Ireland: A dark secret | Between Us
Al Jazeera English – 29-12-2020
40 Years of solitude
40 Years of solitude
Al Jazeera English – 5-2-2014
Filmmaker: Sana El Younoussi
What will become of families stranded in Vietnam since their Moroccan fathers defected from the French army in 1953?
In the 1940s, young Moroccans joined the French army to earn a living and support their families.
In 1953, many were serving in Indo-China when they learned of the exile of King Mohamed V and deserted to join the forces of Ho Chi Minh. Tiếp tục đọc “40 Years of solitude”
The lost tribe: The CIA’s secret army in Laos
The lost tribe: The CIA’s secret army in Laos | REWIND
Al Jazeera English – 24-8-2019
We trace a forgotten Hmong community in the jungles of northern Laos who helped the US during the Vietnam War.
Half a century ago, as war raged in Vietnam, an isolated community in the jungles of northern Laos was recruited by the CIA to help fight the Pathet Lao – the Laotian equivalent of Vietnam’s Viet Cong.
Over 50,000 of the Hmong tribe became part of the United States’s secret army, helping disrupt Communist supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Tiếp tục đọc “The lost tribe: The CIA’s secret army in Laos”
Frankenswine? No, but research on “zombie pigs” raises life-or-death ethics questions
Pigs. Credit: or titanium22. CC BY-SA 2.0
It used to be that nothing was certain but death and taxes. Now scientists have taken a step that casts some doubt on the former claim. In a study published Wednesday in Nature, Yale University researchers described a technology for restoring significant organ activity in pigs that had died of a cardiac arrest an hour before. The main goal for the work, they say, will be to improve the harvesting of organs for transplant, but the technique could also potentially be used to revive, for example, drowning victims.
Using a “device similar to a heart-lung machine” and a fluid containing the animals’ blood and a variety of drugs, including anticoagulants, the Yale team was able to observe several signs of restored function in the dead pigs, including heart contraction and some liver and kidney activity. Their hearts were contracting (though not fully beating), their organs were showing signs of metabolism, and genes responsible for cellular repair were active. “These cells are functioning after they should not be,” Nenad Sestan, a Yale University professor and one of the authors of the new study told The Wall Street Journal.
Tiếp tục đọc “Frankenswine? No, but research on “zombie pigs” raises life-or-death ethics questions“
Seeking Dronations: The Crowdfunded Drone War in Ukraine
August 25, 2022 Topic: Russia-Ukraine War Region: Europe Tags: Russia-Ukraine WarArmed DronesTurkish DronesCommercial DronesTB2 Drones
The increased accessibility and affordability of drone technology, coupled with innovations in banking and financial technologies like NFTs and cryptocurrency, have allowed the spirit of volunteerism to directly fund efforts to acquire weapons and arms.
by Andro Mathewson Lauren Kahn, The National Interest
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a strange new phenomenon: People from all over the world are crowdfunding purchases of materiel, such as commercial off-the-shelf drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and gifting them to foreign militaries.
For example, within seventy-two hours of launching “The People’s Bayraktar Project,” Ukrainian television presenter Serhiy Prytula surpassed his $15 million crowdfunding goal, instead receiving $20 million, enough to purchase three Turkish Bayraktar TB2 UAVs. The charity accepts donations from anyone anywhere in the world and takes bank transfers through cryptocurrency.
Tiếp tục đọc “Seeking Dronations: The Crowdfunded Drone War in Ukraine”Thai court suspends Prime Minister Prayuth; Prawit made acting PM
5-4 decision gives judges time to consider opposition’s term limit petition
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha: A surprising Constitutional Court ruling on Aug. 24 temporarily removes Prayuth from office. © Reuters
APORNRATH PHOONPHONGPHIPHAT, Nikkei staff writerAugust 24, 2022 16:12 JSTUpdated on August 24, 2022 20:08 JST
BANGKOK — Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday suspended Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha from duty until it rules on a petition filed by opposition parties that the one-time army chief has served beyond the constitutionally mandated eight years.
