World

UNITED STATES—UC Berkeley is the #1 public university in the nation, with UC San Francisco ranked close behind at #6, according to the Center for World University (CWUR) 2015 Rankings. The annual list ranks the top 1000 universities in the world, and is "the only global university ranking that measures the quality of education and training of students as well as the prestige...

CALIFORNIA—The city of Los Angeles has reportedly been in talks with both the city of San Francisco and the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) about the possibility of filing a joint bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. San Francisco had previously been taken out of contention as a solo host city by Boston on January 8. Earlier this week, the city announced it would drop...

SAN FRANCISCO—During the Modern Slavery and Climate Change conference on Tuesday, July 21, San Francisco Mayor Edward Lee declared that municipal transportation will start using renewable diesel by the end of the year. Mayor Lee stated, “By changing our fleet’s fuel from petroleum to renewable diesel, we’re taking action that is good for the global climate, and at the same...

SAN FRANCISCO—The shooting death of Kathryn Steinle has culminated in a proposal to stop San Francisco from receiving certain federal funding from the government. Later this week, the House of Representatives are set to discuss a bill that provides quasi-asylum for undocumented immigrants and in turn runs the risk of housing dangerous persons who pose a threat to the country. Steinle was killed by...

SAN FRANCISCO—Mayor Edward Lee will travel to the Vatican later this month to discuss climate change and human trafficking with United Nations leaders and Pope Francis. Governor Jerry Brown and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo will also be in attendance for the two-day event that begins on July 21. The Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, a scientific academy of...

SAN FRANCISCO—Reddit’s Interim CEO, Ellen Pao, has resigned from the post she held for eight months following increased scrutiny by the Reddit user community. In recent months, Pao became a controversial figure among users due to her exercises in leadership that proved unpopular. Reddit, which is based in San Francisco, will see its original co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman return to...

SAN FRANCISCO—Reddit, a site popular worldwide, has been experiencing blackouts since July 2. These blackouts are a form of protest by the moderators in light of recent events. The firing of Victoria Taylor, AMA coordinator, set off these protests. Reddit is a type of social news website; it aggregates content from all over the web. Its headquarters are located in San...

SAN FRANCISCO—President Obama will be in Southern California on Thursday, June 18 before coming to the Bay Area this weekend. Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton will be close behind, arriving in the Bay Area shortly after the president and is expected to depart on Saturday, June 20. Both Democrats will be making the rounds in California to attend fundraisers. In...

CALIFORNIA—California's economy is now larger than Brazil's, Russia's and Italy's. The economy is the world's seventh largest when measured by GDP. California's gross domestic product reached $2.3 trillion last year. The state's economy is hugely impacted by the entertainment industry that thrives in Southern California, the vast array of agriculture in Central California and the booming tech industry that resides...

NEPAL—Documentary filmmaker Tom Taplin, of Santa Monica, was killed by an avalanche on Mount Everest following Saturday's gargantuan magnitude 7.8 earthquake. Taplin, an avid mountaineer, had traveled to the mountain to film a documentary chronicling the lives of the community of climbers at Everest's basecamp. Taplin, 61, had been living on the mountain for four weeks prior to Saturday's quake. He...