political news

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he is concerned about "escalating and dangerous threats" posed to the Middle East by Israel.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri says he is concerned about "escalating and dangerous threats" posed to the Middle East by Israel.

Mr Hariri told the BBC that Israeli planes were entering Lebanese airspace every day, and he feared the prospect of another war with Israel.

He accused Israel of making a huge mistake by allegedly threatening both Lebanon and neighbouring Syria.

His comments come days after Syria and Israel exchanged hostile accusations.

The BBC's Natalia Antelava in Beirut says that while such rhetoric is hardly new, there is concern it could lead to more serious confrontation.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Hariri said: "We hear a lot of Israeli threats day in and day out, and not only threats.

"We see what's happening on the ground and in our airspace and what's happening all the time during the past two months - every day we have Israeli planes entering Lebanese airspace.

"This is something that is escalating, and this is something that is really dangerous."

Mr Hariri also said that Lebanon was united, and that the government would stand by Hezbollah - the Lebanese militant group which fought Israel in 2006.

"I think they're betting that there might be some division in Lebanon, if there is a war against us.

"Well, there won't be a division in Lebanon. We will stand against Israel. We will stand with our own people."

His comments come just days after the foreign ministers of Syria and Israel exchanged aggressive accusations, which fuelled both media speculation and public fear about what many in the region describe as the "imminent next war".

Such hostile rhetoric is hardly new to the Middle East, and yet, because calm in this is region is so fragile, many are concerned that it could lead to a more serious confrontation.

US President Barack Obama has said the US and its allies are developing a "significant regime of sanctions" against Iran for its nuclear programme.

He said the international community was unified over Iran's "misbehaviour".

Speaking in Washington, he said despite Tehran's denials, it was clear Iran was working to build nuclear weapons.

His remarks came after Iranian state media reported that Iran had started the process of enriching uranium to 20% for use in a medical research reactor.

Russian disapproval

In an unexpected appearance in the White House briefing room, Mr Obama said the US was confident the international community was "unified around Iran's misbehaviour in this area".

He said the new push for sanctions on Iran was "moving along fairly quickly" and should be completed in the next few weeks.

Mr Obama also said he was pleased at Russia's quick disapproval of Iran's latest move.

But he said it was unclear how China would respond to a new push at the UN Security Council for another round of sanctions against Iran.

China, a UN Security Council member, has called for further talks over the issue.

China and Russia have been reluctant in the past to support international sanctions against Iran.

"How China operates at the Security Council as we pursue sanctions is something we're going to have to see," Mr Obama said.

The five permanent members of the Security Council - the US, Russia, China, France and Britain - have a veto over resolutions, including sanctions.

Iran currently enriches uranium to a level of 3.5% but requires 20% enriched uranium for its research reactor, which is meant to produce medical isotopes. A bomb would require uranium enriched to at least 90%.

The US and its Western allies say Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon - a charge Iran denies.

In October, a deal brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was thought to have been struck for Iran to send its uranium to Russia and France for enrichment.

But last month, diplomats said Iran had told the IAEA that it did not accept the terms of the deal - though there have since been other, conflicting messages.

Also on Tuesday, US state department spokesman PJ Crowley said the international community was willing to help Iran secure medical isotopes from abroad.

The offer would help to "build some confidence" and show Iran that enriching uranium to 20% purity was "unnecessary", Reuters news agency quoted him saying.

Dozens of people including pro-government militia have tried to attack Italy's embassy in Iran, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini says.

Basij militia dressed as civilians hurled stones and shouted "Death to Italy" and "Death to Berlusconi", he told a senate hearing.

Iranian media said a protest took place but made no mention of violence.

Tensions have been high in Tehran since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed poll win last year.

Correspondents say the protest could be linked to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's pledge of support for Israel and his call for sanctions against Iran to be tightened, during a visit to Jerusalem last week.

Italian energy company ENI has already said it will pull out of Iran.

Italy is Iran's biggest trading partner in the European Union.

Western powers have stepped up pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme, but Tehran says it has started the process of enriching uranium to 20%.

Attendance cancelled

Speaking at a senate committee hearing on Iran, Mr Frattini said about 100 "hostile" protesters threw eggs and stones at the Tehran embassy but were prevented by police from getting inside.

