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Category: Market

  • What is it like on the climate job market right now?

    Illustration of earth, megaphone, pencil, hard hat, and beaker

    The vision

    “The uncertainty of the situation is taking an emotional toll on our entire community. The job market is shifting so rapidly that it’s an uneasy time whether you’re employed at the moment or not.”

    — Trish Kenlon, founder of Sustainable Career Pathways

    The spotlight

    On Thursday, February 27, Tom Di Liberto lost his job as a public affairs specialist in the office of communications at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. He was just two weeks away from the end of his two-year probationary period as a federal employee — despite having worked as a contractor at the agency for over a decade — when he and hundreds of his NOAA colleagues were fired as part of a downsizing led by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Like many of the thousands of federal workers who have found themselves unemployed or unsure of their employment status since the start of Donald Trump’s second administration, the climate scientist turned communications expert took to LinkedIn to share his feelings about being fired that day, and start the process of figuring out what happens next.

    “Being a federal employee at NOAA was a dream come true. Literally. I’ve wanted to work at NOAA since I was in elementary school,” he wrote. “To NOAA and all federal colleagues, stay strong and keep protecting this country and world.” He added that he would be looking for new employment opportunities and would appreciate any connections.

    Despite reaching a wide audience (“If there’s a viral equivalent on LinkedIn — I had over 100,000 impressions or something like that,” Di Liberto later told me) and sending out applications regularly, he’s still looking. So are many of the fellow fired federal workers whose own search for opportunities he’s helped amplify to his network.

    According to data gathered by The New York Times, the Trump administration has so far cut somewhere close to 60,000 federal jobs (some of which have been temporarily reinstated following court orders) — not counting the more than 70,000 employees who have taken resignation offers — and more than double that number are still planned.

    But now this influx of former federal talent is hitting up against pressures affecting the private and nonprofit sectors, leaving those newly out of a job questioning whether there are enough jobs for everyone, and how stable they may ultimately be.

    Here in Looking Forward, we’ve covered several resources that exist to connect job seekers with climate-related opportunities — and when I first started working on this story, I thought it might be useful to compile those into a resource guide for people impacted by federal job and funding cuts. But as I began talking with sources, I found that the reality is more complicated than just knowing where to look for new positions. For both job seekers and coaches, navigating this moment means grappling with anxiety, uncertainty, and some heavy emotions about how the landscape has shifted, even while staying open to where the next opportunity might emerge.

    You’ll still find those resources throughout today’s newsletter and listed below, and I hope they’re helpful. But the crux of today’s story is about the contradictions and dilemmas in what workers and jobs experts are seeing and experiencing right now, in the broad landscape of climate careers.

    . . .

    Highly qualified workers leaving the federal government are entering a competitive job market — and making it even more so. The job site Indeed saw a 50 percent increase in applications from federal workers between January and February of this year. Di Liberto said he has encountered a lot of interesting job prospects, and applied to many of them. “The issue is that, you know, you’re applying against 500 other highly capable people,” he said.

    Like many other former feds, his expertise is in a relatively narrow niche, making the search even more challenging. “The field of climate communication, it’s not that big. So I know who I’m competing against, and I like them. I think they’re great.” It has been an odd balance, he said, of rooting for others to land jobs while also hoping to rise to the top of a hiring pool and land one himself.

    Another complicating factor: While federal staffing cuts are bringing a glut of new workers onto the job market, federal funding cuts and freezes — and other pressures like tariffs and even the administration’s stance against climate and DEI language — are causing some organizations in the private and nonprofit sectors to hire more cautiously, or not at all.

    Kristy Drutman, who co-founded and leads the platform Green Jobs Board, a directory of climate and environmental job openings, said she has seen some companies pull back from job postings in recent months. “A lot of companies that were posting with us that are in the energy and renewable sector now have told us that they’ve had to pause their hiring process, because they don’t know for sure if they’re going to have remaining grant funding for the rest of this year,” she said.

    Programs that had been reliant on funding from the Inflation Reduction Act or bipartisan infrastructure law, two landmark pieces of climate legislation from the Biden administration, have faced funding freezes that have, in some cases, been reluctantly unlocked in response to court orders but still face uncertainty. One example, a $20 billion fund for green investment, remains frozen in a legal battle between the EPA, the grantees, and Citibank, the entity housing the fund. Other climate-related programs and funding sources have been killed altogether.

    Drutman has meanwhile ramped up her efforts to provide mentorship and a sense of hope to job seekers. This fall, her team will be launching a new platform called Pathways (currently in beta), meant to help job seekers track new positions as they arise and build up their applications through things like networking, course recommendations, and a cover letter tool. “We’re building the resource for people to be prepared when those jobs do come out, to be ready for it,” she said.

    She’s relatively confident those jobs will exist, but over the last few months, Drutman has struggled at times to make sense of the landscape of which industries appear to be still growing and which are facing an overabundance of job seekers and a short supply of open jobs. “I think there’s still a lot of expansion happening. But I would say the supply-and-demand issue is definitely there,” she said.

    Trish Kenlon, a professional coach for those seeking climate careers and the founder of Sustainable Career Pathways, told me in March that she was receiving more requests for coaching and support than she could physically accommodate. That influx even included some new clients who hadn’t previously worked in climate or sustainability but were considering it after losing their job in another field.

    “The uncertainty of the situation is taking an emotional toll on our entire community,” Kenlon said. “The job market is shifting so rapidly that it’s an uneasy time whether you’re employed at the moment or not.”

    Still, despite the overwhelm, she was optimistic that there are still job opportunities out there for those looking.

    “The overall supply of talent in the market has increased, but I don’t think job seekers should panic,” Kenlon said. Although many climate fields may be competitive, there is a broad spectrum of types of climate work — so, in many cases, the number of new candidates competing for specific roles isn’t likely to increase too much as a result of federal layoffs, which have also affected people across a wide range of sectors and experience levels, she said. “While there certainly is some increase in competition, I don’t think it’s at the overwhelming scale that many people are worried about.”

    . . .

    Some of the optimism comes down to the fact that, on a broad scale, green jobs are growing. The clean energy industry, for example, has expanded to the point where market forces will continue to drive its growth.

    “In the U.S., there are things where the momentum is just too fast already to move, because we’re part of bigger markets,” said Kate Gordon, another longtime expert in the green economy. For instance, she thinks people will continue to choose electric vehicles, even in spite of reduced incentives. Though there are also some more nascent technologies that have not yet reached that tipping point, and may not do so if the government fails to invest in them. “I am worried about hydrogen in particular,” she said.

    She also sees an inevitability in the growth of climate-focused positions outside industries that are typically considered part of the green transition. Gordon, who now helms an economic development organization called California Forward, has worked for the development of green jobs for two decades, including helping the Bureau of Labor Statistics define what green jobs are. But today, she rejects that phrase altogether.

    “To the extent people are thinking very narrowly about what a climate job is, there are not as many as there need to be,” she said. But in her view, climate intersects with so many other aspects of life that there are opportunities to work for a liveable future in just about every field. “I just think people should broaden their horizons a bit, and think about jobs in economic development, jobs in finance, any of these systems. Jobs in insurance are 100 percent climate jobs right now,” she said. “Jobs in the utility sector are climate jobs, jobs in the bond market are climate jobs, geology is increasingly a climate job.”

    She also emphasized that the country is facing a shortage of workers in the skilled trades — positions that will be necessary to actually facilitate the green energy transition. “I know someone who got laid off in the administration who’s in her 50s, is going back to school and becoming a welder,” she said. “Think about it — think about hands-on jobs that are building this stuff that needs to get built.”

    Daniel Hill, who started an initiative called #OpenDoorClimate to connect job seekers with professionals willing to share advice, also sees reason to believe that corporate sustainability efforts will continue, though perhaps more quietly. “There’s this kind of pull back publicly going on, even though companies are still doing the work,” he said. That public perception may lead job seekers to think that there aren’t opportunities for them when in fact there may well be — even if the positions don’t have “climate” or “sustainability” in the title. Companies still recognize the value of this work, he said. He even sees a potential positive in that restructuring, where environmental impacts and sustainability concerns could become more embedded across organizations, rather than siloed within one team or one role.

    Like Gordon, he also encourages job seekers to take an expansive view to what their next climate position might be — including talking with people in different fields, simply to learn. A conversation like that led him to begin his career in energy efficiency, he said, when he came out of school thinking he wanted to work in alternative fuel development.

    “Even if you think you know exactly where you’re trying to get, it’s still worth talking to some tangential folks to hear what they’re up to, too,” he said. “It’s such a quickly evolving field that what you learned two years ago might have changed, or there might be something even newer out now that needs work done that wasn’t on your radar.”

    . . .

    Still, for many of the federal workers and others now forced to look for new roles, the unceremonious loss of the work they were doing has left a mark — and broad optimism about the state of the industry and the breadth of jobs it may hold isn’t necessarily resonating right now.

