Category Archives: Macau

The 69th Macau Grand Prix is back on the map as the Sports Bureau, Pun Weng Kun stated to the media in a Sports Bureau meeting.

As such, the development marks the return of the GP, however, motorcycle racing hasnt been 100 percent confirmed yet by the council, but there is a chance that two-wheelers will make a return should negotiations go well.

Our plan [for this years GP] is still the four-day event and we forecast that it will include seven [different] racing events. We hope that with a four-day event we can attract tourists to Macau to enjoy the whole event and stay for around six to seven days, Pun said.

The event will be held from November 17, 2022, to November 20, 2022. The motorcycle races were suspended for the past two years due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but it is likely to come back as sources have stated that the foreign racers have already been contacted to participate in the event.

The organizing committee wants to have this race back and the racers also want to come, Pun added.

Furthermore, Pun stated that we know that some racers were available to undergo a quarantine period of two weeks [in the past] so now with the 7+3 measure I think we have a better chance of negotiating with them. Our policies already allow the entry of foreigners, but we still need to follow the quarantine rules. If there are sportspeople who have already entered the mainland from other places, they can potentially enter Macau without quarantining according to the rules. But we need to analyze these on a case-by-case basis. As a general rule, they need to undergo quarantine if they arrive from medium and high-risk areas. We need to follow these guidelines because our main principle while organizing these events is safety.

There are also plans for a 70th Special Edition GP. The plans will take place in 2023, however, there are no concrete plans at the moment.

There isnt a concrete idea yet but we are already planning and preparing this 70th edition. We are thinking that maybe we can have some different races using different types of vehicles, Pun said, adding, We are already negotiating with different entities. We know that for this year, we cannot organize the three world cups [FIA World Touring Car Cup, FIA GT World Cup, and FIA Formula 3 World Cup]. We do not have much to announce at the moment but I can say that we are negotiating [for the return of these three racing events in 2023], stated Pun.

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The Macau Grand Prix Is Back On The Calendar, Bikes To Return? - RideApart

Gregory May, the new Consul General of Hong Kong and Macau of the United States, arrived in Hong Kong on Sep 16. He takes office after Hanscom Smith, the former US consul general for Hong Kong and Macau left in July.

I am honored to represent the people of the United States here in Hong Kong and Macau, said May. I look forward to getting to know the diverse people who live in Hong Kong and Macau and building on our longstanding relationships, shared interests, and values.

According to the U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong and Macau, May is from Texas. He is married and has three children.

He holds a masters degree in China studies from Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies.

Gregory May worked as a journalist in Taiwan in the 1990s. He served as the Assistant Director and Research Associate in Chinese Studies at the Nixon Center, a foreign policy think tank in Washington, D.C.

Prior to his appointment to the position of Consulate General of Hong Kong and Macau, May served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

May once served as Consulate General at the U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang, China. He worked at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou and at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

He also served as a Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs and held various positions focusing on China, Vietnam, and the State Departments Executive Secretariat.

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Gregory May Takes Office as Consul General of the U.S in Hong Kong and Macau - The Epoch Times

The local retail and food & beverage sector have reported considerable decreases in their receipts in July of this year due to the local outbreak, the most serious in the city so far, data published by the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) shows.

The sample of the DSECs Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade comprises 229 restaurants & similar establishmentsand 161 retailers, which accounted for 53.5 and 70.6 per cent of the respective industrys receipts in 2019.

In comparison with June, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments dropped by 71.4 per cent year-on-year.

Compared to the previous month restaurants & similar establishments saw their income drop 52.5 per cent, but 80 per cent of the interviewed expected their receipts to grow month-on-month in August as the outbreak was controlled.

Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers decreased by 66.4 per cent month-on-month in July with Leather Goods Retailers, Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers, Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers and Department Stores all showing aa notable drop in sales between 80 to 90 per cent.

In fact, during July only supermarkets recorded a rise, some 28.7 per cent, as some of the only retail facilities allowed to operate during the local lockdown.

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Retail and F&B with considerable drop in receipts in July - Macau Business

It was the river that is said to have watered the biblical Garden of Eden and helped give birth to civilisation itself.

But today the Tigris is dying.

Human activity and climate change have choked its once mighty flow through Iraq, where with its twin river the Euphrates it made Mesopotamia a cradle of civilisation thousands of years ago.

Iraq may be oil-rich but the country is plagued by poverty after decades of war and by droughts and desertification.

Battered by one natural disaster after another, it is one of the five countries most exposed to climate change, according to the UN.

From April on, temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and intense sandstorms often turn the sky orange, covering the country in a film of dust.

Hellish summers see the mercury top a blistering 50 degrees Celsius near the limit of human endurance with frequent power cuts shutting down air-conditioning for millions.

The Tigris, the lifeline connecting the storied cities of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra, has been choked by dams, most of them upstream in Turkey, and falling rainfall.

An AFP video journalist travelled along the rivers 1,500-kilometre (900-mile) course through Iraq, from the rugged Kurdish north to the Gulf in the south, to document the ecological disaster that is forcing people to change their ancient way of life.

The Tigris journey through Iraq begins in the mountains of autonomous Kurdistan, near the borders of Turkey and Syria, where local people raise sheep and grow potatoes.

Our life depends on the Tigris, said farmer Pibo Hassan Dolmassa, 41, wearing a dusty coat, in the town of Faysh Khabur. All our work, our agriculture, depends on it.

Before, the water was pouring in torrents, he said, but over the last two or three years there is less water every day.

Iraqs government and Kurdish farmers accuse Turkey, where the Tigris has its source, of withholding water in its dams, dramatically reducing the flow into Iraq.

According to Iraqi official statistics, the level of the Tigris entering Iraq has dropped to just 35 percent of its average over the past century.

Baghdad regularly asks Ankara to release more water.

But Turkeys ambassador to Iraq, Ali Riza Guney, urged Iraq to use the available water more efficiently, tweeting in July that water is largely wasted in Iraq.

He may have a point, say experts. Iraqi farmers tend to flood their fields, as they have done since ancient Sumerian times, rather than irrigate them, resulting in huge water losses.

All that is left of the River Diyala, a tributary that meets the Tigris near the capital Baghdad in the central plains, are puddles of stagnant water dotting its parched bed.

Drought has dried up the watercourse that is crucial to the regions agriculture.

This year authorities have been forced to reduce Iraqs cultivated areas by half, meaning no crops will be grown in the badly-hit Diyala Governorate.

We will be forced to give up farming and sell our animals, said Abu Mehdi, 42, who wears a white djellaba robe.

We were displaced by the war against Iran in the 1980s, he said, and now we are going to be displaced because of water. Without water, we cant live in these areas at all.

The farmer went into debt to dig a 30-metre (100-foot) well to try to get water. We sold everything, Abu Mehdi said, but it was a failure.

The World Bank warned last year that much of Iraq is likely to face a similar fate.

By 2050 a temperature increase of one degree Celsius and a precipitation decrease of 10 percent would cause a 20 percent reduction of available freshwater, it said.

Under these circumstances, nearly one third of the irrigated land in Iraq will have no water.

Water scarcity hitting farming and food security are already among the main drivers of rural-to-urban migration in Iraq, the UN and several non-government groups said in June.

And the International Organization for Migration said last month that climate factors had displaced more than 3,300 families in Iraqs central and southern areas in the first three months of this year.

Climate migration is already a reality in Iraq, the IOM said.

This summer in Baghdad, the level of the Tigris dropped so low that people played volleyball in the middle of the river, splashing barely waist-deep through its waters.

Iraqs Ministry of Water Resources blame silt because of the rivers reduced flow, with sand and soil once washed downstream now settling to form sandbanks.

Until recently the Baghdad authorities used heavy machinery to dredge the silt, but with cash tight, work has slowed.

Years of war have destroyed much of Iraqs water infrastructure, with many cities, factories, farms and even hospitals left to dump their waste straight into the river.

As sewage and rubbish from Greater Baghdad pour into the shrinking Tigris, the pollution creates a concentrated toxic soup that threatens marine life and human health.

Environmental policies have not been a high priority for Iraqi governments struggling with political, security and economic crises.

