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After deadly crash, US blocks foreign trucker visas with immediate effect

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After deadly crash, US blocks foreign trucker visas with immediate effect


Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, US, January 21, 2025.— Reuters
Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, US, January 21, 2025.— Reuters 

President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday abruptly stopped issuing US visas for truck drivers after a fatal crash drew national attention, its latest sweeping step against foreign visitors.

“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.

“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on US roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” he wrote.

Rubio’s action came after a truck driver was charged with killing three people on a highway in Florida while making an illegal U-turn.

Harjinder Singh, who is from India, allegedly entered the United States illegally from Mexico and failed an English examination after the crash, according to federal officials.

The case has gathered wide media attention and has been highlighted by officials in Florida, controlled by Trump’s Republican Party, with the lieutenant governor flying to California to extradite Singh personally alongside immigration agents on Thursday.

The crash has taken on a political dimension in part as Singh received his commercial license in California and also lived in the West Coast state, which is run by the rival Democratic Party and opposes Trump’s crackdown on immigration.

“This crash was a preventable tragedy directly caused by reckless decisions and compounded by despicable failures,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office responded that the federal government under Trump had issued a work permit to Singh, who sought asylum, and that California had cooperated in extraditing him.

Even before the crash, Republican lawmakers had been targeting foreign truckers, pointing to a rising number of accidents without providing evidence of a direct link to immigrants.

In June, Duffy issued a directive that truck drivers must speak English.

Truck drivers have long been required to pass tests that include basic English proficiency, but in 2016, under former president Barack Obama, authorities were told not to take truckers off the road solely on account of language deficiencies.

Changing face of truckers

The number of foreign-born truck drivers in the United States more than doubled between 2000 and 2021 to 720,000, according to federal statistics.

Foreign-born drivers now make up 18% of the industry — in line with the US labour market as a whole, but a departure for a profession long identified with white, working-class men.

More than half of the foreign-born drivers come from Latin America, with sizable numbers in recent years from India and Eastern European nations, especially Ukraine, according to industry groups.

The influx of foreign drivers has come in response to demand.

A study earlier this year by the financial company altLine said the United States faced a shortage of 24,000 truck drivers, costing the freight industry $95.5 million per week as goods go undelivered.

Widening visa curbs

Trump has long made opposition to immigration a signature issue, rising to political prominence in 2016 with vows to build a wall on the Mexican border.

Rubio has taken a starring role in Trump’s efforts by cracking down on visas.

The State Department said this week that it has rescinded more than 6,000 student visas since Trump took office — four times more than during the same period last year — and an official said all 55 million foreigners with US visas are liable to “continuous vetting.”

Rubio has ordered scrutiny of applicants’ social media accounts and proudly removed students who campaigned against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, using a law that allows him to rescind visas for people deemed to counter US foreign policy interests.

The State Department over the weekend also paused visitor visas meant for severely wounded children from Gaza to receive treatment.

The decision came after Laura Loomer — a far-right activist close to Trump who has described the September 11, 2001, terror attack as an inside job — said she spoke to Rubio and warned of “Islamic invaders” from Gaza.





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Russian general hails Iran’s ‘shining example’ of defense against US-Israeli aggression

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Russian general hails Iran’s ‘shining example’ of defense against US-Israeli aggression



The first deputy head of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Defense Ministry says Iran demonstrated a “shining example” of defense during the recent illegal US-Israeli war of aggression.

“Iranian Armed Forces showed to the world a shining example of their firm resolve to defend their country’s interests,” Major-General Yevgeny Ilyin said during a ceremony in Moscow on Thursday, marking Iran’s National Army Day.

Iranian forces, he added, stand ready to deliver a proper and proportionate response to emerging challenges and threats.

The Russian military official said the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, with its steadfastness and courage, has protected the country’s defense and security and turned into a reliable guarantor for the nation’s independence and stability.

The unprovoked US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.

Iranian armed forces unleashed 100 waves of successful retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region.

On April 8, forty days into the war, a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire went into effect but the first round of Tehran-Washington negotiations failed to reach an agreement.

Referring to the strategic partnership pact signed between Iran and Russia, Ilyin said that both states have maintained their cooperation in many fields.

Iran-Russia defense relations are multifaceted, encompassing areas from the deep sea to space, he added.

The military official also reiterated Russia’s resolve to implement previous agreements with Iran and continue working on plans for bilateral military cooperation.

During the ceremony, Iran’s military attaché to Russia Sadeq Rezaei Moqaddam said Iranian Armed Forces have always been committed to moral principles and differentiated between military and civilian targets.

On the contrary, he said, the US and the Israeli regime perpetrated horrible war crimes by killing 170 students and teachers at an elementary school in the city of Minab, and targeting the Iranian Dena destroyer which was returning home from a naval drill in India.

