Hundreds of international students will be able to take up their promised places after negotiations between the Home Office and University College London ended with the government granting extra visas. Hundreds of students, many from China, had been left in limbo after UCL underestimated the demand for places this year and exceeded its allocation of confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) electronic documents allowed by the Home Office. UCL issued an apology to those affected, telling them it was “extremely sorry for the disruption and uncertainty”, and offering to pay…
Category: The Guardian
Mount Everest rescue under way after snowstorm traps nearly 1,000 people
Rescue efforts are under way on Mount Everest after a snowstorm trapped nearly 1,000 people in campsites on the eastern side of the mountain, according to Chinese state media. Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a blizzard near the eastern face of the mountain in Tibet were guided to safety by rescuers on Sunday, as unusually heavy precipitation including rain pummelled the Himalayas. As of Sunday, 350 people had reached the small township of Qudang, while contact with the remaining 200-plus trekkers had been made, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. Visitors…
China threatened to retaliate against UK over foreign influence rules
China threatened to retaliate against the UK government if ministers targeted parts of its security apparatus under foreign influence rules, the Guardian can disclose. Chinese officials warned the Foreign Office that the move would have negative consequences for relations soon after the Guardian reported it was under consideration, according to two government sources with knowledge of the discussions. The disclosure will raise alarm bells given that ministers have so far refused to apply stricter foreign influence rules on lobbyists acting for China or any part of the Chinese state. Only…
Badenoch says her migration plan ‘credible’, but won’t say where 150,000 people a year being removed will go – UK politics live
From 3h ago Badenoch says her migration plan ‘credible’, but won’t say where 150,000 people a year being removed will go Badenoch is now being asked about her removals plan. Asked where she would deport 150,000 a year to, Badenoch says “not here”. They do not belong here. They are committing crimes. They are hurting people. We have been trying to deport so many people and have been facing obstacles in the legal system. That’s why we’re leaving the ECHR … I’m tired of us asking asking all of these…
Ukraine war briefing: China providing Russia with intelligence on missile targets, Ukrainian official claims
China is providing intelligence to Russia to enable Moscow to better launch missile strikes inside Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian intelligence official has said. Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Agency official Oleh Alexandrov told the state news agency Ukrinform that China was passing on satellite intelligence on targets, including those benefiting from foreign investment. “There is evidence of a high level of cooperation between Russia and China in conducting satellite reconnaissance of the territory of Ukraine in order to identify and further explore strategic objects for targeting,” he said. “As we have seen…
Watchdog cleared ex-Tory minister to work for offshoot of firm linked to China surveillance
A government watchdog advised a former minister that he could work with a subsidiary of a company linked to Chinese surveillance technology, the Guardian can reveal. Richard Fuller, who served as economic secretary to the Treasury in the governments of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, wrote to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) before joining Investcorp Securities as an advisory board member in 2023. Fuller, 63, is now shadow chief secretary to the Treasury and is due to speak at several events at the Conservative party’s annual conference, which…
Starmer on horns of dilemma over China’s seven-year mega-embassy saga
In 2018, a prime piece of real estate near the Tower of London that was once home to a Cistercian abbey and later became the historic manufacturing site for British coins was sold to the Chinese government. The £255m deal, brokered by Eddie Lister, one of Boris Johnson’s closest aides, provided China with a site to build a new diplomatic complex stretching across 20,000 square metres. China’s then ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, expressed hopes that the deal would “write a new chapter for a China-UK golden era”. But over the seven…
China remembers ‘guiding light’ Jane Goodall’s wildlife conservation work
Jane Goodall has been remembered as a “guiding light” in China, with hundreds of millions of people paying tribute online to the conservationist who died this week, aged 91. The British primatologist and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute was well known in China, and her research and findings were ubiquitous in Chinese educational materials, which listed her among “women of achievement” in text books. Her institute’s flagship Roots and Shoots environmental education programme worked with more than 1,000 schools across the country, and over nearly 30 years it trained…
Is TikTok about to go full Maga? – podcast
Last week, Donald Trump signed an executive order approving a proposed deal to keep TikTok operating in the US. The $14bn deal, if finalised, would see the transfer of TikTok’s US operation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to a consortium which includes the American billionaires Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder, and Rupert Murdoch, as well as two investment firms with known ties to the Trump administration. “It’s owned by Americans, and very sophisticated Americans,” Trump said while signing the order. “This is going to be American-operated all the way.” His…
China’s reported BHP iron ore ban has wide-ranging ramifications. Here’s what to know
China, via a state-run enterprise, has reportedly banned its steel manufacturers from buying iron ore from Australian mining giant BHP, amid a strategic bid by Beijing to reduce prices of the crucial steel-making commodity. While it is a commercial dispute, the fight has wide-ranging political ramifications, given the threat to Australia’s biggest export, valued at more than $100bn a year, and the possibility Canberra is drawn deeper into the fight. Even if the impasse is resolved promptly, it could prove to be a foreshock that warns of an economic earthquake…