LONDON  –  Ukrainians can again bring their children to join them in the UK, after the government reversed changes to visa rules. Last February – without notice – the government restricted eligibility so Ukrainians without the right to live in the UK permanently could no longer sponsor people under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which allows people to host those fleeing the war. Charities said this left families torn apart, with some desperate parents resorting to illegal routes to bring their children to the UK. They welcomed the announcement as a “huge relief” for parents separated from their children but warned it will not help those forced apart from other family members such as siblings or parents. More than 190,000 people have come to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme since it was launched in March 2022, following the Russian invasion.

However, under changes brought in last February under the Conservatives, only British or Irish citizens, or those with the right to live in the UK permanently, have been able to act as sponsors, who provide somewhere for people to live. This meant Ukrainians living in the UK without permanent residence could no longer sponsor family members to join them in the UK. At the same time the Ukraine Family Scheme, which allowed Ukrainians to join family members who already had permanent residence in the UK, was also closed. The government has now announced a parent or legal guardian who is in the UK under any of the visa schemes for Ukrainians can apply to sponsor their child under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Valentyna – not her real name – applied for her 12-year-old son to join her in the UK last August but her application had remained pending because Ukrainians were no longer allowed to act as sponsors. She first came to the UK before the invasion for seasonal work on a farm and extended her visa when the war broke out.

Her son was staying with relatives in Odessa while she found somewhere permanent to live before applying for him to join her. Valentyna has not seen her son for six months and became emotional when asked how it felt to be separated from him. She told the BBC the change in the rules gave her hope they would finally be reunited.

Dora-Olivia Vicol, chief executive of Work Rights Centre, a charity supporting migrants, said: “It will come as a huge relief to those parents who have been separated from their children, and will finally be able to bring them to the UK to reunite in safety.” She added: “However, this action does not help those who have been forced apart from other family members, including siblings, parents or partners. “We know there are many Ukrainians in the UK who left behind elderly, sick or disabled relatives with the belief they would be able to bring them later. They face a cruel choice: leave the safety of the UK to care for them in Ukraine, or remain in safety leaving their loved ones vulnerable at risk.”

The charity says it has heard from hundreds of Ukrainians separated from family members and trying to bring them to the UK. Settled, another charity which supports Ukrainians applying for visas, said some families had resorted to bringing their children to join them through illegal routes, rather than leave them in danger. (BBC/Getty Images)

BEKAA VALLEY  –  At least two people have been killed after Israel launched a wave of attacks on Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in its latest breach of a fragile ceasefire agreement with the Hezbollah group. The Israeli army said on that Friday it struck “multiple” Hezbollah targets in the area near the border with Syria in the east, as tensions escalated following its extension of a recent deadline for removing its troops from the country. The army claimed that the sites it targeted in the overnight attack include “underground infrastructure used to develop and manufacture weaponry” and sites on the border used to “smuggle weaponry into Lebanon”. Later on Friday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that two people were killed and 10 wounded in the attack.

Hezbollah official Ibrahim Moussawi condemned the air raids, calling them “a very dangerous violation and a blatant and explicit aggression”, calling on Lebanon to halt Israel’s continued attacks. Israel was supposed to complete its army’s withdrawal from Lebanon by January 26 under a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah agreed last November. However, it refused to do so and the deadline was then extended to February 18. Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese army is to deploy in the south as Hezbollah pulls its forces back north of the Litani River, some 30km (20 miles) from the border. Israel made clear it had no intention of meeting the deadline, claiming that the Lebanese army had not fulfilled its side of the bargain.

In the two months from November 27 to Monday, Israel killed at least 83 people in Lebanon, according to data obtained from Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. At least 228 were also injured as displaced residents tried to return to villages where Israeli soldiers remain stationed. Earlier this week, as thousands of people in Lebanon tried to return to their homes, Israeli forces killed at least 24 in southern Lebanon.

