The apostle Peter was a worrier. He worried about drowning when he was walking on water, even though Jesus was right there with him (Matthew 14:29-31). He worried about what was going to happen to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, so he pulled out his sword and tried to take on a battalion of Roman soldiers (John 18:2-3, 10). And when he worried about Jesus being crucified, Peter ordered God Himself not to go to the cross (Matthew 16:22).

The operation comes at a time of recent IS attacks in Syria and Iraq.

WASHINGTON: The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement — a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus, foreign media reported.While not yet as loaded as a “Make America Great Again” hat, the mask is increasingly a...

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan People’s Party and the representatives of medical organisations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have demanded an end to the privatisation of healthcare facilities in the province and provision of automated coronavirus testing machines to medical staff. The demand was made...

China says it supports World Health Organisation efforts to investigate the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, but rejects any “presumption of guilt”, after the global body said it was talking to Beijing about sending another delegation to the country.The remarks came as Beijing is under mounting international pressure – particularly from the United States – to allow an inquiry into how the pandemic started, and if it was linked to a laboratory in Wuhan, the city where the new virus strain was…

Chinese researchers have found Covid-19 in the sperm of a small number of men, raising the possibility that the virus could be spread via sex.The study by physicians at China’s Shangqiu Municipal Hospital looked at only 38 men at the hospital who had tested positive with disease, and of that already small group found that a minority – only six – were found to have SARS-CoV-2 in their semen.Eyes are ‘important route’ for coronavirus into body, Hong Kong experts find“The virus responsible for…

The idea of aircraft being powered by plasma drives might sound like something from a science fiction film, but a group of Chinese scientists has developed a prototype that might one day make it a reality.The team, from the Institute of Technological Sciences at Wuhan University, said in a paper published on Tuesday that they had developed a prototype of a plasma jet device capable of lifting a 1kg (2.2lb) steel ball over a 24mm (one inch) diameter quartz tube.While that might not sound like…

US government requests from China for early coronavirus samples make sense as part of efforts to bring the pandemic under control and avoid future ones, but the “political drama” around the efforts is undermining progress, two public health experts warned.RNA viruses like Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, mutate about once a month, making them “essentially a clock that enables one to extrapolate when the virus actually evolved”, said Dr Barry Bloom, an infectious disease…

Little Richard, whose outrageous showmanship and lightning-fast rhythms intoxicated crowds in the 1950s with hits like “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally,” has died. He was 87.Citing the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer’s son, Rolling Stone magazine said on Saturday the cause of death was unknown.With a distinctive voice that ranged from robust belting to howling falsetto, Richard transfixed audiences and became an inspiration for artists including The Beatles as he transformed the blues into the…

“Wow, your shirt is really see-through. Are you wearing matching underwear?” the man says lewdly.It’s a virtual reality simulation – but it’s enough to shock 23-year-old Elizabeth Lee into silence as the scene plays out on her headset.The VR technology is part of the Girl, Talk project which is aimed at helping women fight back against harassment in Singapore.“I would think that I would respond in a more confrontational way,” Lee admits. “It felt very physically close … it was just really…

Gourmet takeaway delivered by a butler in a black sedan – Thailand’s super-rich have not forgone luxury during a pandemic which has locked the country down, crushed the economy and left millions unemployed.Thailand is one of the most unequal nations in the world and the chasm between rich and poor is widening as the coronavirus eviscerates jobs, leaving 22 million registering for a government cash handout.Hundreds line up daily for food donations across Bangkok, a grim sign of an economic…

Malaysia’s politics took another dramatic turn on Friday ahead of its first parliamentary sitting in months as the speaker of the house accepted a motion by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to launch a no-confidence vote against his replacement, Muhyiddin Yassin.Mahathir, however, has conceded that he does not believe he has the numbers required to command the majority support of parliament, claiming that Muhyiddin had won over supporters by giving them government roles. “Maybe we will…

