Monthly Archives: April 2022

CMB Wing Lung Bank Limited and FWD Insurance have signed a bancassurance partnership in Macau to provide insurance products and services.

Bancassurance isan arrangement between a bank and an insurance company allowing the insurance company to sell its products to the banks client base.

Both sides also considered that thepartnership will provide a competitive advantage to both companies in capturing the vast opportunities in the fast-growing market of the Greater Bay Area

The new partnership with FWD will enrich our insurance productsandservice scope for Macau residents who constantly look for more innovative and comprehensive options. We believe the partnership will also further strengthen CMB Wing Lung Banks advantage in GBA cities, the banks Deputy General Manager, Li Qi, said in the announcement.

CMB Wing Lung Bank is a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. (CMB), a bank based in Shenzhen and the first share-holding commercial bank to be wholly owned by corporate legal entities in China upon its founding in 1987.

At present, the Bank has over 30 banking business outlets and CMB Wing Lung Private Banking Centre in Hong Kong, its service outlet network also covers mainland China, Macau and overseas, more than 2,000 people in its staff force.

Meanwhile, FWD Hong Kong & Macau are part of the FWD Group, a pan-Asian life insurance business offering life and medical insurance, employee benefits, and financial planning.

Follow this link:

CMB Wing Lung Bank Limited and FWD Insurance sign bancassurance agreement - Macau Business

Chinas factory-gate inflation was higher than expected in March, official data showed Monday, as Russias war on Ukraine pushes up oil prices while a domestic Covid-19 resurgence strains food supplies and consumer costs.

The producer price index (PPI) measuring the cost of goods at the factory gate grew 8.3 percent on-year, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures showed.

This was slightly more than a Bloomberg poll of economists expected, while PPI also rose on-month.

Geopolitical and other factors have pushed global commodity prices to continue increasing, driving the prices of oil, non-ferrous metals and other related industries to rise further domestically, NBS senior statistician Dong Lijuan said in a statement.

Chinas consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of retail inflation, rose more than expected as well, by 1.5 percent on-year in March, the NBS said.

Although consumer demand eased after festive periods earlier in the year, some food prices have picked up due to rising international prices of wheat, corn and soybeans and domestic Covid-19 outbreaks, Dong said.

This comes as world food prices hit an all-time high in March following Russias invasion of Ukraine, an agricultural powerhouse, according to a UN agency.

Russia and Ukraine make up a massive share of exports in major commodities such as wheat, vegetable oil and corn.

Zhaopeng Xing of ANZ Research said energy prices had become the major driver for both CPI and PPI.

CPI inflation could rise further in April as households across China have been stocking up on food and other necessities after taking lessons from the fallout of Shanghais lockdown, Nomuras chief China economist Ting Lu told AFP.

As the financial hub locked down almost entirely in recent weeks, residents had trouble getting groceries while Covid controls snarled supply chains to the rest of the country.

Due to lockdowns and transport disruptions in northeast China, the largest grain production base in China, this years spring farming may have been delayed and the risk of food shortage may rise in the second half, Lu added.

This piles pressure on the worsening global food shortage caused by the military conflict in Ukraine, he said.

Read the original here:

China factory inflation higher than expected as oil prices bite - Macau Business

The looming execution of a US mother-of-14 sentenced to death in a controversial case for the murder of her toddler daughter has provoked backlash from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and a growing movement that reaches well beyond US borders.

Melissa Lucio is to be put to death on April 27 for the 2007 murder of her two-year-old daughter Mariah, whose body was found at the family home covered in bruises, days after falling down stairs.

Pregnant with twins at the time, Lucios life had been marred by both physical and sexual assault, drug addiction and financial insecurity. She was immediately suspected by police of having hit her daughter and questioned at length, just hours after the death.

After saying that she hadnt done it nearly a hundred times, at 3:00 am she made a completely extorted confession, according to Sabrina Van Tassel, director of the hit documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa, which came out in 2020.

I guess I did it, Lucio eventually told her interrogators when questioned about the presence of the bruises.

That confession was the only thing they had against her, said Van Tassel, convinced that there is nothing that connects Melissa Lucio to the death of this child, there is no DNA, no witness.

During the trial, a doctor said it was the absolute worst case of child abuse he had seen.

But Mariah had a physical disability which made her unsteady while walking, according to Lucios defense and which could have explained her fall.

The defense also argued that the bruises could have been caused by a blood circulation disorder.

None of Melissas children had accused her of being violent. As for the prosecutor, he was later sentenced to prison for corruption and extortion.

Now the documentary has sparked widespread interest, causing a whole movement to coalesce around Lucio.

Reality star Kim Kardashian tweeted to her tens of millions of followers on Wednesday that there were so many unresolved questions surrounding this case and the evidence that was used to convict her.

And Lucios story has ignited media in Latin America, fascinated by the tale of the first Hispanic woman to be sentenced to death in Texas the US state that has executed the most people in the 21st century.

