The Full Belmonte, 10/12/2022
Pressure Grows on the West to Speed Air-Defense Systems to Ukraine
By Steven Erlanger, Eric Schmitt, Michael Schwirtz and Eric Nagourney
Oct. 11, 2022
“BRUSSELS — NATO’s top official on Tuesday called on allies to step up arms supplies to the Ukrainians, especially sophisticated air-defense systems, a day after Russia rained rocket fire on 19 cities across Ukraine in a marked escalation of its assault on civilians.
As missiles and rockets continued to strike Ukraine, though in smaller numbers than on Monday, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, said that Moscow’s aerial attacks on civilian targets were ‘a sign of weakness’ and that Ukraine would be better able to deter them if its existing weaponry was expanded.
‘These air-defense systems are making a difference because many of the incoming missiles were actually shot down by Ukrainian air-defense systems provided by NATO allies,’ he said.
Mr. Stoltenberg’s comments came as Western leaders, outraged by the escalation of Russian hostilities in Ukraine, held a virtual emergency meeting of the Group of 7 industrialized nations. They pledged ‘undeterred and steadfast’ financial and military support for Ukraine. The White House also said it would expedite delivery of an advanced air-defense system.
The G7 leaders also warned Russia of “severe consequences” if it used chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in the conflict.
Officials in Ukraine, renewing their pleas for weaponry that would allow them to build “an air shield for Ukraine,” offered an accounting of what Russian armaments had struck the country in the latest bombardment — and how many had been knocked from the skies.
In the past two days, Ukraine’s air-defense forces have shot down at least 66 cruise missiles out of more than 120, according to the Ukrainian General Staff, and have destroyed all but eight of the cruise missiles fired at Ukraine on Tuesday alone. During this period, Ukrainian air defenses have also shot down 40 so-called kamikaze drones, primarily the Iranian-built Shahed-136.
‘When Ukraine receives a sufficient number of modern and effective air-defense systems, the key element of Russian terror — missile strikes — will cease to work,’ Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, told the G7 leaders.” Read more at New York Times
“The Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to reject former President Donald Trump's request that it intervene in the dispute over classified documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago residence. Trump's lawyers want the special master to review the more than 100 documents marked classified -- which, if allowed, could open the door to Trump's team reviewing ‘extraordinarily sensithould have constitutional rights. The issue of fetal personhood raises complicated questions that could impact issues such as in vitro fertilization and child support going forward.” Read more at CNN
“NASA's recent DART mission successfully changed the trajectory of the asteroid Dimorphos when its spacecraft intentionally slammed into the space rock last month, according to the agency. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test, a full-scale demonstration of deflection technology, was the world's first mission to see if this kind of impact can help deflect objects posing a threat to Earth in the future. The agency said the spacecraft changed the asteroid's orbit by 32 minutes, marking the first time humanity intentionally changed the motion of a celestial object. ‘This mission shows that NASA is trying to be ready for whatever the universe throws at us,’ NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. ‘NASA has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet.’” Read more at CNN
“The International Monetary Fund has once again downgraded its forecast for the global economy with a sharp warning: ‘The worst is yet to come, and for many people 2023 will feel like a recession.’ The agency said Tuesday that it expects global growth to slump to 2.7% next year. That compares with projected growth of 3.2% this year. The prospects for the global economy as outlined by the IMF are the third weakest since 2001, behind only the 2008 financial crisis and the worst phase of the coronavirus pandemic. According to a new CNN poll, just 22% of Americans rate economic conditions in the country as good, with 78% calling conditions somewhat poor or very poor. President Biden told CNN on Tuesday that the prospect of a ‘slight recession’ is possible but that he doesn’t anticipate it -- even as experts are sounding the alarm about the future of the American and global economies.” Read more at CNN
Data: Climate Central, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (Damages of at least $1 billion, adjusted for 2022 dollars. Average = 1980-2022.) Chart: Axios Visuals
“The cost and frequency of extreme-weather disasters has increased in recent years, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes from new NOAA data.
According to Climate Central, a research and communications nonprofit, the frequency of billion-dollar weather disasters is now about one event every 18 days.
