Tác giả: Đào Thu Hằng

I'm from Hanoi, Viet Nam. I'm an author of Dot Chuoi Non (dotchuoinon.com/author/hangbelu/), a blog on Positive thinking, founded by Dr. Tran Dinh Hoanh, an attorney in Washington DC. I'm a co-founder of Conversations on Vietnam Development - cvdvn.net, a virtual think tank. I am a co-founder of two companies in Viet Nam working on children education services. I advise companies on STEAM education, English language education for children and students in Vietnam. I'm studying the Buddha's teaching and the teaching of Jesus. I practice mindful living including meditation. I hold a PhD on Sustainable Energy Systems from University of Lisbon and Aalto University. I graduated from Hanoi University of Technology on Environmental Engineering. I obtained a Master degree of the same major from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University. My English-language blog at: hangbelu.wordpress/. I play table tennis as a hobby.

Wives suffer one-sided marriages with ‘man-child’ husbands

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

vnexpress.net By Thanh Nga   December 3, 2023 | 08:00 pm GMT+7

In the middle of washing her hair, Ngoc Trang had to run out of the shower to check on her crying baby while her husband played video games on the couch.

The 24-year-old woman living in Cau Giay District, Hanoi, said that for the past four months, she’s only managed to sleep three hours a night because she has no help caring for her child during late-night crying fits.

Instead of helping her look after the baby, her husband has been constantly occupied with his games and phone. Every time she has asked for his assistance, he has used the excuse that he had to wake up early for work.

“He sulks at me when I complain about his carelessness. In the end, I had to console both him and the baby to get some peace,” Trang said.

After being in a relationship for three years, Trang decided to marry her current husband at the beginning of 2022 not only because of his stable income, but because she had thought he was someone who was willing to share responsibilities with her.

However, after they married, he transformed into an entirely different person, she said. He left everything to her, from finding a place to rent to even when to have a baby. Whenever Trang asked his opinion about a decision, he would simply reply: “It’s up to you.”

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COP28: four key issues that will dominate the latest UN climate summit

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

theconversation.com Published: November 29, 2023 4.56pm GMT

The United Nations Environment Programme recently published a report with an unusually strong title for a UN body: “Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again)”. Yet again, it highlights how far countries are off track from safeguarding the planet – and us.

As the world gathers in the United Arab Emirates for the annual UN climate change conference (or, more formally, Conference of the Parties, COP), the stakes are as high as ever. The head of the UN climate change secretariat Simon Stiell has urged for this meeting – COP28 – to be a “turning point.”

Can this COP deliver on that goal? Perhaps.

As an academic focused on international climate governance, I’ve seen how trust is vital for an ambitious outcome. Delegates negotiate all night. They trade off issues against another. And at the end of the long summit, negotiators and ministers rely on each other to uphold bargains made over hundreds of hours of talks. But, though COP28 will be my 11th climate COP, I’ve never seen trust so low among countries.

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“Cánh cửa” Thanh niên Xung phong

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ 1 bình luận

(trích Chương VII Bên Thắng Cuộc – Tác giả Huy Đức)

Từ tháng 8-1975, ông Võ Văn Kiệt đã giao cho Thành đoàn tổ chức một lực lượng thanh niên xung phong đi “thí điểm” khai khẩn đất hoang. Cuối năm ấy, ông Võ Văn Kiệt triệu tập Ban Thường vụ Thành đoàn đến nhà riêng ông Phan Minh Tánh, bí thư Trung ương Đoàn Thanh niên Cách mạng miền Nam. Vào họp, ông Kiệt giao nhiệm vụ: “Thành phố cần một lực lượng, lực lượng đó là thanh niên xung phong. Giao Thành đoàn đứng ra tổ chức, cần Thành ủy hỗ trợ gì, Thành ủy sẽ đáp ứng”. Ông giải thích: “Phải tạo ra một môi trường để mọi thanh niên đều có thể tham gia lao động để có suy nghĩ tích cực và để hãnh diện về bản thân mình”.

