Headline
UK Opens Visa Application Centres In Enugu, Port Harcourt
Published
2 months agoon
By
Editor
Residents of Enugu and Port Harcourt seeking to travel to the United Kingdom can now access visa services more conveniently, following the opening of new Premium Visa Application Centres by VFS Global in both cities.
According to a statement from the UK Home Office on Monday, the new centres, located at Omedel Luxury Hotel in Enugu and Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt, are designed to cater to the increasing demand for UK visas from Nigeria, particularly during the summer travel season.
Appointments can be booked online via the VFS Global website.
The statement noted that these additions complement existing UK Visa Application Centres in Abuja, Ikeja, and Victoria Island, Lagos, which have been operational since November 2024.
READ ALSO: Full List: UK Unveils New English Tests For Visa, Citizenship Applicants
Nigeria remains one of the top four countries globally for UK visit visa applications, accounting for six percent of the total, the statement added.
The UK Minister of State at the Home Office, Rt. Hon. Lord Hanson noted the significance of the openings. “The government is pleased to be able to reopen the Premium Visa Application Centres in both Port Harcourt and Enugu.
“In 2024 we received more than 230,000 visa applications from Nigerian nationals across all visa routes and these new premium application centres will provide greater convenience for applicants in and around Enugu and Rivers State demonstrating the importance of the UK – Nigeria relationship in these markets as well as Nigeria as a whole,” he said.
The Head of Sub-Saharan Africa at VFS Global, Alok Singhal, emphasised the added convenience. “We are pleased to open the additional, conveniently located touchpoints for our UK visa customers in the form of the recently opened Premium Application Centres in Enugu and Port Harcourt, Nigeria, which help us cater to a larger number of travellers to the UK.
READ ALSO: Full List: UK Unveils New English Tests For Visa, Citizenship Applicants
“Our customers will continue to enjoy the same comfort, convenience, and best-in-class services at these locations that they do at our Visa Application Centres in Abuja and Lagos,” he said.
Applicants using the Premium Centres can also take advantage of additional services, including document upload assistance, application status notifications, courier return of documents, and the option to keep their passports while applications are processed.
VFS Global, which began partnering with UK Visas and Immigration in 2003, was awarded the global contract to manage UK visa services in 142 countries in 2023.
The company operates over 3,500 application centres across 158 countries and has processed more than 309 million applications since 2001.
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Full List: UK Unveils New English Tests For Visa, Citizenship Applicants
Headline
US Says Strikes ‘Devastated’ Iran’s Nuclear Program
Published
43 minutes agoon
June 22, 2025By
Editor
Unprecedented US strikes have wrecked Iran’s nuclear program, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday as Washington sought to assess what remained of the three targeted sites.
The surprise strikes threaten to deepen conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, with Tehran vowing to retaliate against US involvement.
But the United States said President Donald Trump wanted peace and urged Iran to end the conflict after strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.
“We devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing, adding that the operation “did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.”
Trump “seeks peace, and Iran should take that path”, Hegseth said. “This mission was not, and has not been, about regime change.”
READ ALSO:UK ‘Was Informed Of US Strikes’ On Iran, Plans Evacuating Briton Out of Israel
Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that “it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there.”
“Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” he told reporters.
– Protests in Tehran –
People gathered in the center of Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans, state TV showed.
Trump claimed total success for the operation in an address to the nation hours after the attack, and Vice President JD Vance followed up on Sunday morning.
“We know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night, whether it’s years or beyond,” he told ABC.
READ ALSO:US Struck Iran With B-2 Bombers, Submarine-launched Missiles – Top US General
“We’re not at war with Iran — we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” he added. “The president took decisive action to destroy that program last night.”
In Tehran, AFP journalists said the roar of aircraft flying over the city was heard repeatedly for the first time since Israel’s initial attacks.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at the nuclear sites and Tehran said Sunday there were no signs of contamination.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Istanbul the United States and Israel had “crossed a very big red line,” asserting Iran would continue to defend itself “by all means necessary.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US strikes, saying Trump’s decision to “target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.”
