Following the heyday of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan, low-rise pants continue to “sweep” the current fashion world when supported by many celebrities. However, not everyone is convinced by this trend. Low-rise pants were very popular in the 2000s. Photo: Pinterest. Singer Dua Lipa, supermodel Bella Hadid or Suki Waterhouse openly support this type of pants when constantly sharing photos of matching outfits with low-rise pants on their personal pages. Combined with a crop top is the style most used by stars because they can show off their advantages in appearance. Last year, some famous fashion houses such as Gucci and Chanel also brought low-rise pants back to the catwalk. Besides, currently, the number of videos posted online about dressing advice or expressing support for this style of pants is increasing through the hashtag # LowRiseJeans . Many fashion houses do not hesitate to bring low-rise pants back to the runway. Photo: The Cut, Crfashionbook. However, not all young people want low-rise pants to become a trend in the summer of 2021. Many people harshly assert that they do not like this fashion right from the moment it appears and it only suits a few super skinny. “We need to unite and prevent low-rise pants from coming back”, account @ myamack write. According to the Independent , it is not without reason that low-rise pants are considered the worst fashion trend. One of the common consequences of this type of pants is that it is easy for the wearer to fall into a situation of indiscretion when sitting or crouching. Due to the low waistband, low-rise pants can easily cause the wearer to fall into an awkward situation. Photo: Buzzfeed. Although wearing underwear is no longer a strange thing today, even becoming a trend, it is still difficult to accept for the elderly or those who follow traditional ideas. Because to them, a decent person would not wear such pants. In addition, due to the purpose of showing off the belly, low-rise pants are only suitable for people with a tall and thin figure. That makes people with imperfect bodies feel stigmatized and discriminated against. More deeply, some opinions also assert that this invisible trend can lead to eating disorders, making people obsessed about body measurements …

Besides being the tourist attraction of Sierra Leone, the turquoise lagoon with palm trees here is also a seasonal breeding ground for fish and turtles. In May, however, the Sierra Leone government announced plans to build a fishing port and processing complex in the village. The project has raised concerns about its devastating effects on the local landscape, threatening animal species and polluting the environment. AFP . Black Johnson is the proposed site for the construction of an industrial harbor in Sierra Leone. Photo: Handout. Consequences of China’s “investment” Sierra Leone’s Fisheries Ministry said China is funding a $55 million project to build a fishing port to create jobs and support the local fishing industry in the poor country. But, instead of winning praise, Beijing’s actions are causing controversy in the African country. Mr. Tommy Gbandewa, also known as Tito, the owner of the eco-lodge, is leading the opposition to the plan to build on green plots. “If the Chinese come here, the environment will stink. The beaches will stink,” he said. “The water here will be dirty because of engine oil and a lot of noise, fishing boats will be everywhere.” This controversy is at the heart of a longstanding source of tension in Sierra Leone, between development advocates and conservationists on the other. Opposition is heightened as the government is looking to promote ecotourism to boost its economy. Eco-lodge owner Tommy Gbandewa is leading the charge against a Chinese-funded harbor construction plan. Photo: AFP. Sierra Leone is one of the world’s poorest countries and is still recovering from a civil war that claimed the lives of about 120,000 people nearly two decades ago. Although there are rich fishing grounds, the exploitation of fishery resources in this country is still limited. Not only that, according to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Fisheries, in May, there were about 140 foreign fishing boats catching the country’s fish. These ship owners then processed and sold Sierra Leone’s seafood abroad “with little or no benefit to Sierra Leone”. Even so, despite receiving Beijing’s funding to build a modern fishing pier, the ambiguity in the implementation plan made locals wary. Some believe that the Chinese investors intend to build the fishmeal factory, although the government of Sierra Leone has denied the allegation with AFP . In recent times, a series of fishmeal factories have mushroomed along the West African coast. These factories harvest large quantities of seafood and often release foul-smelling waste, polluting water sources, wreaking havoc on the local environment and hindering tourism development. The fishmeal factory emits toxic waste that is a threat to local communities in Sierra Leone. Photo: Handout. Fishermen’s association spokesman Wudie Bakie Koroma said he would support the harbor construction if taken seriously. “If the fishmeal production (factory) is included in the project, we will firmly oppose it,” he stressed. Against this backdrop, the Chinese diplomat in the capital Freetown Du Zijun announced that the new Chinese-invested project is to build a harbor, not a “fishmeal factory”. “The accusations of not caring about protecting the environment and destroying the ecological environment are purely sensational hypothetical information,” he added. “We have a right to the land” Immediately after the news that the government signed a $ 55 million agreement with Beijing for China to build a project on 100 hectares of exposed sea and forest, locals have repeatedly petitioned to reverse the government’s decision. Mr. Tito said discontent was widespread. Government officials arrived with armed men to survey the construction site. “But I’m Sierra Leone and I have a right to the land,” Mr Tito said. In the wake of the controversy, Fisheries Minister Emma Kowa Jalloh, on a recent visit to the Black Johnson village, promised landowners would be compensated. According to the minister, the Chinese government will provide “subsidy” to build the project, while the government of Sierra Leone invests with land. Half of the required land area is owned by the state, the rest will be taken through the decision to acquire. “We are not occupying land,” she said, noting that the project was “very necessary” to create jobs for thousands of people. The new project is expected to be built in the village of Black Johnson. Photo: AFP. However, Dr Sama Banya, honorary president of the Sierra Leone Conservation Society, said the project would have a “catastrophic” impact on tourism and the fishing industry. Environmental NGO Green Scenery accused the government of failing to properly account for the project’s environmental impact and urged the plan to be scrapped. “Black Johnson is the only ecotourism site left in Freetown, we need to protect it,” said organization director Joseph Rahall. However, not all locals are against the harbor planning. Village chief Pa Lamin Kargbo said the port could help improve places where people still face daily shortages of water, electricity and schools. He explained that much of the friction with the government is due to a lack of dialogue. “We are calling for a peaceful resolution of the problem, so that everyone is a winner,” he said.

