Plunder of Ghana's Gold by Chinese Criminals Continues, Authorities Say
They say the illegal miners appear to be taking advantage of the record-high gold price, which hit $3,500 in April, with much of the illicit metal being smuggled back to China.
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Arabian Post
15 minutes ago
- Arabian Post
The Answer in a tree: Practices of Environmental Governance and Industrial Development in Lankao, Henan
LANKAO, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 5 August 2025 – From July 23 to 27, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Media and Think Tank Summit took place in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. Themed Upholding the 'Shanghai Spirit' to Build a More Beautiful Home, the summit brought together leading media outlets, prominent think tanks, senior government officials and diplomatic envoys from SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners, renowned scholars and experts in relevant fields, as well as representatives of the SCO Secretariat and other international and regional organizations. On July 26, guests traveled to Lankao County, Kaifeng City, for a field visit. They proceeded to Jiaotong Square to hear stories about the Jiaotong Tree，headed to Jiao Yulu Memorial Park for the exhibition showcasing Comrade Jiao Yulu's life and deeds，and departed for Huanghewan (Yellow River Bay) in Dongbatou Town to learn about ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow last, guests departed for Guyang Music Town to visit the national musical instrument were eager to learn how this once impoverished region, long tormented by sandstorms, salinization, and waterlogging, had achieved comprehensive revitalization through environmental governance and industrial development. ADVERTISEMENT Cultural Exchange Center in Lankao County, Henan Province, taken on May 14th Decades of relentless effort have forged Lankao's remarkable transformation, a change vividly reflected in each upright paulownia tree. This is the pulse of the beneath the vast sky of China, the mighty Yellow River, revered as the Mother River, surges like a dragon, nourishing the root of Chinese civilization. In Lankao, however, these same torrential waters of the Yellow River, with their relentless floods and windblown sands, also left three natural disasters, sandstorms, saline-alkaline soil, and waterlogging. When the spring breeze blows across the old course of the Yellow River again, the landscape of Lankao is transformed. An ocean of paulownia trees spreads out into a stretch of vibrant green. With broad-leaved canopies, these tall and straight trees are like immortal monuments standing on the earth, wordlessly telling the name of a pioneer – Jiao Yulu. One generation plants the trees, under whose shade another generation rests. In 1962, Jiao Yulu, then secretary of the Lankao County Party Committee, led the masses in a battle against three natural disasters. Their ingenious methods—covering sand dunes with excavated silt and planting trees to stabilize moving sands—have found a new life today. The ecological corridor, with a length of more than 1,500 kilometers, and the ecological forest land, covering an area of 200,000 mu, have become the unique 'lucid waters and lush mountains' in the plain sandy endangering the people in Lankao, the three natural disasters—sandstorms, saline-alkaline soil and waterlogging—have now been transformed into ecotourism can view old photos at the Yellow River Control Memorial Hall, go birdwatching by restored wetlands, and enjoy the rustle of leaves in the paulownia forest. ADVERTISEMENT The paulownia forest is not only a green barrier guarding the homeland, but also breeds vigorous Xuchang Village,Guyang Town, people there awaken to the melodious sound of the guzheng and planted to shield against wind and fix the sands, the paulownia trees have now become excellent materials for making Chinese traditional instruments. Xuchang Village produces over 100,000 units of guzheng and guqin annually, generating 150 million yuan (CNY) in output value. With the help of e-commerce, the products are not only sold well across the country, but also exported to more than 10 countries and regions, including Japan and the United States. From a poverty-stricken village in the past to a prosperous village nowadays, the paulownia tree has witnessed the remarkable transformation of Xuchang Village. Meanwhile, in the home-furnishing industrial park, leading enterprises such as Sofia and TATA Wood Door have taken root. These 'singing woods' have been transformed from 'timber worth dozens of yuan' into a modern home-furnishing industry with a production and operation income of more than 50 billion yuan(CNY). Paulownia has become the economic pillar of Lankao, and the furniture produced is shipped from Lankao to many cities across the country. The gifts of this land extend far beyond this. The once barren saline-alkali soil are now planted with melt-in-your-mouth and sweet salt-tolerant sweet potatoes, juicy honey melons, and plump peanuts. These characteristic agricultural products have not only become the 'New Three Treasures' of Lankao, but also a powerful new engine for boosting farmers' incomes The economic development has changed the local people's way of life, and there are many such changes. In terms of education, finance, culture, science and technology, ecology and transportation, the brand-new Lankao is increasingly capturing the world's attention. In the sunlight, the vast fields of photovoltaic panels shimmer like a blue ocean. In the fields, the modern wind turbines, stand tall and upright, their blades turning steadily in the breeze, generating