    Another former federal worker, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid jeopardizing her administrative leave, emphasized the emotional side of losing the work that she had cared so much about, in such a violent fashion. As a probationary employee at the Department of Energy, she was fired in February — her supervisor relayed the news in tears. She and many others were later rehired, but seeing there was little chance for her community engagement-focused work to continue, she accepted a deferred resignation offer.

    “From the first day of the Trump administration, with the memo that he put out and the executive orders — pretty much in the first two weeks, he eliminated or paused all of the work I had done in two years,” she said. “And not just me, but the work of all of my colleagues who had worked on anything environmental justice-related or even community engagement-related.”

    She was lucky to land a new job relatively quickly, this time working for her state government on community engagement for a weatherization program. But, because the project is funded by the EPA, she’s anxious that the work and her position may yet be under threat. And beyond that, she’s still reeling from the past few months. “I had to ask for more time before my initial start date for this other job because emotionally I’m just not ready to be back in the workforce,” she said.

    Di Liberto also spoke about the toll of seeing his work go up in smoke. “It’s not so much about me losing a job,” he said. “It’s about this job not existing anymore.” Many communications positions were cut, he said, breaking an important link between critical climate and weather research and the people who could benefit from it.

    He’s wary of what may emerge to replace his old job, and whether he’d be willing to do it — part of a broader question about government services being privatized, and who then will be able to access the resources, information, and infrastructure created. “I don’t know how I feel about then going to a private sector company who’s replacing government work,” said Di Liberto. “And I’m sure that’s probably felt by a lot of people.”

    He often jokes that, with his math skills, he could easily have found his way into a career that would have made him a lot of money, if that’s all he wanted. “But I would’ve hated what I was doing and I would’ve felt like I had no purpose,” he said. “The reason why I worked at NOAA, the reason why I did the work I did, was because climate change is an issue. It’s happening, it’s here. It’s really, really bad. And I don’t want people getting hurt. The core sense of why I do what I do is I don’t want people to get hurt.”

    His colleagues shared that sense of dedication to their work, he said. And while many are still reeling from the loss of their jobs, he sees signs that the dramatic, emotional nature of the cuts may also lead to the rise of something new. Anecdotally, Di Liberto has noticed that former colleagues seem galvanized to speak out and advocate for climate issues in new ways, and he is curious to see if they might go on to form or join NGOs, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to channel that energy into new missions — and new jobs.

    “It all is going to come down to funding, though,” he added. “I think that’s the scariest part for all of us, is that we know the government funded so much of the science and so much of this work, you can’t just replace it overnight. It’s just going to come down to funders, and whether they’re opening their pockets to help us try and get through this time.”

    — Claire Elise Thompson

    More exposure

    Below, we’ve gathered up a selection of resources that may be useful for job seekers and those who have been affected by layoffs and funding cuts — from climate-centric jobs boards to stories of solidarity from others in the fray.

    For climate job listings:

    • Check out Kristy Drutman’s Green Jobs Board. You can also follow them on Instagram to see new listings when they get posted.
    • Green Jobs Network is another one, with a newsletter and a variety of specialized and searchable jobs boards
    • And here’s one more — Trellis Jobs, from the media and events company formerly known as GreenBiz

    For skill building and networking:

    For more info and stories — or to share your own:

    • Subscribe to the Laid Off newsletter, which has, since last August, shared personal stories about something that many people go through but few process publicly: what it’s like to lose a job
    • Listen to Environmental Defense Fund’s Degrees podcast, which Daniel Hill has co-hosted — billed as “your podcast community for green job mentors, insight into new and growing careers, advice to calm your climate anxiety, and actionable conversations to make a meaningful impact”
    • Check out the Federal Resource Directory, a crowdsourced information hub for current and former government workers, which includes things like workplace rights, unemployment resources, whistleblower protections, and career support
    • If you’d like to help preserve federal datasets, or figure out how to access them, check out the Data Liberation Project from MuckRock and subscribe to their newsletter
    • If you are a scientist or grant recipient who’s been affected by federal cuts, consider sharing your story with the Union of Concerned Scientists to help highlight the importance of science
    • Grist is also collecting stories to document the climate and environmental justice work that’s being lost through these cuts — we’d love to hear from you

    A parting shot

    One of Di Liberto’s projects at NOAA was launching the agency’s first animated series, “Teek and Tom Explore Planet Earth,” to help communicate climate and Earth science topics to kids. Check out the five-eposide series, with accompanying lesson plans, here.

    An illustration shows a scientist and an alien in a spaceship over planet Earth, with the text Teek and Tom Explore Planet Earth

    This story was originally published by Grist with the headline What is it like on the climate job market right now? on May 7, 2025.


    This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Claire Elise Thompson.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Trump’s $1.7 TRILLION Stock Market Wipe Out Explained with Ian Bremmer & Larry H Summers


    This content originally appeared on VICE News and was authored by VICE News.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Exclusive: World’s ‘largest online black market’ loses banking license

    Huione Pay, the banking arm of what’s been called the world’s “largest ever illicit online marketplace,” has been stripped of its banking license, the National Bank of Cambodia confirmed to RFA this week.

    The company is part of the wider Huione Group of Cambodia, a conglomerate which operates several “Huione” products, including marketplaces, banking and finance apps.

    One of these, a Telegram marketplace, has been identified as a notorious place for crime tied to up to $24 billion in illicit transactions.

    Huione Pay’s license was withdrawn owing to its noncompliance with “existing regulations and recommendations that may have been made by the regulators,” a National Bank of Cambodia spokesperson told RFA by email on Thursday.

    The spokesperson did not say when the license was withdrawn or what repercussions the company might face if they continue to operate. Huione did not respond to RFA’s requests for comment before publication.

    It has previously denied criminal activity– when Huione was identified by the cryptocurrency compliance firm Elliptic to have facilitated millions of dollars in criminal payments, it issued a statement insisting that it was a mere “information publishing and guarantee trading platform” bearing no responsibility for the goods and services others used it to trade.

    RELATED STORIES

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    Hun To went after the press; who really won?

    A March 6, 2025 post to the official Telegram channel of Huione Pay offering loans to customers in both dollars and cryptocurrencies.
    A March 6, 2025 post to the official Telegram channel of Huione Pay offering loans to customers in both dollars and cryptocurrencies.
    (RFA)

    However, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, Huione’s Telegram marketplace has become one of the main arteries of illicit commerce in Southeast Asia, a region grappling with an epidemic of human trafficking and internet fraud.

    The UNODC’s regional representative, Benedikt Hofmann, welcomed the termination of Huione Pay’s license.

    The withdrawal “will send an important signal, especially given the high profile of Huione and its outsize role for the region’s criminal ecosystem,” he told RFA.

    Hofmann cautioned, however, that this latest development would not be a cure-all for the region’s crime epidemic – nor would it necessarily mean the end of Huione.

    “Huione is in many ways the tip of the iceberg and we will see users shifting to other, similar providers which have emerged in the region,” he added.

    Much of the money that was being moved through Huione Pay came from illicit activities linked to cyberscamming, the UNODC found. For more than half a decade the region in which Huione operates has been dotted with compounds housing what the U.N. says are hundreds of thousands of enslaved workers forced to perpetrate a type of cyberscam commonly known as “pig butchering”. The practice is estimated to swindle billions of dollars from its victims around the world every year.

    Elliptic, the cryptocurrency compliance firm, traced billions of dollars flowing from Huione Guarantee, the Telegram marketplace, to Huione Pay. This was “likely so that these criminally-derived funds could be cashed out,” firm founder Tom Robinson told RFA.

    “I think this will be a blow to Huione Guarantee,” Robinson added. “We have direct evidence of Huione Pay laundering money from scam victims around the world, including the elderly and vulnerable. They are willing facilitators of pig butchering and other fraud, so any regulatory action against them should be welcomed.”

    The loss of Huione Pay’s license, which has not been previously reported, does not seem to have curtailed the company’s activities, however. As recently as Thursday the company’s official Telegram channel, linked to on its website, was offering loans to customers. A post on February 27th promoted the launch of a Huione-branded Visa card. Visa did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

    News of Huione Pay’s license being withdrawn was greeted as overdue by a former employee who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal. They told RFA it was openly acknowledged within the company that there were two sets of accounts maintained.

    “They cook the books,” the former employee said.

    While the company handled billions of dollars, “close to none” of those transactions were made available to the compliance department, which was relegated to the role of advisors, “ whose advice were never taken seriously,” the former employee said.

    One of Huione Pay’s three directors is Hun To, a cousin of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.

    Official censure of a company so close to the inner circle of Cambodia’s ruling family is unusual. But Jacob Sims, an expert on transnational crime at the United States Institute of Peace, told RFA that the withdrawal of Huione’s banking license should not be read as a herald of reform.

    “It all ultimately amounts to a brand switch,” Sims said. “It’s basically an easy thing for the regime to point to and say, ‘Look, we’re cracking down on this’ without doing really anything but consolidating Huione’s available brands.”

    For Sims, there’s one way the Cambodian government could show it was serious about cracking down on the crime wave Huione has been surfing: “Arrest all the people involved in Huione.”

