England’s University of Reading has denied that its cloud-seeding technique was to blame for extreme flooding in Dubai after the worst rainfall since records began in 1949, writes Sarah Knapton for The Telegraph.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has issued a circular to the vice-chancellors and departments of higher education across the country to help the top lawyers’ body in its “endeavour to uphold the sanctity and quality” of legal education, reports the Press Trust of India.

A Canadian national organisation of post-secondary teachers is calling on Alberta to either change a proposed gatekeeping bill or scrap it altogether, reports The Canadian Press. The bill would give the province the right to veto federal agreements with provincial bodies, including post-secondary schools.

More than 100 people protesting the war in Gaza were cleared off Columbia University’s campus, arrested and charged with trespassing on Thursday 18 April. The arrests came a day after the university’s president pledged during a congressional hearing on antisemitism to balance students’ safety with their right to free speech, write Jonathan Edwards, Susan Svrluga and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff for The Washington Post.

The European Union needs a revamped single market that includes a “fifth freedom” dedicated to the free movement of research, innovation, knowledge and education, according to a high-profile policy report by former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta, write Thomas Brent and Eleonora Francica for Science|Business.

A United States congressional committee on Wednesday 17 April accused Columbia University’s president of failing to protect Jewish students on campus, echoing accusations levelled against three other elite university leaders at a hearing last year that sent shockwaves through higher education, writes Gabriella Borter for Reuters.

Canadian universities have welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new federal budget announced on 16 April, hailing funding boosts for academic research and graduate scholarships and greater support for student housing and mental healthcare, writes Polly Nash for The PIE News.

Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Chair of the Cabinet and Chair of the State National Security Committee Kamchybek Tashiev has announced a relentless fight against the narco-business and has ordered police to take control over all schools, universities, nightclubs and cafes to tackle the problem, reports AKIpress.com.

Hong Kong’s education chief hopes “everyone can learn a lesson” and “let things go” after the governing body of the city’s oldest university cleared its vice-chancellor of allegations of misconduct, write Harvey Kong and Lo Hoi-ying for the South China Morning Post.

It has often been said that Japan’s robust bureaucratic system has served as a pillar of stability as the nation has navigated through challenges, making up for perceived deficiencies in its political leadership. Nevertheless, emerging signs suggest that the old truism may be out of date as the number of applicants for public service positions has dropped, while that of public servants leaving for the private sector has increased, writes Nobutoshi Kobayashi for JIJI.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education will be discussing with relevant parties the need for any further actions following the conflict in the Middle East, including considering the repatriation of Malaysian students from the countries involved, reports The Star.

Poland’s government maintains a strong backing for its main innovation funding agency, the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), following a turbulent period for the agency which is being investigated for corruption and was threatened with closure by the previous government, writes Thomas Brent for Science|Business.

Ghassan Abu Sittah, a British-Palestinian surgeon and rector of the University of Glasgow who spent weeks in Gaza treating victims of the war with Israel, has accused Germany of being an “accomplice to genocide” after he was refused entry to take part in a conference, which was later shut down by hundreds of German police officers, writes Mohammad Saleh for the Middle East Eye.

A poetry event on the Palestinian crisis scheduled for Monday 15 April at Delhi University’s arts faculty was cancelled at the last minute by university officials, despite the venue being confirmed a few weeks ago, claimed the organisers, reports Express News Service.

The coordinator of Nigeria’s National Counter-Terrorism Centre, Adamu Laka, has narrated how 22 students and staff of Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, were abducted by terrorists last year and rescued by security agents 207 days after, writes Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu for Premium Times.

Some universities in South Korea are turning to the older population to fill their campuses and bring in additional revenue while the student population declines, write Kim Min-Ju and Lee Tae-Hee for Korea JoongAng Daily.

Amid complaints about alleged antisemitic views posted online, the University of Southern California’s valedictorian will not be permitted to deliver a speech at the university’s commencement ceremony due to concerns about security, the school’s provost announced on Monday 15 April, reports CBS News.

A survey in the United Kingdom has found that more than 40% of graduates who were the first in their family to attend university said they could not have afforded to go without financial support, writes Sam Hall for the Independent.

Nigeria has secured an opportunity for some Nigerian universities to access funding under the European Union’s Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme, writes Patience Olumati for Radio Nigeria.