Ecological awareness also remains low among the general public, said activist Hajer Hadi of the Green Climate group, even if every Iraqi feels climate change through rising temperatures, lower rainfall, falling water levels and dust storms, she said.

You see these palm trees? They are thirsty, said Molla al-Rached, a 65-year-old farmer, pointing to the brown skeletons of what was once a verdant palm grove.

They need water! Should I try to irrigate them with a glass of water? he asked bitterly. Or with a bottle?

There is no fresh water, there is no more life, said the farmer, a beige keffiyeh scarf wrapped around his head.

He lives at Ras al-Bisha where the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates river, the Shatt al-Arab, empties into the Gulf, near the borders with Iran and Kuwait.

In nearby Basra once dubbed the Venice of the Middle East many of the depleted waterways are choked with rubbish.

To the north, much of the once famed Mesopotamian Marshes the vast wetland home to the Marsh Arabs and their unique culture have been reduced to desert since Saddam Hussein drained them in the 1980s to punish its population.

But another threat is impacting the Shatt al-Arab: salt water from the Gulf is pushing ever further upstream as the river flow declines.

The UN and local farmers say rising salination is already hitting farm yields, in a trend set to worsen as global warming raises sea levels.

Al-Rached said he has to buy water from tankers for his livestock, and wildlife is now encroaching into settled areas in search of water.

My government doesnt provide me with water, he said. I want water, I want to live. I want to plant, like my ancestors.

Standing barefoot in his boat like a Venetian gondolier, fisherman Naim Haddad steers it home as the sun sets on the waters of the Shatt al-Arab.

From father to son, we have dedicated our lives to fishing, said the 40-year-old holding up the days catch.

In a country where grilled carp is the national dish, the father-of-eight is proud that he receives no government salary, no allowances.

But salination is taking its toll as it pushes out the most prized freshwater species which are replaced by ocean fish.

In the summer, we have salt water, said Haddad. The sea water rises and comes here.

Last month local authorities reported that salt levels in the river north of Basra reached 6,800 parts per million nearly seven times that of fresh water.

Haddad cant switch to fishing at sea because his small boat is unsuitable for the choppier Gulf waters, where he would also risk run-ins with the Iranian and Kuwaiti coastguards.

And so the fisherman is left at the mercy of Iraqs shrinking rivers, his fate tied to theirs.

If the water goes, he said, the fishing goes. And so does our livelihood.

by Aymen HENNA

Originally posted here:

Twilight of the Tigris: Iraq's mighty river drying up - Macau Business

As flies buzz over his tiny body, two-year-old Sadak Ibrahim barely whimpers, too weak to cry or shoo them away a heartbreaking glimpse of the hunger crisis gripping Somalia.

The Horn of Africa nation is on the brink of a second famine in just over a decade, enduring its worst drought in 40 years after failed rainy seasons since late 2020 wiped out crops and livestock.

With a fifth monsoon forecast to fail, the United Nations warned this month that time was running out to save lives as it urged donors to contribute more to the relief effort.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the situation was worse than the 2011 famine when 260,000 people died in the country, more than half of them children under the age of six.

Aid is slowly making its way to Somalia following delays caused by the war in Ukraine, which also sent the cost of transport and emergency supplies soaring.

But many fear the help will arrive too late for the countrys youngest victims like Sadak, with around 730 children already reported dead in nutrition centres between January and July this year, according to UNICEF.

At De Martino Hospital in the capital Mogadishu, Sadaks anxious mother Fadumo Daud sat vigil by the toddlers bedside, a feeding tube dangling from his face, as she prayed for a miracle.

He is the only child I have, and he is very sick as you can see, the young woman told AFP, recounting the three-day journey that brought her to Mogadishu from Baidoa one of the epicentres of the crisis.

In recent years, climate disasters have increasingly become the main driver of migration in Somalia, which is also grappling with a brutal 15-year Islamist insurgency.

Every day, dozens of people stream into camps set up for displaced families in Mogadishu.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) non-profit runs seven health and nutrition centres in and around the capital, but their resources are sharply stretched with the crisis showing no signs of abating.

The number of new arrivals has increased dramatically starting from June this year, IRC nutrition officer Faisa Ali told AFP.

