In The News

Reuters: Tighter US Rules for Chinese Students?

Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick November 29, 2018
The US is weighing the possibility of new background checks and restrictions for Chinese attending US colleges. The goal is to protect national security and prevent intellectual property theft in sensitive areas. “In June, the U.S. State Department shortened the length of visas for Chinese graduate students studying aviation, robotics and advanced manufacturing to one year from five,” reports...

PBS NewsHour: Tear Gas at the US Border

Joshua Barajas and Amber Partida November 28, 2018
US border patrol officers fired tear gas to deter asylum seekers crossing the border from Mexico. The asylum seekers, many starting in Honduras, formed a caravan hoping for strength in numbers and media attention on their flight from poverty and drug-cartel violence. US officials regard the caravan as a security threat although photographs and videos show a crowd consisting of many women and...

BBC: Russia-Ukraine Tensions Rise

November 26, 2018
Russia is expanding control over Ukraine step by step – annexing Crimea in 2014, supporting militants in eastern Ukraine, inspecting vessels passing through the Kerch strait, and most recently opening fire on and confiscating three naval vessels off the Crimean coast. The Ukrainian vessels were trying to sail from the Black Sea port of Odessa to Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, and Russia’s control...

Haaretz: Airbnb and West Bank Settlements

Noa Landau, Yotam Berger and Jack Khoury November 21, 2018
Most of the world has condemned the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank for complicating peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Airbnb is removing rental listings of West Bank Jewish settlements, reports Haaretz, and Israel has countered by restricting the company’s operations nationwide, calling the removal “discriminatory.” The decision affects about 200 listings. Israel also...

Harvard Business Review: Containing Ebola

Ranu S. Dhillon and Devabhaktuni Srikrishna November 20, 2018
Rebel attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo challenge the public health response to Ebola outbreaks in that country. Outbreaks can flare quickly, even without considering that conflict has contributed to displacement of more than 4.5 million people inside the country and hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries. “With over 10 major episodes of violence since the outbreak was...

Reuters: APEC and US-China Acrimony

Tom Westbrook and Charlotte Greenfield November 19, 2018
The 21 members attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit failed to produce a final statement on future areas of cooperation. China and the United States, APEC’s two largest economies, continue to escalate trade battles and compete over security investments in countries like Papua New Guinea, the summit’s host nation. “Rather than cooperation, the theme seemed to be conflict and...

NPR: Genocide Verdict for Khmer Rouge Leaders

Scott Neuman November 16, 2018
Between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime terrorized Cambodians and killed about 2 million people and displaced millions more in an attempt to restore an agrarian society, as explained by the Cambodia Tribunal Monitor. Scott Neuman, writing for NPR, explains how the Khmer Rouge came to power after the Vietnam War and ended only after a 1979 invasion by Vietnam. An international tribunal – the...