Category Archives: Macau

Steve Wynn defeats US lawsuit naming him a Chinese agent By Louis Thompsett

Steve Wynn defeats US lawsuit naming him a Chinese agent

Founder of Wynn Resorts, Steve Wynn, has defeated a US lawsuit stating that Wynn should be registered as a Chinese agent.

After winning the case, Wynn can no longer be ordered to register with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as a foreign agent of China.

The case began in May this year when the DOJ sued for a court order forcing Wynn to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Read more in Gambling Insider's exclusive interview with Jordan Matthews.

DOJ officials alleged that Wynn lobbied former US President Donald Trump on behalf of China in 2017, a claim Wynn and his attorneys have denied ever since.

On 12th October 2022, US District Judge James Boasberg said that given allegations of Wynns association with China ended in 2017, he cannot be required to register as an agent for the country.

In making his ruling, Judge Boasberg pointed to a past example that occurred in a Washington DC Federal Court.

However, the Judge expressed that his rulingwas not a determination that Wynn hadntlobbied on Chinas behalf,but rather that given the length of time passed since the alleged collusion occurred, Wynn was not required to register as a foreign agent.

G2E Las Vegas:Billings compares Wynns US and Asia revenue

Staying on Wynn Resorts, its current CEO Craig Billings discussed the slow return of revenue from Macau, China, and the challenges the operator still faces there amid the current health and safety measures in place.

Excluding Asia, were seeing international business come back, he said. Were seeing it trickle back. China is the big unknown, but well see how this week goes with the major political events over there.

There are tailwinds that arent here yet, that aren't back yet. And so Im bullish on Las Vegas. Were not ignorant or immune to whats going on in the broader macroeconomy. Were less impacted by oil and inflation with our aspirational luxury customers, but probably more impacted by the financial markets.

China, Philippines blacklist confusion

In more China-related news, it was reported yesterday (11 October 2022) that China had officially blacklisted the Philippines as a tourist destination for Chinese citizens.

The move was allegedly made because of the threat of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) to the people of China.

These offshore gaming companies have been targeting China, where online gambling is illegal.

Whats more, many Chinese citizens have been deported from the Philippines after emigrating and working for POGOs illegally.

However, the Chinese Embassy in Manila has now said it has not blacklisted the Philippines as a tourist destination.

The Chinese Embassy made the announcement on the evening of 11 October 2022.

The statement read: The report of tourist blacklist is misinformation. This is despite comments from a top official from the Philippines who said that the Filipino Chinese Ambassador had told a group of local senators that China had blacklisted all travel to the Philippines.

It remains unclear, as of yet, what Chinas true intentions on the matter are.

Paul Steel appointed Independent Monitor of Crown Perth

From China to Crown now, where a new Independent Monitor of Crown Perth has been appointed.

Police Force Assistant Commissioner Paul Steel has been charged with supervising the casino by the Western Australia (WA) State Government. He will take on the role in November 2022.

The appointment, which mirrors the Victorian Governments decision to supervise Crown Melbourne, follows a Royal Commission report handed down earlier this year that found the operator unsuitable to retain its casino licence for Crown Perth.

Among other issues, the report recommended a two-year remediation period for Crown to establish suitability.

Missed a big gambling industry story in Asia? Don't worry, Gambling Insider has you covered with our Asia round-up.

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Asia round-up: Steve Wynns, the unknown of Macau, blacklist confusion & Crown - Gambling Insider

Inflation in Argentina reached 83 percent in September year-on-year, the highest in 30 years, said the National Statistics and Census Institute (INDEC) on Friday.

The South American country saw a 6.2 percent rise in prices in September compared to August, and a 66.1 percent jump in prices in the first nine months of the year.

The year-on-year price increase is the highest recorded by the country since December 1991.

The sectors with the biggest year-on-year variation in prices were clothing (118 percent), restaurants and hotels (99 percent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (86.6 percent), and miscellaneous goods and services (81.2 percent), INDEC reported.

In general, prices of goods increased 87.6 percent year-on-year, while services rose 71.5 percent.

The government has said combating inflation is one of its top priorities.

According to the latest survey by the Central Bank of Argentina, inflation in the South American country could reach triple digits by the end of the year, climbing to 100.3 percent.

