US suspends visa processing in Zimbabwe, embassy says
'We have paused routine visa services in Harare while we address concerns with the government of Zimbabwe,' the embassy said in a post on X. It said the move was not a travel ban and that current visas would remain valid.
The government of the Southern African country did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The pause took effect on August 7, according to a notice on the US state department's website, which said it applied to all visa services with the exception of most diplomatic and official visas.
US President Donald Trump's administration has restricted travel from a number of African countries, saying it is working to prevent visa overstaying and misuse.
Zimbabwe had a visa overstay rate of 10.57% in 2023, according to a US department of homeland security report.
Starting this week, the US will require visa applicants from Zambia and Malawi to pay bonds of up to $15,000 for some visitor visas. The Trump administration has also paused visa processing in Niger.
Harare resident Angella Chirombo said her 18-year-old son had received a scholarship to do his bachelor's degree at Michigan State University and had been waiting for a visa interview when the pause hit.
'He was supposed to be in school already. I paid for everything else and was waiting for the visa so I could buy tickets,' she told Reuters.
She said other parents were considering booking interviews at other US embassies in Southern Africa, but that she wouldn't be able to afford the travel.
'Now they are saying we can go to Zambia and Namibia. I don't even have money right now and I don't know where to get this money. They are so many students that have been affected.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TimesLIVE
3 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Russia attacks important Ukrainian gas compressor station, say sources
Russia attacked a gas compressor station in eastern Ukraine that is important for getting gas into storage facilities for the winter heating season, two industry sources said on Thursday, part of an escalation of such strikes despite a US peace push. Ukraine has faced a serious gas shortage since Russian missile strikes earlier this year significantly reduced domestic production. In recent weeks, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian gas production and import infrastructure in spite of efforts by US President Donald Trump to end the conflict. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, but says energy systems and other infrastructure are legitimate targets because they help Ukraine's war effort. According to one of the sources, the compressor station attacked by Russia overnight ensures the delivery of gas from Ukrainian fields in the east of the country to storage facilities in the west where it is held for winter heating. The Ukrainian energy ministry said only that one of the country's gas infrastructure facilities had come under Russian attack overnight and that the damage caused was being assessed. "Yes, it affects gas injection," one of the sources said.
eNCA
3 hours ago
- eNCA
Trump hails 'total victory' as US court quashes $464 mn civil penalty
WASHINGTON - A US court threw out Thursday a $464 million civil penalty against President Donald Trump imposed by a judge who found he fraudulently inflated his personal worth, calling the sum "excessive" but upholding the judgment against him. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled against Trump in February 2024 at the height of his campaign to retake the White House, which coincided with several active criminal prosecutions that the Republican slammed as "lawfare." "It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before," Trump said on his Truth Social platform Thursday, adding that "everything I did was absolutely CORRECT and, even, PERFECT." When Engoron originally ruled against Trump, he ordered the mogul-turned-politician to pay $464 million, including interest, while his sons Eric and Don Jr. were told to hand over more than $4 million each. The judge found that Trump and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms. Alongside the financial hit to Trump, the judge also banned him from running businesses for three years, which the president repeatedly referred to as a "corporate death penalty." On Thursday, five judges of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court upheld the verdict, but ruled that the size of the fine was "excessive" and that it "violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution." The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive or cruel punishments and penalties. - 'Massive win! - State Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the initial case, could now appeal to the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals. Following the initial verdict, Trump subsequently sought to challenge the civil ruling as well as the scale and terms of the penalty, which has continued to accrue interest while he appeals. He repeatedly condemned the case and the penalty as politically motivated. His son Don Jr. termed the appellate court ruling a "massive win!!!" "New York Appeals Court has just THROWN OUT President Trump's $500+ Million civil fraud penalty! It was always a witch hunt, election interference, and a total miscarriage of justice... and even a left leaning NY appeals court agrees! NO MORE LAWFARE!" he wrote on X. During hearings, conducted without a jury under state law, Trump accused then-president Joe Biden of driving the case, calling it "weaponization against a political opponent who's up a lot in the polls." As the case was civil, not criminal, there was no threat of imprisonment. Trump's economic advisor Peter Navarro said at the White House Thursday that "James is another one that belongs in jail," referring to the New York attorney general. "The Democrats really overplayed their hand on this because they thought they could take Donald Trump out," he said.
IOL News
4 hours ago
- IOL News
Nairobi slum pageant gives platform to voiceless
Rozelda Kim (second right), 21, reacts after being named Miss Kibera 2025 on the main stage on church grounds in the Kibera informal settlement of Nairobi, last weekend. Mr. & Ms. Kibera annual pageant champions "bold voices, brilliant minds, and inspiring stories" emerging from Kibera, aiming to showcase youth leadership, resilience, and creativity in East Africa's largest urban informal settlement. A stone's throw from Kibera, Kenya's largest informal settlement, a young woman glides down a spotlit catwalk, her delicate white dress at odds with the fake blood splattered across it and the tape covering her lips reading: "Stop, silence, gender-based violence." The annual "Mr and Ms Kibera" pageant in Nairobi, gleefully attended by hundreds, is about more than just the contestants' looks -- it provides a much-needed platform for expression and protest. For many of those taking part, the cool August evening was a chance to voice support for youth-led demonstrations and freedom of speech or to condemn violence against women. Gender-based violence in the east African country has been labelled a "femicide" by activists, who have urged the government to act. Waves of anti-government demonstrations have also taken place -- the latest in June and July killing 65 people -- with rights groups alleging police brutality, a long-running issue in Kenya. At the pageant, one contestant's tank top simply read: "Stop killing us." Their speeches and protest acts are as key to their success in the contest as their appearance. Now in its 20th year, the pageant has offered scores of young people from the neighbourhood -- where many still lack clean water and regular electricity -- the chance to step out of a cycle of poverty, violence and crime. "Many people don't see anything positive coming from a slum," said founder Ben Ooko. "Yet, there are hidden gems in our community just waiting to be discovered." The pageant teaches participants how to express themselves in public and build self-confidence, he said. "We are looking at young people who are able to stand up and speak for the challenges of other young people," he added. Twenty years ago, Kepha Ngito became the first Mr Kibera. Thanks in part to a scholarship from the pageant, Ngito was able to move off the streets and is now a development consultant. Despite no longer living in Kibera, he still comes back to help young people stuck in what he calls an "environment of indignity". The pageant offers people a chance to demonstrate their potential, he said. "We want to show the world that we have our own definition of beauty and that definition is resilience," he said. Another former participant Pauline Akiniyi, 30, who took part in 2016, has gone on to open a women's shelter in Kibera. Towards the end of the evening, the winners are announced, with the crown going to 21-year-old Rozelda Kim. "It's not just a beauty pageant... It's a microphone to speak louder," she said. The nursing student will use her victory to help her community, changing perceptions about an often-maligned part of the capital. "Your social background doesn't define you," Kim said. | AFP
