Headline

UK Slashes Graduate Visa From Two Years To 18 Months

Published

3 months ago

May 12, 2025

Editor

The UK government has cut the Graduate Route visa from two years to 18 months, part of a sweeping crackdown on what it describes as “systemic abuse and mission drift” in international education, asylum, and family immigration.

The announcement, part of a broader Immigration White Paper released Monday, is paired with tougher compliance rules for universities, a legal reset on asylum and deportation decisions, and stricter enforcement powers to curb visa fraud.

“Migration must be controlled and compliant. Our reforms will close the backdoors and shut down abuse across the system,” the Home Office stated on its website.

Graduate Route Shortened, Sponsors Face Scrutiny

The Graduate Route — previously offering two years of post-study work rights — will now offer only 18 months, with a tighter pathway to work visas and fewer rights to bring dependants.

“The Graduate Route has not met its original objectives.

“It has become a loophole for unsponsored work and a magnet for abuse,” the document said.

Only institutions meeting “enhanced compliance standards” will be allowed to retain international recruitment licenses. Universities found to have low progression-to-work rates or engaged in misleading recruitment practices will face sanctions.

“We will take action against sponsors who undermine the integrity of the system,” it added.

Asylum Claims’ New Rejection Rules

The asylum system will also be restructured.

Applicants whose home country conditions have not materially changed — or who fail to claim upon arrival — may now be automatically refused under new admissibility rules.

“We will prevent late, opportunistic asylum claims and re-establish control over our border.

“The threshold for protection will be restored to its intended level,” the Home Office declared.

Tougher Deportation For Foreign Criminals

The government also promises legislation to expand deportation powers, allowing the removal of all foreign offenders, not just those jailed for more than 12 months.

“Deportation will apply to all foreign nationals convicted of offences, with increased focus on crimes involving violence against women and girls,” the paper stated.

The government also plans to restrict the use of Article 8 (right to family life) in appeals.

“Parliament, not the courts, should decide who stays. We will legislate to reset the balance,” the document read.

Visa Sponsorship To Face Penalties For Abuse

In a warning to universities, employers, and other sponsors, the Home Office said it will impose financial penalties, licence revocations, and recruitment bans for those found to have facilitated visa abuse.

“Sponsorship is a privilege, not a right.

“Sponsors will be held accountable for their international recruitment practices,” it read.

Bold Plan Necessary
These changes, the Home Office says, are part of a long-term plan to “restore credibility, reduce numbers, and deliver an immigration system the public can trust.”

“This is about rebuilding integrity.

“We’re making it clear that the UK welcomes global talent — but not at the cost of public confidence or border control,” said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

1 hour ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

1 hour ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

1 hour ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP