Ngoài thiếu cát, cao tốc ở miền Tây còn khan hiếm nguồn đá
Vietnam: 50 Years of Forgetting
Al Jazeera English – 17-4-2025
The documentary, Vietnam: 50 Years of Forgetting, follows Vietnamese filmmaker Mai Huyen Chi as she sets out to trace the life and death of her grandfather, a war hero lost to history. What begins as a personal journey soon becomes a meditation on the burden of memory, the silence of survivors, and the complex legacies of war.
As she travels across Vietnam, collecting testimonies and fragments of remembrance, Chi is confronted with what has been left unspoken – in her family and in the fabric of a nation still shaped by conflict.
The film explores what it means to inherit a war you did not live through, and what is remembered when so much has been forgotten.
What is the National Debt
This article is on the page FiscalData of Treasury.gov, the website of the US Treasury.
It explains every thing you need to know about the National Debt (or National Deficit). Very good economic lesson. Though it talks about the US Federal government, it is very much true to all governments of the world as far as economic principles and fiscal policies are concern.
Giáo hoàng Francis đã tận hiến trọn đời cho Thiên Chúa và nhân loại
Trong suốt 12 năm làm giáo hoàng, Giáo hoàng Francis luôn gắn liền với sự khiêm nhường, giản dị, hy sinh vì người nghèo, nỗ lực vì các đối thoại giữa các tôn giáo, vì môi trường, vì bình đẳng giới và hòa bình thế giới.
Giáo hoàng Francis tên thật là Jorge Mario Bergoglio, sinh ngày 17-12-1936 tại Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ngài là con cả trong số năm anh chị em. Trước khi trở thành linh mục, Giáo hoàng Francis từng là kỹ sư hóa học và làm nhiều công việc khác nhau để kiếm sống như làm bảo vệ cho một hộp đêm.
Khi mới 21 tuổi, ngài mắc viêm phổi nặng và phải cắt bỏ một phần phổi. Sau lần bạo bệnh ấy, với khát vọng dâng hiến đời mình cho Thiên Chúa và phục vụ cộng đồng, chàng thanh niên Bergoglio quyết định gia nhập Dòng Tên và bắt đầu con đường tu trì vào năm 1958.
Ngày 12-3-1960, Giáo hoàng Francis tuyên khấn lần đầu, khởi đầu đời sống tu trì. Ba năm sau, ngài hoàn tất chương trình học triết học và thần học. Đến ngày 13-12-1969, thầy Bergoglio được thụ phong linh mục.
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Cuộc đời Pope Francis
The Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio brought a breath of fresh air into a 2,000-year-old institution that had seen its influence wane during the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, whose surprise resignation led to Francis’ election.
Đọc tiếp ở đây >>
Letters from the great Frontline – Những Lá Thư Từ Tiền Tuyến Lớn
[See English translation below ]
Dưới đây mình chép lại một lá thư của liệt sĩ Đồng Thế Thức, gửi từ chiến trường (miền Nam) cho cha mẹ và gia đình ở miền Bắc trong thời gian kháng chiến chống Mỹ những năm 1970s.
Liệt sĩ Đồng Thế Thức là bác ruột của mình, bác là anh trai của mẹ. Bác Thức sinh năm 1942, lớn hơn mẹ 14 tuổi. Bác học xong cấp 3 là nhập ngũ. Theo mẹ kể lại, bác Thức hy sinh vào khoảng năm 1974 tại Tây Ninh. Bức thư này không ghi rõ ngày tháng, nhưng theo mẹ kể có lẽ bác viết tầm năm 1973. Trong thư bác nói về niềm tin ngày thống nhất đang rất gần rồi, “con sẽ trở về trên chuyến tàu Sài Gòn – Hà Nội”. Thêm nữa thời chiến, liên lạc rất khó khăn, cho nên có khi gửi thư cả vài năm mới đến được tay người nhà nên không biết chính xác thư viết khi nào. Đây là một bức thư hiếm hoi bác gửi về được tới gia đình trong những năm chiến đấu ở chiến trường miền Nam.
