Badara

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Minister of Trade and Industry el-Qassem

LOAN FOR OIL REFINERY ANNOUNCED

While attending the senior girls' football playoffs in Al'Buqiyaa, Minister of Trade and Industry Khalifi el-Qassem announced the Central Bank would be making a loan to the start up corporation Majatran Refining of Al'Baharia (MRB). Funds for the loan have been appropriated and made available through the Ministries of Trade and industry and of Science and Technology. The refinery will be located just outside Al'Buqiyaa; its President will be former Finance Minister Mahomet Kerbogha and its Board Chairman will be National Institute of Technology Vice President Phasael Mattar. Loans will also be made in return for preferred stock by Qat Oil Services and the Majatran Leasing Corporation. MRB will be traded on the stock exchange. Narouz al-Sadr Will serve as Executive Vice President and will oversee the recruitment of technology expertise and contracting for specialized technical services from existing oil refining operations. Documentation and registration will be handled by al-Akim, Aziz, Wallenstein, Bourguiba and Vasilevskii.

The senior girls' football playoffs were held in the Eye of the Prophet Sports Center in Al'Buqiyaa. The final game was between the Wattle Street Blossoms and the 87th Avenue Raging Lions. The Blossoms emerged triumphant 5 to 3.

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QOS Managing Partner Moqtada Kerbogha buying corporate jets

KERBOGHA MAY SEEK FREE RADICAL NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT

At a gathering of agricultural food producers and processors in Ras al-Ulima, Moqtada Kerboogha said the Kerbogha family has no intention of getting out of the qat business. In fact, Qat Plantations hopes to find very shortly the right combination of taste, hallucenogenic
and ease of consumption properties so that qat tea can become a profitable export. Kerbogha acknowledged that his family had bitten off a lot of new business working in conjunction with the al-Sadr heirs. He himself is Chairman of the Board of Majatran Leasing Corporation(MLC), is currently Managing Partner of Qat Oil Services(QOS) and is on the board of the recently formed Majatran Refining Corporation (MRC) of which his nephew is president.

He has been focusing on the purchase of a few oil tankers for QOS which have begun operating out of the port of Al-Buqiyaa and now is looking for a few LNG tankers and oil product tankers for inter island transport to support consumption on Mu'Tasim. Kerbogha hopes Majatran Fishing of Al-Buqiyaa will soon be able to expand to larger size ship building orders but the Kerboghas will their customers not their investors. Kerbogha just placed an order with Nashwa Air Lines for 6 corporate jets for MLC, QOS and MRC which Nashwa Air Lines is purchasing from New Dawn.

Kerbogha stated the Kerbogha Family is going to concentrate on its existing businesses rather than be actively involved with yet more new enterprises. Should he be the Free Radical candidate for President which he has been discussing with the Free Radical former Presidents he expects Narouz al-Sadr to become Managing Partner of QOS again.

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Finance Minister with Airport and Airline Officials

NASHWA AIR LINES GOES INTERNATIONAL

Nashwa Air Lines (NAL) has been operating an intra island airline for quite a while but now is planning to have three or four international routes as well as regular flights to the capital. To facilitate this, NAL is purchasing from the Likatonia based aircraft company New Dawn two D-777's, two D-47's, two D-47 Comforts and two of the A series airliners for a little under one billion LOD. NAL will be evaluating which are most suitable for its operations with a view to future expansion. NAL is also purchasing six D-47 Comforts for immediate resale to Qat Oil Services and its business associates for a similar amount.

Finance Minister Bashir ibn Ortoq met with NAL executives and officials of the Ras al-Ulima Airport Authority to confirm that there had been appropriations made for expansion of the airport facilities and runways to handle international traffic and that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport had provided funds to the Central Bank for a loan to NAL. Ibn-Ortoq said the government was extremely happy to welcome the advent of a second international airport and this one on the island of Nashwa.