Owen Magee knew how high his student loan would be if he enrolled in an arts degree – he saw the headlines in 2020, when he was still in early adolescence, writes Caitlin Cassidy for The Guardian Australia.

In what appears to be an effort to placate or, even head-fake, opponents of diversity and equity programmes, university officials are relaunching their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices under different names, changing the titles of officials and rewriting requirements to eliminate words like ‘diversity’ and ‘equity’. In some cases, only the words have changed, writes Stephanie Saul for The Philadelphia Tribune.

A ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in higher education has led to more than 100 job cuts across university campuses in Texas, a hit echoed or anticipated in numerous other states where lawmakers are rolling out similar policies during an important election year, writes Acacia Coronado for the Associated Press.

South Africa’s Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande has announced that he has dissolved the board of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) with immediate effect and placed the funding body under administration, writes Phumla Mkize for Sunday World.

Ireland’s universities have been criticised by a group representing many staff over what they call their failure to abandon links to Israeli institutions and investments in the wake of the war in Gaza, writes Emmet Malone for The Irish Times.

Canadian universities are asking the federal government to commit as much as CA$6 billion (US$4.3 billion) in additional funding for research over the next five years in next week’s budget, writes Joe Friesen for The Globe and Mail.

The Parliamentary Committee on Education has called on universities to communicate about the new funding model in time to allow admitted students and their guardians to prepare, write David Mutwiri and Christine Ngitori for Kenya News.

The Anti-Defamation League has graded 85 American universities for their policies to protect Jewish students from antisemitism on campus. It gave Harvard and 12 other schools an “F.” Just two schools got an “A”, writes David Goldman for CNN.

A leading Jewish American philosopher has been disinvited from taking up a prestigious professorship at the University of Cologne after signing a letter expressing solidarity with Palestinians and condemning the killings in Gaza carried out by Israeli forces, writes Kate Connolly for The Guardian.

The Ford government is tabling new housing legislation aimed at building homes faster in the province and achieving its goal of having 1.5 million new homes in Ontario by 2031, writes Tyson Lautenschlager for CBC News.

Spurred by concerns that low levels of college attainment are holding back the southeastern swath of the state, the Kentucky legislature is exploring ways to bring baccalaureate degrees to the region, writes Kelly Field for The Hechinger Report.

Solidarity-owned private Afrikaans university Akademia is launching a campus for full-time students in the Western Cape, writes Hanno Labuschagne for My Broadband.

The University of the Western Cape (UWC) said on Wednesday it had become the first university in South Africa to offer Islamic studies as a major subject for undergraduate students, writes Kim Swartz for Times Live.

A statement released on 8 April by Malawi’s Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) has shed light on claims that professors at some of Malawi’s top universities, both public and private, are coercing female students to perform sexual favours in return for passing grades. Local papers such as the Nyasa Times and the Malawi Voice began reporting on the claims in 2019, with the CSEC stating: “Reports spanning several years expose a distressing pattern of abuse and exploitation within Malawi’s educational institutions,” reports Atlas News.

The Association of Colleges and Universities of the Canadian Francophonie (ACUFC), representing 22 French-language post-secondary institutions outside Quebec, has filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages about the federal government’s decision to lower the number of foreign students, writes Lia Lévesque for La Presse Canadienne.

A prominent Indian diaspora body has urged various agencies of the US government, universities and student associations to work towards addressing the spike in the deaths of Indian-origin students in the US in recent months, reports PTI. Since the beginning of 2024, there have been at least half a dozen deaths of Indian and Indian-origin students in the US.

Universities are projected to run combined deficits this year of about €15 million (US$16.2 million), as some colleges struggle to cope with rising costs, writes Carl O'Brien for The Irish Times.

The “unfair decision” to exclude a significant number of Hungarian universities from the Erasmus and Horizon Europe programmes puts the institutions in a “difficult position”, Aron Fellegi, vice-president of consulting firm EuroAtlantic, said at a conference in Rome on Monday 8 April, reports MTI.

The Australian National University (ANU) will work with the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) to observe the Solomons’ joint election on 17 April, reports RNZ.

More than three months into 2024, politicians in Brazil are still at odds about how much money the country’s research institutes and federal universities will receive this year. Scientists say that unless more funding is found, they won’t have enough money to cover basic expenses such as water, electricity and financial aid for students, writes Rodrigo de Oliveira Andrade for Nature.