    Edited by Abby Seiff and Boer Deng


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jack Adamović Davies for RFA Investigative.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hanoi passes law that allows Musk’s Starlink to enter Vietnamese market

    Vietnam has passed legislation that would allow tech billionaire and senior U.S. presidential adviser Elon Musk’s Starlink telecommunications company to begin offering satellite internet services in the country.

    The decision by the National Assembly is unprecedented in that it allows the U.S. company into the Vietnamese market without a domestic partner.

    Starlink’s parent company SpaceX had repeatedly expressed its intention to invest in the market of 100 million people but had not yet succeeded because the previous rules, which also forbade foreign companies from owning more than 49% of shares in joint ventures.

    A person familiar with the matter told Reuters news service that the abrupt change in stance could be seen as extending an “olive branch” to SpaceX amid Vietnam’s concerns about tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

    Critics acknowledged that the decision would pave the way for more Vietnamese to access the internet, but also warned that it would allow the government to more tightly control the people.

    How Starlink internet works
    How Starlink internet works
    (AFP)

    According to the VnExpress news network, the decision is part of a resolution on piloting a number of special mechanisms and policies to create breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation.

    The resolution stated that the pilot is based on the principle of ensuring national defense and security, in which there is no limit on the percentage of foreign investors’ share ownership, capital contribution or contribution ratio, and it would still maintain full ownership of local subsidiaries.

    Promoting human rights?

    Providing internet via satellite means that people living in remote and mountainous areas will be able to access the world’s vast knowledge and view uncensored information about democracy and human rights – which Hanoi’s critics say worries the government.

    “The downside is that it helps the government control the people very effectively,” Nguyen Quang A, the former president of the Vietnam Association of Information Technology told Radio Free Asia, though he acknowledged it would help people by giving them more opportunity to express their opinions online.

    The ruling also shows that the government is flexible when it comes to acquiring new technology, an information technology expert identified only by the pseudonym Phillip, for security reasons, told RFA Vietnamese.

    Regardless of whether they access the internet via Starlink’s satellite internet constellation or by other means, users will still be bound by the rules of Vietnam’s cybersecurity law, which heavily regulates the internet and online activities, a resident with 10-years experience in tech security with experience at Vietnamese and international non-governmental organizations, told RFA.

    “That means that telecommunications and Internet companies when opening up to Vietnamese users must place servers in the country, and the company will be responsible for providing all data when requested by the state.”

    He said that Starlink would likely negotiate a deal with Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications, but in the end “will have to give in and accept data requests,” in line with Google and Meta.

    RFA attempted to contact SpaceX about the development, but received no response.

    The Ministry of Information and Communications did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters news service.

    Extending an “olive branch” to the US

    A government official told Reuters a day earlier that the change paves the way for Starlink to launch in Vietnam and follows lengthy negotiations with SpaceX.

    This is “a demonstration from Vietnam that they can play transactional diplomacy if the Trump administration wants to,” the previous Reuters source familiar with the situation said.

    Nguyen Quang A told RFA that allowing Starlink into the Vietnamese market could help reassure the U.S., which had a trade deficit of US$123.5 billion last year, making Vietnam the United States’ fourth largest trading partner.

    Last September, Tim Hughes – SpaceX’s senior vice president –met with Vietnam’s general secretary To Lam during a business trip to New York, and expressed the company’s intention to invest US$1.5 billion in Vietnam but did not specify the timing and purpose of the investment.

    IT expert Phillip said that the ruling presents an opportunity for Vietnam to be more open.

    “Right now, we don’t know which companies will invest, what the policies will be, how much cooperation these companies will have with the government, but in my opinion, this is an opportunity for Vietnam to change and loosen up,” said Phillip. “If they want to be closer to the West, they have to loosen up a bit, they can’t completely control everything like before.”

    Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Eugene Whong and Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hanoi passes law that allows Musk’s Starlink to enter Vietnamese market

    Vietnam has passed legislation that would allow tech billionaire and senior U.S. presidential adviser Elon Musk’s Starlink telecommunications company to begin offering satellite internet services in the country.

    The decision by the National Assembly is unprecedented in that it allows the U.S. company into the Vietnamese market without a domestic partner.

    Starlink’s parent company SpaceX had repeatedly expressed its intention to invest in the market of 100 million people but had not yet succeeded because the previous rules, which also forbade foreign companies from owning more than 49% of shares in joint ventures.

    A person familiar with the matter told Reuters news service that the abrupt change in stance could be seen as extending an “olive branch” to SpaceX amid Vietnam’s concerns about tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

    Critics acknowledged that the decision would pave the way for more Vietnamese to access the internet, but also warned that it would allow the government to more tightly control the people.

    How Starlink internet works
    How Starlink internet works
    (AFP)

    According to the VnExpress news network, the decision is part of a resolution on piloting a number of special mechanisms and policies to create breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation.

    The resolution stated that the pilot is based on the principle of ensuring national defense and security, in which there is no limit on the percentage of foreign investors’ share ownership, capital contribution or contribution ratio, and it would still maintain full ownership of local subsidiaries.

    Promoting human rights?

    Providing internet via satellite means that people living in remote and mountainous areas will be able to access the world’s vast knowledge and view uncensored information about democracy and human rights – which Hanoi’s critics say worries the government.

    “The downside is that it helps the government control the people very effectively,” Nguyen Quang A, the former president of the Vietnam Association of Information Technology told Radio Free Asia, though he acknowledged it would help people by giving them more opportunity to express their opinions online.

    The ruling also shows that the government is flexible when it comes to acquiring new technology, an information technology expert identified only by the pseudonym Phillip, for security reasons, told RFA Vietnamese.

    Regardless of whether they access the internet via Starlink’s satellite internet constellation or by other means, users will still be bound by the rules of Vietnam’s cybersecurity law, which heavily regulates the internet and online activities, a resident with 10-years experience in tech security with experience at Vietnamese and international non-governmental organizations, told RFA.

    “That means that telecommunications and Internet companies when opening up to Vietnamese users must place servers in the country, and the company will be responsible for providing all data when requested by the state.”

    He said that Starlink would likely negotiate a deal with Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications, but in the end “will have to give in and accept data requests,” in line with Google and Meta.

    RFA attempted to contact SpaceX about the development, but received no response.

    The Ministry of Information and Communications did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters news service.

    Extending an “olive branch” to the US

    A government official told Reuters a day earlier that the change paves the way for Starlink to launch in Vietnam and follows lengthy negotiations with SpaceX.

    This is “a demonstration from Vietnam that they can play transactional diplomacy if the Trump administration wants to,” the previous Reuters source familiar with the situation said.

    Nguyen Quang A told RFA that allowing Starlink into the Vietnamese market could help reassure the U.S., which had a trade deficit of US$123.5 billion last year, making Vietnam the United States’ fourth largest trading partner.

    Last September, Tim Hughes – SpaceX’s senior vice president –met with Vietnam’s general secretary To Lam during a business trip to New York, and expressed the company’s intention to invest US$1.5 billion in Vietnam but did not specify the timing and purpose of the investment.

    IT expert Phillip said that the ruling presents an opportunity for Vietnam to be more open.

    “Right now, we don’t know which companies will invest, what the policies will be, how much cooperation these companies will have with the government, but in my opinion, this is an opportunity for Vietnam to change and loosen up,” said Phillip. “If they want to be closer to the West, they have to loosen up a bit, they can’t completely control everything like before.”

    Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Eugene Whong and Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Explosion rattles Dadong food market in China days after Xi Jinping’s visit | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Typhoon Krathon shuts Taiwan’s stock market, kills two people

    Taiwan suspended trading on its US$2.5 trillion stock market for a second day on Thursday as Typhoon Krathon edged toward the island’s densely populated west coast after killing at least two people.

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, or TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and is closely monitored by traders and the broader industry for any possible disruption to supply chains.

    TSMC said it had activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its fabs and construction sites, adding it did not expect any significant impact on its operations.

    2024-10-02T100328Z_836175139_RC27CAA9TF42_RTRMADP_3_ASIA-WEATHER-TAIWAN.JPG
    People walk on the street with umbrellas as Typhoon Krathon approaches in Kaohsiung, Taiwan October 2, 2024. (Ann Wang/Reuters)

    Heavy winds and rain unleashed by Krathon killed two people, while two others were missing and 102 were injured as of 8 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the island’s Central Emergency Operation Center.

    The typhoon disrupted traffic and forced the suspension of flights for a second day on Thursday. Power was cut to nearly 55,000 homes, authorities said.

    As well as the stock market, schools, government offices, many private businesses and other financial institutions were closed. 

    People flocked to supermarkets and convenience stores to stock up, emptying the shelves in produce sections, according to media.

    2024-09-30T072634Z_913215096_RC2UAAASBNHM_RTRMADP_3_ASIA-WEATHER-TAIWAN.JPG
    People buy food at a supermarket ahead of Typhoon Krathon which is expected to intensify and make an unusual landfall on Taiwan’s densely populated west coast in the early hours of Wednesday in Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 30, 2024. (Ann Wang/Reuters)

    As of 10 a.m. on Thursday, Krathon was  30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of the city of Kaohsiung moving north-northeast at a speed of 8 kilometers per hour (5 mph), data from Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration showed. 