clean energy that meets the local electricity demand and is transmitted to other regions. The construction of high-standard farmland has been comprehensively former saline-alkali land has now become ten thousand mu of fertile farmland. Through the exploration of '5G + smart agriculture', Lankao has realized the transformation from 'relying on the weather for food' to tech-driven harvests. The grain yields climb steadily. The Harvest Festival brims with stories of the smart farming. On the land of Lankao, the beautiful picture of fertile farmland is slowly unfolding with 'villages in the fields, fields among the villages, and villages and fields as one'. From the paulownia tree planted by Jiao Yulu to the comprehensive revitalization of Lankao today, this is a history of struggle, and also a legend of moving from desolation and poverty to fertility and prosperity . The vitality of a tree lies in taking root downward and growing upward; the vitality of a city lies in transforming the sand of suffering into the light of hope. This is the answer that Lankao has given to the world. Ahmed Hassan Ahmed Mohamed Moustafa, Owner and Director of Asia Center for Studies and Translation from Egypt, expressed during his visit that he was deeply impressed by China's achievements in poverty alleviation. He stated that Lankao's remarkable development through initiatives like afforestation was precisely why he chose to visit, adding that such experiences hold invaluable lessons for his own country. Hashtag: #Lankao #Henan The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Time Magazine
15 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Chikungunya Spreads in Southern China: What to Know
Thousands in southern China have been infected with a mosquito-borne illness in the past few weeks, in what's considered one of the most notable outbreaks of the disease since it was first detected in the country nearly two decades ago. The latest outbreak of chikungunya has infected more than 7,000 in the southern Chinese city of Foshan, with sporadic cases in other neighboring cities and municipalities in Guangdong province. So severe is the outbreak that a vice premier visited a massively affected district in the city last week and 'urged efforts to curb imported cases and prevent the spread of Chikungunya both within and outside affected regions,' according to state-run news organization Xinhua. The rapid rise of infections in the province also prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a travel warning to caution visitors earlier this month. Read More: Why Mosquitoes Are So Dangerous Right Now Local officials are now working to combat chikungunya's spread, using some tried-and-tested epidemic measures to respond to infections as well as more creative efforts, to reduce the population of mosquitoes that cause it. Here's what to know about the disease. What is chikungunya? Chikungunya is a disease caused by a virus of the same name. The virus, according to the World Health Organization, is commonly transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female mosquitoes like Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. These species of mosquitoes are also known to carry other disease-causing pathogens, like those that cause dengue and Zika infections. Symptoms of chikungunya appear, on average, between four-to-eight days after a person is bitten by an infected mosquito. These symptoms may include fever, fatigue, and nausea, but a chikungunya infection is characterized by the accompanying severe joint pain that can last for months or years. The name chikungunya itself is derived from a word in the Kimakonde language of southern Tanzania—where the disease was first identified in 1952—which means 'that which bends up' and describes how people infected with it appear stooped because of the associated pain. 'People cannot move because it's so painful. There are tears in their eyes,' Dr. Pilar Ramon-Pardo, a PAHO/World Health Organization adviser in clinical management, told TIME in 2014. But chikungunya cannot be transmitted between humans and is rarely a fatal disease. A study published in Nature in June estimated that some 35.3 million get infected by the disease across 180 countries and territories per year, but only 3,700 deaths (0.01% of cases). The WHO says infants and the elderly have a higher risk of contracting a severe form of the disease. There is no cure for chikungunya, and treatment depends on the management of symptoms. How common are chikungunya outbreaks? After chikungunya's emergence in Tanzania, other countries in Africa and Asia also detected the presence of the disease, per the WHO. Urban outbreaks were recorded in Thailand in 1967 and in India in the 1970s. In 2004, a massive outbreak of chikungunya originated in East Africa, particularly in Kenya's Lamu Island, where it infected 70% of the island's population. The disease then spread to other neighboring islands like Mauritius and Seychelles. India faced a widespread outbreak of the disease in 2006 when it recorded almost 1.3 million suspected chikungunya infections, most of which were from the Karnataka and Maharashtra provinces. That year, there was also a chikungunya outbreak in Sri Lanka, and the following years also saw outbreaks in Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Thailand, infecting thousands. As of May 4, over 47,500 cases of chikungunya have been reported in the French island territory of La Réunion, and there is 'sustained high transmission' across the island since the outbreak began last year, according to the WHO. In the U.S., the first locally-acquired cases were reported in Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2014, per