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Argentina records highest inflation in 30 years - Macau Business

Presidential DeterminationNo.2023-02

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT: Presidential Determination with Respect to the Efforts of Foreign Governments Regarding Trafficking in Persons

Consistent with section 110 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107) (the Act), as amended, I hereby determine as follows:

As provided for in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, that the United States will not provide nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related assistance to the Governments of Afghanistan, Burma, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), and South Sudan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 until such governments comply with the Acts minimum standards or make significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with the minimum standards;

As provided for in section 110(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act, that the United States will not provide nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related assistance to, or allow funding for participation in educational and cultural exchange programs by officials or employees of, the Governments of Belarus, Cuba, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), Eritrea, Macau (Special Administrative Region of the PRC), Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria for FY 2023 until such governments comply with the Acts minimum standards or make significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with the minimum standards;

As provided for in section 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act, I hereby instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank, as defined in the Act, and of the International Monetary Fund to vote against and use best efforts to deny any loan or other utilization of the funds of the respective institution (other than for humanitarian assistance; for trade-related assistance; or for development assistance that directly addresses basic human needs, is not administered by the government of such country, and confers no benefit to that government) for the Governments of Belarus, Burma, Cuba, the DPRK, Eritrea, Iran, Macau (Special Administrative Region of the PRC), Nicaragua, the PRC, Russia, South Sudan, and Syria for FY2023 until such governments comply with the Acts minimum standards or make significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with the minimum standards;

Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, I determine that the provision of all programs, projects, activities, and funding for educational and cultural exchange programs described in sections 110(d)(1)(A) and 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act to Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Vietnam, would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;

Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, I determine that providing the assistance described in section 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act to Afghanistan and Guinea-Bissau would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;

Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, I determine that a partial waiver with respect to Belarus, Eritrea, Macau (Special Administrative Region of the PRC), and Russia to allow funding for educational and cultural exchange programs described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Act would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;

Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Afghanistan, I determine that a partial waiver of the restriction described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to allow for Economic Support Fund (ESF) and Global Health Programs (GHP) assistance would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States;

Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to Guinea-Bissau, I determine that a partial waiver of the restriction described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to allow for International Military Education and Training (IMET); Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and RelatedPrograms-Conventional Weapons Destruction (NADR-CWD); Development Assistance (DA); ESF; and GHP assistance would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States; and

Consistent with section 110(d)(4) of the Act, with respect to South Sudan, I determine that a partial waiver of the restriction described in section 110(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act to allow for GHP assistance would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.

In addition, with respect to the Governments of Curacao and Sint Maarten, consistent with the United States Governments firm stand against human trafficking, and until such governments take steps consistent with compliance with the minimum standards of the Act or make significant efforts to do so, I hereby: (i)direct that executive departments and agencies shall not provide nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance, as described in section 110(d)(1)(A) of the Act, to the Governments of Curacao and Sint Maarten; (ii) instruct the United States Executive Director of each multilateral development bank, as defined in the Act, and of the International Monetary Fund to vote against and use best efforts to deny any loan or other utilization of the funds of the respective institution (other than for humanitarian assistance, for trade-related assistance, or for development assistance that directly addresses basic human needs, is not administered by such government, and confers no benefit to that government) to Curacao and Sint Maarten, as described in section 110(d)(1)(B) of the Act; and (iii) direct that funding for participation by officials or employees of the Governments of Curacao and Sint Maarten in educational and cultural exchange programs shall continue to be permitted in FY 2023, consistent with the foreign policy and all applicable laws of the United States.

You are authorized and directed to submit this determination, the certification required by section 110(e) of the Act, and the Memorandum of Justification, on which I have relied, to the Congress, and to publish this determination in the FederalRegister.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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Memorandum on Presidential Determination with Respect to the Efforts of Foreign Governments Regarding Trafficking in Persons - The White House

Prior to the opening of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on the morning of October 16, two important meetings were held, including the Seventh Meeting of the 19th Central Discipline Inspection Committee (CDIC) on October 7, and the Seventh Meeting of the 19th Central Committee (CC). The two meetings of the CDIC and CC were politically significant, laying the foundation of the 20th Party Congress.

The SeventhMeeting of the 19th CDIC witnessed the participation of 129 CDICmembers, while four members were absent including the suddenly passed awaymayor of Tianjin, Liao Guoxun, and the state food and strategic reserveadministration chief, Zhang Wufeng, who was under investigation.