Chi Pu used to be a model for many fashion brands. Recently, Chi Pu showed off a photo of wearing a mask with the logo of a Korean fashion brand with the introduction “ From now on, there are mask sponsors” and tag an online fashion store. when the netizen When you visit this store’s account, you can see that the shop sells a lot of products of famous brands, especially adidas and MLB at much cheaper prices than the genuine ones, which the shop revealed as “excess goods”. Chi Pu advertises for an acquaintance’s shop. It is because of the large price difference that many people suspect that the store sells counterfeit goods with surplus products. Even if this is a surplus, it is not a genuine product, and celebrities should not advertise publicly on their personal pages. Maybe Chi Pu just accidentally introduced the shop of friends and acquaintances without having time to carefully check the origin of the goods, but her post was still blocked. netizen protest. The shop introduces itself to sell surplus goods, so it can be understood that buyers will not receive invoices and vouchers like in genuine stores present in Vietnam. Many people, after checking the store information, expressed disappointment because a popular artist like Chi Pu introduced products of unknown origin, especially when this Korean brand has opened a chain of genuine stores in Vietnam. Male.

An individual Aedes aegypti mosquito captured in Costa Rica (Image: Reuters) Proposed by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Authority (FKMCD) and Oxitec – a British biotechnology company supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – this project aims to release large numbers of volatile mosquitoes. genetically modified in the Florida Keys this week; the two organizations said in a joint statement. As the first step of the plan, mosquito bins will be placed in six sites, and within 12 weeks will release about 144,000 Aedes aegypti mosquitoes – the strains most closely linked to infectious diseases such as fever. hemorrhage, Zika and yellow fever. If the plan works out, male mosquitoes that are unable to bite will mate with local female mosquitoes – resulting in the death of their eggs – helping to control Aedes aegypti populations and reduce transmission. epidemic spread. Approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in May 2020, the project also seeks to reduce the doses of local chemical insecticides that are harmful to the wildlife. The UK-based company, founded at the University of Oxford in 2002, also claims that it has a “high level of” support from the Florida Keys residents. But in fact, many local people expressed skepticism, even expressed opposition to local leaders. “We are not scientists, but we can read. What Oxitec says and what we read from other sources is completely different, ”Meagan Hull, a local resident, told a village council meeting in March. “We realized that it was a crime that we were forced to participate in this experiment,” Hull said. Another local resident said she was “extremely concerned” about the upcoming plan, pointing to the risk that genetically modified female mosquitoes will emerge massively in the community. “Everyone says it won’t happen, but I don’t believe it,” she said, pointing to the “lack of transparency” of Oxitec and government agencies. Even some officials have expressed concern, with Council member Mark Gregg calling the genetically modified mosquitoes “Frankenstein mosquitoes”. “I heard others say that we are being turned into guinea pigs” – he said. However, FKMCD confirmed the need to improve mosquito control measures, given that some species of mosquitoes are becoming resistant to insecticides, adding that Oxitec’s project could provide the tools. new “safe, friendly with the environment and with a focus”. Oxitec is no stranger to genetically engineered mosquitoes, and has released more than 1 billion of these mosquitoes in South America and the Caribbean, as a 27-month trial in Brazil in 2013, seek to reduce local mosquito populations by 90%. Like the current Florida Keys initiative, genetically modified mosquito eggs are planned to die in Brazil, but Oxitec drew criticism in 2019 after researchers released a report showing mosquitoes. reproduce as usual, and up to 60% of the individuals analyzed have traces of genetic modification. A similar Oxitec project in the Cayman Islands was also canceled in 2018, after local officials concluded it had failed. Health Minister Dwayne Seymour also said the plan “did not achieve the results we thought”. A few months before the Cayman Islands contract collapsed, the company announced it was a partner with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of US billionaire Bill Gates to produce “friendly” mosquitoes, this time the strain. Anopheles transmits malaria. Since then, Oxitec has received only a modest $ 8.5 million from the Gates Foundation, according to its financial statements, and has received more than $ 1.2 million year-to-date alone.

