US to ease visas for skilled Indian workers as Modi visits
US to ease visas for skilled Indian workers as Modi visits/node/2326051/world
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)
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
Updated 22 June 2023
Reuters
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.
Trump’s NATO warnings jolt Europe into rethinking defense
Updated 5 sec ago
AP
MADRID: Inside a sprawling hangar in Spain, workers bolt together a fuselage for European aerospace giant Airbus, which churns out jets and other military equipment. The multinational conglomerate is a rarity in Europe’s defense industry, backed by Spain, Germany, France and Britain. The norm for defense industries on the continent is big-name national champions and hundreds of small companies mostly working to fill orders for state governments. That piecemeal paradigm could hinder Europe’s plan for spending more on defense, which has been given a jolt — and previously unimaginable political backing — following US President Donald Trump’s threats to not protect NATO allies in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For years, Trump has accused NATO allies of spending too little on their own defense. In recent months, the chasm in trans-Atlantic ties has grown. The Trump administration has signaled that US priorities lie beyond Europe and Ukraine and that the time has come “for Europe to stand on its own feet.” The shortfall in defense spending is most evident is Spain. Last year, it trailed all NATO allies in defense spending as a share of GDP, forcing the country to play catch-up this year to reach the alliance’s 2 percent spending goal. NATO leaders are expected to again increase that goal this summer. Europe-wide, industry leaders and experts have pointed out challenges the continent must overcome to be a truly self-sufficient military power, chiefly its decades-long reliance on the US as well as its fragmented defense industry. “Europe procures a majority of its defense material outside of Europe, and that’s really something we have to depart from,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, head of air power at Airbus Defense and Space at the aircraft maker’s factory outside Madrid. “The journey until we get full autonomy is a long journey, but it has to be started.” Moving out of Washington’s shadow The pro-defense shift in Europe can be seen in the stock markets, where major European arms makers such as BAE Systems (UK), Leonardo (Italy), Rheinmetall (Germany), Thales (France) and Saab (Sweden) have all been on the rise despite recent turmoil caused by Trump’s tariffs. European companies are poised to benefit from a push by European Union policy makers to ensure that as many euros as possible end up in European companies, as opposed to flowing across the Atlantic. The challenge is daunting, but not as scary as having to face a potential military threat without American help. One question is: How quickly can production scale up? An EU white paper published last month bluntly stated that Europe’s defense industry is not able to produce defense systems and equipment sufficient for what member states need. It noted where much of the bloc’s spending has taken place: the US Europe has relied on the US not just for military equipment but also intelligence, surveillance and even software updates. Supply chain complexities mean that European-made equipment often use software or other components built and even operated by US companies. Airbus’ A330 MRTT air-to-air refueling plane, made outside Madrid, is an example of specialized equipment called enablers that Europe largely lacks. Another example is Sweden’s Gripen fighter made by Saab, which has an engine made by American firm General Electric, noted Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher at the Stockholm Peace Research Institute who studies Europe’s arms industry. According to a recent SIPRI report, more than half of Europe’s arms imports from 2020 to 2024 came from the US Changing this paradigm will take years of sustained investment, Scarazzato said, and common vision across the bloc. “It’s going to be a massive overhaul of the whole command and control structure.” A fragmented industry A fragmented defense industry in Europe reduces the interoperability of equipment, experts say, and makes it harder to build economies of scale. For example, there are at least 12 types of tanks produced across the 27-nation EU, compared to just one used by the US military, according to the European Defense Agency. But there have been some recent positive developments in the private sector, the International Institute for Strategic Studies noted in its 2025 Military Balance report. Leonardo and Rheinmetall started a joint venture last year for combat vehicles. Europe’s capitals have historically looked to spend on their own local industries — not neighboring ones — to ensure jobs and feed national pride ingrained in manufacturing military hardware, said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at IISS. “The fundamental economic heft is there. Partly it’s a question of political will, partly the question of national pride and national identities,” Barrie said. “While politicians can kind of advocate for consolidation, it has to be driven by individuals within industry, and it will be the industrialists who will see a logic in this.” The urge for European governments to favor local manufacturers — instead of shopping among other European companies for better value — was evident this month when Spain announced that it will raise defense spending by an additional 10.5 billion euros ($12 billion) this year. The government said 87 percent of that money would go to Spanish companies in the hopes of generating nearly 100,000 direct and indirect jobs and boosting Spain’s GDP by 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points. “Every time there is a political interest in consolidation, that’s what you bump into,” Barrie said. Hope for the future?
