Luhansk/Donetsk, April 8
The Ukrainian police cleared pro-Moscow protesters from a regional administration building in a lightning night-time operation, but others held out in two more eastern cities on Tuesday in what Kiev says is a Russian-led plan to dismember the country.

Shots were fired, a grenade thrown and 70 persons detained as officers ended the occupation in the city of Kharkiv during an 18-minute "anti-terrorism" action, the interior ministry said. But elsewhere in Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking industrial heartland, activists armed with Kalashnikov rifles and protected by barbed wire barricades vowed there was no going back on their demand, a vote on returning to Moscow rule.

In the city of Luhansk, a man dressed in camouflage told a crowd outside an occupied state security building: "We want a referendum on the status of Luhansk and we want Russian returned as an official language." "We will not let fascism pass," he shouted, leading the crowd in chants of "Russia! Russia!".

Ukraine says the seizure of public buildings in eastern regions on Sunday night is a replay of events in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow annexed last month after a referendum staged when Russian troops were already in control.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed Western accusations that Moscow was destabilising Ukraine, saying the situation could improve only if Kiev took into account the interests of Russian-speaking regions. But Britain expressed fears that Russia wanted to disrupt the run-up to presidential elections next month in Ukraine, which has been ruled by an interim government since the overthrow of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich in February.

Ukraine, which was controlled by Moscow until the Soviet Union collapsed more than two decades ago, has been in turmoil since late last year when Yanukovich rejected closer relations with the European Union and tilted the country back towards Russia. That provoked mass protests in which more than 100 people were killed by police and which drove Yanukovich from office, leading to Kiev's loss of control in Crimea.

In Kiev, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov partly pinned responsibility for the Kharkiv occupation on Russian President Vladimir Putin. "All this was inspired and financed by the Putin-Yanukovich group," he said. An aide said police went in when the protesters failed to give themselves up and surrender their arms.

Officers did not open fire, despite shooting and the grenade attack from the other side, he said. One police officer was badly wounded and some others less seriously hurt.

In Luhansk, a city of around 450,000 people, protesters have blocked streets leading to the state security building with barbed wire, piles of tyres, wooden crates, metal police

barriers and sandbags. Protesters at the entrance to the building blocked the entrance with metal shields. Andrei, who said he had stormed the building on Sunday but would not give his family name, said the protesters had 200-300 Kalashnikovs and some stun grenades, but there had been no shooting so far.

In London, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the occupations bore "all the hallmarks of a Russian strategy to destabilise Ukraine". The West has expressed concern about what it says has been a buildup of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine. — Reuters

Sydney, April 8
The hunt for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 is on track to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, becoming the most expensive search in aviation history with 26 countries contributing planes, ships, submarines and satellites to the international effort.

A month into the search for the jet, estimates compiled by Reuters show that at least $44 million has already been spent on the deployment of military ships and aircraft in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea by Australia, China, the United States and Vietnam.

The figure is based on defence force statistics on available hourly costs of various assets, estimates by defence analysts and costs reported by the Pentagon. The figure for the first month of the search is already about equal to the official 32 million euros ($44 million) spent in searches lasting several months spread over a two-year time frame for Air France's Flight AF447, which crashed into the Mid-Atlantic in 2009.

Just as salvage experts said the actual costs for the Air France operation could have been three or four times higher than the official figure, the bill for the current search is expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

The $44 million estimate for MH370 does not cover all the defence assets being used by countries including Britain, France, New Zealand and South Korea, nor numerous other costs such as civilian aircraft, accommodation for hundreds of personnel and expenses for intelligence analysts worldwide. Britain dispatched a nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Tireless, to assist in the search, without disclosing the vessel's previous location.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose country is leading the search, and his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, have repeatedly said the cost of the search is not an issue. Still, Abbott has hinted that Australia, which has so far borne the brunt of the expense as the search homes in on the southern Indian Ocean off its western coast, may at some point be sending out invoices. — Reuters

Islamabad, April 8
At least 12 people were killed and 30 others injured in a bomb blast on a train in Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province today.

"The blast took place inside coach number 9 of passenger Train Jaffar Express, which was on its way to Rawalpindi from Quetta," Qazi Hussain, DIG police Sibi said.

The explosion set the train on fire and completely destroyed one coach in which 80 people were travelling.

"We have recovered 11 dead bodies from the train. They have been burnt to charcoal," said senior police official Mohammad Nazar, adding one injured person died in hospital.

The 30 injured are being treated at MS Civil Hospital. "We have received the injured but no dead bodies have been brought to the hospital as of yet," Dr Ghulam Sarwar from the hospital told Express Tribune.