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ZZ Chameau, President al-Jabbar and Al'Kamelah Business School Faculty


PRESIDENT CONFIRMS THERE WILL BE NEW CANDIDATES

President al-Jabbar addressed the student body of Al'Kamelah School of Business on the topic of progress on the Free Radical economic agenda. He was preceded by ZZ Chameau, known in Al'Fostat as the most beloved crooner on two continents, who sang his hits, Je Pense Que Oui; Oui, Oui, Oui, and Sie Sgt Nein; Nein, Nein, Nein.

The President indicated privatization was proceeding apace but that the government was not rushing to get out of any particular industry so as to insure the safety net remains firmly in place and we do not create an oligarchy at the expense of the general citizenry. Indeed, Petroleum Development of al-Badara(PDB), the government corporation producing and selling Badaran oil, would remain in business to insure sufficient domestic supply of oil and gas even as private developers increase. PDB expects the Majatran Refining Corporation to handle the crude it produces at least on Nashwa. More generally, the government is seeing privatization of agriculture and housing growing rapidly.

The President indicated the Majatran Economic Association's trade agreement with Yingdala has been very beneficial by providing a guaranteed oil sale base from which planning for loan making for the broader economy has become possible.

The one part of the Free Radical agenda al-Jabbar believed had lagged was tax rate adjustment. The government has tried to move the confiscatory corporate rate down and has adjusted the income tax rate somewhat; but the President noted the rates certainly were not where they should finally be but nevertheless the government would continue to move cautiously to avoid bankrupting or creating aberrations in the economy.

While taking questions, President al-Jabbar pointed out that of the original founders of the Free Radicals from dissatisfied civil servants in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, five had held the office of President. In all probability soon the younger generation such as the Chancellor, the Finance Minister or the Minister of Trade and Industry would be in charge ; but the President believed one more member of the Old Guard would likely be the next candidate - and in fact of the two most likely, Moqtada Kerbogha, Managing Partner of Qat Oil Services was one as the student suggested in her question.

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Teacher of the Year Yasser al-Thani and Chancellor Soqman

TEACHER OF THE YEAR TEACHES FIVE LANQUAGES

Chancellor Sabriiqa Soqman joined the headmaster of the Eye of The Prophet Academy in Ras el-Haram in presenting the National Teacher of the Year award to Yasser al-Thani who teaches five languages to upper level students at the academy. In her remarks praising his outstanding work, the Chancellor noted that 85% of his students were qualifying for second year placement in universities throughout Jumhuriat al-Badara in Jelbic, Deltic, Istalian, Canrillese and Luthori. When Chancellor Soqman asked if learning languages was always his greatest interest, Master al-Thani answered that languages were for him a peculiar memory trick he learned as a very young child; his real passion was ornithology.

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President Moqtada Kerbogha relaxes with his falcon

PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES CHANGES

Newly elected President Moqtada Kerbogha gave reporters a tour of the Qat Plantation farming operation, recreational facilities and restaurants and answered questions. Kerbogha denied he was bringing in business insight to replace political concerns saying he was as dedicated to the Free Radical economic restructuring and reengaging with Terra agenda as his nephew and other founders of their party which he had always supported.

The President said the cabinet changes reflected the Free Radical Old Guard stepping down from the most important positions and a new generation replacing them. Kerbogha noted that he fully expected that newly appointed Chancellor Khalifi el-Qassem would operate very much in the same parameters as had Chancellor Soqman who was moving to the Finance Ministry and the MEA.

President Kerbogha emphasized he would not continue managing Qat Plantation or Qat Oil services (QOS). The former will in future be handled by Hamad al-Nasir, his son in law, and the latter by the new Managing Partner Narouz al-Sadr who would be replaced as Executive Vice President of Majatran Refining Corporation (MRC) by Khalid Kerbogha (son of the President) who had been overseeing QOS oil rig operations. The President also noted that former President Ishmael Duqaq was moving to MRC as board chair and former Foreign Minister Fatima Rajsanjani would be board chair at Majatran Leasing Corporation.