The European Commission is offering 150 billion euros ($170 billion) for member states and Ukraine to buy air defense systems, drones and strategic enablers like air transport, as well as to boost cybersecurity. It’s part of a package of measures that include easing budgetary rules for defense spending and reshuffling EU funds to reflect security priorities. Under the proposals, member states will be invited to buy at least 40 percent of defense equipment “by working together” and trade at least 35 percent of defense goods between EU countries, as opposed to outside ones, by 2030. Airbus’ Dumont said his message for Europe’s leaders was clear. “Europe has to fund its European industry to prepare the defense of tomorrow, for the day after tomorrow and for the years to come. And that’s what we see happening now.”
Australia’s ruling party to hike student visa fees again in pre-election pledge
The visa fee hike, from A$1,600 currently, will bring in A$760 million over the next four years
Almost 200,000 international students arrived in Australia in February 2025, government statistics show
Updated 9 min 25 sec ago
Reuters
SYDNEY: Australia’s ruling Labour Party said on Monday it would raise visa fees for international students to A$2,000 ($1,279) if reelected, the latest measure aimed at the lucrative education sector that has been a major source of immigration.
The visa fee hike, from A$1,600 currently, will bring in A$760 million over the next four years, Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher said in a statement on Labor’s policy costings for Saturday’s federal election.
“We think that’s a sensible measure that really prizes, I think, the value of studying here in Australia,” Gallagher told a news conference.
The government more than doubled the fee for international student visas in July last year to A$1,600 from A$710.
Australia’s conservative opposition has already pledged to raise the visa fee to a minimum of A$2,500, and A$5,000 for applicants to the country’s top universities, known as the Group of Eight.
International students are a major source of revenue for Australian universities, but are also in part responsible for a rise in net migration that has driven up housing costs.
Almost 200,000 international students arrived in Australia in February 2025, government statistics show, an increase of 12.1 percent over the previous year and 7.3 percent higher than pre-COVID levels in February 2019.
Labor has promised to cap international student commencements at 270,000 in 2025, while the opposition favors a lower figure of 240,000.
There were more than a million international students enrolled in Australia in 2024, while 572,000 students commenced their studies.
Visa fees for students in Australia are already significantly higher than similar countries such as the US and Canada, where they cost about $185 and C$150 ($108) respectively.
The government last year also tightened English language requirements for student and graduate visas, as well as introducing powers to suspend education providers from recruiting international students if they repeatedly break rules.
Mosque murder suspect arrested in Italy: French prosecutor
The suspect, ‘Olivier A.,’ a French national born in Lyon in 2004, ‘surrendered himself to a police station in Pistoia’ near Florence
A European arrest warrant will be issued for his transfer across the border to France
Updated 28 April 2025
AFP
NIMES, France: A man suspected of stabbing a young Malian to death in a mosque in southern France and filming his victim writhing in agony has surrendered to police in Italy, a prosecutor said on Monday.
The suspect, “Olivier A.,” a French national born in Lyon in 2004, “surrendered himself to a police station in Pistoia” near Florence, on Sunday, Abdelkrim Grini, the prosecutor of the southern city of Ales, who is in charge of the case, said.
“This is very satisfying for me as a prosecutor. Faced with the effectiveness of the measures put in place, the suspect had no option but to hand himself in – and that is the best thing he could have done,” Grini said.
A European arrest warrant will be issued for his transfer across the border to France, the prosecutor said.
More than 70 French police officers had been mobilized since Friday to “locate and arrest” the perpetrator, considered “potentially extremely dangerous,” the prosecutor said.
“After boasting about his act, after practically claiming responsibility for it, he made comments that would suggest he intended to commit similar acts again,” Grini had said on Sunday.
The suspect is from a Bosnian family, unemployed, and with ties to the southern Gard region. He lived in the small town of La Grande Combe which lies north of Ales.
“He was someone who had remained under the radar of the justice system and the police, and who had never been in the news until these tragic events,” Grini had said on Sunday.
In La Grand-Combe, more than 1,000 people gathered on Sunday for a silent march in memory of the victim, Aboubakar Cisse, who was in his twenties.
They marched from the Khadidja Mosque, where the stabbing occurred, to the town hall.
Several hundred people also gathered in Paris later Sunday, including three-time presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who accused Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau of cultivating an “Islamophobic climate.”
“Racism and hatred based on religion will never have a place in France,” President Emmanuel Macron said on X on Sunday, expressing “the nation’s support” to the victim’s family and “to our Muslim compatriots.”
