The country’s improved railway connectivity facilitates fruit exports to China but has also sparked a boom in foreign-owned banana and durian farms, leading to forest clearance
> In 2023 alone, Laos lost more than 136,500 hectares of primary forest – an area 3.5 times the size of Singapore – placing it among the countries with the highest rates of deforestation worldwide, according to Global Forest Watch.
> A report published in 2020, based on land transaction data from 2014 to 2017, revealed that deforestation occurred in nearly a quarter of the land deals between Laos and foreign investors. > > In addition, the government has authorized investors to use more than 110,000 hectares of land within national conservation and protected forest areas, converting them into “production forests” – meaning areas where trees are planted for the purposes of agriculture and logging.
Quite doomer tbh !sadness
Deforestation for banana and durian plantations to export to China. The article mentioned the companies create jobs and roads but I'm not sure it is enough to justify this destruction of the environment.
Does anyone following the Myanmar civil war know anything that contradict this news about how China has detained one of the Myanmar ethnic force's leader to force them into talks with the current junta (as well as cutting off access to water, electricty to ethnic forces) ?
It seems objectively bad and goes against their supposed non-interference policy.
I think only two people are explicitly gay in the game, the rest are implied (some heavily) subtext. The fans run with those subtext though, lots of good fan contents for every type of parings. Texlapp is one of most popular one for example, two mafia heiresses, one ran from their past life, the other chased after to see her failed and be dragged back into the swamp. The event that resolved their conflict was super great and brought us this banger.
Best place to look for more is under the Arknights tag on tumblr.
Seeing this at the end of 5 years anniversary stream was so good.
Highly recommend anyone that love tower defense and can tolerate the gacha aspect to play it. Beside all the awesome treatment of the devs toward their artists and communities, beautiful arts, music and animations, its story offers really sharp critique of capitalism: American prison system, American healthcare system, England oppression of Ireland,...
In the lastest main story chapter, we are shown glimpse of a growing movement of the oppressed that I feel is just a stand in for a revolutionary left movement. Here is a quote from its leader:
"He said to ignore the Infected in positions of power, because they still enjoy exploiting others with their authority and see disease as only a tool. And that we should also grant the same kind of liberation to any oppressed people, and not just our sick brethren. Because they can fight alongside us, and we'll need their strength to put up a fight. ... What we want is to send a message to all the aristocrats, and oppressors, those trying to divide, suppress, and eliminate us— The blade they so despise hangs high above their necks."
Best part of all is the stand in for France had been utterly destroyed before the game story even started 
He played and enjoyed story-driven games like RDR, TLOU, Death Stranding, Yakuza and many more just fine. His problem was always about the anime tropes in the vast majority of JRPGs that doesn't suit his sensibilities and slow-paced, repetitive turn-based combat - he still enjoy turn-based stuff when it is fun like Persona 5 and Into the Breach for example :shrug-outta-hecks: