Search Results for: Lebanon
10 results out of 242 results found for 'Lebanon'.
CRISIS AFTER CRISIS FOR LEBANESE UNIVERSITIES
The nearly two-month long Israeli military attacks on Lebanon, an escalation of a year-long conflict between Israel and Lebanese Shia militant group Hizbullah, has hit the country’s higher education sector hard. The impact is all the worse given Lebanon’s universities and colleges have been struggling with financial and economic problems for the past five years.…
JORDAN'S TEXTILE SECTOR THRIVES DESPITE REGIONAL CONFLICT, POSTING RECORD GROWTH
Jordan’s textile and leather industries have made impressive strides over the past six months, driven by a robust increase in exports and greater investment in raw materials, despite ongoing conflicts in neighbouring Lebanon and Israel.
Indeed, Jordan’s combined textile and leather industry achieved remarkable year-on-year growth of 11.8% in the second quarter of 2024, said Ihab Qadri, representative of the leather and textile industry at the Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI).…
FATF PLENERY LAUNCHES FIFTH MUTURAL EVALUATION ROUND WITH FINANCIAL INCLUSIVITY PUSH
The first FATF plenary under the presidency of Mexico’s Elisa de Anda Madrazo has launched the AML body’s fifth mutual evaluation round, while taking initial steps towards boosting inclusivity. For the first time, two external jurisdictions – Cayman Islands and Senegal – were invited to participate in the FATF plenary and working groups as guests, to “broaden the diversity of perspectives at the FATF,” said a post-meeting communiqué.…
CONFLICT’S IMPACT ON ISRAELI HIGHER EDUCATION
The October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon, have hit the country’s higher educational sector hard, with roughly a quarter of all students, as well as faculty, called up to the armed forces, while budget cuts are expected as more money is allocated to the military.…
The October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon, have hit the country’s higher educational sector hard, with roughly a quarter of all students, as well as faculty, called up to the armed forces, while budget cuts are expected as more money is allocated to the military. Foreign funding to universities has also declined, although private philanthropy is partly offsetting the losses. Israeli universities’ international cooperation has also been impacted due to boycotts. “The impacts of the conflict have been unimaginable. Around 70,000 [university] students have been called up to the reserves [out of 300,000 total students]. At the same time there’s been a resurgence of antisemitism, anti-Israeli protests, and calls for boycotts from universities,” Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and chair of VERA (Association of University Heads, Israel), told UWN. In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks, students and lecturers joined the military reserve, and the academic year was re-scheduled until January. Due to lecturers being called up, certain classes were postponed, and some universities resorted to remote teaching. Some 62,000 Israelis have been displaced from the north due to the conflict with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, forcing the Tel-Hai College in Kiriyat Shimona to teach out of other locations. “They’ve been working elsewhere for an entire year,” said Chamovitz. Universities in the north, such as the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and Haifa University have also had to have medical school examinations held in different locations, said Chamovitz. While Israel has been targeted by rockets from multiple fronts – from Gaza, Lebanon and Iran – universities have continued to operate. “In Jerusalem, no one is safe, but we don’t need to do remote teaching. We are not in the border zones,” said Dr Michal Muszkat-Barkan, director of the department of education and professional development at Hebron Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem. At other universities remote learning has become more common place, including for reservists. “All of us have had to deal with classes where up to half of students aren’t there,” said Chamovitz. “This academic year, we’ve seen students miss 100 to 150 days of classes, but they have succeeded, as we have found ways to give tutoring such as duplicate classes and remote teaching, and for professors to be available at strange hours. We’ve had one lecturer give a class remotely from the front line,” said Chamovitz. Some 6,500 out of 19,000 students at Ben Gurion University (BGU) are reservists, along with 600 BGU faculty. Around a quarter of Tel Aviv University’s 30,000 student body have been called up, the university reported. Now Israel has widened its military attacks in Lebanon, invading its northern neighbour in October, these demands are unlikely to fall. The ongoing conflicts on two fronts are requiring student reservists to continue with the military, causing a delay in reservists’ plans to study at the undergraduate and graduate levels. “For the past year, young reservists couldn’t start their studies, and for this coming academic year, they are not sure if they’ll be able to take the exams and get into universities. There is another whole year they may be in reserve, so can’t go to university,” said Muszkat-Barkan. All Israelis are required to carry out a minimum two-year military service and can be called up for reserve duty until 40 years old. There has also been a decline in international students studying in Israel, whether exchange students or enrolled at the country’s nine public universities. “It has been a massive drop. On October 7, many left,” said Chamovitz. He said Ben Gurion University had only had a small drop off, due to its specialisation in sustainability and climate change, and desert agriculture, whereas universities teaching more basic sciences had seen a larger decline in foreign students. Exchange and short-term visits have also declined. “It is understandable