Although Manchester United has officially withdrawn from the European Super League project as well as club vice president Ed Woodward decided to resign, the fans of the Old Trafford team are still angry. About 20 fans of the Men in Black group broke into the Carrington headquarters to protest, causing the MU players to panic. In January of last year, it was the same group that attacked Ed Woodward’s home in Cheshire. When they entered the MU training ground, coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and technical director Darren Flercher tried to calm the situation, but they were also attacked. They questioned Ole why when he was a MU player did not object to the Glazers taking over MU in 2005, and did not speak out against the club participating in the Super League like other coaches. The MU fans entered the MU headquarters. PHOTO: MEN MEDIA Meanwhile, MU players were shocked at the scene when the fans easily penetrated the team’s headquarters and caused trouble. A source told Sportsmail, “There was someone shouting when Ole started talking to them. The players are interested in how easy it is for fans to get past the security barrier. There aren’t enough security officers to stop such angry mobs. MU needs to increase security to prevent the same thing from happening again ”. Ed Woodward, who resigned as vice president of MU after the failure of the Super League project, was not present at the Carrington headquarters at the time. Despite a public apology from co-chairman Joel Glazer on Wednesday night (international time), the group of protesters entered the training ground at 9am and blocked the entrances before moving to the main entrance of the complex. well suited. The Glazers were under great pressure even though they apologized. PHOTO: GETTY They went straight to the training ground of the MU team and the youth training center before posting photos of them holding up banners to protest on social networks. One of the banners read “Glazer out, 51% Utd”. They wanted the Glazers to be wrapped up from Old Trafford, and at the same time wanted MU to receive 51% of the club’s ownership. This is a very successful model of German football, when clubs always gain at least 51% ownership to avoid losing the team to the oligarchs. Some players from the 1 MU team, members of the U-23 team and the female team were unable to enter the training ground. Meanwhile, other members en route to Carrington were contacted to return home to avoid leaving until the protests ended. Banner “We are the decision maker of the team game”. PHOTO: DAILY MAIL “At 9 a.m., a group of people entered the club’s training ground,” said Manchester United. The head coach and the others talked to them. The buildings are safe and the group is gone. Manchester United are also concerned with unsecured security concerns against Leeds United this Sunday in the Premier League. This is the first time the two clubs have faced each other on Elland Road after nearly 18 years. 51% MUFC Banners and Glazers out. PHOTO: DAILY MAIL Before that, Leeds United fans were outside the field to protest against Liverpool when the bus carrying the club entered the football field. Liverpool along with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham are English teams participating in the Super League. However, under much pressure, this Big Six Premier League group has officially withdrawn from the Super League.

