Latest news with #InternationalHouse
Nikkei Asia
3 days ago
- General
- Nikkei Asia
How would late Asia scholar Ezra Vogel have viewed Trump 2.0?
Life With 'despair,' say family and friends as they celebrate namesake library in Japan Ezra Vogel used to make frequent visits to Tokyo and would usually stay at International House, where he was interviewed by a Nikkei reporter in October 2018. (Photo by Kenji Kawase) KENJI KAWASE August 16, 2025 09:11 JST NAGOYA, Japan -- When family members of the late American academic Ezra Vogel recently gathered in Nagoya, in central Japan, to commemorate the opening of a university library in his name, they discussed his intellectual legacy and donation of over 3,000 books to the library.
Time Out
3 days ago
- Business
- Time Out
Popular south London venue Pop Brixton could be demolished
Pop Brixton, a popular eating, drinking and dancing spot in south London that supports local vendors, could be demolished under new plans. The community initiative, which is run in partnership with Lambeth Council, is home to a variety of food vendors, bars and grassroots music events. But soon that could all come to an end, as plans to built two high-rise towers along Station Road could see Pop Brixton knocked down. Proposals to build a 20-storey and 17-storey tower along the road were revealed as part of a public consultation about the redevelopment of the area, which could also see the workspace International House extended upwards to become a 14-storey block of flats. The whole development proposes around 280 new homes, with a workspace replacing Pop Brixton. At least 40 percent of the homes are promised to be affordable. It also promises to provide 4,750 square metres of public realm improvements, including 'rain garden planting' and play areas. According to Brixton Buzz, Pop Brixton has been operating at a loss for several years, and was never designed to be a permanent destination. Its lease was extended numerous times, but it never turned the profit that Lambeth Council had hoped for. Lambeth Council told Brixton Buzz they were only 'testing the waters' for the potential two towers, and have not yet submitted planning permission. The council's documents said that the sites of Pop Brixton and International House were both 'suitable for tall buildings' Locals in Brixton have a reputation for fiercely opposing high-rise developments, as was seen in 2023 when the 20-storey Hondo Tower, owned by Texan millionaire DJ and landlord Taylor McWilliams, was axed after local opposition. It's likely there will be resistance to the proposed developments which will prove new housing for the area. A public consultation is currently open and due to run until late 2025 – locals can give feedback to the plans online here. A formal planning application is expected to come in 2026, with completion pencilled in for 2030.
Mint
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
US visa: Indians seeking F, M, J non-immigrant visas must 'adjust social media settings', says embassy
US visa: If you're set to apply for a higher education in the US, get ready for a new digital checkpoint—your social media profiles. In the latest advisory, the US Embassy in India has announced that all applicants for F, M, or J non-immigrant visas must now ensure their social media accounts are set to public before appearing for a visa interview. 'Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J nonimmigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media accounts to public to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under US law," reads the US Embassy's instruction. Those who fail to do so will be suspected of hiding that activity from US officials, reported The Guardian. Indians seeking F, M, J non-immigrant visas must 'adjust social media settings', says embassy The latest move asking visa applicants to make their social media profies 'public' comes after US resumes processing F-1 student visas following a short suspension. According to a report by The Guardian, US diplomats have been directed to conduct an online presence review for foreign students to look for 'any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States'. One official also told the media outlet that social media vetting will help US ensure that the country can properly screen every single person attempting to visit the country. Reacting to the move, experts have said that while the resuming of interviews is good news, there is still a lot of uncertainty. 'It's good news, bad news. I mean, I'm happy that the interviews are opening up again, because there's a lot of students that are running out of time to get here in the fall, and so that was creating a lot of stress and anxiety for them. But also … there's still a lot of uncertainty,' Shaun Carver, executive director of International House at the University of California, Berkeley told The Hill.
