W O R L D

US in touch with India on visa fee
Washington, August 19
The US is in touch with India to address its concerns over the hike in H1-B and L1 visa fee, which would adversely affect the Indian IT companies, a senior administration official has said.

Two Indians killed in US car mishap
Boston, August 19
Two Indians were killed and one was injured when the car they were travelling in had a head on collision with another vehicle in Auburn in central Massachusetts. The two who died in the collision have been identified as Anup Suri, 25, and Dinesh Goyal, 28, of Rhode Island.

WikiLeaks says US ready to discuss Afghan files; Pentagon denies it
Stockholm, August 19
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said the Pentagon has expressed willingness to discuss the online whistleblower’s request for help in reviewing classified documents from the Afghan war and removing information that could harm civilians.

Pak not on Obama’s itinerary
Washington, August 19
President Barack Obama has no plans to travel to Pakistan when he visits India and other Asian nations in November this year. “I haven't heard any discussion of that,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said when asked if there was any chance that the President might add Pakistan to his itinerary.

Every fifth American thinks he’s Muslim
Washington, August 19
An increasing number of Americans - nearly one in five - incorrectly believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim, a new survey has revealed. The view that Obama is a Muslim is more widespread among his political opponents than among his backers, the Pew Research Centre said after releasing the results of its national survey.

Judge bans burqa in Oz court
Melbourne, August 19
In a latest ruling, an Australian court has asked a Muslim woman witness in a fraud case to appear before it without a face-covering veil in the interest of a fair trial. Judge Shauna Deane today ruled that the witness should remove her veil when she gives evidence to the jury, according to the media reports from Perth.

Bull charge leaves 30 hurt in Spain
Madrid, August 19
A bull leapt out of the arena at a bullring in northern Spain and charged into a crowd of terrified spectators, injuring some 30 persons, the Spanish media has said. Spanish television showed dramatic images of screaming spectators, including children, frantically trying to avoid the animal after it hurdled a security barrier that surrounded the arena as well as a fence and clambered up the crowded stands.

A bull charges towards spectators at a bullring in northern Spain (1), takes a leap out of the arena (2), enters the spectators gallery (3) and mauls terrified persons (4). Around 30 persons were injured in the incident. — Reuters

US in touch with India on visa fee

Washington, August 19
The US is in touch with India to address its concerns over the hike in H1-B and L1 visa fee, which would adversely affect the Indian IT companies, a senior administration official has said.

“We are in touch with the Indian government and are trying as best as we can to answer the questions they have about this new law,” the official, familiar with the ongoing Indo-US talks on this issue, said. The official said, “There is no secret that the Indian government has expressed its concern about this new provision but Washington is not aware of India approaching the WTO on the issue.” “We are not aware that India has taken any action on the WTO front, but if and when they do that will be a question posed to the US Trade Representative,” he said, responding to statements coming out from Indian officials that New Delhi might approach the World Trade Organisation.

However, there was no response from the USTR. Anand Sharma, Union Commerce and Industry Minister, had last week also written a letter to the US Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, in this regard. Under the $600 border security bill signed into law by President Barack Obama, nearly $550 million would be raised by increasing the fee in the categories of H-1B and L1 visas for the next five years, which would mostly impact the Indian IT companies.

Businesses in India and the US have termed this as discriminatory and said this would undermine the growing Indo-US economic relationship, with which the Obama administration did not agree.

State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said the move could have an adverse impact on Indian companies but exuded confidence that the long-term economic partnership with India would continue to deepen and strengthen. — PTI

Two Indians killed in US car mishap

Boston, August 19
Two Indians were killed and one was injured when the car they were travelling in had a head on collision with another vehicle in Auburn in central Massachusetts. The two who died in the collision have been identified as Anup Suri, 25, and Dinesh Goyal, 28, of Rhode Island.

While Suri was sitting in the front-seat of the car, Goyal was a passenger in the back seat, spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Timothy Connolly said. Connolly said no further information would be released immediately.

Authorities are still investigating the crash that happened on Sunday morning. Amit Gupta, 25, who was driving the car, was injured in the accident. California resident Sandeep Rikhi, a relative of Suri's, said Suri came to the US from New Delhi in February, while Goyal arrived on August 11. — PTI

WikiLeaks says US ready to discuss Afghan files; Pentagon denies it

Stockholm, August 19
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said the Pentagon has expressed willingness to discuss the online whistleblower’s request for help in reviewing classified documents from the Afghan war and removing information that could harm civilians.