There was "no significant damage", he said.

Iran's privately-owned Fars news agency said the protesters "condemned the actions of the [Italian] government in supporting seditionists and interfering in Iran's internal affairs".

Protests also took place outside the French and Dutch embassies.

Mr Frattini said Italy had cancelled its attendance on Thursday at events marking the anniversary of the Iranian revolution.

"Contacts are under way at the European level" aimed at sending a "signal of strong concern" over the incidents, he added.

Iraq and Iran have exchanged bodies of soldiers killed in the eight-year war between the two countries.

Iran handed over the remains of nine Iraqi soldiers, after Iraq gave the bodies of seven soldiers to Iran on Tuesday, according to reports.

It is the second such exchange of soldiers' remains since Saddam Hussein was ousted from power in 2003.

It is estimated that thousands of soldiers are still missing from the war, which ended in 1988.

Last year the countries signed an agreement to search for missing soldiers.

Still searching

Estimates vary but around half a million people are believed to have been killed in the war, with thousands of prisoners captured on both sides.

In 2001 Iran claimed that 213,000 Iranians were killed in the war. Iraqi estimates are uncertain; between 160,000 - 240,000 are said to have been killed.

Estimates for those Iranians and Iraqi unaccounted for are also uncertain.

In total, the International Committee of the Red Cross says it has helped repatriate some 97,000 prisoners of war (POWs) since the end of the war.

Twenty years after the end of the war, families on both sides continue to search for records of their loved ones in hospitals, morgues and police stations.

The last speaker of an ancient language in India's Andaman Islands has died at the age of about 85, a leading linguist has told the BBC.

Professor Anvita Abbi said that the death of Boa Sr was highly significant because one of the world's oldest languages - Bo - had come to an end.

She said that India had lost an irreplaceable part of its heritage.

Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa. Some may be 70,000 years old.

The islands are often called an "anthropologist's dream" and are one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world.

'Infectious'

Professor Abbi - who runs the Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese (Voga) website - explained: "After the death of her parents, Boa was the last Bo speaker for 30 to 40 years.

"She was often very lonely and had to learn an Andamanese version of Hindi in order to communicate with people.

"But throughout her life she had a very good sense of humour and her smile and full-throated laughter were infectious."

She said that Boa Sr's death was a loss for intellectuals wanting to study more about the origins of ancient languages, because they had lost "a vital piece of the jigsaw".

"It is generally believed that all Andamanese languages might be the last representatives of those languages which go back to pre-Neolithic times," Professor Abbi said.

"The Andamanese are believed to be among our earliest ancestors."

Boa Sr's case has also been highlighted by the Survival International (SI) campaign group.

"The extinction of the Bo language means that a unique part of human society is now just a memory," SI Director Stephen Corry said.

'Imported illnesses'

She said that two languages in the Andamans had now died out over the last three months and that this was a major cause for concern.

Academics have divided Andamanese tribes into four major groups, the Great Andamanese, the Jarawa, the Onge and the Sentinelese.

Professor Abbi says that all apart from the Sentinelese have come into contact with "mainlanders" from India and have suffered from "imported illnesses".

She says that the Great Andamanese are about 50 in number - mostly children - and live in Strait Island, near the capital Port Blair.

Boa Sr was part of this community, which is made up of 10 "sub-tribes" speaking at least four different languages.

The Jarawa have about 250 members and live in the thick forests of the Middle Andaman. The Onge community is also believed to number only a few hundred.

Academics have divided Andamanese tribes into four major groups, the Great Andamanese, the Jarawa, the Onge and the Sentinelese.

Professor Abbi says that all apart from the Sentinelese have come into contact with "mainlanders" from India and have suffered from "imported illnesses".

She says that the Great Andamanese are about 50 in number - mostly children - and live in Strait Island, near the capital Port Blair.

Boa Sr was part of this community, which is made up of 10 "sub-tribes" speaking at least four different languages.

The Jarawa have about 250 members and live in the thick forests of the Middle Andaman. The Onge community is also believed to number only a few hundred.

"No human contact has been established with the Sentinelese and so far they resist all outside intervention," Professor Abbi said.

It is the fate of the Great Andamanese which most worries academics, because they depend largely on the Indian government for food and shelter - and abuse of alcohol is rife.

