WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is suspending a requirement that foreign visitors from countries that have qualified for the World Cup and have bought tickets for the soccer tournament pay as much as $15,000 in bonds to enter the United States, the State Department said Wednesday.

The department imposed the bond requirement last year for countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues as part of the Republican administration’s broader crackdown on immigration.

Travelers to the United States from 50 countries are required to pay the new bond, and five of those countries have qualified for the World Cup — Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia.

Citizens from those five countries who have purchased tickets from FIFA are now exempt from the visa bond requirement. World Cup team players, coaches and some staff already had been exempt from the bond requirement as part of the administration’s orders to prioritize the processing of visas for the tournament.

“The United States is excited to organize the biggest and best FIFA World Cup in history,” Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said. “We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets” and opted in to the FIFA Pass system that allows expedited visa appointments as of April 15.

The waiver is a rare loosening of immigration requirements under the administration and will ease travel burdens for at least some visitors to the U.S. for the World Cup, which begins June 11 and is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The administration has taken dramatic steps to restrict immigration in ways that critics say are incongruous with the type of unifying message that a global sporting event such as the World Cup is supposed to project.

For instance, the administration has barred travelers from Iran and Haiti, though World Cup players, coaches and other support personnel are exempt. Travelers from Ivory Coast and Senegal, face partial restrictions under an expanded version of that travel ban, even without the visa bond exemption.

Foreign travelers also had faced potential new requirements to submit their social media histories, although that policy from U.S. Customs and Border Protection had not gone into effect. Also, the administration had deployed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at airports recently when Transportation Security Administration personnel were not being paid during a partial federal shutdown.

Those measures prompted Amnesty International and dozens of U.S. civil and human rights groups to issue a “World Cup travel advisory” that warns travelers about the climate in the U.S.

In a report this month, the main advocacy group for U.S. hotels blamed visa barriers and other geopolitical issues for “significantly suppressing international demand,” leading to hotel bookings for the soccer tournament that are far below what had initially been anticipated.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association said travelers are concerned about potentially lengthy visa wait times and increased fees, along with uncertainty about how they’re being processed to enter the U.S.

The bond requirements are part of the administration’s larger effort to clamp down on migrants who travel to the U.S. on temporary visas but then overstay them. Visa applicants from the affected countries are required to pay $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 in bonds, which will be refunded if the traveler complies with the terms of the visa or if the visa application is denied.

As of early April, the number of World Cup fans affected by the bond requirement was believed to be relatively small, perhaps only about 250 people, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. But they said that number was changing rapidly as more people buy tickets and some with tickets opt against traveling.

FIFA had requested the waiver, which had to be approved by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, and was the topic of discussion at multiple meetings at the White House and elsewhere in Washington for several months, the officials said.

Police are investigating a heritage crime at Llansteffan Castle in Carmarthenshire

Police are investigating after a Welsh castle was vandalised by someone who daubed rude graffiti over its walls. The incident happened at Llansteffan Castle in Carmarthenshire.

The castle, which is privately owned, was built by the Normans in the 12th century. It overlooks the River Towy estuary and sits high above the village of Llansteffan, eight miles south of Carmarthen. Graffiti has been written on some of the castle walls in blue and white paint. The word w***** has been inscribed on one wall and the word s*** has been written on another.

Police say the vandalism happened at some point this month, and officers are now appealing for anyone with any information to come forward. Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here.

A spokeswoman for the force said: “Our rural crime team officers are investigating a report of heritage crime at Llansteffan Castle. The incident happened sometime between May 1 and May 10. Graffiti has been sprayed in to the North Tower and East Bastion areas.

“Heritage crime is any unlawful activity which harms historic assets including buildings, monuments, parks, gardens and landscapes.

“Some of these assets are protected by specific criminal offences but heritage crime often takes the form of ‘general’ offences such as theft, criminal damage, anti-social behaviour which are equally damaging to historic assets and interfere with the public’s understanding and enjoyment of them.

“If you have information about something that has happened to a heritage site, you can report it to us online, quoting reference 26000373428.”

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The government has set out its legislative agenda for the new parliamentary session in the king’s speech. Our panel of experts reveals the key points.

