Tidbits From TNT Monday Morning 1-27-2020
TNT:
Cutebwoy: Iraqi source: A missile hit the American embassy in Baghdad
January 26, 2020
Protesters of the popular crowd set fire to the walls of the American embassy in Baghdad – Archive photo
A source told the Russian “RT”, on Sunday, that one of five missiles fell in the Green Zone in central Baghdad, and that one of them hit the American embassy.
In turn, the Iraqi government security media cell indicated that one of the rockets landed near the American embassy in Baghdad, adding that the accident did not result in any losses.
Earlier on Sunday, a RT source said that “the rockets landed in the vicinity of the Green Zone, and as a result, the US embassy issued sirens.”
The source noted that “there are institutions and diplomatic missions that asked their employees to take cover in places designated for such times.
Cutebwoy: Three injured during the bombing of the American embassy
Baghdad / Al-Ikhbaria: January 26, 2020
A security source said, on Monday, that three people were wounded during the bombing of the American embassy in Baghdad.
The source told “Al-Ikhbaria” that “three people were wounded during the bombing of the American embassy in Baghdad.”
He added that “the injured people have not been identified yet,” and
a security source said, on Monday, that American helicopters evacuated the embassy staff within the Green Zone after the missile strike.
The source told “Al-Ikhbaria” that “American helicopters started to evacuate embassy staff within the Green Zone.”
He added, “The helicopters flew low in the approaches of the American embassy in Baghdad.”
************
Tishwash: Washington commented on the US embassy targeting rockets last night
On Monday (January 27, 2020), the US State Department called on the Iraqi authorities to protect American diplomatic facilities in Iraq, after targeting its embassy in Baghdad yesterday evening Sunday.
The ministry said in a statement seen by (Baghdad today) that what it described as "Iranian militias in Iraq, continues to threaten the security of the country," stressing that "more than 14 attacks by Iran and the militias loyal to it on Americans in Iraq since September", according to Her expression.
The State Department added, "The situation in Iraq remains worsening, because the militias supported by Iran still pose a threat to security."
On Sunday, the Security Media Cell announced that 5 Katyusha rockets had landed in the Green Zone without causing any losses.
And the cell said, in a statement received (Baghdad today), that "five Katyusha rockets fell on the Green Zone without losses."
Prior to that, a security source reported that several shells had landed in the vicinity of the Green Zone in the center of the capital, Baghdad.
The source said, in an interview with (Baghdad Today), that "several mortar shells landed in the vicinity of the Green Zone (heavily fortified), in the middle of Baghdad."
He added, "The sirens sounded in the corridors of the US embassy, after the rockets fell," without revealing more details.
Meanwhile, the caretaker head, Adel Abdul Mahdi, yesterday ordered the security forces to search and investigate to prevent a recurrence of the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad.
Abdul-Mahdi said in a statement received (Baghdad today), “Once again, the aggression against a foreign diplomatic mission is repeated, with a number of Katyusha rockets falling inside the campus of the American embassy. On its soil. ”
He added: "We have commanded our forces to deploy, search and investigate to prevent the recurrence of such attacks, and arrest those who fired these rockets so that they can be punished in the courts."
He pointed out that "the continuation of this irresponsible and unilateral act, which bears the entire country its consequences and serious repercussions and leads to damaging the country's higher interests and its relations with its friends, which may drag Iraq to be a battlefield, especially at a time when the government started measures to implement the decision of the House of Representatives to withdraw foreign forces from the country." .
He continued: "Therefore, the government confirms that it is committed to protecting all diplomatic missions and taking all necessary measures to achieve this in accordance with the law.
" He called "all benevolent and responsible forces to stand with the government to implement the obligations of Iraq and assume the role of each of them to stop such actions and expose their perpetrators and hold them responsible for marching the country to The consequences are unbelievable. link
Tishwash:: The digital economy is the foundation of advancement
We're all looking forward to comprehensive reform. The demonstrator wants to live with the luxury and dignity he sees most of its ingredients available in Iraq, yet it does not see it realized.
The political change that iraqis want is a means of achieving economic change that provides a decent life. In all the world, it is the economy that drives politics.
Our politics are as confused as the economy. More than sixteen years we do not know the economy identity, our Constitution emphasizes in articles 25 and 112 on the market economy by gradually separating the private sector from government work, but the fact that no steps have been taken in this area, on the contrary, the demands are now focused on the return of the guided economy, while b The economy is a rent dependent on oil imports that are fluctuating globally.
The Iraqi mentality still tends to centralize the economy and make services in the hands of the state, ignoring the impact of corruption, which is rampant at all levels, red tape and sagging, on the poor service provided by the public sector.
