interest-free.
“If you owe a payment to the IRS, you can defer up to $1 million as an individual, and $10 million to corporations, interest-free and penalty-free for 90 days,” Mnuchin continued. “File your taxes, you’ll automatically not get charged interests or penalties.”
Mnuchin was planning to outline a nearly $850 billion package during a lunch with Senate Republicans Tuesday, which Trump administration officials hope to have approved by the end of this week.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, opening the Senate on Tuesday morning, promised swift action.
"The Senate will not adjourn until we have passed significant and bold new steps above and beyond what the House has passed to help our strong nation and our strong underlying economy weather this storm," McConnell said.
The Trump administration’s stimulus package is bigger than the 2008 bank bailout, and the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was passed and signed under former President Barack Obama, and totaled $787 billion to help stabilize the economy about 14 months after the last recession began.
Trump, during the press briefing Tuesday, said there was “great spirit” among lawmakers with regard to the plan. “I can say that for Republicans and Democrats.”
Meanwhile, the president and the coronavirus task force, which is led by Vice President Pence, touted the administration’s progress on testing for COVID-19, and announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced new policies to increase testing.
“We have tremendous testing capacity,” Trump said.
Pence said that testing is now available in all 50 states, and announced that “state health authorities can now authorize labs in their state and expand existing testing capabilities.”
Pence also said the administration has continued to expand its “public-private partnership” with “vast commercial labs around the country,” which he said is “increasing access to coronavirus testing.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“This is greatly expanding access, even as we speak,” Pence said Tuesday.
“It is important that the American people understand that testing is happening all around the country,” Pence said, adding that experts “want me to tell the American people that you don’t need the testing to know what you should do.”
“Experts say that if every American acts on the coronavirus guidelines, we can see a substantial reduction in the spread, but as the president said, it will take all of us to do it,” Pence said, noting those guidelines rolled out by the White House and CDC Monday which included social distancing, limiting social gatherings to groups of less than 10 individuals, and staying at home.
“For the American people, as a whole, the risk of serious illness remains low,” Pence said.
The president weighed in on the guidelines, adding that he “would recommend that people enjoy their living rooms,” and urged young people to do their part.
One guideline, specifically, states that: “If you are an older person, stay home and away from other people.”
Another states: “If you are a person with a serious underlying health condition that can put you at increased risk (for example, a condition that impairs your lungs or heart function or weakens your immune system), stay home and away from other people.”
“We have to fight that invisible enemy, I guess unknown, but we’re getting to know it much better,” Trump said of the virus. “We are looking to save a maximum number of lives.”
The president also announced that he has been having open conversations with governors across the nation, leaders in the fast-food, pharmaceutical and grocery industries; and will meet with leaders of the tourism industry on Tuesday.
The president was also asked about his tweets, referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese Virus," and whether he thought his rhetoric could create a stigma. Trump denied that notion, calling it a "very accurate phrase," and said it was his response to China spreading disinformation about the U.S. military spreading COVID-19.
"Rather than having an argument, I said, I have to call it where it came from," Trump said. "It did come from China."
The outbreak is believed to have originated at an animal and seafood market in the city of Wuhan, China.
“We’re taking aggressive action now as one nation and one family so that America can rebound stronger frankly, stronger than ever,” he said.
The World Health Organization designated COVID-19 a global pandemic last week.
Trump announced a national emergency on Friday. The president also announced a temporary halt on air travel to the United States from Europe, now including flights from the United Kingdom, but excluding those carrying cargo.
When asked Tuesday whether he would limit domestic travel, the president replied: “It’s possible.”
The coronavirus task force also predicted Tuesday that the number of cases in the U.S. could peak in approximately 45-days.
As of Tuesday morning, there were more than 4,660 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, in 49 states, including Washington, D.C. The U.S., so far, has seen 85 coronavirus-related deaths.