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Airport at Ras al-Ulima

NAL AND NEW DAWN REACH AGREEMENT

At the Nashwa Air Lines (NAL) office suite in the Ras al-Ulima Airport, Hakim el-Makhtoum, CEO of NAL announced that the aircraft producer New Dawn and NAL had reached agreement on an exclusive arrangement to replace its existing intra island air fleet with intermediate sized airliners as they went out of service. The CEO noted that the clincher for him was that New Dawn would train Badaran technicians to service and repair and refit the eight new airliners it had purchased from New Dawn for a little under 1 billion LOD for international Service as a bonus free of additional charge.

Further it was possible New Dawn could obtain some used airliners with life still in them for sale to NAL. The CEO stated NAL was likely to resell some of such purchases to Mu'Tasim Air or Air Big Island and it was likely a similar arrangement between them and New Dawn was in the works.

El-Makhtoum also said NAL was originating its international flights in Ras al-Ulima but would initially fly to Bier Qassem Oasis from where the flights would continue to international destinations on previously approved routes.

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Minister Aziz with New Dawn and ABI executives

NEW REPLACEMENT CONTRACT FOR BIG ISLAND AIR

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Abdul Aziz recently met with Big Island Air and the aircraft builder New Dawn at Ministry offices in Bier Qassem. New Dawn will have an exclusive contract to replace the existing air fleet of Big Island Air which has intra island flights throughout the island of Mu'Tasim. New Dawn is developing an airliner model very similar to the LAC -100 -1 for which it has acquired the specifications which will be coming online to begin replacing Big Island Air aircraft in about three years with an expected cost to Big Island Air of 70 mm LOD per unit. Although everyone continues to have faith in the solvency of Big Island Air, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Trade is guaranteeing payment to New Dawn for units actually produced under the terms of the contract in return for chattel mortgages on those units.

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Finance Minister Sabriiqa Soqman

SOQMAN SAYS LOANS FOR PRIVATRE ENTERPRISE STILL AVAILABLE

While visiting the newly expanded airport at Ras al-Ulima, Finance Minister Sabriiqa Soqman responded to the question of whether a decline in oil prices would lead to unavailability of loan funds or make it more difficult to meet the obligationss of maintaining the current social services and social safety net. She said it could but as yet had not.

The Finance Minister explained that under the People's Democracy Party rule, the taxation rate was very high and actual expenditures were only about 60% of government revenue. When the Free Radicals and the National Front began partial privatization the tax rates started down and under the brief period of National Front dominance the appropriations not only went up considerably for defense but also for funds for social services, the safety net, privatization and infrastructure support.

Minister Soqman also stated that although the tax rates had been reduced from confiscatory and the expenditures remained the same, the surplus in the budget was about one half what it was under People's Democracy and so there was still plenty of money for a while yet unless of course we turn stupid. She noted that under the brief aberration of the Pro Slavery Party no budget changes were made; their interests were elsewhere.

When asked about the MEA controversies, Soqman said that she believed the MEA could be instrumental in stabilizing oil prices should it choose to do so.

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Ministers Aziz and Beheshti

AIRPORT IN RAS AL-ULIMA OPENS TWO INTERNATIONAL ROUTES

Abdul Aziz, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, opened the new International Section of the Ras al-Ulima Airport accompanied by the Defense Minister, Ahmed Beheshti and executives of the Nashwa Airlines (NAL). Aziz welcomed this second airport to the rest of Terra supporting the people of the island of Nashwa which will make business dealings with such businesses as Qat Oil Services based in Nashwa much more accessible as well as opening beaches and other recreational opportunities of Nashwa to tourism well beyond our own borders. Beheshti noted that the expanded facilities would also enhance the shipbuilding businesses located in Nashwa and business with the naval shipyard in Ras al-Ulima.

The first two flights from Ras al-Ulima were to Cachtise, Capital City of Velky Rise Deltarska, and the Sezgin Yakin Airport in Dokuz, Capital City of Cakaniye Cumhuriyeti, and they were both in fact overbooked. Bookings for flights to Likatonia could be made with NAL but the flight itself will be from Bier Qassem.