Istanbul: A strong earthquake struck Friday between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos, collapsing several buildings in Turkey’s western Izmir province and leaving at least four people dead.

Dozens more were injured, while some damage to buildings and the road network, and four light injuries were also reported on Samos.

Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that four people were killed in Izmir and 120 were injured. He said 38 ambulances, two ambulance helicopters, and 35 medical rescue teams were working in Izmir.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 with an epicenter 13 kilometers (8 miles) north northeast of the Greek island of Samos. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 7.0. It is common for preliminary magnitudes to differ in the early hours and days after a quake. Multiple aftershocks struck the region.

A strong earthquake struck Friday between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos, collapsing several buildings in Turkey’s western Izmir province and causing some damage in Samos. There were reports of people trapped beneath rubble in Izmir.

Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said three injured people were pulled from the wreckage of a building in Izmir. Some damage was also reported on the Greek island of Samos, to buildings and the road network. The director of the hospital in Samos said four people were treated there for light injuries.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said the earthquake was centered in the Aegean at a depth of 16,5 kilometers (10.3 miles) and registered at a 6.6 magnitude. The emergency authority said it sent search and rescue teams to Izmir.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.9, with an epicenter 13 kilometers (8 miles) north northeast of the Greek island of Samos. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 7.0. It is common for preliminary magnitudes to differ in the early hours and days after a quake. Multiple aftershocks struck the region.

Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer Said that about 20 buildings collapsed. The city is the third biggest in Turkey with about 4,5 million residents. Turkey’s interior minister tweeted six buildings in Izmir were destroyed. He said there were small cracks in some buildings in six other provinces.

The environment and urban planning minister, Murat Kurum, said people were trapped under the wreckage, and rescue efforts were underway.

Videos posted on Twitter showed flooding in the immediate aftermath of the quake in Izmir’s Seferhisar district. Turkish officials and broadcasters called on people to stay off the streets after reports of traffic congestion.

Turkish media showed wreckage of a multiple-story building in central Izmir, with people climbing it to start rescue efforts. Turkish media showed at least one woman being helped from the rubble of a collapsed building. Smoke was filmed in several spots in central Izmir.

Turkish media said the earthquake was felt across the regions of Aegean and Marmara, including Istanbul. Istanbul’s governor said there were no reports of damage in the city, Turkey’s largest. 

For over nearly a month, the Pakistan government has made several attempts to get Sharif’s arrest warrant signed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he is even ready to initiate talks with his British counterpart Boris Johnson to get Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif deported from London.

Prime Minister Khan as saying that since getting Nawaz extradited from Britain would be a “long process”, his government was pushing for him to be deported “which can happen immediately”.

“We are in regular contact with their officials. We are making full efforts to get him deported,” the Pakistani Prime Minister said.

“If I have to, I will go and talk to Boris Johnson,” he added.This comes weeks after the British government had informed the Pakistani officials that they will not get involved in “its internal politics”.

For over nearly a month, the Pakistan government has made several attempts to get Sharif’s arrest warrant signed.

The News International reported that the country’s diplomats stationed in London also asked the British government to help execute the arrest warrants of Nawaz, however, the government bluntly refused.

Last month, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) came down heavily on the Imran Khan-led government for allowing Sharif to go abroad without informing the court and it was up to the dispensation to take steps for ensuring the latter’s return to the country.

The country of 47 million is among those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 34,000 deaths attributed to the disease.

MADRID:Spain this week became the first country in western Europe to record more than 1 million confirmed infections, as it struggles to contain a resurgence of the new coronavirus

The country of 47 million is among those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 34,000 deaths attributed to the disease.

After being brought under control during a nationwide lockdown in the spring, the virus started spreading again a couple of months after restrictions were lifted and people started to move around and socialize again.

By September, hospitals in Madrid were once again beginning to fill up as Spain recorded the highest numbers of new infections in the 27-country European Union.

Confirmed cases rose beyond the 1 million mark on Wednesday, when nearly 17,000 new infections were added.

Experts say the real number is probably much higher because insufficient testing, asymptomatic cases and other issues impede authorities from capturing the true scale of the outbreak.

Like elsewhere in Europe, the resurgence has prompted authorities to impose restrictions on travel and social gatherings.

Curfews are being considered in some of the most affected areas, including the capital, Madrid.

The northern region of Navarra has prohibited non-essential travel from and to the region.

Washington: The State Department has proposed not to issue temporary business visas for H-1B speciality occupations which allowed several companies to send their technology professionals for a short stay to complete jobs on site in the US, a move which could affect hundreds of Indians.

