On campus, books and bags or gas-soaked rags?

Hong Kong university campuses are becoming fortified [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( University campuses around Hong Kong are becoming refuges for protesters as confrontations with pro-Chinese government forces continue. In Germany, schools are also safe — from measles, thanks to a new law requiring parents to vaccinate their children. In Montenegro, people are taming nature for hydropower, and in Tonga nobody’s taming their volcanoes. Anything else? Oh yeah, ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch is testifying today in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. (We’re still beta-testing this newsletter and we've just updated the design. Let us know your thoughts on that more generally about this newsletter by replying to this email.) --------------------------------------------------------------- In the news today In Hong Kong, university campuses becoming increasingly fortified [A protester walks through a barricade at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, China November 15, 2019.]( Credit: Thomas Peter/Reuters Is it a university campus or a weapons factory? It depends on who you ask. The Chinese University campus has shifted from an institution of higher learning to an [increasingly fortified garrison](where anti-government protesters are seeking relative safety and a place to organize. Makeshift barricades surround the campus. Protestors have armed themselves with Molotov cocktails, bows and arrows, bricks and the ubiquitous umbrellas. There’s a first-aid station, a supply center, a commissary. The classroom setting is fitting, as the Chinese government has recently released educational policy plans to promote fealty to Beijing, sing the praises of communism and instill “a common ideological and political foundation.” This morning there was calm. But the fight continues, and both sides are worried it could flare up at any time. Also: [A Tiananmen leader says Hong Kong protesters are different]( --------------------------------------------------------------- NewsMatch Do you value the global journalism you read here every morning? [Make a gift]( to support our work now, and your donation will be matched. [Donate here](. How does Germany fight measles? By mandating vaccines. Don’t want to vaccinate your children in Germany? It’ll cost you. German health officials have recorded at least 501 cases of measles this year and are responding to the increase in the preventable illness by [passing a law requiring parents to vaccinate their children for measles.]( Additionally, adults born after 1970 who work in certain public institutions, like schools, to undergo immunizations. Refusing to do so could amount in a fine of up to 2,500 euros. Also: [Massive vaccine campaign underway in Philippines after polio's return]( Small hydropower plants threaten Montenegro's last free-flowing rivers in a bid for cleaner energy [Residents campaigned to save the Bukovica river from the harmful effects of a hydropower plant, Šavnik Municipality, Montenegro, Oct. 4, 2019.]( Credit: Lucy Sheriff/The World [Renewable doesn’t always mean “green.”]( Montenegro is quickly shifting away from coal as a power source, moving instead towards hydropower. And while this pivot will result in less pollution, Montenegro’s rivers — some of the last free-flowing rivers in Europe — will be inexorably altered by the different flow patterns that multiple, small-scale hydroelectric plants would produce on the waterways. Many planned future projects are in ecologically sensitive areas, while some existing plants have left locals without water for irrigation or to feed their cattle. “People think that just because hydropower is renewable that it means it is green, and good for the environment,” said Irma Popović Dujmović, of WWF Adria. “There are so many impacts on the environment and it is frustrating because the Western Balkans has so much potential for other renewable energy.” Volcano giveth, taketh away, giveth [Tourism operator, Allan Bowe is pictured in front of the new Island being formed by a volcanic eruption June 15 which began about two weeks ago. New Zealand newspapers are reporting that the Pacific Kingdom of Tonga may name the new island in honour of All Black rugby star Jonah Lomu, who was born i]( Credit: Reuters In 1995, an underwater volcano in the Kingdom of Tonga woke up angry, bubbled its way to the surface and formed a new island. Welcome to the world, Lateiki. Then, on this Oct. 14, reports came in of an eruption. For the next two weeks, an ashy plume rose skyward from Lateiki's craterous maw. Then it was gone. Not just the ash, either; Lateiki had disappeared. Days later, the volcano had another surprise: [A new, larger Lateiki popped up 400 feet to the west.]( Tonga lies on an archipelago in Polynesia along the Tonga-Kermadec volcanic arc, so volcanic activity is nothing new in the region. But what has scientists curious is Lateiki’s disappearance and rebirth in a new location in such a short period of time. Also: [What's erupting? List and map of currently active volcanoes]( Impeachment latest: Yovanovitch to testify Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine and 33-year State Department veteran, is set to be the first woman to testify on Capitol Hill today in the public impeachment inquiry. Today’s testimony is likely to focus on who the ambassador was fired and what, if anything, that had to do with President Donald Trump’s withholding of military aid to Ukraine. [Gender dynamics might come into play today, too.]( Trump referred to Yovanovitch as “the woman," and the president has frequently employed gender-specific language to attack women. She’ll testify before the Intelligence Committee, which has four women out of 22 members. Yovanovitch will likely be talking politics and policy, too. [“What happened to [Yovanovitch] is a cautionary tale for everyone in the diplomatic corps and frankly all the way across the federal service,”]( Nancy McEldowney, a former ambassador to Bulgaria, said Thursday in a phone interview with the Washington Post. “All public servants are now looking at this and asking: Have the rules changed? Has the ground shifted so fundamentally that telling the truth gets you punished?” Also: [What's happening in the impeachment inquiry: A timeline]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Morning meme: If you’re a fan of Thursday Night Football, you might have seen Cleveland Browns defensive end [Myles Garrett rip off Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet]( and hit him with it as the seconds ticked down in the fourth quarter. (Also, Browns won, 21-7.) Top of the World does not condone violence, but we [do]( [condone]( [Happy]( [Gilmore]( [memes](. Because it’s the weekend:[Letters from Juliet offer love, hope and human connection]( Reuters contributed to this newsletter. --------------------------------------------------------------- In case you missed it on The World - [Australian fires continue to rage]( - [The climate bankers]( - [Manus Island refugee finds freedom after six years]( - [Suspicionless searches of phones at US points of entry are ruled unconstitutional]( - [Brazil's war on sex education]( - [The US fight against corruption overseas]( - [First ebola vaccine approved by the WHO]( - [Can renewable energy be bad for the environment? The case of hydro investment in Montenegro]( - [Violence in Israel]( - [Hong Kong 'terrorists']( Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. [The World]( is produced by [PRX](, [WGBH](, and the [BBC](.