"It seems the explosive materials were planted inside the passenger train at Sibi railway station," a railway official said.

Emergency and rescue teams were dispatched to the blast site, TV channels here reported.

The Frontier Corps personnel and police have cordoned off the area. — PTI

Washington, April 8
Spouses of H-1B visa holders with technical skills may be allowed to work in the US under a new initiative by the Obama administration to attract the best and brightest from across the world.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will soon publish several proposed rules that will make the US more attractive to talented foreign entrepreneurs and other high-skill immigrants who will contribute substantially to the US economy, create jobs, and enhance American innovative competitiveness, the White House said in a statement.

“These proposed regulations include rules authorising employment for spouses of certain high-skill workers on H-1B visas, as well as enhancing opportunities for outstanding professors and researchers,” it said yesterday.

"These measures build on continuing DHS efforts to streamline, eliminate inefficiency, and increase the transparency of the existing immigration system, such as by the launch of Entrepreneur Pathways, an online resource centre that gives immigrant entrepreneurs an intuitive way to navigate opportunities to start and grow a business," it said.

From the statement, it appears that spouses of H-1B visa holders are unlikely to get a blanket approval to work in the US. Only certain category of spouses of H-1B visa holders - mainly from the science and tech category - is likely to get the nod.

The White House said the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are launching a new collaboration to empower entrepreneurial scientists and address the critical gap between fundamental research and the development of a commercial entity.

The H-1B work visas for highly skilled professionals have been most beneficial from IT sector professionals from India.

Under the Congressional mandated cap, US Citizenship and Immigration Services can allocate a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas for the fiscal 2015 beginning October 1, 2014. — PTI

Johannesburg, April 8
Shortly after being extradited from the UK in connection with the killing of his wife during their honeymoon, Indian-origin businessman Shrien Dewani was today produced before a South African court and charged with her murder.

After being flown by a chartered flight to Cape Town, Dewani, 34, was escorted straight away to the Western Cape High Court, where he was formally charged with the murder of his Indo-Swedish wife Anni in 2010 during their honeymoon.

According to Mthunzi Mhaga, spokesperson of the Department of Justice, Dewani has been charged with murder and will also face charges relating to conspiracy to commit the murder and defeating the ends of justice.

Mhaga said the private aircraft was used to transport Dewani due to his peculiar medical condition, which needs to be monitored as travelling on a commercial flight could have compromised his security and adversely affected his pending medical examination, state-run news portal sanews.gov.za reported.

Dewani was put on the flight to Cape Town from London's Heathrow Airport yesterday to face charges for ordering the contract killing of his 28-year-old wife, which he denies in a case that has sparked international headlines.

He was taken from Fromeside Hospital in the British city of Bristol, to the airport by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service Extradition Unit. They were met there by officials from the South African authorities who escorted him to the flight.

Dewani was originally arrested by officers from the extradition unit on December 7, 2010 at the request of the South African authorities.

His extradition comes after three years of a protracted legal battle to keep the Bristol-based businessman in the UK. Dewani's lawyers had argued that he should not be forced from the UK to face trial until he recovers from mental health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

But in March, judges at the High Court in London rejected all his grounds for appeal against his removal from the UK and denied him the chance to take the case to the Supreme Court.

It is expected that Dewani will be treated at Valkenberg hospital in South Africa while awaiting trial, where security has reportedly been beefed up in anticipation of his arrival. — PTI

London, April 8
Sikhs in the UK will be exempted from wearing hard hats at construction sites, British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced.

"From now on, Sikhs don't have to wear hard hats at construction sites in our country," Cameron said last night at a Baisakhi reception he hosted at 10, Downing Street.

"We have already stopped searching of turbans in the UK," he said, describing British Sikhs as "absolute role models in integrating with the British society." Construction sites are considered to be one of the most dangerous workplaces and hard hats are worn as a precautionary measure.

Recalling his visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Cameron said, "I will never forget my visit to Amritsar and the peace and tranquility I experienced there." "I know how much pain there was after the Operation Bluestar (in 1984)." He said he wanted adequate representation of Sikhs "everywhere" - including the army and judiciary.

He said: "This year marks the 160 years since the first Sikh arrived in Britain. Since then, the story of British Sikhs has been one of success - of many thousands of people making a positive contribution in so many ways. — PTI

A trailer carries Seward Johnson's sculpture ‘Forever Marilyn’ featuring Marilyn Monroe in Pittsburgh, US. AP/pti

Indian is Obama’s envoy for global entrepreneurship
Washington: An Indian-origin academician has been appointed as one of the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship, an initiative to help develop the next generation of American entrepreneurs. Salman Khan, whose mother was born in Kolkata and father in Bangladesh, was named as one among the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship. PTI