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A Chinese vlogger shared videos of war-torn Ukraine. He’s been labeled a national traitor

Published

3 years ago

March 19, 2022

A Chinese vlogger shared videos of war-torn Ukraine. He’s been labeled a national traitor

An aged girl is helped by policemen after she was rescued from an condominium that was hit by shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 15.

Firefighters work to extinguish flames at an condominium constructing in Kyiv on March 15.

A lady walks previous a broken window to put flowers at a makeshift memorial for victims of the latest shelling within the separatist-controlled metropolis of Donetsk, Ukraine, on March 15.

Firefighters search a constructing for survivors after an assault in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 14. At the least one useless physique was pulled from the rubble after hours of digging.

Ukrainian troopers take cowl from incoming artillery hearth in Irpin, Ukraine, on Sunday, March 13.

A Ukrainian soldier surveys a destroyed authorities constructing in Kharkiv on March 13.

A mom and son relaxation in Lviv, Ukraine, whereas ready to board a prepare to Poland on Saturday, March 12.

Ukrainian servicemen work contained in the broken maternity hospital in Mariupol on March 9. “The destruction is big,” the town council mentioned. “The constructing of the medical facility the place the kids have been handled lately is totally destroyed.”

A displaced Ukrainian mom embraces her youngster whereas ready on the Przemysl railway station in Poland on March 8.

A Ukrainian serviceman walks previous the stays of a Russian plane mendacity in a broken constructing in Kharkiv on March 8.

A firefighter works to extinguish flames after a chemical warehouse was reportedly hit by Russian shelling close to Kalynivka, Ukraine, on March 8.

Alexandra, 12, holds her 6-year-old sister, Esyea, who cries as she waves at her mom, Irina, on March 7. The youngsters have been leaving Odesa, Ukraine.

Members of the Pink Cross assist individuals fleeing the Kyiv suburb of Irpin on March 7.

Civilians search safety in a basement bomb shelter in Kyiv on March 6.

Native residents assist clear the rubble of a house that was destroyed by a suspected Russian airstrike in Markhalivka, Ukraine, on March 5.

George Keburia says goodbye to his spouse and youngsters as they board a prepare in Odesa on March 5. They have been heading to Lviv.

Ukrainians crowd underneath a destroyed bridge as they attempt to flee throughout the Irpin River on the outskirts of Kyiv on March 5.

Folks take away private belongings from a burning home after shelling in Irpin on March 4.

Folks crowd on a platform as they attempt to board a westbound prepare in Kyiv on March 4.

A bullet-ridden bus is seen after an ambush in Kyiv on March 4.

Folks take shelter on the ground of a hospital throughout shelling in Mariupol on March 4.

A member of the Ukrainian army offers directions to civilians in Irpin on March 4. They have been about to board an evacuation prepare headed to Kyiv.

A Ukrainian youngster rests on a mattress at a brief refugee heart in Záhony, Hungary, on March 4.

A Ukrainian soldier carries a child throughout a destroyed bridge on the outskirts of Kyiv on March 3.

Residents react in entrance of a burning constructing after shelling in Kharkiv on March 3.

A Ukrainian soldier who says he was shot 3 times within the opening days of the invasion sits on a hospital mattress in Kyiv on March 3.

Folks kind a human chain to switch provides into Kyiv on March 3.

A cemetery employee digs graves for Ukrainian troopers in Kyiv on March 3.

A mom cares for her two toddler sons within the underground shelter of a maternity hospital in Kyiv on March 3. She gave delivery a day earlier, and he or she and her husband have not but selected names for the twins.

A member of Ukraine’s Territorial Protection Forces sits with a weapon in Kyiv on March 2.

Paramedics deal with an aged girl wounded by shelling earlier than transferring her to a hospital in Mariupol on March 2.

Residents of Zhytomyr, Ukraine, work within the stays of a residential constructing on March 2. The constructing was destroyed by shelling.

