By Yojana Sharma. Two professors who taught at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) were among three United States-Korean citizens released last Wednesday from detention in North Korea, during the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to North Korea in advance of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. More...

By Wagdy Sawahel. United States President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of a landmark international nuclear accord with Iran and reimpose US sanctions on Iran will have a negative effect on the US-based Iranian academic diaspora and will hamper ongoing US-Iran higher education cooperation, experts have said. More...

By Jan Petter Myklebust. An investigation into hiring practices at three Swedish universities has provided evidence that in their recruitment processes many universities may not be following the requirements of the law to find the best candidates and that many appointments may be rigged. More...

By Brendan O’Malley. Nearly two in five prospective students from within the European Union said they were less interested in studying in the United Kingdom because of Brexit and nearly one in three are not aware that students who start their course in 2018-19 would continue to pay the same fees as domestic students for the duration of their course, according to a new survey. More...

By Brendan O’Malley. The top five higher education systems are the United States followed by Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark, according to the latest Universitas 21 Ranking. More...

By Brendan O’Malley. The 300-page report, Education under Attack 2018, identifies more than 12,700 attacks from 2013 through 2017, harming more than 21,000 students and educators. More...

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In our lead News story, Brendan O’Malley reports on the disturbing findings of the latest Education under Attack report that deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on schools and universities have become more widespread over the past five years.
   In Commentary, Rosie Birchard wonders if universities in Europe – in their haste to internationalise their programmes – have misjudged the scale of the problem mobile students face in finding suitable and affordable accommodation. Hakan Ergin and Bruno Morche contend that distance learning is a key pathway – particularly for emerging countries – to facilitate equal opportunities for higher education internationalisation that go beyond physical mobility. Futao Huang and Tsukasa Daizen outline the findings of a survey of university leaders in Japan showing that internationalisation of Japanese higher education is highly valued and academically prioritised, with revenue generation viewed as a low priority, unlike the US and UK where generating money is a prime driver of internationalisation. And Peter van der Hijden says the upcoming Paris Ministerial Conference is an opportunity to rethink European higher education and to revitalise the Bologna Process.
   In our World Blog, Kirk Perris writes about how blended learning – combining distance and face-to-face learning – can boost access to higher education in countries such as Nigeria where universities are facing immense enrolment pressures.
   In Features, Yojana Sharma reports on China’s ambitious plans for ‘global dominance’ in artificial intelligence and its efforts to boost research and the training of talent in this high-tech field of the future. Wagdy Sawahel discusses a research report on corruption in higher education in Ukraine, which looks at the possible reasons behind this scourge and suggests a range of changes to combat corruption. And Christabel Ligami reports on recommendations put forward by the Commission for University Education in Kenya to boost quality in higher education. More...