Academics have divided Andamanese tribes into four major groups, the Great Andamanese, the Jarawa, the Onge and the Sentinelese.

Professor Abbi says that all apart from the Sentinelese have come into contact with "mainlanders" from India and have suffered from "imported illnesses".

She says that the Great Andamanese are about 50 in number - mostly children - and live in Strait Island, near the capital Port Blair.

Boa Sr was part of this community, which is made up of 10 "sub-tribes" speaking at least four different languages.

The Jarawa have about 250 members and live in the thick forests of the Middle Andaman. The Onge community is also believed to number only a few hundred.

"No human contact has been established with the Sentinelese and so far they resist all outside intervention," Professor Abbi said.

It is the fate of the Great Andamanese which most worries academics, because they depend largely on the Indian government for food and shelter - and abuse of alcohol is rife.

"No human contact has been established with the Sentinelese and so far they resist all outside intervention," Professor Abbi said.

Academics have divided Andamanese tribes into four major groups, the Great Andamanese, the Jarawa, the Onge and the Sentinelese.

Professor Abbi says that all apart from the Sentinelese have come into contact with "mainlanders" from India and have suffered from "imported illnesses".

She says that the Great Andamanese are about 50 in number - mostly children - and live in Strait Island, near the capital Port Blair.

Boa Sr was part of this community, which is made up of 10 "sub-tribes" speaking at least four different languages.

The Jarawa have about 250 members and live in the thick forests of the Middle Andaman. The Onge community is also believed to number only a few hundred.

"No human contact has been established with the Sentinelese and so far they resist all outside intervention," Professor Abbi said.

It is the fate of the Great Andamanese which most worries academics, because they depend largely on the Indian government for food and shelter - and abuse of alcohol is rife.

It is the fate of the Great Andamanese which most worries academics, because they depend largely on the Indian government for food and shelter - and abuse of alcohol is rife.

At least 17 Indian soldiers have been killed after an avalanche hit a military training camp in Indian-administered Kashmir, the army says.

Dozens of troops were rescued after the avalanche struck near Gulmarg, the region's main ski resort, about 50km (30 miles) west of Srinagar.

The army said 17 soldiers were injured. Rescue teams have returned to base.

Avalanches are common in Kashmir, but this is one of the deadliest to occur in the region in recent years.

About 400 troops were stationed at the high-altitude camp, part of which is said to have been engulfed in snow.

Tourists were unaffected by the avalanche because it happened at a higher altitude than the nearby ski resort, officials said.

'High winds'

The soldiers were on a training exercise at the Indian army's high altitude warfare school, nearly 3,000m (more than 9,000ft) above sea level in the Khelenmarg mountains.

"We have 17 dead and 17 injured. No-one is missing and rescue teams have returned to their bases," army spokesman Col Vineet Sood told the AFP news agency.

An army statement said all soldiers were out of danger.

Heavy snow, fog and high winds had hampered rescue efforts which went on for hours.

Casualty numbers rose steadily after reports of the disaster first emerged on Monday. Among the dead is at least one officer.

"It's been snowing here for the last four days," another army spokesman, Col Jagmohan Brar, told the BBC.

"We had about 70 people buried in the avalanche."

The avalanche struck close to the Line of Control, the disputed de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Avalanches and landslides occur frequently in Kashmir, often blocking roads and cutting off resorts like Gulmarg.

Last June seven Indian soldiers were killed in an avalanche in Kupwara district. Another 12 people were killed a month earlier on the Pakistani side of the heavily-militarised dividing line.

In 2005, an avalanche near villages in the Neelum valley on the Pakistani side killed more than 40 people.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both claim in its entirety.

The two sides have tens of thousands of troops stationed in the region, where a ceasefire has been in place since 2003.

A Yemen-based offshoot of al-Qaeda has called on Muslims in the region to wage holy war against the US and its allies.

A purported audio statement by Said al-Shihri, deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, warned "American and Crusader interests are everywhere".

"Attack them and eliminate as many enemies as you can," Mr Shihri urged.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has said it was behind a failed bomb attack on a US passenger jet as it flew into Detroit on Christmas Day.

A Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been charged with attempting to blow up the Northwest Airlines Airbus A330.

He has allegedly said AQAP operatives trained him in Yemen, equipped him with a powerful explosive device and told him what to do.

