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.
ONTARIO PUSHES AHEAD WITH AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES TECH PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
The Ontario government is pump-priming technologies for the development of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), as other provincial administrations in Canada and the federal government steadily roll out laws for testing and driving self-drive autos.
The province’s Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), part of the publicly-funded Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI), has played a key role.…
PORTUGAL TRIES TO ATTRACT FOOTWEAR CLIENTS AS A NEAR-SOURCING ALTERNATIVE TO ASIA
Portugal’s footwear industry is trying to maintain its near-shoring position as a western production hub, while attracting more business as a reliable alternative to Asian manufacturing hubs, investing in innovation, quality and sustainability.
Portugal comprises an important part of the remaining European footwear sector, which according to the World Footwear Yearbook 2023 produced just 2.7% of global output in 2022 (1).…
PERFRMANCE BRANDS INNOVATE ON PRODUCTION AND SALES TO BOOST CIRCULARITY
Climate change and generational attitude shifts are driving the increased adoption of resale, repair and reuse initiatives in the leisure, sports and outdoor section of the apparel industry as consumer stigma associated with buying secondhand items is replaced with concern about over-production and protecting finite production resources.…
NIGER COUP PROMPTS CONCERN IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS ALREADY LACKING FUNDS AND PERSONNEL
Higher education leaders in Niger have raised concerns about how last week’s (July 26) military coup my home and already fragile higher education system in this Francophone Sahel country.
As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) considers force to restore the democratically elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in April 2021 in the country’s first peaceful transfer of power, students and academics have warned of potential disarray in Niger universities.…
EDUCATION TECH ENTREPRENEUR SAYS HE THREE ‘R’S NEED TO BE REVAMPED TO COPE WITH CHAT-BASED AI
A tech-focused educational entrepreneur and author has told University World News that the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) should prompt a reevaluation of HE’s three Rs, away from reading, writing and arithmetic, and towards “rhetoric, relationships and reasoning”. This is because AI will undertake so much textual analysis and writing in future, education will need to ask: “Where is the unique value of a human?”…
TUNISIA TEAMS UP WITH CHINA IN CREATING FUSION ENERGY RESEARCH LABOIRATOTY
A groundbreaking collaboration between Tunisia and China has yielded plans to develop a pioneering laboratory, solely dedicated to the realm of plasma physics, a key element of nuclear fusion research. The lab would be established in Tunisia’s prestigious National Engineering School of Tunis, within the University of Tunis – El Manar, in central Tunis, Tunisia’s capital.…
AI SET TO UNWRAP PACKAGING REVOLUTION
Artificial intelligence (AI) shows significant potential to revolutionise the packaging industry, from product design solutions to cost- and waste-reducing efficient process engineering.
According to Future Market Insights (FMI), a Pune, India-based market research provider, around 65% of global packaging organisations plan to invest in AI solutions in the foreseeable future.…
INDIA’S DOVERSE TOBACCO LEAF SECTOR GROWS EXPORTS FAST, WHILST BOOSTING PRODUCTION QUALITY
India’s tightly regulated tobacco leaf sector, producing the world’s second largest annual output of tobacco leaf at around 800,000 tonnes (following China and just ahead of Brazil), according to the Tobacco Board of India, is investing in modernisation to further strengthen this position, which includes a recent surge in export sales (1). …
RESOURCE EFFICIENCY ESSENTIAL TO TODAY’S PACKAGING, SAY EXPERTS
Sustainability is not only a marketing buzzword in the packaging sector, but also a legal and environmental necessity, even if it costs more, packaging experts have told Packaging Gateway. Notably, making recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is more expensive than virgin PET, and due to “limited availability and the high cost of recycled content,” PepsiCo used more virgin plastic than planned in 2022 according to its ESG [environmental, social and governance] 2022 report (1) released earlier this year (2023).…
ASIA REGULATORY ROUND UP – CHINA IMPOSES NEW LIMITS ON IRON OXIDE PIGMENT AND TITANIUM DIOXIDE USE
China’s key government economic body has released restrictions on the use of iron oxide pigments and titanium dioxide, the most important white pigment used in the coatings industry. In July (2023), China’s National Development and Reform Commission and related departments issued an updated Notice on Issuing the Energy Efficiency Benchmark Levels and Baseline Levels in Key Industrial Fields, with 11 additional controls, including 11 key areas including titanium dioxide (TiO2).…