TheNewsGuru

Tag: UK

  • Finally, UK announces ban on Foreign students from bringing families

    Finally, UK announces ban on Foreign students from bringing families

    New immigration rules that will ban most foreign students from bringing their families to the UK were announced on Tuesday.

    The Government said the number of visas issued to dependents coming to Britain with international students had increased eight-fold – up from up from 16,000 in 2019 to 136,000 last year.

    Under current graduate visas, master’s students can bring their partners and children with them and they can stay in the country for two years after their course finishes.

    But new laws will remove these rights. The ban will apply to people studying many post graduate courses, but not PHD students.

    Maintenance and attendance requirements will also be reviewed under the plans, the Government said.

    The new restrictions are set to apply to overseas students beginning courses after January 2024.

    In a written ministerial statement, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “We are committed to attracting the brightest and the best to the UK. Therefore, our intention is to work with universities over the course of the next year to design an alternative approach that ensures that the best and the brightest students can bring dependants to our world leading universities, while continuing to reduce net migration. We will bring in this system as soon as possible, after thorough consultation with the sector.”

    She added that the new rules include:

    – Banning international students from bringing dependents unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes;

    – Removing the ability for international students to switch out of the student route into work routes before their studies have been completed;

    – Steps to clamp down on “unscrupulous education agents who may be supporting inappropriate applications to sell immigration not education”;

    – Better communicating immigration rules to the higher education sector and to international students;

    – Improved and targeted enforcement activity.

    Evening Standard

  • Baby with DNA from 3 people born in Britain

    Baby with DNA from 3 people born in Britain

    A baby has been born using three people’s DNA for the first time in Britain.

    Most of the child’s DNA came from their two parents but about 0.1 per cent was from a third person, another woman.

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said “less than five” babies have been born in the UK this way, but no further details have been released to protect their identity.

    The scientific technique is designed to prevent children from being born with devastating mitochondrial diseases.

    These are long-term, genetic, and often inherited disorders that occur when mitochondria fail to carry out their function of producing energy for cells in the body.

    These illnesses can be very serious and often fatal.

    In children, symptoms can include poor growth, poor muscle tone, weakness, failure to thrive, spasms, and a slow-down in progress or slow deterioration.

    Some families have lost several children to inherited mitochondrial diseases and the new technique, mitochondrial donation treatment which is a modified form of IVF.

    This is seen as their only chance of having a healthy child.

    The DNA from the second woman only affects the mitochondria, and did not affect other key traits in the child such as appearance.

    The latest findings were first reported by the Guardian following a freedom of information request.

    Britain became the first country in the world to formally allow mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) when the HFEA gave a cautious green light to the procedure in 2017.

    In 2018, fertility doctors at the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life were given permission by HFEA to give two women the treatment.

    Peter Thompson, chief executive of the HFEA, said: “Mitochondrial donation treatment offers families with severe inherited mitochondrial illness the possibility of a healthy child.

    He added: “The UK was the first country in the world to allow mitochondrial donation treatment within a regulatory environment.

    “The HFEA oversee a robust framework which ensures that mitochondrial donation is provided in a safe and ethical manner.

    “All applications for treatment are assessed on an individual basis against the tests set out in the law and only after independent advice from experts.

    “These are still early days for mitochondrial donation treatment and the HFEA continues to review clinical and scientific developments.”

    Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Education Trust, said UK laws relating to the treatment were “passed only after many years of careful research, assessment and deliberation”.

    She added: “Even then, it was decided that use of this technology will be permitted by the regulator only on a case-by-case basis.

    “This measured approach was and is appropriate, given the relative novelty of this technology.

    “News that a small number of babies with donated mitochondria have now been born in the UK is the next step in what will probably remain a slow and cautious process of assessing and refining mitochondrial donation.”

  • Aside UK court, FG also after Ekweremadu – Ohanaeze

    Aside UK court, FG also after Ekweremadu – Ohanaeze

    The Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has accused the Federal Government of also being after the former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu aside the

    Ohanaeze’s spokesman, Alex Ogbonnia berated the Nigerian Government over the travails of  Ekweremadu in the United Kingdom, UK.

    A UK court had sentenced Ekweremadu to nine nine years in prison for organ trafficking and harvesting plot.

    However, Ogbonnia accused the Federal Government of doing nothing to help Ekweremadu.

    A statement by Ogbonnia reads: “They did not treat him like someone who has served meritoriously in this country.

    “Rather, while he was facing the travails, the federal government came out with charges and allegations of corruption and seized his properties.

    “This is a man who has been around you, walked with you for years and when he needed your help, they were busy talking about auctioning his properties.

    “All those things indicated that it was not only the UK court that was after him, but the FG was also after him.”