the U.S. CDC. By 2015, chikungunya became a 'nationally notifiable condition.' The WHO noted in 2016 that 'the risk of large-scale outbreaks of Chikungunya virus in the United States is considered to be low,' but indigenous cycles of transmission could not be fully ruled out. From 2010 to 2019, China had imported cases of chikungunya—including clusters in Dongguan, Guangdong in 2010 and Ruili, Yunnan in 2019—according to China's National Health Commission. How bad is the current outbreak in China? The earliest known symptomatic case in China's chikungunya outbreak was on June 16, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The latest outbreak's cases are concentrated in the Shunde District of Foshan, a city of 9 million. From July 27 to Aug. 2, around 2,892 new local cases of chikungunya were reported, and 95% of the cases were in Foshan. The rest were scattered in other cities and municipalities in the region, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Zhongshan. On Aug. 4, Hong Kong, the semi-autonomous region and international port China governs, reported its first imported case. China's CDC has attributed the 2025 outbreak to imported cases. "With the virus spreading globally, imported cases have inevitably reached China," Liu Qiyong, China CDC's chief expert in vector-borne disease control, told state-affiliated news organization CGTN. "Given the established presence of local transmission vectors, particularly Aedes mosquitoes, these imported infections have fueled sustained local transmission cycles, leading to concentrated, small-scale outbreaks in affected regions." Chinese authorities have not elaborated on the specific imported case that triggered the outbreak. Kang Min, director of the institute for prevention and control of infectious diseases at the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that the current flood and typhoon season have also boosted mosquito activity, complicating disease prevention and control efforts. In response to the outbreak, Chinese authorities are borrowing from their COVID-19 playbook: conducting mass tests, isolating infected residents, and disinfecting entire neighborhoods. Foshan authorities have designated dozens of hospitals as treatment centers, and increased its mosquito-proof isolation beds for infected persons to more than 7,000, per Xinhua. But across southern China, authorities have also explored more unconventional solutions: like deploying larvae-eating fish into the city's lakes which can be breeding grounds for mosquitoes, or releasing swarms of 'elephant mosquitoes' that don't bite humans but instead prey on the Aedes mosquitoes known for carrying the chikungunya virus. Read More: What to Know About the Rare But Deadly Mosquito-Borne Virus Concerning U.S. Towns How can one protect themselves from chikungunya? There is a vaccine against the mosquito-borne illness, but it is not yet available to the public in China. The country's National Health Commission asserts that preventive measures like 'promptly clearing mosquito breeding grounds and reducing the density of mosquito vectors' are the main way to prevent infection. These methods include the mosquito coils, repellents, mosquito nets and other methods to repel, kill and prevent mosquitoes. In the U.S., the CDC says two vaccines against the disease are available, and it's advised that those who are traveling to high-risk areas get vaccinated against the disease. Pregnant women should reconsider travel, and should hold off vaccination until after delivery, according to the U.S. CDC.
AllAfrica
16 minutes ago
- AllAfrica
Vietnam should heed the risks of high-speed rail losses
As Vietnam embarks on building its first high-speed rail (HSR) system, the financial struggles and failures of similar projects worldwide offer important lessons and insights. While Vietnam has only recently moved toward implementation, many countries have operated advanced HSR systems for decades. The experiences of these early adopters provide a valuable roadmap of potential pitfalls to avoid. The financial unsustainability of high-speed rail is a global phenomenon. According to the OECD, most HSR projects worldwide operate at a loss. This is supported by a World Bank study of 258 transport infrastructure projects across 20 countries, which found that nine out of ten exceeded their initial budgets and 84% had inaccurate revenue forecasts. The study's author, Professor Bent Flyvbjerg, noted that a mere 0.5% of all projects were completed on time, within budget and delivered their anticipated benefits, often because governments rushed approval before conducting thorough feasibility studies. Even the most celebrated HSR systems are not immune. Japan's Shinkansen, the pioneer of high-speed rail, required the government to cover nearly 100% of its 380 billion yen construction cost (roughly US$17 billion today) and had lost around $100 million by 1972. Similarly, China operates the world's most extensive HSR network but faces mounting debt nearing $900 billion, with only 6% of its 45,000-kilometer network reportedly profitable. More recent projects highlight specific modern challenges. Indonesia's Jakarta–Bandung high-speed rail, a joint project with China, saw its budget balloon from $5.5 billion to $7.3 billion. Reliant on Chinese loans, the line was already reporting $200 million in annual losses upon opening in 2024. In Taiwan, a $15 billion HSR project launched in 2007 suffered continuous losses for years, with deficits reaching $1.73 billion by 2014. This was largely due to fierce competition from low-cost airlines and passenger volumes falling to nearly half of projections. These cases underscore the importance of cautious