English-language universities in Quebec are pushing back on a plan that will raise tuition fees and mandate French proficiency for out-of-province students.

McGill University in Montreal called the move “catastrophic”, while Concordia University said it was “disappointed” in the changes.

Both universities are concerned they will lose students.The plan by Quebec’s government is set to take effect next year.

The changes, made public in a letter published Thursday by Quebec’s higher education minister Pascale Dery, will hike tuition for out-of-province students by 33%.

They will also require that 80% of students from outside Quebec reach an intermediate level of French by the time they graduate, and universities would face financial penalties if that target is not met.

Universities will also see a larger chunk of international student fees going directly to the province instead of their operating budget.

In the letter, Ms Dery told Quebec’s three English-language universities – McGill and Concordia in Montreal, and Bishop’s in Sherbrooke – that the changes are designed to balance funding received by English and French universities in the province.

She said it would also mean Quebec would spend less money subsidising students from the rest of Canada and help preserve the French language.

McGill University’s President Deep Saini criticised the plan at a news conference on Thursday. He said it was “incoherent” and based on “impressions and emotions, rather than evidence-based decision-making”.

He added his university had not ruled out moves like opening another campus outside of Quebec or filing a potential lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Concordia University President Graham Carr told the Montreal Gazette that he believed the plan would shrink the size of its student body and hurt Quebec’s reputation.

Both universities said the changes could cost them C$150m ($111m; £88m) annually. McGill University added it may have to cut up to 700 jobs as a result.

The overhaul to higher education in Quebec comes amid other policies aimed at preserving the province’s French heritage and language, which Quebec has long-sought to protect as the French language declines in the rest of Canada.

In June, Quebec passed a law called An Act respecting French, which established the language as the sole official and common language in Quebec.

Egypt will increase the volume of fuel sent daily to the Gaza Strip from 129,000 to 189,000 litres as agreed with the Israeli side, said Egypt’s State Information Service chairman on Wednesday.

Diaa Rashwan said in a statement that since October 21, 4,057 humanitarian aid trucks have been sent from Egypt to the besieged Palestinian enclave via the Rafah border crossing.

“This includes 3,866 tons of medical supplies, 22,799 tons of food, 13,936 tons of water, 5,073 tons of other relief materials, and 2,678 tons of fuel, besides 48 ambulances and 222 tents and pieces of tarpaulins.

Egypt is continuing its intense efforts to ensure the constant entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the Egyptian official said.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been the only lifeline to provide the enclave with relief supplies donated by Egypt and other countries and local and international organisations.

Gaza has been under massive Israeli siege and bombardment since October 7, which has killed over 18,600 Palestinians and wounded 50,594 others, Gaza’s Health Ministry stated on Wednesday.

,The Israeli escalation came in retaliation for an attack by the Gaza-ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) that killed about 1,200 in Israel, with Hamas taking more than 200 as hostages, according to Israeli reports.

Egypt has worked with Qatar and the United States to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that lasted for one week, from November 24 to November 30, during which the two sides swapped detainees.

Fighting resumed shortly after the collapse of the truce.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday that the Gaza-ruling Palestinian faction is ready to discuss with Israel any arrangement or initiative that could lead to a ceasefire in Gaza.

“We are open to discuss any arrangement or initiative that could end the (Israeli) aggression,” Mr Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, said in a televised speech aired on Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV.

He added that without Hamas, any arrangement regarding the future of Gaza would not succeed.

Mr Haniyeh said Hamas welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’s resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and applauded the efforts of Saudi Arabia and the ministerial committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit to end the Gaza conflict.

He confirmed Hamas’s rejection of any post-war political arrangements that exclude Hamas and other Palestinian factions and urged for increased international pressure to halt Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Earlier, Israeli media reported several Hamas leaders’ departure from Qatar to undisclosed destinations, suggesting potential relocations to countries such as Lebanon, Iran, or Algeria.

No confirmation from Hamas has been obtained regarding these reports.

Israel’s conflict with Hamas since October 7 has resulted in extensive casualties.

At least 18,608 Palestinians have been killed and 50,594 others wounded in the Israeli attacks on Gaza, and about 1,200 people have died in the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Myanmar is now the world’s largest producer of opium, overtaking Afghanistan, a UN report says.

It estimates that this year Myanmar will have increased production by 36% to 1,080 tonnes of opium – the key ingredient for the hard drug heroin.

The main factors are domestic instability and a 95% drop in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan after a drug ban by the ruling Taliban last year.

Afghanistan is estimated to have produced 330 tonnes of opium this year.

