“كلما ضاقت دائرة أهتمامات الناس في مجتمع ما جاءت صحفهم ملونة بلون إقليمي محلي أنها نشرات أما إذا إتسع الأفق و إرتفعت الثقافة نشرت الصحب بالتالي شِباكها حول العالم وأهملت الصغائر من أخبار الأفراد” ― زكي نجيب محمود, أيام في أمريكا
INTERNATIONAL FOCUS
"The narrower the circle of people's interests in a community, their newspapers are colored in a local regional color, they are bulletins. If the horizon widens and the culture rises, the companions spread their nets around the world,
- Zaki Naguib Mahmoud, Days in America
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| IVORY COAST |
KEEP IT ROLLING: Ivory Coast's economy has been humming along - last year's 7.6 percent growth was its slowest in six years. But analysts say it's going to have to tighten up its tax system to keep that going, Bloomberg reports. The country's leadership is trying to get the tax-to-gross domestic product ratio up to 20 percent, from around 16 percent right now. "Many small businesses aren't paying taxes because the procedure is seen as being too complicated and rates are considered high. There are signs Ivory Coast is trying to ease its tax payment process. Since January, medium-sized and large Ivorian companies need to declare and pay their taxes online. The government is rolling out a payment system that allows people to pay through their mobile phone." [POLITICO's Morning Tax, March 12, 2018]
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| TANZANIA |
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| EUROPE |
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| MOLDOVA |
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| RUSSIA |
Banned, but not for extremism 🎥
Deputy Attorney General Alexander Buksman says Russian prosecutors never considered extremism charges against Armando Iannucci’s satirical film “The Death of Stalin,” whose distribution license the Culture Ministry revoked two days before its scheduled premiere in Russia. After an early screening, several angry state officials and public figures complained to Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky that the movie possibly contains “extremist information” that denigrates Russians and “propagates ideas about social and national inferiority.”
· One Moscow movie theater flouted the government ban and showed Iannucci’s film several times, before the government intervened and the cinema dropped the movie. A court later fined the theater 280,000 rubles (almost $5,000). [The Real Russia. Today. March 5]
The Energy Ministry says no way. Russia is already changing the way it taxes oil companies, moving them from a “mineral extraction tax” to a “tax on additional income,” which will be imposed not on the volume of produced oil, but on the revenues of the sale of raw materials, minus the marginal costs of extraction and transportation. Russia’s Finance Ministry doesn’t like the idea of a massive tax break, either. The ministry has proposed eliminating export duties, instead of targeted support for the country’s largest oil refineries. [The Real Russia. Today. March 7]
Moscow says Uncle Sam is the top threat to Russian energy security 🛢
Russia hasn’t updated its “Energy Security Doctrine” since 2012 — two years before Moscow annexed Crimea, which sparked an array of Western economic sanctions. Now the Energy Ministry has drafted a new doctrine, and the United States appears front and center as the greatest threat to Russia’s energy security. According to the draft doctrine, U.S.-led sanctions have imposed restrictions on Russian oil and gas companies’ access to modern technologies and equipment, as well as limitations on these companies’ ability to attract foreign capital. The draft doctrine warns that Russian companies could fall so far behind in science and technology that they’ll become uncompetitive globally.
