介绍:
British universities rely on overseas students.
British universities are growing even more dependent on international students from China according to a report.
The Times Higher Education Supplement highlighted the latest UK government immigration statistics and found that the number of study visas granted to students from the Chinese mainland rose 10 percent to 77,290 in the year to March 2017.
That represented a 37 percent of all study visas granted to students from outside the European Union over the period.
This is a major change compared with about 10 years ago when India was the dominant source of non-EU students.
The turnaround has been attributed to the shift in visa policies by the UK government, according to the Times Higher Education Supplement, “particularly the decision to stop the post-study work visas that were attractive to students from the subcontinent”.
Home Office visa data which showed that over the past few years around 49 percent of visa applicants to higher education institutions now come from East Asia.
Meanwhile, the United States came in second to China in the year to March 2017 on study visas granted with almost 14,300, while India was third with just above 11,600.
A government launched pilot scheme last year, easing study visa restrictions for four research-intensive UK universities, could have also played a part in the rise, the report said.
However, overseas students from South Asia applying to study in the UK have dropped from almost 20 percent in 2010 to under 10 percent in 2016. There has also been a fall in demand from sub-Saharan Africa.
Around 70,000 visa applicants from China to UK universities were made in 2016, a rise of 77 percent compared with 2012 when there were just under 40,000. While the number of students seeking visas from India almost halved from 2010 to just over 10,300.
7 dead, dozens hurt after blasts rock Kabul protester's funeral
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Seven people died Saturday in Kabul when suicide bombers struck the funeral of a man killed during anti-government protests, Afghan official said.
"Three big bangs" went off at the funeral of Salem Izadyar, the son of Mohammad Alam Izadyar, first deputy chairman of the Afghan Senate, a witness told CNN.
The Taliban denied involvement in the funeral attack, which injured 119 people.
The blasts were from three suicide bombings, said the government's chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, who attended the funeral and tweeted he was not harmed. Abdullah described the attack on TV, Sune Engel Rasmussen of The Guardian said on CNN
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he and Abdullah "share a commitment" to "bring terrorists to justice." The men are the leaders of Afghanistan's national unity government.
"The country is under attack. We must be strong and united," Ghani said on Twitter.
"There have been too many martyrs, and too much blood spilt," Ghani said in another tweet. "I grieve with the widows and orphans, and pray for those lost."
But a former Afghan intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, lashed out at the government for its failure to protect the funeral.
Salem Izadyar died at a hospital after he was injured Friday in anti-government protests in Kabul, Afghan media reported.
Incensed over the Wednesday suicide attack that left 90 dead in Kabul's diplomatic zone, Afghans took to the streets Friday to demand government officials step down. There has been no claim of responsibility.
At least four people died in the protests as demonstrators hurled stones and Afghan police fired bullets into the air to try to disperse crowds.
In recent months, the security situation in Kabul and throughout the country has worsened, heightening Afghans' anxiety and despair.
The uptick in violence this week coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a time of fasting and contemplation. The Taliban claimed responsibility at the start of the holy period for a car bombing that killed at least 18 people May 27 in eastern Afghanistan.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, UN envoy to Afghanistan, expressed his condolences to the victims of the funeral bombing and condemned the attack as "morally reprehensible."
Yamamoto urged all members of the international community to help put an end to the cycle of violence.
"As I have repeatedly said, the ultimate objective in Afghanistan must be a negotiated peace," he said in a statement. "Meaningful steps must take place now to obtain an immediate, nationwide halt to violence."
The unrest comes as a regional summit is scheduled for Tuesday to promote peace, security and reconciliation. The effort is dubbed the Kabul Process, and representatives from 21 nations have been invited, according to local news reports.
The conference will be a "visible reminder to all those who seek to harm Afghanistan that the Afghan people are never alone," said Special Charge d'Affaires Hugo Llorens, the top US diplomat to Kabul.
"As always, the United States, along with all of Afghanistan's partners, remains shoulder-to-shoulder with our Afghan brothers and sisters in pursuit of a brighter tomorrow for all Afghans," Llorens said in a statement.
Emmanuel Macron has just won the rare distinction of being the most re-tweeted French person in history.
In less than 24 hours, his Trump-defying message "make our planet great again" was shared more than 140,000 times, easily ousting the previous record-holder, the rather less high-minded TV presenter Cyril Hanouna. One fifth of the re-tweets were in the US.
It is proof yet again that what we witnessed from the Elysee on Thursday was a master class in communications.