The Hill
23-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Advocates fear litmus test in new student visa rules
Advocates for foreign students fear that a new Trump administration visa requirement of a social media review will serve as an ideological litmus test. While the resumption of visa applications was welcomed, the State Department's announcement that it would require public access to applicants' posts added a new layer of uncertainty to the process. 'It's good news, bad news. I mean, I'm happy that the interviews are opening up again, because there's a lot of students that are running out of time to get here in the fall, and so that was creating a lot of stress and anxiety for them. But also … there's still a lot of uncertainty,' said Shaun Carver, executive director of International House at the University of California, Berkeley. 'I don't think it's unreasonable to ask to check people's social media accounts to come to the United States and make sure that they have the right intentions … I think what we've learned from this administration is that there's no clarity on what they're looking,' he added. 'Is it anything critical of Trump will be triggered that you're not allowed to come or are they looking for something that's more specific to national security, not just political viewpoints?' The State Department said it would look for those 'who pose a threat to U.S. national security.' A person who refuses to make their social media accounts public could be denied a student visa to the United States. While a student could delete their social media profiles entirely, it is unclear if that would also set off alarm bells. 'Every visa adjudication is a national security decision. The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission,' the department's announcement stated. The State Department paused all processing and new interview appointments for visa applications in May in order to update its social media policies. Some theorize the change comes after Trump administration agencies arrested numerous pro-Palestinian campus activists this spring with a plan to deport them based on Secretary Marco Rubio's determination these individuals are a threat to the country's foreign policy. So far, the administration's strategy is tied up in lawsuits. 'I think the motivation for it, in part, comes from the difficulty the Trump administration has had in removing people from the country who were student protesters that they wanted to deport and have run into longer court cases in the effort to deport them,' said Stuart Anderson, executive director for the National Foundation for American Policy. 'And I think their frustration with getting people out of the country once they're here and they have greater legal rights has motivated an effort to deny more people visas before they come in.' Anderson pointed out that reviewing social media profiles would be a time-consuming process and wondered if AI or keywords would be implemented to speed the process along. 'How subjective will this be? There could be very obvious ones, if someone has made some really obvious statements … that promote terrorism or violence. But I think the question would be on whether someone maybe has an opinion that may be different from whoever is reviewing their media profile,' he concluded. The Hill has reached out to the State Department for comment. The pause was criticized by advocates and caused panic among students and colleges because those coming to the U.S. couldn't make travel or housing arrangements, and universities could not receive payments from these students, until their visas were approved. It also added a new level of stress for foreign students who may be reconsidering coming to the U.S. amid the actions of the Trump administrations. The federal government has arrested or stripped the visas for dozens of foreign students and is currently in a lawsuit with Harvard after it tried to take away the university's ability to enroll international students. While the actions against Harvard have been blocked by a judge, the overall environment has given foreign students second thoughts. A person familiar with the discussions also told The Associated Press that consulates were instructed to prioritize foreign students who were enrolling in schools with a less than 15 percent foreign student population in its student body. 'Just anecdotally, from my own experience at I-House, typically India and China represent about 10 percent of our community. This year, so far, it's 5 percent so we're seeing a large decline in Indian and Chinese students,' Carver said, referencing Berkeley's International House. Anecdotally, he shared that an international student who previously studied in the U.S. and now works at Oxford University in Britain told him that 'every day he's getting emails from folks saying, 'I've been admitted to Harvard or MIT or Cal or Stanford,' and he's getting emails from folks saying, 'Can you help me? I want to come to Oxford.'' 'These universities in the UK and Canada and elsewhere are really seeing an opportunity to get the best and brightest to not just change universities or change states, whatever the current situation, but just get out of this uncertainty that currently exists and the tone of the United States,' Carver said.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Baltimore Sun Hall of Fame 2025: George L. Bunting Jr., exec and board leader