Most of the children turn up malnourished, she said, with their numbers trebling from a maximum of 13 a day in May to 40 now.

A mother of 10, Nuunay Adan Durow fled her home and travelled 300 kilometres (200 miles) to find medical help for her three-year-old son Hassan Mohamed, his limbs swollen due to severe malnutrition.

For the last three years, we have not harvested anything due to lack of rain, Durow told AFP, describing how she was forced to trek for two hours daily to find water for her family.

We faced a terrible situation, the 35-year-old said, cradling Hassan in her arms as they awaited medical attention at an IRC centre on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

The drought has also affected parts of Kenya and Ethiopia but the risks for Somalia are particularly grave, with 200,000 people in danger of starvation and around 1.5 million children facing acute malnutrition by next month, the UN says.

The crisis has not spared even traditionally fertile regions such as Lower Shabelle, where drought-stricken communities would seek refuge in the past, hoping to find sustenance there.

We used to farm and get vegetables to feed our children before the drought affected us, Fadumo Ibrahim Hassan, 35, told AFP.

Now we live on whatever God gives us, the widowed mother-of-six said.

A recent arrival in Mogadishu, her two-year-old daughter Yusros condition had deteriorated to the point that the IRC staff could no longer care for her.

Weighing just 5.8 kilogrammes (12.8 pounds) half that of a healthy girl the same age Yusro was dangerously malnourished, according to the IRC medical team, who told AFP she urgently needed to be admitted to a hospital.

At De Martino Hospital, doctor Fahmo Ali told AFP that each day brought more sick, malnourished children into her care.

The ones we are receiving here are the worst cases with complications, she said.

Sometimes those we have treated come back to the hospital after getting sick again.

by Mustafa HAJI ABDINUR

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Too weak to cry: famine looms over Somalia's children - Macau Business

The Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau (ISAF) is conducting research and working on a draft bill for a new regulatory regime for small-scale medical devices and cosmetic products suited to Macaus situation, to support the development of the Big Health industry, the ISAF president, Choi Peng Cheong, said during a meeting of ISAF officials with a delegation of the Macau International Big Health Industry Association.

Addressing the theme of the promotion and continuous development of the Big Health industry, Choi noted that is necessary to update the rules in such fields as well as to continue to improve the existing drug management regime, promoting the sustainable development of the pharmaceutical sector under the premise of equal emphasis on traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

The development of the Big Health Industry was a topic started by the government, which is said to have the goal of promoting the sector until 2025, according to the plan drafted in the Second Five-Year Plan for Socio-Economic Development of the Macau Special Administrative Region (2021-2025).

According to the same official, this work includes efforts towards the promotion of the development of economic diversification and cultivating emerging industries, as well as improving the legal regime closely related to socio-economic development and the life of the population.

It is not currently clear which amendments the ISAF proposes to make, but they are related to the use of medical devices most commonly in use in beauty centers and alternative medicine clinics, among others. Likely, such a regime could also include regulations concerning the application and use of traditional Chinese treatments as well as alternative medicine such as acupuncture, cupping therapy, and others, that are very popular in Macau and Asia in general.

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MACAU DAILY TIMES ISAF working on a new regime for small-scale medical devices and cosmetics - Macau Daily Times

President Joe Biden issued forceful warnings to China and Russia on Sunday and expressed optimism over the US economic rebound, but surprised many by hedging on whether hell seek reelection.

In a rare, wide-ranging interview with the CBS 60 Minutes program, Biden went back on repeated assertions by the White House that he is sure to run in 2024.

Biden, who turns 80 in November, told interviewer Scott Pelley that reelection is his intention.

But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen, he said.

Its much too early, Biden said, calling himself a great respecter of fate.

Surveying the state of the worlds largest economy, Biden was optimistic.

He declared the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States over and predicted that his administration would tame inflation the main reason for his weak approval ratings and the reason Republicans believe they can take control of Congress in the upcoming November midterms.

Were going to get control of inflation, he said.

In another surprise moment, Biden once again appeared to challenge decades of US policy on Taiwan with a vow that he would send troops to defend the self-ruled island if China tried to invade.

