Hurricane damages university, QS rankings, China funding boost…

This week in world in brief: Hurricane damages Nigeria’s oldest university; Africa celebrates in QS rankings; China announces funding boost; Singh seeks big rise in corporate R&D; Australia enacts tax credit.

Hurricane damages Nigeria’s oldest university

Much of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria was badly damaged by flooding caused by the birth of hurricane Irene. Estimates of the death toll range from 30 to 100. Isaac Adewole, the university’s vice-chancellor, claimed that the total floodwater damage to infrastructure could be in the billions of dollars. Although the Nigerian Meteorological Agency issued warnings about imminent flooding, the National Emergency Management Agency only arrived in the city after the flooding had subsided, according to a report in Research Africa on 5 September.