The Man City star added: “The current format of the Champions League is working great. That is why it has become the most exciting club-level tournament in the world, for our players and for our fans. Gundogan thinks the new form of the Champions League is just as bad as the Super League. (Photo: Daily Mail) The new Champions League format will be applied from the 2024/2025 season. The number of teams participating in the tournament will increase from 32 to 36 and the group stage will change completely. There is no longer the division of 8 groups of 4 teams competing for 16 tickets to the knockout round, instead 36 teams will play in the group stage as a league. However, each team will only play 10 matches with 10 different opponents (5 home matches – 5 away matches) instead of playing against all competitors like in league format in the league. The top 8 teams after the group stage will go straight to the knockout round. The teams ranked from 9 to 24 will compete for the play-off in the second leg format to compete for tickets to the next round. Since the knockout round, the new Champions League format remains the same. However, increasing the number of teams and changing the format of the group stage will result in 100 more matches per season. The new format of the Champions League is considered confusing. Real Madrid president and Super League President Florentino Perez bluntly stated: “UEFA has built a new form of play, I cannot understand it and it is not generating enough income. .. We created the Super League to save football ”. Just a day after Florentino Perez made his powerful statement, Ilkay Gundogan’s Man City was the first team to leave the Super League and apologized to the fans. In the middle of next week, The Citizens will face PSG in the semifinals of the Champions League this season./.

Hundreds of tanks contain radioactive wastewater outside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Photo: AP Since then, the authorities have used millions of tons of water to cool the reactors, and store waste water in giant tanks on site. 10 years have passed, the operator of the nuclear plant Tokyo Electric Power Co (TepCo) is now alerting the danger of running out of water storage space from the cooling process, estimated to reach a threshold of about 1.3 million tons of water. year 2022.
Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, have recommended the Tokyo government to build more tanks to keep water outside the plant, rather than opting for an ocean discharge option. Japan has considered several other options, such as evaporation or underground storage of contaminated water from factories. In the end, however, the Tokyo government decided to dilute the huge mass of polluted water and release it into the sea, when it found this option more technically feasible and cost-effective. The process is expected to begin in the next 2 years. Currently, all wastewater is filtered to remove most of the radioactive elements, but some dangerous substances remain, including Tritium, which has been identified as harmful to humans.
Evaluation of Tokyo’s solution, expert Ken Buesseler at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, Massachusetts, noted: “Tritium is light and can float as far as the west coast of the United States within 2 years”. More serious problems are thought to lie in potentially dangerous radioactive isotopes in water, including strontium-90 and iodine-129. In theory, filtration can reduce their concentration, to about 70% for water that has not undergone secondary filtration. But scientists are not sure whether the actual filtration results are according to plan.
A poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in January 2021 found that 55% of Japanese respondents opposed the Tokyo government’s plan to discharge radioactive wastewater from Fukushima into the sea, while 32% said that they support. At the Tokyo government’s earlier hearing on the release of nuclear radioactive water into the sea, some industry and local representatives continued to oppose the decision believed to undermine efforts to revive the affected areas. disaster, blowing past efforts to restore the reputation for local products. “We will die from releasing polluted water into the oceans, as it could have a catastrophic impact on the future of the Japanese fishing industry” – Hiroshi Kishi, head of the Federation of Water Cooperatives National real estate said. Mr. Kishi emphasized that the discharge of radioactive water into the ocean may cause other countries to tighten restrictions on imports of Japanese seafood products, reversing the recent trend of loosening policies.
Japan’s April 13 announcement also immediately drew concerns in neighboring countries, including China and South Korea, about the possible impact on human health as well as seafood businesses. . Beijing calls for Tokyo’s “responsible” attitude, along with “prudent” disposal of nuclear waste, arguing that it involves “the interests of the international community and the vital interests of neighboring countries ”. Meanwhile, Seoul said that “it will be unacceptable if the Japanese side decides to discharge polluted water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant without full consultation”.

