Tidbits from TNT Thursday Morning 10-3-19
TNT:
Sadie: Fox News just ran a news blurb 3000 people protesting in Baghdad…. I feel sorry for the Iraqi people.
DSM: Sadie, maybe if enough people protest, the PTB will release the RV.....They have been promised this way too long. I am encouraged by the protest but, hopefully there will be no loss of lives.
Ulued: All this death in Iraq for not full filling a promise of the RV.
Briona: The problem with the protests is that it makes it much easier for isis or other terrorists to infiltrate the crowd and it's anyone's guess what can happen then.
CJ101: News report tonight: Riots for two days in Basra Iraq 3,000 rioters 9 dead “Seeking jobs... end corruption”
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Cutebwoy: US embassy calls on employees to leave Iraq immediately
Security of the US Embassy Baghdad, Erbil
2019/10/03 06:30:20 A- A A +
The US embassy in Baghdad on Thursday called on employees to leave the country immediately.
The embassy said it had instructed non-essential staff to leave Baghdad and Erbil immediately.
Thousands of people took to the streets in central Baghdad on Tuesday in protests demanding services, improving living conditions, providing jobs for the unemployed, eradicating widespread unemployment and financial and administrative corruption in state departments and institutions.
The federal government announced a curfew in Baghdad from 5 am on Thursday until further notice.
The governorates also witnessed several angry popular protests, including Wasit, Kirkuk, Diwaniya, Missan, Basra, Karbala and Dhi Qar, which resulted in deaths and injuries.
Tishwash: Source reveals to CNN the latest death toll in the demonstrations in Iraq .. These comments Sadr, Maliki and Allawi
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) - Thirteen people were killed and 685 injured on the second day of demonstrations in several Iraqi cities against government corruption, high unemployment and lack of basic services, according to Ali Akram al-Bayati, a member of the Independent High Commission for Human Rights. In Iraq with a permit to CNN.
The leader of the Shiite Sadr movement in Iraq , tweeting on his page on Twitter: "We do not want and do not see the interest of turning the popular demonstrations into demonstrations (currents) Otherwise we ordered the revolutionaries of the reform demonstrations with them, but we want to maintain its popularity completely and demand its peacefulness even if it is based on peaceful sit-ins or "A general strike in which all the people participate.
The former Iraqi Prime Minister , in a series of tweets on his Twitter page: "What happened today in Tahrir Square is unfortunate and is not in the interest of all, we call on the protesters to abide by restraint and to abide by the law and maintain the peaceful demonstrations .. And avoid clash with the security services or expose Public and private interests of damage and vandalism, and the competent bodies shall protect peaceful demonstrators and secure public and private installations.
Ayad Allawi:
The former Iraqi Prime Minister said in a video posted on his Facebook page: "Demonstrate inherent right guaranteed by law and the constitution, as long as in the framework of peaceful and not to exceed public and private property, restraint and understand the legitimate demands of protesters, a top priority and national necessity .. At a time We express our full support for the legitimate demands and the right of peaceful protest
The former Iraqi Prime Minister said in a video posted on his Facebook page: "Demonstrate inherent right guaranteed by law and the constitution, as long as in the framework of peaceful and not to exceed public and private property, restraint and understand the legitimate demands of protesters, a top priority and national necessity .. At a time We express our full support for the legitimate demands and the right of peaceful protest.
The former Iraqi Prime Minister said in a video posted on his Facebook page: "Demonstrate inherent right guaranteed by law and the constitution, as long as in the framework of peaceful and not to exceed public and private property, restraint and understand the legitimate demands of protesters, a top priority and national necessity .. At a time We express our full support for the legitimate demands and the right of peaceful protest.
The former Iraqi Prime Minister said in a video posted on his Facebook page: "Demonstrate inherent right guaranteed by law and the constitution, as long as in the framework of peaceful and not to exceed public and private property, restraint and understand the legitimate demands of protesters, a top priority and national necessity .. At a time We express our full support for the legitimate demands and the right of peaceful protest.
The former Iraqi Prime Minister said in a video posted on his Facebook page: "Demonstrate inherent right guaranteed by law and the constitution, as long as in the framework of peaceful and not to exceed public and private property, restraint and understand the legitimate demands of protesters, a top priority and national necessity .. At a time We express our full support for the legitimate demands and the right of peaceful protest. link
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Harambe: Reuters: Gunfights rage in southern Iraq, protests spread nationwide (10/2/19)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq deployed counter-terrorism troops in the southern city of Nassiriya on Wednesday after police “lost control” when gunfights broke out between protesters and security forces, police sources said.
Curfews were later imposed in Nassiriya and two other southern cities, Amara and Hilla, the police sources told Reuters, as protests that began on Tuesday over unemployment, corruption and poor public services increased.