The attacks on civilian infrastructure and educational centers represent the enemies’ strategic failure to deal a blow to the will of the Iranian nation, Rezaei Moqaddam asserted.

The perfect coordination of the Army units and other forces caused the aggressors to step back and thwarted their calculations, he said.

He further stressed that enhanced technical and military cooperation between the Iranian and Russian armed forces not only guarantees the national security of both nations, but is also the main pillar to safeguarding stability in Eurasia and countering unilateralism and organized international crimes.



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Netanyahu says he was successfully treated for prostate cancer

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Netanyahu says he was successfully treated for prostate cancer


Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony commemorating Israel’s Yom HaZikaron at the Military Cemetery on Mount Herzl in occupied Jerusalem, April 21, 2026. — Reuters
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony commemorating Israel’s Yom HaZikaron at the Military Cemetery on Mount Herzl in occupied Jerusalem, April 21, 2026. — Reuters
  • Netanyahu does not disclose when treatment occurred.
  • Delayed release of medical report by two months: Israeli PM.
  • Move aimed at preventing Iran from spreading “propaganda”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said that he had received successful treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, without specifying when the treatment took place.

In a statement on social media, as his annual medical report was released, Netanyahu, 76, said an early stage malignant tumor had been discovered during a routine checkup. He said “targeted treatment” had removed “the problem” and left no trace of it.

According to the medical report, which otherwise said the prime minister was in good health, Netanyahu was treated with radiation therapy for early-stage prostate cancer.

Neither the medical report nor Netanyahu said when the treatment occurred.

Israel’s longest-serving prime minister said that he had delayed the release of the medical report by two months to prevent Iran from spreading “false propaganda against Israel”.

In March, during the fighting with Iran, rumors that circulated on social media and aired on Iranian state media claimed that Netanyahu had died.

The Israeli leader recorded a video of himself visiting a Jerusalem cafe in March to refute the claims.

Netanyahu underwent surgery on his prostate in 2024 after he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection resulting from a benign prostate enlargement. In 2023, he was fitted with a pacemaker. Elections are due to be held in Israel by October.





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Strategic Assertion or Legal Breach? Deconstructing India’s Indus Waters Doctrine

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Strategic Assertion or Legal Breach? Deconstructing India’s Indus Waters Doctrine



India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty under the pretext of security concerns constitutes a flagrant violation of international law , devoid of any legal basis within the Treaty framework. By invoking unsubstantiated claims surrounding the Pahalgam incident , India advances a dangerous doctrine that legitimizes treaty erosion and the coercive weaponisation of shared resources.

The Indus Waters Treaty is a binding bilateral instrument that contains no provision permitting unilateral suspension , reinterpretation, or conditional compliance, thereby rendering India’s decision to hold it in abeyance legally untenable and inconsistent with the principle of pacta sunt servanda. The attempt to justify this breach through allegations linked to the Pahalgam incident remains entirely unsubstantiated in international fora, exposing the claim as a politically motivated pretext rather than a lawful justification. By conflating disputed security narratives with treaty obligations, India not only undermines the integrity of a long-standing water-sharing regime but also sets a pernicious precedent that threatens the stability of transboundary agreements and the broader rules-based international order.

India’s unilateral move to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance is not a policy shift, it is a shameless act of legal defiance , openly violating the most basic rule of international law; pacta sunt servanda.

The weaponization of a water-sharing treaty exposes the dangerous ideological imprint of the RSS mindset , where majoritarian extremism overrides legal commitments India’s attempt to justify its conduct through the Pahalgam incident collapses under scrutiny even after a year; no evidence, no accountability, no credibility, only a politically convenient narrative weaponized to rationalize treaty violations.

Dragging terrorism allegations into a binding water treaty is not strategy, it is blatant and reckless escalation , dismantling decades of carefully insulated cooperation and replacing it with instability and mistrust.

By sidestepping proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, India has revealed a pattern of selective legality , embracing international law when convenient and abandoning it when constrained. Moreover, India yet remains silent to the UN Special Rapporteurs queries even after 130 days.

The weaponisation of water by an upper riparian state is nothing short of hydro-political terrorism , targeting the economic and agricultural lifeline of millions and crossing the line from governance into coercion.

This conduct represents a shameful erosion of treaty sanctity , sending a chilling message to the world that binding agreements can be hollowed out by power politics and ideological rigidity.

Pakistan’s position remains unequivocal; treaties are not conditional favors but binding obligations, and no state has the authority to unilaterally rewrite or suspend them under the guise of security narratives.

The growing international concern surrounding India’s actions underscores a simple reality: Unilateralism is isolating, destabilizing, and fundamentally incompatible with a rules-based order.

At its core, this doctrine of “blood and water cannot flow together” is not a principle of justice, it is a dangerous precedent, legitimizing collective punishment and transforming a historic instrument of peace into a tool of strategic pressure.



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