A member of Ukraine’s Territorial Protection Forces inspects harm within the yard of a home in Gorenka on March 2.

A Ukrainian girl takes her kids over the border in Siret, Romania, on March 2. Many Ukrainians are fleeing the nation at a tempo that might flip into “Europe’s largest refugee disaster this century,” the United Nations Refugee Company mentioned.

Militia members arrange anti-tank barricades in Kyiv on March 2.

Folks wait at a prepare station in Kyiv on March 2.

Folks shelter in a subway station in Kyiv on March 2.

Ukrainian troopers attend Mass at an Orthodox monastery in Kyiv on March 1.

Medical employees present a mom her new child after she gave delivery at a maternity hospital in Mariupol on March 1. The hospital is now additionally used as a medical ward and bomb shelter.

An administrative constructing is seen in Kharkiv after Russian shelling on March 1. Russian forces have scaled up their bombardment of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis.

Ukrainian emergency employees carry a physique of a sufferer following shelling that hit the Metropolis Corridor constructing in Kharkiv on March 1.

A lady named Helen comforts her 8-year-old daughter, Polina, within the bomb shelter of a Kyiv kids’s hospital on March 1. The woman was on the hospital being handled for encephalitis, or irritation of the mind.

Ukrainian refugees attempt to keep heat on the Medyka border crossing in Poland on March 1.

Volunteers in Kyiv signal as much as be a part of Ukraine’s Territorial Protection Forces on February 28.

A member of the Territorial Protection Forces hundreds rifle magazines in Kyiv on February 28.

Ukrainian forces order a person to the bottom on February 28 as they elevated safety measures amid Russian assaults in Kyiv.

A displaced Ukrainian cradles her youngster at a brief shelter arrange inside a gymnasium in Beregsurány, Hungary, on February 28.

Smoke billows over the Ukrainian metropolis of Vasylkiv, simply exterior Kyiv on February 27. A hearth at an oil storage space was seen raging on the Vasylkiv Air Base.

Folks wait on a platform contained in the railway station in Lviv on February 27. Hundreds of individuals at Lviv’s fundamental prepare station tried to board trains that will take them out of Ukraine.

A Russian armored automobile burns after preventing in Kharkiv on February 27. Road preventing broke out as Russian troops entered Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis, and residents have been urged to remain in shelters and never journey.

Native residents put together Molotov cocktails in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, on February 27.

Automobiles line up on the highway exterior Mostyska, Ukraine, as individuals try and flee to Poland on February 27.

Ukrainian troops in Kyiv escort a prisoner February 27 who they suspected of being a Russian agent.

Ukrainian service members take place on the Vasylkiv Air Base close to Kyiv on February 27.

A lady sleeps on chairs February 27 within the underground car parking zone of a Kyiv lodge that has been changed into a bomb shelter.

A broken residential constructing is seen in Kyiv on February 26.

Folks in Kyiv run for canopy throughout shelling on February 26.

An condominium constructing in Kyiv is seen after it was broken by shelling on February 26. The outer partitions of a number of condominium items gave the impression to be blown out completely, with the interiors blackened and particles hanging free.

A police automobile patrols the streets of Kyiv on February 26.

Ukrainian troops examine a web site following a Russian airstrike in Kyiv on February 26.

Following a nationwide directive to assist complicate the invading Russian Military’s makes an attempt to navigate, a highway employee removes indicators close to Pisarivka, Ukraine, on February 26.

Ukrainian service members search for and gather unexploded shells after preventing in Kyiv on February 26.

The physique of a Russian soldier lies subsequent to a Russian automobile exterior Kharkiv on February 25.

A lady weeps in her automotive after crossing the border from Ukraine into Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania, on February 25.

A Ukrainian soldier sits injured from crossfire inside Kyiv on February 25.

A toddler from Ukraine sleeps in a tent at a humanitarian heart in Palanca, Moldova, on February 25.

A firefighter walks between the ruins of a downed plane in Kyiv on February 25.