Samson: Pentagon’s top civilians 'separated' from each other as coronavirus cases in DOD reach 37
16th March, 2020
The Pentagon on Monday said at least 37 members of the Defense Department community worldwide have tested positive for the coronavirus as the department takes step to mitigate the impact of the fast-spreading illness, including keeping its top two officials separated from each other.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist on Monday began limiting the number of people with access to their offices, screening people who enter them, and communicating with each other exclusively via teleconference, according to Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman. “We are attempting to put, for lack of a better term, a bubble around the two of them,” Hoffman told reporters at the Pentagon.
As of Monday, no person who works in the Pentagon has tested positive for the virus, he said. But officials determined they needed to take serious measures to protect Esper, Norquist and others considered essential to national security. The Pentagon has halted most visitors from entering the building including foreign officials on business. Officials have also stressed that people who can work from home are encouraged to do so.
Members of the military community who tested positive for coronavirus as of Monday morning included 18 service members, 13 military dependents, three Defense Department civilians and three defense contractors, Hoffman said. U.S. military cases have been reported in South Korea, Germany, Italy and in several U.S. states including Washington, California, Georgia and Virginia.
Military cases have increased since last week. Pentagon officials on March 12 reported 13 confirmed cases of coronavirus within its communities – six service members and seven dependents.
The pandemic has cause the military, like other institutions worldwide, to take extraordinary measures in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, including placing restrictions on travel within the United States for military personnel. Late Friday, Pentagon officials announced service members were not to travel far away from their local areas unless approved for trips deemed “mission essential, for humanitarian reasons or warranted due to extreme hardship."
Hoffman said Monday that service members should speak to their supervisors or commanders to determine whether planned travel met any of those criteria. He said the guidance was intentionally vague to give commanders “a lot of flexibility.”
The Defense Department has tested nearly 500 people across its installations and posts worldwide, including service members in Iraq and Afghanistan, where no troops have tested positive for the coronavirus, more formally known as COVID-19, said Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, the Joint Staff’s surgeon.
Others have been tested by other entities, including a sailor stationed at Naval Support Activity Naples in Italy who was confirmed to have contracted coronavirus, the Navy said Monday. The individual, the second sailor at the base to test positive, was tested by local Italian health officials, a Navy official said. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is developing plans for responding if states or other federal departments request help in mitigating the crisis.
More than 1,500 National Guard members in at least 15 states had been activated to aid in the response to the coronavirus as of Monday, officials said. Those troops were largely expected to aid with logistics and to help clean and sanitize public spaces. Active-duty troops have been largely kept out of the coronavirus response thus far. Hoffman said the department had not received official requests from states or other federal agencies for active-duty troops or to build temporary health facilities as of Monday.
Pentagon officials also downplayed the impact their medical facilities would have on dealing with the virus. The military has the capability to build field hospitals with several hundred beds rapidly, but those facilities are designed to respond to traumatic injuries following emergencies but not contagions, Friedrichs said. “The challenge is, if we build a 200 bed or a 25 bed trauma hospital to take care of people with the coronavirus that’s not really a great solution to the coronavirus challenge,” the general said. “We don’t have any 500 bed hospitals designed for infectious disease outbreaks.”
Nonetheless, Hoffman said the Pentagon is developing plans if it is asked to establish hospital facilities. “DOD is ready, willing and able to support civilian authorities to the greatest extend possible at the direction of [President Donald Trump],” he said. “We just want to make sure that the conversation we have is informed by the facts of what is possible and what is not, and what the trade-offs are.” LINK
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Samson: Reuters: Iran temporarily releases 85,000 prisoners, including politicians, over Corona
17th March, 2020
Iranian judiciary spokesman, Ghulam Hussain Ismaili, said on Tuesday that Tehran has temporarily released around 85,000 prisoners, including political prisoners, in the framework of preventing the spread of the Corona virus.
"About 50% of those released are prisoners for security reasons," Ismaili said, quoting to Reuters. "We have also taken precautionary measures in prisons to cope with the spread of the disease."
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran said on March 10 that he had asked Tehran to temporarily release all political prisoners from its overcrowded and disease-prisons to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. LINK