The proposal, if finalised, will eliminate any misconception that the “B-1 in lieu of H policy” provides an alternative avenue for foreign professionals to enter the US to perform skilled labour that allows, and potentially even encourages them and their employers to circumvent the restrictions and requirements relating to the H non-immigrant classification established by Congress to protect the US workers, the State Department said.

The move, made public on Wednesday, less than two weeks ahead of the November 3 presidential election, is likely to impact several Indian companies which send their technology professionals on B-1 visas for a short stay to complete jobs on site in the US.

On December 17, 2019, the Attorney General of California announced a USD 800,000 settlement against Infosys Limited to resolve allegations that approximately 500 Infosys employees worked in the state on Infosys-sponsored B-1 visas rather than H-1B visas, the State Department said.

“The proposed changes and the resulting transparency would reduce the impact of foreign labour on the US workforce of aliens performing activities in a specialty occupation without the procedural protections attendant to the H-1B classification,” it said.

In its federal notification issued on Wednesday, the State Department said the US architecture firm seeking protection from rising labour costs in the country might believe it could lay off its US architects and contract for the same professional architectural services to be provided by a foreign architecture firm.

If the foreign firm sought H-1B visas for its architects, it would be required to pay the prevailing wage for architects in the area of intended employment in the United States, presumably the same wage the US architects had been paid, and meet the other requirements enacted by the Congress to protect US workers.

But under the B-1 in lieu of H policy, the foreign architects could ostensibly seek B-1 visas and travel to the US to fill a temporary need for architecture services, as long as they retained a residence in the foreign country and continued to receive a salary, perhaps significantly lower than what is customary for US architects, dispersed abroad by the foreign firm (or under the auspices of a foreign parent or subsidiary), the State Department said.

Under the Department’s guidance, visas could be issued for multiple architects planning temporary work in the US in certain situations. However, a foreign employer may succeed in undermining the US immigration law and policy by rotating architects between the US and the foreign country to effectively fill the position of one US architect at a significantly lower cost, the notification said.

“If the architects who intended to perform skilled labour were “of distinguished merit and ability… seeking to perform (temporary architectural services) of an exceptional nature requiring such merit and ability, one might argue the current regulatory language suggests this type of labour is a permissible basis for B-1 non-immigrant visa issuance,” the State Department said.

This potential outcome is harmful to the US workers and contrary to the policies of the Trump administration, it said.

The State Department said the application process for a B-1 visa does not include similar procedural requirements to protect the US workers like that of H-1B visas.

Also, the fees for the B-1 visas are far less than that of H-1B visas.

While Congress required H-1B employers to pay significant fees to fund assistance to the US workforce as well as prevention and detection of fraud related to skilled labour, employers are not required to pay comparable fees to employ skilled workers under the B-1 in lieu of H policy, it said.

According to the notification, the State Department estimates that this proposal will affect not more than 6,000 to 8,000 foreign workers per year, specifically aliens intending to provide services in a specialty occupation in the US.

As per its estimate, up to 28 per cent of the approximately 8,000 annual B-1 visa issuances under the B-1 in lieu of H policy were to foreign workers who applied for a visa to perform services in a specialty occupation for a small entity in the US.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has exuded confidence that he will win the November 3 election by a bigger margin than that of 2016 and urged his supporters to deliver a “thundering” defeat to his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

In his hour-long speech at an election rally here, Trump reiterated that his challenger Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris, if elected, would convert the US into a socialist country.

“It’s time to send a message to these wealthy liberal hypocrites by delivering Joe Biden, sleepy Joe, a thundering defeat on November 3rd. Got to get out and vote,” Trump told his supporters in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

Encouraged by the high level of energy and enthusiasm of thousands of his supporters, with a large number of them waiting for hours on a chilly night, Trump asserted that his victory on November 3 is going to be bigger than that of 2016.

“This is going to be bigger than four years ago. There is more enthusiasm,” he said amidst a huge applause from his supporters.

“The crowds are bigger. They will never be forgotten again not after this one. They tried to find out, who are all these people that showed up last time. Now they are finding out again except even more so. Now you see what’s going on though with the lines and everything,” he said.

Biden, 77, is leading the polls. However, Trump’s rallies in particularly in the battle ground States have been attracting massive crowds. The hour-long speech of the US President was marked with applause and cheers from his supporters.

“In our lifetimes, we’ll never see a president like Donald Trump again,” Congressman Mike Kelly said in his brief remarks reflecting the sentiments of his supporters.

At one point of time, as Trump was speaking, the mike suddenly stopped working apparently due to a technical snag. The crowd shouted “fake news turn it back on!” The microphone was back in about a minute and the president quipped that the brief outage was likely caused by “crooked Hillary.” Trump reiterated that his challenger Biden and his running mate Senator Harris, if elected, would convert the US into a socialist country.