planning, realistic financial projections and a thorough assessment of long-term viability. Failure to account for these factors can lead to HSR projects becoming unsustainable financial burdens. Profitability and capital recovery time of global high-speed railway projects. Graphic: The Vietnamese / Luat Khoa Magazine Vietnam need not look abroad for cautionary tales; its own domestic urban rail projects have already suffered from the same issues plaguing HSR globally. Both the Cat Linh–Ha Dong line in Hanoi and Metro Line 1 in Ho Chi Minh City have been marred by severe cost overruns, prolonged delays and continue to operate at a loss. What is particularly concerning is that these are relatively modest urban projects, far less complex than the proposed North–South HSR system. The Cat Linh–Ha Dong line serves as a stark case study. Contracted to a Chinese builder, its budget ballooned from an initial $552.8 million to $886 million. The construction timeline stretched to nearly 10 years (2011–2021) for a railway that runs only 13 kilometers at a top speed of 80 km/h. Financially, the project is unsustainable. In 2024, it reported a post-tax profit of just $600,000—a mere 0.07% return on the original investment—and remains dependent on heavy government subsidies. Current estimates suggest a staggering 6:1 subsidy ratio, meaning for every $1 in ticket revenue, the government provides $6 in support. The financial unsustainability of the Cat Linh–Ha Dong project is apparent. Based on ticket revenue alone, the line would need 247 years to recover its $886 million investment. Factoring in its 2024 net profit of just $600,000, the payback period stretches to an astonishing 1,438 years. This calculation does not even account for its annual operating cost of over $24 million. Despite this sobering precedent, Vietnam is now undertaking its largest-ever public investment: the North–South High-Speed Railway. Approved by the 15th National Assembly in November 2024, with a budget of $67.34 billion for a 1,541-kilomater route, the project's projected cost has already increased by over $35 billion from its initial concept. To mitigate the immense financial risk, the government is shifting its strategy. A revised Law on Railways, along with new resolutions, now allows domestic enterprises to participate as primary investors. As experts like Associate Professor Tran Dinh Thien and Associate Professor Bui Quang Tuan argue, 'The mindset that only the state can build national infrastructure is outdated,' suggesting the project could catalyze the growth of Vietnamese industries. However, this new public-private approach is already facing public anxiety, particularly over the decision to allow VinSpeed—a recently established company with a charter capital of just $230 million—to register for the $67.34 billion project. VinSpeed, a key potential investor, has publicly stated it will 'accept potential losses' and is participating not for land but 'to serve the nation.' The company acknowledged that 98% of global high-speed rail projects are unprofitable but did not clarify whether these expected losses would be borne by its own capital or through state-supported loans, raising concerns about the project's financial transparency. This lack of clarity has been compounded by domestic media coverage that has largely focused on the project's potential, leaving little room for critical discussion of its risks. Procedurally, the project deviates sharply from international best practices. Core assessments for ridership, financial modeling and technology sourcing have yet to be finalized. Even more troubling is the timeline: the official feasibility study is not due until the fourth quarter of 2026, just months before the scheduled groundbreaking in December. This means companies are registering to invest in a multi-billion-dollar project before a formal feasibility report even exists. Financially, the project's costs are already an outlier. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has explained that extensive use of elevated tracks and tunnels will push the estimated cost to around $43.6 million per kilometer—more than double the World Bank's global average of $17–21 million per kilometer. Despite all these unanswered questions, planning deficits and alarming cost projections, irreversible actions like land clearance and resident relocation are already underway in many provinces. Graphic: The Vietnamese / Luat Khoa Magazine The HSR era began in October 1964 with Japan's Tokaido Shinkansen, a project that laid the groundwork for a global wave of HSR development. Yet, in the decades since, only one project is widely regarded as a true financial success: the Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) line connecting Paris and Lyon in France. Inaugurated in 1981, the Paris-Lyon TGV was built for a then-record low of just $4 million per kilometer for a total length of 417 kilometers, and was financed without direct government subsidies. This technical and commercial success was proven almost immediately. The line transported 10 million passengers in its first year, a number that quickly doubled, leading to an internal rate of return (IRR) of 12%—allowing the project to recover its initial investment in just 12 years. This success has endured to this day. By 2023, the TGV network carried 122 million passengers and generated 9.7 billion euros in revenue (approximately $11.3 billion), solidifying its status as one of the few HSR models in the world to achieve long-term commercial viability. This article was published in English by The Vietnamese and originally published in Vietnamese by Luat Khoa Magazine. It is republished here with kind permission.
