World

The US today said it is temporarily suspending the 'premium processing' of H-1B visas from April 3, eliminating the option of shorter wait times for the programme that helps highly skilled foreigners work at American firms. Under the current system, companies submitting applications for H-1B visas for potential employees can pay extra for expedited processing, which is known as premium processing.

The suspension is effective April 3, and could last up to six months, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The H-1B visas are widely used by Indian IT majors. Premium processing costs an additional USD 1,225 and ensures a response from the USCIS in 15 days or the fee is refunded. Processing of standard H-1B applications -- those that are not premium -- takes between three to six months. "This temporary suspension will help us to reduce overall H-1B processing time," the USCIS said.

The change comes as President Donald Trump is said to be drafting a new version of his court-halted executive order that banned travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. By temporarily suspending premium processing, the USCIS said it will be able to process long-pending petitions, which they have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years, and prioritise adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240-day mark.

For Silicon Valley companies, many of which employ large number of H-1B holders, this move could signal that waiting time for approval may get much longer. Under the current system, a company that is sponsoring a potential employee or current employee's H-1B petition may fill out a form to expedite the processing of that petition, the Verge reported. Meanwhile, the USCIS also announced that it would start accepting the H-1B visa applications for the fiscal year 2018 beginning October 1, 2017, from April 3.

At least eight Afghan civilians, including four children, were killed in a blast as they tried to escape fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban, officials said Saturday.

Some 22 others were injured in the explosion in the Bala Buluk district of Farah province Friday, the latest carnage as the resurgence of the Taliban brings rising insecurity.    

"Their vehicle hit a roadside bomb as they were fleeing the scene of fighting," provincial spokesman Nasir Mehri told AFP.  

But Wakil Ahmad, a resident of the district, said the deaths were caused by an Afghan army air strike, during bombing of Taliban positions.

Afghan defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said they were "investigating the allegations".

Afghan civilians are paying a high price for the escalating conflict. Civilian casualties in 2016 were the highest recorded by the UN since 2009, with nearly 11,500 non-combatants killed or wounded.

The United Nations warned that the alleged use of chemical weapons in Mosul, if confirmed, would be a war crime and a serious violation of international humanitarian law, according to a statement released Saturday.

"This is horrible," Lise Grande, the humanitarian coordinator in Iraq said in the statement, "there is never justification -- none whatsoever -- for the use of chemical weapons."

The alleged attack occurred this week in eastern Mosul, an area declared fully liberated by Iraqi forces in January. The attack hit a neighborhood along the Tigris River -- which roughly divides the city in two.

Doctors in an urgent care hospital in the nearby city of Irbil say they began receiving patients showing symptoms of chemical weapons exposure on Thursday.

"The mortar hit our house, right inside the living room where we were sitting," said Nazim Hamid, whose children had burns to their faces, arms and legs. The family was being treated in the Irbil hospital.

"There was a very bad smell, it was some kind of gas," he said. "My kids were affected, some of them were burned and some of them had difficulty breathing."

Hussein Qader, the deputy director of the hospital, said all 10 patients admitted for exposure are in stable condition and will be discharged in the coming days.

Most of western Mosul is still under Islamic State group control despite a handful of recent gains on the city's southwestern edge by Iraqi forces over the past two weeks.

IS has used chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria at least 52 times according to a report published late last year by IHS conflict monitor, a London-based research and intelligence gathering group. The report said that at least 19 of the 52 attacks took place in and around Mosul.

Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition officials have repeatedly expressed concern regarding IS chemical weapons attacks. However IS-claimed insurgent attacks in Iraq and attacks targeting civilians attempting to flee Mosul cause far greater numbers of injuries and deaths to civilians.

Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake Mosul in October and began a push to retake the city's western half last month.

After more than two years of slow territorial victories against IS by Iraqi ground forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air power, western Mosul is the last significant urban area IS controls in Iraq.

The Russian leader said Moscow and Bishkek agreed to step up military and technical cooperation and added that Russia is ready to close its military base in Kyrgyzstan should Biskek ask for it.

Russia and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to strengthen military and technical cooperation to face terrorist and criminal threats, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday after talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart.