Why it matters: That compares to 82 days between such disasters in the 1980s, Climate Central found.
Zoom in: Early estimates from Hurricane Ian damage surveys indicate it was one of the costliest storms in U.S. history, with insured losses of $53 billion to $74 billion.
Between the lines: Much of the increase in damage costs is related to population growth in vulnerable areas, including the hurricane-prone Gulf Coast. This gives storms, many of which have been worsened by climate change, a bigger bullseye to target.” Read more at Axios
President Joe Biden speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper during an interview in the Map Room of the White House on Tuesday.
“In an exclusive CNN interview Tuesday, President Joe Biden provided new insight on how he is dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the investigation into his son Hunter, and whether he plans to run for reelection in 2024. In regard to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, Biden said he believes Putin is a ‘rational actor’ who nonetheless badly misjudged his ability to invade the country. He also said he doesn't believe Putin would risk using a nuclear weapon. Separately, Biden addressed possible criminal charges against his son Hunter for allegedly lying on a gun-purchase application, but said he was proud of him for confronting his struggles with drug addiction. Biden was also asked what he'd say to voters who consider his age a concern ahead of a potential 2024 bid for reelection, as his 80th birthday approaches next month. His response was, ‘Look what I've gotten done. Name me a president in recent history that's gotten as much done as I have.’” Read more at CNN
Biden Administration Considering Humanitarian Parole Program for Venezuelans
The program, an effort to deal with a surge in migrants, would be similar to one offered to Ukrainians.
By Eileen Sullivan and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
“WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is considering a humanitarian parole program for Venezuelans who have been fleeing political instability and poverty in large numbers, according to two administration officials familiar with the proposed plan, which the administration hopes will discourage Venezuelans from crossing the southwestern border illegally.
If implemented, the program for Venezuelans would be similar to a humanitarian program offered to Ukrainians, which allows a family member or sponsor in the United States to apply on behalf of the refugee and commit to providing them with financial assistance while they’re in the country.
While the Ukrainian program received bipartisan support, Republicans have been less welcoming to the Venezuelans, more than 150,000 of whom have been apprehended at the U.S. southwestern border from October 2021 through the end of August.
The humanitarian parole program would not apply to Venezuelans who are already in the country, but the hope is that it would encourage migrants to seek refuge closer to home and fly to the United States instead of traveling north by foot and crossing the border illegally. Venezuelans in their home country or who crossed into a neighboring country legally would qualify to apply for the program. Official ports of entry have been closed to migrants since the beginning of the pandemic, effectively forcing those intent on reaching the United States to take a more dangerous route to cross illegally.” Read more at New York Times
Florida Jury Prepares to Decide Parkland Gunman’s Punishment
The jury will decide if the gunman who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 gets sentenced to death or to life in prison.
Oct. 11, 2022
“FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The fate of Nikolas Cruz, who shot and killed 17 people at his former high school in Parkland, Fla., will soon be in the hands of a jury, after prosecutors and defense lawyers made impassioned closing arguments on Tuesday over whether he should spend the rest of his life in prison or be put to death.
Michael J. Satz, the lead prosecutor, cast the defendant as a coldhearted sociopath who painstakingly planned the rampage he carried out on Feb. 14, 2018, to gain notoriety, choosing Valentine’s Day to forever ruin it for the students, teachers and families of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. ‘It was a systematic massacre,’ he said, describing Mr. Cruz as ‘hunting his victims.’
‘He went and finished them off,’ Mr. Satz said. ‘He made sure they were dead.’
Melisa McNeill, the lead public defender, countered that Mr. Cruz suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder caused by his biological mother’s heavy drinking while she was pregnant with him. That led to developmental problems and at times violent behavior that were misdiagnosed by experts and overwhelming to his adoptive mother, Ms. McNeill said.
‘In a civilized, humane society,’ she asked, ‘do we kill brain-damaged, mentally ill, broken people?’” Read more at New York Times
"This case is over"
Adnan Syed leaves the courthouse after being released from prison on Sept. 19 in Baltimore. Photo: Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“Last-ditch DNA evidence has prevented new charges against Adnan Syed, whose story became an international phenomenon with the ‘Serial’ podcast.