This week, Lebanese media reported repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement by the Israeli military, including attacks on the town of Taybeh and village of Kfar Kila, both on the border with Israel. The most recent drone attack injured at least five people in the southern Lebanese town of Majdal Selem last Wednesday, the Reuters news agency reported. From the beginning of the conflict on October 8, 2023 to November 26, 2024, Israeli forces killed at least 3,961 people across Lebanon and injured more than 16,520. (Al Jazeera/AFP)

NEW YORK  –  Prosecutors in New York have expanded their case against rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, accusing him of coercing two additional women into commercial sex acts, and of dangling a person over an apartment balcony. Combs has been in jail since September after an initial indictment charged him with racketeering, sex trafficking by force, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Last Thursday, the indictment was updated to add two more victims, although no new charges were added to the case. The musician, 55, has strenuously denied all the accusations against him, including the federal criminal case and more than 30 separate civil lawsuits. In response to the superseding indictment, his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said the prosecution’s case “remains flawed”.

“The government has added the ridiculous theory that two of Mr Combs’s former girlfriends were not girlfriends at all, but were prostitutes. Mr Combs is as committed as ever to fighting these charges and winning at trial.” The original indictment identified only one victim, named in court documents as “Victim-1”, whose accusations aligned closely to those of Cassandra Ventura – the singer who sued Combs for rape and sex trafficking in 2023. In the new filing, prosecutors allege that Combs “used force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims, including but not limited to three female victims” to engage in commercial sex acts. That alleged violence was vividly illustrated in a video of the musician kicking, dragging and throwing a vase at Ms Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. In the new indictment, prosecutors claim that “Combs, with the assistance of several close associates, paid hotel security staff USD100,000” for the footage. However, it was leaked to CNN last year. Combs later said he was “disgusted” by the footage and had sought “professional help” after the incident.

Ms Ventura said the violence she had experienced “broke me down to someone I never thought I’d become”.

The updated indictment signals that federal prosecutors are widening their case against Combs as his trial date in May approaches. A footnote to the document notes that their investigation is ongoing and that further updates will be filed “as promptly as possible” ahead of the trial. Amongst the new developments, prosecutors have moved the alleged start date of Combs’ sex trafficking offences back to 2004, four years earlier than previously stated. They have also expanded the list of narcotics the musician allegedly used to keep his victims “obedient and silent” – adding methamphetamine and psychedelic mushrooms to the previously cited cocaine, oxycodone and ketamine. The accusation that Combs dangled a woman from a balcony mirrors a claim made in a civil lawsuit filed by fashion designer Bryana “Bana” Bongolan last December. Prosecutors also added a claim that Combs had assaulted not just women but also “his employees, witnesses to his abuse and others”. The musician’s legal team has previously dismissed the charges against him as “baseless” and accused the government of conducting a “witch hunt.” (BBC/Getty Images)

District Commissioner Josta Lewis on Monday informed the people from Kabalebo that three village chiefs have applied for a lumber permit. The villagers who strongly objected to this made it clear that they want to live freely and that it is unacceptable for three people to have the final say regarding the local lumber sector. They pointed out that there are no trees left in the Amerindian villages and that they are therefore puzzled by the applications that were filed by the chiefs from Apoera, Section and Washabo.

The villagers also pointed out that the village chiefs should apply for a lumber permit to cut down trees outside of the tribal regions. If they are granted the lumber permits to cut down trees on tribal land, they will make decisions without having to consult the villagers and local citizens. The villagers have asked DC Lewis to put a  freeze on the current applications for a lumber permit that were filed by the village chiefs.

The three village chiefs who have ended their collaboration with DC Lewis had reportedly urged the villagers to steer clear from the meeting that had been organized by DC Lewis.

Former village chief Lewis who also attended the meeting expressed his support for the DC. Meanwhile the Association of Village Chiefs in Suriname (VIDS) claimed that the village chiefs from Apoera, Section and Washabo had filed an application to use the lumber permit to establish a community forest in order to protect the communities of  Apoera, Section and Washabo. The VIDS also urged the central government and the DC to refrain from giving green light to activities that threaten the way of life of the people in  Apoera, Section and Washabo. “The activities that were already greenlighted must be halted,” said the VIDS before adding that it would closely monitor all of the developments in the western region of Suriname.