Measures to ease high living costs

Jonquil Lowe, Visiting Academic, The Open University

Surveys suggest that the cost of living is still a major concern for UK households, with energy and food prices topping the list of worries. In response, some campaigners have called on the government to use the energy independence bill announced in the king’s speech to break the link between electricity and gas prices and volatile global gas prices. And they want it to provide support, especially for low-income households, to switch away from heating homes with fossil fuels.

Among other measures, the bill aims to ensure landlords upgrade their properties to reduce tenants’ energy bills. These kinds of measure need to be introduced urgently if they are to save households from heftier energy bills expected this winter.

Other cost-of-living reliefs are welcome, although their impact may be small. For example, a move to “strengthen ties with Europe” may ease food inflation by reducing red tape and border checks on some imported foods.

The leasehold and commonhold reform bill (carried over from the previous parliamentary session) will help owners of leasehold flats and houses by capping ground rents at £250 a year, and then reducing them to a negligible amount after 40 years. Meanwhile, the social housing renewal bill aims to increase the stock of affordable social homes.

A ‘Bresignation’ bill: options for UK-EU closer relationship remain limited

Miriam Sorace, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics, University of Reading

The government clearly recognises that to improve the UK’s economic and trade security, strengthening ties with the European Union is paramount. But public attitudes are still characterised by “bresignation” rather than wholehearted “bregret”.

While support for rejoining the EU sits at around 55%, this obscures deep polarisation and strong conditionality. Support drops sharply in rejoining scenarios that require the UK to relinquish its previous opt‑outs, notably euro adoption and participation in the Schengen agreement on free movement. These would probably be among the concessions demanded by the EU, given public opinion across member states. Support for rejoining the single market (48%) or the customs union (50%) lags behind support for rejoining the EU and remains highly polarised.

The least polarising and most popular option is a broadly defined “closer relationship” with the EU, supported by around 63% of the public and even attracting a sizable minority (40%) of Reform UK voters (and 56% of previous Leave voters). Yet this plea reflects a degree of wishful thinking. Given the UK’s and EU’s red lines, marginal adjustments to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement are the only real options short of the various rejoin alternatives.

The status quo is widely disliked (only 33% prefer the current UK-EU relationship), but there is no other politically viable alternative to tinkering around the edges. “Closer relations” is not a concrete policy: it’s the default expression of living under sub-optimal constrained choice. In other words: “bresignation”. The UK is likely to remain locked into a status quo of continual negotiation with the EU for the foreseeable future, unless public opinion shifts towards accepting the significant concessions required to initiate rejoining negotiations.

Tourist taxes – England plays catch-up

Rhys Ap Gwilym, Senior Lecturer in Economics at Bangor University’s Business School

England is set to become the 26th country in Europe to introduce a tourist tax. The overnight visitor levy bill, announced in the king’s speech, follows recent moves in Scotland and Wales allowing local authorities to tax overnight stays.

In Scotland, Edinburgh will lead the way, adding a 5% levy to accommodation bills from July 24 this year. In Wales, Cardiff intends to introduce charges from April 2027: £1.30 per person per night in hotels and Airbnbs, and 75 pence in campsites and hostels. Such measures have proved controversial, with strong opposition from parts of the tourism industry.

The UK government has framed this as “the first step in a new era of fiscal devolution in England”. In practice, it is a modest one. Revenues are likely to be small relative to existing local taxes and mayors may place greater weight on reforms to council tax caps or business rate retention.

That said, international evidence suggests well-designed tourist taxes can work. Even modest revenues can help fund destination management, ease pressures on local communities and improve the visitor experience. The detail of the legislation will ultimately determine whether England achieves these gains.

Plans to make it easier to align UK law with EU agreements

Simon Usherwood, Professor of Politics & International Studies, The Open University

For all the talk from Prime Minister Keir Starmer of putting the UK at “the heart of Europe”, the proposed European Partnership Bill is a relatively modest and technical move. It would give the government powers to make adjustments to domestic legislation to ensure it complies with agreements being made with the EU. This would apply to those currently under negotiation (like youth mobility, food and veterinary standards, or emissions trading) or those that might be considered in future.

