Top 10 Priorities for President Biden to Tackle the Climate Crisis

WRI.org

Former U.S. Vice President Joseph R. Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris are widely recognized as having won the 2020 U.S. presidential election, with a majority in the Electoral College and a resounding majority in the popular vote. The Democratic Party has retained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, while the results for the U.S. Senate are very close and the outcome is undetermined at this time. In this WRI Commentary, WRI U.S. Director Dan Lashof suggests a 10-point plan for the new administration.


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President-elect Biden will be sworn into office in the midst of four deeply intertwined crises: the health crisis, the economic crisis, the racial injustice crisis and the climate crisis. He has promised to build back better by taking bold action on all four simultaneously, including making unprecedented investments in health care, infrastructure and clean energy.
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China shapes a new U.S. economic era: The return of industrial policy

The latest episode of POLITICO’s Global Translations podcast explores the new industrial policy emerging in America to counter China’s ascent.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during fifth plenary session of the 19th Communist Party of China  Central Committee in Beijing. | Ju Peng/Xinhua via AP

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during fifth plenary session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee in Beijing. | Ju Peng/Xinhua via AP

By LUIZA CH. SAVAGE, Politico

11/04/2020 04:30 AM EST

A historic shift in U.S. economic policy is taking shape regardless of who sits in the White House or controls Congress: an increasingly muscular role for state power to build up industries U.S. leaders deem critical to America’s national security and place in the world.

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Being tough on China is what unifies a polarized U.S., former trade negotiator says

PUBLISHED WED, NOV 4 202011:27 PM ESTUPDATED THU, NOV 5 202012:10 AM EST Saheli Roy Choudhury@SAHELIRC, CNBC

KEY POINTS

  • Being tough on China is what unifies a polarized United States right now, according to former top White House trade negotiator Clete Willems.
  • A day after Americans voted, the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is still up in the air — several states remain uncalled.
  • Willems explained that if Biden wins, he would be constrained by the political environment and will unlikely be able to go back to some of the China positions he’s held in the past that were seen as relatively weak.

WATCH NOWVIDEO03:25Being tough on China unifies a polarized U.S., former trade negotiator says

Being tough on China is what unifies a polarized United States right now, according to former top White House trade negotiator Clete Willems.

A day after Americans voted, the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is still up in the air — with six states yet to be called by NBC News.

Regardless of who takes the White House, the relationship with China will remain more or less status quo, said Willems, a partner at Akin Gump.

“The truth of the matter is that being tough on China is what unifies us in a polarized nation right now. We’re polarized in our politics but we are not polarized on China,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday.

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The energy-sector threat: How to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities

Electric-power and gas companies are especially vulnerable to cyberattacks, but a structured approach that applies communication, organizational, and process frameworks can significantly reduce cyber-related risks.
In our experience working with utility companies, we have observed three characteristics that make the sector especially vulnerable to contemporary cyberthreats.First is an increased number of threats and actors targeting utilities: nation-state actors seeking to cause security and economic dislocation, cybercriminals who understand the economic value represented by this sector, and hacktivists out to publicly register their opposition to utilities’ projects or broad agendas.
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The US Electoral College, explained

TĐH: if you understand the Electoral College of the US, you are close to Einstein.

Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN

Updated 0221 GMT (1021 HKT) November 4, 2020

electoral college explainer animation orig_00002708

(CNN)Americans who go to the polls on Election Day don’t actually select the President directly.They are technically voting for 538 electors who, according to the system laid out by the Constitution, meet in their respective states and vote for President and Vice President. These people, the electors, comprise the Electoral College, and their votes are then counted by the President of the Senate in a joint session of Congress.Visit CNN’s Election Center for full coverage of the 2020 raceWhy did the framers choose this system? There are a few reasons: First, they feared factions and worried that voters wouldn’t make informed decisions. They didn’t want to tell states how to conduct their elections. There were also many who feared that the states with the largest voting populations would essentially end up choosing the President. Others preferred the idea of Congress choosing the President, and there were proposals at the time for a national popular vote. The Electoral College was a compromise.The stain of slavery is on the Electoral College as it is on all US history. The formula for apportioning congressmen, which is directly tied to the number of electors, relied at that time on the 3/5 Compromise, whereby each slave in a state counted as fraction of a person to apportion congressional seats. This gave states in the South with many slaves more power despite the fact that large portions of their populations could not vote and were not free. Tiếp tục đọc “The US Electoral College, explained”

Tiếng Việt từ thời LM de Rhodes – các cách dùng chúa nhật/chúa tàu/chúa nhà/thiên chúa” (phần 6A)

Linh mục Alexandre de Rhodes và cuốn Phép Giảng Tám Ngày

Nguyễn Cung Thông[1]

Phần này bàn về cách dùng chúa so với chủ vào thời LM de Rhodes đến truyền đạo. Đây là lần đầu tiên các danh từ này được kí âm bằng chữ quốc ngữ và phản ánh cách đọc chính xác của chữ . Phần này cũng bàn về các danh từ chúa nhật, chúa nhà, chúa tàu, thiên chúachúa ý từng hiện diện vào thời LM de Rhodes.