Ông Võ Ngọc An năm ấy ba mươi mốt tuổi, đang là ủy viên Thường vụ Thành đoàn phụ trách báo Tuổi Trẻ, nhớ lại: “Lúc đó, nghe ông Kiệt nói cảm thấy như đang nghe một điều gì đó thật thiêng liêng”. Sau cuộc họp ấy, ông Võ Ngọc An lãnh trách nhiệm huy động tiền bạc để may hàng ngàn bộ đồng phục xanh.

Hàng chục năm sau, nhiều người dân Thành phố nhớ tới ngày 28-3-1976, không chỉ vì tính hoành tráng của cuộc biểu dương lực lượng ở sân vận động Thống Nhất với một “rừng người” áo xanh, tay cầm cuốc xẻng, mà ở cách mở đầu bài nói chuyện của một bí thư cộng sản. Thay vì, “các đồng chí” như cách xưng hô thống trị thời bấy giờ ở trên mọi diễn đàn, ông Võ Văn Kiệt đã làm nhiều thanh niên ứa nước mắt khi nói: “Các em đoàn viên, thanh niên yêu quý!”. Trong số hàng vạn thanh niên có mặt hôm ấy không chỉ có con em Cách mạng. Theo yêu cầu của ông Võ Văn Kiệt, Thành đoàn đã vận động được cả những thanh niên nghiện xì ke, ma túy, có người đã từng là “đĩ, điếm”, có người là “lính ngụy”. Theo ông Võ Ngọc An, trong số ấy có một đại úy Sài Gòn, cha anh đã từng bị giết nhầm bởi “Việt Cộng”. Những thanh niên ấy, từ sau ngày 30-4, thông qua cách cư xử của các cán bộ phường, thông qua những ngôn từ cao ngạo trên báo đài, biết được thân phận của mình, dám mong chi có ngày một ông bí thư gọi mình là “các em yêu dấu”.

Với tư cách là một nhà lãnh đạo Đảng, ông Võ Văn Kiệt cũng nói về truyền thống theo cách của mình: “Tôi cũng xin phép được bày tỏ với lứa tuổi hai mươi của đất nước đã hết đau thương và từ đây thẳng đường đi tới chủ nghĩa xã hội với tất cả tấm lòng trìu mến và kỳ vọng thiết tha của những lớp thanh niên nối tiếp nhau đã từng tham gia khởi nghĩa Nam Kỳ, cách mạng Tháng Tám…”. Ông nói tiếp: “Lý tưởng của họ, ước mơ của họ chính là hiện tại mà hôm nay các em đang sống. Nếu các em sau này có điều kiện ôn lại kỹ càng một giai đoạn cách mạng hùng vĩ đã qua của dân tộc, các em sẽ biết thương yêu vô hạn Tổ quốc Việt Nam nghìn lần yêu dấu. Các em sẽ mạnh lên gấp bội vì một niềm tin ở nhân dân và đất nước”.

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“Under no circumstances will the US permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza,” US Vice President, Kalama Harris

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Harris says Israel must do more to protect civilians: “Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed”

CNN live updates

Washington will not allow for the forced relocation of Palestinians or any redrawing of the current border of the Gaza Strip, US Vice President Kamala Harris said in a meeting Saturday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

“Under no circumstances will the United States permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza,” Harris said, according to a statement from the White House.

What’s behind China’s mysterious wave of childhood pneumonia?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

nature.com

Scientists expected a surge in respiratory disease, but what is happening in China is unusual.

Many adults and children, a lot of them wearing masks, in a hospital waiting room.
Parents wait for their children to be treated for respiratory disease in Chongqing, China.Credit: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty

China is grappling with a surge in respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia, in children. The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that common winter infections — rather than any new pathogens — are behind the spike in hospitalizations. A surge of infections was expected in the country this winter, China’s first without COVID-19 restrictions since the pandemic began in 2020. What is unusual, say epidemiologists, is the high prevalence of pneumonia in China. When COVID-19 restrictions were eased in other countries, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) drove most spikes in illness.