There was a collective sigh of relief when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach shook elbows over the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. What with the unprecedented postponement of an Olympics and subsequent uncertainties over athletes, logistics, sponsors, a Tokyo 2020 main office employee contracting Covid-19, and the increasing friction between Abe’s and Tokyo governor (and…

As the United States has taken a step back from world affairs to focus on an unprecedented health crisis at home, China has made full use of its massive military power to promote itself as a leader in the global fight against Covid-19.In the latest of a slew of recent overseas aid efforts carried out by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a Chinese medical team put the finishing touches to a testing laboratory in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, which they had helped to build from the ground up…

Czech Development Agency

While as late as 1990 the WHO reported 116 deaths for every 1,000 births in Cambodia, the situation has now improved fourfold. This is credited to a Czech Development Agency project through which health care equipment and neonatal tools, including incubators, were provided to the Pediatric Hospital in Phnom Penh.

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Samuel Murithi’s decision to grow the niche crops pays off as demand for the two vegetables picks up, thanks to their health benefits

Many individuals with disabilities have been hard hit due to loss of income.

A serial litigant known for taking the Hong Kong government to court faces being declared bankrupt after the justice department filed a petition against him.Retired civil servant Kwok Cheuk-kin, dubbed the “king of judicial reviews” by the media, has been filing applications with the High Court since 2006, often challenging the legality of government policies and decisions.But many of his attempts ended in failure, and despite being ordered to bear the government’s legal costs in such…

The High Court has thrown out a Hong Kong resident’s challenge to his quarantine status, dismissing his application for a writ of habeas corpus over his mandatory isolation at a government-run facility.Accountant Syed Agha Raza Shah, who tested negative for Covid-19 upon his return, was sent to the Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan for a 14-day stay after returning from Pakistan via Qatar with about 200 other Hong Kong residents on April 29.On Thursday, he applied for a writ of habeas corpus…

Hong Kong police arrested 10 people following a fight between two groups with different political views at the so-called Lennon Wall in Wong Tai Sin district in the early hours of Friday.Five victims aged between 20 and 44 suffered injuries to their heads, backs and limbs in the incident that happened at a public housing estate in Lok Fu shortly before 12.30am.The dispute first erupted when a group of about 20 people carrying handy tools and paint were seen removing messages at the Lok Fu…

CARICOM-CUBA SUMMIT Toward the indispensable political, economic and social integration of Latin America and the Caribbean Key remarks by President Raúl Castro opening the Fifth CARICOM-Cuba Summit in Havana, December 8, 2014

Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” who built his ground-breaking sound with a boiling blend of boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues and gospel, died on Saturday at the age of 87, Rolling Stone magazine reported. Richard influenced legions of performers whose fame would eventually outstrip his own. His...

The post Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard dies at age 87 appeared first on Cyprus Mail.

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ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator A Rehman Malik has asked the government to bear the charges of coronavirus tests of the poor patients.He asked that the poor patients...

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PESHAWAR: The Pakistan People’s Party and the representatives of medical organisations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have demanded an end to the privatisation of healthcare facilities in the province...

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“Her untimely death underscores the failure of the prison system to provide even the most basic health care for treatable illnesses that justifies the petition we filed at the Supreme Court seeking the humanitarian release of the elderly and the sick who are most vulnerable to succumbing to the pandemic.”

The post Political prisoner in Tagum dies due to illness appeared first on Bulatlat.

SEOUL: North Korea lashed out at South Korea over recent military drills, while leader Kim Jong Un sent a personal message to China’s Xi Jinping to congratulate him on that country’s success in controlling the coronavirus, state media reported on Friday, foreign media reported.A North...

WASHINGTON: The US is pulling out four of its powerful Patriot missile systems from Saudi Arabia, after determining the threat from Iran that sparked an arms buildup in the region last year had waned, a Defence Department official said late on Thursday.Two of the anti-missile batteries deployed...

HONG KONG: Rival Hong Kong lawmakers clashed on Friday inside the city’s legislature which has been paralysed for seven months as pro-democracy politicians attempt to scupper a controversial law that bans insulting China’s national anthem.The chaotic scenes come weeks after Beijing...

EDINBURGH: The number of cases of Covid-19 needs to come down “substantially” and consistently before there can be any return to normality, a disease expert has said.Professor Hugh Pennington said that while “we may be past the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of...

Guarantees are one of government’s most powerful financing tools for mobilizing private sector participation in development projects.

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are working together to encourage the free flow of skilled labor within their countries. 

To understand fragility and resilience in Papua New Guinea, look to history and the people living in the country’s most vulnerable areas.

To level the playing field in Asia and the Pacific, women-owned companies need financial backing to support their importing and exporting needs.

The poor and middle class are struggling to find affordable housing across the region, but there are some basic steps cities can take to improve the situation.

For sustainable development, universal wellbeing should be the goal, rather than endless growth. Minimizing further growth in human populations is only part of the solution, but an essential part. 

Universal health coverage must be high quality to improve patients’ health outcomes

In the fragile energy scenario of small Pacific islands, contingency plans are crucial to keep the lights on during a crisis.

The pandemic provides an opportunity for regional financial cooperation on reforms to make Asian banks more resilient to crises.

Rawalpindi : The Public Facilitation Centre of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board , during the last seven days, received 163 complaints regarding electricity, water supply and sanitation problems in the cantonment areas and resolved 90 of them.According to RCB spokesman, Qaiser Mehmood, the RCB’s...

Microchip Solves Interoperability Challenges of Delivering up to 90 Watts of Power Over Ethernet Wiring

Microchip Expands Silicon Carbide (SiC) Family of Power Electronics to Provide System Level Improvements in Efficiency, Size and Reliability

ADB has a vacancy for the position of Associate Facilities Planning and Management Officer (Project Management) in the Office of Administrative Services. The deadline for submitting applications is on 22 May 2020.

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday allowed subsidised financing for setting up of new plants and expansion of existing units while the maximum amount for a single unit has been set at Rs5 billion to boost economic activities in the manufacturing sector.

The SBP on Friday said it has opened up its subsidised Temporary Economic Relief Facility (TERF) for Balancing, Modernization and Replacement (BMR) and expansion of existing projects.

Under this scheme, the SBP provides refinance to banks for their onward extension of financing at maximum end-user rate of seven per cent for 10 years.

“The maximum financing for a single project under the scheme is Rs5bn. The objective of this facility is to boost economic activity through investments in manufacturing units,” said the SBP.

While allowing the BMR and expansion of existing projects, the SBP has permitted financing for purchase of new-imported and locally-manufactured plant and machinery against foreign letter of credit (LC) and inland LC.

“The funding under the facility cannot be used for procurement of second-hand machinery, land or carrying out civil works,” said the SBP.

According to the circular issued by the central bank, in addition to new projects, existing projects and businesses are being allowed to avail financing under these facilities for BMR and expansion of their projects or businesses.

“This measure has been taken to provide further stimulus to the economy in the context of Covid-19’s impact on the economy, to support investment in the country for modernising or expanding manufacturing and production units, and in response from feedback from stakeholders,” said the SBP.

The central bank said that, it has taken several measures since the outbreak of Covid-19 to safeguard economic activity in the country. On Mar 17, the SBP introduced TERF and its shariah-compliant version to stimulate new investment in the manufacturing sector.

With expansion in scope of the facility, the SBP expects that existing businesses will avail subsidised funding to improve productivity leading to higher economic activity and employment generation.

The banks and development finance institutions will be required to make disbursements to their customers on the basis of certificates of their internal audit confirming that financing is within the terms and conditions laid down in the facilities.

Borrowers will be required to submit a report from the Pakistan Banks Association-approved surveyors with regard to confirmation that the newly-purchased plant and machinery has been installed as per their initial request or proposal for BMR and expansion. In case of installation and fixation in part, this report will be required at first and final installation of the plant and equipment.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement — a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus.

ADB needs to address issues causing weak sustainability of its projects to improve performance, says the 2020 Annual Evaluation Review (AER) conducted by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department.