"Exempt" - Sat. PM KTFA Thoughts/News 12/29/18

by **Ssmith** on Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:18 am

KTFA

Sunkissed » December 29th, 2018

Let's see what they are saying here -- by NOT SAYING IT........

To EXEMPT someone from the Taxes and Tariffs tells us they are DEFINITELY implementing them!

Because, if you're not implementing them, why take the effort to exempt someone?????

Samson » December 29th, 2018

Iraq plans to exempt 350 Jordanian goods from fees

29th December, 2018

The ambassador of Iraq in Jordan Safia al-Suhail confirmed on Saturday that the activation of the bilateral agreement, which exempts about 350 Jordanian goods from customs and duties, will be soon.

"There is an official Iraqi approach to activate the bilateral agreement, which exempts about 350 Jordanian goods from customs and duties," Suhail said in a statement to Al-Ghad newspaper.

The Jordanian delegation arrived in Baghdad on Friday for a two-day official visit during which Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz will hold talks with his Iraqi counterpart Adel Abdul-Mahdi on the future of cooperation in various political and economic fields.

The talks between the Prime Minister and the ministerial delegation accompanying the Iraqi side focused on ways of achieving economic integration between the two countries, increasing the volume of trade exchange, consensus on measures that would activate trade lines, complete the construction of the oil pipeline and oil imports, and improve the level of cooperation in the fields of industry and investment. Of expertise and competencies, and other areas, according to the newspaper. LINK

European investigation against 4 international banks exchanged sensitive information .. Threatened by heavy fines

29th December, 2018

European Commission suspects that four international banks will make understandings in the secondary market for dollar-denominated bonds between 2009 and 2015, an investigation that could lead to heavy fines

The four banks are Credit Agricole (French), Credit Suisse (Swiss), Deutsche Bank (Deutsche Bank) and Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Brussels suspects that at different times between 2009 and 2015, the four banks exchanged sensitive trade information and harmonized their prices for dollar-denominated sovereign bonds in the European Economic Area, the EU executive said

The TRA points out that communications were mainly held in online discussion forums and that the investigation was related to the behavior of some "financial intermediaries" in these four banks. However, the Commission stressed that informing banks of their doubts did not prejudge the outcome of the investigation

The European Commission's investigation is a further blow to the reputation of the European banking sector, which has already been hit by the billions of dollars in fines paid by major European banks to manipulate exchange rates and the LIBOR rate, which is used as a reference for billions of dollars in financial transactions worldwide

And "Libor" is the interest rate calculated from the estimates provided by leading banks in London. Each bank estimates the amounts to be collected if borrowed from other banks. The resulting rate is usually shortened to "LIBOR

The European executive has not designated the institutions concerned that are subject to a maximum penalty of 10 per cent of their global gross sales rate if they are found guilty of violating European competition rules

But in a separate statement, Credit Suisse, the second-largest Swiss bank, said it was "in the same calm," and that the European Commission's doubts were only about "one former employee." He said he had cooperated with the European authorities during her investigation, pointing out that the case concerned only one employee, leaving the bank in 2016

Deutsche Bank, which has already paid more than 2.6 billion euros to settle disputes with the European Commission, including the dispute Concerning the manipulation of "Libor", he cooperated with the European Commission "proactively" and does not expect a fine

The European Union generally does not recognize the reports of Kashfu Corruption, which report illegal acts in this type of file

A corruption detector is someone who discloses alleged misconduct, fraud, or illegal activity in the institution. The alleged misconduct can be classified in several ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule or legislation that poses a direct threat to the public good such as fraud, health, safety and corruption violations. Kashfu may report corruption internally (eg, to other persons within the institution) or externally (to observers, law enforcement agencies, media or groups dealing with corruption issues

Shortly afterwards, Crédit Agricole, who received a € 114.6 million fine in 2016 for his participation in Libor interest rate fraud, said he had received a statement from the European Commission's judicial system, specifically on the secondary bond market. He said Credit Agricole SA and Credit Agricole CIB would review and answer the letter

Despite these data, the value of the shares of Credit Agricole fell from 4.0 per cent to 9.48 per cent, while the European Banking Index lost 2.48 per cent. Deutsche Bank shares shed 7.04 per cent of their value and Credit Suisse shares fell 3.79 per cent LINK

IMF: The US dollar's share in world currency reserves is at a 5-year low

29th December, 2018

Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed that the US dollar's share in world currency reserves fell in the third quarter to a five-year low, while the euro's share rose to the largest in nearly four years

The share of the US currency in world foreign exchange reserves rose to $ 6.63 trillion, or 61.94 percent of total reserves, in the third quarter, from $ 6.56 trillion, or 62.4 percent, in the second quarter

According to IMF data, the share of the US dollar in reserves fell to its lowest level since it recorded 61.27 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013

IMF data also showed that the euro's share of global currency reserves rose to 20.48 percent in the third quarter of 2018, the largest share since the fourth quarter of 2014

The Chinese yuan's share of global foreign exchange reserves fell to 1.80 percent in the third quarter of 2018, the first drop since the IMF began publishing figures on China's fourth quarter of 2016 LINK

China scientists turn copper into gold

29th December, 2018

In a stunning discovery that could affect precious metals prices in the world, Chinese scientists first learned how to convert cheap copper into gold.

According to the New York Post, the Chinese research team was able to convert cheap copper metal to a nearly identical new substance in its composition with gold, using hot electronically charged argon gas. The role of hot argon gas is to use its fast-moving ionizing radiation to blow copper atoms into metal sheets. With the cooling of these atoms and intensification, a thin layer of "sand" formed. Scientists observed that each grain of sand does not exceed a few nanometers diameter, about 1/1000 of the size of a germ.

The scientists used the sand material to convert coal into alcohol, according to the New York Post, after placing it in a reaction room. During this process, which scientists described as "successful", the Chinese concluded that the performance of copper nanoparticles that make up sand matter is similar to the performance of precious gold metal. "Copper nanoparticles have performed a very similar catalyst to gold or silver," the scientists involved in the project said in a statement. "The results proved ... that after treatment, copper metal can be turned into gold," they added.

The "amazing discovery" was made by a team of scientists from the Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Liaoning as they tried to find a "gold alternative." Their findings were published in the journal Science Advances. But this discovery will be useful to the world of manufacturing where a new material was found resistant to high temperatures, oxidation and corrosion. Professor Sun Jian described his team's results as "like a warrior with a golden shield on a battlefield capable of carrying out an enemy attack." LINK

A bloody moon with a total eclipse 2019 begins with a rare astronomical phenomenon

29th December, 2018

The sky is a rare event in early 2019, when the appearance of what is known as the giant moon is associated with a total eclipse of the moon, a phenomenon that can be seen from North America and some European countries.

According to the British newspaper Daily Mail, the giant moon, the first in 2019, may intersect with eclipses, when the Earth lies directly between the sun and the moon, meaning that the moon will be in the earth.

The giant bloody moon is not very rare, and is called this description because sunlight penetrates the earth's atmosphere on its way to the moon, and the atmosphere of the earth turns it to red as the sun disc is painted in red at sunset. When the moon moves to the conical shadow of the earth, it turns from sunlight to dark, but some light will reach the moon because it is broken by the Earth's atmosphere. LINK