By reuters -- BEIRUT — Beirut university student Mohammad El Sahily was close to graduating in computer science, but uncertainty now clouds his future following a plunge in the Lebanese pound that has left him and thousands like him unable to pay their tuition fees. With Lebanon facing its worst economic crisis ever, two private universities, the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Lebanese American University (LAU) have raised the exchange rate their fees are based on to 3,900 Lebanese pounds per dollar – at a stroke making teaching almost three times more expensive for students paying in the local currency. AUB student Sahily was studying for his final exams in December when he received an email announcing the hike. “(There was) fear, stress, desperation. I don’t know what I will do, I can’t afford paying for the spring (semester) if I want to take a full load (of courses), so I will have to either take two courses only or nothing at all,” he told Reuters. “This is the case of around 80% of people I know.”

Sahily was one of many undergraduates who took to the streets in December to protest the universities’ move. Leen Elharake, a LAU engineering student and vice president of the student council, called it “catastrophic,” and some students are now calling for a tuition strike. Lebanon has traditionally prided itself on its education system, set up in the 19th century by American and French missionaries and producing a steady stream of graduates who land top jobs in the Middle East region and beyond. But the pressure the system now faces – both from the economic crisis and a strict coronavirus lockdown that has banned face-to-face teaching since Jan. 7 – is weighing as heavily on the institutions as on the students. The economic crisis has left the official peg of 1,500 pounds to the dollar that the universities used to use well out of step with the rate on the street, which has topped 8,500 in recent weeks.

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By Peter Wolfgang - catholicherald.co.uk -- Here Catholic pro-family activist Peter Wolfgang argues that, despite his failings, Donald Trump did much for the Church and for the causes she supports, and that we will miss him when Biden becomes president. In the companion article, theologian Holly Taylor Coolman argues that, whatever good he may have done, many of his actions were deeply opposed to Catholic teaching, and that alliance of many Catholics with him damaged the Church. Donald Trump’s presidency ended in disaster. He lost his bid for reelection. Democratic victory in the Georgia Senate runoffs will put the pro-life and religious liberty causes at an extreme disadvantage in Washington. Worst of all, the MAGA raid on the U.S. Capitol will be hung around the neck of these good causes for years to come. This is, by all the appearances, the hour of the Catholic Never-Trumper. But appearances can be deceiving. For all the ignominy of Trump’s bitter end, Catholics were right to vote for him. In fact, the Catholic Church will soon come to miss Donald Trump. Here are five reasons why.

by reuters -- President Joe Biden signed 15 executive actions shortly after being sworn on Wednesday, undoing policies put in place by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and making his first moves on the pandemic and climate change. Signing several actions in front of reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, Biden said there was "no time to waste" in issuing the executive orders, memorandums and directives. "Some of the executive actions I'm going to be signing today are going to help change the course of the COVID crisis, we're going to combat climate change in a way that we haven't done so far and advance racial equity and support other underserved communities" said Biden. “These are just all starting points”

Aides said the actions the Democratic president signed included a mask mandate on federal property and for federal employees, an order to establish a new White House office coordinating the response to the coronavirus, and halting the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization. Biden signed a document to begin the process of re-entering the Paris climate accord and issued a sweeping order tackling climate change, including revoking the presidential permit granted to the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline. Among a raft of orders addressing immigration, Biden revoked Trump's emergency declaration that helped fund the construction of a border wall and ended a travel ban on some hostile countries.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it wanted to cooperate with President Joe Biden’s new U.S. administration, while announcing sanctions against “lying and cheating” outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Alex Azar and 26 other top officials under Donald Trump. The move was a sign of China’s anger, especially at an accusation Pompeo made on his final full day in office that China had committed genocide against its Uighur Muslims, an assessment that Biden’s choice to succeed Pompeo, Anthony Blinken, said he shared. In a striking repudiation of its relationship with Washington under Trump, the Chinese foreign ministry announced the sanctions in a statement that appeared on its website around the time that Biden was taking the presidential oath.

Pompeo and the others had “planned, promoted and executed a series of crazy moves, gravely interfered in China’s internal affairs, undermined China’s interests, offended the Chinese people, and seriously disrupted China-U.S. relations,” it said. The other outgoing and former Trump officials sanctioned included trade chief Peter Navarro, National Security Advisers Robert O’Brien and John Bolton, Health Secretary Alex Azar, U.N. ambassador Kelly Craft and former top Trump aide Steve Bannon. The 28 ex-officials and immediate family members would be banned from entering mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao, and companies and institutions associated with them restricted from doing business with China. Pompeo and others sanctioned did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. State Department also did not respond.