President Ceferin of UEFA. Photo: Getty. On the evening of April 20 (Hanoi time), The Times bringing one of the clubs MU, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool may consider withdrawing from the Super League. Initially, the British “Bix Six” team was excited about the Super League project and agreed to participate as a co-founder. However, English teams, especially Liverpool and MU, faced fierce opposition from fans. Liverpool fans even burned shirts and raised banners to protest in front of Anfield. Fans of MU, Arsenal, and Tottenham also made drastic moves. Mundo Deportivo it is predicted that the first England team to withdraw from the Super League could be Man City or Chelsea. Super League is facing a stiff response from UEFA. On the afternoon of April 20, the World Football Federation (FIFA) spoke up to support UEFA. President Gianni Infantino stressed that the Super League wants to be separated from the football system. The head of FIFA declared that the teams have two options: to stay present, or to shake everything to go to the Super League. “There is no such thing as clubs on both sides,” Infantino said. Previously, UEFA threatened to remove the names of clubs from the domestic league and the playing fields under the organization’s management. The Premier League, La Liga and Serie A support UEFA’s plan. President Ceferin also warned players who played in the Super League are banned from EURO. In the opposite direction, only President Florentino Perez spoke up. The Super League head dismissed all criticism, and threatened the tournament. Perez said players should be assured because there will be no basis to ban them from attending the EURO or the World Cup.

Treated contaminated wastewater tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Photo: AFP / VNA Mr. Aso ensures that wastewater discharged into the sea will be treated according to the plan announced by the Government, whereby the concentration of radioactive tritium in wastewater will be diluted to 1,500 becquerel / liter, equivalent to 1/40 of the permitted concentrations are according to Japanese safety standards and 1/7 of the World Health Organization (WHO) standards for drinking water, before being released into the sea. The discharge of this wastewater into the sea will be implemented in about 2 years. After the 2011 disaster, water pumped into the damaged reactors at the No. 1 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant to cool the fuel rods. Along with contaminated rainwater and groundwater, the reactor’s cooling wastewater is treated with an Advanced Liquid Treatment System (ALPS). ALPS removes most radioactive substances, including strontium and cesium, but cannot remove tritium. At the present time, there are more than 1.25 million tons of wastewater that has been treated but still contains radioactive substances being stored in storage tanks at the plant. On April 13, more than 10 years after the factory incident, the Japanese government decided to discharge this wastewater into the sea. The IAEA expressed support for Japan’s decision to discharge treated wastewater into the sea, and affirmed its readiness to provide technical assistance in monitoring this discharge. Before the Japanese decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 15 expressed concern about this issue, at the same time urged Japan to approach the issue of wastewater treatment from the Fukushima nuclear power plant with all responsibility. responsibility. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed her expectation that the Japanese government would show transparency and inform all countries concerned about Tokyo’s actions. In addition, Ms. Zakharova added that Russia is waiting for Japan to have more detailed explanations, while calling on Tokyo not to make economic activities of other countries difficult, including in the fishing industry. fish. On the same day, Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Jiang Hao (Wu Jianghao) summoned the Japanese Ambassador to the country Tarumi Hideo to present a note protesting the decision to discharge treated radioactive wastewater into the sea. Stored at the No. 1 Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The Super League was the slap on UEFA’s Champions League restructuring project on 36 teams. The most powerful football agency in Europe affirmed it would do everything to prevent this “rude project”. Old continental football heads are also believed to be furious at the advent of the Super League. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also part of the opposition, saying the Super League will “harm football” and is asking sports leaders to step in. The European Clubs Association (ECA) requested an emergency meeting over the weekend for the project, but none of the Super League founding groups attended. The participants were in fact only Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar and representatives of Bayern and PSG. Not stopping there, representatives of the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga all oppose this plan. England participated in the Super League the most when the Big 6 including MU, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham were all said to have agreed. Knowing this information, Gary Neville indignantly: “Everything is bullshit. I have been a MU fan for 40 years but I feel disgusting. I am most disgusted with MU and Liverpool. Gary Neville Liverpool, they are always proud of the slogan “You will never have to go alone”, which is the national team, the fan club. MU is a team with a history of 100 years from workers, but are they planning to give everything to an unbeatable tournament where they are not relegated? It’s a shame and we have to take back our power from the top clubs in this country, including mine. This is purely greed, they (the bosses) are club imposters. They have nothing to do with the football of this country. The fan community here is 100 years old, who live, love football and the club wholeheartedly. They need protection. I make a lot of money from football, I make a lot of money from football, I invest money in a football club. I am not against economic employment from football. But there need to be fair rules for a tournament, the right for a team like Leicester to win the league and go to the Champions League. MU is not even attending the Champions League. So are Arsenal and Tottenham. But do they want the privilege of taking part in top tournaments? A pathetic satire. Enough is enough, this greed needs to end. My responses are not based solely on feelings. I am very honest. Subtract 6 clubs from tomorrow, push them to the bottom of the chart and cut all their money. It takes strong action “. Agreeing with the old game, Sir Alex Ferguson responded: “Super League pulls back the 70-year history of European club football. As a player of Dunfermline provincial football in the 1960s and fourths. The way the Aberdeen manager won the European Cup Winners’ Cup, I understood that a team in Scotland attending the European Cup was like climbing Everest. Everton spent £ 500 million to build a new stadium with ambitions to attend the Champions League. Fans around the world love this tournament. When I was at MU, we reached the finals four times and those were always special nights. I am not sure if MU will participate in the Super League, but I am not part of the decision making.

