In The News

Brookings Institution: Global Identity for City Visibility

Greg Clark February 9, 2017
In an age when many nations are leaning toward isolationism, some cities are bucking the trend and becoming centers of global business, research, and higher education. Stockholm, San Diego and Barcelona in particular are three cities that exemplify successfully creating a “global identity,” notes Greg Clark for the Brookings Institution. By diversifying their economy, these cities have avoided...

BBC News: Is the US Facing a Constitutional Crisis?

February 8, 2017
After a US judge has blocked a US executive order banning travelers from seven predominately Muslim countries as well as all refugees, President Donald Trump criticized the judge for putting the naton in “peril” and questioned his authority. “The separation of powers is crucial to understanding how the US is governed,” explains BBC News. “The country's constitution established its treasured...

Reuters: Private University in North Korea Seeks Texas A&M Academic Help

Jon Herskovitz February 1, 2017
Universities and their innovations thrive with collaboration. “The leaders of the only private university in North Korea asked Texas A&M University, known for its agricultural economics and public health programs, for help on Monday in teaching subjects such as how to grow food in a land of chronic shortages,” reports Jon Herskovitz for Reuters. The Pyongyang University of Science and...

Alibaba's Olympic Sponsorship Expands Jack Ma, China's Influence in Sports

Daniel Kleinman January 31, 2017
Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth, will spend about $600 million to sponsor the next six Olympic Games through 2028. The partnership was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos by Alibaba founder Jack Ma and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, the partnership. In addition to providing cloud services and customizing a television channel for Chinese viewers, Alibaba...

Chinese Are Celebrating Lunar New Year by Escaping China

Dong Lyu and Bruce Einhorn January 27, 2017
More than 6 million passengers are flying out of China during the weeklong holiday that begins January 28, mostly to nearby Asian countries like Japan and Thailand. Thousands of expatriates also travel to the country for celebrations of the traditional Lunar New Year with family. The vast majority, however, of the 414 million on the move – equivalent to the entire European Union – will travel...

Worldwide, People Rally in Support of Women’s March on Washington

Karla Adam January 23, 2017
More than 1 million people marched in the United States on January 21 and more than another million joined with at least 650 sister marches around the globe. The goal was to promote human rights, gender equality and a new wave of political activism. “Organizers said that demonstrators wanted to send a bold message to President Trump on his first full day in office that women’s rights are worth...

The Search for a Past

Cathy Shufro January 12, 2017
An estimated 140,000 Chinese children were adopted by families in the United States, Europe and elsewhere after China opened to the world in the 1990s while maintaining a one-child policy to eliminate poverty. Many of the children, now young adults, and birth parents search for one another. Cathy Shufro describes the search of Yale graduate Jenna Cook for Yale Alumni Magazine. Cook studied...