Latest news with #familyReunion
The National
a day ago
- General
- The National
Gaza boy's bone marrow transplant brings family together in UAE
Twelve-year-old Oday Jedba's rare immune disorder led to his evacuation from Gaza to the UAE, where a bone marrow transplant from his sister saved his life and reunited his family after months of separation.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Chris Eubank Sr reveals secret plan to be with his son last weekend
Chris Eubank Sr has revealed the secret plan behind his surprise appearance on Saturday before his son's fight against Conor Benn. The elder Eubank, speaking on his YouTube channel 'Call Chris Eubank', said that he had spoken on the phone with his estranged son the night before the match after a period of had been reported widely in the runup to the match, which saw the sons of Eubank Sr and his arch-rival Nigel Benn meet in the ring, that the two Eubanks were not speaking. However, Eubank Sr now says that he was always going to be at the fight, underlined by his contacting his son the night before. Eubank Sr said: 'At 20.10 on Friday night, I sent him a message. The message said, 'Call me when you're in private, please.' At maybe 22.10, I got a call back.' He continued: 'Junior called me and said, 'I didn't want to call because I don't want to hear anything negative.' I said, 'Where are you?'' How the Eubanks made up before the Conor Benn fight Eubank Sr said then that he went in disguise to his son's hotel, sneaking past the world's media in order so that the pair could talk. He said: 'We went up to the room, and we sat and spoke. My words to him were: 'What do you want me to do, son? This is your show, your gig.'' According to his father, Eubank Jr replied that many elements of the ringwalk would have to be adjusted, with only the planned orchestra remaining. There was a palpable roar from the crowd when Eubank Sr first appeared on screen on Saturday, exiting the car with his son at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As the car door swung open, he appeared with a grin on his face. The commentators said that it may have been the moment of the year in boxing. Once in the ring, despite their once-intense rivalry, the senior Eubank and Benn hugged and smiled as their sons prepared to face each other. Who designed Chris Eubank Sr's coat? The former world champion also revealed that the distinctive dark-brown leather coat he wore on the night had been gifted to him twenty-five years before by Vivienne Westwood. She had given him the coat, he said, after he modelled for her in Milan at some point in the late 1990s. He continued: 'That's a very special coat, not just because of who gave it to me, but of how and why it was given to me. She said to me, 'I can't give it to you because it's my husband's. But then she surprised me when I was leaving by giving it to me.' The coat, he said, had royal ties. Eubank, it seems, considers himself to be a king. 'If you go back to the late 1800s,' he explained, 'you will find it was the Tsars or kings who wore this type of garment. Was it an accident that I happened to be wearing a king's cloak?'
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Mahmoud Khalil permitted to hold newborn son for the first time despite objections from government
Detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was allowed to hold his one-month-old son for the first time Thursday after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration's efforts to keep the father and infant separated by a plexiglass barrier. The visit came ahead of a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University graduate who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since March 8. He was first person to be arrested under President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on protesters against the war in Gaza and is one of the few who has remained in custody as his case winds its way through both immigration and federal court. His request to attend his son's April 21 birth was denied last month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The question of whether Khalil would be permitted to hold his newborn child or forced to meet him through a barrier had sparked days of legal fighting, triggering claims by Khalil's attorneys that he is being subject to political retaliation by the government. On Wednesday night, a federal judge in New Jersey, Michael Farbiarz, intervened, allowing the meeting to go forward Thursday morning, according to Khalil's attorneys. The judge's order came after federal officials said this week they would oppose his attorney's effort to secure what's known as 'contact visit' between Khalil, his wife Noor Abdalla and their son Deen. Instead, they said Khalil could be allowed a 'non-contact' visit, meaning he would be separated from his wife and son by a plastic divider and not allowed to touch them. 'Granting Khalil this relief of family visitation would effectively grant him a privilege that no other detainee receives,' Justice Department officials wrote in a court filing on Wednesday. 'Allowing Dr. Abdalla and a newborn to attend a legal meeting would turn a legal visitation into a family one.' Brian Acuna, acting director of the ICE field office in New Orleans, said in an accompanying affidavit that it would be 'unsafe to allow Mr. Khalil's wife and newborn child into a secured part of the facility.' In their own legal filings, Khalil's attorneys described the government's refusal to grant the visit as 'further evidence of the retaliatory motive behind Mr. Khalil's arrest and faraway detention,' adding that his wife and son were 'the farthest thing from a security risk.' They noted that Abdalla had traveled nearly 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) to the remote detention center in hopes of introducing their son to his father. 'This is not just heartless,' Abdalla said of the government's position. 'It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse. And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prisons and bombs, denied dignity, denied life.' Farbiarz is currently considering Khalil's petition for release as he appeals a Louisiana immigration judge's ruling that he can be deported from the country. Federal authorities have not accused Khalil of a crime, but have sought to deport him on the basis that his prominent role in protests against Israel's war in Gaza may have undermined U.S. foreign policy interests. Khalil is scheduled to appear before that immigration judge, Jamee Comans, for a routine hearing on Thursday. Attorneys for Khalil said it was unclear whether the baby would be permitted to attend the hearing.