Lá thư này có đề địa chỉ là hòm thư. 86558YK – B11. Thời đó khi nói đến đi Bê (B) tức là đi vào chiến trường miền Nam. Từ năm 1960, các khu vực tác chiến quân sự có tên gọi quy ước A là miền Bắc, B là miền Nam, C là Lào và Đ là Cam pu chia (sau đổi thành K). Tất cả cán bộ từ Bắc đi B đều phải đi theo những con đường tuyệt bí mật, không ai biết đường đi của ai. Hơn nữa, bác Thức đóng quân tại Tây Ninh, là nơi căn cứ của Trung Ương Cục Kháng Chiến Miền Nam, phải cực kỳ bí mật không thể biên thư tuỳ tiện để lộ tung tích. Những ai đi B là dù không nói, là biết không hẹn ngày trở về.
Trong thư có một số chữ bị mờ nhìn không còn rõ. Mình cố gắng chép lại để nguyên văn từng dấu chấm, phẩy, dấu cảm thán. Có một số câu đọc nghe có vẻ không hoàn chỉnh. Điều này có lẽ là do, như trong như bác nói, lá thư phải viết trong hoàn cảnh nhanh và rất vội để gửi cho người quen mang ra ngoài Bắc. Vì cơ hội này không hề dễ dàng gặp được trong chiến trường. Cho nên phải viết thật nhanh và vội, vì vậy có lẽ cũng rất nhiều hồi hộp và cảm xúc.
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Rohingya refugee children denied an education in India over policy barriers
Al Jazeera – 24-2-2025
Public schools in India are refusing to enroll children from Myanmar because the government doesn’t officially recognise Rohingya refugees.
An estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslims live in slums across India.
The majority arrived after the 2017 military crackdown on the minority group.
Most refugees are undocumented and can’t afford private school fees, leaving a generation of children at risk of missing out on an education.
Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi reports.
Myanmar confirms 180,000 Rohingya eligible to return, Bangladesh says
The 180,000 names were part of a list of 800,000 Rohingya that Bangladesh submitted to Myanmar in six batches, Bangladesh government says.
Published On 4 Apr 20254 Apr 2025
Myanmar has confirmed that 180,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh since fleeing their homeland are eligible to return, the Bangladeshi government has said.
Friday’s announcement, following talks in Bangkok, offered a possible breakthrough in the long-stalled repatriation process, although many Rohingya refugees say all of them should be allowed to go home.
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Pope Francis died at 88 – His life in pictures
Pope Francis through the years: A life in pictures
Born in Argentina, Francis was the only Latin American pontiff and first non-European pope in more than 1,000 years.
Published On 21 Apr 202521 Apr 2025
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has died. He was 88 years old.
Born in Argentina, he was the first Latin American pope as well as the first non-European to serve for more than 1,000 years.
He was known for his simple words and humble manner that immediately won over the crowds.
Tiếp tục đọc “Pope Francis died at 88 – His life in pictures”What countries are the top producers and consumers of oil?
The top 10 oil1 producers and share of total world oil production2 in 20233
| Country | Million barrels per day | Share of world total |
| United States | 21.91 | 22% |
| Saudi Arabia | 11.13 | 11% |
| Russia | 10.75 | 11% |
| Canada | 5.76 | 6% |
| China | 5.26 | 5% |
| Iraq | 4.42 | 4% |
| Brazil | 4.28 | 4% |
| United Arab Emirates | 4.16 | 4% |
| Iran | 3.99 | 4% |
| Kuwait | 2.91 | 3% |
| Total top 10 | 74.59 | 73% |
| World total | 101.81 |
1 Oil includes crude oil, all other petroleum liquids, and biofuels.
2 Production includes domestic production of crude oil, all other petroleum liquids, and biofuels and refinery processing gain.
3 Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics, Total oil (petroleum and other liquids) production, as of April 11, 2024
The top 10 oil1 consumers and share of total world oil consumption in 20222
| Country | Million barrels per day | Share of world total |
| United States | 20.01 | 20% |
| China | 15.15 | 15% |
| India | 5.05 | 5% |
| Russia | 3.68 | 4% |
| Saudi Arabia | 3.65 | 4% |
| Japan | 3.38 | 3% |
| Brazil | 3.03 | 3% |
| South Korea | 2.55 | 3% |
| Canada | 2.41 | 2% |
| Germany | 2.18 | 2% |
| Total top 10 | 61.08 | 61% |
| World total | 99.95 |
1 Oil includes crude oil, all other petroleum liquids, and biofuels.
2 Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics, Total oil (petroleum and other liquids) consumption, as of April 11, 2024
Learn more:
Energy Explained: Where our oil comes from
Last updated: April 11, 2024. Note: Source data are subject to change since last update.