‘It is my responsibility to acknowledge and to apologize to the family of Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed,’ Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said at a press conference today.
‘This case is over. There are no more appeals necessary,’ Mosby said.
Prosecutors used advanced testing on DNA found on shoes belonging to murder victim Hae Min Lee, Mosby said.
‘[I]t was not Adnan Syed.’
Between the lines: A state reinvestigation found evidence of possible involvement from two unnamed, alternate suspects, AP reports.
One of the suspects had threatened Lee, saying ‘he would make her (Ms. Lee) disappear. He would kill her,’ according to a court filing.
The suspects were known persons and were not properly ruled out nor disclosed to the defense, prosecutors said.
Syed maintained his innocence for 23 years, and ‘little, if any, physical evidence connected him to the killing,’ The Baltimore Sun reports.
He became a free man last month after the conviction was vacated.” Read more at Axios
Protesters in the Council Chamber at L.A. City Hall yesterday. Photo: Gary Coronado/L.A. Times via Getty Images
“An angry crowd confronted the Los Angeles City Council yesterday after the L.A. Times revealed audio of a racist conversation among council members, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.
City Council President Nury Martinez resigned from that post on Monday — the day after the revelations. She's taking a leave of absence but remains on the council.
President Biden wants more resignations, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said:
‘The language that was used and tolerated during that conversation was unacceptable and it was appalling.’
During yesterday's council meeting, protesters demanded resignations from three Latino council members on the tape.
The crowd chanted ‘fuera" — "out’ in Spanish.
What we're watching: L.A. is in the midst of a mayoral election dominated by rising crime, growing homelessness and the economy. The new mayor will also have a healing mission.” Read more at Axios
Data: University of Georgia poll. Chart: Tory Lysik/Axios Visuals
“Herschel Walker, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia, was slipping with female, Black and independent voters even before last week's damaging allegations from an ex-girlfriend.
That's a key finding of University of Georgia polling for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other members of the Georgia News Collaborative.
The Senate race was still neck-and-neck — and a third-party candidate could force a runoff, writes Emma Hurt of Axios Atlanta.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) had 46% to Walker's 43% — a statistical tie. Libertarian Chase Oliver was at 4%.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) kept a wide lead over Democrat Stacey Abrams — 51% to 41%.
By the numbers: Since last month's poll, Warnock grew 9 points with women, 12 points among Black voters and 7 points among independents.
White respondents, and those with high school degrees or less, maintained a wide preference for Walker over Warnock.
The AJC's Greg Bluestein writes that ‘9% of Kemp's voters back Warnock, and an additional 5% say they’ll vote for Oliver.’” Read more at Axios
Stacey Abrams attends the ONE MusicFest in Atlanta on Saturday. Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
“Since her last time on the Georgia ballot, as a gubernatorial candidate in 2018, Stacey Abrams has gone from state lawmaker and tax attorney to a sought-after national speaker with lucrative book deals, writes Emma Hurt of Axios Atlanta.
Why it matters: No Black woman has been elected an American governor. And regardless of the outcome in November, Abrams has amassed the influence and financial strength to play a long game statewide and nationally.
Her opponent, Gov. Brian Kemp (R), calls her ‘Celebrity Stacey,’ and accuses her of using Georgia as a ‘stepping stone’ to the presidency.
Abrams told The 19th last month: ‘They're mad because I'm not broke. They're angry because I leveraged my intellectual capital and my business acumen to do something over the last four years.’
Abrams told Axios in an interview early last year that she has been intentional about engaging in the public, private and nonprofit arenas.
‘I've been successful in all three,’ she said.
The intrigue: Democrats at times have been skeptical about results from Abrams' highly publicized voter-registration efforts.” Read more at Axios
What is the railroad strike of 2022? Why rail workers are striking and what it means for you
“Threats of a railroad strike that could debilitate the economy linger after one of the country's largest railroad unions rejected its deal with freight railroads Monday. The majority of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division union members voted against a proposed five-year contract, but the union agreed to hold off any potential strike until after Congress reconvenes in mid-November to allow time for further negotiations. Industry experts warn that a national railroad strike would disrupt travel because freight railroads own and maintain nearly all of the tracks on Amtrak’s system. And the supply chain – which has already seen pandemic-related challenges over the past few years – would see further impediments. Read more
•Strike potential impact: Looming railroad strike could be ‘economic disaster,’ impacting consumers from all angles.