Prayuth first awarded himself the prime minister post in 2014, after staging a military coup.
“The court has determined by a 5-4 vote to suspend Gen. Prayuth from the duties of Prime Minister from Aug. 24 onward until the court reaches a [final] verdict,” the court said in a statement.
While Prayuth remains suspended from duty, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan will serve as a caretaker prime minister, said Wissanu Krea-Ngam, another deputy prime minister and the government’s legal expert. Prawit is the most senior deputy.
Tiếp tục đọc “Thai court suspends Prime Minister Prayuth; Prawit made acting PM”
Latvia removes Soviet-era monument in Riga
In view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Latvia issued a decree that all objects glorifying totalitarian regimes must be destroyed by November 15. This included the Soviet victory monument erected in 1985.
A controversial Soviet-era monument in the Latvian capital was brought down, despite protests from the Baltic state’s ethnic Russian minority to keep it.
Police officers and the press watch as the 80-meter high obelisk is torn down in Latvia’s capital Riga
A concrete obelisk topped with Soviet stars, which was the centerpiece of a monument commemorating the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany, was demolished in Latvia’s capital, Riga, on Thursday.
Two diggers with pneumatic hammers brought the 79-meter (261-foot) obelisk down to the applause of numerous onlookers. A number of large-scale bronze statues had already been removed from the monument in the preceding days.
In view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Latvia issued a decree that all objects glorifying totalitarian regimes must be destroyed by November 15. This included the Soviet victory monument erected in 1985.
Dự án IEVJ: Khi người Nhật “đứng lên” bảo vệ NLĐ Việt
NNCS – 21/01/2021 2:47:19
Với mong muốn bảo vệ quyền lợi, xây dựng môi trường trong sạch cho NLĐ Việt, dự án “Vết xe hy vọng Việt Nhật” (IEVJ) ra đời củng cố mối quan hệ tốt đẹp giữa hai nước. Đồng thời, trở thành cầu nối việc làm giữa DN Nhật và NLĐ Việt Nam.
Việt Nam có khoảng 500 doanh nghiệp xuất khẩu lao động được cấp phép hoạt động, bình quân mỗi năm các doanh nghiệp này đưa hơn 102.000 NLĐ Việt đi làm việc nước ngoài.
Với sứ mệnh xây dựng môi trường trong sạch, đảm bảo quyền lợi cho NLĐ Việt đã, đang và sẽ sang Nhật học tập, làm việc cũng như đóng vai trò là cầu nối việc làm giữa doanh nghiệp Nhật và NLĐ Việt, dự án IEVJ hoạt động theo nguyên tắc phi lợi nhuận được thành lập bởi chính những người Nhật đang sinh sống và làm việc tại Việt Nam. Kinh phí cho dự án được đóng góp từ chính các thành viên sáng lập.
Tiếp tục đọc “Dự án IEVJ: Khi người Nhật “đứng lên” bảo vệ NLĐ Việt”
Trách nhiệm của nhà nước với thị trường xuất khẩu lao động
FUSHIHARA HIROTA 06/11/2019 00:11 GMT+7
TTCT – Xuất khẩu lao động (XKLĐ) đã được Nhà nước VN xúc tiến từ rất lâu. Từ những năm 1980, VN bắt đầu XKLĐ đi làm việc có thời hạn với hình thức chủ yếu là hợp tác sử dụng lao động thông qua các hiệp định chính phủ trực tiếp ký kết. Từ năm 1991, nghị định về đưa người đi lao động có thời hạn ở nước ngoài
Không thể phủ nhận những kết quả mà XKLĐ mang lại cho VN đến nay. Thứ nhất là giải quyết vấn đề công ăn việc làm. Từ khi kinh tế VN còn rất nhiều khó khăn đến lúc đã có những bước phát triển rõ nét, luôn có khá nhiều lao động trẻ không có việc, không đủ việc để làm, hoặc những công việc thu nhập quá thấp, đặc biệt khi phần lớn dân số trẻ vẫn sinh ra và lớn lên ở vùng nông thôn. XKLĐ đã phần nào lấp vào khoảng trống, tạo ra công ăn việc làm cho nhiều người, góp phần đáng kể bảo đảm an sinh xã hội.
