Seeking Knowledge, Especially in China: PRC Tops New Asian #Education League Table!

Chinese Ministry of #Education ('MOE'): #China has become #Asia's biggest destination for overseas #students, and this trend is only accelerating #highered #CollegeAdmissions

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 16, 2018

2017 figures indicate that there were 489,200 foreign nationals #studying in #China, including 75,800 postgraduates or post-doctoral researchers; overall year-on-year growth came in at a seismic 18.62% #internationalstudents

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 16, 2018

Intriguingly, the number of #internationalstudents in #China hailing from Belt and Road Initiative ('BRI') countries – an enormously diverse group of states stretching from #Morocco to #Indonesia – grew 11.6% from 2016 to 2017, an expansion rate below the #global average #edchat

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 16, 2018

Analysis: large and wealthy cities such as #Beijing and #Shanghai are absorbing many of the #internationalstudents heading to China to pursue #highered opportunities, but smaller cities are also hosting significant numbers of foreign knowledge-seekers + becoming more cosmopolitan

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 16, 2018

To watch: the rapid development of #China's #highered sector is evidenced by #internationalstudents' course choices, which are switching from #Chinese to subjects such as law, engineering + #management https://t.co/ldYRmqZPdd

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 16, 2018

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Classic American Sitcom Legacy Latest: Eastern Europe ‘Looks Like Central Perk’!

#Euromonitor: #Russia added around 1,000 #coffee shops in just five years (2012-2016) as the northern chunk of Eastern #Europe warms up to global coffee culture

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 3, 2018

Eastern #Europe's #coffee market – which is dominated by #Russia and #Poland – enjoyed a year-on-year change of ▲5.3% in 2016 to reach US$7.45bn #lifestyle

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 3, 2018

The growth trajectory of 'third place' #coffee is reaching stunning levels in #Poland, where the number of branded #cafés grew #14% in just twelve months (Q4/2016 to Q4/2017)

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 3, 2018

Analysis: while the embrace of #coffee culture in countries such as #Poland and #Russia is startling, there is still plenty of room for expansion as per capita consumption remains far behind #Scandinavia and ex-#Yugoslavia

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 3, 2018

To watch: the number of specialty #coffee shops in #Poland has risen from just one as recently as 2010 to at least 40 in 2017, despite the cost of a single #cappuccino representing an entire hour's salary on the minimum wage https://t.co/3M3niJU2Mb

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) May 3, 2018

Beautiful Stranger: Anomic Technological Superpower ‘Suddenly Obsessed With Make-Up’!

The financial value of South Korea's #beauty industry was estimated at a stunning €10bn in 2017, with the country's strengths in #media and #technology serving to increase Koreans' focus on self-presentation #KBeauty

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 1, 2018

While #women make up the vast majority of #beauty industry customers, the men's cosmetics business in South #Korea was estimated to be worth almost €1bn in 2017, with some companies recording extraordinary double-digit growth

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 1, 2018

Analysis: South #Korean beauty products are notable for their excellent presentation and packaging, which even by the high standards of the sector is worth studying in some detail; affordability is also a distinct advantage

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 1, 2018

According to some observers, the #technology being utilised in #Korean #beauty products is 12-14 years ahead of that being used in their United States counterparts, which means that their export potential is truly staggering

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 1, 2018

To watch: South #Korea's #hallyu wave is beginning to seep into domains far beyond soap operas and smart devices; the next step is to influence global culture on a conceptual level https://t.co/59v5SE8OfJ

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 14, 2018

Crash Development: Lahore’s Orange Line Crosses Red Line!

