Syrian students wanting to register at Saudi universities are still having a hard time with procedures despite the fact that 23 universities in the Kingdom said they would accept students from that country, reports Arab News. Read more...

An international charity and non-governmental organisation that works to promote Africa’s scientific independence has launched a local office in Mauritius to help boost research and development on the continent, reports SciDev.Net. Read more...

A student loan loophole allowing people to leave their debt unpaid while living overseas has now been closed, with the hopes of recouping an estimated A$30 million (US$21 million) annually, writes Cayla Dengate for The Huffington Post Australia. Read more...

Last year, former university rector and current Education and Science Minister Serhiy Kvit was named Ukraine’s most successful minister by the magazine Vlast Deneg in recognition of his achievement in pushing through more than half his reform programme in little under two years, writes Jack Grove for Times Higher Education. Read more...

A Republican Washington state lawmaker has drafted legislation that seeks to fine universities US$500 or more for infringing on a student’s First Amendment rights. The proposal, if approved, would also fine universities that force faculty to use trigger warnings or punish students for saying a micro-aggression, writes Kate Hardiman for The College Fix. Read more...

In 2016, Brazil's prestigious federal universities will be required to confirm that 50% of their incoming students come from public schools. Furthermore, slots for self-identifying black, mixed-race and indigenous students must correspond to the proportion of the local population, writes Marlenee Blas Pedral for Truthout. Read more...

An unusual number of independent directors resigned from Chinese public company boards in the first three weeks of December, according to China Economic Weekly, a local publication. Fuelling that rise: more than 270 directors who are deans or professors of Chinese universities, reports The Wall Street Journal. Read more...

Six British universities are facing an inquiry after the controversial human rights group Cage used meetings on campus to encourage the ‘sabotage’ of the government’s official anti-extremism programme, write Gordon Rayner and Tom Whitehead for The Telegraph. Read more...