So the only problem is Western sanctions? No. Russia’s draft Energy Security Doctrine also identifies “decarbonization” and the rise of green energy as a major threat. The Russian state budget continues to rely on the oil and gas industry for roughly half its tax revenues, but global demand for these products is slowing in favor of renewable energy sources, the biggest providers of which are projected to be India and China. Russia also faces increased liquified natural gas production and the depletion of its own mineral resources. [The Real Russia. Today. March 7]
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| SWEDEN |
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| TURKEY |
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| UNITED KINGDOM |
UK MAY STRIP RT'S LICENSE OVER EX-SPY'S POISONING: Regulators in the United Kingdom could remove the Russian-backed news agency of its license if investigators confirm that the Kremlin was behind the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal, POLITICO Europe's Aleksandra Wrobel reports. Trump and May turned up the heat on Russia on Tuesday, saying its government "must provide unambiguous answers." RT America was pushed to register as a "foreign agent" last November. [Morning Media, March 14, 2018]
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| GREAT BRITAIN |
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| JAPAN |
LAND OF THE RISING TAX BILL: Certain American subsidiaries of Japanese multinationals could get hit for the first time with Japanese taxes because of the new GOP tax cut, Bloomberg Tax reports. The tax would hit subsidiaries without actual operations, and comes about because the U.S. cut its corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. "Under Japan's controlled foreign company (CFC) rules, income arising from a foreign subsidiary in a foreign country with a corporate rate that is lower than Japan's is deemed income of the parent company in Japan and taxed in Japan - part of the country's effort to quash tax avoidance," Brian Yap reports. [POLITICO's Morning Tax, March 7, 2018]
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| READ |
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| JAPAN |
LAND OF THE RISING TAX BILL: Certain American subsidiaries of Japanese multinationals could get hit for the first time with Japanese taxes because of the new GOP tax cut, Bloomberg Tax reports. The tax would hit subsidiaries without actual operations, and comes about because the U.S. cut its corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. "Under Japan's controlled foreign company (CFC) rules, income arising from a foreign subsidiary in a foreign country with a corporate rate that is lower than Japan's is deemed income of the parent company in Japan and taxed in Japan - part of the country's effort to quash tax avoidance," Brian Yap reports. [POLITICO's Morning Tax, March 7, 2018]
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| NORTH KOREA |
Oh, by the way: "Separately, Sweden is meeting with North Korean officials about three Americans [Kim Sang Duk, Kim Hak-Song, and Kim Dong Chul] held captive by the Asian nation." [The D Brief, March 19, 2018]
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| SOUTH KOREA |
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SAUDI ARABIA
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WORLD WATCH -- "Saudis Said to Use Coercion and Abuse to Seize Billions," by NYT's Ben Hubbard in Riyadh, David D. Kirkpatrick in London, Kate Kelly in New York and Mark Mazzetti in Washington: "Businessmen once considered giants of the Saudi economy now wear ankle bracelets that track their movements. Princes who led military forces and appeared in glossy magazines are monitored by guards they do not command.
"Families who flew on private jets cannot gain access to their bank accounts. Even wives and children have been forbidden to travel. In November, the Saudi government locked up hundreds of influential businessmen - many of them members of the royal family - in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton in what it called an anti-corruption campaign. ...
"During months of captivity, many were subject to coercion and physical abuse, witnesses said. In the early days of the crackdown, at least 17 detainees were hospitalized for physical abuse and one later died in custody with a neck that appeared twisted, a badly swollen body and other signs of abuse, according to a person who saw the body. In an email to The New York Times on Sunday, the government denied accusations of physical abuse as 'absolutely untrue.'
"To leave the Ritz, many of the detainees not only surrendered huge sums of money, but also signed over to the government control of precious real estate and shares of their companies - all outside any clear legal process. The government has yet to actually seize many of the assets, leaving the former detainees and their families in limbo." http://nyti.ms/2FKyxPW [POLITICO Playbook, March 12, 2018]
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COLOMBIA
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DRUG INDUSTRY HAS USTR'S EAR IN COLOMBIA'S OECD BID: The drug industry is hoping that it can leverage Colombia's desire to join the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to press for changes in the South American nation's intellectual property rights practices. A Colombian delegation will be in Washington today and Thursday to discuss outstanding trade issues with various stakeholders and senior USTR officials.
The issues with pharmaceutical companies is hardly new, but has been recently incensed after Colombia's move to slash prices on hepatitis C drugs. The goal, Colombian officials say, is to make the drugs available to those who need them without bankrupting the nation. Officials want to circumvent the process for granting patent rights so it can buy them at a fraction of that cost, writes POLITICO's Sabrina Rodriguez.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents major drug makers like Pfizer and Bayer, is urging Colombia to drop the controversial patent challenge before it is allowed to join the OECD. And they may have USTR's ear on the issue, as Lighthizer outlined last month what the agency expects Colombia to complete for the U.S. to offer a positive opinion at an April OECD meeting. [POLITICO's Morning Trade, March 7, 2018]
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| GUYANA |
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| TRINIDAD & TOBAGO |
NOTE: The news sources here vary. Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here. This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased. Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value. Thank you
NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as a "community service" announcement. These again are shared for their varying perspectives.
Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post. Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse. They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended
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