A $6 billion Chinese-built railway in Laos is transforming a small town on the border of China, easing transportation and promising new products for export. The 262-mile rail line is a key part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at upgrading trade and transport networks from Africa to the Pacific. China is looking to link its companies with new overseas markets while Laos has hopes of growing a robust export market. But what are the costs of developing this massive infrastructure? WSJ explores the ambition behind China’s envisioned rail network, the economic implications for Laos and challenges as other railways eye development.
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.
How carbon prices are taking over the world
A quarter of global emissions are now covered, and the share is rising fast
economist.com Oct 1st 2023
If global warming is to be limited, the world must forget fossil fuels as fast as possible—that much almost everyone agrees upon. How to do so is the complicated part. Economists have long favoured putting a price on carbon, a mechanism Europe introduced in 2005. Doing so allows the market to identify the cheapest unit of greenhouse gas to cut, and thus society to fight climate change at the lowest cost. Others, including many American politicians, worry that such schemes will provoke a backlash by raising consumer costs. Under President Joe Biden, America is instead doling out hundreds of billions of dollars to turn supply chains green.
Tiếp tục đọc “How carbon prices are taking over the world”Dengue will ‘take off’ in southern Europe, US, Africa this decade, WHO scientist says
By Jennifer Rigby October 6, 2023
LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Dengue fever will become a major threat in the southern United States, southern Europe and new parts of Africa this decade, the WHO’s chief scientist said, as warmer temperatures create the conditions for the mosquitoes carrying the infection to spread.
The illness has long been a scourge in much of Asia and Latin America, causing an estimated 20,000 deaths each year. Rates of the disease have already risen eight-fold globally since 2000, driven largely by climate change as well as the increased movement of people and urbanization.
Many cases go unrecorded, but in 2022 4.2 million cases were reported worldwide and public health officials have warned that near-record levels of transmission are expected this year. Bangladesh is currently experiencing its worst-ever outbreak, with more than 1,000 deaths.
Tiếp tục đọc “Dengue will ‘take off’ in southern Europe, US, Africa this decade, WHO scientist says”
6 reasons why global temperatures are spiking right now
The world is very warm right now. We’re not only seeing record temperatures, but the records are being broken by record-wide margins.
Take the preliminary September global-average temperature anomaly of 1.7°C above pre-industrial levels, for example. It’s an incredible 0.5°C above the previous record.
So why is the world so incredibly hot right now? And what does it mean for keeping our Paris Agreement targets?
Here are six contributing factors – with climate change the main reason temperatures are so high.
1. El Niño
One reason for the exceptional heat is we are in a significant El Niño that is still strengthening. During El Niño we see warming of the surface ocean over much of the tropical Pacific. This warming, and the effects of El Niño in other parts of the world, raises global average temperatures by about 0.1 to 0.2°C.
Tiếp tục đọc “6 reasons why global temperatures are spiking right now”The Israel-Hamas war: No matter who loses, Iran wins
There will be only one winner in the war that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. And it is neither Israel nor Hamas.
In an operation coined “the Al-Aqsa Storm,” Hamas, whose formal name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed, more than 2,000 injured, and many taken hostage.
Tiếp tục đọc “The Israel-Hamas war: No matter who loses, Iran wins”The lessons from Hamas’s assault on Israel
economist.com Oct 8th 2023
Two decades of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians have gone up in flames
It is hard to see past the shock of Hamas’s bloodthirsty assault on Israel. That is because it involved thousands of rockets, and fighters attacking the south of the country by land, sea and air. And because it was completely unforeseen despite its scale, inflicting a humiliating blow against Israel’s vaunted intelligence services. But most of all because of the killing of hundreds of innocent people and the taking of scores of hostages by Hamas. As the Israel Defence Forces (idf) ponder how to respond, the world’s attention will be caught up in their desperate plight.
Mother Nature Cambodia’s ‘relentless’ activism earns Right Livelihood Award
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.”
Cyber-scam hits the big screen, and Cambodia isn’t happy
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”.
Tiếp tục đọc “Cyber-scam hits the big screen, and Cambodia isn’t happy”Are free markets history?
Governments are jettisoning the principles that made the world rich
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.
Tiếp tục đọc “Are free markets history?”Báo động tình trạng nạn nhân buôn người bị ép tham gia lừa đảo trực tuyến tại Đông Nam Á
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
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
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
Watch on ITV news
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…
ASIAD 2023 Sepak Takraw: Vietnamese women’s team won historic gold medal
What is climate finance and why do we need more of it?
UNDP.org October 2, 2023
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?
Tiếp tục đọc “What is climate finance and why do we need more of it?”
CVD 