Yes, he said, adding that this would happen if there was an unprecedented attack possibly referring to something beyond the frequent saber rattling conducted by Chinese military forces around Taiwan.

Under the US policy known as strategic ambiguity, Washington recognizes Chinese sovereignty but opposes any forceful attempt to end Taiwans de facto self-rule. While Washington does arm Taiwan, there is no clear promise of direct US military support.

The White House said that Bidens latest remarks do not indicate a change.

After the interview, Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its sincere gratitude for Bidens support.

In the face of Chinas military expansion and provocative actions, our government will continue to strengthen self-defense capabilities to firmly resist the expansion and aggression of authoritarianism, and at the same time deepen the close Taiwan-US security partnership, the ministry said in a statement.

In another tough message to the United States biggest economic and geopolitical rival, Biden said he had warned President Xi Jinping not to support Russia militarily in its invasion of Ukraine.

He said he told Xi that US and other foreign investment in China would be disrupted and to think otherwise would be a gigantic mistake.

He also said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin uses nuclear or other non-conventional weapons against Ukraine the US response will be consequential.

When asked what he would tell Putin if the Russian leader was mulling such a move, he said: Dont. Dont. Dont.

Biden praised the Ukrainians for their gritty fight against the huge Russian invasion and said theyre defeating Russia.

Asked how to define victory for Kyiv, he said winning the war in Ukraine is to get Russia out of Ukraine completely.

But given the scale of human suffering and destruction inflicted in resisting the Russian onslaught, its awful hard to count that as winning, he added.

Despite his poor ratings and polls showing Democrats likely to lose control of at least one chamber of Congress, Biden said he is upbeat.

Noting that employment is booming and the economy is strong, Biden said we hope we can have, as they say, a soft landing.

On whether at his age he is physically and mentally able to continue in the grueling job, Biden said: watch me.

Its a matter of, you know, that old expression the proof of the pudding is in the eating.'

When asked his source of inspiration when times get tough, Biden mentioned his son Beau who died in 2015 but also his parents exhortation to just get up.

Biden said he had a lot more to give.

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Biden warns China and Russia, hedges on seeking reelection - Macau Business

Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest on Monday, after a state funeral attended by leaders from around the world and a historic lastceremonial journeythrough the packed streets of London.

After queueing all night, the final members of the public filed through parliaments cavernous Westminster Hall to see the queens coffin lying in state before the doors closed at 6:30 am (0530 GMT).

Chrissy Heerey, a serving member of the Royal Air Force who joined the marathon queue twice, was the last person through the doors and described the experience as amazing.

When they came to me and said, right, youre the last person, I said, really?! she told AFP, before heading off to join the crowds for the coffins procession through central London.

A long day but very well worth it. Its nothing compared to what the queen has done for the country.

The longest-serving monarch in British history died aged 96 at Balmoral, her Scottish Highland retreat, on September 8 after a year of declining health.

She was succeeded by her 73-year-old eldest son, King Charles III, who late Sunday said he and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, had been deeply touched by the publics flood of messages.

As we all prepare to say our last farewell, I wanted simply to take this opportunity to say thank you, he said.

Britain last held a state funeral in 1965 for the countrys wartime prime minister Winston Churchill.

Then, the cranes that once unloaded the spoils of Britains vast empire that Elizabeth inherited were lowered in respect as his coffin was borne up the River Thames by barge.

In the six decades since, Britains global reach has been much diminished and its place in the modern world has become less certain.

But the country will still dig deep into its centuries of tradition to honour the only monarch that most Britons have ever known.

Many people have camped out for days to witness the elaborate spectacle of pageantry and to pay their final respects.

Auto engineer Jamie Page, a 41-year-old former soldier, stood on Whitehall to observe the procession after the funeral, wearing his military medals from service in the Iraq war.

Sixteen years old, I swore an oath of allegiance to the queen. Shes been my boss. She means everything, she was like a gift from God, he said.

But on Charles, the oldest person yet to ascend the British throne, Page added: Who knows, time will tell.

Royal Navy sailors will haul the flag-draped coffin, topped with the majestic Imperial State Crown, on a gun carriage from Westminster Hall to the adjacent abbey.