This streamlines a process that would have been necessary in any case, and remains reliant on those EU deals actually being struck. So there’s nothing particularly remarkable about the content. However, the repeated mention of “where it benefits the national interest” highlights how the government is trying to package this as something more.

Decisions about when to align are necessarily attached to decisions to sign up to deals with the EU, not to whether to make the domestic adjustments (which international law would consider to be an obligation). Much like Starmer’s flowery rhetoric in his speech on Monday, the substance doesn’t really match up.

Nationalising steel for security – but debts could burden the taxpayer

Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy and Regional Development, University of Bath

Plans to nationalise British Steel offer some comfort to UK steel workers in the form of preserving jobs and providing stability. More pertinently, the move represents a renewed willingness for the state to intervene in a strategically important industry facing financial difficulties, high energy costs, fierce global competition and the challenges of the green transition.

Steel is a critical element in UK sectors such as car manufacturing and defence, infrastructure projects like railways, and low-carbon technologies including wind turbines. Nationalisation should offer the UK a degree of security over steel supply in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical climate.
The risk is that British Steel continues to lose out in global markets and makes substantial losses. This will impose a huge financial burden on the UK taxpayer, at a time when public finances are tight. But public ownership could align steel production with the UK’s broader industrial strategy goals, such as infrastructure development and net-zero targets.

And state financing could allow for long-term investment in new electric steel furnaces and decarbonisation. In the future, the government could use other levers to ensure a market for British Steel, such as strategies which favour UK-sourced, low-carbon steel for green infrastructure projects.

Plans to clean up our rivers and seas could be watered down

Alex Ford, Professor of Biology, University of Portsmouth

Water bills are rising, public anger over sewage pollution has not abated, and the government has now set out a major overhaul of water regulation in England and Wales in the king’s speech.

The proposed water reform bill signals a shift in emphasis. Rather than focusing solely on water companies, the legislation aims to address pollution more broadly, including contributions from agriculture and industry. This is a welcome change. The bill also promises a more unified regulatory system to end the fragmented oversight that has characterised the sector for decades.

Yet despite the language of reform, the vision looks less like a radical reset and more like a reboot of privatisation. This focus will worry campaigners, as it suggests continuity with an economic model widely blamed for under-investment, rising bills and environmental harm.

Immigration bill to tighten rules on right to family life

Joelle Grogan, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, University College Dublin

The government says the new immigration and asylum bill will “tighten the application” of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Article 8 right to family life is inherently restricted, and both national courts and the European Court of Human Rights generally defer to government migration policy. So more detail of the bill in future will be welcome.

The background briefing notes state that Article 8 is stopping the removal of those living illegally in the UK, saying that 86% of people from January to September 2022 who raised rights-based applications in detention were released. However, this highlights the lack of data – both on how many removals have been stopped by the ECHR and its connection with the number of illegal arrivals. Research on available data on the ECHR and foreign national offenders indicate that numbers are very low.

The bill will define family life to ensure that it is limited to the core family unit of spouse, parents and children. But the European Court of Human Rights emphasises the “dependence” of one family member on another (for example by providing sole financial support) in migration cases as the trigger for Article 8. So by defining “family unit” without the condition of “dependence”, the government may unintentionally widen the definition rather than narrow it.

“We are the third security force here and have had very little recognition because no one wants to know what goes on behind the grey wall”

The chairperson of Northern Ireland Prison Officers trade union has called for all 11 councils to recognise staff “murdered in the line of duty”.

The plea comes as Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council signed off on a permanent cenotaph memorial to be erected before Remembrance Sunday in November. The local authority provides land for three prisons including Maghaberry, Hydebank and the now closed down Maze, with the chamber hearing personal links to abduction and murder.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service chairperson of the NI Prison Officers Association, Ivor Dunne said: “We are the third security force here and have had very little recognition because no one wants to know what goes on behind the grey wall.

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“My ambition would be for a memorial in each of the 11 councils, because we lost 32 members of staff during the Troubles, and they came from all over Northern Ireland. Each county has had a member of staff lost to them, so for the families we should give them that recognition that their loved one has not been forgotten.

