Jack Ma is back in action.

Happening in the World: After disappearing from public view over the last year, Alibaba Founder, Jack Ma has been seen meeting with business associates in Hong Kong over the last few days. In the days before the initial public offering of his company, Ant Group—Ma had delivered a speech in Shanghai where he criticized China’s financial regulation system for stifling innovation. In response, the Shanghai Stock Exchange had suspended the IPO two days before it was due to happen, and begun a massive crackdown on technology companies in China (Reuters).

Happening in the US: After a 19-month ban at the land borders with Canada and Mexico, the US will finally lift travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers starting November. This move comes just weeks after a similar sweeping ban on foreign travellers, coming from overseas, was lifted. Notably, unvaccinated travellers will continue to be barred from crossing these borders (NYT).

Happening in NYC: Mayor de Blasio unveiled a new plan for schools, titled “Brilliant NYC” that is set to take the place of the Gifted and Talented program that is now being phased out of schools in the city. The new model will be more inclusive and reach over 26 times more students than G&T and will involve training teachers to pay special attention to children with unique abilities but do so without separating classrooms. The new system intends to get rid of some of the artificial barriers that exist in education, especially those that originate from racial segregation (NBC).

Happening in Our Community: Today at 8 pm, the Russian Film Club at the Harriman Institute will be presenting a screening of the film, The North Wind (2021). The screening will be a part of the club’s Contemporary Culture Series and will be followed by a discussion moderated by Professor Mark Lipovetsky and Professor Daria Ezerova. The event will be in room 501 of Schermerhorn Hall, and you can find more information on how to reserve your spot here.

Empty Classroom via Bwarchives