PlayStation is working on a “counterpunch” to Xbox Game Pass, according to a former developer.

The claim comes from former God of War director David Jaffe. “I’ve said time and again that people who are writing Jim Ryan’s obituary are way premature,” Jaffe said in a video published yesterday to his YouTube channel (via VGC ). “We had the guy on the show yesterday that had made the petition to fire Jim Ryan and I was like, ‘dude, that’s way premature’ because Jim Ryan doesn’t owe anybody, Sony doesn’t owe anybody, the truth about what’s coming and what their counterpunch to Game Pass is,” he continued. Jaffe went on to claim that he’s spoken to multiple people at Sony familiar with the company’s plans, adding that “there will be a response to Game Pass.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Sony preparing some sort of response to Xbox’s Game Pass initiative. Shortly after the launch of the PS5 in November 2020, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan hinted at some sort of response, saying that ” there is actually news to come, but just not today ,” when asked whether Sony would react to Microsoft’s subscription service.

It’s hard to not wonder about Sony’s potential response to Xbox Game Pass, given that service’s strong additions over past weeks. People Can Fly’s Outriders launched on Xbox Game Pass for console players, and it’s rumored that EA’s unannounced Battlefield 6 could be headed to Xbox Game Pass as a day one launch title for Xbox consoles later this year. The service has also had a knock-on effect for Xbox’s business elsewhere, as boss Phil Spencer recently revealed that Xbox Game Pass subscribers spend 20% more overall on gaming than those who aren’t subscribed to the service.

Meanwhile, Sony’s PlayStation Now line up saw two high-profile additions this past week , but with a crucial catch. While subscribers could download and play Marvel’s Avengers and Borderlands 3 , they were restricted to playing the PS4 versions of both games, with the free PS5 upgrades for both games being locked off to those who were playing through the subscription service.

If you’re still trying to pick up Sony’s next-gen console, head over to our PS5 deals guide for an up-to-date list of retailers with current and projected stock.

Myanmar police tighten security in Yangon city VNA Photo

NEW YORK — Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, head of the Vietnamese Mission to the United Nations, has called on the international community to make constructive contributions to help Myanmar prevent violence, promote an environment conducive to dialogue and reconciliation while respecting the country’s principles of independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity.

During an Arria-formula online meeting of the UN Security Council member states which was co-chaired by the UK, the US, Estonia, France, Ireland and Norway on April 9, Ambassador Quý urged supporting the role of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General on Myanmar and creating favourable conditions for the envoy’s working trip to Myanmar.

He stressed the top priority is ensuring life, security and safety of all, and unobstructed humanitarian aid to those in need of help, especially vulnerable groups in the society. He called on parties concerned in Myanmar to refrain from violent acts, conduct dialogues and reconciliation according to the will and aspirations of the people, for the sake of peace and stability in the region.

Quý affirmed that Myanmar was a member state of the ASEAN family and the bloc was ready to help the country in a constructive and peaceful manner via related mechanisms.

ASEAN member states, including Việt Nam, had been working with parties concerned in Myanmar to promote dialogue and seek solutions to the issues, he said. He also called on the international community to support ASEAN’s efforts and stance, and said that discussions at the UN and relevant important issues needed consultations with ASEAN member countries and others in the region.

Rapporteurs at the event expressed concern over the current situation in Myanmar and warned about the risks of economic, food and health crises as well as a potential civil war. Many opinions called for refraining from violence and preventing tension escalation, while asking to settle differences and disputes via dialogue and reconciliation that meet Myanmar people’ aspirations.

The Arria-formula meeting is an informal meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss important and emerging issues with the participation of countries in and outside the UNSC as well as related organisations. — VNS

After a typhoon in November, the A Luoi hydropower plant was damaged by a landslide, stopping its operations, Photo: Dr. Greg Nagle

Dr. Greg Nagle took several eye-opening photographs during his March 21 trip near the National Road No.49 between A Luoi and Hong Ha areas. “I think that this is unusually erosive terrain here,” commented Dr. Nagle, adding that “most often, the worst erosion comes from logging and roads changing hill slope hydrology.”

However, some of the visible erosion in the area could also be the result of deforestation by Agent Orange over 50 years ago, or by bombs as there are also landslides in some areas which were not directly impacted by roads or logging, he added.

Although the war ended nearly half a century ago, the footprints of the war in some of Vietnam’s areas remain visible today. The rural district of A Luoi was one of the places that saw some of the heaviest fighting and bombing. The area around the infamous Hamburger Hill was the theatre of massive US bombing with the A Luoi valley hit with spray runs with Agent Blue, Agent White, and Agent Orange, as research by David Biggs portrayed.

However, the war is not the only reason for deforestation in Vietnam and wider Southeast Asia, which saw its forest cover fall from 66 to 49 per cent between 1960 and 1990, as research by Rodolphe De Koninck pointed out. As Vietnam was the country that lost most of its forest cover during this period, social and economic consequences for farmers greatly increased as they tried to support their livelihoods.

