Z Blurbs

Pakistani lawmakers elect Shahbaz Sharif as new premier

From abcnews.go.com
2022-04-11 13:57:00

Excerpt:

 

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s parliament elected opposition lawmaker Shahbaz Sharif as the country’s new prime minister on Monday, after a walkout by lawmakers from ousted Premier Imran Khan’s party.

Sharif was the only contender. He is the brother of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but his election will not guarantee a peaceful path forward — or solve Pakistan’s many economic problems, including high inflation and a soaring energy crisis.

Shahbaz Sharif was elected with 174 votes in his favor after more than 100 lawmakers from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Pakistan Justice Party, staged a walkout of the National Assembly in protest.

“Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif is declared to be the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” announced the acting speaker, Asad Sadiq.

The former opposition will now run a truncated house with a small majority of 174 lawmakers, which is enough to pass laws in the 342-seat assembly. However, if Khan’s followers take to the…

 

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Semiconductor supply in limbo as war halts Ukrainian neon production – National

From globalnews.ca
2022-03-11 17:01:01

Excerpt:

 

Ukraine‘s two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world’s supply of the key ingredient for making chips, have halted their operations as Moscow has sharpened its attack on the country, threatening to raise prices and aggravate the semiconductor shortage.

Some 45 to 54 per cent of the world’s semiconductor-grade neon, critical for the lasers used to make chips, comes from two Ukrainian companies, Ingas and Cryoin, according to Reuters calculations based on figures from the companies and market research firm Techcet.

Global neon consumption for chip production reached about 540 metric tons last year, Techcet estimates.

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In a Period of Brute Force, China Increases Its Military Budget Yet Again

From www.dailysignal.com
2022-03-11 19:05:35
Frederico Bartels
Excerpt:

 

The Chinese Communist Party announced this week it will increase the budget for the People’s Liberation Army by 7.1%.

The announcement occurred at the opening session of the National People’s Congress—the annual rubber-stamp parliament. Thus, it is just a matter of time before the extra resources start following to the People’s Liberation Army.

This increase continues the trend of sustained increases in the Chinese military budget. Since 2018, the Chinese Communist Party has increased the People’s Liberation Army budget by over 28% with consecutive annual increases of between 8.1% and 6.6%.

Contrast this with the U.S. defense budget which grew little under 5% from 2018 to 2021. However, if you take inflation into account, the U.S. defense budget decreased by 3% in those four years.

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Chinese airliner crashes with 132 aboard in country’s south

From abcnews.go.com
2022-03-21 14:12:32

Excerpt:

 

BEIJING — A China Eastern Boeing 737-800 with 132 people on board crashed in a remote mountainous area of southern China on Monday, officials said, setting off a forest fire visible from space in the country’s worst air disaster in nearly a decade.

More than seven hours after communication was lost with the plane, there was still no word of survivors.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement the crash occurred near the city of Wuzhou in the Guangxi region. The flight was traveling from Kunming in the southwestern province of Yunnan to the industrial center of Guangzhou along the east coast, it added.

Villagers were first to arrive at the forested area where the plane went down, sparking a blaze big enough to be seen on NASA satellite images. Hundreds of rescue workers were swiftly dispatched from Guangxi and neighboring Guangdong province.

The plane was carrying 123 passengers and nine crew members, the CAAC said, correcting earlier reports that 133 people had…

 

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