TNT:
Candy Kisses: President Rashid arrives in London to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III
Baghdad – NAS
The President of the Republic, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, arrived Thursday in the United Kingdom at the request of an official invitation to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III.
The Information Office of the Presidency of the Republic said in a statement received by “NAS” (May 4, 2023) that “Rashid arrived in the United Kingdom and was received at the airport by Lord Robert Leuven representing His Majesty the King of Great Britain.”
He added, “The visit comes in response to an official invitation to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III,” pointing out that “the President of the Republic was accompanied by First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed, and Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Fakak Badrani.”
CandyKisses: The Ministry of Finance directs its banks to facilitate the adoption of electronic payment devices for free
Economy News / Baghdad
On Thursday, the Ministry of Finance directed its banks to facilitate the adoption of electronic payment devices for the public and private sectors free of charge.
The ministry stated in a statement that “Finance Minister Taif Sami Mohammed, directed all the ministry’s banks to provide all the necessary facilities for the adoption of electronic vending devices POS in state institutions and the private sector for free, at zero % interest and for a period of 6 months, in addition to providing technical and logistical support and various software supporting the project, as well as training cadres working in this field.”
She added that “the facilitation package comes within the framework of the vision of the Ministry of Finance, represented by the Minister of Finance, in the acquisition of electronic payment devices POS instead of cash and the generalization of the experience to include various economic sectors at the level of all Iraq, which is hoped to be launched starting from June 1, 2023.”
She pointed out that “electronic points of sale are devices dedicated to accepting electronic payment transactions, which allow merchants and owners of shops and projects to accept payments from their customers (customers) holders of electronic payment tools, in exchange for the goods or services provided by the merchant, as an alternative to cash payment
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CandyKisses: Stability of gold prices in global markets
Information/follow-up.
Gold prices stabilized on Friday, but are heading towards recording the largest weekly increase in nearly two months, as hopes of stopping the US Federal Reserve interest rate hike and banking sector concerns boosted appetite for the precious metal, which is a safe-haven asset.
The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75 percent, in line with expectations, in a seventh consecutive increase since last year, with the aim of controlling inflation.
The dollar index is heading for a weekly loss, making the precious metal more attractive to buyers than holders of other currencies.
Investors await the release of US nonfarm payrolls data at 1230 GMT.
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CandyKisses: Al-Sudani describes the relationship between Iraq and Iran as “mature” and announces “major” Saudi and American projects
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Thursday described the relationship with Iran as “mature and objective,” while stressing that weapons outside the control of the state will end their existence, and while announcing “major” development projects for Saudi Arabia in Iraq, he pointed out that a large delegation of representatives of American companies will visit Baghdad next month.
Al-Sudani said on the sidelines of his participation in the activities of the Iraq Forum held in the capital, Baghdad, which was attended by Shafaq News Agency, that “there is maturity and objective understanding by Iran on the nature of the situation in Iraq and political developments, and we did not find from Iran at various levels only support for the unity of Iraq in all its components and understanding and stability between the two countries.”
“There are many commonalities between us and Iran that stood with Iraq against the dictatorial regime, in the political process after 2003 and in the war against ISIS, and this is the nature of the relationship with Iran, and we even played a role in bringing the views of Iran and Saudi Arabia closer together,” he said.
Regarding the armed factions and uncontrolled weapons, al-Sudani stressed that “within the forces of the coordination framework, which includes forces with factions, everyone is unanimous in respecting the state and its institutions and putting weapons at their disposal.”
He pointed out that “these forces raised an important question about the nature of the US military presence in Iraq and what is its role and how long it will continue to exist, and we, in turn, informed the security ministries to determine their need from the international coalition and the sufficient period to achieve this, and on this basis we began dialogue with the international coalition to reach a clear agreement formula at which time the presence of any weapon outside the state ends.”
On the relationship with Saudi Arabia, Al-Sudani explained, “Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is historical, not modern, governed by many commonalities, including clans and tribes between the two countries, and there are also common interests, and after I took over the government, we began to implement agreements between the two countries, and for the first time a security agreement is signed between Iraq and Saudi Arabia since 1983, and the Saudi leadership is talking about major projects in Iraq, and this fits with our orientations, and the coming period will witness further strengthening of relations.”
As for the relationship between Baghdad and Washington, Al-Sudani said, “America is a great country and there is a strategic agreement with it in addition to economic interests, and we are interested in developing this relationship, and I was clear with all US officials about activating this agreement and not being limited to the security aspect.”