“It is something very dear to my heart and for current staff it would also be significant for morale.”

The first prison officer in Northern Ireland murdered was Officer R Walker in 1942 with the most recent officer to be killed, Adrian Ismay, who died in March 2016 following a dissident republican bomb attack.

A former prison officer, turned councillor brought forward the Lisburn proposal at Lagan Valley Island with the authority now ratifying the memorial location.

Downshire West DUP Alderman Allan Ewart said: “As a former member of the NIPS, I wholeheartedly welcome and support the efforts of the council to erect a memorial in memory of the 32 officers murdered in their line of duty, many of them known to me personally.

“Over the years of the Troubles I feel that the NIPS has been the forgotten service who gave so much during that period.

“Their sacrifice must never be forgotten. These brave men and women served with courage and dedication in the most challenging of circumstances and it is only right that their legacy is honoured with dignity and respect.”

According to a council report a design for the memorial has now been produced and a location chosen at Castle Street in Lisburn.

The paper states the aim is to have this memorial completed in advance of Remembrance Sunday 2026.

Alderman Ewart added: “This memorial will stand not only as a tribute to their lives but also a lasting reminder of the price that was paid in pursuit of peace and stability.

“I commend the officers and everyone involved in bringing this important project forward. I am honoured to propose the recommendation be accepted and look forward to the day the memorial is dedicated.”

A small number of memorials to prison officers are currently in place including at Hydebank and in Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council with another understood due to be erected at Causeway Coast and Glens Council.

The LDRS contacted the Department of Justice.

A spokesperson said: “The Northern Ireland Prison Service welcomes the decision by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council to honour and remember the service and sacrifice of prison staff.

“Prisons are part of the community, not apart from it and we will continue to work with the council on this very important act of remembrance.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard’s split with wife Laura Hilvin has been confirmed following a post on social media

The wife of Arsenal star Leandro Trossard has confirmed that she has split from the Belgian international. In a post to social media, Laura Hilven revealed that the pair had broken up after 13 years.

The Instagram story said: “With deep love, care, and respect for one another, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to separate amicably.

“This was not a choice made lightly. In fact we have been separated for some time now, and during that period we have taken the space and time needed to navigate this privately and thoughtfully.

“Our decision comes from a place of mutual understanding and a shared desire to create the healthiest and happiest future for everyone involved.

“Most importantly, we are and always will be devoted parents to our two beautiful children.

“We kindly ask for compassion, understanding, and privacy during this deeply personal transition.

“With love, Laura.”

There will be more to follow on this breaking news story and Mirror Sport will bring you the very latest updates, pictures and video as soon as possible. Please check back regularly for updates on this developing story. Follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook or visit The Mirror homepage.

A Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband and was later found guilty of killing him has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kouri Richins, 35, wearing a lime green uniform in court, stared ahead as the sentence was handed down on Wednesday, on what would have been her husband Eric Richins’s 44th birthday.

In March, Kouri Richins was convicted of aggravated murder in Eric’s 2022 death after prosecutors say she secretly slipped five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a Moscow Mule cocktail she made for him. A year after the murder, Richins wrote a children’s book to help their three sons process the loss.

The 35-year-old real estate agent was millions in debt and planning a future with another man, prosecutors said during her trial. She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge, and falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after he died.

The prosecution had urged the judge to impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole, saying Richins’ three sons “should never worry that they may one day encounter her.”

In an impact statement read to the court on Wednesday, Eric’s father Gene Richins said that his son’s death was a “permanent hole in our family that will never be filled.”

“No parent should ever have to bury their child,” he said. “It’s a loss that changes you forever.”

Katie Richins-Benson, Eric’s sister, sobbed as she told the court: “Nearly every aspect of our lives has been permanently changed, and we have no choice but to live with those changes and Eric’s loss forever.”

Richins’ case captivated true-crime enthusiasts when she was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book “Are You with Me?” about a boy coping with the death of his father.