“Only by voting for me can you save your fracking in Pennsylvania. We are going to have a great time because you are going or reject the radical left. The United States I’ll say and I’ll say it a thousand times, the United States will never be a socialist nation,” he asserted.

Listing out his achievements, Trump asserted that his administration has revived the country’s economy, that was badly hit by COVID-19, in less than six months. The next years is going to be the greatest. Unemployment rate is now in single digits and will drop further, he said.

The president accused China of spreading coronavirus in the US and the world. He said that if not for the virus, he would not have to campaign in places like Erie because he would be so far ahead of his rivals. Trump claimed the coronavirus pandemic was nearing its end.

“We’re rounding the turn on the pandemic,” Trump said.

According to Philadelphia Inquirer, Erie as is one of the most hotly contested and symbolically weighted parts of Pennsylvania.

“Erie County became a symbol of Trump’s white, working class support in 2016, and is being nationally watched for clues about how strongly he has retained his hold on those voters,” the daily reported. Trump exuded confidence of winning this battle ground State.

“If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing,” he said.

Interestingly, the campaign played a video of Biden on fracking during Trump’s speech. Biden and Harris want to ban fracking and kill American jobs, Trump said.  The president slammed Biden for his policies and continued to raise the allegations of corruption against him and his son Hunter Biden.

Trump thanked his countrymen for electing a non-politician like him.

“If I don’t sound like a typical Washington politician, it’s because I’m not a politician. And if I don’t always play by the rules of the Washington establishment, it’s because I was elected to fight for you and nobody has ever fought for you harder than I have. That I can tell you. I’m fighting so hard because I love my country,” Trump said.

“Joe Biden has made a corrupt bargain exchange for his party’s nomination. He’s handed control of his party over to socialists. I added another word, communists, Marxists, left-wing extremists. And they’re full of hate and rage and scorn for the middle class and for everybody. Frankly, for the middle class and for everybody,” he said.

“The fact is whether you like it or not, whether you want to hear it or not, Biden is a corrupt politician. He is a corrupt politician. And smoking gun emails show that the Biden family sold the Vice Presidency for a very, very substantial amount of money,” Trump claimed.

“More money than anybody would believe. He let China plunder our jobs while his family raked in millions of dollars from China and foreign nations,” Trump alleged.

“The Bidens got rich while Pennsylvania got robbed and so did the rest of our country. If Biden wins, China wins. If Biden wins, China will own the USA and you know it,” he alleged.

For the last few years, Australia has been showing keen interest in participating in the high-end naval exercise.

MELBOURNE: Australia will participate in the Malabar naval exercise next month involving India, the US and Japan that will bring the four key defence partners and democracies in the region together, demonstrating their collective resolve to support an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

In a significant move that comes amid a Sino-India border row, India on Monday announced Australia’s participation in the upcoming Malabar exercise along with the US and Japan, effectively making it the first military-level engagement between the four-member nation grouping — the Quad.

The invitation by India to the Australian navy for the exercise came two weeks after the foreign ministers of the Quad held extensive talks in Tokyo with a focus on enhancing their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese military assertiveness.

In a joint statement with Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the announcement was another important step in Australia’s deepening relationship with India.

The government said that following an invitation from India, Australia will participate in the Malabar-2020 exercise, which is likely to take place next month in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

The exercise will bring together four key regional defence partners India, Japan, the United States and Australia in November, it said.

Reynolds said Malabar-2020 marked a milestone opportunity for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

“High-end military exercises like MALABAR are key to enhancing Australia’s maritime capabilities, building interoperability with our close partners, and demonstrating our collective resolve to support an open and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Reynolds said.

For the last few years, Australia has been showing keen interest in participating in the high-end naval exercise. Australia will be returning to the joint manoeuvres after its participation in 2007.

The US has been pushing for a deeper military collaboration with Japan, India and Australia against China’s growing regional influence.

Beijing claims almost all of the 1.3 million square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory.

China has been building military bases on artificial islands in the region which, in parts, is claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Beijing has impeded commercial activity like fishing and mineral exploration by neighbouring nations in recent years, saying the ownership of the resource-rich maritime territory belongs to China for hundreds of years.

Foreign Minister Payne said that the Malabar exercise also “showcases the deep trust between four major Indo-Pacific democracies and their shared will to work together on common security interests”.

“This builds on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, to which Prime Minister (Scott) Morrison and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi agreed on June 4, 2020, and which I progressed with my counterpart, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, this month when we met in Tokyo,” she said.

“It will bolster the ability of India, Australia, Japan and the United States to work together to uphold peace and stability across our region,” Payne asserted.

Participation in the naval exercise demonstrates Australia’s enduring commitment to enhancing regional security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, and increasing the capability and interoperability of the ADF, she said.