Jon Sopel's wartime travails and keeping his marriage afloat
News organisations take great care before sending correspondents into a war, but this is a relatively new development. When working for the BBC, the journalist Jon Sopel was a young dad of two at the point he was suddenly told he was going to Afghanistan. He tells Travel Diaries that they didn't even give him time to get the advised three rabies jabs, and his route to the country was fatal for others. So, naturally, he had concerns, and it's hard to imagine these being dealt with now as they were then. When he told his boss that he would have to talk to his wife about the trip, Sopel's boss replied: 'Oh mate, you're only on your first marriage.'
Sir Trevor McDonald knows Sopel's
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Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The rules in the UK on allowing visitors from the 12 countries now banned by Donald Trump from entering the US
Donald Trump has dramatically banned the citizens of 12 countries from entering the US in a bid to 'protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors'. Announcing the move from the Oval Office, the president said 'we don't want 'em' before referencing a recent attack in Boulder, Colorado where 12 people were injured when an Egyptian man attacked a group gathering in support of Israeli hostages. The ban, which is set to begin on June 9, will apply to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Those from another seven countries - Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela - will be hit by a partial ban. Citizens from all these nations are still allowed to travel to the UK, so what hoops do they have to jump through to come here? In most cases, anyone wishing to travel to Britain from all 19 countries would need to apply for a visa. These are categorised by the purpose they are intended for, including work, study, leisure visits, or joining family, with different rules for each. Most long-term visas require applicants to provide a copy of their passport and documents proving their work status and access to finances. Home Office workers will check each applicant's eligibility for the visa and whether their application is accurate and complies with official requirements. Background checks may also be carried out, although the exact nature of these is unclear. Visa applications are generally refused if they are found to be incomplete, inaccurate, or the applicant has a history of immigration violations. There is also the option to bar people from the UK - such as hate preachers - if their presence is deemed 'not conducive to the public good'. Specific criminal record checks are only required to obtain work visas for specific jobs, including teaching and medical roles. Some additional requirements, such as tests for diseases like Tuberculosis for citizens from countries like Equatorial Guinea. It costs £524 to apply for a student visa from outside the UK, in addition to a £776 immigration health surcharge. Some 192,000 visas were granted to main applicants in all work categories in the year ending March 2025, 39 per cent down on the previous 12 months. However, that was still 40 per cent more than in 2019. Most UK visa applicants have to present their visa documents at a UK visa application centre in their home country. However, Afghans are required to go to a neighbouring country as there are no functioning centres in Taliban-governed Afghanistan. Aside from applying through a mainstream visa route, there are also two special schemes open to Afghans who have worked with the UK Government or those seen as particularly vulnerable, such as LGBT people. Afghanistan is the second most common country of origin for UK asylum claimants, many of whom arrive in small boats. They are only able to apply for asylum after arriving on UK soil, after which they will be screened by an immigration officer and told to wait until their application is either accepted or refused. It is during this waiting period that asylum seekers are often put up in taxpayer-funded hotels. One notable absence from Mr Trump's ban list was Egypt - where the Boulder terror suspect came from. Mohamed Soliman was residing in the US illegally with his wife and five children when he allegedly firebombed pro-Israel demonstrators, injuring 12 of them. Mr Trump has raised the possibility that Egypt could be added onto his no-fly list. 'We don't want 'em,' he said bluntly in a video released shortly after the ban was announced. 'Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen.' Mr Trump said he hopes their efforts will 'confirm the adequacy of its current screening and vetting capabilities.' He said the tragedy in Boulder 'underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted. 'We've seen one terror attack after another from foreign visa overstayers... thanks to Biden's open door policies today there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.' Several of the nations facing bans have been targeted because their screening and vetting capabilities are not up to the president's standards, putting Egypt on high alert. Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Sudan and Yemen were all placed on the banned list in part due to limited screening and vetting measures, Trump noted. White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson wrote on X: 'President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm. 'These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information. 'President Trump will ALWAYS act in the best of interest of the American people and their safety.'
