Khi ông Kim Jong Un đề nghị đàm phán …

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
  • DANH ĐỨC – 06.01.2018, 09:26

TTCT– Đề nghị nối lại đàm phán hai miền Nam Bắc Triều Tiên của ông Kim Jong Un trong thông điệp đầu năm 2018 không là một bất ngờ, mà là một diễn biến tất yếu.

Khi ông Kim Jong Un đề nghị đàm phán ...
Những nứt gãy liên Triều bao giờ mới có cơ hội hàn gắn? Ảnh: matzav.com

Ông Kim đã chọn văn phòng Trung ương Đảng Lao động Triều Tiên để đọc bài diễn văn chúc mừng năm mới, hoan ca thắng lợi này, và dùng đại từ “tôi” trong xưng hô để khẳng định vai trò lãnh đạo tối cao của ông với toàn thể Đảng Lao động.

Việc sử dụng đại từ “tôi”, vốn quen thuộc ở những chế độ mà vai trò – chiếc ghế lãnh đạo đồng nhất với trách nhiệm và tài trí cá nhân – người lãnh đạo, gián tiếp quả quyết ông Kim là “tác giả” của những chiến thắng này.

Từ vị trí đó, nhân danh Đảng Lao động và Chính phủ Triều Tiên, ông “chân thành cảm ơn nhân dân và quân đội Triều Tiên đã giành chiến thắng” có một không hai trong “lịch sử 5.000 năm” của đất nước này: một cách nói khác để khẳng định rằng CHDCND Triều Tiên (và ông) mới là Triều Tiên “chính tông”, chứ không phải Hàn Quốc. Tiếp tục đọc “Khi ông Kim Jong Un đề nghị đàm phán …” →

“Điểm yếu” con tằm

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
  • MAI VINH – 11.01.2018, 09:14

TTCT – Ông Đặng Vĩnh Thọ, chủ tịch Hiệp hội Dâu tằm tơ Việt Nam, khẳng định không chỉ Bảo Lộc mà những xứ trồng dâu nuôi tằm, ươm tơ dệt lụa khác ở Việt Nam đều không chủ động được nguồn giống tằm.

“Điểm yếu” con tằm
Để sản xuất kén ươm tơ, đa số các cơ sở nuôi tằm đều phải nhập giống qua đường tiểu ngạch. Trong ảnh: rút tơ từ kén tại một cơ sở ươm tơ. Ảnh: Mai Vinh

Nhập tiểu ngạch gần 100%

Ông Thọ khẳng định gần 100% giống tằm mà người dân đang dùng hiện nay đều nhập tiểu ngạch, nguồn gốc không rõ ràng. “Đó là hậu quả một giai đoạn đi xuống kéo dài gần 20 năm”. Hiện cả nước có 3 trung tâm nghiên cứu, sản xuất giống tằm, công suất thiết kế đạt khoảng 200.000 hộp trứng tằm/năm. Tiếp tục đọc ““Điểm yếu” con tằm” →

12 Charts That Shook the Earth in 2017: trends in the global energy transformation

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
by Emma Foehringer Merchant 
January 09, 2018

Greentechmedia

1. Here comes storage

Toward the end of last year, Tesla installed the largest lithium-ion battery ever deployed in South Australia. It was a high-profile example of a powerful trend: storage combinations that are starting to compete with natural-gas power plants.

According to a GTM Research analysis of South Australia’s electricity market, by 2025, solar-plus-storage and standalone batteries will compete with new and existing open-cycle gas turbines for meeting peak load. By 2035, renewables and storage will beat gas for baseload and peak power. Tiếp tục đọc “12 Charts That Shook the Earth in 2017: trends in the global energy transformation” →

Grocery store program improves farmers’ adoption of environmental practices

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Date:January 9, 2018

Sciencedaily

Source: Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences
Summary: In one of the first analyses of a company-led sustainability program in the food and agriculture space, researchers found a major grocery chain fostered increased adoption of environmental practices at the farm level.
FULL STORY
Leafy green vegetables are produced in a growing facility in Western Cape Province, South Africa. A new study shows a company-led sustainability program at a major food retailer in South Africa drove increased adoption of environmental practices at the farm level.
Credit: Tannis Thorlakson
When grocery stores tout sustainable products, consumers may take their claims at face value. Yet few studies have analyzed whether or not companies who claim to improve the sustainability of their products are actually changing practices in their supply chains.

In a new study published online Dec. 22 in the journal Global Environmental Change, Stanford researchers carried out one of the first analyses of a company-led sustainability program in the food and agriculture space. Studying the agricultural supply chain of Woolworths Holding Ltd. (Woolworths), one of the five largest supermarket chains in South Africa, they found that its Farming for the Future program drove increased adoption of environmental practices at the farm level. Agriculture is one of the largest global environmental polluters, driving deforestation and contributing an estimated 30 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.
Tiếp tục đọc “Grocery store program improves farmers’ adoption of environmental practices” →

Vietnam priorities energy security: Party official

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

VNA PRINT

Vietnamplus.vn

Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Economic Affairs (R) welcomes former US Secretary of State John Kerry.(Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam always attaches importance to energy security, considering it a top priority in the country’s energy development policy and strategy, said Nguyen Van Binh, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for Economic Affairs.