Richins’ mother, Lisa Darden, maintained that her daughter is not capable of murder and in court on Wednesday, asked, “from a mother’s heart, that Kouri be given a sentence that allows the possibility of a future.”

Sons say they are afraid of their mother

Eric Richins’ sister, Katie Richins-Benson, said her brother was taken from his sons, who are now in her care, by the person he should have been able to trust the most.

“They are not props for some twisted children’s book about grief and loss, and yet that is what they’ve been reduced to by Kouri,” Richins-Benson told the judge, her voice quavering.

The children have said Richins hit and threatened to kill their animals, showed them videos of famished children in war zones when they refused to eat their dinner and didn’t seem to care about their health.

At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, licensed therapists read the children’s victim impact statements to the court.

One child talked about how Richins would “put us in the basement while she was with the neighbor.”

“I felt scared because I thought something really bad was happening again,” the child said in his statement. “She would take me to places that smelled really bad. Everything she did made me feel uncomfortable.”

Another child told Richins: “You took away everything from me and my brothers.”

The oldest boy, now 13, said he also felt like he had to take care of his siblings while in his mother’s care, but his younger brother “mostly took care of me, though, because I was locked in my room.” He said his mom would lock him inside “pretty much daily” after he pointed out that she was drunk.

The 13-year-old child said in his statement that he wanted Richins to get life in prison “because what she did is very sick.”

All three children have undergone intensive therapy and are being raised by Eric’s sister and her husband, according to the memo.

The trial

The trial was scheduled for five weeks but ended early when Richins waived her right to testify, and her legal team rested its case without calling any witnesses. Her attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors had not produced enough evidence to convict her of murder.

The jury deliberated for just under three hours before finding her guilty of all counts.

Jurors in Park City also found Richins guilty of four other felonies, including attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed the mother of three as a money-hungry killer. They showed the jury text messages between Richins and her lover in which she fantasized about leaving her husband and gaining millions in a divorce.

Prosecutors also displayed the internet search history from Richins’ phone, which included queries about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons and how poisoning is marked on a death certificate.

The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers. Prosecutors countered by showing police body camera footage from the night of his death in which Kouri Richins tells an officer that her husband had no history of illicit drug use.

Defense attorneys also argued that the prosecution’s star witness, a housekeeper who claimed to have sold Kouri Richins fentanyl on multiple occasions, was motivated to lie for legal protection. The housekeeper was granted immunity for her cooperation in the case.

Authorities are still working hard to identify the deceased and understand exactly what happened

Three women whose bodies were recovered in the sea off Brighton beach on Wednesday (13 May) are not believed to have attended a nightclub prior to entering the water, the Press Association reports.

It is believed the women may have entered the water from the beach near to where they were found, before getting into difficulty in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Sussex Police said that a number of lines of enquiry are still being explored following the deaths.

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Emergency services were alerted to a welfare concern at approximately 5.45am.

Three women, estimated to be between 20 and 30 years old, were recovered from the water. Authorities are currently working to identify the deceased and notify their next of kin

Initial rumours suggested the group attended Quarters nightclub on Kings Road prior to the incident, but the Press Association understands this was not the case.

Sussex Police Chief Superintendent Adam Hays emphasised that the priority remains the dignified identification of the victims.

“This is a sensitive investigation and we know the public are keen to understand the full circumstances,” Hays stated. “But our priority at this time is identifying these three women and locating their families, who at this point remain unaware they have lost loved ones.”

Police and coastguard officials were stationed along the seafront and on the shingle beach all morning, where a lifeboat could be seen out at sea and a helicopter was flying overhead. The sea appeared choppy, with waves crashing against the marina wall.

The leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, Bella Sankey, said her heart went out to the women’s families.

“I am shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of three women off the Brighton coast this morning,” she said in a statement. “My heart goes out to the friends and family of these women, and on behalf of Brighton and Hove I send sincere condolences.

“I would also like to thank the emergency services for their quick response and combined efforts; it is heartbreaking that their recovery efforts have ended in such tragic circumstances.”

The beach has now reopened and officers have left the scene.

Sussex Police have asked anyone with further information to contact them online or on 101, quoting Operation Ledmore.