Waste water storage tank inside the Fukushima nuclear power plant No. 1 The purpose of the move is to allay concerns about Tokyo’s plan to release the treated water of the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The wastewater generated from the aforementioned damaged nuclear power plant is stored in tanks located on the plant’s premises, and is expected to have no storage space next year. According to Japan’s NHK Radio, wastewater has been treated with the Advanced Liquid Treatment System (ALPS) to remove most of the radioactive material, but radioactive tritium remains. Before being discharged into the sea, water will be diluted so that the concentration of tritium is much lower than the national standard and will be about one-seventh of the World Health Organization’s drinking water standard. However, this plan of the Japanese government has met with fierce opposition from the local fishing community, anti-nuclear activists as well as neighboring China and South Korea. In an interview with NHK Radio, Mr. Grossi said that the Japanese Government has officially requested the IAEA to cooperate in relation to this plan. The agency may send a team of experts from various countries to help alleviate concerns by verifying that the treated water discharge is safe, said the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. full. “We may be receiving experts from different fields from different countries and regions. Any serious concerns will have the opportunity to be discussed and analyzed technically, ”said Grossi, emphasizing, cannot ignore the concerns of some local residents and neighboring countries such as Korea and China. “Regarding these concerns, we can either agree or disagree, but all must be taken seriously. We have a shared responsibility, ”added Grossi.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Trieu Lap Kien.

“The oceans are not Japan’s trash, the Pacific is not Japan’s sewage trench. The world does not have to pay the price for Japan’s discharge of radioactive water. On some Japanese officials say,” “Nothing will happen even if you drink this”, please drink first, then we will talk, “Foreign Ministry spokesman Trieu Lap Kien said at a press conference on the 14th. / 4.

“We call on the Japanese side to be aware of their responsibilities, to adhere to a scientific approach, to fulfill international obligations and to take into account the serious concerns of the world community and neighboring countries. and the people of our own country, “added the Chinese diplomatic representative.

Earlier, on April 13, the Japanese government announced a plan to discharge more than 1 million tons of radioactive contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific.

According to the roadmap, the discharge will begin in about two years, and the entire process is expected to take decades.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the decision to release polluted water into the Pacific was the “most realistic” and “inevitable” option to achieve the recovery of Fukushima “.

Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso affirmed that this water source has been treated, diluted, will be very safe, drinkable, and said that Japan should discharge water sooner.

About 1.25 million tons of water has accumulated in the area of ​​the Fukushima nuclear plant after the tsunami hit in 2011.

The amount of radioactive water is increasing by about 140 tons per day, is currently stored in more than 1,000 tanks and is expected to run out of storage space by next fall.

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other third parties will be involved in the plan, ensuring the discharge of treated wastewater in Fukushima into the sea is carried out. transparent way.

In a recent statement, the IAEA confirmed to support this decision, because radioactive elements, except tritium, will be removed from the water or reduced to a safe level before being discharged. The IAEA has also shown that nuclear plants around the world use a similar process to treat wastewater.

However, Japan’s discharge has met with opposition from fishing communities in this country as well as concerns from neighboring countries such as China and South Korea.

South Korea expressed “serious concern” that the Japanese decision would have a direct and indirect impact on the safety of its people and the surrounding marine environment.

South Korea urged Japan to provide more information on its wastewater discharge and said it would measure and monitor the radiation itself.

Northern flow 2: Germany receives a request for a building permit, President Biden falls into a ‘dilemma’. (Source: The Brussels Times)

The website Tagesspiegel.de recently published an article titled “A guaranteed gas supply even without the Northern Stream 2 project”.

Accordingly, the Northern Flow 2 gas pipeline project not only supplies gas to Germany and the European Union (EU) but also has strategic implications for the transition of energy, the environment and political geography.