Sky News
41 minutes ago
- Sky News
Trump signs travel ban targeting 12 countries with 'hostile attitudes' to the US
Donald Trump has signed an order banning people from 12 countries from entering the US. He said Sunday's attack in Colorado had shown "the extreme dangers" of "foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come as temporary visitors and overstay their visas". "We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm," the president said. The countries affected are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The White House said some had a "significant terrorist presence" and accused others of poor screening for dangerous individuals and not accepting deportees. People from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela will face partial restrictions. Mr Trump's proclamation said America must ensure people entering don't have "hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles" - and don't support terror groups. The move echoes a controversial and chaotic order enacted eight years ago during his first term, when he banned people from predominately Muslim countries. The countries initially targeted then were Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. President Trump said on Thursday that policy was a "key part of preventing major foreign terror attacks on American soil". His new list notably removes Syria after Mr Trump met its leader recently on a trip to the Middle East. Athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics will also be exempt, as will others such as permanent US residents and Afghans with special immigrant visas. Trump cites 'what happened in Europe' to justify new ban US correspondent @skydavidblevins President Trump hailed travel restrictions imposed during his first term as "one of our most successful policies". It was also one of the most controversial, with what became known as "the Muslim ban" sparking widespread protest. Thousands gathered at US airports to oppose the detainment of travellers arriving from affected countries. The then German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the fight against terrorism didn't justify suspicion of people based on their faith. Her French counterpart at the time, President Hollande, warned against the dangers of isolationism. Still smarting perhaps from that criticism, Trump announced his new ban with a commitment to "not let what happened in Europe happen to America". In addition to restrictions on 12 countries and partial restrictions on another seven, he warned others could be added as "threats emerge around the world". In a second proclamation, the US president escalated his war with Harvard University, suspending international visas for new students and authorising the secretary of state to consider revoking existing ones. Having blamed Joe Biden for "millions and millions" of "illegals" in America, he issued a third proclamation ordering an investigation into the use of autopen during Biden's presidency. In a memorandum, President Trump claimed his predecessor's aides used autopen to sign bills in a bid to cover up his cognitive decline. If we didn't know what the Trump administration meant when they talked about "flooding the zone", we know now. The list was put together after the president asked homeland security officials and the director of national intelligence to compile a report on countries whose citizens could pose a threat. The ban takes effect from 9 June - but countries could be removed or added. The proclamation states it will be reviewed within 90 days, and every 180 days after, to decide if it should be "continued, terminated, modified, or supplemented". President Trump's first travel restrictions in 2017 were criticised by opponents and human rights groups as a "Muslim ban". It led to some chaotic scenes, including tourists, students and business travellers prevented from boarding planes - or being held at US airports when they landed. Mr Trump denied it was Islamophobic despite calling for a ban on Muslims entering America in his first presidential campaign. The ban faced legal challenges and was modified until the Supreme Court upheld a third version in June 2018, calling it "squarely within the scope of presidential authority".
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Trump live: President signs travel ban on 12 countries with ‘hostile attitudes' to US
President Donald Trump has signed a new travel ban restricting travel to the U.S. from 19 countries with 'hostile attitudes' or a 'significant terrorist presence,' a policy reminiscent of the deeply controversial 'Muslim travel ban' he introduced during his first term. Effective June 9, travel will be fully restricted from 12 nations: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partial restrictions will apply to seven others: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Issuing the presidential proclamation via a video statement on Wednesday, Trump cited Sunday's firebomb attack on peaceful protesters in Boulder, Colorado, by a man alleged to be an Egyptian citizen in the country on an expired visa, as justification for the ban, saying Americans face 'extreme danger' from foreign nationals 'who are not properly vetted.' Lawful permanent residents, athletes traveling for the World Cup and Olympics and those who have already been granted asylum or refugee status are among the limited exceptions to the restrictions. Others with immediate family member visas, dual citizenship with a non-restricted passport and United Nations and Nato visas are also exempt.