It is enough to look at the current services of water, electricity, roads and Internet service controlled by the Ministry of Communications. Let's remember how the maintenance worker deliberately cut the telephone line from the house or office to return to that service days, maybe weeks after paying a bribe, and the worker who handled the return.
However, many politicians and lawmakers are deceiving themselves and the public by demanding what they call a national telecommunications company of the ministry, oblivious to the fact that the ministry and its companies have not been able to return the landline despite its staff of more than 25,000 employees. The ministry itself acknowledges its inability to operate a mobile phone company but promises to accredit a foreign company to operate it. So, rely on a foreign company again.
The advancement of Iraq requires the development of the telecommunications sector as a vital pillar for economic, scientific and health advancement, management reform and the fight against corruption. Informatics and the digital economy are today the basis for the advancement of all sectors, and this requires a sophisticated infrastructure, notably optical cable, there is no opportunity to access advanced digital services such as 4G and 5G without such infrastructure.
The Internet and cable are currently monopolized by the Ministry of Communications and if it is made available to telecommunications companies at high prices do not enable companies to provide good service at reasonable prices, while most of the state frees the buildings greeting and allows the private sector to build them or the state owns them but puts them at the disposal of private companies at prices Symbolism according to a policy that relies on sustainable comprehensive returns on all areas rather than quick financial returns.
In short, the liberalization of telecommunications infrastructure, based on the light cable, and the removal of all obstacles to the growth and development of the private sector with government control over its performance, thus it is possible to provide real jobs instead of being appointed to the government apparatus, which is mainly bloated by convincing unemployment that drains the state's resources. Limited to oil only. link
************
Harambe: Bloomberg: Shunned by the West and China, Zimbabwe Turns to U.A.E. (1/27/20)
Sanctioned by the West and spurned by China, Zimbabwe has turned to the United Arab Emirates in its latest bid to find a savior that can arrest the collapse of its economy.
Zimbabwe’s government has approached the U.A.E. in hopes of selling a stake in its national oil company, according to three company and government officials familiar with the plan. It also wants companies in the U.A.E. to buy more of its gold, they said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said U.A.E. investors will build solar plants in Zimbabwe, and U.A.E. President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan a year ago issued a decree to open an embassy in Zimbabwe. Dubai also contributed to relief efforts when Zimbabwe was hit by a cyclone last year.
Zimbabwe’s economy is in free-fall: It likely contracted by more than 6% last year, according to government estimates. Half the population is in need of food aid, inflation is running at over 500% and its currency has depreciated by more than 90% against the dollar since a 1:1 peg was abolished in February last year.
“They need investment desperately,” said Jee-A van der Linde, an economic analyst at NKC African Economics in Paarl, South Africa. “It’s been snowballing. I don’t know where it’s going to end up. I don’t know how that would be appealing for the U.A.E.”
Oil companies in the U.A.E. said they were unaware of the interest.
Belarusian Buses
The U.A.E.’s foreign ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The U.A.E. is not the only country Mnangagwa has targeted for potential investment. Since taking power from Robert Mugabe in a November 2017 coup, he has crisscrossed the globe repeating the mantra ‘Zimbabwe is open for business.’ Two trips to Russia and former Soviet republics revived interest in a platinum project and a fleet of second-hand Belarusian buses now ply the streets of the capital, Harare.
By May 2019, investment pledges worth $27 billionhad been announced in projects ranging from steel mills to abattoirs. There’s little evidence that they are being developed.
A visit by Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister in January ended with only pledges of further infrastructural projects being carried out by China. There was no mention by the “all-weather-friend” as Zimbabwe likes to describe China, extending any financial bailout.
Zimbabwe wants to sell a stake of as much as 25% in the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe, the people said, declining to be identified as the plans haven’t been disclosed.
NOIC owns storage depots at the port of Beira in neighboring Mozambique as well as five locations in Zimbabwe. It also owns gas stations and the pipeline that brings oil products from Beira to Mutare for companies including Puma Energy BV, in eastern Zimbabwe.
Fuel Shortages
Zimbabwe is prone to frequent shortages of motor fuel and sees a relationship with the U.A.E., possibly through the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, as a way of securing supply, one of the people said. The southern African nation consumes 1.4 million liters of gasoline and 2.5 million liters of diesel daily, according to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority.
“We are working toward establishing a permanent arrangement with friendly countries and that also includes the U.A.E.,” said Fortune Chasi, Zimbabwe’s energy minister, declining to comment directly on whether Zimbabwe had approached the U.A.E.