In The News

Rita Liao July 7, 2020
TikTok is the world’s most popular short video app, but politicians around the world express “concerns that it could be used by the Beijing government as a surveillance and propaganda tool,” explains Rita Liao for TechCrunch. India has banned TikTok, along with more than 50 other Chinese apps, and the United States may follow. TikTok announced plans to pull out of Hong Kong, where China has...
Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman July 7, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed society’s dependence on globalization and the challenges. Trade went from predictable to uncertain as nations blocked and confiscated protective medical gear and other needed supplies. Leaders worry about similar disruptions for food or other necessary products. “But the crisis that globalization faces has roots that go far deeper than the current pandemic,” explain...
Matthew Green and Emma Farge June 25, 2020
Rapid Arctic warming poses dire consequences for the planet. Record-breaking heat – 38 degrees Celsius, or 100 Fahrenheit – is reported from the Arctic, with dry peatlands and conifers that serve as tinder for wildfires. “That extreme heat is fanning the unusual extent of wildfires across the remote, boreal forest and tundra that blankets northern Russia,” reports Reuters. “Scientists fear the...
Marjorie Buchser June 24, 2020
Most of the world's population has lived with some travel restrictions and social-distancing requirements at some point since the start of the year to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Economic recovery is a priority. Digital technologies allowed many people to safely communicate and work. The pandemic deepened dependence on technology tools and programs, explains Marjorie Buchser for Chatham...
Nidhi Subbaraman and Alexandra Witze June 24, 2020
The US president issued a proclamation expanding limits for foreign workers, including a suspension on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign scholars and employees for tech firms. The block will not extend to current visa holders, but that does not ease their uncertainty. “The Trump administration characterized the decision as a plan to stave off the economic impact of the coronavirus...
David Rotman June 23, 2020
The world received early warnings about Covid-19’s high transmission and mortality rates in early January, weeks before the disease took beyond China where it originated. Muddled communications, slow development of tests, fragmented data collection systems and equipment shortages compounded the spread. “In an age of big data in which companies like Google and Amazon use all sorts of personal...
Taylor Lorenz, Kellen Browning and Sheera Frenkel June 22, 2020
Teenagers and K-pop fans claim they signed up for a million ticket requests to attend US President Donald Trump’s first post-pandemic rally. The Trump campaign planned for overflow crowds in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a city with rising numbers of Covid-19 cases, but the stadium was about two-thirds empty. “TikTok users and fans of Korean pop music groups claimed to have registered potentially hundreds of...