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Husband fears missing childbirth due to Labour's new English proficiency test
A couple fear they will be unable to be together for the birth of their first child due to Labour's plan to increase the standard of English proficiency required before people can enter the UK. The plans are contained in the new immigration white paper that introduces a new English language requirement across a broader range of immigration routes for both main applicants and dependants, including an assessment of improvements over time. Elen Soghomonyan, 23, and her husband Dmitri Piliposyan, 25, married in January 2022. Soghomonyan is a British citizen, born and raised in the UK, who graduated from Royal Holloway University of London in law with criminology and hopes to train as a barrister. She is of Armenian heritage, and the couple married in Armenia as Piliposyan does not have permission to come to the UK. Soghomonyan, who is 11 weeks pregnant, travels to Armenia every couple of months to see her husband. However, although Home Office officials say Piliposyan meets the entry criteria in terms of the couple's relationship and the income requirement he has not passed the English test. He and his wife say this is because he has been diagnosed with diffuse sclerosis, a condition that causes fatigue, weakness in his legs and an inability to concentrate and memorise things. The department rejected a request from his lawyer for an exemption from the English test requirement due to his medical condition, saying that the case does not meet the 'exceptional circumstances' measure for an exemption. The couple are appealing against the refusal. When they heard the announcement on Monday about the government's plan to introduce a higher bar for English proficiency they were both devastated. Soghomonyan said: 'My husband has tried to pass the English exam a few times but his medical condition got in the way. The announcement that they are making the English requirement harder made me feel very angry and disappointed. It is just unfair and is no way for us to build a civilised marriage. It is very difficult for us to be apart from each other.' She said that she and her husband speak every day on the phone and sometimes have WhatsApp video call connecting them while they're sleeping as a substitute for being physically together. 'The whole visa application process with the Home Office has caused me anxiety and depression, something I never previously experienced,' said Soghomonyan. 'I never had any mental health issues before but this whole situation with the Home Office has turned my world around completely one million per cent. I don't even know if my husband will be with me when I give birth.' Piliposyan said: 'Just when I think I am getting closer to live with my wife, the Home Office add another hurdle. I have always dreamt of creating my own family life, but the Home Office has built the wall in front of us. I am truly devastated. The most valuable person in my life is my wife and I find it difficult to be without her. She paints my life with beautiful colours.' The couple's solicitor, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, said: 'A British citizen, born and raised in the UK, is being forced to live apart from her husband. He has been diagnosed with a disability, but despite clear medical evidence, the application for an exemption from the English test requirement was denied. 'Under the government's new white paper, English language requirements will be expanded, making it even harder for families to reunite or settle – especially those affected by disability. What kind of system denies a British citizen the right to choose their life partner? What kind of fairness is this?' The Home Office has been approached for comment.
Al Jazeera
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
US-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander reunites with family after release
NewsFeed US-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander reunites with family after release Video from the Israeli military showed the moment of US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander reuniting with his family after Hamas released him from captivity in Gaza.