The WHO requested information, including laboratory results and data on recent trends in the spread of respiratory illnesses, from China’s health authorities last week. This followed reports from the media and the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases — a publicly available system run by the International Society for Infectious Diseases — about clusters of “undiagnosed pneumonia”.

In a 23 November statement, the WHO said that China’s health authorities have attributed the rise in hospitalizations since October to known pathogens, such as adenoviruses, influenza virus and RSV, which tends to cause only mild, cold-like symptoms. However, an increase in children being admitted to hospital since May, particularly in northern cities such as Beijing, is mainly due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a bacterium that infects the lungs. It is a common cause of ‘walking pneumonia’, a form of the disease that is usually relatively mild and doesn’t require bed rest or hospitalization, but that is hitting children hard this year.

Benjamin Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, is not surprised by the wave of illness. “This is a typical ‘winter surge’ in acute respiratory infections,” he says. “It is happening slightly earlier this year, perhaps because of increased population susceptibility to respiratory infections resulting from three years of COVID measures.”

A familiar pattern

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All the Metals We Mined in One Visualization

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

 visualcapitalist.com November 15, 2023 By Bruno Venditti

All the metals we mined

Metals are a big part of our daily lives, found in every building we enter and all devices we use.

Today, major industries that directly consume processed mineral materials contribute 14% of the United States economy.

The above infographic visualizes all 2.8 billion tonnes of metals mined in 2022 and highlights each metal’s largest end-use using data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Iron Ore Dominance

Iron ore dominates the metals mining landscape, comprising 93% of the total mined. In 2022, 2.6 billion tonnes of iron ore were mined, containing about 1.6 billion tonnes of iron.

Metal/OreQuantity Mined in 2022 (tonnes)% of Total
Iron ore2,600,000,00093.3%
Industrial metals185,111,8356.6%
Technology and Precious Metals1,500,0080.05%
Total2,786,611,843100%

Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Iron ores are found in various geologic environments, such as igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary rocks, and can contain over 70% iron, with many falling in the 50-60% range.

Combined with other materials like coke and limestone, iron ore is primarily used in steel production. Today, almost all (98%) iron ore is dedicated to steelmaking.

The ore is typically mined in about 50 countries, but Australia, Brazil, China, and India are responsible for 75% of the production.

Because of its essential role in infrastructure development, iron ore is one of the most crucial materials underpinning urbanization and economic growth.

Industrial Metals

Industrial metals occupy the second position on our list, constituting 6.6% of all metals mined in 2022. These metals, including copper, aluminum, lead, and zinc, are employed in construction and industrial applications.

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Laos Maps Showing Sites of US Bombings Resurface: ‘Kissinger’s Legacy’

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

newsweek.com By Ellie Cook Security & Defense Reporter

Resurfaced maps showing the heavy Cold War bombardment of Laos have fed the controversial legacy of diplomatic giant Henry Kissinger following his death.

Kissinger, a former secretary of state and national security adviser who is credited with shaping decades of U.S. foreign policy, died at his Connecticut home aged 100 on Wednesday.

Kissinger “played central roles in the opening to China, negotiating the end of the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, and helping to bring America’s role in the Vietnam War to a close,” the diplomat’s international geopolitical consulting firm said in a statement on his passing.

The influential diplomat won the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize along with Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho “for jointly having negotiated a cease-fire in Vietnam in 1973.” The latter declined the prize.

But as tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers died in Vietnam, anger in the U.S. was also spurred on by the extensive bombing of neighboring countries Laos and Cambodia.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on September 22, 1992 in Washington. Newly resurfaced maps showing the heavy Cold War bombardment of Laos feed the controversial legacy of diplomatic giant Henry Kissinger following his death on Wednesday.ROBERT GIROUX/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The U.S. was attempting to disrupt a logistics chain — known as the Ho Chi Minh trail — running from Laos into Vietnam, which was used by North Vietnamese forces.