“This week, we received contact through our lawyers that the General Counsel of the Pentagon says now they want to discuss the issue,” Assange said.

However, the Pentagon denied that it was willing to collaborate with the group, but acknowledged that it had arranged for a phone call last Sunday between its General Counsel and a person claiming to be a lawyer for WikiLeaks.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said lawyer Timothy Matusheski was a “no show” for the call. The Pentagon followed up with a letter to Matusheski on Monday demanding that WikiLeaks returned the war files.

“The Defense Department will not negotiate some “minimised” or “sanitised” version of the release by WikiLeaks of additional US government classified documents,” wrote Jeh Johnson, Pentagon’s top lawyer. — AP

Pak not on Obama’s itinerary

Washington, August 19
President Barack Obama has no plans to travel to Pakistan when he visits India and other Asian nations in November this year. “I haven't heard any discussion of that,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said when asked if there was any chance that the President might add Pakistan to his itinerary.

Obama would embark on his maiden visit to India later this year to further consolidate the Indo-US strategic partnership.

Burton said, “The US is doing everything to help flood-hit Pakistan as this catastrophe is one that's on a human scale and widespread.” “We've given them tens of millions of dollars in aid. The US helicopters and C-130s were there delivering hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and medical supplies. We are responding to all the requests that come in from the Pakistani government. We're working with them and the NGOs on the ground to ensure that we're doing all that we can to help them out,” he said.

“We are hoping to help them where we can. The US is going to continue to do its part to help those folks that have been so terribly affected,” Burton said. — PTI

Every fifth American thinks he’s Muslim

Washington, August 19
An increasing number of Americans - nearly one in five - incorrectly believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim, a new survey has revealed. The view that Obama is a Muslim is more widespread among his political opponents than among his backers, the Pew Research Centre said after releasing the results of its national survey.

The Pew Research Centre said 18 per cent of the Americans now say Obama is a Muslim, which is up from 11 per cent in March 2009.

Only about one-third of the adults (34 per cent) say Obama is a Christian, down sharply from 48 per cent in 2009. The survey was completed in early August, before Obama's recent comments that appeared favouring the proposed construction of a mosque near the site of the former World Trade Centre, the Centre said.

White House faith adviser attributed this to the misinformation campaign by his opponents. — PTI

Judge bans burqa in Oz court

Melbourne, August 19
In a latest ruling, an Australian court has asked a Muslim woman witness in a fraud case to appear before it without a face-covering veil in the interest of a fair trial. Judge Shauna Deane today ruled that the witness should remove her veil when she gives evidence to the jury, according to the media reports from Perth.

Deane said her decision should not set a legal precedent, as it was simply her ruling in these circumstances.

The judge said in the interest of a fair trial the witness should not be allowed to wear a niqab. The 36-year-old woman, an Islamic studies teacher, is due to give evidence for the prosecution in the fraud trial of college director, Anwar Sayed. In court, defence lawyer Mark Trowell, QC, said the woman's wish to wear the burqa was a “preference she has”.

“It's not an essential part of the Islamic faith. If she was in an Islamic court she would be required to remove it,” he said. Judge Deane replied: “This isn't an Islamic court.” Defence lawyers had raised concerns about how the jury could be expected to read the woman's facial expressions if they could not see her face. — PTI

Bull charge leaves 30 hurt in Spain

Madrid, August 19
A bull leapt out of the arena at a bullring in northern Spain and charged into a crowd of terrified spectators, injuring some 30 persons, the Spanish media has said.

Spanish television showed dramatic images of screaming spectators, including children, frantically trying to avoid the animal after it hurdled a security barrier that surrounded the arena as well as a fence and clambered up the crowded stands. The incident occurred yesterday evening in the bullring in the town of Tafalla, in the Navarra region.

Around 30 persons were injured, Diario de Navarra newspaper said. Most suffered cuts and bruises or shock, but one man was gored in the back and a 10-year-old boy was being examined at a hospital in the nearby town of Pamplona after suffering multiple bruises.

Employees of the bullring managed to control the bull after about 15 minutes, it was killed and removed using a crane. — AFP