ITV finished recording series 19 of The Chase in April before confirming it would not be recording any new episodes until 2027.

A spokesperson for ITV, via The Sun, said: “The Chase has just finished recording series 19, which completes its recording schedule for this year.

“ITV will continue to air The Chase as usual, with a combination of new and repeat episodes across the year.

“With more than 2.5million viewers per show, The Chase remains one of the nation’s most loved quiz shows.

“There is also new Beat the Chasers for 2026 and a brand new spin off series, The Chase Around the World, coming soon.”

Anne Hegerty reveals why The Chase has been put on hold

Anne Hegerty, also known as “The Governess”, is one of the chasers on the ITV quiz show, along with:

• Mark Labbett (“The Beast”)
• Shaun Wallace (“The Dark Destroyer”)
• Paul Sinha (“The Sinnerman”)
• Jenny Ryan (“The Vixen”)
• Darragh Ennis (“The Menace”)

Hegerty has now revealed why filming of The Chase has been put on hold for the rest of 2026.

She was a familiar face in Bolton’s Quiz League playing alongside Bolton’s Jenny Ryan.

Speaking to The Sun, she said: “We are taking a little bit of a filming break because we’ve got so many shows in the can, we’ve got hundreds of shows in the can.

“Last year we did two series of Beat the Chasers, which we were only supppsed to do one.

“And it gives everyone time to do things. Bradley has things he wants to do, Jenny has her singing.

“I am interested in doing some acting, there is a film director interested in me.”

Anne “The Governess” Hegerty has revealed why The Chase has been put on hold until next year. (Image: ITV)

Commenting on speculation, the break in filming was also due to budget cuts at ITV, Hegerty continued: “Everyone is cutting because the streaming services are carrying acts.

“Everyone is trying to save money, so I wouldn’t say that wasn’t part of it.

“But it’s also because we have so many shows in the can, we don’t need to show repeats.

“We are still massively doing the ratings. We outrate everything.”

Anne Hegerty to star in new spin-off series

Hegerty is also set to star in a new spin-off series called The Chase Around The World, which is set for release “around the World Cup” (June 11 to July 19).

She explained: “The idea is you have couples takes to various places and I have to do various tasks and we kind of pop up in a various places, so it should be good fun.

“We’ve now got three of the six shows in the can.

“We go to places in Europe, it it goes well then we will go further afield.”

Are you a fan of The Chase? Let us know in the comments below.

“The business has no capital and the parents will be treated as creditors”.

A children’s daycare part owned by a priest is to become insolvent with parents being told they will not receive any refunds as the “business has no capital”.

Acrewood Daycare on Grosvenor Road, which is part owned by Hannahstown Parish priest Father Patrick Devlin, was recently condemned after six staff members lost their jobs on less than a weeks notice and families were told their children could no longer attend the night before they were due to.

Staff received messages on Wednesday, May 13, telling them to fill in RP1 Forms, normally associated with businesses becoming insolvent, to claim redundancy and any unpaid wages.

It is understood that parents who have paid for daycare services will not receive any refunds as the “business has no capital and the parents will be treated as creditors”. Staff also face having to wait eight weeks in order to receive their unpaid wages and redundancy.

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Belfast Live has seen a message sent by Acrewood Daycare management to former staff that said: “I spoke to the accountants that are dealing with Acrewood. He said they are going insolvent and parents would just be recorded as a creditor to the company.

He said that there is no capital and creditors would not be getting their money including parents.”

Former staff owed £1,400 and wages, don’t have eight weeks to wait. They have said they have had to contact Universal Credit in order to get help as they have nothing to live on and borrow money off friends.

One told Belfast Live: “I am in shock, I don’t know what to do. I cannot believe that we have been treated like this.”

On April 30, 15 families who had children attending daycare at Acrewood received an email a couple of hours after they had collected their kids from the premises saying they would not be able to return the following day, with no word about refunds they would be owed.

At the same time six members of staff were “made redundant” suddenly with no information about when they would receive wages they were owed.