At a reception for former US Secretary of State John Kerry in Hanoi on January 10, he said Vietnam wants to promote renewable energy development for power generation, contributing to energy security, climate change mitigation, environmental protection and sustainable development. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam priorities energy security: Party official” →

Unique headwear of La Hu women

~ Trần Đình Hoành ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
Last update 15:09 | 10/01/2018

For women in the La Hu community in Muong Te district, the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, their intricate and unique headdresses show their desire for living in harmony with nature.

Unique headwear of La Hu women, entertainment events, entertainment news, entertainment activities, what’s on, Vietnam culture, Vietnam tradition, vn news, Vietnam beauty, news Vietnam, Vietnam news, Vietnam net news, vietnamnet news, vietnamnet bridge
A reddish brown plastic ring used for fixing hair is the first step of wearing a La Hu headdress. Tiếp tục đọc “Unique headwear of La Hu women” →

Impacts of 25 years of groundwater extraction on subsidence in the Mekong delta, Vietnam

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

IOPscience

Many major river deltas in the world are subsiding and consequently become increasingly vulnerable to flooding and storm surges, salinization and permanent inundation. For the Mekong Delta, annual subsidence rates up to several centimetres have been reported. Excessive groundwater extraction is suggested as the main driver. As groundwater levels drop, subsidence is induced through aquifer compaction. Over the past 25 years, groundwater exploitation has increased dramatically, transforming the delta from an almost undisturbed hydrogeological state to a situation with increasing aquifer depletion. Yet the exact contribution of groundwater exploitation to subsidence in the Mekong delta has remained unknown. In this study we deployed a delta-wide modelling approach, comprising a 3D hydrogeological model with an integrated subsidence module. This provides a quantitative spatially-explicit assessment of groundwater extraction-induced subsidence for the entire Mekong delta since the start of widespread overexploitation of the groundwater reserves. We find that subsidence related to groundwater extraction has gradually increased in the past decades with highest sinking rates at present. During the past 25 years, the delta sank on average ~18 cm as a consequence of groundwater withdrawal. Current average subsidence rates due to groundwater extraction in our best estimate model amount to 1.1 cm yr−1, with areas subsiding over 2.5 cm yr−1, outpacing global sea level rise almost by an order of magnitude. Given the increasing trends in groundwater demand in the delta, the current rates are likely to increase in the near future.

Read full article here

Power stacked against Southeast Asia’s poor as China dams Mekong

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

channelnewsasia

Communities along the mighty Mekong blame China for their shrinking catches. (Photo: AFP/TANG CHHIN SOTHY)

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/power-stacked-against-southeast-asia-s-poor-as-china-dams-mekong-9841686

KANDAL, Cambodia: Cambodian fisherman Sles Hiet lives at the mercy of the Mekong: A massive river that feeds tens of millions but is under threat from the Chinese dams cementing Beijing’s physical – and diplomatic – control over its Southeast Asian neighbours.

The 32-year-old, whose ethnic Cham Muslim community live on rickety house boats that bob along a river bend in Kandal province, says the size of his daily catch has been shrinking by the year. Tiếp tục đọc “Power stacked against Southeast Asia’s poor as China dams Mekong” →

Climate change is triggering a migrant crisis in Vietnam

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Theconversation

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta is one of Earth’s most agriculturally productive regions and is of global importance for its exports of rice, shrimp, and fruit. The 18m inhabitants of this low-lying river delta are also some of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change. Over the last ten years around 1.7m people have migrated out of its vast expanse of fields, rivers and canals while only 700,000 have arrived.

On a global level migration to urban areas remains as high as ever: one person in every 200 moves from rural areas to the city every year. Against this backdrop it is difficult to attribute migration to individual causes, not least because it can be challenging to find people who have left a region in order to ask why they went and because every local context is unique. But the high net rate of migration away from Mekong Delta provinces is more than double the national average, and even higher in its most climate-vulnerable areas. This implies that there is something else – probably climate-related – going on here. Tiếp tục đọc “Climate change is triggering a migrant crisis in Vietnam” →

What species is most fit for life? All have an equal chance, scientists say

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
Sciencedaily.com
Elephants and giant sequoias have no advantage over algae and bacteria

January 8, 2018 Source:SUNY College of Environmental Science and ForestrySummary:There are more than 8 million species of living things on Earth, but none of them — from 100-foot blue whales to microscopic bacteria — has an advantage over the others in the universal struggle for existence.A trio of scientists report that regardless of vastly different body size, location and life history, most species are equally ‘fit’ in the struggle for existence.