    The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 126 kph (78 mph), with gusts of up to 162 kph (100 mph). 

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Thailand’s longan boom faces uncertain future as Chinese tighten grip on market

    In the lush orchards of northern Thailand, a fruit known locally as “lamyai” has become the unlikely star of an international trade saga. Longan, with its translucent flesh and subtle sweetness, has carved out a dominant position in China’s fruit import market. However, this success story comes with a complex web of challenges and risks that threaten the long-term sustainability of Thailand’s longan industry.

    In 2023, Thailand exported 327,296 tons of longan to China, valued at over US$400 million, accounting for 95% of China’s longan imports. While these numbers showcase success, they also reveal Thailand’s heavy reliance on a single market.

    Niwat Kantawong, a 42-year-old dried longan exporter from Chiang Mai’s Phrao district, offers a glimpse into the intimate relationship between Thai producers and Chinese buyers. 

    “It’s as if they’re controlling the production themselves,” Niwat told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news organization. “They oversee everything we do, staying for months at a time.”

    th-longan-05.jpg
    Niwat Kantawong, a dried longan export business owner, prepares documents for Chinese buyers at his office in a longan drying factory in Phrao district, Chiang Mai, on Aug. 17, 2024. [Wittayakorn Boonruang/BenarNews]

    According to the Ministry of Commerce, in 2023, Thailand’s global longan exports totaled 16.5 billion baht (US$474 million), with China as the top destination, accounting for 12.9 billion baht (US$370 million) or 78% of the total.

    This reliance on China highlights a power imbalance, as Chinese buyers, through local “Lhong” or packing houses, control prices and quality standards, leaving Thai farmers with minimal bargaining power.

    “The current state of the longan market is completely controlled by Chinese merchants, both for fresh and dried longan,” Niwat explains. 

    “When demand from China is high, prices are good, and everyone’s happy. But when production exceeds their demand, dried longan factories and longan orchard owners struggle. The bargaining power is entirely in the hands of Chinese merchants.”

    Data from the International Institute for Trade and Development, or ITD, shows that China’s fruit imports, particularly tropical fruits, have been steadily increasing since 2016, reaching US$16.85 billion by 2023. ASEAN countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, are the main suppliers.

    Thailand’s longan production for 2024 is projected at 1,438,137 tons, a 2% rise from 2023. The northern provinces, especially Chiang Mai and Lamphun, are the key production areas, expected to produce 994,953 tons, or 69% of the total.

    th-longan-02.jpg
    Chawanwit Jaikard, a young longan farmer, inspects his longan orchard in Banhong district, Lamphun, on Aug. 24, 2024. [Wittayakorn Boonruang/BenarNews]

    Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai emphasized that the government will plan ahead to address potential agricultural issues, while farmers must take responsibility for maintaining the quality of their produce. 

    “We aim to solve problems in a timely manner, ensuring people are well cared for and stay competitive in global markets,” told the media in late August. 

    He noted that Cambodia, Thailand’s main competitor in longan exports to China, increased its market share from 0.5% to 5% in 2023, highlighting the need to maintain high standards for Thai longan to keep prices competitive.

    Chinese control the market

    Middlemen play a crucial role in Thailand’s longan and other fruit markets, operating through fruit packing houses or Lhong. The Office of Farmers’ Reconstruction and Development Fund has noted that some of these packing houses are nominees of Chinese merchants, who may be married to Thai nationals or use Thai fronts while the capital remains Chinese. These operations often create problems, particularly in depressing the prices paid to longan growers.

    Chawanwit Jaikard, a 27-year-old new generation farmer growing longan in Banhong district, Lamphun, states, “In the longan purchasing market, even though we have Thai-owned Lhongs, most are actually nominees of Chinese capital. Even for truly Thai Lhong, the final destination of the longan is still the Chinese market.”

    “The prices are set the same whether it’s a Thai or Chinese Lhong. We really can’t escape their influence, especially with the government welcoming Chinese investment,” Chawanwit told BenarNews.

    The pricing power of Chinese Lhong creates uncertainty for farmers, who cannot predict whether prices will cover their production costs. If prices fall in a year when they’ve already invested, farmers may face losses and debt. Given that longan trees take years to mature and produce fruit only once a year, a single misstep in investment can have long-lasting effects.

    “For example, in years with high longan production, Lhong lower their purchase prices or, in extreme cases, stop buying altogether,” Chawanwit explains. 

    “In years with low production, like 2024, longan prices are good because overall production is lower, so Lhong have to set higher purchase prices to secure products. Then politicians take credit, claiming prices are better because of the government.”

    th-longan-03.jpg
    A longan orchard in Saraphi district, Chiang Mai, where Chinese middlemen have purchased the entire harvest, on Aug. 4, 2024. [Wittayakorn Boonruang/BenarNews]

    Chinese Lhong can set purchase prices and quality standards as they wish, bearing little risk while monopolizing the longan market. Longan orchard owners must accept the fate determined by these buyers. Chawanwit also notes that this situation is leading to a decline in the number of longan farmers.

    “Gen Y and Gen Z, like me, often opt for steady salaried jobs or more stable work than longan farming,” he says. 

    “The memory of family members in debt due to longan farming and the lack of stable income drives younger people to seek work elsewhere. Only some Boomers, Gen X, and a few Gen Y continue longan farming. In extreme cases, some decide to sell their orchards because there’s no one to continue the work.”

    A 2022 research project by Li Jun Wang from Chiang Mai University’s Social Science Faculty, titled “‘Lhong Jin’ and Changing Livelihoods of Longan Farmers in Lamphun Province,” found that the entry of Chinese Lhong has greatly impacted local farmers. The study highlights their loss of bargaining power and increased dependence on these buyers.

    “While the expansion of Chinese Lhong offered export opportunities, it led to the loss of longan varieties and market monopolization, creating new risks and lifestyle changes for farmers,” the study states.

    Need for diversification

    Donlawat Sunsuk, a researcher at a Thai think-tank, The Glocal, highlights that dried longan has historically been a popular export to China, often seen as a luxury health food and given as gifts during festivals. However, he notes that changing demographics in China may shift consumption patterns, as younger generations may be less inclined to buy longan as gifts. 

    “The longan export industry must adapt by developing new products and exploring markets beyond China,” Donlawat told BenarNews.

    In late July 2024, Rangsan Maneerat, a member of parliament from Lamphun province, proposed a “Longan Strategy Act” in the House of Representatives. This draft law suggests establishing a “Longan Strategy Committee” to address issues in the industry.

    “We want to see solutions to unfair longan pricing, the application of scientific research to develop value-added longan products, and relevant ministries negotiating new markets for longan,” the Lamphun MP stated while proposing the draft law in the House of Representatives.

    th-longan-04.jpg
    A woman selects dried longan at a supermarket in Fuyang, in eastern China’s Anhui province on Feb. 9, 2018. China’s factory inflation eased to a 14-month low in January while consumer prices grew at their slowest rate in six months, official data showed in February. [AFP]

    Niwat agrees that more diverse processing methods and new markets are the way forward for the entire longan industry. 

    “Currently, dried longan fetches the best price, but it’s heavily dependent on the Chinese market,” he says. 

    “If one day they stop buying, the entire Thai longan system could collapse. We should find new processing methods and new markets. I’d like to try making spirits, beer, or wine from longan, so we’re not just exporting to China alone.”

    BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Wittayakorn Boonruang for BenarNews.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Bangladesh: Video of July 11 fire in Lakshmipur village market peddled as attack on Hindus

    A 37-second clip depicting smoke billowing out of some makeshift shops engulfed in flames is viral on social media. In the video, some individuals are seen trying to salvage some articles and rushing to take them out of the reach of the fire. Social media users claim that the clip is from Bangladesh’s Laximpur and shows a shop owned by a Hindu named Rajan Chandra set afire in an act of arson by ‘Islamists’.

    Bangladesh was plunged into an unprecedented crisis with erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ousted on August 5 after a month-long nationwide student protest. An interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus is expected to be sworn in on August 8.

    Propaganda outlet Sudarshan News, which often shares and amplifies misinformation, posted the above-mentioned video on August 7 with a caption in Hindi that can be translated as: “Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh… In Laxmipur, the shop of a Hindu shopkeeper, Rajan Chandra, has been burnt to ashes… Rajan Chandra and his family are in agony and wailing as their shop, their only source of livelihood, burns to ashes…” The tweet has received more than 50,000 views and has been retweeted over 1,200 times. (Archive)

    Another X page called Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus 🇧🇩 (@VoiceofHindu71) also shared the same video with the claim that the shop on fire belonged to a Bangladeshi Hindu named Rajan Chandra. The tweet has received over 1.63 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 4,600 times. (Archive)

    Several other users such as @SaffronSunanda, @visegrad24, @ManishKasyapsob, @RealBababanaras,  shared the viral video with the same claim, amplifying it further.

    Click to view slideshow.