Myanmar marks month of misery since historic quake
The magnitude-7.7 tremor was the strongest with an epicenter on Myanmar’s land mass since 1912
Devastation centered on the second most populous city of Mandalay where apartments, hotels and religious institutes were razed or heavily damaged
Updated 28 April 2025
AFP
YANGON: Myanmar marked one month since suffering its fiercest earthquake in more than a century on Monday, with military bombardments unabated despite a humanitarian truce as thousands of survivors camp in makeshift shelters.
The magnitude-7.7 tremor was the strongest with an epicenter on Myanmar’s land mass since 1912, the United States Geological Survey reported, killing nearly 3,800 according to an official toll still rising daily.
Devastation centered on the second most populous city of Mandalay where apartments, tea shops, hotels and religious institutes were razed or heavily damaged.
“It’s been a month but we are still very busy trying to get back what we lost,” said one Mandalay resident who asked to remain anonymous.
“I am not the only one still in difficulty, it’s everyone around me as well.”
With tens of thousands people still homeless as monsoon season approaches, aid agencies are warning of major challenges to come.
“People are extremely concerned about what will happen in the next few weeks,” the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Myanmar chief Nadia Khoury said.
Meanwhile she said the organization was planning a two-year relief plan because “the geographical magnitude of this earthquake has been absolutely huge.”
The military – which sparked a civil war by snatching power in a 2021 coup – declared a ceasefire to spur relief efforts starting on April 2.
But since then monitors from the Britain-based Center for Information Resilience have logged 65 air attacks by the junta.
A strike on Wednesday killed five people and wounded eight more in a village on the outskirts of the town of Tabayin, residents said, 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of the earthquake’s epicenter.
“I managed to hide immediately after I heard explosions but my elder sister couldn’t,” said 40-year-old Ko Aung.
“She ran randomly in a panic during the strike and a piece of shrapnel hit her head. She died on the spot.”
Cho Tint, 46, said she sheltered in a cow shed as a fighter jet dropped two bombs.
“The military announced a ceasefire for the quake but they broke it already and are still attacking civilians,” she said. “That’s them crossing the line.”
In eastern Myanmar residents also said they were forced from their homes in an offensive by opposition armed groups attempting to seize towns on a lucrative trade route to Thailand during the truce, due to last until Wednesday.
After four years of war, half the population were already living in poverty and 3.5 million were displaced before the quake, which sheared the ground up to six meters (20 feet) in places according to NASA analysis.
Khoury said some of the badly-hit regions already had a high level of humanitarian need because they were hosting people displaced by fighting.
“Now it’s become even higher with this earthquake,” she said.
Ahead of the tremor the nation of more than 50 million was also bracing for the impact of international aid cuts following US President Donald Trump’s campaign to slash Washington’s humanitarian budget.
The World Food Programme had said it would cut off one million from vital food aid starting in April as a result of “critical funding shortfalls.”
Vancouver ramming attack suspect charged with murder as hundreds attend vigils for victims
Multiple counts of murder on allegations he killed 11 people when he rammed a crowd of people at a Filipino heritage festival
The festival was in honor of Lapu-Lapu, a national hero who stood up to Spanish explorers in the 16th century
Updated 28 April 2025
AP
VANCOUVER, British Columbia: A 30-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of murder on allegations he killed 11 people when he rammed a crowd of people at a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, as hundreds attended vigils across the city for the victims and the Canadian prime minister visited the site on the eve of a federal election.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, was charged with eight counts of second degree murder in a video appearance before a judge on Sunday, hours after he was arrested at the scene, said Damienne Darby, spokeswoman for British Columbia prosecutors. Lo has not yet entered a plea.
Investigators ruled out terrorism as a motive and said more charges are possible. They said Lo had a history of mental health issues.
An attorney for Lo was not listed in online court documents and The Associated Press wasn’t immediately able to reach an attorney representing him.
Those killed were between the ages of 5 and 65, officials said. About two dozen people were injured, some critically, when the black Audi SUV sped down a closed street just after 8 p.m. Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival. Authorities had not released victims’ names by Sunday evening.
Vancouver police survey the scene after a driver killed multiple people during a Filipino community festival on April 27, 2025, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (AP Photo)
Nathaly Nairn and her 15-year-old daughter carried flowers to one of the vigils. They had attended the festival on Saturday, and Nairn recounted seeing the damaged SUV and bodies on the ground.
“Something really dark happened last night,” Nairn said, as she and her daughter wiped away tears.
Emily Daniels also brought a bouquet. “It’s sad. Really sad,” she said. “I can’t believe something like this could happen so close to home.”