Once again, this has become a central issue in the context of Russia increasing its military forces on the Ukrainian border and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin making his first visit to Germany.

The question is, is this piping system really necessary? What would the consequences be if the pipeline didn’t go into service?

The opinions are mixed

Experts have many different opinions. Some people, like Jens Hobohm from Prognos Institute for Economic Research (Germany), believe that Northern Flow 2 from an energy point of view is necessary and meaningful.

In contrast, expert Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) argues that the answer is “definitely not”.

According to Kemfert, it is not necessary to have any additional infrastructure for the transportation of natural gas from Russia. In addition, the plan to increase natural gas consumption will conflict with the discussed and agreed climate protection goals.

This expert said that there would be no serious problems if the Northern Flow 2 could not be completed and put into operation. If gas from Russia cannot reach Germany through this pipeline system, Germany and Europe will find other energy solutions.

In this regard, new US President Joe Biden has stated that, like his predecessor, Donald Trump, he wants to prevent the completion of the project through the threat of punishing companies involved in the project. .

Still many EU partners believe that, with the assistance of the Northern Flow 2, Germany is acting against the common interests of Europe.

Chairman of the European People’s Party (EPP) group at the European Parliament Manfred Weber said that the Northern Flow 2 project “will definitely not be feasible” if Russian President Vladimir Putin lets the conflict in the region. East Ukraine escalated.

Will the gas supply be at risk then? To answer this question, the forecasts of the amount of gas that Germany and Europe will need in the coming years are central.

From the outset, critics accused the conglomerates that built the pipeline project “inflated” the data on German and European gas demand, making the project indispensable. and completely overwhelmed the opposition.

However, Jens Hobohm believes that this criticism holds true only in previous years, but in recent years, gas consumption in Germany and Europe has increased more than expected due to the need for natural gas. as a bridge for energy transitions.

When countries like Germany give up nuclear power, Poland reduces its dependence on coal, while solar and wind energy are still unable to meet demand, gas is the optimal solution.

According to a study by the Prognos Research Institute, in 2014, the EU consumed 400 billion cubic meters of gas; in 2015, the figure was 419 billion cubic meters and in 2019 it was 470 billion cubic meters.

Consumption figures for 2020 have not been specifically calculated, but according to expert Hobohm, this number is expected to decrease due to the impact of the epidemic of acute respiratory infections Covid-19.

In Germany alone, gas consumption will also increase from 77 billion cubic meters in 2015 to 89 billion cubic meters in 2019, while in 2020 this figure will decrease by about 2.5 percent.

Is that a compelling argument for the construction of the Northern Flow 2 project or would the existing pipes be enough to meet demand?

Is the project really necessary?

If we compare the gas consumption figures for 2019 to 2006, when the first Northern Flow system was planned to be constructed, it can be seen that the consumption volume has never been as high as it was before. Meanwhile, the project construction consortium insists that pipelines are needed as gas consumption will increase continuously. In fact, in 2006, Germany consumed 92 billion cubic meters of gas, while in the EU it was 511 billion cubic meters.

Hobohm adds that Europe’s gas imports from outside Europe depend on how much the continent can produce and to what extent can it meet its own demand?

Currently, the amount of gas produced internally has decreased, partly due to the Netherlands cutting production share faster than planned.

The key point now, experts say, is that the Northern Flow 2 project is still under construction. And Europe has no problems with gas supplies. Whether this project can go into operation or not and never work is an open question.

The later this pipeline is completed, the less necessary it is to be, as the role of natural gas will decline more and more.

Along with that, security policy risks are also very concerned.

First, it is due to the dependence of Europe and Germany on gas from a Russia.

Second, additional risks come from this project because the pipeline runs from Russia through the Baltic Sea and then directly to Germany, not through intermediate states such as Ukraine, Belarus and Poland.

Critics of the project raise two questionable issues.

FirstlyMr. Putin wants free hands to implement his policies with neighboring countries without being afraid to depend on them (when gas exports no longer have to pass through these countries).

Monday, the operation of the Northern Flow 2 system leads to a decrease in the amount of gas flowing through the existing pipes, thereby reducing Ukraine’s income from allowing gas from Russia to transit through its territory. .

The national budget of Kiev will be more than 2 billion euros. Then, the pressure on the EU to increase its aid to Ukraine will grow.