Chuyên mục: US

Russia’s war has chilling effect on climate science as Arctic temperatures soar

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

“And yet, just when the climate scientists and governments across the eight Arctic states should be working together to understand and address the climate crisis, Russia’s war on Ukraine has forced the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental group of Arctic states and Arctic Indigenous Peoples, to suspend their joint activities in protest of Russia’s unprovoked aggression.“

thebulletin.org

By Jessica McKenzie | March 29, 2022

ice melting on a siberian lake Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia (Photo by Daniel Born on Unsplash)

Earlier in March, temperatures around the North Pole approached the melting point, right around the time of year that Arctic sea ice is usually most extensive. In some places, the Arctic was more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average. It’s part of an alarming trend; over the past 30 years the region has warmed four times faster than the rest of the globe. The shift is transforming the Arctic land- and seascape, causing sea ice to melt, glaciers and ice sheets to retreat, and permafrost to thaw. And while the Arctic is particularly vulnerable to climate change, it also has an outsized potential to contribute to global warming, as melting permafrost releases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

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Was it inevitable? A short history of Russia’s war on Ukraine

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ 1 bình luận

To understand the tragedy of this war, it is worth going back beyond the last few weeks and months, and even beyond Vladimir Putin

US president Bill Clinton raises his glass to toast with Russian president Boris Yeltsin at a dinner reception in the Kremlin Hall in 1995.
 Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

 

theguardian – 

Listen here

 Read the text version here

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When presidents lie to make a war

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

theguardian – DD Guttenplan – Sat 2 Aug 2014 10.00 BST

Fifty years on we know the trigger for war with Vietnam was a fiction. Will it be another 50 before we know the truth about Iraq?

Lyndon Johnson in 1964
Lyndon Johnson’s repeated accusation that the Gulf of Tonkin attacks were unprovoked was the beginning of a disillusion that would lead Daniel Ellsberg to leak the Pentagon Papers. Photograph: Yoichi R Okamoto/AP Photograph: Yoichi R Okamoto/AP

Once there was a president who warned the world about conduct his government would not tolerate. And when this “red line” was crossed, or seemed to be, he took the US to war. Though this might sound like America’s involvement in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Belgrade, or Libya, and what may yet become a wider war in Syria, this story began 50 years ago, on 4 August 1964.

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The Struggle for Myanmar – Podcast

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Is Myanmar heading into civil war — or already there?

Nikkei – Nikkei staff writers – February 5, 2022 09:29 JST

NEW YORK — Welcome to Nikkei Asia’s podcast: Asia Stream.

Every week, Asia Stream tracks and analyzes the Indo-Pacific with a mix of interviews and reporting by our correspondents from across the globe.

New episodes are recorded weekly and available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all other major platforms, and on our YouTube channel. 

LISTEN HERE

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How the US created a world of endless war – podcast

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

In 2008, many of Barack Obama’s supporters hoped he would bring the global war on terror to a close. Instead, he expanded it – and his successors have done nothing to change course. By Samuel Moyn

A US Reaper drone at a base in Nevada.

A US Reaper drone at a base in Nevada. Photograph: Josh Smith/Reuters

 theguardian – Fri 17 Sep 2021 12.00 BST

Written by Samuel Moyn, read by Christopher Ragland and produced by Esther Opoku-Gyeni

Listen here

Read the text version here

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‘We tried to be joyful enough to deserve our new lives’: What it’s really like to be a refugee in Britain – podcast

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

As a child, I fled Afghanistan with my family. When we arrived in Britain after a harrowing journey, we thought we could start our new life in safety. But the reality was very different.

Photograph of Zarlasht Halaimzai. Photograph: Sarah Lee/ The Guardian
 Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

The Guardian – By Zarlasht Halaimzai – Fri 21 Jan 2022 09.00 GMT

Written by Zarlasht Halaimzai, read by Serena Manteghi, and produced by Hattie Moir.

Listen here

• Read the text version here

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PODCAST: Asia Stream: The old and new Cold War

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

From Nixon’s 1972 visit to Beijing condoning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we investigate what went wrong in the U.S.-China relationship

Nikkei – February 25, 2022 13:08 JST

NEW YORK — Welcome to Nikkei Asia’s podcast: Asia Stream.

Every week, Asia Stream tracks and analyzes the Indo-Pacific with a mix of interviews and original reporting by our correspondents from across the globe.

New episodes are recorded weekly and available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all other major platforms, and on our YouTube channel.

LISTEN HERE

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Myanmar’s troubled history: Coups, military rule, and ethnic conflict

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

cfr – The 2021 coup returned Myanmar to military rule and shattered hopes for democratic progress in a Southeast Asian country beset by decades of conflict and repressive regimes.

A protester holds an image of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during an anti-coup march in February 2021.
A protester holds an image of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during an anti-coup march in February 2021. Getty Images

WRITTEN BY Lindsay Maizland

Last updated January 31, 2022 11:00 am

Summary

  • Myanmar, also known as Burma, has suffered decades of repressive military rule, widespread poverty, and civil war with ethnic minority groups.
  • The transition away from full military rule starting in 2011 spurred hopes of democratic reforms. But the military maintained control over much of the government and began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.
  • The military launched a coup in February 2021 and then cracked down on protests. The opposition formed a shadow government and fighting force, leading to a civil war and humanitarian crisis that could spill over Myanmar’s borders.