  • UPDATE: What judge said in sentencing Ekweremadu, wife, doctor

    UPDATE: What judge said in sentencing Ekweremadu, wife, doctor

    Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice and doctor, Obinna Odeta bagged various prison sentences in London, United Kingdom (UK) on Friday.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Ekweremadu was sentenced to 9 years and 8 months, his wife sentenced to 4 years and 6 months, while Dr Odeta was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the UK.

    They were convicted at London’s Old Bailey criminal court for plotting to harvest a man’s kidney for his sick daughter, Sonia.

    The judge, Jeremy Johnson, in sentencing Ekweremadu, described the act as “despicable” and that they took advantage of the “poverty, misery and desperation” in Nigeria.

    “People-trafficking across international borders for the harvesting of human organs is a form of slavery,” judge Johnson said as he handed down the jail term.

    “It treats human beings and their body parts as commodities to be bought and sold,” he added, noting the sentence represented a “substantial fall from grace” for Ekweremadu.

    Recall that Sonia had been cleared of the same charge after jurors deliberated for nearly 14 hours in March.

    On Friday, she waved to her parents as they were led out of the court. Neither of them showed any emotion as they were sentenced.

    TNG reports this would be the first UK case of its kind

  • BREAKING: Ekweremadu sentenced to over 9 years in UK prison

    BREAKING: Ekweremadu sentenced to over 9 years in UK prison

    Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has been sentenced to 9 years and 8 months in prison in the United Kingdom (UK).

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Ekweremadu’s wife, Beatrice was also sentenced, to spend 4 years and 6 months in prison in the UK.

    The doctor, Obinna Odeta, involved in the organ harvesting saga was also sentenced, to spend 10 years in prison in the UK.

    They were sentenced by a judge at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as The Old Bailey, the street on which the criminal court building in central London stands.

     

    Details shortly…

  • Three Nigerians Extradited from UK and Spain to Face Fraud Charges

    Three Nigerians Extradited from UK and Spain to Face Fraud Charges

    The U.S. Department of Justice says three Nigerian nationals were extradited to the Southern District of Florida to face federal charges related to allegations that they operated an international fraud scheme.

    In a press release by the department of Public Affairs on Friday April 28, revealed that Kennedy Ikponmwosa, was extradited from Spain and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres on April 18. Iheanyichukwu Jonathan Abraham and Jerry Chucks Ozor were extradited from the United Kingdom and will make their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eduardo I. Sanchez on Monday, May 1, in Miami.

    According to the statement, Ikponmwosa, 51, Ezennia Peter Neboh, 48, and Prince Amos Okey Ezemma, 49, of Madrid, Spain; and Abraham, 44, Ozor, 43, and Emmanuel Samuel, 39, of London, UK, face federal charges in Miami, Florida. Neboh, Ikponmwosa, Abraham, Samuel, and Ozor were arrested in April 2022 by authorities in Madrid and London, based on an indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida, and have remained incarcerated since then. Samuel pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud on March 27.

    The court documents said that the defendants are charged with operating an inheritance fraud scheme. Over the course of more than five years, they allegedly sent personalized letters to elderly consumers in the United States, falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who purportedly had died years before in Spain.Victims were told that, before they could receive their purported inheritance, they were required to send money for delivery fees, taxes, and payments to avoid questioning from government authorities. Victims sent money to the defendants through a complex web of U.S.-based former victims, whom the defendants convinced to serve as money mules. According to the indictment, victims who sent money never received their purported inheritance funds.

    “The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will pursue and prosecute transnational criminals who defraud U.S. consumers, wherever they are located. I thank the Kingdom of Spain and the UK for their tireless efforts in assisting U.S. authorities to find and arrest these individuals so that they may face charges here in the United States,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

    “The Justice Department and U.S. law enforcement will continue to work closely with law enforcement partners across the globe to bring to justice criminals who attempt to defraud U.S. victims from outside the United States.”

    “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service constantly strives to protect our communities from predatory criminals seeking to abuse and exploit the most vulnerable members of our society.

    “These extraditions prove that by pulling law enforcement agencies together, we can best focus on investigating individuals and illicit criminal organizations associated with foreign-based fraud schemes that disproportionately affect vulnerable seniors”.

    The statement noted that the defendants are all charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as mail fraud and wire fraud.

    Neboh and Samuel were both extradited earlier this year. If convicted, Ikponmwosa, Abraham, and Ozor each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison per count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    The Consumer Protection Branch, USPIS, and HSI are investigating the case.

    Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorneys Josh Rothman and Brianna Gardner of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case.

    The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Europol, and authorities from the UK, Spain, and Portugal provided critical assistance.