The report by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says Myanmar’s economy has been badly affected by conflict and instability since the military seized power in 2021.

“Limited availability of legitimate economic opportunities, constrained access to markets and state infrastructure, and a worsening economic climate brought on by inflation and monetary depreciation can make opium, as well as other illicit commodities, an attractive alternative or for subsistence livelihoods.

“In Myanmar, this appears to have played a significant role in farmers’ decisions in late 2022 to cultivate more poppy,” the report says.

The average prices at harvest time of fresh and dry opium have risen to $317 and $356 per kilogram.

In 2023, the document adds, the area under poppy cultivation in Myanmar (also known as Burma) is estimated to be 47,000 ha (116,140 acres) – an 18% rise compared with last year.

The region where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet – the so-called Golden Triangle – has historically been a major source of opium and heroin production.

Myanmar and Afghanistan are the source of most of the heroin sold around the world.

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a roofed theatre, market and river port at the site of a Roman town.

The Cambridge University-led study suggested that Interamna Lirenas, in central Italy, was a thriving town.

Finds at the site have suggested its decline began about 300 years later than experts previously thought.

Analysis of excavated pottery indicated the town in southern Lazio resisted decline until the later part of the 3rd Century AD.

At its peak, the settlement, which is now largely crop fields, would have housed about 2,000 people, according to the study.

“We started with a site so unpromising that no-one had ever tried to excavate it – that’s very rare in Italy,” Dr Alessandro Launaro, the study’s author said.

“There was nothing on the surface, no visible evidence of buildings, just bits of broken pottery. But what we discovered wasn’t a backwater, far from it.

“We found a thriving town adapting to every challenge thrown at it for 900 years. We’re not saying that this town was special, it’s far more exciting than that.

“Dr Launaro, who is the Interamna Lirenas project lead at Cambridge’s Classics faculty, said archaeologists had previously assumed the town was a declining backwater.

The research team conducted a series of digs and carried out a magnetic and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of about 60 acres (24 hectares).

The survey, near the River Liri, revealed the presence of a large warehouse, a temple and a bath complex, with the researchers confident these structures served a river port between the late 1st Century BC and the 4th Century AD.

The team also discovered the remains of a roofed theatre, which could have seated 1,500 people.

It displayed the town’s wealth, power and ambition, Dr Launaro said.

The archaeologists also found 19 courtyard buildings and land they believed served as a cattle and sheep market.

They did not find a layer of ash or any other evidence to suggest the town was violently destroyed.

Dr Launaro argued that inhabitants deserted the town amid growing insecurity before the Lombard invasion of the late 6th Century AD, because they knew they were on a direct route which marauding armies were bound to use

Justice Olukayode Adeniyi of a Federal Capital Territory High Court on Monday fixed January 8 to deliver judgement in the enforcement of a fundamental rights suit filed by the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

The judge fixed the date after listening to arguments by parties in the suit.

He equally reserved ruling in the preliminary objections filed by all four respondents in the suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/040/2023.

The embattled Emefiele had dragged the Federal Government, the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the commission before the court to enforce his fundamental rights to life, personal liberty, a fair hearing, and freedom of movement.

Emefiele sought a declaration from the court that his continued detention by the agency of the first and second respondents since June 10, 2023, and subsequent transfer to the custody of the third and fourth respondents on October 26, 2023, without being arraigned in court is unlawful.

He said the respondents’ defiance of several valid court orders for his release is tantamount to a grave violation of his fundamental rights to life and personal liberty as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Emefiele, therefore, among others, sought an injunction restraining the respondents from further arresting and/or further detaining him on his release by the court without proffering a criminal charge against him.

He also sought damages in the amount of N1 billion in his favour for the violation of his fundamental rights.

Maiduguri is in a festive mood as residents await the arrival of President Bola Tinubu on a one-day official visit to Borno.

The Monday visit is the first presidential outing in the state since Mr Tinubu assumed office on May 29.

Mr Tinubu will be in Maiduguri to declare the opening of the Chief of Army Staff Conference and unveil 107 vehicles procured by the Borno government for the state-owned mass transit company Borno Express.

The vehicles comprise 10 luxurious buses, 35 coaster buses, 12 Hummer buses and 50 electric taxis.

On arrival, Mr Tinubu is also expected to pay homage to the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai El-Kanemi.

The Australian government says it will halve the migration intake within two years in a bid to fix the country’s “broken” immigration system.

The annual intake will be slashed to 250,000 – roughly in line with pre-pandemic levels – by June 2025.

