In The News

“Warning Cry From the Arctic”: Reuters

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...

China Offers to Free 2 Canadians: Globe and Mail

Steven Chase and Robert Fife June 25, 2020
Canada arrested a Huawei executive in December 2018, based on an extradition request from the US, accused of bank fraud and violation of US sanctions against Iran. Days later, China charged two Canadians with espionage. “China has repeatedly rejected suggestions there is any connection between its detention of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor and Canada’s...

Is the Virus Wrecking Democracy? Chatham House

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...

US to Suspend New Foreign-Scholar Visas: Nature

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...

Defectors Launch Anti-NK Leaflets: Korea Herald

Ahn Sung-mi June 23, 2020
Both North Korea and South Korea agreed to stop cross-border distribution of goods and leaflet distribution since a 2018 summit between the two leaders. “A group of North Korean defectors claimed Tuesday it had sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, continuing an activity that has enraged the North regime, which cited it as the reason it wrecked a liaison office with the South,” reports...

Tech Didn’t Stop Covid-19: MIT Technology Review

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...

Teens, K-Pop Stans Claim Trump Rally Tickets: NYT

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...