#Pakistan's first and long-awaited #metro line is scheduled to begin operations on 23/03/2018, but there remain misgivings over the project which have attracted international concern and resulted in a drawn-out court battle #UNESCO

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 5, 2018

#Lahore's Orange Line metro project passes perilously close to no less than 11 historical monuments, including the stunning Shalimar Gardens UNESCO World Heritage Site – a location that would be an #Instagram favourite if #Pakistan's soft power had not imploded in recent years

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 5, 2018

The siting of #Pakistan's first metro project – placing a high-capacity line in a historical district where the sane option would be a mixture of #tram, #lightmetro and pedestrian access – does not bode well for future projects, which may be marked by similar incompetence #Lahore

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 5, 2018

To watch: #Pakistan has fallen so drastically behind #India and #Iran in urban public transportation that its biggest city – Karachi – does not possess a single #metro line, a situation which is so untenable that it might bring about meaningful change https://t.co/RcN4cgFw2w #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 5, 2018

Don’t Stand So Close to Me: Global Commerce Hub Abandons Romance! #London

Time Out City Life Index: just 20% of Londoners are now married, meaning that the vast majority of the city's inhabitants are facing a #lifetime of #relationship instability and/or drought, and sending social theorists back to the #library #London #marriage

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 21, 2018

According to Time Out's City Life Index, 40% of people in #London are in a relationship but not married; 25% are single and active in the dating market; and the remaining 15% have effectively opted out of #romantic #relationships altogether #love #UnitedKingdom

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 21, 2018

#London has a famously laissez-faire attitude to #sex, with the average Londoner waiting just 2.4 dates before extreme escalation, but the city's single adults – all 2,888,944 of them – have never been more numerous; levels of sexual #satisfaction may be falling off a cliff #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 21, 2018

To watch: while the #relationship formation situation in #London is poor by #international standards, the rest of the #UnitedKingdom is arguably far worse; a political and cultural backlash, albeit ill-defined and inconsistent, seems almost inevitable https://t.co/yDPYyaeW3R #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 21, 2018

Valentine’s Day Massacre Revelation: #FBI #Cruz Tip-Offs ‘Lost in the Files’! #schoolshootings

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has admitted that it did not act on two tip-offs pertaining to Nikolas Jacob Cruz, the suspected perpetrator of the Valentine's Day massacre carried out at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida #FBI #UnitedStates #NikolasCruz #edchat

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

Vice Media: the FBI received a tip in 09/2017 from a video blogger who noticed a #YouTube comment left by 'Nicholas Cruz', who said: 'I'm going to become a professional school shooter'; Cruz's YouTube videos included violent threats which are, if anything, even more explicit #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

The second tip-off which the FBI failed to act upon was received on 05/01/2018, and included 'information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting' #schools

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

Cruz – who was identified as the perpetrator of the #schoolshooting by school security camera recordings – spent some of what are likely to be his last moments of freedom in Walmart, Subway and McDonald's: a tragic metaphor for the American Dream #education #edu #educators #USA

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

To watch: the insane velocity of #SchoolShootings in the United States means that 2018 is set to be a record year, with 12/month anticipated by statisticians; concrete #legislation addressing the root causes of urban US #violence seems as distant as ever https://t.co/r3Ot2YfSDi

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

Food Fight: Obese Oil Kingdoms ‘Stretching the Limits of Credibility’!

The rich-poor gap in the Gulf Cooperation Council has widened to possibly unsustainable levels, with food waste now becoming a serious concern for political as well as moral reasons #GCC #UAE #Oman #SaudiArabia

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

Waste Disposal Organisation (Oman): catering companies + hotels in #Oman throw away food worth around 46m OMR/€95m every year; at the same time, charity organisations state that >30,000 people are listed as not earning enough to feed their families #ZeroHunger #edchat

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

Meanwhile, according to a Saudi Arabian government minister, the KSA wastes food to the tune of c.50bn SR/€11bn every year; the King Saud University estimates that the wastage is especially bad during #Ramadan, despite #SaudiArabia's food banks

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

Conversely, #Dubai has distinguished itself by setting the ambitious target of becoming the first city in the region to achieve zero food waste; the #UAE's level of wastage is presently around AED 13bn/€2.8bn, doubtless due to its vast tourism + hospitality sectors #GCC

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

To watch: the gargantuan political cleavages which have opened up between some #GCC countries mean that these Gulf Cooperation Council states are using their powerful media holdings to expose each other's flaws, with implications for legitimacy + stability https://t.co/3vtyy5nKsh

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018