Các tài liệu tham khảo chính của bài viết này là bốn tác phẩm của LM de Rhodes soạn: (a) cuốn Phép Giảng Tám Ngày (viết tắt là PGTN), (b) Bản Báo Cáo vắn tắt về tiếng An Nam hay Đông Kinh (viết tắt là BBC), (c) Lịch Sử Vương Quốc Đàng Ngoài 1627-1646 và (d) tự điển Annam-Lusitan-Latinh (thường gọi là Việt-Bồ-La, viết tắt là VBL) có thể tra tự điển này trên mạng, như trang http://books.google.fr/books?id=uGhkAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. Tiếp tục đọc “Tiếng Việt từ thời LM de Rhodes – các cách dùng chúa nhật/chúa tàu/chúa nhà/thiên chúa” (phần 6A)”

Bộ trưởng Nguyễn Văn Thể: dự án đường sắt đô thị ‘bộc lộ nhiều vấn đề’

03/11/2020 11:17 GMT+720Lưu

TTO – Trước Quốc hội, Bộ trưởng Bộ Giao thông vận tải Nguyễn Văn Thể thừa nhận việc triển khai các dự án đường sắt đô thị ‘đã bộc lộ nhiều vấn đề, đặc biệt vấn đề chậm tiến độ’.
Bộ trưởng Nguyễn Văn Thể: dự án đường sắt đô thị bộc lộ nhiều vấn đề - Ảnh 1.
Tiếp tục đọc “Bộ trưởng Nguyễn Văn Thể: dự án đường sắt đô thị ‘bộc lộ nhiều vấn đề’”

What Pompeo’s visit augurs for post election Vietnam-US relations

By Viet Anh   November 3, 2020 | 07:00 am GMT+7 vnexpress

With minor differences, international observers agree that the latest Vietnam visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signals post presidential election continuity.

While at least one expert is troubled by the lack of any new development, others see significance in the visit happening, per se.

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Central Vietnam: a month in tragedies

e.vnexpress November 3, 2020 | 10:28 am GMT+7

In just a month, central Vietnam got struck by three floods, four storms and a series of landslides that claimed 159 lives and left 71 missing.

On October 4, provinces from Thanh Hoa to Quang Ngai along the central strip of Vietnam recorded heavy rains due to a combination of a cold spell moving down from the north and winds from the east. After months of drought, rains brought joy to the people of central Vietnam. But little did they know the rain in fact signaled a streak of consecutive disasters.

Tiếp tục đọc “Central Vietnam: a month in tragedies”

Experiencing life of western farmers in Tram Chim National Park

vietnamnet 3/11/2020    07:25 GMT+7

Besides contemplating the beauty of nature in Tram Chim National Park in Dong Thap Province, visitors to the park can also experience a day in life of farmers in the west of Vietnam.
Tourists visiting Tram Chim National Park in Dong Thap Province experience fishermen’s life. Photos: VNA

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Public debt: one fourth of state budget collections used to pay debt

vietnamnet 03/11/2020    07:00 GMT+7

The public debt to GDP ratio has been controlled well and has decreased in recent years. But the public debt repayment to budget revenue ratio has steadily increased because of many due debts.

Debt repayment obligatio

The government estimates that the public debt will be about 56.8 percent of GDP by the end of 2020; the government’s debt will be 50.8 percent; the government’s direct debt repayment obligation to state budget revenue ratio will be 24.1 percent; and the national foreign debt, 47.9 percent of GDP.

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Unique water ceremony of the Jrai people

vietnamnet 3/11/2020    06:40 GMT+7

Dam San Music, Dancing and Singing Theatre in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai recently hosted the water source worship ceremony for Jrai ethnicity locals in Krêl Village, Krêl Commune, Duc Co District.

The ceremony aims to wish for good health and bountiful crops.

As many as three shamans and four assistants join the ceremony. Offerings include a pig, 10 chickens, sticky rice and a jar of wine.

Tiếp tục đọc “Unique water ceremony of the Jrai people”

Highlights from the year-end meeting of the National Assembly

vietnamnet 2/11/2020    21:01 GMT+7

The government is taking a cautious view in setting its development goals for 2021, which is understandable due to lingering risks from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Vietnamese National Assembly (NA)’s year-end meeting, scheduled to last for more than three weeks from October 20 to November 17, will focus on reviewing socio-economic development in 2020 and decide important matters related to socio-economic issues and the state budget for the next year. 

2020 economic review: Stays resilient despite Covid-19

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam’s GDP is estimated to grow at 2.0-3.0% in 2020 versus a target of 6.8% for the year.

This would result in the GDP growth rate averaging 5.9% over the 2016-2020 period, which falls short of the 5-year period target of 6.5-7.0%. Per capita GDP is estimated at US$2,750 in 2020, which also misses the target of US$3,200-3,500 by 2020.

Tiếp tục đọc “Highlights from the year-end meeting of the National Assembly”

Development of coastal urban areas: a hot trend

vietnamnet 02/11/2020    19:34 GMT+7

“Coastal urban area” is a phrase that is appearing increasingly in the print and electronic media.

    
Rendering of NovaWorld Phan Thiet project in Binh Thuan Province. Photo: haiphathome.vn

It began after the launch of a series of large-scale coastal developments like NovaWorld Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan Province and NovaWorld Binh Chau in Ba Ria-Vung Tau in recent times and some even started offering their products for sale.

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