Union members at a major regional university are calling for the institution’s leaders to resign, after they announced plans to cut 12% of its staff, write Rochelle Kirkham and Steve Martin for ABC.

Hit with soaring tuition fees, crumbling facilities and dreadful food, university students across Serbia are taking to social media and relying on a black-market meal trade to fight back against conditions some have compared to a “horror movie”, writes Mina Pejakovic for AFP.

Universities and employers have united to help people from low-income families in Bristol to earn a median salary. The Bristol-based organisation Babbasa started the OurCity2030 scheme that seeks to help 2,030 young people from low-income households by 2030, writes Clara Bullock for BBC News.

The University of Michigan is facing a backlash from students, faculty and civil rights attorneys following a proposal to significantly restrict the right to protest on campus, writes Ava Sasani for The Guardian.

Six students from Afghanistan and one from East Africa have been asked to vacate the Gujarat University’s hostel rooms for overstaying, an official said on Sunday 7 April, in a move coming weeks after some foreign students were attacked for offering namaz [prayers] on the premises, reports PTI.

Russia, which already controls investments, companies and all kinds of businesses in Cuba, will have its hand in another field: education, reports 14ymedio.com.

A sombre atmosphere envelops the University of Zambia (UNZA) community following the tragic electrocution of Margaret Chibesakunda, a 22-year-old third-year public administration student. The incident occurred the night of 6 April at approximately 9. 30 pm within the confines of the UNZA Great East Road Campus, October Hostels, reports Lusakatimes.com.

The University Grants Commission (UGC), which has two-thirds of its members’ posts vacant, has taken several key decisions, including denying universities the freedom to hold entrance tests for PhD admission, writes Basant Kumar Mohanty for The Telegraph India.

The process of developing a climate change curriculum in institutions of higher learning has started. This follows a partnership between the government, Kenya Editors Guild, the German Agency for International Cooperation and Daystar University, writes James Wanzala for The Standard.

Australia’s Murdoch University has established a cultural load allowance available to Indigenous staff who provide cultural contributions outside of their role, but how does it work and is it something that should be more widely adopted? writes Jonah Johnson for NITV.

Student associations at Universiti Malaya in Malaysia are calling on the administration to retract the newly implemented dress code announced recently, writes Najihah Borhan for New Straits Times.

Ministers will cut funding for performing and creative arts courses at English universities next year, which sector leaders say will further damage the country’s cultural industries, writes Richard Adams for The Guardian.

A university in Texas has begun massive staff layoffs months after a statewide ban on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programmes in public colleges took effect, write Lily Kepner and Zachary Schermele for USA TODAY.

Around one-third of university courses that are currently taught in English in the Netherlands are to add a Dutch-language option from 2025, reports Dutch News.nl.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he wants all spots in Ontario’s medical schools to be reserved for students from the province, write Liam Casey and Allison Jones for The Canadian Press.

Twelve Romanian universities have partnered and established the National School for Nuclear Energy to train specialists in the field, writes Radu Dumitrescu for Romania-Insider.com.

As more than two million graduating high school students from across the United States finalise their decisions on what college to attend this fall, many are facing jaw-dropping costs – in some cases, as much as US$95,000, reports The Associated Press.

Police have announced the arrest of 15 more people as part of the investigation into murder and attempted murder cases at South Africa’s Fort Hare University, writes Velani Ludidi for Daily Maverick.

A senior Ulster University academic has said sending information on LGBT Pride to students at its Qatar campus is “highly problematic”, while a rights group has said the comments sound like double standards, writes Brendan Hughes for BBC News.

Ewha Womans University in South Korea said on Tuesday 2 April that it will take legal action against a general election candidate from the main opposition Democratic Party for making sexually insulting remarks about its students and alumni, writes Yoo Cheong-mo for Yonhap News Agency.

A former universities minister in the United Kingdom has said the Conservative party’s “scorched earth” immigration policies risk UK universities becoming increasingly reliant on students from China to avoid financial crisis, writes Richard Adams for The Guardian.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently inspected a sprawling new campus for the Central Cadres Training School of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, according to state media on Sunday 31 March, a visit that appears aimed at ensuring future officials’ loyalty to his family’s rule, writes Colin Zwirko for NK News.