A 256-word reportwas issued after the CDIC meeting, saying that it promoted high qualitydevelopment of discipline inspection work in a new era, that its membersstudied and implemented Xi Jinpings new era socialism thought during the newera, that it implemented the strategy of self-revolutionary strategy byprotecting the authority of the Party and centralizing the Party leadership,and that the committee resolutely and seriously governed the Party. The CDICalso plays the role of supervision, safeguard and implementation from theperspective of national work, thereby forcefully and effectively serving andprotecting the big circumstances of modernization and construction.

The reportmentioned that from 2018 to 2020, about 189,000 cases of disciplines in dealingwith poverty areas and partys work style were investigated, includingdisciplinary action against 95,300 members who had problematic discipline, and embracingpenalties targeted at 92,700 party members who were involved in corruptionduring poverty alleviation work. From the 19th Party Congress toApril 2022, altogether 496,000 cases were investigated, involving 456,000 CPCofficials who were punished. The CDIC utilized not only political supervisionbut also regular inspections to build up a database on disciplinary issues.

During the XiJinping era, China has been working strenuously to pursue and punish corruptparty members through the diligent work of the CDIC. If anti-corruptioncampaigns are a hallmark of China under Xi Jinping, they have importantimplications. Officials involved in corruption, bribery and abuse of power wereremoved from office or punished. The CPC, according to Xi Jinping, mustmaintain its purity against the corrupt elements, who must be rooted out, punishedand purged. In his writings and speeches, Xi Jinping attached foremostimportance to the purification of the superstructure, which includes ideas,culture and art, which have to be socialized and remoulded in such a way as tomaintain the socialist ideology of the entire nation. As he said in the 18thParty Congress in 2012, anti-corruption is an important political strugglethat cannot and should not be lost. Corrupt party members were punished andpurged in the past, including former secretary of the central political andlegal affairs commission Zhou Yongkang, former Chongqing party secretary BoXilai, former Chongqing party secretary Sun Zhengcai, and former chief of theChief Office of CPC Ling Jihua.

If rectification campaigns were launched by CPC leader Mao Zedong in the past to identify, marginalize and root out those elements opposing Maos policies, anti-corruption campaigns have been fully utilized by President Xi and his supporters to eliminate all those rotten apples delegitimizing the CPC. President Xi has often mentioned the need to struggle in his recent speeches, meaning that the CPC must undergo permanent struggles against its own enemies, especially those corrupt party members who discredited the CPC and who failed to uphold the highest values of clean governance as demanded by the Party.

The CDIC meetingwas followed by another important CC meeting on October 9, during which the CPCGeneral Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a work report and in which PolitburoStanding Committee member and ideological architect Wang Huning explained the amendmentsto be made to the draft constitution of the CPC. The official media did notmention the details of the amendments.

However, it wasexpected that Wang might formulate some new developments of the Partystheoretical innovation. So far, the CPCs Party Constitution was amended for tentimes from 1987 to the 19th Party Congress in 2017.

As early asAugust, 2022, CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping mentioned that since the 18thParty Congress, the Party and the national enterprises had already madehistorical achievements and historical changes as well as reforms. Moreover,the CPC has succeeded in promoting and developing the Chinese style ofmodernization.

In recent weeks,the CPC Publicity Department has shown two CCTV television programs, includingholding the rudder and steering far away and scientific directions. Theprogram on holding the rudder and steering far away emphasized Xi Jinping asa core leader, while scientific directions centres on Xi Jinpings thought.Hence, President Xi as providing core leadership and his thought are expectedto be highlighted in the 20th Party Congress.

The SeventhMeeting of the CC was opened in Beijing on October 9 and was closed on October12. According to Sing Tao Daily in Hong Kong (Sing Tao Daily, October10, 2022, p. A12), two protections would likely be written into theamendments of the Party Constitution, including (1) resolutely protectingGeneral Secretary Xi Jinping as the core of the Party Centre and his corestatus in the whole Party, and (2) resolutely protecting the Party Centresauthority and centralized and united leadership. Moreover, the PartyConstitution would likely incorporate the description of Chinas completereunification, implying that some important statements on Taiwan would bemade.