Thứ hai, đây là sự đóng góp quan trọng cho nguồn thu ngoại tệ của VN. Thu nhập của lao động VN ở nước ngoài gửi về nước bình quân mỗi năm trên 2 tỉ USD, theo thống kê của Ủy ban Các vấn đề xã hội của Quốc hội, cho khoảng thời gian 2010 – 2017, là một nguồn đóng góp đáng kể cho GDP đất nước, nhất là ở thời kỳ đầu còn khó khăn.
Tuy nhiên, vẫn còn nhiều tồn tại cũng như các vấn đề xã hội xung quanh câu chuyện XKLĐ.
Tiếp tục đọc “Trách nhiệm của nhà nước với thị trường xuất khẩu lao động”
Sri Lanka fuel shortage takes massive toll on efforts to save wildlife
- Sri Lanka continues to face the brunt of the worst economic crisis in the country’s history, with depleted foreign reserves resulting in acute fuel shortages nationwide.
- The shortages and limited rations are affecting conservation efforts, including the timely treatment of wild animals, regular patrolling to thwart poaching, and mitigation actions to limit human-elephant conflict.
- Fuel allocations for the wildlife conservation department have been halved, and both wildlife and forest officials say this has made operations extremely difficult.
- The threat of forest fires also looms as the dry season gets underway, which typically calls for more patrols to prevent burning by poachers and forest encroachers.
COLOMBO — Anyone who’d ever seen Maheshakya in the wildernesses of Kebithigollewa in Sri Lanka’s North Central province agreed that, as elephants went, he was an exemplary specimen with large tusks. Earlier this year, he got into a fight with another elephant, which left Maheshakya seriously wounded. As he lay in pain, still alive and conscious, a poacher cut off one of his tusks. Twenty days later, Maheshakya was dead.
In the time since Maheshakya had suffered his injuries during the fight, veterinarians from the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) were able to check on him just twice. Before this year, Maheshakya would have received many more visits, possibly preventing the loss of his tusk and subsequent death. But Sri Lanka’s ongoing economic crisis, the worst in the country’s history, meant that was not to be.
“If we had more opportunity to treat the elephant and visit frequently, there was a chance of saving his life. But we did not have fuel in our vehicles to make this journey regularly,” said Chandana Jayasinghe, a wildlife veterinary surgeon at the DWC.
Sri Lanka has declared bankruptcy and lacks foreign reserves to import essential goods for its people, such as medicine, fuel and gas. Kilometers-long lines at gas stations have become a permanent scene throughout the country, and although a rationing system is helping shorten the wait times, what little fuel is available isn’t enough for wildlife officials to do their regular work. This leaves response teams, like the one Jayasinghe works on, often unable to go out on rescue missions.
Rescue operations affected
Tiếp tục đọc “Sri Lanka fuel shortage takes massive toll on efforts to save wildlife”
The United States Looks to Build “Enduring Strength” in Ukraine
Foreign Policy’s Sitrep Aug. 25, 2022
 |
If the record-breaking $3 billion military aid package announced by the Biden administration on Wednesday to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day is any indication, U.S. support for Kyiv against Russia’s six-month-old full-scale invasion has entered a new phase: long-term planning.
In fact, the weapons deliveries—which will include six Norwegian-made air defense systems, nearly 250,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition, and novel so-called Vampire systems that can shoot down Russian drones—will have to be contracted and provided from U.S. and international defense companies, meaning that they won’t be ready for months.