'Glorious invasion'

In an audio message posted on a jihadist website, Mr Shihri praised the "glorious invasion" by Mr Abdulmutallab and said it had been carried out in co-ordination with al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

"We repeat what our Sheikh Osama said, that America will not dream of security until we live in security in Palestine," he said, referring to a purported audio statement issued by the Saudi militant leader last month.

Mr Shihri, a Saudi national who was released from the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in November 2007, urged Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula to "prepare and carry your weapons and to defend your religion and yourselves, and to join your mujahideen brothers".

"The Christians, the Jews and the treacherous apostate rulers have pounced on you," he said. "You have no other way out from this plight other than to wage jihad."

He said US forces had killed Yemeni women and children using "spy planes" - an apparent reference to unmanned drones.

Mr Shihri himself was said to have been killed in an air strike by the Yemeni air force in December, a claim AQAP has denied.

Mr Shihri became AQAP deputy leader in January 2009 after it was formed by a merger between two regional al-Qaeda offshoots in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

He said the group aimed to gain control of the strategically important strait of Bab al-Mandab, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea.

Then militants could "close the door and tighten the noose on the Jews, because through [the strait], America brings support to them by the Red Sea", he said.

Mr Shihri's call to arms was addressed to a number of Yemeni tribes including the "Houtha", an apparent reference to members of the minority Shia Zaidi sect who are fighting Yemeni and Saudi troops in the north of the country.

Earlier, a brother of the Houthi rebels' leader denounced the decision by a Yemeni court to sentence him to 15 years in prison in absentia for supporting the insurgency.

Yahya al-Houthi, who lives in Germany and has acted as a spokesman for the rebels, said the verdict was illegitimate and political.

The first Darfur war crimes suspect to face international judges has had the charges against him dropped.

Rebel leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, who gave himself up last year, had been accused of planning the killing of 12 African Union peacekeepers in 2007.

But International Criminal Court (ICC) judges ruled that there was not enough evidence to support a trial.

Last week, the ICC said charges of genocide against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir could be resubmitted.

Mr Bashir is already wanted for war crimes.

Attack denounced

Mr Abu Garda was a senior member of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) - the main rebel group fighting militias that many suspect are government backed.

He left Jem in 2008 and formed his own group, the United Resistance Front.

Mr Abu Garda has always denied being part of the attack on the peacekeepers.

He told the court during a pre-trial hearing last year that he had denounced the attack at the time as serving the interests only of the Sudanese government.

On Monday, the judges said in a statement: "The chamber declines to confirm the charges against Mr Abu Garda."

But they added that prosecutors were still free to bring more evidence which could yet lead to prosecution.

The UN estimates that 300,000 people have died in Darfur since the conflict began in 2003.

Some 2.7 million have been displaced.

Thousands of mourners have attended funerals for those killed in a double bomb attack targeting Shia Muslims in the Pakistani city of Karachi.

The death toll from Friday's bombings rose overnight to 33, with 165 injured.

A police official told AFP news agency more then 10,000 people had attended a funeral for 14 Muslim victims. Five Christians are to be buried later.

The attacks - the second at a hospital where victims of the first attack were being treated - targeted Shia pilgrims.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appealed for calm amid fears of growing tensions between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

Security was tightened in Karachi as the mourners gathered.

Pakistani TV channels broadcast images from the sports field where the bodies of 14 victims were taken, showing many people dressed in black, beating their chests and chanting religious slogans.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Karachi has a long history of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia communities.

The first of Friday's blasts was caused by a motorbike laden with explosives targeting a bus carrying Shias to a religious procession.

Then, another bomb exploded outside the entrance to the emergency ward of Jinnah hospital, where the victims of the first attack were being treated.

Sectarian tension

The bombings happened in spite of tight security across Pakistan as Shias marked the end of the Arbaeen religious festival, with Friday the final and most important day of 40 days of mourning for the Prophet Muhammad's grandson.

Forty days ago, during the last major Shia festival, a suicide bomber killed 25 worshippers in the city.

Sectarian tension between the Shia minority and the Sunni majority rose after the December attack, and riots erupted.

Tension remains high, and paramilitary troops were deployed in the city days ago amid deadly clashes between rival political groups.

