THE NHS is to be able to recruit thousands more medical staff from abroad, after the Government announced a relaxation on visas.

Doctors and nurses are to be excluded from the cap on so-called “Tier 2” visas for skilled workers from non-EU countries, imposed by Theresa May when she was home secretary.

The visa limit has been set at 20,700 a year since 2011, with around 40 per cent of places accounted for by the NHS.

But recent months have regularly seen demand outstrip supply, driven in large part by the under-pressure health service.

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RUSSIAN football’s anti-discrimination tsar Alexei Smertin has urged fans to be “friends with everyone” during the World Cup.

Former Chelsea star Smertin, who played in the Premier League between 2003 and 2009, said fans should focus their attention on supporting their own team, rather than attacking the opposition.

He was speaking at the launch event of a Diversity House, a safe space for minority and LGBT fans in central Moscow, just hours ahead of the kick-off of the tournament.

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