CNA Insider – 3- 8-2024

In the past two years, digital nomad enclaves have been springing up across China’s rural towns and villages. The country’s biggest digital nomad hubs are both in Anji County, in the Eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. How have DN Yucun and DN Anji become magnets for a wave of young Chinese professionals seeking to redefine their approach to work and life?

Elsewhere, Chinese youth are leaving prestigious jobs in big internet firms in Beijing and Shanghai and returning to their rural roots.

In the west of China, in the province of Sichuan, a former ByteDance product manager gave up a career at ByteDance to become a new farmer, with plans to revolutionise farming practices in his rural hometown. Not far from him, a young couple with postgraduate degrees, left their jobs in Beijing – and an annual salary of 800,000 yuan, or 110,000 US dollars – to pursue dreams of being rural influencers. What enticed them to do so? Discover why attitudes towards rural living have been changing in China.

Continue reading China’s youth are ditching city life for countryside: What’s the allure? →

VNE – By AFP   August 5, 2024 | 11:05 am GMT+7

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Funan Techo Canal in Kandal province on Aug. 5, 2024. Photo by AFPCambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday launched a US$1.7 billion canal project that aims to provide a new link from the Mekong River to the sea.

Manet called the 180-km (110-mile) project “historic” and vowed to “finish it at all costs.”

“We must build this canal at all costs,” Manet said at the project’s launch ceremony before fireworks shot into the air and drums sounded after he pressed the launch button for the project.

The Funan Techo canal will run from the Mekong River, about an hour’s drive southeast of Phnom Penh, to the sea in the Gulf of Thailand.

The government says the canal will offer an alternative to transit via Vietnam and will reduce dependence on Vietnamese ports, generating economic activity worth 21-30% more than its cost.

It would create tens of thousands of jobs in the country, though it has not provided detailed evidence for those forecasts.

Photo Illustration by CNN, Shutterstock, aph.gov.au, Victoria County Court

She wanted ‘the world’ for her daughter. Instead, she got a landmark prison sentence

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN

 9 minute read 

Published 5:27 PM EDT, Sat August 3, 2024

Forced marriage is considered a form of gender-based violence that predominantly affects young women, whose control over their lives is passed without consent from their parents to their partners. It can lead to decades of physical and psychological abuse, and in some cases suicide or murder.

For more than two decades. Forced marriages have been reported within communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India, among others. Continue reading Laws against forced marriage in Australia →

By Angela Dewan and Angela Fritz, CNN

Updated 10:56 AM EDT, Sat August 3, 2024

Light blue and turquoise phytoplankton seen through the clouds highlight the ocean currents off the coast of Greenland. New research suggest an important system of these currents is at risk of collapsing as soon as next decade. NASA Earth/Shutterstock/FILECNN — 

A vital system of Atlantic Ocean currents that influences weather across the world could collapse as soon as the late 2030s, scientists have suggested in a new study — a planetary-scale disaster that would transform weather and climate.

Several studies in recent years have suggested the crucial system — the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC — could be on course for collapse, weakened by warmer ocean temperatures and disrupted saltiness caused by human-induced climate change. Continue reading A critical system of Atlantic Ocean currents could collapse as early as the 2030s, new research suggests →

VNE – By Phuong Dung   July 31, 2024 | 11:13 am GMT+7

People hold glasses of beer. Photo by Pexels

The World Bank has recommended that Vietnam consider implementing a 155% special consumption tax on alcoholic beverages in response to the rising number of alcohol-related deaths and illnesses.

The bank has proposed to the Ministry of Finance that an absolute tax of VND16,500 ($0.65) per liter of alcohol be applied in addition to the existing 65% tax per product, according to a consultancy report.

Continue reading World Bank recommends Vietnam to impose 155% alcohol tax →

Báo tin tức – Ngày đăng: 31/07/2024 – 11:37

“Mặc dù đã 3 lần bị tòa án Mỹ bác đơn kiện nhưng Hội Nạn nhân chất độc da cam/dioxin vẫn tiếp tục theo đuổi đến cùng vụ kiện, ở lần thứ 4 này, chúng tôi kiện các công ty sản xuất hóa chất Mỹ, buộc họ phải chịu trách nhiệm cho việc đã hỗ trợ quân đội Mỹ rải chất độc hóa học da cam/dioxin gây ra hậu quả nặng nề trong giai đoạn từ năm 1961 đến năm 1971”.

Đây là thông tin được Thiếu tướng Nguyễn Hồng Sơn, Phó Chủ tịch Hội Nạn nhân chất độc da cam/dioxin Việt Nam cho biết tại buổi giới thiệu Chương trình “Đi bộ đồng hành cùng nạn nhân da cam/dioxin”, ngày 30/7.

5.000 người đi bộ đồng hành vì nạn nhân độc da cam/dioxin Việt Nam nhân tháng hành động vì nạn nhân chất độc da cam/dioxin và kỷ niệm 62 năm ngày thảm họa da cam/dioxin ở Việt Nam 10/8/1961 – 10/8/2023. Ảnh minh họa: Thanh Vũ/TTXVN Continue reading Việt Nam tiếp tục hành trình đòi công lý cho các nạn nhân chất độc da cam/dioxin →

VNN – July 22, 2024 – 09:23

Trade experts said that the number of cases was increasing and taking place in all markets from Africa, the Middle East, India to developed countries such as the US, the Netherlands, and Italy.

