Higher Education, Skills and Training

June 7, 2018

Capitalism blame game: politician vs expert

So it is agreed, capitalism is broken – for many. Can it be fixed to make it more “inclusive and sustainable”? Yes, says a politician and an economist, but their remedies diverge….

February 19, 2018

May under pressure to explain funding shortfall

The Prime Minister has promised a review of the flawed university tuition loan system, but tertiary education leaders are left wondering how a financial black hole would be filled, Aban Contractor reports….

February 18, 2018

Student loan system in desperate need of overhaul

The influential Treasury Committee has told the Government it must cut interest rates, reintroduce maintenance grants and offer more help to part-time students, Aban Contractor reports. The push by government to hit…

February 15, 2018

FOI: Most UK university chiefs help set their own pay

Ninety-five per cent of university leaders are either members of their remuneration committee or entitled to attend meetings, Aban Contractor reports. The majority of university vice-chancellors are either members of the committee…

January 22, 2018

University staff set to strike in pensions’ row

Staff and university leaders are at loggerheads over plans to change the Universities Superannuation Scheme. A move the union says could cost lecturers £200,000 in retirement, Aban Contractor reports. More than 60…

January 7, 2018

Frontline view: further education and the skills dilemma

Incentives to employers, colleges and their students to try and bridge the gap between the skills FE students achieve by the time they leave college and what government believes UK industry needs…

October 24, 2017

Universities fight McCarthyite witch hunt

A Conservative MP stands accused of compiling a ‘hit list’ of university professors who teach Brexit courses, reports Aban Contractor. Theresa May’s Government was today forced to defend the independence of the…

October 16, 2017

UK universities provide a £95bn economic boost

When it comes to annual turnover, universities have overtaken other large industries, including advertising and marketing, air and spacecraft manufacturing sectors, Aban Contractor reports. Universities in the United Kingdom generated more than…

October 2, 2017

Brexit: university manoeuvres

A French revolution sees a new grouping of top universities prepare to take on the world, Aban Contractor reports from Paris. The discussions that followed Britain’s decision to leave the European Union…

July 3, 2017

Culture and education permit post-Brexit?

A new culture and education permit is at the heart of a push to ensure greater cross-border collaboration after Brexit, it was revealed today. Part of a series of recommendations drawn up…

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No plan for immediate retaliation against Israel, senior Iranian official says
Iran has no plan for immediate retaliation against Israel, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday, hours after sources said Israel launched an attack on Iranian soil. “The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack,” the Iranian official said on condition of anonymity. According to Reuters, an Iranian analyst also told state TV on Friday that mini drones shot down by air defences in Isfahan were flown by “infiltrators from inside Iran”. Meanwhile, the Israeli hard right minister Ben Gvir has posted a one-word post on X on Friday: “Feeble!” The Guardian, April 19

Israel strikes Iran
Israel struck Iran early this morning, according to two Israeli defense officials, in what appeared to be the country’s first military response to Iran’s attack last weekend. Three Iranian officials confirmed that a strike had hit a military air base near the central Iranian city of Isfahan early on Friday, but did not say which country had attacked. The explosions came less than a week after Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, its first direct attack on the country, in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria that killed seven Iranian officials on April 1. For days, Israeli leaders have threatened to respond to Iran’s strikes, which turned the two countries’ yearslong shadow war into a direct confrontation. The attack came after the US and European allies imposed new sanctions on Iranian military leaders and weapons makers, while imploring Israel not to risk a wider war by retaliating too strongly. New York Times, April 19

US veto sinks latest Palestinian bid for full UN membership
The United States on Thursday spoiled a long-shot Palestinian bid for full United Nations membership, vetoing a Security Council measure despite growing international distress over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The move by Israel’s key ally had been expected ahead of the vote, taking place more than six months into Israel’s military offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory, in retaliation for the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. Twelve countries voted in favour of the draft resolution recommending full Palestinian membership. Britain and Switzerland abstained. Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas’s office called the US veto “a blatant aggression … which pushes the region ever further to the edge of the abyss”. France 24, April 19

EU watchdog warns bloc still needs Russian LNG
The EU’s energy regulator has warned the bloc still needs to import Russian liquefied natural gas to avoid an energy shock, even as a group of member states seeks to ban purchases of the fuel from Moscow. Acer, the bloc’s energy watchdog, on Friday said efforts to curb Europe’s record imports of Russian LNG “should be approached with caution” because the supply of pipeline gas from the country is set to fall at the end of the year. “The reduction of Russian LNG imports should be considered in gradual steps,” Acer said in a report that highlighted the difficulty for the EU of balancing energy security with the drive to hit Russia’s finances by cutting gas purchases. The watchdog, which closely monitors Europe’s energy market for adverse developments, plays a lead role in co-ordinating national regulatory bodies. Although the EU has succeeded in replacing Russian pipeline gas with LNG since the Kremlin’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the global gas market is still tight. Financial Times, April 19

Why a deluge of Chinese-made drugs is hard to curb
The US government has long accused China of flooding the country with deadly drugs like fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin, claims the Chinese government denies. The US says Chinese-made opioids are fuelling the worst drug crisis in the country’s history. In 2022 more than 70,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses. According to a report published by the US select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government provides subsidies to companies openly trafficking illicit synthetic drugs. The report found tens of thousands of posts online advertising illegal drugs and pre-cursors. The study claims that “wholly state owned” companies are involved in the trafficking of drugs. The Chinese government has consistently denied knowledge of the illegal drug trade. BBC news, April 19

Thames Water submits plan to raise bills by 56%
Thames Water is understood to have resubmitted a business plan to the regulator based on a much sharper rise in bills than previously thought and with households having to foot an increase in charges of 56 per cent over the next five years. The government is finalising a renationalisation plan, codenamed Project Timber, in the event that Britain’s largest water company, heavily in debt, is unable to recapitalise, leaving the taxpayer on the hook for billions of pounds. Thames was plunged into crisis last month after its nine shareholders refused to pump any more financial support into the company. The Times, April 19

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