when you look at the news,” said Chamovitz. Israeli universities have been feeling the impact of calls for boycotts and disinvestment due to the ongoing conflict, with pro-Palestine demonstrations over the past several months at universities across the world, particularly in North America, calling for ending ties with Israeli academia. “We feel the anti-Israeli atmosphere in the academic world. It is not related to the subject area; it could be physics or medicine... And academics are not welcome for sabbaticals at other institutions. International collaborations among researchers are also very influenced by this situation,” said Muszkat-Barkan. Larger research funds and cooperation agreements are also at stake. In July, more than 2,000 European academics and 45 organisations issued a petition to the European Commission to end the European Union (EU)-Israel agreement https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:22022A0323(10) enabling Israeli participation with the EU research programme Horizon Europe, which has provided some EUR2.6 billion in research funding to Israel since 2007. https://bricup.org.uk/article/thousands-of-academics-call-on-eu-to-sever-research-links-with-israel/ https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/third-meeting-eu-israel-joint-research-and-innovation-committee-under-horizon-europe-2024-05-06_en In applying for funding, Chamovitz said there was a fear of a “passive boycott, where reviewers may negatively try to impact Israeli proposals, like for the European Research Council [ERC], but we’ve not seen that yet.” Foreign funding for research at Israeli universities has declined, including in high-tech sectors as the conflict has continued. However, private donations to universities are helping to offset losses. “We’ve seen a huge uptick in philanthropy from donors that are frustrated with universities in North America move funds to Israel,” said Chamovitz. Government budget discussions continue in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, hampered by disputes in the ruling right-wing coalition https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-823759, with ultra-orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) threatening to withhold support without guarantees that haredi men are exempt from military service. Public universities are concerned that upcoming changes to the national budget to pay for the conflict will allocate more money to the military while education will be cut. “Our fear is a war on the general budget on education in Israel. If there are massive budget cuts, we will have to decide to cut back on staff, hiring or research, I’m not sure how we will do it. Our biggest fear is a lost decade of higher education,” said Chamovitz. ENDS
New members of the European Commission have been proposed for the next 2024-29 term, starting November 1, with knitwear lobbyists facing experienced hands in the key trade and economy/de-regulation portfolios. Re-appointed Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has nominated Maroš Šefčovič, of Slovakia, as trade and economic security; interinstitutional relations and transparency Commissioner, for example.…
LEVANT PAINT INDUSTRY AND MARKET MARRED BY ARMED CONFLICT AND CIVIL TURMOILLEVANT PAINT INDUSTRY AND MARKET MARRED BY ARMED CONFLICT AND CIVIL TURMOIL
The paint markets of the Levant – Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine (now recognised by the UN as a state, even though it has no unified governance) – are all reeling from ongoing conflict and economic instability. The more developed and export-orientated markets of Lebanon and Israel are however releasing new innovative paint products.…
FINCEN SHOWS HOW IRAN FINDS MID EAST MILITANT ALLIES
USA FIU the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released detailed guidance on how Iran funds Middle East allies labelled as terror groups by Washington, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemen’s Houthis and militias in Iraq and Syria.
Stressing that the Iranian government funnels funding through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), FinCEN said revenues are generated by sales of commodities, especially oil, to countries eschewing western sanctions against Iran, such as China, which bought 1.3 million barrels a day during 2023.…
JORDAN’S GARMENTS SECTOR REELS FROM ISRAEL-GAZA WAR; DOMESTIC FABRIC PRODUCTION NEEDED
The outbreak if the Israel-Gaza war has prompted the Jordan textile and clothing industry to be more proactive in considering how establishing local fabric manufacturing capabilities could help shield the country’s garments sector from regional conflicts
From October to December 2023, the armed conflict in Gaza is estimated to have cost Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon USD10.3 billion, or 2.3% of their combined gross domestic product (GDP), and the figure could double if it lasts another six months, according to an assessment by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (1).…
EUROPEAN TEXTILE MANUFACTURERS CALL FOR COMPETITIVENESS TEST TO KEEP INDUSTRY CREATIVE
European textile companies increasingly overburdened by regulation say each new piece of European Union (EU) regulation they face should be assessed on the grounds of how it helps industry succeed in an increasingly competitive market. They say more should be done to boost a sector that employs 1.3 million workers in 192,000 companies and provides more than EUR67 billion’s worth of exports to the 27-country bloc, according to the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (Euratex).…
EMIRATES UNIVERSITIES’ PUSH SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS AS COP28 LOOMS
With the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) summit this November and December, UAE higher education institutions have intensified their focus on climate change and sustainability, greening campus infrastructure, developing courses and engaging with the private sector.…