Photo congdankhuyenhoc.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese trade offices in many foreign markets have continuously warned Vietnamese businesses to be careful to avoid international trade fraud.

The number of Vietnamese businesses encountering fraud and scams with more sophisticated methods has risen and many businesses have lost tens of thousands of US dollars, even up to millions of US dollars, from the end of last year until now.

Continue reading MoIT warns about international trade fraud →

VNE – By Vien Thong   July 19, 2024 | 06:28 am GMT+7

Consumers shopping at a supermarket in HCMC’s District 3 in January 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

Dang Hoang of HCMC has been cutting back on discretionary purchases like dining out, coffee and branded clothing since the beginning of this year.

The 31-year-old marketing employee says he has been waiting for discounts to find cheap clothes and cooking at home to reduce expenses.

A survey by market research company NielsenIQ Vietnam found 62% of consumers chose to cook at home in the first quarter of the year to save money, a three point increase from the previous quarter.

Continue reading Consumers’ belt tightening hits businesses →

HẢI MINH 15/07/2024 18:15 GMT+7

TTCT – Lương tối thiểu, vốn gắn liền với mức sống của người lao động và chi phí của doanh nghiệp sử dụng lao động, trở thành đề tài nóng ở hàng loạt nước Đông Nam Á, bao gồm Việt Nam, trong thời gian qua.

Kế hoạch tăng lương tối thiểu của chính quyền Thái Lan đang gây nhiều tranh luận. Ảnh: HRM Asia

Báo chí các nước giật tít gần như đồng loạt: “Tăng lương ở ASEAN gây lo ngại cho các ngành hưởng lợi từ dịch chuyển chuỗi cung ứng” (Nikkei Asia 2-7), “Thủ tướng Thái Lan hối thúc ASEAN cùng tăng lương tối thiểu” (Thailand Business News 22-1), “Indonesia có chi phí tổ chức kinh doanh cao nhất ASEAN-5” (Jakarta Globe 24-6), “Lương tối thiểu của Philippines cao nhất trong khu vực” (BusinessWorld Online 13-3), “Malaysia đứng thứ tư về lương trung bình ở Đông Nam Á” (thesun.my 8-6).

Continue reading Lương tối thiểu và ý nghĩa của tăng trưởng kinh tế →

VNE – By Duc Trung   July 19, 2024 | 06:36 am GMT+7

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reports that 32,800 Vietnamese nationals were naturalized as U.S. citizens in 2023, ranking Vietnam among the top ten nations with most citizenship naturalization in the U.S.

A Vietnamese-American man paints the Vietnamese Thien Hau Temple beside the U.S. flag in Los Angeles, California on Dec. 16, 2018. Photo by AFP

The government agency’s recent report reveals that the U.S. naturalized 878,000 individuals in 2023, marking one of the highest counts in recent years. Naturalizations during the fiscal years 2022 and 2023 account for 24% of all U.S. naturalizations in the last decade, with over 7.7 million new citizens welcomed during this time.

Vietnam was ranked sixth among the countries with the highest numbers of citizens gaining U.S. citizenship in 2023, with 32,800 individuals naturalized—an increase of 500 from 2022.

Continue reading Nearly 33,000 Vietnamese granted US citizenship in 2023 →

CNA Insider – 2-5-2024

Asia is the fastest growing economic region. But its youth are struggling with a jobs crisis. Unemployment rates are significantly higher for them, while those who have jobs are often unhappy and overworked. Continue reading Slim prospects, harsh realities: Asia’s youth employment crisis →

South China Morning Post – 17-7-2024

At least six students have been killed and over a hundred injured in protests calling for an end to civil service job quotas in Bangladesh. The violence in the capital Dhaka on July 16, 2024, was the latest flare-up in a deepening conflict over the issue. Hundreds of university students demonstrated against the local government job allocation system, which currently favours children of pro-government groups who back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Thousands have taken part in protests in several cities since July 7.

VNN – July 18, 2024 – 08:03

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) keeps the growth outlook for Việt Nam in 2024 and 2025 unchanged at 6 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively, on the back of a strong first-half performance.

A cashew processing line for exports in the southern province of Bình Phước. VNA/VNS Hồng Nhung

HÀ NỘI — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has kept the growth outlook for Việt Nam in 2024 and 2025 unchanged at 6 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively, on the back of a strong first-half performance in 2024.

The forecast was released on Wednesday in the latest edition of Asian Development Outlook (ADO), which periodically provides assessment of recent economic developments in Asia and the Pacific and medium-term macroeconomic projections for the region.

Continue reading ADB keeps Việt Nam’s growth outlook unchanged →

CNA Insider – 16-7-2024

Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world, with the median home costing 32.5 times median household income. Can young people ever afford to save for their first property? A young engineer in Vietnam’s biggest city shares her strategies for reaching this goal.

Vietnam News – 10-5-2024

Many poor people in HCM City are forced to live in makeshift houses along canals, where the environment is dirty, dangerous and unhealthy. They all hope for a more stable life in better places. Hear what they have to say.