Philippines declares ‘food security emergency’ to tame retail rice prices
February 3, 20255:50 PM GMT+7Updated 3 months ago
MANILA, Feb 3 (Reuters) – The Philippines, among the world’s largest rice importers, declared on Monday a food security emergency to bring down the cost of rice, which it said has stayed elevated despite lower global prices and a reduction in rice tariffs last year.
The declaration, which was widely expected, will allow the government to release buffer stocks to help bring down retail prices of the national staple, Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel said in a statement, adding it would remain in effect until the price situation improves.
Despite efforts to liberalise rice imports and reduce tariffs, the agriculture department said, the domestic market has been slow to respond, with retail prices surpassing expectations.
Half of the 300,000 metric tons buffer stock the National Food Authority currently holds could be released over the next six months to ensure supply for emergencies and disaster response, it added.
The annual rate of increase in rice prices in the Philippines hit a 15-year high of 24.4% in March last year, but has since moderated to 0.8% in December, helping keep overall inflation for 2024 within the government’s 2% to 4% target.
Last year, the Philippines lowered tariffs on rice and extended existing tariff cuts on some other commodities to combat inflation and ensure ample supply
Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Martin Petty
Are Dire Wolves Really Back? Nope.
Have researchers really ‘de-extincted’ the dire wolf? No, but behind the hype was a genuine breakthrough
The pups are cute – and great for PR – but they’re modified grey wolves. The real work is being done with their red cousinsThu 10 Apr 2025 15.50 BSTShare109
I’ve been waiting for this. Ever since researchers almost brought a wild goat species back from extinction in 2003, it was only a matter of time until someone came forward and said they had successfully “de-extincted” a species. Now, it has happened.
This week, American biotech company Colossal Biosciences announced it had resurrected the dire wolf, an animal that went extinct at the end of the last ice age. Colossal released a video that invited viewers to “experience the first dire wolf howls heard in over 10,000 years”.
But these are not dire wolf howls, and these are not dire wolves. To make the pups, scientists edited the DNA inside grey wolf cells to make it more dire wolf-like. Twenty changes were made to 14 different genes involved in coat colour, body size and skull shape. Then the cells were used for cloning.
Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.
Over the past 20 years, Paris has undergone a major physical transformation, trading automotive arteries for bike lanes, adding green spaces and eliminating 50,000 parking spaces.
Part of the payoff has been invisible — in the air itself.
Airparif, an independent group that tracks air quality for France’s capital region, said this week that levels of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) have decreased 55 percent since 2005, while nitrogen dioxide levels have fallen 50 percent. It attributed this to “regulations and public policies,” including steps to limit traffic and ban the most polluting vehicles.
Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.
Air pollution heat maps show the levels of 20 years ago as a pulsing red — almost every neighborhood above the European Union’s limit for nitrogen dioxide, which results from the combustion of fossil fuels. By 2023, the red zone had shrunk to only a web of fine lines across and around the city, representing the busiest roads and highways.
In trade war with the US, China holds a lot more cards than Trump may think − in fact, it might have a winning hand
Published: April 11, 2025 7.12pm BST, The Conversation
Author Linggong Kong Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, Auburn University
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Linggong Kong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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When Donald Trump pulled back on his plan to impose eye-watering tariffs on trading partners across the world, there was one key exception: China.
While the rest of the world would be given a 90-day reprieve on additional duties beyond the new 10% tariffs on all U.S. trade partners, China would feel the squeeze even more. On April 9, 2025, Trump raised the tariff on Chinese goods to 125% – bringing the total U.S. tariff on some Chinese imports to 145%.
The move, in Trump’s telling, was prompted by Beijing’s “lack of respect for global markets.” But the U.S. president may well have been smarting from Beijing’s apparent willingness to confront U.S. tariffs head on.
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CVD 