Flood prone areas in world

Head coach Park Hang Seo of Vietnam’s national football squad wants to have more time training his players before the World Cup second qualifying round, but his request will be difficult to meet. V-League is schedule to resume in March. In order to best serve the Vietnamese team to play the World Cup 2022 qualifier, the Vietnam Football Federation has set two options for the return of V-League 2021 after a break due to Covid-19 pandemic. Option 1: V-League will resume on March 13 and close on September 19. Phase 1 of V-League 2021 is scheduled to temporarily cease on May 22 for players of the national squad to group up to prepare for the World Cup 2022 qualifiers. Thus, coach Park Hang Seo will have one week to train his team before going to the United Arab Emirates or Thailand (the Asian Football Confederation - AFC will decide on March 15). Chairman of Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) Tran Anh Tu said that the two plans are being carefully considered to create the best conditions for the national team. "VPF and VFF have agreed that this year V-League schedule must create the best conditions for football clubs to compete at continental tournaments, especially for the Vietnam national and U23 Vietnam teams. However, it is difficult to shorten the time V-League because it is too stressful for players," Tu said. The new wave of Covid-19 has strongly affected Vietnam’s football. The time for both V-League tournament and the national team’s gathering has reduced. V-League participants will have only 3-4 days off between games, instead of one week as the first 2 rounds. Before the national team is summoned, 10 rounds of V-League will be held to enable coach Park Hang Seo to recruit the best players. Coach Park Hang Seo has proposed summoning the national team for two times, totaling arund three weeks, instead of only one as schedule. But because of the current situation, the Korean coach’s proposal may not be accepted. According …

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But every day, even in the cold of the northern winter, he stands by the front door of his house to gaze at the forest with pride and happiness. The trees were all planted by him and his family over 50 years, and his life has been dedicated to growing and protecting them. Cao belongs to the Dao ethnic group, and lives in Tan Dan Commune in Ha Long Town of Quang Ninh Province, home to the world-famous bay. Trieu Tai Cao at his home in Ha Long in Quang Ninh Province. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Cuong. The Dao used to be nomadic, felling forests to meet their temporary land needs for cattle and crops before moving on. It was not until 1968 that they started to settle. By then Cao had started thinking about growing trees. He began to look around for seedlings of valuable timber trees such as ironwood, shorea and apitong. Between 1970 and 1980 he and his family planted those and other trees on 32 hectares (80 acres). They faced a lot of challenges in protecting the forest initially because there were no regulations for transferring forest lands to local residents, meaning his family had no authority to manage the forest. In 1992 the government announced a policy of handing over forests for people to maintain and exploit sustainably. "I love our family’s forest," Cao says. "Thanks to that policy, I could continue growing timber while many people around us opted for growing wattle, also known as acacia." Growing acacia takes less time and effort and starts providing an income sooner than timber. Now the forest has around 600 ironwood trees aged 40-70 years besides hundreds of other timber trees. Trieu Tien Loc in his family’s forest in Ha Long in Quang Ninh Province. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Cuong. "I am close to death now and have fulfilled my wish to leave the future generations a forest with such valuable trees. "Forests are humans’ lungs and should not be treated as public property. So I also wish my children and …

[Read more...] about Man spends decades growing trees, says bequest to future generations

New US President Joseph R. Biden was sworn in with his wife Jill Biden by his side, photo: AFP Last Wednesday many Americans breathed a sigh of relief as Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th US President without any further incident from those who believe the election was “stolen” from former President Donald Trump. Instead of attending the ceremony as is tradition, Trump and his family took one last trip on Air Force One to Florida, where he will be based until the former reality TV star decides whether to run for president again in 2024 – or perhaps even endorse a family member for the post. Alongside Biden, Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice-president, becoming the first woman in American history – as well as the first woman of African-American and South Asian descent – to take on the role. “Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more difficult than the time we’re in now,” Biden said in his inauguration speech. He vowed to dedicate his “whole soul” to rebuilding a country battered by disease, economic turmoil, racial inequality, and political division. The 78-year-old certainly has his work cut out for him, but he rushed into action to put his stamp on the presidency by signing a raft of executive orders within hours of entering the White House. Biden signed a letter retracting Trump’s decision to leave the World Health Organization, which would have been effective in July. There was widespread criticism and an almost complete lack of international support last year for Trump’s move in the midst of a pandemic. In the most noteworthy but also most unsurprising move, the US is to be reinstated to the Paris climate agreement. The accord, which looks to curb the heating of the planet, will be much boosted by the return of second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. Biden has previously warned that climate change poses the “greatest threat to the country”, which was battered by record wildfires and …

[Read more...] about Domestic strife dampens US foreign policy