•Many businesses have urged Congress to be ready to intervene and block a strike because so many companies rely on railroads to deliver their raw materials and finished products.
•Black October is here: Transport delays, labor shortages slow supply chain as holiday shopping begins.” Read more at USA Today
The majority of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division union members voted against a proposed five-year contract, with union President Tony Cardwell saying the deal didn’t do enough to address the lack of paid sick time or improve working conditions.Danny Karnik, AP
Anthony Rapp Said Anguish Returned When He Saw Kevin Spacey Onscreen
In testimony in a civil trial, Mr. Rapp argued that Mr. Spacey had inflicted emotional distress by climbing atop him in a bed when Mr. Rapp was 14. Mr. Spacey says the encounter didn’t happen.
By Julia Jacobs and Nate Schweber
Oct. 11, 2022
“Watching Kevin Spacey’s character show sexual interest in a teenager in the film ‘American Beauty’ was ‘unpleasantly familiar,’ the actor Anthony Rapp testified in federal court on Tuesday, describing a repeated reaction he had in the years after Mr. Spacey climbed on top of him and made a sexual advance, which Mr. Rapp said occurred when he was 14.
Whenever he would see Mr. Spacey — a rising Hollywood star — appear in movies or in person, such as the day of the Tony Awards, Mr. Rapp said he would instantly recall the encounter, which Mr. Spacey denies ever happened. Even a brief appearance by Mr. Spacey in the 1980s movie ‘Working Girl,’ in which his character propositions a secretary in a limousine, startled and upset Mr. Rapp.
‘It was as if someone poked me with a cattle prod,’ Mr. Rapp testified.
Mr. Rapp, a stage and screen actor best known for his role in the musical ‘Rent,’ has sued Mr. Spacey over the incident, which he said occurred in 1986, when Mr. Spacey was 26. Mr. Rapp has accused Mr. Spacey of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the civil trial, which began in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, has centered not just on whether the encounter happened as Mr. Rapp described, but whether he has psychologically suffered from it over the past three decades.
‘As his name and notoriety increased, it was harder and harder to escape,’ testified Mr. Rapp, who is seeking damages from Mr. Spacey.” Read more at New York Times
"Historic breakthrough"
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (right) and deputy parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab in Beirut. Photo: Dalati Nohra via AP
“Israel and Lebanon have accepted a U.S.-mediated agreement on the maritime border, allowing natural gas exploration in a potentially gas-rich area with an estimated value reaching billions of dollars.
President Biden hailed the deal as a ‘historic breakthrough.’
Why it matters: The deal reduces the threat of regional war, Axios from Tel Aviv author Barak Ravid reports.” Read more at Axios
Biden Prepares to “Re-Evaluate” U.S.-Saudi Relationship
“The U.S.-Saudi relationship plunged deeper into uncertainty on Tuesday when Biden administration officials said Washington planned to ‘re-evaluate’ relations over OPEC+’s decision to slash oil production.
Led by Saudi Arabia, the group of top oil producers had decided to slash oil production by 2 million barrels per day—although the actual difference will likely be smaller since many were already missing their output targets. U.S. President Joe Biden had previously pushed to boost production to drag down prices and shake Russia’s finances, which depend on oil export revenues.
‘The U.S. has definitely taken this as a snub,’ said Amrita Sen, the co-founder of Energy Aspects, an energy consultancy. ‘There’s a lot of anger against Saudi Arabia right now.’
But as fears of a global recession grow, experts say Saudi Arabia also has key economic reasons for propping up prices—namely that elevating prices now could help shield it from lower revenues due to an economic slowdown. Oil producers are also rattled by Washington’s push for a Russian oil price cap, which would effectively create a situation in which consumers set a lower market price at which the commodity is sold.
‘For OPEC, this is a pre-emptive cut,’ said Sen, who noted that the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s interest rate hikes have helped spur a slowdown in the global economy. ‘They want to get ahead of it. That’s why they did it.’
