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Bangladesh has been rocked by student protests for nearly three weeks. Since July 1, university students have been protesting across the country to demand the removal of quotas in government jobs after the High Court reinstated a rule that reserves nearly one-third of posts for the descendants of those who participated in the country’s 1971 liberation movement. Following the High Court’s ruling in June, 56 percent of government jobs are now reserved for specific groups, including children and grandchildren of freedom fighters, women, and people from “backward districts”. Student protesters have clashed with police and members of Bangladesh Chhatra League, a student wing of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s governing Awami League party. Six people have been killed and hundreds of ...

Emirates has opened its first travel store in the Far East, in Hong Kong. The opening comes as part of a plan to roll out the airline’s retail blueprint in phases across the wider East Asia region and the airline’s global network. Located in the Nexxus Building, the concept store aims to provide a reimagined retail travel experience that makes its products, services, and signature hospitality more easily accessible to customer in the city, in an interactive and intimate environment. The store offers customers a comprehensive range of premium services including flight reservations, ticketing, and personalised customer assistance. The store was officially inaugurated by Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ senior vice president of commercial operations for the Far East, in the presence of Shaikh Sa...

DE HARO:  So good morning everyone, and welcome to this virtual Press Briefing.  I'm Jose Luis de Haro with the Communications Department here at the International Monetary Fund, and we are gathered here today for the launch of the World Economic Outlook Update.  I hope that by this time you all have access to the document.  If not, I will encourage you to go to imf.org.  There you will find the flagship, but also Pierre-Olivier’s blog and other assets that might be helpful for your reporting.  And to discuss the World Economic Outlook Update today, we are joined by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas.  He is the Chief Economist and the Director of the Research Department.  Next to him are Petya Koeva Brooks, she is the Deputy Director of the Research Depa...

The term ‘second China shock’ has been coined to describe China’s changing role in the global economy.  China’s aggregation of global manufacturing capacity and progress up technological ladders appears increasingly not as a passing phase in transition to a consumption and services-led economy. Rather, it is a lasting phenomenon that is reshaping the world economy and politics. Few countries will be more impacted by this than those in ASEAN, whose economies are already closely entwined with China’s. The guiding thread in Chinese economic and industrial policy is to develop ‘new quality productive forces’, based on advancing domestic capacities in science and technology (S&T). The government work report delivered at China’s last legislative session earlier this year priori...