Daily Archives: April 15, 2022

An absence of rapid progress towards economic diversification means Macaus Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025 and leaves the economy overly vulnerable to further shocks, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.

The Staff Report, prepared for the Executive Board of the IMF following discussions with the Macau SAR, was published this week and outlines the citys expected recovery trajectory.

Having seen GDP decline by 54% in 2020 before expanding by 18% last year, the IMF expects expansion by a further 15.5% in 2022 and 23% in 2023 before converging to its long-term potential of around 3.5% over the medium term. The recovery, it said, will be driven by the gradual return of foreign tourists and the recovery of domestic demand.

However, the IMF also noted that the collapse of [Macaus] economic activity [in 2020], mostly on account of weak services exports, highlighted [the] Macau SARs overreliance on the gaming industry.

Warning that Macau remained vulnerable to a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which would undermine the mediumterm viability of the gaming sector, the IMF said a multiprong package of structural reforms is needed to bridge the gap in skill composition and overcome barriers to economic diversification. Advancing the governments diversification agenda will require investments in skill building and infrastructure, including for digital infrastructure, enhancing the effectiveness of public institutions, and improving business environment. The integration with the GBA provides opportunities for [the Macau] SAR to access a larger pool of skilled labor and offshore some economic activities.

The cooperation between different government agencies responsible for the diversification agenda should be strengthened to enhance the effectiveness of the governments diversification efforts.

The need to diversify is further highlighted, according to the IMF, by uncertainty around proposed amendments to Macaus gaming law, which in combination with Chinas crackdown on cross-border gambling and subsequent collapse of the junket industry, clouds the outlook of the gaming sector.

Macaus recovery is expected to continue going forward, but it will take time before the economy fully regains pandemic-induced losses, it said.

The gradual return of foreign tourists and the strengthening of domestic demand will support the near-term recovery, while increasing investment linked to the issuance of new gaming concessions, and further integration with the GBA will boost medium-term growth.

However, given the depth of the economic losses during the pandemic, the level of GDP is expected to surpass its pre-crisis level only in 2025. In the absence of rapid progress towards economic diversification, the current account balance is set to return to pre-pandemic levels as tourists return to [the] Macau SAR.

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Macau gaming industry woes highlight need for economic diversification: International Monetary Fund - IAG - Inside Asian Gaming

(Ref. No.: FLL/MF/04/2022)

The University of Macau (UM) is an internationalized public comprehensive university in the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) located at the west bank of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The GBA is rapidly developing into one of the leading technology and innovation hubs of the world. UM is placed in 201-250 bracket in the THE World University Rankings and placed No. 322 in the QS World University Rankings in 2022. With a scenic campus of approximately 1 km2 on Hengqin island, UM has achieved significant progress in the past decade as evidenced by its rising international repute, state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities, and the establishment of three State Key Laboratories in microelectronics, Chinese medical sciences, and internet of things for smart city. To support economic diversification of MSAR and deepen collaboration between MSAR and Guangdong Province in Hengqin island, UM will continue to invest in cutting-edge research and develop interdisciplinary programmes in key strategic areas including precision oncology, advanced materials, regional oceanography, artificial intelligence and robotics, data science, cognitive and brain science and economics and finance. Leveraging its 4-in-1 model of education and the largest residential college system in Asia, UM provides all-round undergraduate education, nurturing talent to support social and economic development in MSAR and the GBA as a whole. With unprecedented growth and opportunities for development, UM offers promising career prospects to academics at all levels. It may be noted that English is the working language and the primary medium of instruction at UM.

Being a public university that bears a mission to serve the local community and the region, UM is committed to recruiting, nurturing and retaining qualified local talents as part of its efforts to contribute to Macaos future development. We plan to attract promising Macao natives to build a successful academic career at UM. The Faculty of Law invites applications for the UM Macao Fellow programme in major branch of Macau Law for a maximum period of 3 years.