Concerns are growing over the mounting debt from Nigerian students at British universities after a year of continual devaluation of the naira, writes Nick Cuthbert for The PIE News. The Nigerian economy was severely impacted in 2023 by a national election, the subsequent devaluation of currency and the removal of the discount exchange rate for students studying abroad from the Central Bank of Nigeria, known as ‘Form A’.

Degrees in homoeopathy, computer science, English literature and human resources are being accepted as entry qualifications to train to become a physician associate, writes Laura Donnelly and Alison Moore for the Daily Telegraph.

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee last week replaced the board of trustees at the state’s only public historically black college or HBCU, saying leaders had mismanaged money at the school despite being underfunded for years, writes Amber Ferguson for The Washington Post.

Harvard University in the United States has removed human skin binding from a 19th century book housed in its library, writes Reemul Balla for Sky News.

As a first-generation college student, Andrea Morquecho was looking forward to walking in the Latinx graduation ceremony at the University of Texas at Austin this spring. But the future of the event, along with other cultural graduations, is now uncertain after the university pulled back funding in its effort to comply with a law banning diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education that went into effect in Texas in January, writes Nicquel Terry Ellis for CNN.

The state of affairs prevailing in the educational institutions across Pakistan forced a group of teachers to approach the Supreme Court on Tuesday 26 March, highlighting that a high proportion of public sector universities is functioning without legally appointed vice-chancellors, writes Nasir Iqbal for Dawn.

Egypt’s venerable Al-Azhar University has called for continuous international and popular pressure to implement the United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan, Quds Press has reported. China has reiterated that the resolution is binding on Israel, despite the claim to the contrary by the United States, reports the Middle East Monitor.

Plans for mass redundancies at Goldsmiths, University of London, have been called a “horrifying act of cultural and social vandalism” and the “biggest assault on jobs at any UK university in recent years”, writes Sally Weale for The Guardian.

Only one Ontario university will see its international student intake shrink this year, while more than half of the province’s public colleges face a drop, under a plan announced on Wednesday 27 March by Premier Doug Ford’s government, writes Mike Crawley for CBC News.

Robert Halfon has resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government in a shock announcement, saying he will not stand as an MP at the next general election in the United Kingdom, writes Archie Mitchell for the Independent.

A University of Auckland student is hitting back at claims by the ACT Party that designated spaces for Maori and Pasifika are racist, claiming they are vital for their well-being, writes Rachel Maher for NZ Herald.

The New Zealand government has announced two new advisory groups, one for science and the other for the university sector, in a bid to boost the economy, reports RNZ.

Quebec’s Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry is considering banning initiations in colleges of general and professional teaching (CEGEPs) and universities, reports The Canadian Press.

The costs incurred from ongoing violence and acts of arson at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa are expected to cost in the region of ZAR30 million (US$1.59 million), writes Se-Anne Rall for IOL.

Scotland is “overdependent” on Chinese money to fund its universities, according to a Scottish National Party (SNP) member of parliament who said he had been subject to Communist Party-linked hacking attempts, writes Hamish Morrison for The National.

Universities in England could be told to terminate their arrangements with foreign countries if freedom of speech and academic freedom are undermined, the government’s free speech tsar has said, writes Eleanor Busby for the Independent.

Hundreds of thousands of students may be stranded after the decision of the South African Department of Higher Education and Training to deregister Damelin, CityVarsity, Icesa City Campus and Lyceum College as private higher learning institutes, writes Umamah Bakharia for the Mail & Guardian.

Student representative councils at various universities in Malaysia have lauded the Higher Education Ministry for amending the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, writes Nuqman Adam for The Sun. The student representatives said the amendments were a step towards advancing the student empowerment agenda and advocating their rights to freedom and welfare.

Coinciding with the start of the 1403 academic year (solar year), the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Authority announced the signing of an agreement with China aimed at establishing a Kabul-Beijing joint institute, writes Hadia Ziaei for Tolo News.

The first draft of a reform proposal that would dramatically reduce the number of university entrance exams was unveiled in Finland on Thursday 21 March, reports The Helsinki Times.