Visa rules for international students and low-skilled workers will also be tightened under the new plan.

Migration has climbed to record levels in Australia, adding pressure to housing and infrastructure woes.

But there remains a shortage of skilled workers, and the country struggles to attract them.

Unveiling a new 10-year immigration strategy at a media briefing on Monday, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the migration system had been left “in tatters” by the previous government.

A review earlier this year found the system was “badly broken” – unnecessarily complex, slow and inefficient – and in need of “major reform”.

A record 510,000 people came to Australia in the year to June 2023, but the minister said her government would “bring numbers back under control” and reduce the annual migration intake by around 50%.

Among the new measures are tougher minimum English-language requirements for international students, and more scrutiny of those applying for a second visa – they must prove that any further study would advance their academic aspirations or their careers.

There are some 650,000 foreign students in Australia, with many of them on their second visa, according to official data.

The visa pathways for migrants with “specialist” or “essential” skills – like highly-skilled tech workers or care workers – have also been improved to offer better prospects of permanent residency.

The new policies will attract more of the workers Australia needs and help reduce the risk of exploitation for those who live, work and study in the country, Ms O’Neil said.

Opposition migration spokesman Dan Tehan has said that the government was too slow to adjust migration policies designed to help Australia recover from the pandemic.

“The horse has bolted when it comes to migration and the government not only cannot catch it but cannot find it,” he said on the weekend.

In recent weeks, the government has been under pressure from some quarters to temporarily reduce migration as Australia struggles with a housing crisis driven by a lack of supply.

However others, like the Business Council of Australia, have said migrants are being used as a scapegoat for a lack of investment in affordable housing and decades of poor housing policy.

Two rocket salvos were fired at the U.S. embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Friday, according to a U.S. embassy spokesman.

An embassy spokesman said there were no casualties and said they were investigating the incident.

There are indications that pro-Iranian militias were behind the attack.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We again call on the Iraqi government to do everything in its power to protect the personnel and facilities of diplomats and coalition partners,” the spokesman said. He referred to the right to self-defence.

The US State Department in Washington also condemned the attack and called on the Iraqi security forces to immediately investigate who was behind it and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The many Iran-aligned militias operating freely in Iraq threaten the security and stability of Iraq, our people and our partners in the region,” a ministry spokesman said.

Iraqi security sources had previously reported that several rockets had been fired at the area surrounding the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

According to reports from the Arabic television station Al Arabiya, up to 14 rockets were fired.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, pro-Iranian militias in Iraq have increasingly attacked U.S. military bases in Syria and Iraq in response to the Israeli military operation.

The U.S. Department of Defence said there have been at least 78 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since mid-October.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani condemned the act.

He said the attackers were jeopardising Iraq’s internal security.

He gave the order to search for the perpetrators.

Six teenagers have been found guilty by a French juvenile court on Friday for their roles in the beheading of a teacher by an Islamic extremist.

Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old history teacher, was assassinated in 2020 outside his classroom during a free speech argument in which he displayed caricatures to his pupils of the prophet Muhammad.

The teacher was tracked down and identified for the assailant by five of the defendants, who were 14 and 15 years old at the time of the attack, according to CBS news.

The teacher was stabbed by Abdoullakh Anzorov, a radicalised 18-year-old who arrived in France at age six with his Chechen parents near his secondary school in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.

Mr Anzorov who had been granted asylum with his parents to stay in France was subsequently fatally shot by police on the spot.

And a separate defendant, a 13-year-old girl at the time, was found guilty of levelling unfounded allegations.

Five more people, aged 14 to 15, were convicted of criminal conspiracy with the intent to inflict harm.

According to the report, the juvenile court trial of the teenagers took place in private, without the presence of the media.

The home of a former South African President, Nelson Mandela, where he lived before his demise has been abandoned.

According to a South African journalist, Silindelo Masikene, in a tweet on Friday, the ex-President’s grandchildren, who were the home’s last occupants, left due to unpaid electricity bills.

Sharing photos of the house,  Masikane wrote, “EXCLUSIVE: The last place former president #NelsonMandela called home has been abandoned.

“The mansion on 12th Avenue in Houghton was being occupied by Mandela’s grandchildren but they moved out after the lights were cut due to unpaid utility bills – which according to his grandchildren are supposed to be paid by the Nelson Rolihlala Mandela Trust.

“10 years after the statesman’s death and his estate has still not been wind up.”

The UK has given Rwanda a further £100m this year as part of its deal to relocate asylum seekers there.

