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.

Mother Nature Cambodia’s ‘relentless’ activism earns Right Livelihood Award

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

mongabay.com

  • Environmental activist group Mother Nature Cambodia has been named one of Right Livelihood’s 2023 laureates.
  • The award, established in 1980, recognizes groups and individuals striving to preserve the environment and those who protect it.
  • Mother Nature Cambodia has played a key role in campaigns against environmentally destructive dams, logging and sand mining, resulting in the imprisonment of multiple group members and banishment of its founder.

PHNOM PENH — Mother Nature Cambodia, one of the country’s most prominent environmental activism groups, was named one of Right Livelihood’s 2023 laureates on Sept. 28, making it the first group of Cambodians recognized in the award’s 43-year history.

Born out of a refusal from the Nobel Foundation to issue awards recognizing changemakers who champion environmental and social justice issues, Stockholm-headquartered Right Livelihood rewards groups and individuals committed to advancing causes around the world. The award offers recipients “a megaphone and a shield” with what Right Livelihood calls “lifelong support” to activists striving to preserve the environment and protect those who depend on it.

“Mother Nature Cambodia is a group of fearless young activists fighting for environmental rights and democracy in the face of repression by the Cambodian regime,” Ole von Uexkull, Right Livelihood’s executive director, said in a statement. “Through innovative and often humorous protests, their activism defends nature and livelihoods, while upholding communities’ voices against corrupt and damaging projects. Despite arrests, legal harassment and surveillance, they continue to fight relentlessly for Cambodians’ environmental and civic rights.”

Right Livelihood’s jury said Mother Nature Cambodia was receiving the award “for their fearless and engaging activism to preserve Cambodia’s natural environment in the context of a highly restricted democratic space.”

Activists protsting outside the Ministry of Justice in Phnom Penh.
Activists protesting outside the Ministry of Justice in Phnom Penh. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.
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Cyber-scam hits the big screen, and Cambodia isn’t happy

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

focus-cambodia.com

The banning of the Chinese blockbuster “No More Bets” warns that Beijing’s patience is wearing thin over Cambodia’s apparent inability to control cyber crime within its borders. A dramatic drop in tourism numbers may be one symptom. 

All bets are off with regard to the impact in Cambodia of “No More Bets”, a hit Chinese movie based upon Southeast Asia’s cyber-scam industry.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts last week requested the Chinese Embassy to stop screening the action thriller, banning it in Cambodia and calling for censorship in China.

International observers say the movie already is testing the limits of the two nations’ “ironclad” friendship, as well as impacting the already-collapsing Chinese tourism market in Cambodia. Indeed, the outrage generated by “No More Bets” is amplifying awareness of possible further political and economic consequences of this “scamdemic”.

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Are free markets history?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Governments are jettisoning the principles that made the world rich

image: maxine mouysset

economist.com

Sometimes, in wars and revolutions, fundamental change arrives with a bang. More often, it creeps up on you. That is the way with what we are calling “homeland economics”, a protectionist, high-subsidy, intervention-heavy ideology administered by an ambitious state. Fragile supply chains, growing threats to national security, the energy transition and the cost-of-living crisis have each demanded action by governments—and for good reason. But when you lump them all together, it becomes clear just how systematically the presumption of open markets and limited government has been left in the dust.

For this newspaper, this is an alarming trend. We were founded in 1843 to campaign for, among other things, free trade and a modest role for government. Today these classical liberal values are not only unpopular, they are increasingly absent from political debate. Less than eight years ago President Barack Obama was trying to sign America up to a giant Pacific trade pact. Today if you argue for free trade in Washington, you will be scoffed at as hopelessly naive. In the emerging world, you will be painted as a neocolonial relic from the era when the West knew best.

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Báo động tình trạng nạn nhân buôn người bị ép tham gia lừa đảo trực tuyến tại Đông Nam Á