Laos is the most bombed country in the world. Between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. dropped more than 270 million bombs on the country, which had a population of around 3 million at the time.

U.S. aircraft dropped a new wave of bombs on Laos every eight minutes for nearly 10 years on average.

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90 NGOs question Thailand Prime Minister on fisheries deregulation plan (commentary)

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

news.mongabay.com by Steve Trent on 23 November 2023

  • Thailand’s new government is promising to “unlock” fisheries by reducing regulation and transparency around vessels’ activities.
  • A letter signed by 90 NGOs questions the National Fishing Association’s proposals for fisheries reform, including returning to day-rate salaries, permitting child labor and weakening punitive measures designed to deter illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.
  • This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

The government of Thailand is about to reverse eight years of progress.

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Violent gangs, disease and hunger deepen humanitarian crisis in Haiti

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Haiti: UN report says gang violence spreading, urges speedy deployment of multinational security mission

28 November 2023

People in Haiti are Living A Nightmare

GENEVA/PORT-AU-PRINCE (28 November 2023) – A new UN report out today details a further, shocking rise in gang violence in Haiti as criminal gangs forge alliances and expand to rural areas previously considered safe – killing, raping, kidnapping, and destroying property, among other abuses.

The report, released by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), calls for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October, in accordance with international human rights norms and standards. Increased efforts will need to be deployed to strengthen Haiti’s rule of law institutions, in particular the police, the judiciary, and the prison system, the report notes.

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New investigation casts doubt on a Singapore-listed palm oil giant’s green claims

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

ICIJ.org

Interviews with former workers by ICIJ partner The Gecko Project reveal new links between First Resources, the billionaire family that owns it, and a trio of companies that have reportedly cleared more forest for palm oil than any other firm in Southeast Asia.

By Scilla Alecci November 20, 2023

Deforested land in a New Borneo Agri company’s concession in East Kalimantan province, in September 2023.

In public statements, First Resources says it is committed to producing the palm oil that ends up in major Western brands’ cosmetics, foods and biofuel in a manner that doesn’t deplete natural resources and protects wildlife and the environment.

But an investigation by nonprofit newsroom The Gecko Project reveals how First Resources’ majority shareholders, the billionaire Fangiono family, have breached their company’s pledge of “sustainable” production by secretly controlling companies that environmental analysts found had cleared large areas of rainforest in Indonesia.

The investigation in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists also spotlights a loophole in the Singapore Exchange’s reporting rules that allows listed companies to publish so-called sustainability reports, without requiring that an independent firm audits the company’s green claims.

The findings are part of Deforestation Inc., a cross-border investigation led by ICIJ that exposed how a lightly regulated sustainability industry overlooks forest destruction and human rights violations when granting environmental certifications. Deforestation Inc. showed how major companies increasingly use certifications based on flawed audits to advertise products and operations as compliant with environmental standards, labor laws and human rights, misinforming shareholders as well as customers.

In a press release, First Resources said that in 2022 it recorded “its best performance” financially since listing on the Singapore exchange with $1.2 billion in revenues. In the sustainability report it published on its website, the company assured investors and customers that its supply chain is “transparent” and that it “encourages” its suppliers to adhere to its environmental standards.

The examination of First Resources’ practices by The Gecko Project appears to contradict the company’s statements.

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Civil society groups call for halt of war against Ukraine ahead of OSCE Ministerial Council

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

*Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

OSCE.org 29 November 2023

Over 120 civil society groups gathered at the Civil Society Conference held on the eve of the 30th OSCE Ministerial Council, 29 November 2023. (OSCE) Photo details

SKOPJE, 29 November 2023 — Putting a stop to the war against Ukraine and strengthening civil society across the OSCE were at the heart of recommendations put forward by civil society representatives from across the OSCE region. The recommendations were handed over at the annual OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference held in Skopje today.

The Civil Society Conference brought together more than 120 civil society representatives from across the OSCE region to discuss common recommendations from civil society to the OSCE leadership. One of the major outcomes of this year’s conference was the Skopje Declaration. The Declaration emphasised the need to end the war against Ukraine, strengthen civil society and hold participating States accountable for their human dimension commitments.

