Musings From Abroad

Finally, Saudi women take to driving but…

Saudi women are officially allowed to get behind the wheel, after a decades-old driving ban was lifted

Published

4 years ago

June 24, 2018

Africa News Watch

Saudi women are officially allowed to get behind the wheel, after a decades-old driving ban was lifted.

The change was announced last September and Saudi Arabia issued the first licences to women earlier this month.

It was the only country left in the world where women could not drive and families had to hire private chauffeurs for female relatives.

However, the move comes amid an intensified crackdown on activists who campaigned for the right to drive.

At least eight women’s rights activists are being detained and could face trial in a counter-terrorism court and long prison sentences for their activism, human rights group Amnesty says.

They include Loujain al-Hathloul, a well-known figure in the campaign for women’s driving rights.

Amnesty has called for wider reforms in Saudi Arabia, where women remain subject to male guardianship laws. For instance, though they are free to drive, they are still not free to travel, marry, divorce or even leave prison without the permission of a male relative.

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Musings From Abroad

Transport cleaning staff in UK to join strike train over pay – union

Published

1 day ago

November 26, 2022

Ifeoluwa Dada

As industrial actions continue to across the United Kingdom, cleaners have joined other transport workers to strike over pay in Britain, the Rail, Maritime, and Transport union.

The union made the position known on Saturday, stressing that its members, working as cleaners throughout the transport network, had voted to hold their first national strike action.

Over 1,000 contracted-out cleaners working for the likes of Churchill, Italian Servest, and Mitie are said to be eligible to strike.

The union is demanding that the cleaners be paid 15 pounds ($18.14) an hour, with sick pay, holiday entitlement, and better pensions.

Industrial actions have been on the rise in Britain lately with railway workers, nurses, doctors, and teachers, as well as emergency services, postal services, and telecoms workers have either on strike or planning action.

Musings From Abroad

Britain introduces policy to reduce influx of international students

Published

2 days ago

November 25, 2022

Ifeoluwa Dada

Britain in an attempt to manage the influx of Africans into Europe has introduced plans to reduce the rate of immigration to the United Kingdom by limiting the number of foreign students entering the country.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that approximately 560,000 people migrated to the UK as of June. This marked a sharp increase from the comparable period last year, driven by the influx of Ukrainian refugees.

Under the new arrangement, there will be limitation on the number of family members that international students are allowed to bring into the country.

The policy move would be a reversal of the 2019 International Education strategy which sought to boost the country’s education exports to £35 billion per year.

Africa, particularly Nigeria has a large number of students in the United Kingdom. Nigerians consistitute a third non-EU country with the most students in the UK with 21,305 students currently enrolled in UK institutions, ahead of the United States with 19,220 students.

China and India with 143,820 and 84,555 students respectively have the highest number of students in the UK.