Members of the Ukrainian Nationwide Guard take positions in central Kyiv on February 25.

Folks stroll previous a residential constructing in Kyiv that was hit in an alleged Russian airstrike on February 25.

The physique of a college worker, who in keeping with locals was killed in latest shelling, lies within the separatist-controlled city of Horlivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk area on February 25.

Kyiv residents take shelter in an underground parking storage on February 25.

A wounded girl stands exterior a hospital after an assault on the japanese Ukrainian city of Chuhuiv, exterior of Kharkiv, on February 24.

The physique of a rocket stays in an condominium after shelling on the northern outskirts of Kharkiv on February 24.

A boy performs along with his pill in a public basement used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv on February 24.

A person mourns after an airstrike reportedly hit an condominium complicated in Chuhuiv on February 24.

Ukrainian service members sit atop armored autos driving in japanese Ukraine’s Donetsk area on February 24.

Folks in Kyiv attempt to board a bus to journey west towards Poland on February 24.

Folks search shelter inside a subway station in Kharkiv on February 24.

Folks wait after boarding a bus to depart Kyiv on February 24.

Law enforcement officials examine the stays of a missile that landed in Kyiv on February 24.

A workers member of a Kyiv lodge talks on the telephone on February 24.

Folks wait in line to purchase prepare tickets on the central station in Kyiv on February 24.

A photograph supplied by the Ukrainian President’s workplace seems to point out an explosion in Kyiv early on February 24.

A convoy of Russian army autos is seen February 23 within the Rostov area of Russia, which runs alongside Ukraine’s japanese border.

Ukrainian troopers speak in a shelter on the entrance line close to Svitlodarsk, Ukraine, on February 23.

Smoke rises from a broken energy plant in Shchastya that Ukrainian authorities say was hit by shelling on February 22.

A broken home is labored on after shelling close to the Ukrainian front-line metropolis of Novoluhanske on February 22.

Ukrainian troopers pay their respects throughout Sydorov’s funeral in Kyiv on February 22.

Russian howitzers are loaded onto prepare vehicles close to Taganrog, Russia, on February 22.

Protesters demanding financial sanctions towards Russia stand exterior the Ministry of Overseas Affairs in Kyiv on February 21. Solely a small variety of protesters confirmed as much as display.

Activists maintain a efficiency in entrance of the Russian embassy in Kyiv on February 21 in assist of prisoners who have been arrested in Crimea. They are saying the purple doorways are an emblem of the doorways that have been kicked in to go looking and arrest Crimean Tatars, a Muslim ethnic minority.

Ukrainian servicemen store within the front-line city of Avdiivka, Ukraine, on February 21.

Folks lay flowers on the Motherland Monument in Kyiv on February 21.

An area resident exhibits the depth of a crater from shelling in a area behind his home within the village of Tamarchuk, Ukraine, on February 20.

Ukrainian service members are seen alongside the entrance line exterior of Popasna, Ukraine, on February 20.

Folks evacuated from the pro-Russian separatist areas of Ukraine are seen at a brief shelter in Taganrog, Russia, on February 20.

Anastasia Manha lulls her 2-month-old son Mykyta after alleged shelling by separatists forces in Novohnativka, Ukraine, on February 20.

A Ukrainian soldier stays on place on the entrance line close to Novohnativka on February 20.

A pair arrives on the metropolis council to get married in Odesa on February 20. As Ukrainian authorities reported additional ceasefire violations and high Western officers warned about an impending battle, life went on in different elements of the nation.

A lady rests in a automotive close to a border checkpoint in Avilo-Uspenka, Russia, on February 19.

A Ukrainian service member walks by a constructing on February 19 that was hit by mortar hearth within the front-line village of Krymske, Ukraine.

Fighter jets fly over Belarus throughout a joint army train the nation held with Russia on February 19.

Ukrainian troopers stand guard at a army command heart in Novoluhanske on February 19.

