World

China’s illegal ‘profiteering’ in power sector leads to blackouts in Pakistan: Report
23Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

China’s illegal ‘profiteering’ in power sector leads to blackouts in Pakistan: Report

A recent report has claimed that the billions which China has invested in Pakistan’s power sector and all the deals made with Pakistan contributed to the recent nationwide blackout, which is likely to return in future.A report of the nine-member committee headed by Muhammad Ali, a former chairperson of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) of April 2020 FM Shakil, in an opinion piece said the report has made startling revelations about widespread malpractice in the power sector.The report exposed the extent of Independent Power Producer (IPP) corruption, including among Chinese units installed under a government-to-government arrangement for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) related operation.The report traced 100 billion Pakistani rupees (USD 625 million) in annual...
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Take action against China, top Republicans tell US President Joe Biden
23Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Take action against China, top Republicans tell US President Joe Biden

In retaliation to Beijing’s sanctions against outgoing American officials, top Republicans of the US have urged US President Joe Biden to take tougher action against China.Michael McCaul, the leading Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Friday tweeted that Beijing had shown its true colours by sanctioning US officials for telling the truth – that the Communist Party was “guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide”.“I strongly urge the Biden administration to quickly condemn these baseless, impotent sanctions and make good on its early commitments to prioritise strategic competition with the [Communist Party],” he said.China had announced sanctions against a list of US individuals and their families just minutes after Biden was sworn in on Thursday.The list included for...
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Alibaba’s Jack Ma resurfaces after months out of public view
21Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Market, World

Alibaba’s Jack Ma resurfaces after months out of public view

After mysteriously disappearing from the public eye, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma resurfaced on Wednesday at a video conference."#JUSTIN: #JackMa not disappear, here we go: Ma just had a video conference with 100 village teachers on Wednesday morning, saying: after #COVID19, we'll meet each other again," tweeted Qingqing Chen of Global Times News, a China state-affiliated media.Ma had disappeared from the public eye after Beijing's aggressive crackdown on his business empire.Chen further added that Jack Ma met with 100 rural teachers in the country through video conferencing."Ma, who used to be an English teacher and founder of #Alibaba, also gives wishes to village teachers via a video on Wednesday," tweeted Qingqing Chen.China state-affiliated media also shared a video in which the billio...
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Pak airline officials to appear in UK, Malaysia courts for failure to pay lease of seized aircraft
17Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Pak airline officials to appear in UK, Malaysia courts for failure to pay lease of seized aircraft

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) officials will appear before a court in the United Kingdom on January 22 and a Malaysian court on January 24 for failing to pay the lease of an aircraft on time, Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Saturday.During a media briefing, the minister claimed that the Malaysian court had issued an order without listening to any arguments by the national carrier, and blamed the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for acquiring two aircraft on an expensive lease.A PIA aircraft was held back by a local court in Malaysia on Friday due to a legal dispute between the airline and another party.Taking to Twitter, Pakistan’s national carrier said: “A PIA aircraft has been held back by a local court in Malaysia taking one sided ...
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UK must not do trade deals with rights abusers, says foreign minister hinting at China
17Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

UK must not do trade deals with rights abusers, says foreign minister hinting at China

Hinting at China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang, United Kingdom’s foreign minister Dominic Raab has said that Britain should not engage in free trade with countries that abuse human rights.Last week, Raab said Britain would introduce new rules for its companies to try to prevent goods linked to China’s Xinjiang region entering their supply chains.Some British lawmakers want to go further and are due to consider proposals passed in the upper house of parliament that would give courts the power to stop free-trade agreements with countries if they consider them to have committed genocide.“The bar is being set incredibly high,” Raab said on Sunday. “I mean, frankly, we shouldn’t be engaged in free-trade negotiations with countries abusing human rights well below the level of genocide.”H...
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India, US have common interest in promoting security in Indo-Pacific: MEA
15Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

India, US have common interest in promoting security in Indo-Pacific: MEA

Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that India and US have a common interest in promoting security and prosperity in Indo-Pacific region and that the ability of two countries to work together has a positive impact in effectively addressing the regional and global challenges.“India and US share comprehensive global strategic partnership and given our substantial bilateral agenda, our growing engagement and convergence on strategic and security interest, both countries have a common interest in promoting security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Our ability to work together has a positive impact in effectively addressing the regional and global challenges,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing.He was answering a query about t...
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China’s PLA now has precision 3D maps of India border
14Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

China’s PLA now has precision 3D maps of India border

For the first time, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has completed 3D mapping of its western border including the disputed part with India to pin-point accuracy, according to state media reports.The PLA’s western theatre command (WAC) has begun to deploy the newly built precision “spatial datum” system covering China’s western borders, which will help in building both combat capability and infrastructure.“The PLA recently started deploying China’s first panoramic, high-precision spatial datum that covers the uncharted western border region of the country,” a state media report said.The completion of the two-year PLA project and the deployment comes amid the ongoing months-long Sino-India border friction along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.It wasn’t immediately cl...
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Two WHO team members stopped from entering China after failed coronavirus test
14Jan mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, Singapore, World

Two WHO team members stopped from entering China after failed coronavirus test

China on Thursday blocked two members of the 13-member World Health Organisation (WHO) team from travelling to the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan after they failed the coronavirus antibody test in Singapore.The WHO first tweeted that the international team of 13 scientists examining the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19 arrived in Wuhan.The experts were to begin their work immediately during the two-week quarantine protocol for international travellers.Later, in a separate tweet, WHO said that two members of that team remain in Singapore after they were "tested positive for IgM antibodies".IgM antibodies are among the earliest potential signs of a coronavirus infection and false positives are also possible with such tests."Two scientists are still in #Singapore comp...
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Wall Street closes higher; Georgia election results loom
12Jan By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Market, World

Wall Street closes higher; Georgia election results loom

NEW YORK :Wall Street shares gained on Tuesday in choppy trading, as investors took advantage of the previous session's slump to buy them back, ahead of the outcome of the Senate runoff elections in the battleground state of Georgia. NEW YORK -Shares on Wall Street ended higher on Tuesday in choppy trading, as investors took advantage of the previous session's slump to buy them back, ahead of the outcome of the Senate runoff elections in the battleground state of Georgia, which will determine the balance of power in Washington. Overall, analysts expect the stock market to consolidate December's gains in January, as asset managers looked to rebalance their portfolios that had been heavily tilted toward equities. The latest polls from data website 538 https://projects.fivethirtyeight....
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How the $600 stimulus checks could affect your tax refund this year
12Jan By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

How the $600 stimulus checks could affect your tax refund this year

Fertnig | E+ | Getty Images If you don't receive your second stimulus check in your bank account or the mail, the good news is you can claim the money when you file your tax return this spring. But beware: That doesn't necessarily mean you will automatically get the full $600 or other funds you feel are owed through the direct payments issued by the government. The reason: The recovery rebate credit by which you can claim that money will be factored into your overall tax return, including liabilities. So if you receive a credit for the $600 stimulus check, but owe $500, you will receive a payment of just $100. "If you're going to owe money, you're still going to owe money," said Janet Holtzblatt, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Admittedly, some people might prefer ...
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