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Australia tightens student visa rules

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Australia has announced a significant increase in the financial requirement for international student visas, aiming to control record migration and address concerns over student exploitation.

The new rule, effective from Friday, mandates international students to demonstrate savings of at least A$29,710 ($19,576) to qualify for a visa. This is the second increase in about seven months, following a previous hike to A$24,505 from A$21,041 in October.

These changes come amid broader efforts to tighten student visa rules, as the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in 2022 triggered a surge in migration, contributing to the strain on Australia’s rental market. In March, the government also increased English language requirements for student visas, and has been implementing policies to prevent students from prolonging their stay through various loopholes.

In addition, the government has sent warning letters to 34 education providers regarding “non-genuine or exploitative recruitment practices.” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil indicated that these institutions could face significant penalties if found guilty of misconduct. “Dodgy providers have no place in our international education sector. These actions will help weed out the bottom feeders in the sector that seek to exploit people and trash the reputation of the sector,” she said.

International education is a major contributor to Australia’s economy, valued at A$36.4 billion ($24 billion) in 2022/23. However, the rapid rise in migration, primarily driven by international students, has led to increased rental costs across the country. According to government data, net immigration rose by 60% to a record 548,800 in the year ending September 30, 2023.

The government is now seeking to reduce migration rates significantly, aiming to cut the current intake by half over the next two years. “We are significantly reducing migration levels – we are in the middle of the biggest drop in migration numbers in Australia’s history, outside of war or pandemic,” O’Neil stated.

These changes reflect the government’s broader strategy to manage migration, maintain a sustainable rental market, and ensure that the international education sector operates with integrity.

(economictimes.indiatimes.com)

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Trump says Iran – Israel have agreed to a ceasefire

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US President Donald Trump has announced a “complete and total” ceasefire between Israel and Iran on social media.

Trump says the ceasefire will begin “in approximately six hours from now” after each country has “wound down” their military operations.

Trump’s announcement contains a periodic unravelling of hostilities but says that “upon the 24th hour” the war will officially end.

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, has posted on X saying there is “no agreement of any ceasefire or cessation of military operations.”

“”As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around…However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards,: he has added.

“The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later,” he has further said.

Meanwhile, Reuters have reported citing a senior White House official as saying that President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran through talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday while his team, including Vice President JD Vance, held talks with Tehran.

The official, providing details of the ceasefire on condition of anonymity, has said Israel agreed to it so long as Iran does not launch fresh attacks.

(Agencies)

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Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain close airspaces

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Iran has launched missiles at a US airbase in Qatar in response to strikes on its nuclear sites on Saturday.

Qatar confirms the attack on the US-run Al Udeid base, calling it a “flagrant violation” and says it reserves the right to respond directly.

The country has temporarily closed its airspace and US and UK citizens have been advised to shelter in place.

Meanwhile, Kuwait and Bahrain have also closed their respective airspaces.

(Agencies)

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Suicide bombing at Damascus church kills 22

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At least 22 people have been killed and 63 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack at a church in Damascus, Syria’s health ministry has said.

A man opened fire with a weapon at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Prophet Elias in the Dweila neighbourhood during a service on Sunday evening before detonating an explosive vest, according to the interior ministry.

It said the attacker was affiliated with the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). There was no immediate claim from the group itself.

Photos and video from inside the church showed a heavily damaged altar, pews covered in broken glass and blood spattered across the walls.

Witness Lawrence Maamari told AFP news agency that “someone entered [the church] from outside carrying a weapon” and began shooting. People “tried to stop him before he blew himself up”, he added.

Another man who was in a nearby shop said he heard gunfire followed by an explosion that sent glass flying. “We saw fire in the church and the remains of wooden benches thrown all the way to the entrance,” Ziad said.

It was the first such attack in Damascus since Islamist-led rebel forces overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December, ending 13 years of devastating civil war.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch said in a statement: “The treacherous hand of evil struck this evening, claiming our lives, along with the lives of our loved ones who fell today as martyrs during the evening divine liturgy.”

According to initial information, the bomb blast occurred at the entrance to the church, resulting in the deaths of people who were both inside the building and in the immediate vicinity, it added.

The patriarchate called upon Syria’s interim authorities to “assume full responsibility for what has happened and continues to happen in terms of violation against the sanctity of churches, and to ensure the protection of all citizens”.

Interior Minister Anas Khattab said specialised teams from his ministry had begun investigating the circumstances of what he called a “reprehensible crime”.

“These terrorist acts will not stop the efforts of the Syrian state in achieving civil peace,” he added.

The office of UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, condemned the attack and urged Syrians “to unite in rejecting terrorism, extremism, incitement and the targeting of any community”.

US special envoy Tom Barrack said: “These terrible acts of cowardice have no place in the new tapestry of integrated tolerance and inclusion that Syrians are weaving.”

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – whose Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria and is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US and UK – has repeatedly promised to protect religious and ethnic minorities. However, Syria has been rocked by two waves of deadly sectarian violence in recent months.

IS has frequently targeted Christians and other religious minorities in Syria.

In 2016, the group claimed a series of blasts near the Shia Muslim Sayyida Zeinab shrine in a southern suburb of Damascus, which killed more than 70 people.

IS once held 88,000 sq km (34,000 sq miles) of territory stretching from western Syria to eastern Iraq and imposed its brutal rule on almost eight million people.

Despite the group’s military defeat in Syria in 2019, the UN has warned that the threat posed by IS and its affiliates remains high.

A report published in February warned that the group might take advantage of the transition in Syria to surge attacks and make the country a renewed hub for recruiting foreign fighters.

It estimated that IS had between 1,500 and 3,000 fighters in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, with most of them, including key leaders, based in Syrian territory. About 300 fighters were based in the central Badia desert, which served as a centre for planning external operations, it said.

More than 9,000 IS fighters are being detained prisons spread across north-eastern Syria and 40,000 other people linked to IS, mostly women and children, are held in several camps.

(BBC News)

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