Naturally, the Party Congress will emphasize the success andachievements of the CPC. In late July, when General Secretary Xi Jinpingdelivered a speech to the leading cadres who would participate in the 20thParty Congress, he had already mentioned that the CPC overcame manydifficulties, achieved many matters, and resisted lots of challenges, includingthose challenges from politics, economics, ideologies, the natural environment.He added that the new era of China in these ten years has witnessed greatchanges and reforms and that the Chinese national development has a watershedsignificance in the history of the Party, the history of new China, the historyof reform and openness, the history of socialism, and the history of thedevelopment of the Chinese nation.

On October 15, General Secretary Xi Jinping is holding a preparatorymeeting of the 20th Party Congress. The preparatory meeting isexpected to approve the composition of the Presidium of the 20thParty Congress, including the lists of chairpersons, executive committeemembers and secretaries. It remains to be seen whether the Presidium of thechairpersons would include the former President and CPC General Secretary JiangZemin and former leader Hu Jintao.

According to SingTao Daily (October 15, 2022, p. A4),Guangxi representatives who went to Beijing had already been mobilized tounderstand two affirmations, namely Xi Jinping as the core leader of the Partycentre and the leading position of Xi Jinping new era Chinese socialismthought. The Liberation Daily also said that the representatives attending the20th Party Congress will in their thought, in politics and inaction maintain high unity with the idea of Comrade Xi Jinping as the Partycentres core. These two affirmations are expected to be written into theamendments of the Party Constitution.

Another focus of the mainland, regional and international media will bethe membership of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), which currently hasseven members. All eyes are focusing on who will be the new blood beingnominated and appointed into the PSC. Ding Xuexiang, the 60-year-old directorof the CPC General Office, appears to be a rising star with tremendous loyaltyto the Party. He has already pledged his allegiance to General Secretary XiJinping. The role of the director of the CPC General Office was traditionallyimportant, including former Premier Wen Jiabao and former PSC member ZengQinghong, who dealt with the daily but important Party and state affairs. Dingas a close protg and aid to CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping has a highchance of being groomed as one of the successors to Xi. Another strongcandidate is Hu Chunhua, who is only 59 years old and who has been adopting alow profile, but he is endowed with rich administrative experiences in Tibet,Inner Mongolia, and Guangdong. Hu would likely have a good chance of succeedingLi Keqiang as the next premier.

In conclusion, the political prelude and etiquette leading to the 20thParty Congress have already been completed. The 20th Party Congressis expected to be the most important event in China under the Xi Jinping era,partly because it will show how the Party Constitution will be amended and partlybecause the potential successors to General Secretary Xi in the coming yearswould emerge in the new composition of the PSC. Most importantly, GeneralSecretary Xi Jinpings core leadership and thought would likely be incorporatedinto the amendments of the Party Constitution, thereby consolidating thelegitimacy of the CPC leadership, and endowing with him a very high degree ofrespect and dignity as with the previous CPC leaders Mao Zedong and DengXiaoping.

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OPINION - Prelude to Chinas 20th Party Congress - Macau Business

Rising food and fuel prices have led to growing civil unrest in Haiti, the World Food Programme (WFP) and other UN agencies warned Friday.

Jean-Martin Bauer, country director in Haiti for the WFP, told a press briefing via video link that the country is facing worrying trends in food insecurity and even humanitarian catastrophe.

In the country, the official said, inflation amounting to 30 percent is the worst in 20 years, and food inflation is particularly bad, with the price of the food basket in August being 63 percent more than a year before.

He cited the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report issued Friday as saying that the severity and extent of food insecurity in the country are getting much worse.

According to the report, he said, 4.7 million people are facing acute food insecurity and 1.8 million are facing emergency levels of food insecurity in the country, an increase of 200,000 and half million people respectively than six months ago.

James Elder with the United Nations Childrens Fund told Fridays press briefing that in Haiti, some 100,000 children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition.

Margaret Harris, the spokesperson of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that as of Friday, according to the data of the Haitian Ministry of Health, there were 357 suspected cholera cases, 35 confirmed cases and 21 confirmed deaths.

It was probable that the number of cases would be much higher, she said.

See the article here:

Rising prices lead to growing civil unrest in Haiti: UN - Macau Business

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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