The United States will donate $20 million to support the education of hundreds of university students in Lebanon, the US State Department announced on Saturday.
The donation will cover half the tuition costs for 1,800 students at the the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University, spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Twitter.
Ms Ortagus said the funds were granted under the “Tomorrow’s Leaders" programme of the department's Middle East Partnership Initiative, which covers four years of education for underprivileged students at universities in Middle East countries, including the AUB and LAU.
Fadlo Khuri, the president of AUB, told The National the Lebanese universities would each receive $10m over two years – $7m for the 2020-2021 academic year and $3m for the 2021-2022 academic year.
"This will allow a total of 900 non-engineering undergraduate students at each university to take a course on gender, a programme that our brilliant dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Nadia El Cheikh, put together with the support of Rita Stephan, director of the MEPI programme in the US government, something the universities greatly appreciate. That course will then lead to coverage of 50 per cent of a student’s tuition for one year," he said.
The US funding comes amid Lebanon's worst economic crisis, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, which has severely affected universities and left parents struggling to pay their children’s tuition fees.
Inflation has soared amid a shortage of dollars while economic activity and incomes have been hit by lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The local currency has slid about 70 per cent from its peg against the US dollar.
Mr Khuri said AUB, which functioned through Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war despite the kidnapping or murder of a number of staff, including two presidents, was facing the “greatest crisis” in its 154-year history.
The university expects revenue for 2020-2021 to be 60 per cent below its target of $249m, he said in a letter written on May 5.
In an op-ed published by The National last week, Mr Khuri said AUB had no choice but to lay off non-academic staff, who make up between 20 and 25 per cent of its 6,500 employees.
“Today’s economic breakdown has deeply wounded the university and will cause us to lose many of our community members,” he wrote.
Mr Khuri told the local newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour last week that the remaining staff would be asked to accept a salary cut of between 10 and 15 per cent. This would be voluntary for those earning up to $150,000 a year and compulsory for those making more.
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Manchester United v Barcelona, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%20profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