Police Interim Chief Steve Rai called it “the darkest day in Vancouver’s history.” There was no indication of a motive, but Rai said the suspect has “a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health.”
Video of the aftermath showed the dead and injured along a narrow street in South Vancouver lined by food trucks. The front of the Audi SUV was smashed in.
Kris Pangilinan, who brought his pop-up clothing and lifestyle booth to the festival, saw the vehicle enter slowly past a barricade before the driver accelerated in an area packed with people after a concert. He said hearing the sounds of people screaming and bodies hitting the vehicle will never leave his mind.
“He slammed on the gas, barreled through the crowd,” Pangilinan said. “It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air.”
Suspect detained by bystanders before the police arrived
Rai said the suspect was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders.
British Columbia Premier David Eby, second from right, and Member of the Legislative Assembly of B.C., Mable Elmore, walk with members of the Filipino community to a press conference after a vehicle drove into a crowd during a Lapu Lapu Day festival in Vancouver on April 27, 2025. (The Canadian Press via AP)
Video circulating on social media showed a young man in a black hoodie with his back against a chain-link fence, alongside a security guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.
“I’m sorry,” the man said, holding his hand to his head. Rai declined to comment on the video.
Prime Minister Mark Carney canceled his first campaign event and two major rallies on the final day of the election campaign before Monday’s vote.
“Last night families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, father, son or a daughter. Those families are living every family’s nightmare,” Carney said. “And to them and to the many others who were injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver, I would like to offer my deepest condolences.”
Carney joined British Columbia Premier David Eby and community leaders Sunday evening in Vancouver.
The tragedy was reminiscent of an attack in 2018, when a man used a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto.
People leave flowers near the scene where a car drove into a crowd of people during the Lapu Lapu Festival on April 27, 2025 in Vancouver, Canada.(Getty Images via AFP)
Witnesses describe how they leaped out of the way
Carayn Nulada said that she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV. She said that her daughter suffered a narrow escape.
“The car hit her arm and she fell down, but she got up, looking for us, because she is scared,” said Nulada, who described children screaming, and pale-faced victims lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles.
“I saw people running and my daughter was shaking,” Nulada said.
Nulada was in Vancouver General Hospital’s emergency room Sunday morning, trying to find news about her brother, who was run down in the attack and suffered multiple broken bones.
Doctors identified him by presenting the family with his wedding ring in a pill bottle and said that he was stable, but would be facing surgery.
James Cruzat, a Vancouver business owner, was at the celebration and heard a car rev its engine and then “a loud noise, like a loud bang” that he initially thought might be a gunshot.
“We saw people on the road crying, others were like running, shouting, or even screaming, asking for help. So we tried to go there just to check what was really actually happening until we found some bodies on the ground. Others were lifeless, others like, you know, injured,” Cruzat said.
Vincent Reynon, 17, was leaving the festival when he saw police rushing in. People were crying and he saw scattered bodies.
“It was like something straight out of a horror movie or a nightmare,” he said.
Adonis Quita said when he saw the SUV ramming through the crowd, his first reaction was to drag his 9-year-old son out of the area. The boy kept saying “I’m scared, I’m scared,” Quita recalled. Later they prayed together.
His son had just relocated to Vancouver from the Philippines with his mother to reunite with Quita, who has lived here since 2024. Quita said he worries the child will struggle to adjust to life in Canada after witnessing the horrific event.
Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim said the city had “suffered its darkest day.”
“I know many of us are fearful and feel uneasy,” said the mayor. “I know it’s hard to feel this way right now, but Vancouver is still a safe city.”
Vancouver’s large Filipino population was honoring a national hero
Vancouver had more than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in 2021, representing 5.9 percent of the city’s total population, according to Statistics Canada, the agency that conducts the national census.
Lapu Lapu Day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers who came to the Philippines in the 16th century. The organizers of the Vancouver event, which was in its second year, said he “represents the soul of native resistance, a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonization.”
Eby said the province won’t let the tragedy define the celebration. He urged people to channel their rage into helping those affected.
“I don’t think there is a British Columbian that hasn’t been touched in some way by the Filipino community,” he said. “You can’t go to a place that delivers and not meet a member of that community in the long-term care home or hospitals, childcare or schools. This is a community that gives and gives and yesterday was a celebration of their culture.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued a statement expressing sympathy with the victims and their families.
“The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is working with Canadian authorities to ensure that the incident will be thoroughly investigated, and that the victims and their families are supported and consoled,” he said.
