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Pakistan’s top court directs central bank to issue funds for snap polls

The parliament had on Thursday (13) ruled it wasn’t possible to spare Rs 21 billion ($74.79 million) in funds for the snap polls, which the court had ordered.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial had summoned officials from the finance ministry, the central bank and the Election Commision of Pakistan (ECP) to his chamber on Friday to seek a reply on the funds, warning that non-compliance would have consequences.

The parliament had on Thursday (13) ruled it wasn’t possible to spare Rs 21 billion ($74.79 million) in funds for the snap polls, which the court had ordered.

The court order said the chief justice directed the central bank’s acting governor and the finance ministry to coordinate and “forthwith allocate and release” the money from federal consolidated funds no later than April 17.



China spent £194.97 billion rescuing ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ nations, says study

Argentina was the largest beneficiary, receiving £90.80bn, equivalent to $111.8bn, followed by Pakistan with £39.39 ($48.5bn) and Egypt with £12.67 ($15.6bn)


Countries have received bailouts to extend loans and remain solvent. China claims over 150 countries have joined the trillion-dollar BRI infrastructure initiative launched by President Xi Jinping ten years ago.

According to Beijing, the objective of the initiative is to strengthen friendly trade ties with other countries, especially those in the developing world.

Japan, India, France to announce launch of Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring negotiation process


Sri Lanka confident of Chinese support in debt restructuring: central bank chief

The central bank chief of the crisis-hit South Asian country said Sri Lanka is optimistic of China’s continued support, pointing to how Beijing “did the right thing in giving Sri Lanka financing assurances last time”.

“I think this is probably the first time China has given it that fast,” he said.

With the help of the International Monetary Fund and other partners who also helped share information, said Weerasinghe, the debt restructuring process can continue.

“Obviously China is a country that has been helping Sri Lanka for a long time and [it has[ invested a lot [in Sri Lanka]. [It will be in the] best interest of both China and Sri Lanka to complete this process soon and we can get back to repaying our debt service obligations,” he said.

“Sooner the better for both countries,” he added.

In February, China’s Exim Bank gave Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on its defaulted loans and said it would discuss additional re-structuring within that ‘window’.

In early March, Sri Lanka secured a 2.9 billion dollar extended fund facility from the IMF after obtaining assurances of support from China.

It was a wild idea a few years ago and now it's up where the U.S. Senate has passed a bill that could ban TikTok unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests from it.

Just think of all the FREE TIME people will have if they weren't posting hundreds of thousands of 'look at me' while I change my clothing videos!



Or moon-walk videos:
@michaeljacksonviral/video/7333224062103129387
@javierr/video/7329248899690925354

Unreleased Johnny Cash album, Songwriter, is set for a posthumous release after being reworked by his son John Carter Cash.


The 11 songs, which were recorded as demos in 1993, have been stripped back to just Cash's signature bass-baritone voice and acoustic guitar by his and the late June Carter Cash's 54-year-old son.


Cash died, aged 71, in 2003, and he had recorded the tracks at LSI Studios in Nashville a decade prior to his passing.


The tapes were abandoned when Cash decided to record American Recordings with super-producer and longtime collaborator Rick Rubin. However, re-recordings of Drive On and Like A Soldier were used on that record.


His son said in a statement: "I wanted it to be songs that mostly people hadn't heard and that paid close attention to who he was as a songwriter and who he was as an American voice

Years back, a friend of mine on here (Robert) and I would chat back and forth. There was talk with me to him about my pursuit of writing a book.

I guess at that time, that was one of my interests. Well, that book was never written by me.

What is the significance of writing a book in the first place?

Is it to express your personal form of entertainment for the reader?
Is it to stimulate a reader's imagination?
Is it to teach?
Is it to share with the world your inner thoughts?

I suppose the purpose of a book could just about be about anything.

The funny thing is, I was just referencing all my past blogs I wrote. I was surprised to see they date back to 10 years or so. That is pretty cool that CS keeps them available for that long.

The time I wrote each and everyone of those blogs are a reflection of where I was at that time...my questions about life, my concerns, and a general quest for further understanding. There was no overall ego I was attempting to satisfy...or any type of selfish desire I was meaning to achieve. With over 300 blogs created and a multitude of subjects, thoughts, and inquiries...

one could cultivate all these...and put them to print. A book born out of organic means....in my opinion, the best book anyone could ever write. I would highly recommend others accidentally take the same trip.

What do other bloggers think or feel about their past writings? As far as that goes, even people who do not post their own thoughts and inquiries online (for example in a journal or diary), what do you think when you read over your past posts?

Much to my shock I'm horrified to find out asylum seekers/migrants/refugees are entitledallowed to vote in our up coming referendum 8th/march

Surely this is wrong?
I wait eagerly to be corrected

Although I know I'm registered nevertheless, I checked earlier to be sure...
Don't know why or how but turns out there is an error with my PPS number, which means I may not be registered at all, so if like me you care about your country and you plan to vote a double NO NO, don't take your registration for granted, be certain you ARE.

The deadline for registering and updating your details is 20th February.

According to NASA, the Lyrids are one of the oldest meteor showers. They typically peak during late April. Best seen in the Northern Hemisphere after the moon sets and before dawn.
The shower was most active Sunday night through Monday morning and I was out a 2am checking, but I'm in the city and the streetlights made it impossible to view the night sky.

April's full moon, known as the "pink moon," will crest at its full phase Tuesday at 4:49 p.m. Pacific.

I was able to zoom in on the moon from the parking lot. Not a clear shot, but something I couldn't photograph at all with my previous phone/camera.




Lyrid meteor showers...

As always with me being off work for more than 2 days in a row, with no immediate plans, I get extremely bored. Yesterday, I spent most of the day playing Power Wash Simulator and watch YouTube videos. I must have gone through 25 videos, each lasting 20 minutes or more. One of them was 2 hours and 14 minutes long, and it was a vlog from a British YouTuber called Syndicate. He's traveling home from Thailand but had a layover in Dubai - the same day as the unprecedented flood there.

Today, I have been doing some of the things I did yesterday - video games and YouTube videos. I did go outside today, but only to buy more soda (or pop), some pasta and some snacks. Now I'm bored again. If I had my own house, I could work on that, but since I rent a room, it's not possible for me to do that. I have been looking at run down houses to see if I could buy one and fix up by myself, but sadly, no such luck. The cheapest house is 390.000 kroner, and it's in a place called Maribo - which is 3 and a half hours from where I work. I COULD ask my bank to see if I could borrow some money for a house or an apartment. I'm just not sure if I earn enough to be able to borrow anything.

Then there's also the small matter of getting more debt.. I don't know, maybe I'll just stay where I am now..

The point is: I'm bored. I am going to a gig on Thursday, so until then, I'm just gonna continue to be bored.

The Washington Post

Fact Checker Analysis
President Trump has made 4,229 false or misleading claims in 558 days

See:

The hush money trial is set to resume shortly after the judge decides what to do about Trump's inability to follow the instructions of his gag order.

From the handful of stories I've read the majority of reader comments say he should be treated like any other person. Fines or jail time.