The Faculty of Law of University of Macau is the oldest law school in Macao and plays a very important role in preparing jurists who are familiar with Macao S.A.R. legal system, as well as, educating jurists who are competent in legal research and practices in Macau law, international law and comparative law. The Faculty of Law presently offers undergraduate degrees and postgraduate degrees to both local and international students. More information about the Faculty is available at https://fll.um.edu.mo/.

Qualifications

Depending on the applicants academic qualification and experiences, the successful appointees will be appointed as Post-doctoral Fellow or Research Assistant Professor and will hold the functional title of UM Macao Fellow ().

The selected appointee is expected to assume duty in August 2022.

Remuneration

A taxable annual remuneration starting from MOP507,780 will be commensurate with the successful applicants academic qualification and relevant professional experience. The current local maximum income tax rate is 12% but is effectively around 5% - 7% after various discretionary exemptions.

Application Procedure

Applicants should visit https://career.admo.um.edu.mo/ for more details, and apply ONLINE on or before 7 May 2022. Applicants may consider their applications not successful if they are not invited for an interview within 3 months of application.

Office of the Vice Rector (Research)

University of Macau, Av. da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China

Website: https://rskto.um.edu.mo/mpf_mds/;Email: ummf@um.edu.moTel: +853 8822 4228; +853 8822 9425

The University of Macau reserves the right not to appoint a candidate.

***Personal data provided by applicants will be kept confidential and used for recruitment purpose only***

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UM Macao Fellow in Major Branch of Macau Law job with UNIVERSITY OF MACAU | 289848 - Times Higher Education

The Taliban prohibition on girls education shows the movements ultra-conservatives retain tight control of the Islamist group, and exposes a power struggle that puts at risk crucial aid for Afghanistans desperate population, experts say.

The ban has triggered international outrage and even left many in the Taliban movement baffled by the decision.

The order was devastating, a senior Taliban member told AFP. The supreme leader himself interfered.

All Taliban officials who spoke to AFP on the subject did so on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the topic.

Secondary schools for girls were ordered to shut last month, just hours after being reopened for the first time since the Talibans return to power in August.

The shocking U-turn came after a secret meeting of the groups leadership in the city of Kandahar, the Talibans de facto power centre.

Officials have never justified the ban, apart from saying the education of girls must be according to Islamic principles.

But one senior Taliban official told AFP that Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and some other senior figures were ultra-conservative on this issue and dominated the discussion.

Two groups the urban and the ultra-conservatives have emerged in the movement, he said.

The ultra-conservatives have won this round, he added, referring to a group of clerics includingChief Justice Abdul Hakim Sharai, Minister for Religious Affairs Noor Mohammad Saqeb and Minister for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Mohammad Khalid Hanafi.

The clerics feel excluded from government decisions and voicing their opposition to girls education is one way to restore their influence, said Ashley Jackson, a London-based researcher who has worked extensively on Afghanistan.

She told AFP the outsized influence of this out-of-touch minority has prevented the country from moving ahead with something the vast majority of Afghans favour including much of the leadership.

It shows that Kandahar remains the centre of gravity for Taliban politics, said International Crisis Group analyst Graeme Smith.

A senior Taliban member said the hardliners were trying to appease thousands of fighters who hail from the deeply conservative countryside.

For them, even if a woman steps out of her home it is immoral. So, imagine what it means to educate her, he said.

The Taliban member said Akhundzada was against modern, secular education as he associated it with life under former Western-backed presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani.

Thats his worldview.

The Taliban returned to power last year as US-led forces ended an occupation in place since an invasion ousted the hardliners in 2001.

In the 20 years between the Talibans two reigns, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, though the country remained socially conservative.

Activist and Islamic scholar Tafsir Siyaposh noted girls in Afghanistan have always studied in single-sex classes and followed an Islamic curriculum, so the ban shows the Taliban just wanted to oppress the rights of women by giving excuses.

A Taliban source in Pakistan confirmed differences at the leadership level on the issue, but said the movement was in no danger of fragmenting.

There is a debate on this issue but we are trying to overcome our shortcomings, he said.