Folks sit on a bus in Donetsk on February 18 after they have been ordered to evacuate to Russia by pro-Russian separatists.

Kids play on previous Soviet tanks in entrance of the Motherland Monument in Kyiv on February 16.

Ambassadors of European nations lay roses on the Wall of Remembrance in Kyiv on February 16. The wall incorporates the names and images of army members who’ve died because the battle with Russian-backed separatists started in 2014.

US troops stroll on the tarmac on the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in southeastern Poland on February 16. US paratroopers landed in Poland as a part of a deployment of a number of thousand despatched to bolster NATO’s japanese flank in response to tensions with Russia.

A 200-meter-long Ukrainian flag is unfolded on the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv on February 16 to mark a “Day of Unity,” an impromptu celebration declared by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

A lady and youngster stroll beneath a army monument in Senkivka, Ukraine, on February 14. It is on the outskirts of the Three Sisters border crossing between Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

Ukrainian service members speak at a front-line place in japanese Ukraine on February 14.

Members of Ukraine’s Nationwide Guard look out a window as they experience a bus by the capital of Kyiv on February 14.

Satellite tv for pc photographs taken on February 13 by Maxar Applied sciences revealed that dozens of helicopters had appeared at a beforehand vacant airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Professional-Russian separatists observe the motion of Ukrainian troops from trenches in Ukraine’s Donbas space on February 11.

Ukrainian service members unpack Javelin anti-tank missiles that have been delivered to Kyiv on February 10 as a part of a US army assist package deal for Ukraine.

Ukrainian service members stroll on an armored preventing automobile throughout a coaching train in japanese Ukraine’s Donetsk area on February 10.

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Rating agencies in public brawl over scores for private credit

Published

6 hours ago

May 24, 2025

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Rating agencies in public brawl over scores for private credit

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Two US credit rating agencies have become embroiled in a rare public dispute over the reliability of scores for insurance companies’ growing stash of private credit investments.

The dispute involves a study, since withdrawn by its publisher, purporting to find that small credit rating agencies assign more generous scores to private credit investments than the larger and more established ones. Kroll Bond Rating Agency has accused Fitch Ratings of misleading market participants by relying on the study to raise doubts about the quality of its ratings.

Fitch on Monday published a report critical of Kroll and other groups, based on the 2024 study, issued by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

A Fitch spokesperson stood by its report, arguing the insurance commissioner’s group reached similar conclusions in prior studies. “If the (association) provides new information, we will update our analysis.”

The unusually overt quarrel highlights the intense competition in the fast-growing and lucrative $1.6tn private credit industry to carve out turf — not just among lenders, but among the groups paid to referee creditworthiness of the market’s opaque investment offerings.

“There’s a build-up of risk in the insurance industry and also potentially in the collateralised loan sector that is not being properly monitored,” said Ann Rutledge, a former senior Moody’s analyst and now chief executive of rating agency CreditSpectrum. “The opacity and the risk are both attributable to the fact that there are cracks in the foundation of the current SEC-regulated credit rating industry.”

Insurers and other investors use the types of ratings in question, known as private letter ratings, when no public ratings are available. Larger ratings firms historically have eschewed issuing these types of scores for private credit products, leaving the market dominated by smaller agencies.

Private letter investments were “inherently more risky given the lack of transparency and potential ratings inflation”, analysts at JPMorgan said in a recent note, adding “there is an inherent challenge in assessing credit quality from the outside as no part of the process, analysis, or information is transparent from the outside”.

Kroll, which was among the first to challenge the establishment credit agencies with its launch after the global financial crisis, said it was troubled by its larger rival’s boosting of “statistically unsound” research. It said Fitch’s criticism appeared geared towards supporting its own grab for dominance.

“In seeking relevance to increase its market share in private credit, Fitch appears to have undercut two foundational principles for any rating agency — integrity and analytical rigour,” Kroll said in a statement.

