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📌 Look for the next Daily Read in your inbox on Tuesday, Jan. 20, following the Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance in the US on Monday.
Global Education Shift: Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as US Schools Slip (New York Times)
The most recent evidence of a troubling trend for American academia?
Harvard recently dropped to No. 3 according to a global ranking that looks at academic publication. Chinese universities that have been steadily climbing in rankings that emphasize the volume and quality of research they produce.
Look back to the early 2000s, and a global university ranking based on scientific output, such as published journal articles, would be very different. Seven American schools would be among the top 10, led by Harvard University at No. 1.
Only one Chinese school, Zhejiang University, would even make the top 25.
Today, Zhejiang is ranked first on that list, the Leiden Rankings, from the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Seven other Chinese schools are in the top 10.
Harvard produces significantly more research now than it did two decades ago, but it has nonetheless fallen to third.
Mideast Watch: Iran’s Record Internet Block Stokes Fears Crackdown May Continue (Bloomberg)
Iran is now enduring its longest and most extensive internet blackout on record, activists say, raising
fears that Tehran’s brutal crackdown on protesters may persist despite assurances to ease punishments.
Ouster Aftermath: Trump Accepts Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize During White House Visit (Wall Street Journal)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado met Thursday with President Trump and presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize, which he accepted, a White House official said. Despite the symbolic gesture, Machado emerged with no public backing from Trump, who instead has doubled down on his willingness to deal with stalwarts of the socialist Venezuelan regime rather than press for a democratic transition.
Sanctions Play: US Seizes Sixth Oil Tanker in Waters Around Venezuela (Bloomberg)
US forces seized another oil tanker near Venezuela on Thursday morning as Washington continues to crack down on a global shadow fleet used to export sanctioned crude.
The Trump administration is pressuring Venezuela
to end the use of sanctioned ships, which often fly false flags and use techniques like misleading satellite positioning signals to illegally export oil and other goods. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said restricting the flow of Venezuelan crude is a crucial way to continue exerting leverage on the nation’s leaders.
Escalation in MN: Trump Threatens Insurrection Act as Minnesota Protests Grow (Bloomberg)
Earnings
Wrap: Bank
CEOs Say Record $134 Billion Trading Haul Is Just the Start (Bloomberg)
After Wall Street’s five giant banks reported a record $134 billion of trading revenue from last year and an upswing in dealmaking, Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick and peers agreed it’s poised to continue — albeit with caveats.
“As a student of these businesses for decades, I would bet you that 2021 is not the ceiling,” Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said, referring to the last record year for lenders’ trading businesses. “The world is set up at the moment to be incredibly constructive in 2026 for M&A and capital markets activity, and I think the likely scenario is it is a very, very good year.”
Record Cuts: Wall Street Eliminated 10,600 Jobs Last Year, Most Since 2016 (Bloomberg)
Server Shift: China Clamps Down on High-Speed Traders, Removing Servers (Bloomberg)
Trade Agreement: US, Taiwan Clinch Deal to Cut Tariffs, Boost Chip Investment (Bloomberg)
The US and Taiwan agreed to a long-sought trade agreement that would lower tariffs on goods from the self-governed island to 15% and see Taiwanese semiconductor companies increase financing for American operations by $500 billion.
Japan Gov't Watch: Sanae Takaichi’s Election Bet Faces Risk as Opposition Forms New Party (Bloomberg)
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s bid to widen her majority through a snap election faces greater risk after Japan’s largest opposition party and a former ruling coalition partner agreed to form a new party.
The new party, a partnership between the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito, announced Thursday complicates Takaichi’s bet that she’ll be able to significantly build on her razor-thin majority in the lower house of parliament.
Takaichi is expected to dissolve parliament on Jan. 23, kicking off what’s likely to be a roughly two-week campaign period with reports suggesting a national election on Feb. 8.
Video of the Day: Leaders of Japan and South Korea in Sync to K-pop (New York Times)
The leaders of Japan and South Korea had spent hours discussing weighty issues like nuclear weapons, critical minerals and economic security. Now they just wanted to jam.
It was Tuesday night in Nara, an ancient capital of Japan where Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was hosting President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea for a summit meeting. After a joint news conference, Takaichi, an amateur heavy metal drummer, invited Lee, who had no drumming experience, to join her for an impromptu performance.
Watch a clip from the performance by clicking the photo below.
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