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Macao detains Suncity boss on China gambling charge Posted: 28 Nov 2021 08:27 PM PST BEIJING -- Macao police on Saturday, November 27, detained the head of Macao's biggest casino junket organizer and others after Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for them over accusations that they ran an illegal cross-border gambling syndicate. The arrests in the gambling enclave came after prosecutors in Wenzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, on Friday, November 26, accused Suncity Group CEO Alvin Chau and another person, Zhang Ningning, of leading cross-border gambling operations and setting up casinos across China. Casinos and most forms of gambling are illegal in mainland China, and semi-autonomous Macao is the only Chinese city allowed to operate a casino. Mainland visitors are able to travel to Macao to gamble but are required to obtain a visa. "Based on evidence obtained from previous criminal investigations, the (Macao) police brought the criminal suspect Chau and other persons involved back to the police station for investigation in accordance with the law this morning," Macao's government said in a statement on Saturday. Authorities said they had been investigating the case since July last year. They said that the gambling syndicate has 199 shareholder representatives, over 12,000 agents that promoted its gambling operations and more than 80,000 gamblers in its network. The syndicate also set up asset management firms to assist gamblers with cross-border fund transfers and to recover debts they owed, authorities said, In 2019, China's official Xinhua news agency accused Suncity of targeting mainland gamblers with online gambling and proxy-betting operations based in Cambodia and the Philippines. Suncity denied the allegations. Authorities said the syndicate "severely damaged the social order of the country" and on Friday urged Chau to turn himself in exchange for a more lenient punishment. Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group could not be reached for comment by phone and did not immediately reply to email inquiries. (AP) This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

India's Serum Institute resumes vaccine exports to Covax Posted: 28 Nov 2021 08:06 PM PST NEW DELHI -- The Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker, resumed exports of coronavirus vaccines to the UN-backed Covax distribution program on Friday after halting most overseas sales in March. The company was to have been Covax's main supplier, but an explosion of cases in India resulted in a cutoff of exports. At the time, Serum Institute had contracts to provide Covax with 200 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, and unfinalized agreements to supply 350 million more. The suspension was a significant setback for global efforts to distribute vaccines equitably. Gavi, the vaccine alliance which co-manages the Covax program, said the company had provided just under 30 million doses to it. New infections in India have now fallen to the lowest level in months, and the first new exports under the Covax program, destined for Tajikistan, are leaving Friday evening, Serum Institute said in a statement. It said it expects exports to increase substantially in early 2022. It said it has already produced more than a billion doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine under license, almost all for domestic use. Serum Institute also started making the Novavax vaccine under license in June. Experts say the vaccine — which has been greenlit by regulators in Indonesia and the Philippines — is easier to store and transport than some others, and this may allow it to play an important role in boosting global vaccine supplies. With the addition of the new vaccine, "We can be more hopeful that WHO's target to vaccine 70 percent of the world's population by the middle of the next year can be met," Serum Institute chief executive Adar Poonawalla said, Although coronavirus restrictions have been lifted in India, the country, like others, is jittery after the detection of a new, worrisome variant in southern Africa. The federal government has asked states to scale up screening of travelers from some countries and the genetic sequencing of any detected infections. (AP) This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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