"We agreed to actively strengthen bilateral, military and military-technical cooperation. We confirmed a common understanding that the Russian military base's presence is an important factor in ensuring stability and security in the Central Asian region," Putin said.

He noted that talks with Almazbek Atambayev centered on threats facing the Central Asian region, including anti-terrorism, drug trafficking and cross-border organized crime.

"If Kyrgyzstan ever says that we have strengthened our armed forces so much that this base is not necessary, we will leave that same day," Putin said. "We have no need to deploy a military contingent, it is associated only with ensuring the security of Kyrgyzstan itself."

He echoed Atambayev's statement earlier that their high-level talks did not focus on the expansion of the existing Russian base in the Central Asian republic.

"If Kyrgyzstan finds it necessary to do so, then we will have discussions, but bear in mind that this is also an additional cost to us," Putin stressed.

The top official of France's Charente region says a police sharpshooter has accidentally fired his weapon during a speech by President Francois Hollande and two people were slightly injured.

Pierre N'Gahane said the incident occurred Tuesday while Hollande was inaugurating a new fast train line in the western town of Villognon.

Myanmar's military, under international pressure over alleged abuse against members of the country's Muslim Rohingya minority, said Tuesday that official investigations failed to substantiate most allegations.

The military's Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Mya Tun Oo, said a news conference in the capital Naypyitaw that the increasing population of Rohingya in Rakhine state in western Myanmar, along with an increase in the number of religious leaders and mosques, disproved general charges of genocide and religious persecution.

He said official investigations failed to find convincing evidence that widespread rape or other atrocities directed against civilians had taken place, but allegations that the army burned down thousands of homes were still under investigation.

The two-and-a-half hour briefing, including PowerPoint presentations and use of video clips, was an unusually extensive event for the military, which is seeking to counter a wave of accusations against it. Mya Tun Oo discussed specific cases raised by human rights investigators, saying the government was unable to find firsthand or verifiable accounts that could confirm them. However, critics have said the government cannot expect to conduct a credible investigation by itself and should allow an independent international investigation.

The government has barred independent media access to the Rohingya area of Rakhine since an army crackdown began in October after insurgents killed nine police guards along the border with Bangladesh. Human rights groups have said that satellite photos support their allegations of the mass burning of houses, which the government had earlier dismissed as the work of insurgents.

The U.N.'s human rights agency in early February issued a detailed report based on interviews with Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh alleging widespread rapes of Rohingya women by Myanmar government security forces, as well as other atrocities against civilians.

On Monday, after a visit with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, the U.N's special envoy for human rights in Myanmar called for Myanmar's government "to immediately cease the discrimination that the (Rohingya) community continues to face, to act now to prevent any further serious rights violations and to conduct prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into those already alleged to have occurred."

"The magnitude of violence that these families have witnessed and experienced is far more extensive than I had originally speculated," said Yanghee Lee.

Western governments have also expressed their concern about treatment off the Rohingya.

The estimated 1 million Rohingya in Buddhist-majority Myanmar face official and social discrimination. Most are regarded as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Many fled home during communal violence in 2012 and over 100,000 live in refugee camps.

At least seven persons, including an underworld don, were killed when a prison bus was attacked by unidentified men in southwestern Sri Lanka today, police said.

The attackers opened fire on the bus transporting prisoners from Kalutara prison to a magistrate court, police media spokesman Priyantha Jayakody said.

He said seven persons were killed and four injured.
The bus was attacked at Nagaha junction in Kalutara, ColomboPage reported.

Among the dead was notorious underworld figure Aruna Damith Udayanga alias 'Samayan' and two prison officials.

Donald Trump's job approval rating stands at just 44 per cent, a record low for a newly inaugurated President, according to a new joint NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll.

In the poll, conducted between February 18-22, 48 per cent of Americans said they disapprove of Trump's performance as President and 32 per cent said that his first month in office demonstrated that he is not up to the job.

Asked about early challenges in the first month of his presidency, 52 per cent called the issues "real problems" that are specific to his administration, while 43 per cent of Americans attributed them to typical "growing pains" for any new President.

The new rating comes two days before Trump is set to address a joint session of Congress, a State of the Union-style speech in which new presidents typically lay out their vision for the country, NBC News reported.