In France, former presidential candidate Christiane Taubira said Lucio is probably a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Even one of the jurors who sentenced her expressed his deep regret in an editorial published on Sunday.

Lucio is also winningsupport from US Republicans, traditionally defenders of capital punishment.

About 80 Texas lawmakers from both parties have demanded authorities call off the execution.

Several have been to visit her in prison. As a conservative Republican myself who has long been a supporter of the death penalty I have never seen a more troubling case than the case of Melissa Lucio, said one of them, Jeff Leach.

The flood has come as a shock for the death row inmate, her son John Lucio told AFP.

When he showed her the messages from celebrities like Kardashian, she couldnt believe it.

The last 15 years have been very difficult, said Lucio, who was a teenager at the time of the tragedy and had to cope with it, knowing that I lost my sister and then my mother being charged for it.

But this year has been the hardest because we got the execution date in January, said the 32-year-old.

He is convinced that she would never have been condemned if she had had the money.

The case brings to light the issue of false confessions.

It is difficult to estimate how many there may have been, but according to data from The Innocence Project, which fights against miscarriages of justice, out of every four people wrongly convicted and exonerated thanks to DNA evidence, one had already confessed to the crime.

In homicide cases, that number rises to 60 percent, according to Saul Kassin, professor of psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

And someone who, like Lucio, has experienced trauma and violence is less resistant, more likely to comply, they have less tolerance for the stress of an interrogation, and is therefore more likely to admit to a crime they did not commit, he said.

Lucio has exhausted her appeals but her team has filed a clemency petition, typically not decided until days before an execution. Prosecutors can also withdraw the death warrant and agree to reinvestigate the case, according to the Houston Chronicle.

And if all else fails, Texas governor Greg Abbott still has the authority to delay Lucios death.

A strong supporter of capital punishment, he has only granted clemency once before.

by La DAUPLE

Here is the original post:

Wave of support for US mother awaiting execution - Macau Business

Three tombs dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) were recently found in north Chinas Shanxi Province, according to the provincial institute of archaeology.

Archaeologists said that the tombs are about 2 km west of Houzhai Village, Shuozhou City, and are located in the key area where the farming and nomadic cultures blended in ancient times.

Based on the shapes, features and styles of the tombs, archaeologists speculated that two of the three tomb owners were husband and wife. Unearthed relics include potteries, lacquerware, ironware, stone tools, copper coins, silver ornaments, bone combs, and tower-shaped pots.

Tower-shaped pots had not been spotted in tombs prior to the Tang Dynasty, said Gao Zhenhua, an official with the institute, adding that it was a new object that originated during this dynasty as a result of the influence of traditional funeral customs and the advent of Buddhism. It was believed that the object will help the deceased eat and drink in the underworld.

Considering the time, scale, geographical environment and the number of funeral items in the tombs, it can be inferred that the owners of the three tombs were ordinary people, Gao said.

Visit link:

Tang Dynasty tombs discovered in China's Shanxi - Macau Business

In a dim room near the banks of Indias Ganges river, arms glide over a creaking loom as another silken fibre is guided into place with the rhythmic clack of a wooden beam.

Mohammad Sirajuddins cramped studio is typical of Varanasis dwindling community of artisans painstakingly working by hand to produce silk saris, uniquely cherished among their wearers as the epitome of traditional Indian sartorial style.

The city he calls home is revered among devout Hindus, who believe that cremation on the banks of its sacred waterway offers the chance to escape the infinite cycle of death and rebirth.

But Sirajuddins own reflections on mortality are centred on his craft, with competition from more cost-efficient mechanised alternatives and cheap imports from China leaving his livelihood hanging by a thread.

If you walk around this whole neighbourhood, youll see that this is the only house with a handloom, the 65-year-old tells AFP.

Even this will be here only as long as I am alive. After that, nobody in this house will continue.

Varanasis hand-weavers have cultivated a reputation for excellence over centuries, specialising in intricate patterns, floral designs and radiant golden brocades.

The Banarasi saris so-called in reference to the citys ancient name they produce are widely sought after by Indian brides and are often passed on from one generation to the next as family heirlooms.

The elegant garments fetch handsome prices Sirajuddins current work will go on sale for 30,000 rupees ($390) but the cost of inputs and cuts taken by middlemen leave little left for weavers.

Compared to the hard work that goes into making the sari, the profit is negligible, Sirajuddin says.

His neighbours have all switched to electric looms for their garments, which lack the subtleties of hand-woven textiles and sell for just a third of the price but take a fraction of the time to finish.

The fortunes of Indias textile trade historically a cottage industry have long been subject to sudden and devastating upheavals from abroad.

Its delicate fabrics were prized by the 18th century European elite but British colonisation and Englands industrial-era factories flooded India with much cheaper textiles, decimating the market for hand-woven garments.

Decades of socialist-inspired central planning after independence bought some reprieve by shielding local handicrafts from the international market.