Still, analysts say the ban was a blow to Taliban efforts to gain international recognition and to raise aid to address Afghanistans humanitarian crisis.

Jackson said neither Akhundzada nor those closest to him fully understood or appreciated the consequences of their edict for an international community that has linked official recognition to the groups respect for womens rights.

Even some senior Taliban officials agree.

We are telling them (the ultra-conservatives) that running a country is different from running a madrassa, said one Taliban official from Kandahar, using the term for an Islamic school.

Everything was going smooth until this harsh order came. And it came from our leader so we have to follow it but we are trying to change it, he said.

The ban reduces the willingness of governments to cooperate with the Taliban said the ICGs Smith.

It raises the question of who exactly they should speak with inside the Taliban.

by Jay DESHMUKH with Sajjad TARAKZAI in Peshawar

Excerpt from:

Girls' education ban reveals deep rifts within Taliban - Macau Business

Three new highland barley varieties have been registered on Chinas list of non-major crop varieties approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which permits an extensive promotion of the varieties.

The varieties are named Zangqing 20, Zangqing 17 and Zangqing 3000, according to the Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, which bred them. Highland barley is a crucial food crop in southwest Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region.

Tang Yawei, deputy director of the academys institute of agriculture, said the successful breeding of the varieties is of great significance for ensuring Tibets food security and promoting rural revitalization.

Zangqing 17 had been tested growing in alpine areas at an altitude of 4,200 meters to 4,500 meters above sea level, with 320.5 kg in average yield per mu (about 0.07 hectare), 13.9 percent higher than that of the popular barley breed of Ximala 19, the academy said.

New breed Zangqing 3000 has been designated by the regional government for demonstrated planting in an area of 92,000 mu this year, close to 5 percent of the total highland barley planting area in Tibet. Its average yield was 291.1 kg per mu in experiments.

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New highland barley varieties registered on China's official list - Macau Business

Russias defence ministry warned Friday it will intensify attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in response to strikes on Russian soil, after accusing Ukraine of targeting Russian border towns.

The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in Kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attacks or sabotage committed by the Kyiv nationalist regime on Russian territory, the ministry said in its daily update.

It added that Russian troops hit a military factory outside Kyiv late Thursday using Kalibr sea-based long-range missiles.

As a result of the strike on the Zhulyansky machine-building plant Vizar, the workshops for the production and repair of long-range and medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as anti-ship missiles, were destroyed, the ministry said.

The ministry also said its S-400 missile system shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter that carried out an attack on civilians in the locality of Klimovo in Bryansk region on April 14.

On Thursday, Moscow accused Ukraine of sending helicopters to bomb a village in Russias Bryansk region not far from the border with Ukraine injuring eight people.

Later the same day, the head of Russias Belgorod region said a village close to the border was shelled by Ukraine, while residents from this and a nearby village had been evacuated as a precaution.

Kyiv has denied the helicopter attack, instead accusing Russia of staging the incidents to stir up anti-Ukrainian hysteria in the country.

Separately, the Russian defence ministry said Friday its strategic rocket forces eliminated up to 30 Polish mercenaries in a strike on the village of Izyumskoe, not far from the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.

It said the mercenaries belonged to a private Polish military company, but did not say whether any Ukrainian troops were also killed.

The reported rocket strike was one of the biggest against foreign targets in Ukraine since another missile killed what the Russian military claimed was up to 180 foreign mercenaries in Western Ukraine last month.

Kyiv said at the time that only Ukrainian soldiers were killed.

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Russia warns of bigger attacks on Kyiv - Macau Business

South Koreas automotive production, sale and export fell last month due to the global supply chain disruption, a government report showed Friday.

The number of cars produced in local factories was 302,161 in March, down 9.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was attributed to the disruption of global supply chain, especially semiconductors used to make vehicles.

The domestic sale of locally-made and imported vehicles sank 19.1 percent over the year to 138,647 units in March.