The study by the NAIC focused on the rise of private letter ratings for insurers’ private credit investments, which totalled about $350bn at the end of 2023.

It found confidentially-issued grades from smaller rating shops were more likely to deviate from scores by the association’s own securities valuation office and were notably higher on average. According to the original report, smaller groups such as Kroll tended to offer ratings three notches higher than the association’s internal score, while larger agencies such as Fitch offered ratings about two notches higher.

The study also showed that the number of privately rated securities held by US insurers grew from 2,850 in 2019 to 8,152 in 2023, and that the share of securities rated by small credit rating providers such as Egan-Jones, Kroll and Morningstar had grown to 86 per cent in 2023.

The report also noted that Fitch is the leading provider of private letter ratings among the big three US rating agencies, ahead of S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Ratings.

But earlier this month, the insurance association announced it was removing the report from its website “to undergo further editorial work to clarify the analysis presented”.

Without naming names, the insurance association said it would “evaluate how the information we provide to the public could be misconstrued or otherwise utilised in inappropriate ways”.

The NAIC declined a request for comment.

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By the numbers: A look at international students at Harvard and across the U.S.

Published

7 hours ago

May 24, 2025

Press Room

By the numbers: A look at international students at Harvard and across the U.S.

A person holds a Harvard College folder during a tour at Harvard University on April 17 in Cambridge, Mass.

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“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”

That’s what the nation’s oldest and wealthiest private university in the U.S. said in its lawsuit against the Trump administration, which sought to prevent the elite institution from enrolling thousands of international students.

A judge quickly blocked the Trump administration’s effort on Friday, and issued a temporary restraining order. The ruling comes as the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities reached a record high.

Here’s a look at the impact of international students, by the numbers:

1.1 million

In November, Open Doors® 2024 Report on International Educational Exchange announced that the total number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities reached an all-time high of more than 1.1 million students for the 2023 and 2024 year.

This represented a 7% increase from the previous academic year.

“The experience of studying in the United States not only shapes the lives of individuals, but the future of our interconnected world,” said Scott Weinhold, with the Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in a statement announcing the Open Door findings. “The ties formed between U.S. and international students today are the basis of relationships for future business and trade, science and innovation, and government relations.”

A view of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students.

India sent the most international students to the U.S. for higher education with more than 331,000 students enrolled, according to the 2023-2024 data from Open Doors.

China followed as the second leading country of origin with more than 277,000 students, including nearly 123,000 graduate students, studying in the U.S. It’s the leading nation for sending undergraduates and non-degree students to the U.S. Combined, India and China account for more than half of all international students in the country.

$43.8 billion

International students contribute not only academic and athletic talent to their campuses but also billions of dollars in economic activity across the nation.

According to NAFSA: Association of International Educators, these 1.1 million international students at U.S. colleges and universities contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2023-2024 academic year and supported more than 378,000 jobs.

“International students’ contributions to the U.S. are significant and multi-faceted, and this year’s record-breaking economic total is the latest proof of that,” Fanta Aw, NAFSA executive director and CEO, said in a statement. “Yet we cannot be complacent. Meanwhile, competition for the world’s best and brightest is increasing.”

Aw urged the U.S. government to adopt politics that help attract and retain talent from overseas.

“We cannot afford to lose international students’ meaningful positive impact on American students’ global competence, our economies, and our communities, particularly in the areas of STEM-related research and innovation,” Aw said.

Students pose with a person dressed as Roar-ee the Lion mascot, before the Commencement Ceremony at Columbia University in New York on May 21.

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140

Harvard relies on nearly 7,000 international students from more than 140 countries to come to its campuses. This is more than 25% of its total enrollment, according to 2024-2025 data from Harvard.

When including all of the scholars and researchers, the international population at Harvard exceeds 10,000.

In comparison, as of fall 2024, Yale University had 3,639 international scholars (including trainees, researchers, students and others) from 129 countries.