The Shia-Sunni schism originates from a dispute soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad over who should lead the Muslims.

Sunnis remain the majority globally, with Shias estimated to number about 10% of all Muslims.

Canada's finance minister announced at a summit in Iqaluit, northern Canada, that Group of Seven countries planned to cancel Haiti's bilateral debts.

Jim Flaherty said he would encourage international lenders to do the same.

Some $1.2bn (£800m) of Haiti's debts to countries and international lending bodies has already been cancelled.

"We are committed in the G7 to the forgiveness of debt, in fact all bilateral debt has been forgiven by G7 countries vis-a-vis Haiti," Mr Flaherty said at the end of the two day gathering of finance ministers in the Arctic town.

"The debt to multilateral institutions should be forgiven, and we will work with these institutions and other partners to make this happen as soon as possible," he added.

At least one million people are in need of aid in Haiti after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake which struck in mid-January, killing more than 200,000 people.

The G7 group - which includes Canada, the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - has been under pressure to help Haiti recover since the 12 January quake by cancelling the money owed by Haiti.

Haiti was rated as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere even before the earthquake struck.

Though exact figures are difficult to obtain, the exact amount owed bilaterally to G7 countries is believed to be quite small. Venezuela and Taiwan are Haiti's other biggest bilateral creditors.

Brown's pledge

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the pledge, saying: "It must be right that a nation buried in rubble must not also be buried in debt".

"The UK has already cancelled all debts owed to it by Haiti and I strongly welcome today's G7 commitment to forgive Haiti's remaining multilateral debt," he added.

"We will work with others to make sure this is delivered."

On Friday, the US voiced support for the plan to extend international debt relief for Haiti.

"The earthquake in Haiti was a catastrophic setback to the Haitian people who are now facing tremendous emergency humanitarian and reconstruction needs, and meeting Haiti's financing needs will require a massive multilateral effort," said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

He said the US would seek to reach an agreement for the funds owed to the multilateral donors, which include the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the International Development Association.

Mr Geithner also echoed the call by the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, to provide full relief of the country's outstanding debt to the body, including a $102m emergency loan approved in January.

Last June, the international community agreed to cancel some $1.2bn (£800m) of the country's total debt of $1.9bn owed to bi- and multilateral lenders including the IMF, World Bank and the US government, as part of a programme for heavily indebted poor countries.

UK-based charity Oxfam has urged the writing off of about an additional $900m (£557m) that Haiti still owes to donor countries and institutions.

The storm knocked down power lines and left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity.

Nearly 2ft (60cm) of snow had fallen by noon on Saturday in cities across the region, the Associated Press reports.

The mayor of Washington DC, and the governors of Virginia and Maryland have declared states of emergency.

West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are also affected.

The National Weather Service declared a 24-hour blizzard warning for the Washington-Baltimore region until 2200 on Saturday (0300 GMT on Sunday).

Most flights from the Washington-Baltimore area's three main airports and Philadelphia International Airport have been cancelled.

Hundreds of car accidents were reported, including two fatalities - a father and son who died while helping another motorist in Virginia.

US national rail service Amtrak cancelled a number of trains between New York and Washington, and also between Washington and some southern destinations.

Local weather forecasters said the Washington area could see its heaviest snowfall in 90 years.

It comes less than two months after a December storm dumped more than 16in (41cm) of snow in Washington.

The usually traffic-heavy roads of the capital were deserted, while the city's famous sites and monuments were covered with snow.

The Washington Metro was operating only on underground lines, and bus services were cancelled.

US government offices in the Washington area closed four hours early on Friday, while the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo were closed on Saturday.

Debi Adkins, who lives just outside the city of Baltimore, told the BBC: "The snow started at 1130 yesterday morning and it just hasn't stopped... about 20 inches came overnight - and thunder and lightning.

"I'm not going anywhere - I couldn't if I wanted to. You just can't get your cars out. The front door of the building I live in is closed shut, so I just can't get out."

Ushaa Shyam Krishna in Chantilly, Virginia, said he - like many others - had stocked up on essential food items ahead of the storm.

"For the first few hours after the storm began, my daughter and I tried to shovel the snow, but now we have given up," he said.

"On Thursday the supermarkets were half empty - we went again yesterday and the shelves were totally empty."

