World News Archives

The fall of Aung San Suu Kyi is another blow to democracy

International support has been muted for Suu Kyi, the deposed civilian leader of Myanmar who was once hailed as a global leader for human rights. Her implicit support of ethnic cleansing has left “no one holding the flag for democracy around the globe that you can look up to and admire,” says Pablo Calderon-Martinez, an assistant professor in politics and international relations at NCH at Northeastern in London.

by Ian Thomsen December 8, 2021

How the attack on Pearl Harbor was covered by the media

Dan Cohen, Northeastern history professor and dean of libraries, discusses the value of looking at archives about historic events, including primary sources held at Northeastern,…

by Cam Sleeper December 6, 2021

South African students decry omicron travel bans as a ‘knee-jerk reaction’

Itumeleng ‘Tumi’ Mosiah and Gina Izerel are students on the Boston campus who are plowing ahead with plans to visit their native South Africa despite the travel ban against their country. They don’t know if or even when they will be allowed back into the United States, so they’re making contingency plans with their professors.

by Peter Ramjug December 6, 2021

Travelers arrive for flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. The United States, and a growing list of other countries, has restricted flights from southern African countries due to the detection of the COVID-19 Omicron variant last week in South Africa. Stocks in the travel and airline industry have fallen in recent days as fears grow over the spread and severity of the variant. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

COVID-19 travel bans little more than 'public health theater,' professor says

New travel bans meant to delay the spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant won’t help quell the virus, but may serve to stigmatize southern African nations where the mutation was first reported, says Northeastern law professor Wendy Parmet.

by Hillary Chabot December 1, 2021

Northeastern’s COVID-19 testing center is ready to identify the omicron variant

As the world faces the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, early detection will be crucial to identifying and responding to any risk the variant might pose. “We take a more targeted approach, which gives us a head start,” says Jared Auclair, who runs Northeastern’s Life Sciences Testing Center in Burlington, Mass.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki November 29, 2021

Debt ceiling debate flirts with national economic disaster

“Huge, huge consequences would result from any default of U.S. debt,” says William Dickens, distinguished professor of economics and social policy.

by George Donnelly - contributor November 29, 2021

People queue to be tested for COVID-19 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday Nov. 26, 2021. As the world grapples with the emergence of the new variant of COVID-19, scientists in South Africa — where omicron was first identified — are scrambling to combat its spread across the country. AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Omicron variant questions mount–answers are on the way

Researchers around the globe are working to make sense of the potential threat from the coronavirus variant the World Health Organization has named “omicron.” After more than 20 months of studying this virus, says Alessandro Vespignani, Sternberg Family distinguished university professor of physics, computer science, and health sciences at Northeastern, we have a good sense of when we will have answers.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki November 28, 2021

Looking for holiday season deals? Don't forget to check the labor market.

Retailers are hoping that this holiday season will be the best ever—or at least the best one in the last couple years. But to do that, they’ll have to hire a lot of temporary workers, fast, and that means better deals for new hires, says a Northeastern economist.

by Molly Callahan November 24, 2021

hand showing the domestic violence signal of palm facing forward thumb over palm and the rest of fingers wrapped over thumb

TikTok to the rescue for teen in trouble

The response from a concerned motorist who recognized the TikTok hand signal represents a social media success in the fight against abuse.

by Hillary Chabot November 9, 2021

womans face with facial recognition pattern overlayed

Facebook isn’t shutting down its facial recognition system after all

The tech company announced it would be taking a major step: In addition to deleting the billions of face-name data it held, Meta would shut down the system that built it. But Northeastern legal scholars see it differently. “This is yet another example of Facebook misdirection,” says Ari E. Waldman, professor of law and computer science.

by Molly Callahan November 9, 2021

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