The actions were condemned by parents, former staff and local politicians, with West Belfast People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll saying that the daycares management owes them a firm explanation about what has gone on.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday announced new steps in the Trump administration’s initiative to root out fraud in federal health programs, including a $1.3 billion deferral in Medicaid reimbursements to California.

“How long are people going to pay into programs if they know that that money doesn’t go to a low-income kid who needs health care, but that money goes into a fraudster getting rich?” Vance said during an event at the White House, adding that taxpayers and program beneficiaries are victimized by such fraud.

The Republican administration also is imposing a six-month freeze on some new Medicare enrollments and warning states to investigate Medicaid fraud or risk losing funding, officials said.

The moves are part of Vance’s anti-fraud task force, which has been taking more aggressive steps to investigate states before the November elections. The panel set up by President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on potential misuse of public money.

Vance, a potential 2028 White House hopeful, has used the high-profile assignment from Trump to remind Americans struggling with high costs that he is trying to claw back taxpayer dollars. Vance has promoted the task force’s work during campaign stops for Republican candidates and is expected to focus on the effort Thursday in Maine, which has closely watched primary races scheduled for June 9.

The steps come as people across the United States have raised concerns about rising health costs and barriers to access, sometimes from the federal government’s own actions. New work requirements in Medicaid, for example, are expected to strain hospitals around the country and result in millions of enrollees losing their health coverage.

The administration contends its vigorous fraud-busting efforts will help prevent wrongdoing in Medicaid and Medicare while preserving funding and resources for those most in need.

Deferring $1.3 billion in California payments

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the administration was making the “largest deferral we’ve ever made” in Medicaid funds and that it was justified.

He claimed the administration had identified questionable expenditures and anomalies, such as a higher rate of growth in California’s home care program compared with other states. He did not provide concrete examples of documented fraud.

“We’d like the state to at least come to the table and explain to us how these outlier payments have been generated,” he said.

The press office of Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., disputed Oz’s claims and said the state’s home care program grew because the state is “keeping more people OUT of far more expensive nursing homes.”

“We hate fraud,” the office wrote on X. “But that’s NOT what this is.”

The total cost of California’s Medicaid program, including state and federal funding, is expected to be about $222 billion for the budget year that starts July 1.

Nationwide freeze on some new Medicare provider enrollments

Oz’s agency also announced a nationwide six-month moratorium on all new Medicare enrollments by providers of hospice and home care.

“Today we’re shutting the door on fraud — preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them,” he said in a statement.

Existing hospice and home health care providers will continue to operate as usual. But CMS said it will “intensify targeted investigations, deploy advanced data analytics, and accelerate the removal” of providers in the category that are suspected of fraudulent activity.

Such a freeze is not unprecedented, said Tricia Neumann, a senior vice president and executive director for the program on Medicare policy at the health care research nonprofit KFF. She said President Bill Clinton’s Democratic administration also imposed a temporary moratorium on home health agencies.

“A brief moratorium gives the administration time to crack down on true fraud and prevent new fraudulent entities from popping up,” she said.

Several alleged fraud schemes have been prosecuted in the hospice and home health care categories, and states have acknowledged that it is a legitimate concern. But some have pushed back on the administration’s aggressive tactics and raised concerns that the catchall efforts could needlessly punish law-abiding providers that are trying to serve patients.

Also Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services’ internal watchdog sent letters to state attorneys general warning them to vigorously investigate possible fraud or risk losing federal money.

Moves are part of monthslong federal push

In recent months, CMS has suspended payments to hundreds of hospice and home care agencies in Los Angeles over alleged fraud and issued another six-month moratorium on suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and certain other supplies in Medicare.

The administration also has approached at least five states with investigations into potential health care fraud and halted some $243 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota over fraud concerns. Last month, Oz announced CMS would add to that oversight by requiring all 50 states to share how they planned to revalidate some of their Medicaid providers.

In at least one case, the administration has erred in its accusations against states. In April, CMS acknowledged to The Associated Press that it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe in New York. The acknowledgment deepened doubts in the administration’s methods and raised a common criticism that has been made about the second Trump administration — that it tends to attack first and confirm the facts later.

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Swenson reported from New York. Associated Press writers Tran Nguyen in Sacramento, Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.