For a man who has been a high-flyer in the corporate world, George L. Bunting Jr. is extraordinarily down to earth, say those who know him. Bunting spent two decades expanding Hunt Valley-based Noxell Corp., the family company started by his grandfather, and then negotiated its sale to Procter & Gamble in a $1.3 billion merger. Since then, he has focused on applying his money, skills and connections to build up efforts to improve health care, education, religious understanding and the arts in Baltimore and across the nation. Bunting is the kind of person who notices everyone — 'the person who opens the door, the person who is easily overlooked,' said the Rev. Christopher Leighton, founding executive director for the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, a Towson-based nonprofit that aims to dismantle religious bias. 'No one is invisible to George's sight; there are no little people or insignificant people in George's approach to the world.' Born in Baltimore, Bunting grew up worshipping at the recently shuttered Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Mount Washington. He credits his upbringing with instilling values like honesty and trust. His worldview expanded while he attended Columbia Business School. It wasn't the marketing curriculum but his experience living at International House, home to students studying at various New York universities. Amid a 'melting pot of different disciplines,' Bunting hung out in Harlem, scarfed down late-night pizza, and had deep conversations with friends from Germany and Australia. 'I think I learned more living there than I actually did at business school,' he said of the now 101-year-old International House. 'That's where I began to realize the world is a lot bigger and there were different viewpoints.' Training as an Army reservist medic also fostered a service-oriented mindset. 'I think we should have [compulsory] national service,' he said. [It] doesn't have to be the military, could be the Peace Corps or other service, to bring everybody together at an early age from all different walks of life and backgrounds so we wouldn't have so much division today, perhaps.' Bunting hadn't set out to follow in his family's footsteps. 'My father never, never put any pressure on me about that,' he said, 'and I sort of gravitated toward it over time in my educational career.' Bunting returned home in 1966 as a product manager at Noxell Corp., famed for its Noxzema cleansing cream and other skin care products. He joined the board of directors, studied under his father as executive vice president, rose to become president and CEO, and finally, was named chairman and CEO. The company kept expanding — CoverGirl cosmetics grew into a large part of the business. But it still felt like a family to Bunting. 'It had a very excellent culture, which I inherited and nurtured along the way,' he said. 'Public companies today have changed, and there are different pressures, but it was almost fun, going to work, and we loved the products we sold.' Two years after Procter & Gamble's purchase, Bunting retired from business but kept his sleeves rolled up. In 1996, he oversaw the merger of the 'complicated' governing structures of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation into one unified Johns Hopkins Medicine board of trustees. Different priorities between the two entities were leading to conflicts, such as concerns that the hospital would dominate decision-making. Finding resolution was rewarding for Bunting. He's chairman of the board of trustees of the Abell Foundation, which has applied proceeds of the 1986 sale of The Baltimore Sun to improve educational, health and economic outcomes in Baltimore. President Robert C. Embry Jr. praised Bunting's brains, honesty and enthusiastic support for initiatives such as grant donations and lawsuits to promote equity — 'somewhat unusual' for foundations. 'He's very ethical and concerned about reducing the inequities in our society,' Embry said, recalling Bunting and the board's work to increase funding for Baltimore public schools. Bunting enjoys material trappings — his car collection formed the basis for the BHA Automobile Museum — but he can apply the blessings of wealth and access to more elevated realms. He's a lifetime trustee of the Institute of Islamic, Christian, Jewish Studies. Leighton recalled early efforts to raise an endowment for the institute, saying that Bunting's leadership, in part due to a substantial donation, challenged the community to step up by example. 'There was no way that I could go and knock on their doors and get any kind of reception,' he said of trying to drum up support. 'But when George knocked on the door and said, 'We'd like to meet with you and tell you about the work we're doing,' the response was, 'Well, if George Bunting is behind this venture, then we know it has integrity.'' 'I don't think he really knows or realizes just how powerful a force he is in doing good for others,' Leighton said. 'He just goes about that business as though it was the most natural thing in the world to do.' Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@ Age: 84 Hometown: Baltimore Current residence: Monkton Education: Loyola Blakefield; Loyola College; Columbia Business School, MBA in marketing Career highlights: Product manager, president, CEO and chairman of the Noxell Corp. Civic and charitable activities: Chairman of the board of trustees for the Abell Foundation in Baltimore; lifetime trustee of the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies; trustee emeritus of Johns Hopkins Medicine and Johns Hopkins Health System; trustee emeritus of Maryland Institute College of Art; created the BHA Automobile Museum, a collection of classic cars Family: Married to Anne Bunting; three children; seven grandchildren