    News outlet ETV Bharat also carried the viral video in their report with the same claim.

     

    Fact Check

    To verify this claim we ran a relevant keyword search in Bengali which led us to several news reports from July that covered a fire in Lakshmipur that had burnt down around 15 shops. We came across a news report by Bangladesh Bulletin from July 11, 2024, titled: “15 shops were gutted by fire at Majuchaudhuri market in Lakshmipur” which carried an image with visuals similar to those in the viral video. Lakhsmipur is a district in Chittagong division of Bangladesh.

    Below is a comparison:

    This proves that the incident had taken place before the anti-government protests in Bangladesh turned violent on July 16.

    As per the news report, locals noticed the fire in the Moju Chowdhury Hat after the Fajr prayers (Islamic prayers offered in the early morning) were over. The report also quoted Abdul Mannan, the assistant deputy director of Lakshmipur fire service, saying that they had received a call about the fire at 6:20 am. Since the area had several garment shops the flames spread quickly. The report did not mention anything about the cause of the fire.

    Another news report by Shomoy Sangbad said that the fire department initially believed the cause of the fire was an electrical short-circuit. The report also mentioned the names and nature of the shops damaged in the fire — Abdul Mannan Motor Parts, Rakib Tyres, Sourav Store, Gas Cylinders, Electronics, etc.

    Further, we ran a relevant keyword search (both in English and Bangla) with the name ‘Rajan Chandra’ to check if there were any news reports about the individual’s shop being burnt but we could not find anything.

    Therefore, from the above findings, it is clear that the viral video is not related to the ongoing protests in Bangladesh. Nor does it show one particular Hindu-owned shop set afire.

    The post Bangladesh: Video of July 11 fire in Lakshmipur village market peddled as attack on Hindus appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Myanmar junta airstrike on market kills 15, residents say

    Junta forces bombed a market in Myanmar’s Shan state killing at least 15 people and wounding many, residents said on Friday, as a surge of fighting in the northeast and elsewhere took an increasingly heavy toll of civilians.

    Allied groups have been battling the military regime that seized power in a 2021 coup across the Mandalay region, as well as in neighboring Shan state and Rakhine state in the west since launching an offensive codenamed Operation 1027 in late October. 

    A ceasefire agreed in January between junta forces and insurgent armies known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance collapsed in late June and fighting has surged since then.

    Battles have been raging for townships in Shan state and the Mandalay region with junta forces resorting to airstrikes as insurgent forces make gains in several places.

    An airstrike on a market in Shan state’s Hsenwi town killed 15 people on Thursday and critically wounded many, residents said, though adding that details could not be confirmed as telecommunications links had been cut.

    “A plane dropped six bombs during market hours,” said one resident who declined to be identified for security reasons.

    “It’s likely that some of the injured may also die because they are critically hurt. We still don’t know exactly how many, but there are a lot.”

    Hsenwi is about 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lashio, the main town in northern Shan state where heavy fighting has also been taking place trapping thousands of civilians. 

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    The military has not released any information about the bombing in Hsenwi and a junta spokesman did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. Li Kya Win a spokesman for the insurgent force battling in the town, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, which is part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, also did not respond to calls seeking comment by the time of publication. 

    Messaging app channels supporting the junta posted videos that they said showed troops had cleared MNDAA insurgents out of state buildings in Hsenwi on Thursday evening. 

    But residents told RFA that no insurgents had occupied those buildings near the market. 

    ‘No doctors’

    In the Mandalay region to the west of Shan state, so-called People’s Defense Forces serving under the National Unity Government, a shadow administration formed by members of the civilian government ousted in the 2021 coup, have said they have captured at least two dozen junta bases.

    Junta forces fired artillery into at least six neighborhoods in the gem-mining town of Mogoke, about 200 km (120 miles) north of Mandalay city, on Thursday killing 11 civilians and wounding 17, residents said.

    Another member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, fighting alongside People’s Defense Forces, claimed control of western Mogoke on Tuesday. 

    signal-2024-07-19-12-52-37-599-4 (1).jpg
    Smoke rises from Mogoke town during a junta heavy artillery bombardment on July 18, 2024. (Citizen photo)

    At least half of the town’s residents have fled, with many of those remaining struggling to cremate relatives killed in the fighting, said one resident, who also declined to be named for security reasons. 

    “Family members have been cremating their dead after bringing their bodies on motorcycles since last night,” he said. “They couldn’t contact the free funeral service volunteer associations because all the phone lines were cut.”

    He said the communications blackout made it impossible to get an accurate idea of the death toll but residents identified four of those killed in artillery fire as Min Khant Kyaw, Ni Tot, Thant Zin, Ko Htwe and Tin Maung Aye. The other seven could not be identified. 

    There was also little help for the wounded, said a volunteer working with an aid association. 

    “There are no doctors or nurses in the hospital anymore. They left when the shelling became too intense and artillery started flying,” he said, declining to be named in order to speak freely.

    RFA called Mandalay region’s junta spokesperson, Thein Htay, for comment but he did not respond.

    About 30,000 people, or about half of Mogoke’s usual population, are trapped in their homes after junta forces set up road blocks throughout the township as part of their campaign against the insurgents.

    The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, is trying to occupy Mogoke and Shan state’s Mongmit, a spokesperson for the insurgent force told RFA.  

    The TNLA seized four military camps, as well as weapons and ammunition on Thursday and only four junta outposts are holding out in a 55 km (34 mile) stretch between Mongmit and Mogoke, said the spokesperson, Lway Yay Oo, who added that TNLA fighters were focusing on getting control of Mogoke’s east. 

    Junta attacks have killed 94 civilians and injured 131 in Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Nawnghkio, Mongmit and Mogoke townships from late June until Thursday, she said. 

    Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Rice crisis triggers arrests, market upheaval in Myanmar

    As Myanmar grapples with a deepening economic crisis, the military junta has launched a sweeping crackdown on the rice market, arresting vendors and shopkeepers in an attempt to rein in escalating food prices. 

    Authorities have in recent days detained 11 rice vendors, including a Japanese national. The arrests, announced by the junta’s Ministry of Information, targeted seven large-scale rice vendors and four shopkeepers, some associated with popular chains like City Mart and Aeon Orange. 

    Those arrested face charges of non-cooperation with ministry orders, and possibly up to three years in prison and fines up to 500,000 kyat (US$154).

    But the crackdown on the market for the vital staple extends beyond these arrests. Thirty shopping centers and stores have been charged with selling rice above mandated prices, while nearly 60 people have been questioned. The heavy-handed approach has even reached high-level officials and rice mill owners, who face questioning about the rising market prices.

    Myanmar’s economy has been on the ropes since a February 2021 coup triggered political and economic upheaval after a decade of tentative reforms.

    The World Bank said in a recent report that Myanmar’s economy faced significant challenges and would remain “feeble” as conflict, macroeconomic instability and dislocation constrained production. In the six months to March, goods exports fell by 13% and imports fell by 20% compared with the same period a year earlier, it said.

    000_97U268.jpg
    People wait for a branch of the AYA Bank to open, ahead of a long holiday stretch for the Myanmar New Year, also known as Thingyan, in Yangon on April 12, 2021, as the country remains in turmoil after the February military coup. (STR/AFP)

    A senior Central Bank of Myanmar official, who declined to be identified, recently pointed to such imbalances to explain the sliding kyat, which has plunged from about 1,350 to the dollar before the coup to about 4,500 to the dollar now.

    The junta’s chief, however, has blamed the economic woes on fraudsters and manipulators.  He ordered crackdowns on gold traders, after their prices rose sharply as the kyat fell, and on property agents blamed for capital flight as members of the dwindling middle class bought flats in neighboring Thailand as a bolt hole.

    Now rice traders are getting the blame for surging prices that would appear to be largely out of their control.

    The U.N. Development Programme, or UNDP,  said in a recent report that rice prices rose by 45% in 2022 alone, attributed to higher inflation, a weakening kyat currency, and rising fuel and transportation costs. 

    ‘Affordable rice’

    Zaw Yan, a member of a farmers’ group called the Farmer Honorary Network, said input costs had surged, with diesel and fertilizer prices now up to five times higher than they were not so long ago.

    Farmers now invest roughly one million kyat per acre for rice, a considerable sum that forces them to sell at higher prices just to break even, he told Radio Free Asia.

    “These main costs and capital, none of the farmers, especially poor farmers, the lower class, can’t afford it. They don’t have it,” Zaw Yan said.

    Compounding the problem, many agricultural communities have been affected by the departure of young workers to cities and abroad in search of work, while fighting  between the junta and rebels, for the first time in  some central rice-growing areas, has disrupted production.

    ENG_BUR_RICE SUBSIDY_0703204_1.jpg
    Men plough rice in a paddy field with buffalos in the outskirts of Naypyidaw on March 26, 2024. (STR/AFP)

    The UNDP said in the key rice-producing regions of Sagaing and Magway, where household income has decreased by at least 36%, farmers also cited problems ranging from extreme weather to landmines.