According to the poll, he is the only President in the history of modern polling to begin his first term with a net negative approval rating. Compared to Trump's net negative rating of -4 per cent, former Barack Obama began his presidency with a net positive of 34 per cent.

Trump also continues to register particularly dismal ratings when it comes to his temperament, with just 18 per cent giving his demeanour a thumbs up compared to 55 per cent who rank it as poor.

His personal favourability rating -- 43 per cent positive and 47 per cent negative -- was stable compared to previous polls, and a majority of Americans -- 57 per cent -- said that he was performing about how they expected him to in the White House.

Six-in-10 Americans said they were hopeful and optimistic about the future of the country, including an overwhelming 87 per cent of Republicans (but just 37 per cent of Democrats), the poll showed.

And a majority of respondents to the poll -- 57 per cent - also said that Trump was likely to "bring real change in the direction of the country".

At least 11 people were injured as multiple suicide blasts and firing took place outside a sessions court in Tangi, Charsadda on Tuesday, a police official said.

According to police reports, firing continued till the filing of this report.

“The explosions took place at the entrance of the sessions court,” DPO Charsadda Sohail Khalid said.

Initial reports revealed that there were two judges present in the premises, and proceedings continued as per routine when firing broke out. While the number of attackers is yet to be ascertained, eyewitnesses said one blast took place at the entrance of the court, and one near the bar room. “One of the suicide bombers tried to enter the court, however, was shot dead by security officials,”an eyewitness said.

“One of the attackers lobbed a hand grenade at the gate of the court and then opened firing,” Naeem Iqbal, an eyewitness said.

According to another eyewitness, at least five people were critically injured when the initial blast took place.

Pakistan has been battling insurgency since shortly after it decided to ally with the US following its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Violence has declined in recent years following a series of military offensives in the northwest border areas as well as concerted efforts to block the militants’ sources of funding. But the remnants of militant groups are still able to carry out periodic bloody attacks, particularly in the northwest.

Pakistan’s battle against the Taliban insurgency began in 2004 after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan forced militants to flee across the border. Pakistan Army launched an operation in June 2014 to wipe out militant bases in the tribal regions and bring an end to a bloody insurgency that has cost thousands of civilian lives since 2004.

It has conducted a series of military offensives as well as concerted efforts to block militants’ sources of funding. Last year the country recorded its lowest number of killings since 2007 when the TTP was formed. But the remnants of militant groups are still able to carry out periodic bloody attacks.

Pakistan has reportedly launched strikes against militant bases in Afghanistan, hours after the army said it has found links that terrorists from across the border were behind a suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine that killed 88 people.     

The army yesterday summoned Afghan diplomats and handed them a list of 76 militants who, they say, were supporting terrorist activities in Pakistan. The move came after 88 people died in a suicide bombing at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in southern Sindh province on Friday night.     

Immediately after the bombing, Pakistan claimed the attack was planned in militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan, in remarks that can renew hostility between Kabul and Islamabad.     

Geo TV, quoting military sources, reported that the strikes were launched last night. But there have been no official word on the strikes, which, if confirmed, would be the first such operation on Afghan soil by the Pakistan Army.     

The report said four camps of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar terror group were targeted in the strikes across the border of Pakistan's Khyber and Mohmand tribal agencies. Some reports said several militants, including the deputy commander of Jamat-ul Ahrar, Adil Bacha, were killed in the strikes.   

The report quoted the Afghan media reporting that the Pakistani ambassador in Afghanistan has been summoned by the Afghan government over recent shelling in eastern part of the country.     

Pakistan has often warned Afghan authorities to prevent the use of their soil for terror activities in Pakistan.     

Yesterday, Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa told Gen John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, during a telephonic conversation that terrorist activities and inaction against militants in Afghanistan were "testing our current policy of cross-border restraint".     

Pakistan Army has launched "intelligence-based operations" combing operations across the country and claimed it has killed "100 terrorists" since the attack on the shrine.     

The army has so far provided no details of how and under what circumstances the militants were killed. In a statement yesterday, it claimed it has found linkages to militant support networks operating from Afghanistan and it has closed the border due to security reasons after the shrine bombing.