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Regulators worldwide are cracking down on poor labour and environmental practices in apparel supply chains amid growing concerns about upstream parts of the clothing industry. Probes into major international fashion brands, who have been criticised about alleged malpractice by their suppliers have been encouraging legislative and regulatory reforms.…

The UK’s new Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) saved taxpayers GBP311 million (USD377.5 million) in its first year of operation, far outstripping the GBP180 million (USD218 million) target set at its launch in August 2022. Baroness Neville-Rolfe, minister for the Cabinet Office, unveiled the “big win for taxpayers” at a September 2023 meeting of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum, which brings together the so-called ‘Five Eyes’ nations – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the United States – to share best practice in combatting public sector fraud.…

This year, tens of thousands of workers have been laid off by footwear production factories in and around Ho Chi Minh City, the centre of Vietnam’s USD24 billion footwear export industry.

Fo example, Pou Yuen Vietnam, a Taiwanese supplier for global giants including Adidas and Reebok, let go 5,744 employees through June and July, following a round of layoffs impacting 2,358 workers in February. …

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).…

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?”…

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.…

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).…

Knitting companies based in the European Union (EU) may be told they cannot destroy unsold or returned textiles in future, pushing them to consider design, manufacturing and sourcing changes that will reduce their exposure to a new law.

According to the European Commission, about 5.8 million tonnes of yarn and fabric of all kinds are discarded every year in the EU, approximately 11 kilos per person (1), and their destruction “by economic operators is becoming a widespread environmental problem across the Union, in particular due to the rapid growth of online sales” (2).  …

Bangladesh is exploring offshore wind power as a key solution for a country seeking energy diversification, but whose dense population restricts land availability for renewable power. In July (2023), a USD1.3 billion investment offer in Bangladesh’s wind power energy from Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a leading green infrastructure fund manager, working with offshore wind developer Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) has boosted this south Asian country’s renewable energy ambitions (1).…

Ethiopia’s Amhara region is engulfed in widespread conflict and with a state of emergency declared by the federal government on August 4 continuing, putting the status of thousands of students is in jeopardy as the unending strife threatens to disrupt the upcoming academic year.…