Within Washington, OPEC+’s decision fueled pressure for Biden to halt weapons sales to Riyadh, with Senator Bob Menendez urging him to ‘immediately freeze all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia.’
‘Enough is enough,’ he added.
Such turmoil has long roiled the U.S.-Saudi relationship. In April 2020, FP’s Keith Johnson and Robbie Gramer chronicled how the two countries’ ‘rocky marriage of convenience’ evolved—and came close to a breaking point—in the decades since its inception.
‘Today’s tensions stem, in many ways, from the original foundations of the odd-couple relationship: an oil-for-security bargain that always sought, but never fully managed, to bridge the divide between a liberal democracy and a conservative religious monarchy,’ they wrote.
The same tensions are now making a resurgence—although, like before, their ties may ultimately withstand the pressures.
Even though the relationship has had its difficulties, ‘both countries have come back as well,’ said Sen. ‘Both countries do need each other—one for the energy, one for security.’” Read more at Foreign Policy
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses external power
By ADAM SCHRECK and HANNA ARHIROVA
The warning from International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi came amid a flurry of developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine. Ukraine’s military command said its forces recaptured five settlements in the southern Kherson region, and Russia’s main domestic security agency said eight people had been arrested in connection with the weekend Crimea bridge blast.
Grossi, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, said IAEA monitors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — Europe’s largest nuclear power facility — reported the interruption in external power, and said backup diesel generators were keeping nuclear safety and security equipment operational.” Read more at AP News
Protests galvanize Iranians abroad in hope, worry and unity
By SYLVIA HUI
“LONDON (AP) — As anti-government protests roil cities and towns in Iran for a fourth week, tens of thousands of Iranians living abroad have marched on the streets of Europe, North America and beyond in support of what many believe to be a watershed moment for their home country.
From those who fled in the 1980s after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to a younger generation of Iranians born and raised in Western capitals, many in the diaspora community say they feel an unprecedented unity of purpose and affinity with the demonstrations at home sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman detained by Iran’s morality police.
‘I see this as a turning point for Iran in many ways -- we’ve always had political fault lines that divided us, but this time it’s people saying, ‘I’m with women’,’ said Tahirih Danesh, 52, a human rights researcher who lives and works in London. ‘It’s phenomenal, it’s happened at such speed, and this sense of camaraderie among Iranians has been amazing.’” Read more at AP News
“Hard start | Giorgia Meloni’s euphoria at winning the Italian election is running into reality as she struggles to put together a coalition government and the gas-dependent country’s financial outlook darkens. The far-right leader, who has failed to find a finance minister since her Sept. 25 victory, will likely preside over a declining economy in her first year in office, according to the IMF.” Read more at Bloomberg
Meloni at an election night event in Rome. Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg
Graft convictions extend Suu Kyi’s prison term to 26 years
By GRANT PECK
“BANGKOK (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar convicted the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on two more corruption charges Wednesday, with two three-year sentences to be served concurrently, adding to previous convictions that now leave her with a 26-year total prison term, a legal official said.
Suu Kyi, 77, was detained on Feb. 1, 2021, when the military seized power from her elected government. She has denied the allegations against her in this case, in which she was accused of receiving $550,000 as a bribe from Maung Weik, a tycoon convicted of drug trafficking.
Corruption cases comprise the biggest share of the many charges the military has brought against the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate. Suu Kyi has been charged with 12 counts in total under the Anti-Corruption Act, with each count punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine.
Suu Kyi had already been sentenced to 23 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching the country’s official secrets act, sedition, election fraud and five corruption charges.” Read more at AP News
477 whales die in ‘heartbreaking’ New Zealand strandings
“WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Some 477 pilot whales have died after stranding themselves on two remote New Zealand beaches over recent days, officials say.
None of the stranded whales could be refloated and all either died naturally or were euthanized in a ‘heartbreaking’ loss, said Daren Grover, the general manager of Project Jonah, a nonprofit group which helps rescue whales.
The whales beached themselves on the Chatham Islands, which are home to about 600 people and located about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of New Zealand’s main islands.