The funeral starts at 1000 GMT. After just under an hour, a bugler will play The Last Post, before two minutes of silence and the reworded national anthem, God Save the King.

Former Archbishop of York John Sentamu said the queen, who headed the Protestant Church of England founded by king Henry VIII in the 16th century, did not want a boring send-off.

Youre going to be lifted to glory as you hear the service, he told BBC television.

Afterwards, the coffin will be taken west by road to Windsor Castle, with many thousands expected to line the route.

She will be buried alongside her father king George VI, her mother queen Elizabeth the queen mother and sister princess Margaret, reuniting in death the family who once called themselves us four.

The coffin of her husband, Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99, will also be transferred to lie alongside her.

Elizabeths funeral could not be more different from Philips at St Georges Chapel, Windsor, in April last year.

Coronavirus restrictions limited mourners to just 30, led by the queen, a solitary figure in mourning black and a matching facemask.

But now, more than 2,000 people, including heads of state from US President Joe Biden to Japans reclusive Emperor Naruhito, will pack Westminster Abbey, the imposing location for royal coronations, marriages and funerals for more than 1,000 years.

All the people of the United Kingdom: our hearts go out to you, and you were fortunate to have had her for 70 years; we all were. The world is better for her, Biden said after signing a book of condolence.

Charles will lead mourners, alongside his three siblings and his heir, Prince William.

In the abbey pews will also be Liz Truss, whom the queen appointed as the 15th British prime minister of her reign just two days before her death.

All of Trusss living predecessors will be there too, plus her counterparts and representatives from the 14 Commonwealth countries outside Britain where Charles is also head of state.

Whether they remain constitutional monarchies or become republics is likely to be the defining feature of Charless reign.

The queens death has prompted deep reflection about the Britain she reigned over, the legacy of its past, its present state and what the future might hold, as well as the values of lifelong service and duty she came to represent during her 70-year reign.

Select members of the public won invitations to the abbey for the funeral after outstanding service to the community.

Among them was lawyer Pranav Bhanot, 34, who gave free legal advice and delivered meals during the Covid pandemic.

I feel completely out of place because all the headlines are saying there are going to be world leaders and presidents, he said, having first dismissed the call from a government official as a hoax.

But it will give me a really nice opportunity to pay my respects to someone I hugely admired.

Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to have queued, sometimes for up to 25 hours and overnight, to file past the queens coffin since it was taken to liein state last Wednesday.

Some 6,000 military personnel have been drafted in to take part in the solemn procession to and from the abbey, on the route to Windsor and the committal service at St Georges Chapel.

After the abbey service, Charles and other senior royals will again follow in procession past hushed crowds to a waiting hearse and the final journey to Windsor.

Throughout, Big Ben, the giant bell atop the Elizabeth Tower at one end of the Houses of Parliament, will toll and guns will fire at one-minute intervals.

A vast television audience is expected to watch the funeral worldwide and live online, in a sign of the enduring fascination with the woman once described as the last global monarch.

But those lining the streets of London already jammed at sunrise on Monday said they had to bear witness.

I want to take part in history, said Jack Davies, 14, camped out for the procession with his parents at Hyde Park Corner, where the coffin will be transferred from the gun carriage for the drive to Windsor.

I will talk about this moment to my children. Ill say: I was there!'

At Windsor, the queens crown, orb and sceptre will be removed and placed on the altar.

The most senior officer of the royal household, the lord chamberlain, breaks his wand of office and places it on the coffin, symbolising the end of her reign.

The lead-lined oak casket, draped with the queens colours, will then be lowered into the Royal Vault as a lone bagpiper plays a lament.

A private interment ceremony will take place at the adjoining King George VI Memorial Chapel at 1830 GMT.

by Jitendra JOSHI / Phil HAZLEWOOD

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Britain and the world say farewell to Queen Elizabeth II - Macau Business

Las Vegas used to be the worlds favorite gambling hub, but Macau is swiftly taking over as a hotspot for casino tourism. Indeed, the number of people who visit the region every year is increasing rapidly. In 2016, there were just over 30 million tourists, and that shot up to 39 million in 2019.

For the millions of people who play casino games worldwide, a holiday to Macau could be the dream. Before you travel, there are a few things you need to know about the Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China.

