The Trump administration has found another way to put pressure on American universities. And this time it’s using the Department of Defense. The Pentagon has ordered a slew of universities to audit their relationships with foreign academic organizations, mostly in China. While some of these universities are pushing back against allegations of wrongdoing, the Pentagon is holding steady.

What’s the Pentagon asking for?
The Defense Department is asking for 30 universities to “initiate immediate and comprehensive reviews of their academic, financial and research collaborations with foreign entities of concern,” according to an order released by the agency. The universities have been given until Monday to “complete a comprehensive audit of all identified foreign collaborations.”

The Defense Department did not identify which universities it was targeting, but The Guardian later published a full list of the 30 schools. Some of the most prominent include the Ivy League institutions Cornell University and Harvard University. 

If these universities do not complete these audits, they may not “maintain eligibility for future federal research funding,” said the Pentagon. The order largely targets university research relationships with Chinese institutions in the “latest effort to clamp down on alleged Chinese influence in the U.S., including in higher education,” said Time. 

Last month, the Pentagon released the list of foreign institutions reportedly tied to U.S. universities. The majority of these, 88 out of 130, are in “mainland China, while the remaining institutions are in Russia and Iran,” said Time. 

What have the responses been?
While some support efforts to weed out Chinese influence among American universities, others fear the allegations are unfounded. And China is pushing back against the Pentagon’s assertions. Beijing opposes the “overstretching of the concept of national security and the politicization or instrumentalization of normal scientific, educational and academic exchanges,” said a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., in a statement.

Republicans leading the audit charge are standing firm. “Research partnerships and collaboration with Chinese entities linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese army present undeniable national security risks,” said Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Select Committee on China, in a statement.

“It’s pretty worrying,” said British pro Jack Draper to reporters at last month’s Wimbledon about the state of tennis and the “amount of injuries, especially young players,” as he withdrew from the tournament due to injury. The tour and calendar “have to adapt if any of us are gonna achieve some sort of longevity.” He also withdrew from the U.S. Open last week, along with Italy’s Jannik Sinner, ranked world men’s No. 1, and Britain’s Emma Raducanu on the women’s side. Players on the men’s ATP and women’s WTA tours have long complained of the hectic playing schedule and the toll it takes on their bodies, calling for reforms to ease their workload. 

‘Regularly missing events’
It’s “difficult to remember a time when each tournament’s buildup was not punctuated” with withdrawals of big-name players, said The Telegraph. And it’s players’ improved athleticism that’s causing issues. The physicality in tournaments has “evolved exponentially compared with two or three decades ago,” with athletes hitting the ball harder and with better equipment, said El País. And the rules are not adapting to accommodate this.

Then there’s the punishing tournament calendar. Seven of the nine Masters 1000 events, which are one step below Grand Slams in prestige and traditionally lasting seven days, have “expanded to a 12-day format,” said The Telegraph. Top players’ absences do give opportunities to younger and lower-ranked players, but fans have started to “raise concerns” about their favorites “regularly missing events.” And the ATP Tour has its “own interests at heart,” attempting to “squeeze out every revenue source possible.”

‘Takes time’
Environmental changes are also overlooked, said the Financial Times. “Extreme heat is affecting tennis tournaments globally,” as was particularly apparent in the number of heat-related incidents at the French Open in May, but different organizations follow different rules to address it. Until this year, the decision to suspend ATP matches due to weather conditions was at the “discretion of tournament supervisors.” 

Like in other sports, change in tennis “takes time,” said The Independent. But unlike other sports, tennis essentially has “seven governing bodies,” with the ATP, the WTA, World Tennis and the four historic Grand Slam events claiming certain jurisdictions. “Getting everyone around the same table is challenging enough,” let alone getting them to agree on reforms to the game.

A  tractor-drawn bus takes visitors on a scenic tour through Japan’s Shikisai-no-oka (Hill of Colors) flower gardens. Hundreds of thousands of blooms blanket more than 37 acres of hills at the popular attraction in central Hokkaido. 
BJ Warnick / Newscom / Alamy Live News

People in the U.S. eat so much Mexican food in restaurants that you could be fooled into thinking there’s no such thing as Mexican home cooking. You would be wrong. The best Mexican cookbooks reveal a world of lush, inviting, easy recipes that have all the elements you adore.

‘Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico’ 
Oaxaca, in central Mexico, has some of the finest cuisine in the country, if not the world. It’s the land of many moles, inspired uses of corn, and sparkling seafood on the coast. One of the U.S.’s best trumpet-bearers for Oaxacan cuisine has long been Los Angeles’ family-run restaurant Guelaguetza. In this book, one of the restaurant’s owners, Bricia Lopez, works to “demystify this idea that it takes days to make mole,” she said to the Los Angeles Times. ($45, Abrams)

‘The Taste of Mexico’ 
Published in 1986, this is a “straightforward guide” to the “fundamentals of regional Mexican cooking,” said Saveur. Patricia Quintana, a Mexico City chef and author, introduced American readers to the nuances of good Mexican cooking long before the country’s cuisine took over the U.S. in all its varied forms. ($20, Abrams)

‘Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition’ 
A grand microcosm much like its subject, “Yucatán” hovers at nearly 600 pages, telling the diverse food stories of the far southeastern edge of Mexico. The food of the Yucatán peninsula, aside from a few restaurants in the U.S., is not known well north of the border. And author David Sterling aims to change that. ($60, University of Texas Press)