The Department of Conservation said 232 whales stranded themselves Friday at Tupuangi Beach and another 245 at Waihere Bay on Monday.
The deaths come two weeks after about 200 pilot whales died in Australia after stranding themselves on a remote Tasmanian beach.
‘These events are tough, challenging situations,’ the Department of Conservation wrote in a Facebook post. ‘Although they are natural occurrences, they are still sad and difficult for those helping.’” Read more at AP News
“Uninhabitable world. Before the end of the century, large swaths of Africa and Asia will be engulfed in climate change-fueled extreme heat and consequently unlivable for as many as 600 million people, according to a new report by the United Nations and Red Cross.
‘Heatwaves already kill thousands of people every year, and they will become deadlier with every further increment of climate change,’ the report said. ‘We hope this report serves not only as a wake-up call but also as a road map.’” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Amid ongoing nationwide protests against a regime accused of corruption, the UK this week dealt a raft of sanctions against senior Iranian officials and the country's morality police following the death last month of Mahsa Amini while in morality police custody. Citing ‘human rights abuses,’ the UK announced all sanctioned individuals will have their assets held in the UK and will also be banned from traveling to the UK. Iran's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the sanctions, calling them ‘arbitrary and baseless,’ according to state media. UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverley stressed these sanctions ‘send a clear message to the Iranian authorities’ that the UK ‘will hold you to account for your repression of women and girls and for the shocking violence you have inflicted on your own people.’” Read more at CNN
“Venezuela’s landslide tragedy. Rescuers are searching for survivors after a devastating landslide struck a central Venezuelan town on Saturday, killing at least 43 people and leaving nearly 60 more missing. The disaster damaged hundreds of homes and more than a dozen businesses.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Pakistan’s protests. Demonstrations erupted in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday over a school van shooting that killed the driver and left a child in critical condition. Thousands of protesters called for accountability and the attackers’ arrest, although it is still unclear as to who was behind the attack.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Elon Musk has a Putin problem. He is denying a report that he spoke directly with the Kremlin leader about what he wants to end his war, one in which Russian forces are thought to have killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians. Ian Bremmer, head of political-risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told clients Monday that the world’s richest person told him he had recently spoken to Putin. Bremmer said that conversation came before a series of Musk tweets in which the Tesla co-founder triggered an uproar by urging Ukraine to agree to some terms Russia has been seeking. These include accepting a formal state of neutrality and recognizing Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk regions.” Read more at Bloomberg
Elon Musk Photo illustration: 731; Photo: Getty Images
American Universities Continue to Falter in World Rankings, China Rising
Number of U.S. schools in top 100 list shrinks while University of Oxford keeps No. 1 spot
This year’s World University Rankings named University of Oxford in England the world’s leading research university for the seventh straight year.PHOTO: I-IMAGES/ZUMA PRESS
“The U.S.’s pre-eminence among the world’s top research universities continues to diminish, according to a new global ranking, while Chinese universities are on the rise, producing a greater quantity and higher quality of research than ever before.
This year’s World University Rankings, released Tuesday by Times Higher Education, a British publication that tracks education, also named University of Oxford in England the world’s leading research university for the seventh straight year.
The U.S. and Britain continue to dominate the upper echelon of the rankings, with the U.S. taking seven of the top 10 slots and Britain three. Oxford is followed by Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University and Imperial College London.
But among the top 100 universities, the number of those in the U.S. fell to 34 from 43 between 2018 and this year. The number of Chinese universities in the top 100 increased from two to seven.
‘The data is very clear: America can no longer take for granted its decadeslong dominance of world higher education and research, and it is China that is leading the challenge,’ said Phil Baty, the rankings editor. ‘If current trends remained the same, we would see China overtaking the U.S. in the coming years.’
The number of Chinese scholarly publications has been growing steadily since the mid-1990s, but as recently as this year it was widely believed in the western academic community that the quality of Chinese scholarship still lagged behind western nations.
Then a paper published this spring in the journal Scientometrics, which studies the quantitative features and characteristics of science and scientific research, found that China has overtaken the U.S. as the world leader in scientific research output of ‘high impact’ studies.
