IN BRIEF (Page 11)

United Kingdom

Chinese colleges shine in rankings

QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the world's largest international higher education network, released on Wednesday its latest assessment of Asia's 500 best universities, which saw institutions from China taking six out of the top 10 in the rankings. The top 10 are: National University of Singapore, the University of Hong Kong, Nanyang Technological University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Seoul National University. Among the top 500, China has the highest number, 157 in total (112 from the Chinese mainland). Japan follows with 89, India, 75, and South Korea, 57.

Japan

Freed journalist returning home

A 44-year-old Japanese freelance journalist was scheduled to arrive home on Thursday to an uncertain welcome more than three years after militants in Syria captured and held him in what he described as a physical and mental "hell". Jumpei Yasuda, who quit his job as a reporter on a Japanese newspaper to cover the Iraq War in 2003, was due in Tokyo on Thursday on a flight from Turkey, rekindling debate in Japan about reporting from war zones that some see as reckless adventurism and others as courageous journalism. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe thanked authorities in Turkey and elsewhere for their help in freeing Yasuda.

Mexico

Evacuations carry on; Willa weakens

Emergency workers and federal troops struggled to reach beach towns left incommunicado by Hurricane Willa, and the storm continued to force evacuations on Wednesday due to fear of flooding even as it dissipated over northern Mexico. Thousands of homes were still without power. There were no immediate reports of deaths or missing people, but the storm's 195 km/h winds damaged a hospital, knocked out power, toppled wood-shack homes and ripped metal roofing off other houses in the Sinaloa state municipality of Escuinapa when it came ashore on Tuesday evening.

India

New Delhi air further worsens

Air quality continued to worsen in the Indian capital for the fourth day in a row on Thursday ahead of Diwali, festival of lights, when pollution levels peak. On Thursday morning, air quality index dipped to 337, considered very poor. An AQI between O and 50 is said to be good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor and 401 and 500 severe. New Delhi's air quality has been in the poor category since Monday.

Argentina

MPs approve austerity budget

The lower house of Argentina's Congress approved on Thursday an unpopular austerity budget designed to meet the requirements of a $57 billion IMF bailout. The vote came in the early morning after 14 hours of debate and a day of unrest that saw police fire tear gas at people throwing rocks outside the legislature building to protest the 2019 blueprint's bitter cocktail of tax increases and spending cuts.

Xinhua - Reuters - Afp

(China Daily 10/26/2018 page11)