Some 20 departments of Greek universities have had a low, even single-digit, number of admissions in recent years due to the low demand from students participating in the Panhellenic entry examinations, writes Apostolos Lakasas for Ekathimerini.

A student-led report that surveyed more than 800 people studying at one of Australia’s most prestigious universities has found more than two thirds have either experienced or witnessed casual racism, write Ahmed Yussuf and Claudia Long for ABC News.

Russian universities may consider accepting arts students from North Korea amid growing cooperation between the two countries, writes Adam Schrader for UPI.

The University of Turin in Italy is suspending a collaboration agreement with Israeli universities and research institutes after a wave of student protests over the Israel-Hamas war, writes Shira Li Bartov for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Hundreds of thousands of students could be left unable to vote if the government calls an October general election, because there may not be enough time to register them, universities and student unions have warned, writes Anna Fazackerley for The Guardian.

University of Zimbabwe part-time lecturers are getting a measly US$2.50 stipend for every hour spent teaching at the country’s premier tertiary education institution, reports New Zimbabwe.

Recent elections of rectors in Romania have extended long-standing leadership in universities across the country, with only six of 38 civilian state universities voting in new rectors. The rest saw their incumbent leaders secure additional terms – more than a quarter for the fourth time, writes Madalina Cocea for Science|Business.

Researchers interviewed by Nature say that another six years of President Vladimir Putin’s leadership does not bode well for Russian science, which has been shunned globally in response to the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and is on precarious ground at home, writes Olga Dobrovidova for Nature.

Tibet is luring investors from elsewhere in China with a promise to let their children take university entrance exams there in return for an investment of at least US$400,000, an unusual move to exploit what is considered an easier scoring system, reports Reuters.

Medical students have been dealing with the aftermath of an apparent zombie attack in an underground car park in the United Kingdom. However, the ‘major incident simulation event’ involved first-year Bournemouth University students in special effects make-up and not the real walking dead, writes Matt Treacy for BBC News.

The Kansas House tentatively approved legislation on Wednesday 20 March imposing a US$10,000 fine for every instance in which a public university or college tied student admissions or faculty hiring to an ideological pledge or statement related to diversity, equity and inclusion, writes Tim Carpenter for Kansas Reflector.

In a bid to challenge what they perceive as a violation of their religious freedoms, the Christian Association of Nigeria, Katsina State branch, backed by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, has taken legal action against two universities in Katsina State in Nigeria. The lawsuit alleges that these universities have unjustly prohibited Christian groups from conducting fellowship meetings and worship on their campuses, writes Michael Iboh for Report Afrique.

Israel’s bombing of Gaza is “genocidal,” according to the home page of the critical race and ethnic studies department at the University of California (UC), Santa Cruz. Such a statement would be considered political and would be prohibited, according to a new proposal by the regents of the University of California, writes Vimal Patel for The New York Times.

A minister is concerned that “ghettoisation” is occurring on university campuses in the United Kingdom which is preventing Jewish students from enjoying themselves, writes Eleanor Busby for the Independent.

In three large, prestigious Hungarian higher education institutions, a total of nearly 3,000 professors are demanding decent, competitive university staff salaries. The academics are calling for an immediate pay rise, an end to the lack of financial recognition and a guarantee of uninterrupted and high-quality teaching, writes Hetzmann Mercédesz for Daily News Hungary.

Türkiye’s Council of Higher Education (YÖK) announced new criteria aimed at elevating the standard of postgraduate education on Monday 18 March, emphasising factors such as publication records and accreditation to enhance programme quality, reports the Daily Sabah with AA.

A Chinese professor at Kobe Gakuin University in Japan has gone missing after visiting his homeland last summer, the university said on Monday 18 March, sparking fears that he has been detained by Chinese authorities, reports The Japan Times.

Because most universities keep the findings of misconduct investigations confidential, sexual-harassment perpetrators are often able to move to other institutions without having to disclose why they left their old jobs. Now, a think tank is urging United Kingdom universities to join an information-sharing scheme that could make old misdeeds harder to hide, writes Sarah Wild for Nature.

Britain’s University of Cambridge confirmed on Monday 18 March that it has adopted a moratorium on new funding from fossil fuel companies after a campaign from students and academics, reports AFP. Cambridge said the suspension was adopted on Friday 15 March “having regard to its commitment to address climate change through a transition to a zerocarbon world”.