Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
NORTH AMERICAN NONWOVENS SECTOR BENEFITS FROM COVID-19 CRISIS
THE NORTH American – especially the USA – nonwovens sector, has this year had to content with two major external impacts – the US trade war with China and the Covid-19 pandemic. New statistics from the North Carolina, USA-based Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) have revealed a sharp decline in north American exports (including those from the USA, Canada and Mexico) to China from across north America (with the USA dominating) showed a fall in exports tonnage of 18.6% respectively year-on-year between 2019 and 2018, “led by declines in trade with China”, according to a memo from the organisation.…
SANCTIONS REGIMES TIGHTEN ON SYRIA AS BLOODY CIVIL WAR CONTINUES
As Syria enters its 10th year of civil conflict, the economy is in tatters, foreign currency is in short supply, and sanctions have not only been renewed, the USA has introduced new secondary sanctions. Illicit crime and sanctions busting abounds.
In May (2020), the USA issued further guidance on Syria, while the European Union (EU) extended its sanctions on Syria for a further year, to 1 June 2021.…
ENERGY COMPANIES TAKE SPECIAL CARE TO REDUCE SPREAD OF COVID-19 WITHIN THEIR FACILITIES
AS governments worldwide loosen lockdowns imposed to impede the spread of Covid-19, energy companies are assessing their health and safety policies to ensure workplaces are not new infection hotspots, protecting workers and hence production.
These changes come as energy industries downscale workloads to reflect a collapse in demand for their output.…
EU PAINT AND COATING INDUSTRY OFFERED COVID-19 FINANCIAL LIFELINE BY EUROPEAN COMMISSION PANDEMIC ECONOMIC RECOVERY FUND
CONSTRUCTION projects likely to generate major purchases of paints and coatings are likely to be a focus of a new ‘Next Generation EU’ budget commanding EUR750 billion between 2021 and 2024, financed by borrowing through bond issues against European Union (EU) direct revenues from sources such as import duties.…
NIGERIA’S PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES LEAD IN ONLINE LEARNING AMIDST CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
With Nigeria continuing its lockdown closure of education institutions into late June, the country’s private universities are continuing to develop online learning, while many public universities are waiting for their physical facilities to reopen before restarting services. Access to such buildings by essential staff have eased from June 2, with Nigerian government loosening a nationwide curfew from 8pm and 6am, which will now be in force from 10pm to 4am until June 29.…
AGRI-TEXTILES SECTOR BECOMES MORE SUSTAINABLE IN PRODUCTION AS DEMAND GROWS FOR ITS KEY FOOD PRODUCTION ROLE
If there is one subsector of technical textiles that is regarded as well suited to environment-friendly materials innovation, it is surely the agricultural textile (ag-tex) sector. This is indeed the case, with research and development specialists creating clever solutions allying the functional and sustainability benefits of ag-tex with new biodegradable and naturally-sourced fibre.…
MALAWI UNIVERSITIES COUNT COST OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN AS REOPENING PLANNED
MALAWI universities are counting the cost of a Covid-19 lockdown that has been in place since March 23, which the government has now said will end on July 13. The resulting closure of public and private universities across the country left tertiary institutions reeling, although students have told UWN that they are happy that a resumption of their studies is now in sight.…
MOZAMBIQUE UNIVERSITIES HIT HARD BY COVID-19
The higher education sector of Mozambique has been thrown into disarray by the Covid-19 pandemic, with colleges and universities closed since April 1 when President Filipe Nyusi approved a state of emergency decree, imposing movement restrictions that has been extended to June 30.…
EUROPEAN AUTO SECTOR UNHAPPY WITH NEW EU DATA REGULATION GUIDANCE FOR VEHICLE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE
Automakers in the European Union (EU) are concerned the technologies used by their vehicles may have to comply with onerous personal data handling rules imposed by the EU. These fears have been sparked by draft guidelines released by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on how the EU’s general data protection regulation (GDPR – 2016/679) should apply to the industry.…
UK AUTO SECTOR INSISTS IT HAS CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM DESPITE BREXIT AND COVID-19
The UK’s automotive sector is sufficiently “resilient, agile and competitive”, the country’s Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) said today (June 23), to ensure the double whammy of Covid-19 and Brexit do not cause permanent damage in UK motor manufacturing.…