Other studies have shown that deforestation in Southeast Asia has not occurred because of a single factor, but instead a host of economic and ecological causes.

For instance in 2000, Vietnam started a massive programme around the country to grow hybrid Acacia mangium, an evergreen fast-growing tropical tree which is now one of the country’s main exports for wood for chips and in the manufacturing of furniture, offering a serious cash flow for remote mountain communities. “These trees are grown in about five years and are small enough to be mostly harvested and moved by hand in many places,” explained Nagle.

However, some scientists have pointed out that inappropriate management practices can cause soil erosion in the area. “A number of current practices have the potential to degrade these sites in several ways,” said Sadanandan E.K. Nambiar from the The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in a paper with two other scientists. They also argued that a “number of current practices have the potential to degrade these sites in several ways.”

After harvest, tops and branches may be removed for fuel and the remaining biomass burned, which exposes the soil. Together with bulldozing and windrowing operations, the bare soil surface is exposed to rains, leading to serious soil erosion.

Nagle explained, “Some of what we are seeing here is serious soil damage with a loss in long-term productivity.” Forestry cannot be sustained with such damage, he added. “This is some of the worst forestry-related erosion I have ever seen anywhere in the world, although there were places as bad as this on very erosive soils in the Redwood region of northern California which were logged in the 1950s-1970s.”

Although there is a multitude of reasons for the area’s soil erosion and not a single action or entity to blame for, the pictures taken a fortnight ago show that the soil condition poses serious challenges to the local populace and economy.

Local media reported last October and November that several national highways in Central Vietnam were ravaged by landslides, which also destroyed parts of the National Road No.49 running through Thua Thien-Hue.

In an interview in November, Trinh Xuan Hoa, deputy head of the Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, argued that deforestation and construction projects among many other factors were the cause of the landslides in the region. “Human activities including deforestation and road construction have hastened geological changes in the area,” he explained.

By Quang Minh

Directed by Marcelino Martin Valiente from France and conducted by Honna Tetsuji from Japan, the musical will be performed by musicians from the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra and actors from the ATH Drama and Arts Space at the French Cultural Institute in Hanoi – L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien Street, Hoan Kiem District.

This information was announced at a press conference held in Hanoi on April 7.

According to Director Valiente, the musical was a complicated and challenging project for him as he could not join other artists in the production in Vietnam; his directing had to be done virtually due to the impacts of COVID-19. The premiere in Vietnam has also been postponed from October last year because of the pandemic, he said in a virtual remark at the event.

Launched 1918, the theatre work was composed for seven musicians and three reciters. It tells the story of a soldiers who chances upon the devil on the way home from war. The devil offers to buy his violin and in return give him a future-telling book which can make him the richest man in the world. But as the story goes on, the soldier only finds himself to be the most miserable as he lost the violin, his most valuable asset.

The musical features a sophisticated combination of multiple arts, from classical music, jazz, DJ, and theatre to visual arts, the director said.

Coastal area in Sơn Trà District of Đà Nẵng will become an international finance centre project. VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG – The central city’s people’s committee and the Import-Export Pan Pacific Group (IPPG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development of an international and regional finance centre to attract investors in the future.

Director of the city’s Investment Promotion Agency (IPA), Huỳnh Thị Liên Phương said the MoU, which was signed late last month, aimed to build a trading centre, casino, high-end entertainment and luxury apartments in the coastal area.

She said the project would be built on an area of 84,000.sq.m on the beach-front at Võ Nguyên Giáp and Võ Văn Kiệt streets in the Sơn Trà peninsula.

Phương said Đà Nẵng authorities would auction land-use rights for the finance-trade-casino complex in the future.

She said the city was drawing up a detailed plan for the first international duty-free zone and smart urban area for investors.

Last year, five key investors – the Import-Export Pan Pacific Group (IPPG), T&T Group, New Techco company from Việt Nam, and Sakae Holding and another company from Singapore – registered for a land-use rights auction for a US$2 billion finance-trade-casino complex in the central city.

Jonathan Hạnh Nguyễn, who is chairman of IPPG Group, urged the city to build an international standard duty-free zone and recreational area for tourists.

The city Department of Natural Resources and Environment said four plots on two coastal facade Võ Văn Kiệt and Võ Nguyên Giáp streets were reserved for finance-trade-casino complex development.

Two years ago, IPPG failed to negotiate with Trung Nam Group to make the Golden Hills area the first duty-free zone and factory outlet centre in central Việt Nam.

A trading centre in downtown Đà Nẵng city. A free-duty zone and trading centre project is planned in Đà Nẵng in line with a financial centre. VNS Photo Công Thành

Last month the first downtown free-duty shop, VV Mall was launched at the beach-front Crowne Plaza Đà Nẵng resort in Ngũ Hành Sơn district.

The Universal Alloy Corporation (UAC) from the US has launched the first aerospace parts project, while LG Electronics began construction of its R&D centre in the city.

Đà Nẵng, which is situated at the end of the East-West Economic Corridor, linking Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Việt Nam, is planned as a global destination of tourism, finance, logistics and hi-tech investment. — VNS