Macau attracts a vast number of online casino playersInterestingly, the emergence of Macau as a global gambling destination coincided with the rise of the online casino industry. Internet gambling helped raise awareness of classic games, and then it seems that more people were influenced to seek them out on their holidays.

Nowadays, theres actually no need to travel anywhere to find live games. When you play blackjack online at Paddy Power, youre faced with a wide array of options that are all hosted by real-world dealers via streams. You can even scroll through and see who is hosting what game so that you can pick a dealer that you relate to. Some of the choices that come with live dealers include Lightning Blackjack, All Bets Blackjack Live, and Speed Blackjack.

Playing these titles can give people a taste of the glitz and glamour theyll experience in a casino. They can then be persuaded to take casino holidays to destinations that are going to provide this in abundance. Just as history lovers go to famous historical locations to expand their interests, online casino lovers can check out gambling resorts to enjoy their favorite internet games from another perspective.

Things to know before travelling to MacauMacau certainly represents a destination for more adventurous travelers. After all, Vegas has been portrayed in mainstream entertainment so many times over the years that most people who go there have a good idea about what to expect. Macau doesnt have that notoriety, though, and you may need to do a bit of research before you visit.

Macau is a region under the administration of China, but most people there dont speak traditional Mandarin. Instead, the main languages are Cantonese and Portuguese. Only a small fraction of the population speaks English, but Holidify says that English is common among people who work in the tourism industry.

According to an article in The Culture Trip, the best way to get to Macau is to fly to Hong Kong and then take a ferry to the island. There are two options and they both come regularly. There is also an international airport in Macau, but most of the flights are from local countries around Asia.

While this is one of the best places in the world for gambling, the pastime isnt the only thing to do in Macau. Indeed, the most populated region on the planet has plenty of other attractions to keep people busy. One of the best things for tourists to do is to look around at all the traditional Portuguese architecture that remains from the 400 years that the region existed as a colony. Theres also the stunning Macau Tower, which provides panoramic views of the city.

Photo by Jimmy Woo Man Tsing on Unsplash

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Is Macau now the number one place in the world for gamblers to visit - Travel Daily News International

If all goes according to plan over the next 14 hours or so, flight TR905 will begin its take off roll along the single runway of MFM Macau International Airport at 7:55pm this evening.

That flight, one of three per week on the humble Scoot airline, will almost certainly take off to the north (as almost all flights out of Macau do), then shortly turn 180 degrees to the south, and begin its over three-hour journey to Singapores Changi airport. Singapore is now the epicenter of Asian air travel having long eclipsed COVID-zero decimated Hong Kong. It also represents the main practical route out of Macau to the wider world.

Assuming all goes to plan, flight TR905 at 7:55pm this evening will represent my own salvation, my getaway car, my escape from the incarceration that has been Macau over the past 933 days since 23 February 2020. It was on that day I arrived from London via Zurich and Hong Kong, mere days before the proverbial door was slammed shut behind me courtesy of a little mishap known as the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps youve heard of it?

How Macau has changed in those 933 days.

In that time, I have barely left a tiny patch of just a few square kilometers the longest continuous period in a single city in my entire life including my childhood right back to birth. I havent even been able to go to Zhuhai, much less the pipedream of visiting Hong Kong. For someone who loves travel to the point of averaging one flight a week in 2019, its been quite the torment.

18 years of MacauI first set foot in Macau in 2004, shortly after Sands Macao opened its doors. After living in Hong Kong for a few years and visiting Macau regularly, I finally took the plunge and relocated permanently in 2009, to make my home in what was then a wonderful melting pot of east-meets-west. I lived, I loved, I learned. I worked, I played. I even completed a masters degree at the University of Macau. The casino gaming industry thrived, Macau became king of the world, we all know the story.

But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. We wobbled in 2014, fell to our knees in 2015, but then dusted ourselves off and recovered through to 2019. Things were looking good until well, again, we all know the story. There is no need to repeat it.

The pandemicThrough 2020 and 2021 the world suffered COVID together. But in 2022 it is different. The rest of the world has moved on, recovered, started to put their lives, their businesses and their economies back together again. They talk of COVID-19 in the past tense. When Macau people reference their own pandemic plight, overseas friends and colleagues answer in a bewildered tone, Are you guys still doing that?