The number of exported cars retreated 7.7 percent to 179,630 last month. In terms of value, the automotive export reduced 9.7 percent to 3.97 billion U.S. dollars.

Solid global demand continued for environmentally-friendly vehicles, the export of which surged 45.5 percent from a year earlier to 41,320 units in March.

The local sale of the environmentally-friendly vehicles jumped 26.8 percent to 38,784 units last month.

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S.Korea's automotive production, sale, export fall in March - Macau Business

Violence has spiralled in Israel and the West Bank after a series of attacks inside the Jewish state since last month, prompting raids and clashes in the occupied Palestinian territory.

A total of 14 people have been killed in attacks inside Israel, most of them by Palestinians but also by Arab Israelis and a Bedouin, since March 22.

More than 20 Palestinians have been killed in the same period, including the assailants behind the anti-Israeli attacks, according to an AFP tally.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has given Israeli forces a free hand to defeat terror in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War.

Here is a timeline of the attacks:

On March 22, four people are killed when a convicted Islamic State group sympathiser goes on a stabbing and car-ramming rampage in the southern city of Beersheba in Israels Negev desert.

The assailant a Bedouin man who previously tried to join IS is shot dead by armed locals.

On March 27, two policemen are shot dead and several others wounded in the northern Israeli city of Hadera, in an attack later claimed by IS.

Police say the two gunmen Arab Israelis identified by Israeli intelligence as local IS operatives are killed by counter-terrorism officers.

On March 29, five people are killed after a Palestinian from the West Bank village of Yabad opens fire at passers-by in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jewish city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv.

A response team shoots dead the attacker.

The five victims include an Arab-Israeli police officer who was part of the team responding to the shooting.

On March 31, a Palestinian man stabs an Israeli civilian with a screwdriver on a bus south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, before a civilian shoots the assailant dead.

The same day, Israeli police kill two Palestinians, aged 17 and 23, during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.

On April 1, Israeli forces shoot dead a Palestinian during clashes in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.

The man is identified asa former detainee who spent six years in an Israeli prison.

On April 2, an Israeli raid in the West Bank kills three members of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.

Police say the three men opened fire when troops tried to arrest them near Jenin and that they were killed in the ensuing shootout.

On April 7, a Palestinian gunman kills three people and wounds more than a dozen others in a popular nightlife district of Tel Aviv.

After an all-night manhunt, Israeli police say they shot dead the Palestinian gunman, who is also from Jenin.

The Israeli premier gives security agencies full freedom to curb the surge in violence.

On April 9, Israeli security forces raid Jenin, killing one Palestinian. Islamic Jihad says one of its fighters died during clashes.

On April 10, three Palestinians are killed in different incidents across the West Bank.

Israeli forces shoot dead a Palestinian woman identified as a widowed mother of six near Bethlehem.

The Israeli army says troops fired warning shots into the air when the woman approached them, before they fired towards the suspects lower body.

In the village of Al-Khader near Bethlehem, the Israeli army opens fire on a 21-year-old Palestinian throwing a Molotov cocktail, killing him.

On the same day, a woman stabs and lightly wounds an Israeli officer in Hebron before she is killed.

Overnight, a 17-year-old dies of gunshot wounds after an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers in Jenin.

On April 12, a Palestinian stabs a police officer with a kitchen knife, lightly wounding him, before being shot dead in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon.

New Palestinian deaths in West Bank On April 13, a Palestinian lawyer and two teenagers are killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank.

A day later, two youths and a 45-year-old Palestinian father of six are killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces.

On April 14, more than 100 Arabs are wounded in clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police at annexed east Jerusalems Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

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More than three weeks of Israel, West Bank violence - Macau Business

More than five million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, UN figures showed on Friday, in Europes fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 4,796,245 million Ukrainians had left the country since February 24.

The UNs International Organization for Migration (IOM) says nearly 215,000 third-country nationals have also escaped to neighbouring countries.

Fridays figures from the UNHCR were up 59,774 on those issued Thursday.

