US to ease visas for skilled Indian workers as Modi visits

An Indian passenger holds up her passport on the Scotia Prince passenger ferry after its arrival from the Indian port of Tuticorin, in Colombo on June 14, 2011. (AFP/File)
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Updated 22 June 2023
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US to ease visas for skilled Indian workers as Modi visits

  • Indian citizens the most active users of the US H-1B program
  • Made up 73 percent of nearly 442,000 H-1B workers in fiscal year 2022

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration will make it easier for Indians to live and work in the United States, using this week’s state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help some skilled workers enter or remain in the country, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The State Department could announce as soon as Thursday that a small number of Indians and other foreign workers on H-1B visas will be able to renew those visas in the US, without having to travel abroad, one of the sources said, part of a pilot program that could be expanded in coming years.

Indian citizens are by far the most active users of the US H-1B program and made up 73 percent of the nearly 442,000 H-1B workers in fiscal year 2022.

“We all recognize that mobility of our people is a huge asset to us,” said another US official. “And so our goal is to approach that in a sort of multifaceted way. The State Department already has been working very hard to find creative ways to make changes to things.”

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on questions about which visa types would qualify or the timing of the pilot launch. Plans for a pilot program were first reported by Bloomberg Law in February.

“The pilot would begin with a small number of cases with the intention to scale the initiative over the following one to two years,” the spokesperson said, while declining to define small.

The steps could change and are not finalized until they are announced. The White House declined to comment.

Each year, the US government makes 65,000 H-1B visas available to companies seeking skilled foreign workers, along with an additional 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. The visas last for three years and can be renewed for another three years.

The companies using the most H-1B workers in recent years include the Indian-based Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services as well as Amazon, Alphabet and Meta in the US, according to US government data.

The ability for some of the temporary foreign workers to renew visas in the US would free up resources for visa interviews in consulates abroad, the spokesperson said.

The pilot program would also include some workers with L-1 visas, which are available to people transferring within a company to a position in the US, one of the sources said.

A separate initiative to clear a backlog of visa applications at US embassies in India is finally showing signs of progress, according to another one of those sources, and is expected to be figure into the discussions between the two countries’ delegations in Washington this week.

India has long had concerns with the difficulty its citizens face in receiving visas to live in the United States, including technology industry workers. More than 10 million jobs stood open in the United States at the end of April, according to the Labor Department.

Some H-1B visa holders in the US have been among the thousands of tech workers laid off this year, sending them scrambling to find new employers within a 60-day “grace period” or return to their home country.

The Biden administration has spent months working to improve visa access for Indians, trying to get around the lack of political will in Congress to comprehensively reform US immigration policy. President Joe Biden wants to knit together the world’s two largest democracies, partly in a bid to better compete with China.

US visa services are still attempting to clear a backlog after Washington halted almost all visa processing worldwide in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The visa backlog has led to some families being separated for extended periods of time, with some taking to social media to lament their situation.


Ramaphosa to meet Trump ‘soon’ to discuss strained South Africa-US relations

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Ramaphosa to meet Trump ‘soon’ to discuss strained South Africa-US relations

“We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths,” Ramaphosa said
“We also spoke about the need to foster good relations between our two countries“

JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday he will “meet soon” with US President Donald Trump to discuss relations between the two countries.
Ramaphosa said he had spoken to Trump and the two leaders had also agreed to discuss the peace process in Ukraine and the end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We both agreed that the war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to stop further unnecessary deaths. We both agreed to meet soon to address various matters regarding US-South Africa relations,” Ramaphosa said in a post on social media platform X.
“We also spoke about the need to foster good relations between our two countries,” he added.
Ramaphosa did not indicate when the meeting with Trump was likely to take place.
Relations between South Africa and the US have deteriorated since Trump took office earlier this year.
Trump has criticized South Africa’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, which has seen the country take Israel to the International Court of Justice and accuse it of committing a genocide in Gaza.
Trump has also signed an executive order stopping all financial aid to South Africa and has also slapped South Africa with 37 percent trade tariffs on its exports to the US, which he subsequently paused for 90 days.
The cuts were an additional blow to the country after it also lost US funding for its key health programs including the fight against HIV.
Trump has also falsely accused South Africa of illegally seizing farms owned by white Afrikaner farmers after it enacted the Expropriation Act which empowers the government to expropriate land for public use.
He has offered to facilitate the resettlement of white Afrikaner farmers who wish to leave South Africa and move to the US
Last month, the US expelled Ebrahim Rasool, the South African ambassador to the US, over his criticism of Trump, who has hinted that he may not attend the G20 summit of world leaders scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in November.
Ramaphosa revealed his conversation with Trump as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was on an official visit to South Africa.
Zelensky held a planned meeting with Ramaphosa at the government’s Union Buildings in Pretoria.

In rare criticism of Putin, Trump urges the Russian leader to ‘STOP!’ after a deadly attack on Kyiv

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In rare criticism of Putin, Trump urges the Russian leader to ‘STOP!’ after a deadly attack on Kyiv

  • “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV,” Trump said
  • “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!”

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday offered rare criticism of Vladimir Putin, urging the Russian leader to “STOP!” after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
Russia struck Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones. At least nine people were killed and more than 70 injured in the deadliest assault on the city since last July. The strikes took place just as peace efforts are coming to a head.


Bangladesh observes three days of mourning for Pope Francis

A church attendant lights a candle beside a portrait of late Pope Francis before the start of a special service.
Updated 3 min 47 sec ago
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Bangladesh observes three days of mourning for Pope Francis

  • The pontiff visited Bangladesh in 2017, at the beginning of the Rohingya refugee crisis
  • Bangladesh’s chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, worked with Francis on poverty alleviation

DHAKA: National flags flew at half-mast in Bangladesh on Thursday as the Muslim-majority nation began three days of state mourning for Pope Francis.