I run a business called Inside Asian Gaming, not Inside Macau Gaming. As long as Macau was the center of the Asian gaming world it made sense to be based in Macau, and to visit the rest of Asia and the world regularly. But Macau is no longer the center of Asian gaming. As explained in the cover story of the August issue of IAG, that center of gravity has now slipped away from Macau and is being picked up by other APAC jurisdictions like the Philippines, Singapore and Australia.

While IAG will remain a Macau company, our office will remain in Macau and our Macau-based staff will continue to do their work right here in Macau, much of the business of the Asian gaming industry is now outside Macau. While networks and relationships built up over the past three decades (and the past decade in particular) stood IAG in good stead through 2020 and 2021, that is simply no longer the case. In order to keep our business afloat its imperative for me visit a host of countries as quickly as possible. To name just a few: the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, the US and the UK. I hope to visit all of them and more over the next 12 months.

It is with terribly mixed emotions I leave Macau, on what I am describing to anyone who asks as a very, very long business trip. On the one hand I leave the place I have grown to love over the past 13 years and leave our wonderful hard working IAG team behind to hold the fort. But on the other hand, I simply must venture out from the cave to hunt the mammoth given the lack of gaming industry business in Macau. There are some interesting non-gaming opportunities in Macau, particularly in the CSR space, and our parent company O MEDIA is pursuing them. But for IAG, the well is running very dry in the SAR.

Brain drainIt would be remiss of me not to mention the persistent and disquieting brain drain occurring right now in Macau, for in departing Macau I am certainly not the lone ranger. Over the past six months there has been a veritable cavalcade of goodbye drinks, parties, farewells and messages announcing departures from Macau, mainly of foreigners and even quite a few Macau people lucky enough to have links to countries outside Macau.

I put this brain drain down to three quite obvious reasons: the relentless COVID-zero policy of the Macau and central governments with no end in sight, the rising opportunities for skilled industry professionals in other parts of the world, and the general emotional malaise hanging over Macau. Awfully, that malaise is expressing itself in Macau through increased suicide rates, heightened prevalence of domestic violence and all manner of mental health issues.

The situation is even worse for foreigners and the more worldly locals, who are coming to the realization that Macau will likely never return to its former economic glory, even post COVID-zero. There is also and this is a very touchy subject, but since when have I shied away from touchy subjects a quite obvious undercurrent of anti-foreigner sentiment in Macau. Some would even call it xenophobia.

For just one piece of evidence of this sentiment, one need merely look at the statistics on new residency applicationsin Macau. In the 2021 year the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) processed 33 such applications, rejecting 32 of them! In a place boasting a population of around 677,000 (down by around 20,000 since the start of the pandemic, mostly through foreign workers losing their jobs), just a single person had their residency application approved. For 2022 Q1, a mere five applications were processed with all five being rejected. Statistics are only available for the first quarter of this year, despite Q2 finishing over 10 weeks ago. It seems it takes quite some time to count to a single digit number.

It was just last month that Macau lawmakers considered a bill to attract internationally recognized, high-quality and highly qualified personnel and senior professionals to Macau. But talk is cheap. I would contend that actions speak louder than words.

Will I be back?Absolutely. As referenced above, this is merely a very, very long business trip, not a complete departure. Officially, I remain based in Macau, as does IAG. But I suspect it may be more than a few months on the road given the many destinations around Asia and the world which must be visited to reconnect with a host of senior industry executives who havent had an in-person meeting with IAG for almost three years. One can only do so much by zoom, and ours is an industry built on relationships and human connections that can only really be cemented in person.

To those of you outside Macau, Im excited to be heading your way and Ill see you soon.

For those inside Macau, I guess its zoom meetings for the foreseeable future, and I will leave you with those beautiful words sung by Dame Vera Lynn, over 80 years ago:

Well meet again,Dont know where, dont know when,But I know well meet again,Some sunny day.

See the article here:

After 18 years visiting Macau, 13 years living in Macau and 933 days trapped in Macau, it's time to go - Inside Asian Gaming