Headline

UK Mulls Foreign Students From Bringing Family, Names Conditions – Report

Published

1 year ago

February 24, 2023

Editor

The United Kingdom is planning to bar foreign students from bringing their spouses and children on academic grounds in the country except on studying “high-value” degrees.

According to The Times on Friday, the high-value courses are science, mathematics, and engineering, and as such, international students granted visas to study these courses can relocate to the UK with their families.

The report disclosed that the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, are considering the policy over the concerns that statistics of family members joining foreign students have risen to almost eight times.

Currently, the UK permits spouses and parents of any foreign student to travel with them on the basis of a valid student visa.

It was reported that Nigerians accounted for the highest rise in the number of dependants accompanying persons with study visas in 2022.

Nigerians also accounted for the largest increase in sponsored study grants compared with 2019, increasing by 57,545 (+686%) to a record high of 65,929, making them the third largest nationality group in the latest year.

The Times reported that the new immigration numbers revealed that 490,763 students were given visas in 2022, and were accompanied by 135,788 dependants — spouses and children – which were 16,047 in 2019.

Foreign students would also be excluded from bringing families unless they are studying at a higher level, such as a master’s degree or doctoral degree, the report added.

However, universities and members of parliament from all parties criticised the proposals, pointing to research suggesting that foreign students contribute £35 billion a year to the economy.

The development is the latest in Braverman’s “aspirations” to control migrants from entering the UK.

Vanguard had reported how the home secretary considered reforming the graduate visa route, by proposing that foreign students would have to obtain a work visa by getting a skilled job or leave the UK within six months after the end of their academic programmes.

Headline

Google To Offer AI-generated Answers In Search Results

Published

19 mins ago

May 14, 2024

Editor

Google has announced it would introduce AI-generated answers to online queries made by users in the United States, in one of the biggest updates to its search engine in 25 years.

“I’m excited to announce that we will begin launching this fully revamped experience, ‘AI overviews,’ to everyone in the US this week,” Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said at an event in California on Tuesday, May 14.

Google’s search results will feature an AI summary at the top of the page before the more typical unfurling of links.

The AI answers generated by Google’s Gemini technology will offer succinct summaries of what it found on the internet with links to the online sources that supplied the information.

“You can ask whatever’s on your mind or whatever you need to get done – from researching to planning to brainstorming – and Google will take care of the legwork,” said Google Search team boss Liz Reid.

The change comes as Google feels growing pressure from AI-powered search engines like Perplexity, and from the rumors that OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is building its own AI search tool.

Searches through AI chats have also appeared on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with users able to get information from the web without Google.

The change will soon spread to other countries, Pichai added, making it accessible to more than a billion people.

Headline

College Volleyball Player Killed In US Nightclub Shooting

Published

26 mins ago

May 14, 2024

Editor

Albany State University volleyball player Mariam Creighton has been tragically killed in a nightclub shooting in Atlanta.

Atlanta Police Department said on Tuesday, May 14, that the incident happened around 2:28 AM on Sunday, May 14, when officers responded to shots fired at the Elleven45 establishment.

Six people were shot, two of whom were pronounced dead at the scene, Creighton and 20-year-old Nakyris Ridley.

The police department said in a statement;

“Preliminary investigation indicates the shooting occurred during a physical dispute at the location that escalated to gunfire.”

Creighton was a member of the ASU Golden Rams volleyball team, and was one semester from graduating from the HBCU with a biology degree.

Her family said she was at the club on Sunday celebrating her niece’s birthday. “It’s just senseless,” Creighton’s sister, Tiffany, said. “My sister was just out having a good time, and now our lives are just altered forever.”

Headline

Nigerian Burnt To Death In Bangkok Car Crash

Published

1 hour ago

May 14, 2024

Editor

A 35-year-old Nigerian man identified as Daniel was burnt to death in a car accident in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bangkok’s Prawet Police Station, confirmed the identity of the Nigerian national in a statement on Tuesday, May 14, 2024,

Daniel, whose Thai wife came to confirm his identity with the police, died on Saturday, May 11, when his car crashed into a road median and caught fire.

This serious road accident occurred at 5:30 a.m. on a three-lane road near Soi Phatthanakan 53/1, Suan Luang Subdistrict and District, Bangkok.

When officials received the report and arrived at the scene, they found a gray Toyota Vios with Samut Prakan province license plates overturned and engulfed in flames, blocking the middle of the road.

The officers spent about 10 minutes spraying water to extinguish the fire, but the car was completely damaged by the flames.

At that time, rescuers had to use cutting and prying equipment to remove the driver’s body from the wreckage and send it to the Police Hospital for an autopsy. They found a document with a front-facing photo of a foreign man.

Eyewitnesses stated that they saw the car driving at high speed in the far right lane before losing control and crashing into the road median.

The car spun and hit a palm tree with such force that it flipped over and ended up on its roof in the middle of the road.

At that moment, good Samaritans tried to pry open the door to help the unconscious driver, but before they could pull him out, sparks ignited, and the car quickly caught fire.