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THE ARAB Spring has had a mixed record of success as regards liberalization, but one recent bright spot has been the revolution in Sudan, which in 2018 and 2019 swept away 30 years of despotism under former President Omar al-Bashir. This rebellion, notable for its active nurturing by professional classes, has so far spawned a sustainable ‘Sovereignty Council’ government committed to democracy.…

Detailed rules of origin have been approved within the new European Union-UK Brexit trade deal specifying what manufacturing processes should be applied to nonwovens products covered by the agreement’s duty-free provisions.

A key benefit of the text is that goods sold between the EU and UK should not attract import duties, but such products must have been substantially transformed either within Britain or remaining EU member states.…

WHEN governments talk about how to reduce the risk of terrorism, the most oft-voiced policies are security-based: detecting and cracking down on extremist cells and targeting online propaganda.

But the reality is that a more effective way of reducing societies’ exposure to criminal groups seeking to achieve political ends through violence and fear is simply to make regular life more interesting.…

The medieval scholar Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun, a famous Tunisian historian of the 14^th and 15^th centuries, created a model for the history of states, which he said had a natural life of birth, maturity and death.

His Muqaddimah, published in Arabic in 1377, written as a prelude to an ambitious survey of global history, said states went through three stages, always ending – as the adage about politics says – in failure.…

IT is not easy to make a living as a fine artist. So many talented painters, sculptors, illustrators and engravers pay their bills through teaching, and indulge their creativity as a sideline. Others move into commercial graphic design where their scope is confined by the demands of selling products, contrasting with the unbound freedom of imagination enjoyed by the independent artist.…

The newly implemented African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to have minimal positive impact in the short term for the continent’s garment and textile manufacturers. The FTA, which came into force at the start of the year and brings together 1.3 billion people in a USD3.4 trillion economic bloc of 54 African countries, a January 1 formal implementation date that was delayed by six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.…

Eric Dorchies was appointed Mauritius’ Ciel Textile Ltd’s CEO last July (2020) at a moment when his country’s important clothing and textile sector was struggling hard against the impact of the Covid-19. It has not been an easy start to his job (he was previously the company’s COO) given the risk of the third wave of the virus hitting Europe, the company’s main market.…

The size of India’s biscuit and cookie market, valued at USD4.7 billion in 2019 by GlobalData, registered a sudden expansion during the Covid-19 related lockdown, due to a sharp increase in at-home consumption. The industry is growing at a rate of 9.7% annually, according to figures released by GlobalData, with sales moving towards healthier premium categories, such as low sugar digestive biscuits.…

The size of India’s biscuit and cookie market, valued at USD4.7 billion in 2019 by GlobalData, registered a sudden expansion during the Covid-19 related lockdown, due to a sharp increase in at-home consumption. The industry is growing at a rate of 9.7% annually, according to figures released by GlobalData, with sales moving towards healthier premium categories, such as low sugar digestive biscuits.…

Former US President Donald Trump may be out of office, but the first initiatives of the new administration of President Joe Boden have been to encourage the American manufacture of clothing and textiles, just in a different way from his predecessor.…