A growing fan club
In giving his TV reaction to the US president, not only did Macron break brazenly with longstanding convention, according to which French presidents never speak publicly in English, but he even had the chutzpah to subvert the US leader's personal campaign slogan.
"Make our planet great again" was a provocation dressed up as a call to virtue. As a catchphrase for the faithful, it was irresistible.
By tweeting it, Macron took one more step down his road to investiture as that long-awaited international figure: the anti-Trump.
The French leader has a growing fan club: in France, the US and across the globe, among people who see him as the polar opposite, the perfect antithesis of his counterpart in the White House.
These people love the fact that with the arrival of Macron, the existing order appears to have been turned on its head.
• Dismay as Trump signals exit from accord
• Five effects of US pullout from Paris
• The world's not laughing, Donald, it's crying
It used to be France that was old, inward-looking and incapable of regeneration, and America that was the land of youth, energy and leadership.
But where is that caricature now?
Donald Trump's handshakes with world leaders, including President Macron, have been closely watched
And they adore the way that Macron had the nerve to face down Trump in the Brussels handshake. At last, they feel, we have a champion with the guts and the conviction to challenge the Trumpian order.
Macron himself never planned any of this. When he first thought of running for the presidency, the chances of a Trump in the White House seemed too ludicrous to contemplate.
• Who is Emmanuel Macron?
But not for the first time, the stars seem to have aligned for France's boy-prodigy.
Just as in domestic politics doors seemed to open miraculously for President Macron, so in the world of international affairs shifts of power and ideology are also working in his favour - for now.
French President Emmanuel Macron says Paris agreement will "make the planet great again"
The tilt towards nationalist interests exemplified by Trump's America has created a clear leadership space for someone who will fly the other flag. Providential or not, Macron has come to power just as a reaction sets in against the populist tide of the last few years - and he is poised to reap the reward.
With its perpetual harping on about ideals and morals, France's capacity to irritate is prodigious. Perhaps it will not be long before Macron loses his touch and the world starts panting for his comeuppance.
But right now, with Trump in the White House, French preachiness doesn't appear to raise as many heckles as it used to. Having a quotable charmer for a president certainly helps.
Tech leaders defy Trump on climate deal
By Chris Baraniuk Technology reporter
Getty ImagesElon Musk has vacated his seat on Trump's business leaders' panel
The biggest US tech firms are rallying behind the 2015 Paris climate agreement, despite President Trump's decision to leave it.
Mr Trump's move has been met with dismay from other world leaders signedup to the accord - but much of the outcry can be heard on the west coast of his own country.
The chief executives of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook have all criticised the president's decision.
Elon Musk, who had been a member of Mr Trump's business panel, announced he would leave the post.
"Am departing presidential councils," he tweeted. "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world."
Many firms, including IBM and Amazon, said they would continue to try to meet the goals of the climate deal.
"IBM supported - and still supports - US participation in the Paris Agreement," the technology company said in a statement.
Executives at many tech giants posted comments in support of the Paris climate deal
Microsoft remained "committed" to doing its part for the agreement, its president and chief legal officer Brad Smith said.
Many tech firms have faced scrutiny from environmentalists, thanks to the huge energy demands of their data centres.
US data centres consumed roughly as much energy as six-and-a-half million US homes, according to one report - 70 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Tech firms have consequently invested heavily in making their operations greener.
Google, for example, says it is on track to hit its own goal of offsetting 100% of its data centres' energy use against renewable power.
And Apple has said that 96% of its energy comes from renewable sources - the company is now pushing its suppliers to follow its example.
"A lot of these firms have already invested in renewables and [leaving the Paris deal] counters what they're currently invested in," explains analyst Matthew Ball at Canalys.
The implication is that, should it becomes less cost-effective to rely largely on renewables, then that investment could soon look like a mistake.
President Trump said that the climate deal punished the US and would cost millions of American jobs
But there's another downside for the tech giants.
"It kind of gives a sign that the US is not going to be at the forefront of the technology innovation that's going to be required to meet the agreement's goals," says Mr Ball.
"It gives the edge to the European and Chinese firms."
Getting a slice of the renewable energy market has certainly been an objective for many of America's tech firms.
Tesla, for instance, recently announced a new product - solar panels for your roofthat look uncannily like ordinary tiles.
All renewable energy resources combined account for nearly 10% of the US's demand - but certain resources within that, including solar, have been growing rapidly according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Solar energy actually employs more US workers than Apple, Google and Facebook together, so it is perhaps unsurprising that the tech firms have expressed an interest in remaining part of the "renewable revolution".
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