Pak students being granted British visa after telephone interview only

October 21st, 2009 BEIJING - China has strongly condemned Japan's decision to issue a visa to Uygur separatist Rebiya Kadeer. "We have exchanged views with the Japan side on the issue and we express strong dissatisfaction that Japan has granted Kadeer the entry to facilitate her separatism activities despite China's severe objection," the China Daily quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, as saying at a news briefing yesterday.

October 6th, 2009 LONDON - The raging row between Pakistan and Britain on the issue of delay in issuing visas to Pakistanis by the British authorities is expected to overshadow the anti-terror talks between both countries when the British Secretary for Home Affairs Alan Johnson meets Pakistani political leaders in Islamabad. Johnson, who arrived in Islamabad along with Defence Secretary Bob Iansworth on Monday, would meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other leaders to discuss several other issues apart from the visa row.

October 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - British Secretary for Home Affairs Alan Johnson would be arriving in Islamabad on Monday (October 5) to meet Pakistan Foreign Ministry officials and reduce tension between both countries that has crept in due to the delay on part of Britain in issuing visas to Pakistanis. Johnson, accompanied by Defence Secretary Bob Iansworth, would meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and discuss several other issues apart from the visa issue.

September 10th, 2009 LONDON - British anti-terror border controls were described as wholly inadequate after a newspaper revealed that only 29 out of 66,000 Pakistani immigration applicants were interviewed by British officials. Visa checks on immigrants from Pakistan were condemned as a sham after the Daily Mail said official figures showed that just 29 out of 66,000 applicants were interviewed by officials since Britain put in place a supposedly rigorous system last October.

September 10th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan-based terrorists are exploiting Britain's shoddy visa system to come to the country. Pakistan is considered by Britain as the No.1 base for Islamic extremists brainwashing potential terrorists.

August 3rd, 2009 LAHORE - A large number of Pakistani students still seek admission in universities abroad and their preferred destination remains the UK, even after they were held and deported by British law enforcement agencies. Nine Pakistani students were held by the agency in the UK on suspicion of terrorism and later released and deported without being charged.

July 19th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australia sure is going all out to win back the confidence of Indians, specially students, after the spate of attacks on members of the community in the past few months. Immigration Minister Chris Evans is the latest to head to New Delhi to promote his country as a "safe destination".

July 18th, 2009 LONDON - Britain has withdrawn deportation orders on two of the nine Pakistani students who were detained on national security grounds earlier this year. Both students, Sultan Sher and Janas Khan belong to the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan and were arrested from Leeds and Milton Keynes respectively.

July 15th, 2009 SYDNEY - Thirty-six international students, including some Indians, have been taken into immigration confinement for allegedly breaching study visa conditions in Australia. Most of the student visa holders being held are from China, but others come from Pakistan and India, The Australian reports.

July 4th, 2009 LONDON - British immigration officials in Pakistan devote just 11 minutes to scrutinize and pass a visa application in a country considered to be the hotbed of terrorism, the Telegraph has revealed. The revelation that officials are also not checking supporting evidence in thousands of applications from Pakistan and Afghanistan has fuelled security concerns.

May 3rd, 2009 UK woman in Laos could go on trial MondayLONDON — A pregnant British woman who faces death by firing squad if she is convicted of drug smuggling could go on trial in Laos as early as Monday, a human rights group said Sunday. Samantha Orobator, 23, has been in jail in Laos since August, when she was accused of trying to smuggle just over half a kilogram (1.1 pounds) of heroin in her luggage.

April 10th, 2009 LONDON - The 10 Pakistani nationals arrested in the United Kingdom for planning to carry out terror strikes in the country may have exploited the shortcomings in the visa regime as described by a British minister as "the major loophole in Britain's border controls." This is the first time Pakistanis on student visas have been arrested on such serious charges. Sources said that the arrests of 12 men in the north west of England on Wednesday were linked to a suspected plan to launch a devastating attack this weekend.

April 10th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan has criticized Britain for its slack visa norms after it was disclosed that most of those who were nabbed during anti-terror raids in north-west of England were holding student visas. Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan said British authorities in were not doing enough to stop the illegal passage of people to the country.

March 31st, 2009 LONDON - The British government Tuesday introduced a new strict visa regime for students from outside Europe amid a 30 percent rise in the number of Indians studying in Britain. International students in Britain last year paid tuition fees worth a total of 2.5 billion pounds.

March 10th, 2009 LONDON - Troubled British singer Amy Winehouse's plans for a massive American comeback gig were shattered Sunday night after she was denied a US work visa. Mirror.co.uk reports that Winehouse was due to play at the Coachella festival, California, next month but was told her entry would be blocked because she has been charged with assaulting a fan.