But economic reforms in the early 1990s opened the country up to cheap goods just as the countrys northern neighbour was establishing itself as the globalised worlds workshop.

Chinese yarn and fabric came in everywhere, said author and former politician Jaya Jaitly, who has written a book on Varanasis woven textiles, adding that sari factories there had for years been emulating the citys unique patterns and detail.

All of these thriving industries got killed through Chinese competition, and their ability to produce huge quantities at very low prices.

Jaitly said local weavers needed urgent protection from government to preserve a wealth of artisanal traditions that otherwise risked disappearing.

We have the largest number of varieties of handloom, techniques, skills more than anywhere else in the world, she said.

I think thats truly a tradition to be proud of.

Demand for Banarasi saris, already limited to a select Indian clientele able to justify spending at a premium, has also suffered in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The virus threat may have receded in India, but job losses and a big dent to the economy have taken their toll.

The weavers are suffering a lot. They are not getting the right price for their products, payments are also coming late, said local sari merchant Mohammad Shahid, his store empty but for sales assistants stacking silk garments on the shelves.

Shahid was nonetheless hopeful that well-heeled and discerning customers would return.

Those who know the value of handloom will continue to buy and cherish our saris. The handlooms can dwindle but they will never go away, Shahid, 33, told AFP.

by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA

See the original post:

Indian sari weavers toil to keep tradition alive - Macau Business

Garbage clogs the banks of Iraqs Tigris River in Baghdad but an army of young volunteers is cleaning it, a rare environmental project in the war-battered country.

With boots and gloves, they pick up soggy trash, water bottles, aluminium cans and muddy styrofoam boxes, part of a green activist campaign called the Cleanup Ambassadors.

This is the first time this area has been cleaned since 2003, shouts a passer-by about the years of conflict since a US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

The war is over but Iraq faces another huge threat: a host of interrelated environmental problems from climate change and rampant pollution to dust storms and water scarcity.

The 200 volunteers at work in Baghdad want to be part of the solution, removing garbage from a stretch of one of the mighty rivers that gave birth to the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia.

It breaks my heart to see the banks of the Tigris in this state, said one 19-year-old volunteer, who gave only her first name, Rassel, working under Baghdads Imams Bridge.

We want to change this reality. I want to make my city more beautiful.

The task is Herculean in a country where it remains common for people to drop their trash on the ground.

The green banks of the Tigris, popular for picnics by families and groups of friends, are usually littered with waste, from single-use plastic bags to the disposable tips of hookah pipes, especially after public holidays.

There is a lot of plastic, nylon bags and corks, said Ali, also 19 and an organiser of the cleanup event.

The group then handed their collected waste to the Baghdad City Council which took it away, bound for a landfill.

More often the garbage ends up directly in the Tigris. It is one of Iraqs two major waterways, along with the Euphrates, that face a host of environmental pressures.

The rivers or their tributaries are dammed upstream in Turkey and Iran, over-used along the way, and polluted with domestic, industrial and agricultural waste.

The trash that flows downriver clogs riverbanks and wetlands and poses a threat to wildlife, both terrestrial and aquatic.

When the water empties into the Gulf, plastic bags are often ingested by turtles and dolphins and block the airways and stomachs of many other species, says a United Nations paper.

In Iraq which has suffered four decades of conflict and years of political and economic turmoil separating and recycling waste has yet to become a priority for most people.

The country also lacks proper infrastructure for waste collection and disposal, said Azzam Alwash, head of the non-governmental group Nature Iraq.

There are no environmentally friendly landfills and plastic recycling is not economically viable, he said.

Most garbage ends up in open dumps where it is burned, sending plumes of acrid smoke into the air.

This happens in Iraqs southern Mesopotamian Marshes, one of the worlds largest inland deltas, which Saddam once had largely drained. They were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2016, both for their biodiversity and ancient history.

Today a round-the-clock fire outside the town of Souq al-Shuyukh, which is the gateway to the marshes, burns thousands of tonnes of garbage under the open sky, sending white smoke drifting many kilometres away.

Open burning of waste is a source of air pollution, and the real cost is the shortening of Iraqi lives, said Alwash.But the state has no money to build recycling facilities.

Even worse is the air pollution caused by flaring burning off the gas that escapes during oil extraction.

This toxic cocktail has contributed to a rise in respiratory illnesses and greenhouse gas emissions, a phenomenon the UNs climate experts have voiced alarm about.

Environment Minister Jassem al-Falahi admitted in comments to the official news agency INA that waste incinerations toxic gases affect peoples lives and health.

But so far there have been few government initiatives to tackle Iraqs environmental woes, and so projects like the Tigris cleanup are leading the way for now.

Ali, the volunteer, hopes that their effort will have a more long-term effect by helping to change attitudes.

Some people have stopped throwing their waste on the street, he said, and some have even joined us.

by Ammar Karim

Read this article:

Iraqis clean up river as first green projects take root - Macau Business