PAK PLANS TO SEEK DEBT RELIEF FOR CHINA BELT AND ROAD LOAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to ask China for relief on payments for power projects Beijing financed over the past eight years, the latest developing nation that’s struggling to repay debt under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.

In informal talks, Pakistan and China have discussed easing terms on the repayment of debt on about a dozen power plants, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who said Islamabad hasn’t made a formal request yet. The parties have canvassed Beijing’s willingness to stagger debt payments, as opposed to lowering equity returns, the person said, requesting anonymity.

An enormous build-out of Chinese-financed power plants in Pakistan, has resulted in a surplus that Islamabad isn’t able to afford.

WASHINGTON: Motown singer and the Supremes co-founder Mary Wilson has died, US media reported on Tuesday. She was 76.

She founded the US group aged 15 while living in a Detroit housing project, according to Variety, and continued with the band long after lead singer Diana Ross’ departure, eventually going on to be inducted into the 1988 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Mary Wilson was extremely special to me. She was a trailblazer, a diva and will be deeply missed,” said Berry Gordy, founder of Motown records who were behind many of the band’s hits. She died at her Las Vegas home on Monday, her publicist Jay Schwartz told ET News.

Only two days ago, Wilson uploaded a short clip to Youtube celebrating Black history month and announcing: “exciting news about The Supremes, Florence Ballard and unreleased materials.” The circumstances around her death have not been released.

Born March 12, 1944 in Greenville, Mississippi, Wilson was brought up by her aunt and uncle, before moving to Detroit with her mother when she was 12. There she began singing and with Ballard founded the group that would eventually become known as the Supremes.

Despite limited early success, the band struck success in the late sixties with hits like “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “Baby Love”. Following Ross’s departure in 1970 for a solo career the group never regained its dominance on the US charts, but did enjoy some hits such as “River Deep, Mountain High” and “Stoned Love”.

Wilson continued to perform in the band - Ross was replaced by Jean Terrell remaining a constant during the shifting cast of members until the group finally folded in 1977. In 1988 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Supremes.

Little heard of in the intervening years, she burst back onto the public stage with her 1986 memoir “Dreamgirl: My Life As a Supreme”.