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

antv.gov.vn Thứ tư, 30/08/2023


(ANTV) – Trong một báo cáo đưa ra mới đây, Liên hợp quốc (LHQ) cảnh báo các nhóm tội phạm đã ép hàng trăm nghìn người tại Đông Nam Á thực hiện các vụ lừa đảo trực tuyến và chịu các hình thức đối xử vô nhân đạo như bạo hành và xâm hại
Theo báo cáo, rất khó để đánh giá quy mô tình hình do các hành vi này diễn ra lén lút và phản ứng còn chưa hiệu quả của nhà chức trách. Tuy nhiên, các nguồn tin đáng tin cậy cho biết ít nhất 120.000 người trên khắp Myanmar có thể đang bị cầm giữ và buộc phải thực hiện lừa đảo trực tuyến. Con số này tại Campuchia là khoảng 100.000 người. Lào, Philippines và Thái Lan là những quốc gia khác trong khu vực được xác định là điểm đến chính hoặc nơi trung chuyển của hoạt động buôn người. Ước tính các nhóm tội phạm này thu về hàng tỷ USD mỗi năm. Nạn nhân tới từ Hiệp hội các quốc gia Đông Nam Á (ASEAN), Nam Á, Trung Quốc đại lục, Hong Kong, Đài Loan (Trung Quốc)…Phần lớn các nạn nhân là nam giới.
Các mạng lưới tội phạm này đã kiếm lời từ đại dịch COVID-19, khi một số quốc gia phải đóng cửa sòng bài để kiểm soát dịch. Điều này buộc các nhà điều hành sòng bài chuyển hoạt động tới những nơi có ít sự giám sát của nhà chức trách, chẳng hạn như khu vực biên giới có xung đột.
Theo nội dung trong một hồ sơ pháp lý công bố ngày 28/8, mạng xã hội X (trước đây là Twitter) đang đối mặt với 2.200 vụ tranh chấp trọng tài với các nhân viên cũ sau khi tỷ phú công nghệ Elon Musk tiếp quản công ty, cắt giảm nhiều nhân sự và thực hiện loạt điều chỉnh sâu rộng.
Hồ sơ pháp lý này nằm trong một vụ kiện tại tòa án quận Delaware giữa cựu nhân viên Chris Woodfield với Twitter, tập đoàn X và ông Musk. Trong đơn kiện của mình, ông Woodfield, một cựu kỹ sư mạng cấp cao từng làm việc tại chi nhánh của Twitter ở Seattle, cáo buộc Twitter (hiện là X) đã không trả tiền trợ cấp thôi việc cho ông như cam kết, sau đó trì hoãn việc giải quyết tranh chấp thay thế khi không thanh toán các phí cần thiết để tiếp tục vụ pháp lý. Vụ tranh chấp giữa ông Woodfield và tập đoàn X do JAMS – một tổ chức phi lợi nhuận chuyên cung cấp dịch vụ hòa giải bằng trọng tài tại Mỹ – giải quyết. Căn cứ vào biểu phí của JAMS, riêng chi phí nộp đơn trong 2.200 vụ tranh chấp bằng trọng tài của X có thể lên tới 3,5 triệu USD, chưa kể các khoản phụ phí.
Tại Mỹ, nhiều tập đoàn lớn yêu cầu người lao động ký thỏa thuận giải quyết tranh chấp bằng trọng tài khi làm việc tại các chi nhánh và điều này là hợp pháp.
TIN LIÊN QUAN
Indonesia bắt giữ hơn 600 nghi phạm buôn người

Europol và Interpol phá vỡ mạng lưới buôn người di cư sang châu Âu

Cảnh báo nạn buôn người, lừa đảo việc làm ở Đông Nam Á

China’s Three Gorges Dam: This Dam affected Earth’s Rotation

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River, in Central China. It is the world’s largest hydroelectric power station, but all that power comes with great responsibility. According to NASA, the dam delays the rotation of the Earth by 0.06 microseconds. This happens when the dam raises trillions of pounds of water 574 feet (175 m) above sea level increasing the Earth’s moment of inertia and thus slowing its rotation. Will the dam cause major consequences in our future or will the very minor delay not be noticeable for thousands of years?

China’s plan for the ‘world’s riskiest’ mega dam high in the Himalayas

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

As China seeks to meet its targets of becoming carbon neutral by 2060, it is turning its sights to some of the wildest reaches of the Tibetan Plateau where it plans to build a hydropower plant so ambitious that it could produce three times as much power as Three Gorges.

Experts believe it could be the riskiest mega structure ever built. Not only is the location prone to massive landslides and some of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, it’s also precariously close to the disputed border between India and China. Meaning any major project could further escalate discontent in a tense territorial dispute between the world’s two most populous countries.

How gangs are using Malta to smuggle migrants from Vietnam into Europe

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Watch on ITV news

https://www.itv.com/watch/news/itv-news-reveals-how-gangs-are-using-malta-to-smuggle-migrants-from-vietnam-into-europe/1ydbpjp

We have no choice’: The Vietnamese dying for a chance to work in the UK | ITV News

There’s a saying in Vietnam about the Nghe An province: “Chó ăn đá, gà ăn sỏi.” It means “the dogs eat rocks, the chickens eat pebbles”. It’s a hot, tough place to live, and is also Vietnam’s hub for the trade in human cargo. When 39 Vietnamese were found dead in a lorry in Essex four years ago, the majority had left from Nghe An. Read the full report on the ITV News website here: https://www.itv.com/news/2023-09-26/w…

What is climate finance and why do we need more of it?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

UNDP.org October 2, 2023

Climate Finance visual 1

Summary

  • Climate finance refers to financial resources and instruments that are used to support action on climate change.
  • Examples of climate finance include grants provided by multilateral funds, market-based and concessional loans from financial institutions, sovereign green bonds issued by national governments, and resources mobilized through carbon trading and carbon taxes.
  • Investments in climate action can yield results that dramatically outweigh the upfront costs, yet significant funding gap remains to advance the green transition and enhance resilience in developing countries.
  • Current financial flows for climate change mitigation need to increase at least three times, if we are to limit global warming to 2°C or below and achieve the Paris Agreement targets.
  • UNDP is one of the major entities supporting countries access and effectively use climate finance.
What is climate finance?