There are more than 8 million species of living things on Earth, but none of them — from 100-foot blue whales to microscopic bacteria — has an advantage over the others in the universal struggle for existence.

In a paper published Jan. 8 in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, a trio of scientists from universities in the United States and the United Kingdom describe the dynamic that began with the origin of life on Earth 4 billion years ago. They report that regardless of vastly different body size, location and life history, most plant, animal and microbial species are equally “fit” in the struggle for existence. This is because each transmits approximately the same amount of energy over its lifetime to produce the next generation of its species. Tiếp tục đọc “What species is most fit for life? All have an equal chance, scientists say” →

Five things to know about the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation summit

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

TĐH: We don’t hear discussion on the VNese media about this China-pushed five-year development plan at all. I wonder if Vietnam will have a public discussion about this plan, or whoever attending the LMC summit will just simply approve the plan on behalf of Vietnam?

 

scmp: Five-year development plan, including construction of hydropower dams, is expected to top agenda at Mekong River nations’ conference in Cambodia

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 09 January, 2018, 8:03am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 09 January, 2018, 2:57pm
Laura Zhou
Laura Zhou

When China and the leaders of nations along the Mekong River meet on Wednesday at the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation summit in Cambodia, a top item will be mapping out a five-year development plan that would include building hydropower dams and other projects for the region – pointing to its importance in China’s ambitious belt and road infrastructure plan.

But while the cooperation mechanism was created to help ease tension over development projects, environmentalists remain unsatisfied.

Concern is growing that the potential for causing ecological damage will make the Mekong a flashpoint for China and Southeast Asia’s territorial disputes – effectively creating a new South China Sea.

China pledges billions to Mekong River countries in bid to boost influence and repair reputation

Amid the backdrop of the river’s importance in connecting Europe through Southeast Asia and beyond in the grand infrastructure programme launched by President Xi Jinping, Chinese delegation leader Premier Li Keqiang will be looking to bolster China’s influence in the Mekong region as he faces his counterparts from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

Here are five key things to know about the summit and the significance of the Mekong River:

1. The river’s significance for China and Southeast Asia

Tiếp tục đọc “Five things to know about the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation summit” →

Forty per cent of global e-waste comes from Asia

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Forty per cent of global e-waste comes from Asia

Copyright: Panos

Speed read

  • E-waste generated in 2016 equivalent to 4,500 Eiffel Towers
  • Asian countries account for 40 per cent of the discarded goods
  • Developing countries still lack formal e-waste recycling systems

By: Madhukara Putty

scidev.net_[NEW DELHI] Humans generated a staggering 44.7 million metric tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) in 2016 — the equivalent of 4,500 Eiffel Towers, and five per cent more than the electrical and electronic goods discarded just two years earlier, says a new study.

The trend is set to continue, with volumes of e-waste expected to rise to 52.2 million metric tonnes by 2021. Tiếp tục đọc “Forty per cent of global e-waste comes from Asia” →

Critical Issues to Watch in 2018

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
By Martin KhorReprint |    |  Print | 

ipsnews_Martin Khor is Executive Director of the South Centre, a think tank for developing countries, based in Geneva

More than 480 billion plastic bottles were sold in the world in 2016, in 2018 we can expect international cooperation to reduce the use of plastic and how to treat plastic waste. Credit: Athar Parvaiz/IPS

PENANG, Malaysia, Jan 2 2018 (IPS) – Another new year has dawned, and on a world facing serious disruption on many fronts.  What are the trends and issues to watch out for in 2018?

One obvious answer is to anticipate how Donald Trump, the most unorthodox of American Presidents, will continue to upset the world order.  But more about that later.

Just as importantly as politics, we are now in the midst of several social and environmental trends that have important long-lasting effects.  Some are on the verge of reaching a tipping point, where a long-term trend produces critical and sometimes irreversible events. We may see some of that in 2018.
Tiếp tục đọc “Critical Issues to Watch in 2018” →

1MDB looms large in Asian banks’ war on money laundering

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

by  | Dec 27, 2017 | Anti- Money Laundering | 0 comments

Tags:  |  |  | 
— Anti-Corruption News Story Curated by Anti-Corruption Digest International Risk & Compliance News

It would be difficult to write about money laundering controls in Asia without mentioning 1MDB, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund embroiled in an ongoing international money laundering scandal. Yet, when Risk.net contacted six of the banks penalised for the wrong-doing to talk about lessons learned, our enquiries were greeted with either radio silence or a flat ‘no’.

One reason for this reticence could be a reluctance to show their hand to money launderers. But another is likely to be a fear of publicising anti-money laundering (AML) breaches – a sometimes bigger worry than the risk of regulatory fines.
Tiếp tục đọc “1MDB looms large in Asian banks’ war on money laundering” →