Tiếp tục đọc “The United States Looks to Build “Enduring Strength” in Ukraine“Lương hưu chưa đảm bảo mức sống tối thiểu cho người về hưu
QUẾ CHI – MINH HƯƠNG – Thứ hai, 25/04/2022 10:48 (GMT+7)
>> Xem thêm: Công tác 37 năm, lương hưu 1,3 triệu đồng /tháng, nhà giáo sống thế nào?
Với mức lương hưu từ 2-4,5 triệu đồng mỗi tháng, nhiều người ngoài 60 tuổi vẫn phải làm thêm các công việc khác để có thêm thu nhập. Họ mong lương hưu được hưởng ít nhất bằng mức lương tối thiểu.
Lương hưu thấp so với mặt bằng chung
Ông Lê Viết Hưởng, 61 tuổi, trú tại xã Vũ Vinh, huyện Vũ Thư, tỉnh Thái Bình hiện đang được hưởng mức lương hưu 2,3 triệu đồng/tháng. Mức lương này đang thấp hơn mức lương tối thiểu vùng đang áp dụng trên địa bàn huyện Vũ Thư (mức 3.070.000 đồng/tháng). Với số tiền hưu nhận được, ông Hưởng sống khá chật vật, nhất là khi tuổi già, sức khoẻ suy giảm.
Tiếp tục đọc “Lương hưu chưa đảm bảo mức sống tối thiểu cho người về hưu”
Vietnam to increase coal imports in 2025-2035 period: Ministry
Vietnam’s coal imports are forecast to rise to meet domestic production demand, according to a draft strategy for developing the coal industry in Vietnam recently introduced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s coal imports are forecast to rise to meet domestic production demand, according to a draft strategy for developing the coal industry in Vietnam recently introduced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Accordingly, Vietnam will import about 50-83 million tonnes of coal per year during the period from 2025 to 2035, with the volume gradually falling to about 32-35 million tonnes by 2045.
The data from the MoIT shows domestic coal consumption increased rapidly from 27.8 million tonnes in 2011 to 38.77 million tonnes in 2015, and about 53.52 million tonnes in 2021.
The volume of coal consumed at present has more than doubled compared to 2011, mainly for electricity production.
The demand for primary energy, including coal, will continue to increase, possibly peaking in the 2030-2035 period, the ministry said.
Vietnam’s coal demand will be around 94-97 million tonnes in 2025, and peak at 125-127 million tonnes in 2030, mainly due to the increase in demand for power generation, and the cement, metallurgy and chemical industries.
The ministry also predicted that the demand for energy after 2040 will decline due to the energy transition process to meet emission reduction targets.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam to increase coal imports in 2025-2035 period: Ministry”
Universities admit purge of ‘challenging’ books to protect students
Investigation finds institutions are dropping books containing depictions of suicide and slavery from syllabuses
By Telegraph Reporters 9 August 2022 • 11:51pm
Universities have removed books from reading lists to protect students from “challenging” content, an investigation has found.
Essex and Sussex admitted removing texts from study lists after freedom of information (FOI) requests were issued to 140 UK universities by The Times.
The universities are thought to be the first in the UK that have purged books altogether.
Tiếp tục đọc “Universities admit purge of ‘challenging’ books to protect students”
China on campus
China on campus | 101 East
Al Jazeera English – 13-2-2020
Australia’s universities are embroiled in a growing geopolitical storm.
In recent months, pro and anti-Beijing groups have clashed on campuses amid rising concerns over the Chinese government’s expanding power abroad.
Universities earn billions of dollars a year from student fees and research collaborations with China, but there are growing fears these lucrative arrangements may be putting academic institutions, and even national security, at risk.
As government ministers warn that the country faces an “unprecedented level of threat” from foreign interference, 101 East investigates the infiltration of Australia’s universities by Beijing.
