Author: Amnewsworld

New immigration rules will be “simple and flexible”, ministers have promised, as the UK’s points-based post-Brexit system prepares to go live. From Tuesday all foreign nationals, including from the European Union, who want to work in the UK from 1 January will have to apply online for a visa. Those seeking a skilled worker visa will need a job offer, to be proficient in English and earn at least £25,600. Free movement from and to the EU will come to an end on 31 December. The UK left the EU on 31 January but has been largely following its rules…

On June 24th, the University of Calgary leadership team published its response to an open letter, dated June 9th, from hundreds of students, alumni, and faculty. The original letter had called on the university to make a series of anti-racist statements, and commit to a series of actions to address racism on campus. The specific statements and actions were helpfully catalogued in the open letter. While the university president declined to give details on his plan of action, he declared in his June 24th response that “it is no longer adequate to simply not be racist, it is time to be anti-racist”; and…

Despite a detainer lodged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Santa Clara County Jail officials released a known criminal alien back in the community who went on to kill two people, according to ICE. Fernando De Jesus Lopez-Garcia had a significant criminal history spanning nearly 15 years — a history including convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, battery of an officer, battery of a spouse, inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, and vandalism — when officials in Santa Clara County Jail released the dangerous illegal alien back on to the streets. ICE’s Pacific Enforcement Response Center lodged an…

Peering down from their balconies at the luxury Waikiki hotel, more than a thousand migrants gaze out towards the sea that carried them on their desperate journey fleeing Africa. Their rickety fishing boats lie piled up on docksides waiting to be scrapped. Smashed hulls still bob in the water, a reminder of the eight lives claimed this week off Lanzarote as hundreds more migrants reached Spain’s Canary Islands. The survivors’ safety in hotel accommodation amid the sprawling resorts of southern Gran Canaria is testament to local islanders’ proud benevolence. But generosity is running thin as tempers fray amid a growing…

The region was already a challenging place for many of its 550 million children, but the pandemic has intensified many of the crises they face – and created new ones. About half may be going hungry. The well-being of children in sub-Saharan Africa is under siege from all directions since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region is now suffering its first-ever economic recession, pushing about 50 million people into extreme poverty, a majority of whom are children. This would be the largest single year change ever recorded in either absolute or percentage terms – and by a wide…

The 2021 Humanitarian Response Plan lays out how more than 120 partners aim to assist the most vulnerable people in addition to the efforts already being undertaken by the Government. The well-being of children in sub-Saharan Africa is under siege from all directions since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region is now suffering its first-ever economic recession, pushing about 50 million people into extreme poverty, a majority of whom are children. This would be the largest single year change ever recorded in either absolute or percentage terms – and by a wide margin. The total number of extreme…

An analysis finds that based on the self-reports by African countries, the region has an average score of 33% readiness for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, which is well below the desired benchmark of 80%. As the race to find a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is showing increasing promise, a new World Health Organization (WHO) analysis finds that Africa is far from ready for what will be the continent’s largest ever immunisation drive. All 47 countries in the WHO African Region have received WHO’s Vaccine Readiness Assessment Tool which is intended to be used by Ministries of Health, with support from…

Save the Children spoke to parents who had been forced to leave the camps. They told harrowing accounts of finding unexploded bombs and corpses in buildings and under rubble in areas they now live in. Thousands of children and their families are forced to live in badly damaged houses in abandoned areas with unexploded bombs, dead bodies and rubble, after the sudden closure of several camps for displaced people in Iraq, Save the Children has witnessed. Save the Children teams spoke to parents who had been forced to leave the camps. They told harrowing accounts of finding unexploded bombs and…

In eastern Sudan, UNHCR continues to ramp up its relief effort together with Sudan’s Commission on Refugees and local authorities amidst complex logistical challenges. Since the start of fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region in early November, more than 43,000 refugees have crossed into Sudan seeking protection and shelter. Even before this influx the country was hosting nearly one million refugees, mainly from South Sudan. Grandi will review UNHCR operations in support of the government-led response to the latest influx. He is also scheduled to meet with refugees. In eastern Sudan, UNHCR continues to ramp up its relief effort together…

Football icon Diego Maradona has died. Considered one of the greatest players ever, Maradona was known for far more than his infamous ‘Hand of God’ incident. The 60-year-old had recently struggled with health issues. Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona has died at the age of 60, his lawyer announced Wednesday. According to those in his circle, Maradona suffered a heart attack at his home in the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Wednesday. Earlier this month, Maradona left hospital having undergone surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain, with his lawyer, Matias Morla, saying it was a “miracle” that the…