    In response to the rising prices of the staple, the Myanmar Rice Federation has hastily implemented an “affordable rice scheme” across 58 shops in 18 townships of Yangon, 120 in Mandalay and 96 shops in Naypyitaw regions, setting limits on retail prices and purchases and offering small loans to farmers. The federation did not respond to RFA’s enquiries about whether subsidies would be provided to shopkeepers.

    The scheme was launched on June 25, according to the Ministry of Information. 

    “This scheme is to stop reselling rice at exorbitantly high prices. The federation requested individuals to cooperate in this to stop price manipulation,” the Ministry of Information said, encouraging customers to report vendors who sell rice at prices higher than the “5% band” established by the junta. 

    “The federation will arrange for social and religious institutions, government organizations, factories and restaurants to buy the rice at an affordable rate and at a reasonable portion,” it continued, adding that there was a two-bag limit per household per month. 

    RELATED STORIES

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    The arrested vendors were accused of inflating prices well above those set under the ministry’s scheme.

    The outlook for the market is far from certain with one vendor, who declined to be identified, saying that the junta’s warning had already been effective in scaring shopkeepers to keep prices low. Similarly, a good harvest season could also increase supply and bring prices down. 

    “Of course, the price of rice is going to fall,” said the vendor.  “I estimate that the price could be 1.5 million kyat (US$ 462) per two acres in the coming harvest.”

     Edited by Taejun Kang.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kiana Duncan for RFA and RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Rice crisis triggers arrests, market upheaval in Myanmar

    As Myanmar grapples with a deepening economic crisis, the military junta has launched a sweeping crackdown on the rice market, arresting vendors and shopkeepers in an attempt to rein in escalating food prices. 

    Authorities have in recent days detained 11 rice vendors, including a Japanese national. The arrests, announced by the junta’s Ministry of Information, targeted seven large-scale rice vendors and four shopkeepers, some associated with popular chains like City Mart and Aeon Orange. 

    Those arrested face charges of non-cooperation with ministry orders, and possibly up to three years in prison and fines up to 500,000 kyat (US$154).

    But the crackdown on the market for the vital staple extends beyond these arrests. Thirty shopping centers and stores have been charged with selling rice above mandated prices, while nearly 60 people have been questioned. The heavy-handed approach has even reached high-level officials and rice mill owners, who face questioning about the rising market prices.

    Myanmar’s economy has been on the ropes since a February 2021 coup triggered political and economic upheaval after a decade of tentative reforms.

    The World Bank said in a recent report that Myanmar’s economy faced significant challenges and would remain “feeble” as conflict, macroeconomic instability and dislocation constrained production. In the six months to March, goods exports fell by 13% and imports fell by 20% compared with the same period a year earlier, it said.

    000_97U268.jpg
    People wait for a branch of the AYA Bank to open, ahead of a long holiday stretch for the Myanmar New Year, also known as Thingyan, in Yangon on April 12, 2021, as the country remains in turmoil after the February military coup. (STR/AFP)

    A senior Central Bank of Myanmar official, who declined to be identified, recently pointed to such imbalances to explain the sliding kyat, which has plunged from about 1,350 to the dollar before the coup to about 4,500 to the dollar now.

    The junta’s chief, however, has blamed the economic woes on fraudsters and manipulators.  He ordered crackdowns on gold traders, after their prices rose sharply as the kyat fell, and on property agents blamed for capital flight as members of the dwindling middle class bought flats in neighboring Thailand as a bolt hole.

    Now rice traders are getting the blame for surging prices that would appear to be largely out of their control.

    The U.N. Development Programme, or UNDP,  said in a recent report that rice prices rose by 45% in 2022 alone, attributed to higher inflation, a weakening kyat currency, and rising fuel and transportation costs. 

    ‘Affordable rice’

    Zaw Yan, a member of a farmers’ group called the Farmer Honorary Network, said input costs had surged, with diesel and fertilizer prices now up to five times higher than they were not so long ago.

    Farmers now invest roughly one million kyat per acre for rice, a considerable sum that forces them to sell at higher prices just to break even, he told Radio Free Asia.

    “These main costs and capital, none of the farmers, especially poor farmers, the lower class, can’t afford it. They don’t have it,” Zaw Yan said.

    Compounding the problem, many agricultural communities have been affected by the departure of young workers to cities and abroad in search of work, while fighting  between the junta and rebels, for the first time in  some central rice-growing areas, has disrupted production.

    ENG_BUR_RICE SUBSIDY_0703204_1.jpg
    Men plough rice in a paddy field with buffalos in the outskirts of Naypyidaw on March 26, 2024. (STR/AFP)

    The UNDP said in the key rice-producing regions of Sagaing and Magway, where household income has decreased by at least 36%, farmers also cited problems ranging from extreme weather to landmines.

    In response to the rising prices of the staple, the Myanmar Rice Federation has hastily implemented an “affordable rice scheme” across 58 shops in 18 townships of Yangon, 120 in Mandalay and 96 shops in Naypyitaw regions, setting limits on retail prices and purchases and offering small loans to farmers. The federation did not respond to RFA’s enquiries about whether subsidies would be provided to shopkeepers.

    The scheme was launched on June 25, according to the Ministry of Information. 

    “This scheme is to stop reselling rice at exorbitantly high prices. The federation requested individuals to cooperate in this to stop price manipulation,” the Ministry of Information said, encouraging customers to report vendors who sell rice at prices higher than the “5% band” established by the junta. 

    “The federation will arrange for social and religious institutions, government organizations, factories and restaurants to buy the rice at an affordable rate and at a reasonable portion,” it continued, adding that there was a two-bag limit per household per month. 

    RELATED STORIES

    Myanmar junta bans all men from working abroad

    Myanmar’s economy is still in free fall

    One-third of Myanmar population in need of aid, says UN

    The arrested vendors were accused of inflating prices well above those set under the ministry’s scheme.

    The outlook for the market is far from certain with one vendor, who declined to be identified, saying that the junta’s warning had already been effective in scaring shopkeepers to keep prices low. Similarly, a good harvest season could also increase supply and bring prices down. 

    “Of course, the price of rice is going to fall,” said the vendor.  “I estimate that the price could be 1.5 million kyat (US$ 462) per two acres in the coming harvest.”

     Edited by Taejun Kang.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kiana Duncan for RFA and RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Was the US military involved in Israel’s heinous market massacre?


    This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Did Google ‘abandon’ the Chinese market due to domestic requirements?

    A claim has been shared in Chinese-language social media posts that Google “abandoned” the Chinese market due to the domestic requirements asking foreign firms to store data in China. 

    But the claim is misleading. Google had its servers in China before exiting the country in 2010. The primary reason for the American tech giant’s departure from the Chinese market was its refusal to comply with the Chinese government’s content censorship.

    The claim was shared on Douyin, a Chinese version of TikTok, on March 10, by a user “Li Sanjin Alex Sees the World” with more than 3 million followers. 

    Commenting on the U.S.’s latest decision to ban Tiktok, the user claimed the U.S. specifically “targeted” the Chinese app by creating a new law to push it out although it complied with all American domestic laws.

    “Someone might say China [also] banned it [foreign social media platforms] anyway. Facebook, Twitter, Google, it’s all equal [banned in China]. You are dead wrong,” said the user.

    “As long as they keep their data at home [in China] … you can develop in the Chinese market at will. Google, they disagreed. [to follow the domestic regulations] So they gave up the Chinese market.”

    P1.png
    Screenshot of the account of a Douyin user “Li Sanjin Alex Sees the World.” (Duoyin)

    “Li Sanjin Alex Sees the World” was among many Chinese online users who criticized the U.S.’s move to ban TikTok, while citing Google’s decision to exit China as an example to “compare” how both the American and Chinese government “treat” foreign companies differently. 

    The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last Wednesday calling for the app’s Chinese developer ByteDance to divest from the company or be booted out of U.S. app stores.

    The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, receiving 352 votes in favor, and only 65 against.

    Many House legislators have argued that the app could allow Beijing to access user data and influence Americans through the wildly popular social media platform’s addictive algorithm. The White House has backed the bill, with President Joe Biden saying he would sign it if it passes Congress.

    But the claim is misleading. 

    Google’s China exit

    A review of archived documents reveals that before Google announced its exit from the Chinese market in 2010, its servers were located within China.

    The American tech giant even had joint ventures or collaborations with various Chinese companies in different businesses. 

    Google also cooperated with the Chinese government’s request for self-censorship of content. 

    In fact, Google stated that due to sophisticated cyber attacks originating from China and requests from the Chinese government for censorship, the company decided to redirect its “services designed for mainland China users” to servers in Hong Kong.

    China has numerous laws regarding content censorship.

    The “Administrative Measures for the Security Protection of International Networking of Computer Information Networks” is one example. 

    Under the measure, China’s Ministry of Public Security is responsible for protecting the connection between the computer network in China and the international Internet.

    “No unit or individual shall use the international networking to endanger state security, divulge state secrets, nor shall it/he/she infringe on national, social and collective interests and the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, nor shall it/he/she engage in illegal criminal activities,” the Article 4 of the measure reads. 

