So, Don’t Call Me Maybe

UN Security Council Imposes Harsh Sanctions Against North Korea: On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution, introduced by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, imposing on North Korea what Haley called “the most stringent set of sanctions on any country in a generation.” All exports of North Korean coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore, and seafood will be prohibited, which could reduce North Korea’s annual export revenue by one-third, or roughly $1 billion. The new penalties were the result of painstaking negotiations between the US and China, North Korea’s most important trading partner.

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s bellicose leader, has repeatedly defied the ban on testing missiles and nuclear bombs. President Trump initially delegated responsibility to China for dealing with Kim, but grew frustrated with China’s reluctance to adequately pressure the Supreme Leader to curtail his militaristic activities. However, after Kim ordered two tests in July of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), apparently capable of reaching the continental US, all 15 members of the Security Council were convinced that harsher steps had to be taken. The vote was a much needed diplomatic victory for the Trump administration, but China’s willingnessto enforce the resolution’s provisions will be critical to its effectiveness.

HUGE, SURPRISE Upset As Kagame Wins Third Term As President of Rwanda: In the ultimate election shocker, incumbent Paul Kagame won another seven years as Rwanda’s president by a landslide, if that’s correct for word for taking almost 99 percent of the votes in Friday’s poll (with an expected final voter turnout of more than 90 percent in a country of 12 million). That’s not a landslide–that’s an avalanche (or a predetermined result, in which case we suggest that those in charge of the electoral machination report a slightly more believable final number like say…87.9 percent?). As we reported on Friday, there is no question, both inside and outside the country, that Kagame is a hugely popular leader who has brought peace, development, and economic growth to the tiny African nation. But did either of his two opponents stand even a small chance of winning or of getting a nominal percentage of votes? If not, then why? Official results will not be announced until August 12, after the National Electoral Commission evaluates petitions and verifies numbers.

ASEAN Meets Over The Weekend, and South Korea Asks North Korea To Call Me Maybe?: Foreign ministers of countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and representatives of numerous other countries met in Manila this past weekend for the annual series of meetings. On Saturday, in the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting addressed a wide range of topics, including the South China Sea disputes, violent extremism, and tensions in the Korean Peninsula. Those issues will also be discussed today at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), where the ASEAN foreign ministers will be joined by their counterparts from 17 non-Southeast Asian countries, including the US, China, Russia, India, Japan, and North and South Korea.

On Sunday night at a gala in Manila ahead of the ARF, South Korean media reported that its Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha shook hands in a brief and unarranged meeting with her North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho. A South Korean official told the BBC that Ri dismissed Kang’s offer to arrange talks between the two countries as “insincere,” but Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, told journalists on Monday he thought “the North did not entirely reject the positive proposals raised by the South.” The run-in was the first “high-level encounter” between the two Koreas since South Korea President Moon Jae-in took office in May. President Moon and US President Trump spoke Sunday evening Washington-time about the situation in North Korea and the new UN sanctions imposed on the country. “The two leaders affirmed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, South Korea, and Japan, as well as to most countries around the world,” the White House said in a statement Sunday.

Brits to Learn Math the Chinese Way: “Go West, Young Man, Go West” was an expression popularized in the nineteenth century to encourage US western expansion. It worked. In the twenty-first century, Britain is using the same slogan but in reverse and hoping it works just as well for educational purposes: “Go East, Math Students, Go East.” Here’s why.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and similar international standardized assessments of educational attainment, are used in the process of education policymaking at both national and international levels. Beginning in 2000 and every three years thereafter, PISA tested 15-year-olds in over 60 countries in math, science, and reading. In 2009 and 2012, students in Shanghai, China ranked first in all three categories.

Many Western countries have lagged behind in these tests, making little progress over the years. The US is generally average or below average in overall results. In 2015, Britain ranked 27th for math (worse than it placed in 2012), so it decided to make a bold move. Starting in January, under a $54 million initiative funded by the British government, math teachers in more than half the primary schools in England can begin using a series of 36 textbooks, translated directly from Chinese into English, called “Real Shanghai Mathematics.”

Here’s how the Chinese teaching method, known as the “mastery” approach, works. Instead of describing a concept and then assigning problems for students to solve individually, as a Western teacher might do, teachers using the mastery system pose questions to students, who are then expected to explain precisely both solutions and underlying principles in front of their classmates. And while students might learn fewer concepts this way, they go into each concept in much greater depth, with the goal being for every student in the class to demonstrate understanding, or “mastery,” of each concept before going on to the next. A sort of “no child left behind” idea, if you will, except with better funding and hopefully a lot more success.

Picking the wine and cheese for your book club is easy. But picking a book that will stimulate a lively discussion is the tricky part. That’s where Read it Forward comes in. Read on for 14 suggestions that are sure to get your book club talking. Then sign up for the Read it Forward newsletter to receive weekly book recommendations, giveaways, eBook deals, exclusive author interviews and more!   

Mo Farah and Usain Bolt, Championship Runners: This past weekend had its share of epic sports moments. Mo Farah showed incredible grit by winning his 10th world championship in the 10,000m. During the race, it seemed like all the other competitors had agreed to do their collective best to mentally and physically derail Farah, who was pushed and kicked during the race.

In the 100m sprint, Usain Bolt lost to American Justin Gatlin in his last act as a solo athlete. Bolt will leave the track and field world as a legend, which Gatlin acknowledged by hailing the Jamaican speedster immediately after the race.

India Engages in Sports Diplomacy: After an Indian boxer won a boxing title bout against his Chinese opponent, he showed great sportsmanship by telling his defeated opponent that he would be willing to not take the title because he doesn’t “want tension on the [Himalayan] border. It’s a message of peace.” While the current stand-off in the disputed region began in June, the two countries have long eyed each other with deep suspicion, and even fought a war in 1962 in the region, considered one of the harshest and mountainous places to fight.

Fighting Props: Meanwhile, Conor Macgregor’s fighting camp leading up to the August 26 fight with Mayweather is in disarray after a sparring partner abruptly quit after the Macgregor camp posted photos that seemed to show Macgregor dominating the sparring partner, a former boxer. The sparring partner demanded Macgregor release the entire fight and said that he actually beat Macgregor. The Macgregor and Mayweather fight will lead to a financial windfall for both, with each fighter winning close to $100 million. We predict a Mayweather victory. And, we aren’t sports scientists, but the size of the boxing gloves will heavily predict the victor.

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