    The department advised individuals not to send money or provide information to unknown person.

  • Reps asks UK for leniency for Ekweremadu

    Reps asks UK for leniency for Ekweremadu

    The House of Representatives has appealed for leniency from the UK government over the sentencing of former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu for organ harvesting.

    This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Rep. Toby Okechukwu (PDP-Enugu) at plenary in Abuja on Tuesday titled ” Need for Clemency for Sen Ike Ekweremadu”.

    Presenting the motion, Okechukwu said Ekweremadu acted based on his limited knowledge of the UK laws, stressing that he must have learnt the bitter lessons.

    “Ekweremadu acted within his limited knowledge of the UK laws and did write to the UK High Commission to support the medical visa application for the potential donor and did declare the purpose of the trip.

    “Ekweremadu and his wife acted under the natural instincts of parents to save an ailing daughter, and not for commercial purposes,” he said.

    He said it was a common practice in international relations for nations, including the UK, to seek relief for their citizens involved in situations such as that of the Ekweremadus.

    “I want to ask my honourable colleagues, Mr Speaker, to bring the full weight of this parliament, both formerly and informally and ask the British Government to remember the long-term relations we have had with them,” he said.

    In his remarks, speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila said Ekweremadu could still find justice before God and man, pleading with the UK government to consider the noble acts of Ekweremadu and temper justice with mercy.

  • Peter Obi opens up on Heathrow Airport incident

    Peter Obi opens up on Heathrow Airport incident

    Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi has revealed the real reason behind his recent ordeal in the United Kingdom (UK).

    Peter Obi said contrary to viral reports that he was detained at Heathrow Airport in the UK, he was merely stopped for a routine immigration check.

    Recall that the former Anambra State Governor was allegedly detained for hours at Heathrow Airport, London by UK immigration officials.

    But in an interview with Arise TV on Monday night, Obi insisted that he was never arrested, stressing that the routine immigration check lasted less than 20 minutes.

    He said he was only checked because it appears his identity was duplicated by someone. He said he was given VIP treatment.

    “I was stopped for a routine immigration check in the UK because it appears that my identity was duplicated by someone.

    “I was never arrested. I was treated with due respect and walked through the VIP process. Everything lasted less than 20 minutes,” Obi said.

  • UK: Sudan evacuation ‘potentially impossible’ once ceasefire ends

    UK: Sudan evacuation ‘potentially impossible’ once ceasefire ends

    British evacuation efforts in Sudan will be “potentially impossible” once a ceasefire ends, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

    Cleverly said there is no guarantee of further evacuation flights once an agreed halt in fighting expires on Thursday night.

    It comes as the government faces domestic and international criticism over its response.

    The British evacuation mission from the African country has seen 536 people taken to safety on six flights so far, according to the latest official figures.

    “We cannot predict exactly what will happen when that ceasefire ends but what we do know is it will be much, much harder, potentially impossible,” he said.

    “So what we’re saying to British nationals is if you’re hesitant, if you’re weighing up your options, our strong, strong advice is to go through Wadi Saeedna whilst the ceasefire is up and running.

    “There are planes, there is capacity, we will lift you out. I’m not able to make those same assurances once a ceasefire has ended.”

    More than 2,000 British nationals in Sudan have registered with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under evacuation plans, but thousands more could be in the war-torn nation.

    “There are concerns the evacuation efforts have seen families split up or some members left behind.’’

  • UK starts evacuation of Britons in Sudan

    UK starts evacuation of Britons in Sudan

    Britain on Tuesday said it had launched “a large-scale evacuation” of its citizens trapped in Sudan, where 10 days of urban combat have led to hundreds of deaths.

    It started barely hours after a United States-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals officially came into effect, and following criticism in the United Kingdom that the government had abandoned British citizens there.Britain faced pressure to act after comparisons to the chaotic evacuation of Britons after Afghanistan’s Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021.”The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF (Royal Air Force) flights,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

    “Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly.”

     

    Sunak paid tribute to Britain’s armed forces, diplomats and others involved in what he called a “complex operation”.

     

    “The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government,” he added.

    Britain carried out a military operation Sunday to withdraw its diplomats as deadly battles raged in the capital Khartoum.

    But citing the dangers on the ground, it had held off on extracting its citizens more widely despite Western allies evacuating hundreds of their own passport holders.

    Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said Monday that some 4,000 Britons with dual nationality and 400 with UK-only passports were in Sudan, while 2,000 people had registered with the ministry seeking help to get out.

    A Foreign Office statement announcing the new evacuations said the UK military flights were due to depart from an airfield outside Khartoum.

    It said UK citizens should “not make their way to the airfield unless they are called”.

    “The situation remains volatile and our ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice,” it added.