READ ALSO:Iran Nabs 22 Suspected Israeli Spies Amidst Escalating Conflict
The Israeli military was also checking the results of the US raid on the deeply buried nuclear facility in Fordo, with a spokesman saying it was “too soon” to know if Iran had removed enriched uranium from the site.
The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuelings, Caine said.
– Global concern –
In response to the US attack, Iran’s armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport, the country’s main international gateway near Tel Aviv.
Israeli rescuers said at least 23 people were wounded.
In Jerusalem, Claudio Hazan, a 62-year-old software engineer, said he hoped the US intervention would hasten an end to the Iran-Israel war.
READ ALSO:Israel-Iran War: Stranded Nigerians Cry For Help From Underground Shelters
“Israel by itself would not stop… and it would take longer,” he said.
Israel said it had launched fresh strikes on western Iran and in Qom, south of Tehran. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported four Revolutionary Guard members were killed in strikes on a military base in the city’s north.
The Israeli military said it had “struck missile launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory, soldiers in the Iranian Armed Forces, and swiftly neutralized the launchers that launched missiles toward Israeli territory.”
Iran’s Shargh newspaper reported that a “massive explosion was heard” Sunday in Bushehr province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant.
Iranian news agencies also reported strikes in Yazd province.
The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticized the US move and urged de-escalation.
READ ALSO:UK Joins Other Nations In Pulling Embassy Staff From Iran
The European Union called on all sides “to step back,” while stressing Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
The Iranian foreign minister said he would travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Following his address, Trump warned Iran against retaliation. Iran and its proxies have previously attacked US military bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.
Iran’s Huthi allies in Yemen on Sunday repeated their threat to resume attacks in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, saying they were ready to target US ships and warships.
The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck the country on June 13, repeating his insistence it could never have nuclear weapons.
Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb. On Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s right to pursue a civilian nuclear program “cannot be taken away… by threats or war.”
Headline
US Struck Iran With B-2 Bombers, Submarine-launched Missiles – Top US General
Published
1 hour agoon
June 22, 2025By
Editor
Seven stealth bombers were used in the US attack against Iranian nuclear sites, which apparently saw little response by Iran’s military, top general Dan Caine said Sunday.
Describing the complex operation, dubbed “Midnight Hammer,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine said the “main strike package comprised of 7 B-2 Spirit bombers” flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuelings.
READ ALSO:Iran-Israel War: ‘A Fire No One Can Control’, UN Warns
“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface to air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission. We retained the element of surprise,” Caine added.
Headline
UK ‘Was Informed Of US Strikes’ On Iran, Plans Evacuating Briton Out of Israel
Published
1 hour agoon
June 22, 2025By
Editor
Britain was notified in advance of the US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, though it played no part in the military action, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed today.
“We were informed, as you might expect, by a key ally,” Reynolds told Sky News, adding, “We were not and have not been involved in these attacks.”
The strikes—launched overnight by US B2 stealth bombers and submarines—targeted Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities. President Donald Trump hailed it as “a spectacular military success,” a claim Tehran swiftly denied.
READ ALSO:Israel-Iran War: Stranded Nigerians Cry For Help From Underground Shelters
The UK government is now working to evacuate British nationals trapped in Israel, after Iran launched a wave of retaliatory missiles. Reynolds said it would take “hours, not days” to evacuate them, citing airspace closures as the main delay.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the US operation, describing Tehran’s nuclear programme as “a grave threat to international security.” He noted that the US acted to “alleviate that threat,” despite previously urging Trump to avoid military escalation.
Reynolds acknowledged public anxiety about the developments and warned of a possible rise in terrorism threats at home: “It would be naïve to say that that wouldn’t potentially increase.”
READ ALSO:Iran Nabs 22 Suspected Israeli Spies Amidst Escalating Conflict
Opposition figures supported the strikes. Kemi Badenoch said the US had acted “decisively against a regime that fuels global terror.” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted: “Iran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons. The future of Israel depends on it.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, condemned the US operation as “lawless and criminal behavior,” warning of “everlasting consequences.”
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