The elite counter-terrorism service was also deployed to Baghdad airport where its men fired live ammunition and tear gas at protesters, preventing them from storming Baghdad airport.
Demands on Wednesday included the “fall of the regime” and government and political party buildings set ablaze in two other southern provinces.
Five people were killed on Wednesday and more than 200 were wounded in renewed clashes nationwide, the largest display of public anger against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s year-old government. Two were killed on Tuesday.
Domestic instability coupled with regional tensions could prove to be the final nail in the coffin of Abdul Mahdi’s fragile coalition government, sworn in last year as a compromise between rival factions after an inconclusive election.
Iraqi security forces fire at protesters storming Baghdad airport: police
Iraq imposes curfew in three southern cities: police sources
The slogan “fall of the regime” was popularized during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
“We are demanding a change, we want the downfall of the whole government,” said one protester in Baghdad who declined to identify himself for fear of reprisal.
Any power vacuum in Iraq, should the government be toppled, could prove challenging for the region, given Baghdad’s status as an ally of both the United States and Iran, who are locked in a political standoff.
Islamic State militants could also take advantage of any chaos and thousands of U.S. troops are stationed in the country in positions not far from those of Iran-allied Shi’ite militias.
The death toll includes two protesters killed in Nassiriya on Wednesday. An Interior Ministry spokesman said the dead also included a child killed when a protester threw a gasoline-filled bottle at a vehicle carrying civilians in Baghdad, and a protester killed in Amara.
SOUTHERN HEARTLAND RISES
Police and the army opened fire and launched tear gas canisters to disperse hundreds of protesters in Baghdad. Protesters blocked the main highway connecting the capital to Iraq’s northern provinces.
“Our demands? We want work, we want to work. If they do not want to treat us as Iraqis, then tell us we are not Iraqi and we will find other nationalities and migrate to other countries,” said one protester in Baghdad.
But worst hit was southern Iraq, the heartland of the Shi’ite Muslim majority who, after years of voting along sectarian lines, are turning on their political leaders for failing to deliver jobs and basic services.
Protesters burned down government buildings in Nassiriya, Amara and the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf. In Kut, protesters tried to break into the municipality building. Hundreds were out on the streets of Hilla and Diwaniya.
Thousands gathered in the oil-rich city of Basra but the protests were peaceful. There were peaceful protests in Samawa.
Small protests also took place in the northern cities of Kirkuk and Tikrit, as well as the eastern province of Diyala.
Internet access was cut off across much of Iraq, internet blockage observatory NetBlocks said.
HIGH ALERT
Abdul Mahdi on Wednesday chaired an emergency meeting of the national security council, which issued a statement regretting deaths and injuries on both sides.
“The council affirms the right to protest, freedom of expression, and the protesters’ legitimate demands, but at the same time condemns the acts of vandalism that accompanied the protests,” it said.
All military units were placed on high alert, the defense ministry said.
Security forces blocked several roads in Baghdad, including a bridge that leads to the fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies.
In an attempt to cool tempers, Abdul Mahdi on Tuesday promised jobs for graduates. He instructed the oil ministry and other government bodies to include a 50% quota for local workers in subsequent contracts with foreign companies.
Oil-producing Iraq has suffered hardships for decades, from rule by Saddam Hussein including years subject to U.N. sanctions, to the 2003 U.S. invasion and civil war it unleashed, and then the battle against Islamic State, which was declared won in 2017.
Corruption is widespread and basic services such as power and water are lacking.
The government said on Tuesday that 40 members of the security forces were hurt and at least 11 more were injured on Wednesday.
Harambe: Bloomberg: Zimbabwe to Introduce First Zimbabwe Dollar Notes in November (10/2/19)
Zimbabwe will put the first notes of its reintroduced currency into circulation in November, said Eddie Cross, a member of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.
Zimbabwe has been chronically short of paper cash, forcing most transactions onto electronic platforms such as mobile-money system Ecocash.
“We have insufficient cash in the system to meet people’s needs for transactions,” Cross told the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp. The new notes “should do away with the queues at the banks and people then should have adequate money for daily use.”
The Zimbabwe dollar was reintroduced in June in electronic form after being abolished in 2009 following a bout of hyperinflation. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-02/zimbabwe-to-introduce-first-zimbabwe-dollar-notes-in-november
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Tishwash: Central bank: Iranian riyal recovered by 40%
Central bank governor Nasser announced Hemmati, Wednesday, that the price of the Iranian rial recovered by exceeding 40% from the previous year.
The Iranian economy faced bitter conditions last year due to a full-fledged economic war waged by the United States and its regional allies, Hemmati said in an Instagram post.
He pointed out that today we are seeing a recovery of the riyal by more than 40 percent from the previous year, has been curbed inflation and features of economic growth appeared phenomenon link