‘It was a real surprise,’ said Caroline Wagner, co-author of the paper and a professor at The Ohio State University, who conducts research about science and technology and its relationship to policy.
Not only was China producing more research than the U.S. and Europe overall but a higher percentage of that research was among the top 1% of papers most cited globally. Dr. Wagner and her colleagues found that China surpassed Europe in high-quality research in 2015 and the U.S. in 2019.
‘The work coming out of China is getting better,’ said Dr. Wagner. ‘We are now seeing China able to produce that kind of quality work and they are doing it at scale.’
China’s research was concentrated in materials science, chemistry, engineering and mathematics, while U.S. researchers were more prolific in research into clinical medicine, basic life sciences and physics, Dr. Wagner said.
Among the highest-ranked universities in the world, outside the United Kingdom and the U.S., is Tsinghua University in Beijing.PHOTO: JU HUANZONG/ZUMA PRESS
In 2021, American research and development fell to a 70-year low as a percentage of the federal budget, according to federal data. The decline caused a sustained outcry from groups such as the Association of American Universities, a consortium of 65 leading research universities, which advocates for more research funding.
‘The U.S. cannot take our competitive edge for granted,’ said Barbara Snyder, president of the AAU. ‘The rest of the world is not standing still.’
In August President Biden authorized tens of billions of dollars to support federal research and development and regional technology startups when he signed the Chips and Science Act, which aims to spur construction of factories that produce microchips. The administration is pushing for more advances in fields such as commercial computing and artificial intelligence.
China spent $526 billion on research and development in 2019, according to data from the National Science Foundation. It was still lagging behind the U.S., where R&D expenditure totaled $656 billion, but China has been closing the gap, increasing its spending by an average of 10.6% annually from 2010 to 2019.
China also increased its share of international patents to 49% in 2020, up from 16% a decade earlier, while the U.S. share declined from 15% to 10% in the same period, according to data from the National Science Foundation.
Though China has nearly 3,000 universities, only the very top tier is world class, said Denis Simon, a professor of China Business and Technology at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.
‘China is a rising star, there is very little difference between an engineer trained at Tsinghua University and an engineer trained at MIT,’ Dr. Simon said. ‘The problem for China is there is a tremendous falloff. In the U.S. the top 300 universities are pretty good, in China, after the top 50 the falloff is very significant. China doesn’t have a lot of bench strength if you’re not at the top universities.’
The highest-ranked universities in the world not located in the United Kingdom or the U.S. are ETH Zurich, at No. 11, Tsinghua University, China (16), Peking University, China (17), University of Toronto (18), National University of Singapore (19), Technical University Munich (30) and University of Hong Kong (31).
To put together the World University Rankings, Times Higher Education analyzes 15.5 million research publications and 121 million citations to those publications, plus over 40,000 responses to an annual academic reputation survey and hundreds of thousands of additional data points covering a university’s teaching environment, international outlook and industry links.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Angela Lansbury, beloved star of ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ dead at 96
By Brian Lowry, CNN
“Angela Lansbury, who enjoyed an eclectic, award-winning movie and stage career in addition to becoming America’s favorite TV sleuth in ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ has died, according to a statement from her family provided to NBC, whose parent company produced the long-running series. She was 96.
‘The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday,’ her family said in a statement.” Read more at CNN
Angela Lansbury and Gregory Sierra (as Lt. Gabriel Caceras) in an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" titled "A Nest of Vipers" in 1994. Photo: CBS via Getty Images
“An impressively large brown bear named 747 has emerged as the champion of Fat Bear Week, a competitive single-elimination contest that saw 12 tubby bears living in Alaska’s Katmai National Park vying for the title of Fattest Bear™️. Also the 2020 winner, 747 was widely known as the chunkiest competitor and is believed to weigh around 1,400 pounds. He ultimately secured 11,000 more votes than the runner-up, who was named 901.
But this year’s competition wasn’t without scandal: organizers revealed that the tournament had been plagued by voter fraud, although they quickly reassured fans that they were able to identify and eliminate the fake votes. ‘Like bears stuff their face with fish, our ballot box, too, has been stuffed,’ it tweeted.” Read more at Foreign Policy