The Declaration was presented to the OSCE’s leadership, as well as to the organization’s 57 participating States on the eve of the 30th OSCE Ministerial Council.

“I am convinced that there is a clear and positive correlation between a strong, diverse and vibrant civil society on the one hand, and on the other the strength of democratic institutions, the rule of law and tolerant and inclusive communities,” emphasized the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani.  

The Conference was also attended by OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, by Matteo Mecacci, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Kairat Abdrakhmanov, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) and Teresa Ribeiro, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM).

The Parallel Civil Society Conference is organized by the Civic Solidarity Platform. The Conference has taken place every year on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council since 2010, with the support of the OSCE Chairpersonship.

Most sponsors of Cop28 have not signed up to UN-backed net zero targets

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

theguardian.com

Firms including Bank of America have made no commitment to cut emissions in line with target system, analysis finds

Sandra Laville Environment correspondentWed 29 Nov 2023 06.00 GMT

Most companies sponsoring the UN climate talks in Dubai are not committed to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions in line with globally recognised net zero targets, it has been revealed.

Only one of the more than 20 sponsors of Cop28 has signed up to UN-backed net zero science-based targets, (SBTi), according to an analysis.

Most of the corporate sponsors, which include the oilfield services company Baker Hughes as well as Bank of America, have made no commitment to reduce emissions to net zero in any time period under the target system.

The global accountancy firm EY, formerly Ernst and Young, which has been hired as the independent verifier of the climate record of all the sponsors, has also not set targets with the net zero scheme.

The targets are recognised as one of the leading voluntary global validations of a company’s commitment to tackling global heating.

The targets are clearly defined science-based pathways for companies and financial institutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and they are reviewed and validated by the SBTi.

Six firms sponsoring the Dubai climate talks, which begin on 30 November, including EY, have made a commitment to set net zero targets, by registering with the scheme. This requires them to submit their plans for validation within 24 months.

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Male squirrels caught napping in new study that finds their female counterparts do most of the work

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

independent.co.uk

The males may spend time above ground ‘simply to loaf or bask in the sun’

Ian Johnston Science Correspondent Tuesday 04 October 2016 14:46 BST

Male Arctic ground squirrels may loaf around in the sun, while the females rush around to get food

Male Arctic ground squirrels may loaf around in the sun, while the females rush around to get food

 (Rex)

The males appear to spend hours loafing around in the sun, while the females rush about, gathering supplies and looking after the kids.

Try as you might, it’s hard not to draw comparisons between a new study about the lives of Arctic ground squirrels and human beings.

Researchers fitted tracking devices to the squirrels to monitor their activity and found that the females tended to be significantly more active than the males – although the squirrel with the highest average activity level was male.

But he appears to have been very much out of step with most of his male friends, who were about half as energetic.

Writing in the Royal Society Open Science journal, the US researchers said: “For much of our study, we found that both sexes spent similar amounts of time above ground, but females were consistently more active.

“It is not clear what [the males] are doing while above ground … it is possible that time above ground serves some sort of social function, such as the establishment and/or persistence of territories.

“The additional time spent above ground may be simply to loaf or bask in the sun. In small mammals, basking behaviour has been commonly reported as a means of passive rewarming from torpor.”

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What drought in the Amazon means for the planet

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

washingtonpost.com By Nicolás Rivero November 10, 2023 at 6:30 a.m. EST

View of an area affected by severe drought in the Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil, on Oct. 28. (Andre Coelho/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

The Amazon — the lush, tropical basin that holds the world’s biggest river, rainforest and a fifth of its fresh water — is running dry.

The region is entering its fifth month of a drought that has been particularly punishing in the northern reaches of the rainforest, in the region around the city of Manaus. The Rio Negro, a northern Amazon tributary, fell to the lowest levels in its recorded history last month. Wildfires have advanced where waterways have retreated.

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