    AFCL has previously reported on China’s increasing control over the Internet industry. 

    TikTok ban?

    TikTok, a highly popular app owned by a Chinese firm, faces scrutiny due to the significant control the Chinese government has over its national companies. Critics fear that this influence might allow the Chinese government to collect personal data from American users or manipulate American politics through TikTok.

    The U.S.’s latest move is aimed at the ownership structure of the app, while establishing clear legal compliance norms. 

    With the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has 180 days after the law takes effect to sell the app business and hold no more than 20% of the shares to continue operating in the U.S. market.

    The new bill wouldn’t remove TikTok from people’s phones. But it would prevent Apple and Google from distributing the app from their app stores, and maintaining the app via updates, which would eventually make the app unusable. 

    The bill would also ban U.S. websites from hosting TikTok.

    Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.

    Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Rita Cheng for Asia Fact Check Lab.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • How Chinese Organized Crime Is Dominating America’s Illegal Marijuana Market


    This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by ProPublica.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • China stiffens regulation after recent stock market collapse

    China’s top securities regulator has released new guidelines to strengthen regulation after the collapse of Chinese stock markets in the first two months of the year, wiping off billions of dollars as the economy teeters.

    The draft guidelines will see the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) increase its oversight and supervision of listed companies, brokerages and public fund companies, and accelerate the building of “first-class” investment banks, the regulatory agency’s vice chairman Li Chao said in a press conference Friday in Beijing.

    By raising the entry bar for public listings, Li said it will be improving the quality of the companies from the “source”.

    “We will strictly prohibit companies from blindly listing to make money, overfinance, fabricate financial reports or report false or fudge information. Such behaviors will be seriously and legally dealt with,” he said.

    According to Yan Bojin, head of the CSRC’s public offering supervision, the increased regulations were a response to the findings that listing candidates have unsound internal control mechanisms, irregular corporate governance, and financial fraud in some companies.

    Similarly, supervision of gatekeeper responsibilities of intermediaries like the stock exchanges will be strengthened, as will regulation of securities firms and public funds, Yan added.

    The stock market has been roiled by frequent turmoil in the past few years, weighed down by a real estate crisis characterized by defaults along with Beijing’s crackdown on sectors like technology and private tuition services. While it isn’t the economy, it is a barometer of investors’ expectations and confidence level of China’s prospects.

    Between December and early February, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell nearly 11%. It only began to rebound, helped by Beijing’s recent measures to put a floor under share prices. 

    It did so by pushing state-owned funds to invest in stocks, curb short selling that bets on price declines, and cracked down on trades by quant funds, which use computer algorithms to catch investment opportunities. 

    Wu Qing, the newly appointed CSRC chairman also known as the “broker butcher,” has taken aim at quant funds that were blamed for worsening the slump in a stock market made up of mostly retail investors. The quant fund industry is estimated to have doubled in value in the past three years as punishing losses spread across the broader market.

    Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • China says upgrade, trade-in policy creates billion-dollar market

    China’s top state planner has projected a multi-billion-dollar market from Beijing’s policy pushing for industries to upgrade their equipment and citizens to trade in their old vehicles and home appliances for new ones.

    The domestic consumption push, an integral part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s latest mantra to unleash “new productive forces,” is seen as instrumental to Beijing’s efforts to revive growth.

    Zheng Shanjie, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, also assured the media that Beijing’s 5% GDP goal is achievable.

    “This goal is in line with the annual requirements of the ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ and matches the potential of economic growth, a goal that can be achieved with positivity and hard work,” he told reporters at a press conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress Wednesday. 

    Zheng said the economy is recovering and showing new results, without specifying. One such potential result could be the over 5 trillion yuan (US$694 billion) that is forecast to be created annually as industries and companies upgrade their equipment to raise development quality.

    “Chinese industries and the agricultural sector last year invested about 4.9 trillion yuan in equipment. The push to raise quality development will only increase demand for equipment upgrade,” he said at the joint briefing with China’s finance minister, commerce minister, central bank chief, and head of the securities regulator.

    The campaign will focus on industrial, agricultural, construction, transport, education, cultural tourism and healthcare, where the upgrade will foster reduced carbon emissions, safety, digital transformation and smart intelligence, Zheng added.

    Similarly, Zheng described the trade-in market for vehicles and home appliances as “huge” and in the “trillion yuan” level, given that car and white goods ownership last year reached 336 million units and 3 billion units, respectively. 

    The upgrade and trade-in drives could enhance China’s efforts to build a circular economy, he noted.

    “The promotion of such large-scale equipment upgrade and consumer goods trade-in is a systematic project … to be supported by fiscal, financial and tax policies.”

    “New productive forces” was coined by President Xi during a trip to the rustbelt Northeast region last September, where he highlighted the need for a new economic model. In Xi’s China, the state’s role is expanding and the private sector is retreating. 

    Central government agencies and local governments are now focused on putting the new vision into play. Chinese Premier Li Qiang in his maiden government work report on Tuesday called for a “new leap forward” to modernize the industrial system and accelerate the development of new productive forces across sectors like electric vehicles, hydrogen power, new materials, life sciences and commercial spaceflight. 

    To support the domestic demand policy, Beijing will issue 1 trillion yuan of special long-term bonds this year, and more in the next few years. 

    The thrust of China’s economic policy direction is “seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through advancement, and in construction before destruction,” according to the Chinese premier’s work report.

    As such, authorities could be banking on “new productive forces” to buffer the structural challenges that clouded the outlook of the Chinese economy, like a deepening real estate market crisis, local government indebtedness and economic issues due to demographic shifts. Li’s report offered little details on structural reforms which some analysts said are crucial to address fundamental problems.

    Externally, China’s foreign trade will face a severe situation, commerce minister Wang Wentao said at the press conference.

    Echoing the complexity and unpredictability of the external environment, People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng stressed that the central bank will leverage on monetary policies and intensity macro-control policies to ensure stability.

    “China’s monetary policy toolbox is still rich [with tools at our disposal], and there is still sufficient room for monetary policy [adjustments],” Pan said, adding that the bank will keep the yuan basically stable.

    Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Myanmar junta kills 12 after firing into crowded market

    Junta shelling of a crowded market killed 12 people and critically injured 18 more on Thursday morning, rescue workers told Radio Free Asia.

    A junta battalion on a nearby road fired indiscriminately into a marketplace in Rakhine state’s capital of Sittwe during the busiest time of day, locals said.

    Sittwe has become a disputed territory since a rebel group, the Arakan Army, captured surrounding junta camps and seized six townships across Rakhine state. In early February, the Arakan Army demanded junta troops in Sittwe surrender before their arrival in the capital. 

    The junta army’s grasp on the area has been tenuous after losing territories, but troops have attempted control by placing restrictions on the capital and making large-scale arrests. On Feb. 19, regime forces detained 500 people who landed in Sittwe off a flight arriving from Yangon.

    A rescue volunteer who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told RFA the dead have been sent to Sittwe Hospital’s mortuary, and the injured are being treated there

    “Those 18 were critically injured and their injuries are life-threatening,” he said. “Some people died on the spot and others after arriving at the hospital. All of them are vendors and shoppers.”

    The names and ages of the deceased could not be confirmed. However, most of them were women, children and the elderly, the volunteer added.

    The shell was fired by a battalion near Shu Khin Thar road, residents said.

    RFA contacted Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson Hla Thein for further details about the attack, but he did not reply. 

    The Arakan Army ended a humanitarian-based year-long ceasefire on Nov. 13 with the junta when they began to attack border outposts and convoys across Minbya and Rathedaung townships. 

    The Arakan Army released a statement on Tuesday saying that 111 civilians have been killed and 357 have been injured by small and heavy artillery fired by the junta from the ceasefire to Feb. 18, 2024.

    Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Can China propping up its stock market bring back the bull?

    Amid the spate of economic policy announced in recent days and Beijing’s intervention to arrest a plummeting stock market, Chinese equities rebounded Tuesday and Wednesday, but the overall gloom may be far from over for the world’s second-largest economy.

    News broke on Tuesday that the “national team” – Beijing-charged fund managers – had stepped in to rescue the market as the country’s three major stock indexes continued to dive. 

    In a statement Tuesday, Central Huijin Investment, a subsidiary of China’s sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp, said it endorsed the A-share [stock] market valuation, had recently expanded its holdings of exchange-traded open-end index funds, and would continue to increase and expand such holdings to ensure the stability of the capital markets.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell below 2,700 points at one point on Monday, with thousands of stocks falling beyond their 10% daily limit. But Huijin’s statement which was widely disseminated via multiple state media outlets apparently took effect. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 3%, Shenzhen Component and ChiNext indexes rose 6% each on Tuesday.

    A staggering 3 trillion yuan (US$422 billion) has been wiped off from the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets since the end of last year, according to some analysts who say the rescue measures may still be insufficient.