Speaking in Nashville, Mrs Palin called President Obama's 2011 budget "immoral" and said it would raise the US debt.

The year-old Tea Party movement includes many people who oppose Barack Obama's plans for healthcare reform and the president's stimulus package.

Mrs Palin said future generations would pay the cost if spending was not cut.

"It's easy to understand why Americans are shaking their heads when Washington has broken trust with the people that these politicians are to be serving," she told the convention.

'Drowning in debt'

When she warned that the US was "drowning in national debt, and many of us have had enough," the former governor of Alaska was rewarded with a standing ovation.

She also berated the Obama administration for focusing on adversaries of the US rather than its allies.

"We need a foreign policy that distinguishes America's friends from her enemies, and recognises the true nature of the threats that we face," Mrs Palin said.

She praised the leaderless, bottom-up approach of the Tea Party movement, saying its success had Washington politicians running scared.

"I am a big supporter of this movement," she said, and added - in a nod to the Tea Party's name, a reference to a famous protest against British colonial rule: "America is ready for another revolution and you are part of this".

Congress goal

Barely a year old, the Tea Party gained influence during the acrimonious US healthcare reform debate.

Members, gathered from state-level Tea Parties, complain that big spending to stimulate the economy is being wasted in Washington and on Wall Street while small-town America has to tighten its belt.

And the coalition of disaffected conservatives is undoubtedly growing in influence - its endorsement of Republican Scott Brown helped his election last month as Massachusetts senator, says the BBC's Madeleine Morris, attending the Nashville event.

Our correspondent says that movement's organisers have announced the formation of a political action committee, with funds of $10m, whose goal will be to get up to 20 conservative candidates into Congress in November's mid-term congressional elections.

There has been controversy over the use of paid lobbyists and PR companies at the conference and Mrs Palin's appearance fee: reported to be as much as $100,000.

Some activists have also complained about the $500 (£317) registration fee for the Nashville conference.

But in an opinion piece published on USA Today website ahead of the conference Mrs Palin said she would not benefit financially from speaking at the event.

Instead she said she was motivated only by her "goal [...] to support the grassroots activists who are fighting for responsible, limited government - and our constitution".

Mr Johnson said tougher rules would require applicants to speak English to a certain level and ban those on short UK courses from bringing dependants.

He said the rules were aimed not at genuine students but those who travelled to the UK primarily for work.

It comes in the wake of the alleged failed Detroit plane bombing.

Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is charged with attempting to blow up a plane on Christmas Day, had studied in London and had linked up with al-Qaeda in Yemen after leaving the UK.

In 2008/9, about 240,000 student visas were issued by the UK.

A Home Office spokesman said the change would have a "significant impact" on the number issued this year but would not confirm reports it could cut the figure by tens of thousands.

News of the measures, which will not require legislation and will be introduced within weeks, comes a week after student visa applications from Nepal, northern India and Bangladesh were suspended amid a big rise in cases.

'Raise the bar'

Last year the UK introduced a system requiring students wishing to enter the country to secure 40 points under its criteria.

However, the government has faced criticism that this has allowed suspected terrorists and other would-be immigrants into the UK, only for them to stay on despite their visas being temporary.

In a statement, Mr Johnson said he made "no apologies for strengthening an already robust system".

He added: "We created our points-based system so that we could respond quickly to changing circumstances, when necessary, to raise the bar students have to meet to come to the UK.

"We remain open to those foreign students who want to come to the UK for legitimate study - they remain welcome.

"But those who are not seriously interested in coming here to study but come primarily to work - they should be in no doubt that we will come down hard on those that flout the rules."

Under the measures:

• Successful applicants from outside the EU will have to speak English to a level only just below GCSE standard, rather than beginner level as at present.

• Students taking courses below degree level will be allowed to work for only 10 hours a week, instead of 20 as at present.

• Those on courses which last under six months will not be allowed to bring dependants into the country, while the dependants of students on courses below degree level will not be allowed to work.

• Additionally, visas for courses below degree level will also be granted only if the institutions they attend are on a new register, the Highly Trusted Sponsors List.

Last weekend it emerged the UK Border Agency had temporarily suspended student visa applications from northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Officials said they were acting after the system had been overwhelmed and concerns had been raised that many cases were not genuine.