The Argentine pontiff, leader of the Catholic Church since March 2013, died at his residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican on Monday. He was 88 years old.

Bangladesh’s interim administration issued a notification on Wednesday night, announcing that the government had decided to hold special prayers in memory of the pope and lower national flags to half-staff on buildings across the country, as well as at its missions abroad.

Bangladesh’s Christians account for less than 0.5 percent of its population. Most of them, about 400,000, are Catholic.

It is the first time Bangladesh is observing three days of remembrance for a Catholic leader.

“This is a great honor given to him,” Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario, former archbishop of Dhaka, told Arab News.

“Our country, Bangladesh, has decided well to mourn for three days. This is not because of the church, but because his messages were always universal, moral, and social.”

It was in the very first days of Francis’ papal service that the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Dhaka due to a structural failure, killing over 1,100 people, mostly garment factory workers.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the pope called for prayers for the victims and their families, and urged a renewed commitment to fighting for the rights and dignity of workers, reflecting his long-standing advocacy for social justice.

He visited Dhaka in 2017, at the invitation of its government and the Catholic Church, at the beginning of the Rohingya crisis, when hundreds of thousands of members of the predominantly Muslim ethnic group were forced to flee Myanmar.

The majority of them have been sheltered by neighboring Bangladesh. Francis met with the refugees during his visit.

“He had a (heavy) heart because of the suffering of the people, and he also tried publicly to see the miseries of these people. He was deeply touched by Bangladesh’s gesture,” D’Rozario said.

Revered by millions of Catholics around the world, the pope’s message resonated in Bangladesh too.

In his final address from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Francis called for a ceasefire in Gaza and condemned the “deplorable humanitarian situation” caused by Israel’s ongoing deadly onslaught on the territory.

“He has been talking about the people’s suffering in Gaza ... On Easter Sunday, he spoke about four or five minutes about the Palestinians. So, there is that unity (in) support, also in Bangladesh,” D’Rozario said.

“Coming from Latin America, with a lot of suffering over there, a lot of poor people, he had a social message, a message on politics — good politics — a message on economics, message on trade and commerce, message on the international peace.”

The pope’s funeral mass will take place in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday.

Bangladesh’s chief adviser, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, who heads its interim government, is going to attend the service.

Yunus, an economist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, worked with Francis on poverty alleviation.

“Pope Francis was a towering figure of moral clarity, humility, and compassion in our time. His lifelong dedication to justice, peace, and the dignity of every human being resonated far beyond the Catholic world,” he said in a statement on the pope’s passing.

“His leadership, rooted in the values of fraternity and service, inspired global efforts to uplift the poor, protect the vulnerable, and build a more humane and peaceful world.”


Al Shabab battles Somalia’s army for control of strategic military base

Updated 14 min 45 sec ago
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Al Shabab battles Somalia’s army for control of strategic military base

  • Al Shabab said in a statement that its fighters had captured the base and Wargaadhi town
  • Army officer Hussein Ali told Reuters the militants had taken the town of Wargaadhi after “fierce fighting“

MOGADISHU: Al Shabab fighters battled Somali troops and allied forces for control of a strategic army base in central Somalia on Thursday, the government and a military official said, as the Al-Qaeda-linked militants tried to extend recent gains in the region.
Capturing the base in Wargaadhi town in the Middle Shabelle region, which houses soldiers, special forces and clan fighters, would enable Al-Shabab to sever an important trunk road between the capital Mogadishu, 200 km (124 miles) to the southwest, and Galmudug State.
Al Shabab, which has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2007 to seize power, said in a statement that its fighters had captured the base and Wargaadhi town, something the government denied was the case.
The information ministry said in a statement that government forces had killed more than 40 militants after they attempted to attack the base on Thursday morning.
However, army officer Hussein Ali told Reuters the militants had taken the town of Wargaadhi after “fierce fighting.”
“Our forces lost 12 men, mostly (clan fighters). Around 20 Al-Shabab fighters were also killed,” Ali said. “But finally Al-Shabab got more reinforcements and managed to capture the town.”
He said Somalia’s military was struggling to send reinforcements because they would need to use routes passing through areas held by Al-Shabab.
Two soldiers said the government forces, backed by air strikes, had managed to recapture part of the town by mid-morning.
Reuters could not independently verify any of the claims made by either side about the fighting.
Last week Al-Shabab attacked the town of Adan Yabal, about 245 km (150 miles) north of Mogadishu which the military had been using as an operating base for raids on the group.
The attacks are part of an offensive by the group launched last month. Al Shabab briefly captured villages within 50 km (30 miles) of Mogadishu, raising fears among residents of the capital that the city could be targeted.
Somali forces have since recaptured those villages but Al-Shabab has continued to advance in the countryside, as the future of international security support to Somalia appears increasingly precarious.
A new African Union peacekeeping mission replaced a larger force at the start of the year, but its funding is uncertain, with the United States opposed to a plan to transition to a UN financing model.


Zelensky says Ukraine would do ‘everything’ but cannot budge on Crimea

Updated 24 min 36 sec ago
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Zelensky says Ukraine would do ‘everything’ but cannot budge on Crimea

  • Kyiv could not recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea

PRETORIA: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Kyiv would do “everything” its allies wanted but could not recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, considered illegal under Ukraine’s constitution.
“We do everything that our partners have proposed, only what contradicts our legislation and the constitution we cannot do,” Zelensky told reporters during a visit to South Africa in response to a question about Ukraine’s position on ceasefire talks.