The payment was made in April, the Home Office’s top civil servant said in a letter to MPs, after £140m had already been sent to the African nation.

Sir Matthew Rycroft said another payment of £50m was expected next year.

The revelation came hours after Rishi Sunak vowed to “finish the job” of reviving the plan after the resignation of his immigration minister this week.

The scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, in order to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats, was first announced by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022.

But it has been repeatedly delayed by legal challenges and no asylum seekers have been sent from the UK so far.

Until now it was known that the government had spent at least £140m on the policy. Sir Matthew had previously refused to disclose updated figures, saying ministers had decided to set out the costs annually.

But in a letter published on Thursday to Dame Diana Johnson, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee, and Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, he disclosed the full cost of the policy so far.

Sir Matthew stressed that the extra payments were not linked to the new treaty signed this week between UK and Rwanda as part of the government’s attempt to amend the policy, which was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court last month.

A Home Office spokesperson would not go into specifics on what the money would be spent on but said it was going towards the economic development and growth of Rwanda.

The payment was made when Suella Braverman was home secretary, though allies of hers say it was signed off by the prime minister.

Labour branded the revelation of the extra costs “incredible”, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper adding: “How many more blank cheques will Rishi Sunak write before the Tories come clean about this scheme being a total farce?” she said.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Sunak held a press conference on Thursday where he urged Tory MPs to back his plan.

The prime minister was speaking a day after immigration minister Robert Jenrick resigned over the government’s revised policy, saying he believed it was destined for failure.

Mr Sunak insisted the new emergency legislation set out by the government would end the “merry-go-round of legal challenges” over the flights of some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The bill compels judges to treat Rwanda as a safe country and gives ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act. But it does not go as far as allowing them to dismiss the European Convention on Human Rights, as some on the right of the Conservative Party have called for.

The bill faces opposition from MPs in different factions of the Conservative Party when it returns to Parliament next week.

Earlier on Thursday, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman reiterated that it would fail to “stop the boats” and called on the government to fully exclude international law.

The task of steering the bill through Parliament falls to Michael Tomlinson, who was appointed illegal migration minister on Thursday.

He will work alongside Tom Pursglove, the minister for legal migration, after the prime minister split Mr Jenrick’s vacant role in two.

Canadian authorities have announced that “cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants” for international students will increase from $10,000 to $20,000, starting from January 1, 2024.

Marc Miller, Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, made this announcement in a statement on Thursday.

“Starting January 1, 2024, the cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants will be raised so that international students are financially prepared for life in Canada.

“For 2024, a single applicant will need to show they have $20,635, representing 75% of LICO, in addition to their first year of tuition and travel costs. This change will apply to new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024,” the statement reads in part.

For close to two decades, study permit applicants for international students have remained at $10,000.

This review, which takes effect from January 1, “will help prevent student vulnerability and exploitation,” the statement added.

This comes days after the United Kingdom introduced a new set of rules that would make it more difficult for Nigerians and others to obtain a visa. Home Secretary James Cleverly announced the changes in the House of Commons on Monday.

The government said it would now set a minimum annual salary for foreign workers to be eligible for a skilled worker visa at £38,700 from £26,200.

The figure itself is more than the existing median average salary of a full-time worker in Britain.

The Nigeria under 17 female volleyball team on Wednesday in Abuja defeated their Cameroonian counterparts 3-1 in the semi final match of the ongoing 2023 Girl’s U17 African Nations Volleyball.

The match was played at the package B of the Moshood Abiola Stadium.

Nigeria will meet Egypt in the final match on Thursday (today).

The Nigerian girls won the first set with two points different (27-24), while Cameroonian fought back to win the set second set 25-23.

The Nigerian girls continued the game with the winning spirit to win the third set and fourth set 26-24 and 25-19.

Speaking after the match, the coach of Nigerian girls, Sunday Akapson, said the girls played according to instruction.

“One of the best things we used in this game in the first and second game is that we try to boost the morale of the players.

“After we lost our first game against Egypt, we told them that they have the ability, capacity and the strength to win the remaining matches. We will go back home to restrategise and play in the final match against Egypt on Thursday,” he said.

On his part, the team manager of the Cameroon team, Tamuo Henry, said the girls worked well in their games.

“It is unfortunate that they lost all their three matches but that does not make them a good team. The good thing is that the three teams will participate in the U-17 world cup championship in 2024, ’’ he said.

Mirabel Onyegwu from the Nigerian team received the Most Valuable Player award of the match.

The 2023 Girl’s U17 African Nations Volleyball which started on Saturday is expected to end on December 8.