    According to a Wall Street Journal report citing financial consultancy Z-Ben Advisors, China’s five largest ETFs tracking the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index received a net fund of US$20.2 billion in January. The inflows – more than 10 times last year’s monthly average – was a sign of China’s “national team” in action. The report also cast doubt on investors’ skepticism if the “national team” can end the stock market rout.

    Wang Guo-Chen, an assistant research fellow at the First Research Division of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) in Taiwan, told Radio Free Asia he saw the national team’s attempt to reverse the bear market in the past few days as futile.

    “We estimated that the market value of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets has evaporated by about 3 trillion yuan since the end of last year. It was reported that 2 trillion yuan was injected to rescue the market, but it’s simply not enough to offset the past few weeks’ losses,” Wang said.

    Separately, Bloomberg reported that the China Securities Regulatory Commission briefed Chinese President Xi Jinping on the state of the stock market on Tuesday. However, it was uncertain whether the authorities would table new measures.

    Broader economic woes

    While the stock market is not the economy, it is a barometer of where the latter may be heading and how investors view China’s prospects.

    China is likely to set a 5% increase in GDP this year after about half of its provinces missed their 2023 targets. The country’s growth slowed to 5.2% in 2023, weighed by structural problems like mounting local government debts and the prolonged crisis in the real estate industry – a longtime driver of economic expansion – that authorities are struggling to fix.

    On Tuesday, the National Financial Regulatory Administration said commercial banks have offered more loans to developers for projects under the favorable “white list.”

    ENG_CHN_MktWoes_02072024_2.jpg
    A man rides an electric bike past residential buildings under construction in Beijing on June 5, 2023. China promised more help for renters as it rolls out a flurry of measures to prop up its ailing property market, while also promising to keep government spending at a “necessary intensity.” (Andy Wong/AP)

    Chu Chen-Chih, president of Marbo Investment Consulting pointed out that the various measures introduced by the Chinese government, including Premier Li Qiang’s pledge to inject more funds into the capital markets on Jan. 22, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission’s move to evaluate stock market performance of enterprise controlled by Beijing, wouldn’t resolve China’s economic problems.

    “The biggest problem in China now is the problem of the economy itself, not stock market policy. To cure a disease, you must treat it. The root cause of the disease is not just the external symptoms,” said Chu. “The Chinese government is trying to take some anti-fever drugs in the hope of alleviating a serious situation, but it isn’t the way to solve economic problems.”

    On the street, the average Chinese retail investor likened the recent rout to the 2015 stock market carnage, according to vox pops conducted by China Business News. Almost nine years ago, Chinese shares plunged more than 40% between June and August, eliminating US$5 trillion of value, as the stock market bubble burst after regulators cracked down on illegal leverage trading.

    In addition to the national team’s rescue this week, a CSRC statement on Monday said it had discovered multiple cases of malicious short selling suspected of manipulating the market. Among them, an illegal gang controlled more than 100 securities accounts to manipulate a certain stock through continuous bidding and reverse trading to influence its price.

    Wang from CIER said apart from vigorously promoting the market, China has three other options: first, to continue talking up China’s economy; if unsustainable, settle for the next best thing and tell the people, “It’s not good, but it will be better tomorrow”; and lastly, resort to coercive measures such as restrict IPOs [new share sales] or stock trading.

    Translated by RFA staff. Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Huang Chunmei for RFA Mandarin and RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Critical minerals market doubled due to clean energy demand, report says

    The critical minerals market essential for clean energy technologies has doubled over the past five years, with China leading worldwide investment spending, a new report by a global energy watchdog said Tuesday.

    Between 2017 and 2022, the energy sector was the main factor behind a tripling in overall demand for lithium, with a 70% jump in demand for cobalt, and a 40% rise in demand for nickel, the International Energy Agency said in its first annual Critical Minerals Market Review.

    The market for energy transition minerals reached U.S.$320 billion in 2022 and is set for continued rapid growth, moving it increasingly to center stage for the global mining industry, the report said.

    Clean energy tech is propelling record deployments for critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earth elements. They help power electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and other technologies key to the clean energy transition. 

    ENG_ENV_CriticalMineralsReport_07112023.4.jpg
    This infographic shows the composition of China’s unrefined raw material imports by origin in 2022. Credit: IEA

    The report said that investment in critical minerals development recorded a sharp uptick of 30% in 2022 – following a 20% increase in 2021 – with companies based in China nearly doubling their investment spending in 2022.

    The global shift towards clean energy technologies is driving a rapid increase in demand for such minerals, with global consumption of these transition minerals projected to grow six-fold by 2040.

    China has emerged as a significant player in recent years due to its dominance over the processing and refining of key minerals necessary for renewable energy. 

    Due to a blend of incentives and regulatory policies, China is also ahead in manufacturing clean energy technologies, such as solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicle (EV) batteries. It hosts about 50% of the world’s operational wind and solar capacity.

    ENG_ENV_CriticalMineralsReport_07112023.3.jpg
    Solar panels work near wind turbines in Quy Non, Vietnam, June 11, 2023. Credit: AP

    Chinese companies have been acquiring overseas mines and investing in mineral-rich countries to secure the sourcing of transition minerals to meet their rising demand. 

    The report said Chinese companies invested $4.3 billion between 2018 and the first half of 2021 to acquire lithium assets, twice the amount invested by American, Australian and Canadian companies combined.

    Despite growth, major issues remain

    Though the critical or transition minerals industry is witnessing a rapid surge in demand, opening up new avenues for growth, the Paris-based energy agency said that more work is needed to ensure diversified and sustainable supplies to support the transition.

    “At a pivotal moment for clean energy transitions worldwide, we are encouraged by the rapid growth in the market for critical minerals, which are crucial for the world to achieve its energy and climate goals,” said International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol. 

    “Even so, major challenges remain. Much more needs to be done to ensure supply chains for critical minerals are secure and sustainable.”

    The agency’s analysis found that if all planned critical mineral projects worldwide are realized, supply could be sufficient to support the national climate action pledges announced by the governments.

    However, a combination of challenges, including volatile price fluctuations, supply chain constraints, and geopolitical uncertainties, have created a complex set of obstacles to overcome, posing significant risks to secure and swift energy transitions, the group said.

    Lack of industry-wide progress, especially in environmental sustainability, means greenhouse gas emissions remain at high levels, with roughly the same amount being emitted per metric ton of mineral output every year, the report said.

    Similarly, water withdrawals almost doubled from 2018 to 2021, while waste generation oscillated around 5 gigatons, with 2021 intensities slightly above 2018 levels. 

    Diversity of raw supply also remains a concern, with many new project announcements coming from already dominant players.

    ENG_ENV_CriticalMineralsReport_07112023.2.jpg
    This infographic shows the share of top three critical mineral producing countries in total production for selected resources and minerals in 2022. Credit: IEA.

    The report said the share of the top three producers in 2022 either remains unchanged or has increased further, especially for nickel and cobalt, with China and Indonesia leading the way.

    While the projects in the pipeline indicate “a somewhat improved picture for mining,” the geographical concentration for refining operations is greater, with China holding half of planned lithium chemical plants and Indonesia representing nearly 90% of planned nickel refining facilities, the report said.

    China has established itself as the world’s largest metal refining hub in the past few decades. However, it heavily relies on imports for large volumes of raw materials, often from a few sources; for example, China depends almost entirely on the Democratic Republic of the Congo for mined cobalt. 

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Myanmar jade dealers say Chinese buyers overrunning local market


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hows Eels Became A Billion Dollar Black Market Business


    This content originally appeared on VICE News and was authored by VICE News.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • WA prepares for hydrogen exports to Europe

    Western Australia has deepened relationships with its potential European hydrogen customers, undertaking a new trilateral study to fast track renewable hydrogen exports to the Netherlands and Germany. The study, which will focus on the Oakajee Strategic Industrial Area (OSIA), was announced by Innovation Commissioner for Green Hydrogen at Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) and…

    The post WA prepares for hydrogen exports to Europe appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • Demand for digital skills to grow 16% by 2026

    Demand for digital skills will be second only to health and care skills over the next four years, while the demand for ‘leading-edge’ green occupations is likely to be marginal, according to a new report by the National Skills Commission. In the modelled period, the demand for digital technologies and electronics skills, will grow by…

    The post Demand for digital skills to grow 16% by 2026 appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

  • Indian Rupee slumps to all-time low of 77.42 against US dollar

    At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 77.17 against the American dollar, then lost ground to quote at 77.42

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Sensex slumps 617 pts; Nifty falls below 17,000

    Asian markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai settled significantly lower

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Sensex, Nifty fall for fifth straight session on weak global trends, oil prices

    The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a weak note and further tumbled 432.36 points

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Sensex tumbles 1,214 points; banking, auto stocks worst hit

    The stocks have tumbled for the third straight day on negative cues from the global equities amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Sensex slumps over 600 pts in early trade; Nifty slips below 16,650 level

    Besides, surging international crude prices and unabated foreign capital outflows weighed on investor sentiment

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Sensex tanks over 2,700 pts amid global meltdown as Russia invades Ukraine

    This was its biggest decline since March 23, 2020, and the fourth-worst fall ever in absolute terms

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.