The Foreign Secretary will attend a meeting on Syria organised by France and the US to discuss how best to make progress towards a political solution to the conflict and support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Syria.

Following this, the Foreign Secretary will host his US, Saudi Arabian and UAE counterparts at the British Embassy in Paris for a meeting to discuss a political solution to the conflict in Yemen. The “Quad” group of Foreign Ministers last met in December in the UAE.

Speaking ahead of his travel, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

The conflicts in Syria and Yemen have created two of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. There can be no military solution to either conflict, only peaceful and carefully negotiated political solutions will truly end the suffering.

The UK will continue to take a leadership role in these crucial diplomatic efforts with our international partners around the world, intensifying work to find a sustainable way forward.

Further information

UK universities will now be able to expand their education offer in Egypt thanks to a new agreement signed by Universities Minister Sam Gyimah and Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar today (23 January).

The Memorandum of Understanding will remove barriers for UK Universities to set up branch campuses in Egypt, giving the UK HE sector a competitive advantage in the country.

The announcement builds on the UK’s vast experience of delivering transnational education across the globe with 82% of UK providers already delivering UK degrees overseas.

Universities Minster Sam Gyimah said:

I am delighted to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Egyptian government which will allow UK universities to deliver world class degree programmes in Egypt from today.

The UK has already has a strong track record of delivering higher education overseas and this agreement underscores that proud tradition.

I welcome the contribution that this partnership will make to both UK and Egyptian economies and the wider benefits it will provide to students and institutions in both counties.

Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said:

This MoU is a symbol of continued collaboration, cooperation and mutual understanding between our governments and our university communities.

The opportunity for UK universities to establish International Branch Campuses in Egypt will support Egypt’s internationalisation ambitions and labour market demands.

We are excited to see how IBCs will contribute to the fabric of Egypt’s higher education landscape and be catalysts for broader international partnerships between the UK and Egypt in research, innovation and mobility.

Director of UUKi, Vivienne Stern said:

This is an exciting opportunity for the UK to establish new forms of transnational education in Egypt. It all marks another significant step in the strong relationship between the UK and Egyptian higher education sectors.

The quantity and depth of UK-Egypt partnerships has been growing steadily over recent years and there is clear demand to expand this further.

This is a unique example of the UK being invited to support the development of a new framework enabling new opportunities for transnational education.

I’m delighted that Universities UK International could facilitate this MoU and look forward to see UK university provision in Egypt to continue to grow.

The agreement was signed during the annual Education World Forum, which was opened by the new Education Secretary Damian Hinds on 22 January.

Attended by more than 500 people, the Education World Forum will run until Wednesday 24 January. It is supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Education, the Department for International Trade, the Department for International Development, the British Council and the EWF industry partners.

The event comes ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which will be hosted by the UK in April and will bring experts from around the world together again.

During 2017 the Environment Agency successfully prosecuted 108 individuals and companies for flouting waste and fishing laws in the North East resulting in almost £170,000 in fines and costs.

There were 16 prosecutions of individuals or companies for waste offences, amounting to total fines of £62,763 and costs of £40,493.

There were also two custodial sentences, three suspended sentences, two community orders and two rehabilitation orders. The courts also awarded a total of £14,735 in compensation to those affected by the crimes, which included a landowner left with costs of £100,000 to remove 585 tonnes of waste dumped on their land.

In addition, the Environment Agency revoked two environmental permits from waste companies who continually failed to meet their permit conditions.

Courts imposed a further £19,162 in fines and costs on an individual and company for twice polluting a protected water course.

In fisheries enforcement, there were three serious offences resulting in £1115 in fines, costs and victim surcharge, plus two 12 month conditional discharges.

There were a further 87 offenders prosecuted for 119 rod licence offences, including 77 offences for fishing without a licence. This resulted in total fines, costs and victim surcharge of £29,461, with three offenders also given conditional discharges.

Enforcement activity has taken place right across the North East in Teesside, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Northumberland.

The Environment Agency’s enforcement teams work alongside other specialist teams to support businesses in abiding by their permit conditions, but take tough action against those who deliberately flout regulations.

Fisheries enforcement officers carry our regular patrols and act on information and intelligence to target illegal activity on our rivers.

Jamie Fletcher, Environment Manager at the Environment Agency in the North East, said:

We take illegal waste and fishing activity very seriously. We have had some excellent results in court over the last year and will continue to work hard in the coming year to ensure enforcement action is taken against those who flout the law.

Waste crime can cause serious pollution to the environment, puts communities at risk and undermines legitimate businesses, impacting on investment and economic growth.

Similarly those fishing illegally are cheating other anglers and putting the future of the sport and quality of our rivers in jeopardy.

We have specialist teams that work hard to target those suspected of being involved in illegal activity and to ensure any necessary action is taken against them.

We work closely with a wide range of partners including local authorities, police and the fire service, and I’d like to thank them for their continued support.