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A Peace That Couldn’t Last – Negotiating the Paris Accords on Vietnam

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

ADST – Signed on January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were intended to finally end the Vietnam War, which had cost the lives of thousands of American soldiers, not to mention the millions of Vietnamese civilians who were killed, injured, or displaced. Initially, the Accords were negotiated in secret by National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, the lead North Vietnamese negotiator. These secret negotiations took place over the course of five years in Paris, from 1968 to 1973, but it was only in the early 70’s that any real progress was made.

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A handshake that changed the world: 50 years after Nixon’s trip to China

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
U.S. President Nixon shakes hands with Chinese President Mao Zedong (Feb. 21, 1972, AP)

nikkei – Feb. 21 marks the 50th anniversary of U.S. President Richard Nixon’s trip to China, a turning point in international relations.

Washington and Beijing joined together to counter the Soviet Union, but China did not democratize as the U.S. hoped. It has now become an economic and military powerhouse under the one-party rule of the Communist Party. A half-century after the handshake that changed the world, cooperation has turned to confrontation. The U.S.-China relationship and global affairs have all undergone tumultuous change.

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Russian troops seize Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Ukraine nuclear power plant attack: All you need to know

aljazeera.com

Russian troops seize Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, after attack sparks fire.

Published On 4 Mar 20224 Mar 2022

Russian forces have captured Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, according to regional officials.

Ukrainian authorities said on Friday Russian shelling had caused a fire at a building in the plant complex that was later put out. The blaze raised alarm from leaders worldwide of a potential massive disaster. Russia blamed the attack on Ukrainian saboteurs, calling it a “monstrous provocation”.

Here is what we know so far:

INTERACTIVE - Zaporizhzhia

Where is it located?

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located in the southern Ukraine steppe on the Dnieper River, some 550 kilometres (342 miles) southeast of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and about 525km (325 miles) south of Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear power plant accident in 1986, which has also now been seized by Russian forces.

The plant has a total capacity of about 6,000 megawatts, enough to power about roughly four million homes.

On Wednesday, residents carrying Ukrainian flags had blocked the road to the plant, in an apparent standoff with Russian forces.

What happened?

But on Friday Russian troops were accused of attacking the plant, in an assault Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy branded “nuclear terror” and said could endanger the continent.

A video feed from the plant showed shelling and smoke rising near a building at the plant compound.

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UN votes to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calls for withdrawal

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

In an emergency session, 141 of the 193 member states voted for the resolution, 35 abstained and five voted against

theguardian.com

  • It is the first time in 40 years the security council has referred a crisis to the assembly and only the 11th time an emergency session of the UN general assembly has been called since 1950.
  • Russia-Ukraine war – latest updates

Julian Borger in WashingtonWed 2 Mar 2022 18.10 GMT

The United Nations has voted overwhelmingly for a resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces, in a global expression of outrage that highlighted Russia’s increasing isolation.

In an emergency session of the UN’s general assembly, 141 of the 193 member states voted for the resolution, 35 abstained, and five voted against. The only countries to vote no in support of Moscow were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria. Longstanding allies Cuba and Nicaragua joined China in abstaining.

ICC begins collecting evidence of war crimes; more talks to begin – as it happenedRead more

The resolution said the UN “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. It demanded that “the Russian Federation immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine” and “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces”.

The resolution is not legally binding, but is an expression of the views of the UN membership, aimed at increasing pressure on Moscow and its ally, Belarus.

“It isn’t going to stop Russian forces in their stride, but it’s a pretty enormous diplomatic win for the Ukrainians and the US, and everyone who has got behind them,” Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group, said.

Speaking before the vote, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, compared the Russian invasion to the Nazi conquest of Europe.

“A few of the eldest Ukrainians and Russians might recall a moment like this, a moment when one aggressive European nation invaded another without provocation to claim the territory of its neighbour, a moment when a European dictator declared he would return his empire to its former glory and invasion that caused a war so horrific, that it spurred this organization into existence,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

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Gần 19% diện tích cả nước ô nhiễm bom mìn, vật nổ

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

TT – 02/04/2018 16:07 GMT+7

Mức độ ô nhiễm bom mìn tại Việt Nam rất nghiêm trọng, bởi đã trải qua nhiều cuộc chiến tranh, hứng chịu hàng triệu tấn bom đạn.

Gần 19% diện tích cả nước ô nhiễm bom mìn, vật nổ - Ảnh 1.

Quang cảnh họp báo

Theo báo cáo công bố hiện trạng tồn lưu ô nhiễm bom mìn, vật nổ sau chiến tranh, diện tích đất đai Việt Nam bị ô nhiễm bom mìn, vật nổ là trên 6,1 triệu ha, chiếm 18,71 % diện tích đất cả nước.

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Đã đến lúc nâng cấp quan hệ Việt – Mỹ?

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

sputnik – 14:48 18.02.2022

Đại sứ Hoa Kỳ Marc Evans Knapper - Sputnik Việt Nam, 1920, 18.02.2022

© Ảnh : Thống Nhất – TTXVN

Quan hệ Việt – Mỹ rất đặc biệt. Đại sứ Hoa Kỳ tại Việt Nam Marc Evans Knapper cho biết, đây là thời điểm thích hợp để nâng cấp quan hệ Đối tác chiến lược Hà Nội – Washington.

Ông Marc Evans Knapper nhấn mạnh, Mỹ đánh giá cao vai trò và hợp tác với Việt Nam trong 5 trọng tâm chiến lược Ấn Độ Dương – Thái Bình Dương mới mà chính quyền Biden – Harris đã thông qua.

Tiếp tục đọc “Đã đến lúc nâng cấp quan hệ Việt – Mỹ?” →