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The Race to Regulate Artificial Intelligence

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Why Europe Has an Edge Over America and China

foreignaffairs.com June 27, 2023 By Anu Bradford

Artificial intelligence is taking the world by storm. ChatGPT and other new generative AI technologies have the potential to revolutionize the way people work and interact with information and each other. At best, these technologies allow humans to reach new frontiers of knowledge and productivity, transforming labor markets, remaking economies, and leading to unprecedented levels of economic growth and societal progress.

At the same time, the pace of AI development is unsettling technologists, citizens, and regulators alike. Even ardent techno-enthusiasts—including figures such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak—are issuing warnings about how unregulated AI can lead to uncontrollable harms, posing severe threats to individuals and societies. The direst predictions concern AI’s ability to obliterate labor markets and make humans obsolete or—under the most extreme scenario—even destroy humanity.

With tech companies racing to advance artificial intelligence capabilities amid intense criticism and scrutiny, Washington is facing mounting pressure to craft AI regulation without quashing innovation. Different regulatory paradigms are already emerging in the United States, China, and Europe, rooted in distinct values and incentives. These different approaches will not only reshape domestic markets—but also increasingly guide the expansion of American, Chinese, and European digital empires, each advancing a competing vision for the global digital economy while attempting to expand its sphere of influence in the digital world.

Stay informed.

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Impact of global South research ‘should be recognised’

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

scidev.net

A female researcher flying a drone in the field in Namibia

A Namibian female researcher flying a drone to capture images in the field. Perceptions around quality of global South research ‘need to change’, a panel of research funders and observers heard during the science summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Copyright: Miggan91 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Speed read

  • Perceptions around quality of global South research ‘need to change’
  • Equitable partnerships key to research impact – report
  • North-South funding imbalances ‘must be challenged’

By: Sarah Wild

 The quality and applicability of research done by institutions in low- and middle-income countries needs to be more broadly recognised, a panel of research funders and observers heard as part of a science summit held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“When researchers in the global North produce research, it’s understood as if it was universal, whereas when research is done in the global South, then it’s only local and applicable to those settings,” Andrea Ordonez Llanos, executive director of Southern Voice, a network of think tanks in the global South, told the panel discussion on Thursday (21 September).

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Cluster Munition Monitor 2023

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

the-monitor.org

Antipersonnel landmines are explosive devices designed to injure or kill people. They can lie dormant for years and even decades under, on, or near the ground until a person or animal triggers their detonating mechanism.

They can be activated by direct pressure from above, by pressure put on a wire or filament attached to a pull switch, by a radio signal or other remote firing method, or even simply by the proximity of a person within a predetermined distance. Because no one controls the detonation of landmines, they can be referred to as victim-activated weapons. Since mines are not aimed at a specific target they can indiscriminately kill or injure civilians, including children, soldiers, peacekeepers, and aid workers.

Status of 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions

Cluster Munition Casualties in 2022 and in Historical Record

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Main South Africa Power Union Calls to Suspend Climate Finance Pact

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

bloomberg.com

  • Transition to renewable energy generation must be ‘just’
  • As many as 51,000 jobs could be affected, union says
The National Union of Mineworkers wants more talks on plans to split Eskom into generation, transmission and distribution units.
The National Union of Mineworkers wants more talks on plans to split Eskom into generation, transmission and distribution units.Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

The main labor union at South Africa’s state power utility called for the suspension of an $8.5 billion climate finance pact with some of the world’s richest nations as well as plans to break up Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. into separate units.

Under the Just Energy Transition Partnership, South Africa agreed to begin moving away from generating electricity from coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, to producing more renewable energy using financing from Germany, France, the UK, the US and the European Union. As part of a broader transition plan, which didn’t use funding from the so-called JETP, Eskom last year shuttered its Komati coal-fired power plant, with more closures slated to follow.

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Negotiations and Vietnam: A Case Study of the 1954 Geneva Conference

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
Descriptive Note: Memorandum Corporate Author: RAND CORP SANTA MONICA CA Personal Author(s): Gurtov, Melvin Report Date: 1968-07-01 Abstract: An analysis is made of 1 U.S. policy and diplomacy during the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina, 2 the objectives of the participants in the conference, 3 the tactics used during the negotiations, and 4 the implications of those tactics for the present conflict. Although Vietnamese unity was not a priority objective of China or the Soviet Union, neither power may have expected a South Vietnamese regime to survive until the national elections. The U.S. goal, among others, was to maximize the Saigon governments chances of posing an authentic challenge in the elections of 1956. In terms of the present conflict, additional Communist participation might complicate rather than strengthen Hanois position by increasing the opportunity for division on issues of troop withdrawal and political settlement. Saigons influence could be reduced if the United States were to limit South Vietnams role to talks with the Viet Cong. In the realm of tactics, Geneva indicates, first, that an ambiguous commitment on the part of the United States to a negotiated settlement can have far greater value than an obvious disposition to accept terms second, that the threat of a use of force hitherto restrained can be more valuable to the U.S. bargaining position than force already applied. Full report https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_memoranda/2005/RM5617.pdf