More than 2.7 million Ukrainian refugees nearly six in 10 who have left since the war began have fled to Poland. More than 725,000 reached Romania.

UNHCR figures show nearly 645,000 Ukrainians fled in February, with nearly 3.4 million doing so in March and more than 760,000 leaving so far this month.

Women and children account for 90 percent of those who escaped, with men aged 18 to 60 eligible for military call-up and unable to leave.

Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes, including those still inside the country.

The nearly 215,000 third-country nationals who have fled people who are citizens of neither Ukraine nor the country they entered are largely students and migrant workers.

Beyond the refugees, the IOM estimates 7.1 million people have left their homes but are still in Ukraine.

Before the invasion, Ukraine had a population of 37 million in the regions under government control, excluding Russia-annexed Crimea and the pro-Russian separatist-controlled regions in the east.

Here is a breakdown of how many Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries, according to UNHCR:

Nearly six out of 10 Ukrainian refugees 2,720,622 so far have crossed into Poland, according to the UN.

Many people who go to Ukraines immediate western neighbours travel on to other states in Europes Schengen open-borders zone.

The World Health Organization said Poland had made 7,000 hospital beds available for the sick and wounded from Ukraine, of which 20 percent were currently in use.

Some 652,000 people have crossed from Poland into Ukraine since the war began.

Before the crisis, Poland was already home to around 1.5 million Ukrainians, chiefly migrant workers.

A total of 726,857 Ukrainians entered the EU member state, including a large number who crossed over from Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine.

The vast majority are thought to have gone on to other countries.

Another 484,725 refugees have sought shelter in Russia.

In addition, 105,000 people crossed into Russia from the separatist-held pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine between February 18 and 23.

A total of 447,053 Ukrainians have entered Hungary.

The Moldovan border is the closest to the major port city of Odessa.A total of 419,499 Ukrainians have crossed into the non-EU state, one of the poorest in Europe.

Most of those who have entered the former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people have moved on but an estimated 100,000 remain, including 50,000 children of whom only 1,800 are enrolled in schools.

Refugee children from Ukraine have fled a brutal war and have arrived dispossessed and traumatised in Moldova. They are very vulnerable and need immediate support, said Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait.

Public schools are open to refugee children; however, the capacity is over-stretched and there is a need for urgent mental health and psycho-social services, sanitation, and teachers.

A total of 329,597 people crossed Ukraines shortest border into Slovakia.

Another 22,827 refugees have made it north to Russias close ally Belarus.

by Robin MILLARD

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Five million people flee war in Ukraine - Macau Business

A springtime blizzard walloped Canadas western Prairies region and parts of Ontario province this week, closing roads, airports and schools, and leaving a dump of snow to shovel.

Whiteouts were also reported in the US states of North Dakota and Montana.

Natalie Hasell, a meteorologist at Environment Canada, told AFP it was rare to see a major weather event dropping 30 centimeters (12 inches) of snow in April, when most Canadians are gearing up for spring.

Only two winter storms of this intensity have ever been recorded around this time of year in the region since 1902. The last one of this magnitude, in 1997, pummeled Manitoba province for three days and went into history books as the storm of the century.

Just weeks after the last of the 2021-2022 winter snowfall had melted away, forecasts warned of a historic winter storm, with an average of 30 to 50 centimeters of fresh snow expected to accumulate in Manitoba and Saskatchewan by the time it ends on Friday, with some parts seeing as much as 80 centimeters of snow coupled with strong winds.

Hasell said the worst-case scenario hadnt materialized so far, but the snow was continuing to fall, with an additional five to 10 centimeters expected on Thursday in Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba.

Few power outages were reported, but many schools and roads were closed in and around the city.

Air Canada told AFP it planned to resume flights Thursday after canceling 21 flights to and from Winnipeg the day before.

A weather alert for Saskatchewan has been lifted, but another was issued for Ontario as the storm tracked eastward.

It is expected to peter out by Friday evening.

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'Rare' springtime blizzard wallops parts of Canada - Macau Business