Academic staff are protesting the University of Sydney’s decision to award former prime minister John Howard an honorary doctorate, labelling it as “deeply scandalous and inappropriate”, writes Bridie Jabour for the Guardian. Read more...

China’s ambassador to Kenya Dr Liu Xianfa last week officially handed over a KES3 billion (US$30 million) modern research centre and botanical garden funded by the Chinese government to the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, writes Mary Wambui for Daily Nation. Read more...

The number of students at Czech higher education facilities will again be lower this year than in the past, Jakub Fischer, president of the Council of Higher Education Institutions, has said, adding that the reasons are demographic developments and the way of financing, reports the Czech news agency CTK. Read more...

Universities say fundraising is becoming increasingly important for their work and they are receiving millions of dollars a year in donations. But they say that there is not yet a strong culture of philanthropy in New Zealand and the government could do more to encourage donations to universities, writes John Gerritsen for Radio New Zealand. Read more...

As students across the country prepare to start university for the first time, analysis of student loan data has revealed that many parents may be feeling the pinch, writes Josie Gurney-Read for The Telegraph. Read more...

The Ministry of Education said that it is preparing a higher education roadmap that would enable qualified graduates to meet the needs of the growing economy, reports The Ethiopian Herald. Read more...

The United Kingdom government is to outline its plans to strengthen collaborative research between Britain and China. The UK Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson was to give details while opening a joint UK-Chinese plant research centre just outside Shanghai, writes Pallab Ghosh for BBC News. Read more...

The government must maintain free movement for European Union academics or risk losing up to 15% of staff at British universities, a leading German academics’ body has warned, write Jon Henley, Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Philip Oltermann for the Guardian. Read more...

The central government is planning to give autonomy to ‘good’ universities and make them 'innovation hubs' while imposing heavy regulation on ‘non-performing’ institutions, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said last week, reports Press Trust of India. Read more...

The United States university system is an innovation powerhouse, according to Reuters' second Top 100 list. The US claimed 46 of the top 100 universities on the list, followed by Japan with nine and France and South Korea, both with eight universities, writes Abby Jackson for Business Insider. Read more...