And Columbia University reported a total of 16,926 international students and scholars (including faculty and researchers) coming from 149 countries.

196

Students from other countries make a notable impact across on a various sports and fields.

Harvard has 42 varsity sports teams, and for the 2024-2025 rosters, about 21% of the athletes — approximately 196 out of 919 — are from abroad, Sportico reported last month.

The Yale Bulldogs mascot looks on during a game against the Harvard Crimson at Fenway Park on November 17, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts.

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70

Harvard has hosted international students under the F-1 visa program for 70 consecutive years, the university said in its federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. This program, provided by the U.S. government under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and overseen by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, allows international students to pursue their education at Harvard. The university has also long been designated as an exchange program sponsor to host J-1 nonimmigrants. Both programs allowed students from other countries to get an education at Harvard.

And Harvard is not unique. Thousands of high schools, colleges and universities have similarly hosted international students through these visa programs.

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Donald Trump purges dozens of National Security Council officials

Published

23 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Donald Trump purges dozens of National Security Council officials

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Donald Trump has dramatically shrunk the White House National Security Council by firing a number of officials, placing others on administrative leave and ordering many secondees to return to their home agencies.

Several people familiar with the firings said the NSC, which is being run temporarily by secretary of state Marco Rubio, had retained some staff, mostly senior directors, while eliminating dozens of positions in the office.

The move, which one person described as a “liquidation”, comes three weeks after the president fired Mike Waltz as his first national security adviser, the top position at the NSC.

The officials who lost their positions were notified on Friday afternoon. The move followed weeks of speculation about an imminent purge at the NSC.

NSC chief of staff Brian McCormack emailed the officials shortly after 4pm to tell them they had 30 minutes to remove their belongings from their desks and to exit the NSC building next to the White House.

It was unclear if Alex Wong, the deputy national security adviser, had been dismissed. Laura Loomer, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who helped persuade Trump to fire Waltz, has also been gunning for Wong, who is a well respected official with hawkish views on China.

Three people familiar with the dismissals said Ivan Kanapathy, senior director for Asia, remained but his entire team, including his China staff, had been let go. Loomer had also urged Trump to fire Kanapathy, a former fighter pilot.

Robert O’Brien, who served as national security adviser in the first Trump administration, recently wrote an opinion article calling for the NSC to be cut to about 60 officials. The NSC, which traditionally has served as a co-ordinating office but has sometimes been used to centralise power in the White House, had more than 200 officials during the Biden administration.

“There is no question that the NSC in the Biden administration had become bloated and was high-handedly trying to implement foreign policy rather than doing its traditional role of co-ordinating the implementation by the rest of the national security establishment,” said Dennis Wilder, a former top NSC official in the administration of George W Bush.

“That said, there is a danger that a severely trimmed NSC will not have the executive firepower to ‘herd the cats’ of the national security system.”

Some supporters said the move would help Trump by reducing the number of officials from other agencies who might not support his “Make America Great Again” agenda.

One person close to the White House said Trump had learned a lesson from his first administration when he came to believe that many NSC officials were quietly blocking his agenda. “He was not going to make the same mistake again,” the person said.

But others questioned the impact that the purge would have on policy, and particularly the ability to referee disagreements across the government.

“While it might seem a hobbling bureaucratic move because the NSC’s purpose is to staff the president, its significance is about far more,” said one former NSC official.

“By whittling down the NSC staff to almost nothing, you kneecap the US government’s ability to generate foreign policy options, or to potentially act as a brake on Trump’s preferences. All that remains is presidential power.”

Trump also dismantled most of NSC directorate that oversaw technology and national security policy, according to several people. The president previously fired David Feith who headed the office, which was created during the Biden administration.

That directorate was instrumental in creating export controls that were designed to make it much harder for China to obtain advanced American technology that could help its military.

The NSC did not comment. But Brian Hughes, the NSC spokesperson, said he would remain and “continue to serve the administration”. The White House press secretary did not respond to a request for comment.