 |
|
|
|||||
The State Department announced on Monday it will start a new pilot program in August that will require some foreign travelers to pay up to $15,000 for a bond, so they won’t overstay their visas. Here’s what to know. What are the details of the new visa bond program? On Monday, the Federal Register listed the program details, and while many remain unclear, in short, it said the State Department would begin a 12-month-long visa bond pilot program, which could apply to foreign citizens applying for temporary B-1 or B-2 visas visiting the U.S. for business or pleasure. It applies to “nationals of countries identified . . . as having high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient, or offering Citizenship by Investment, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement.” In that case, consular officers may be required to post a bond of up to $15,000. The bond is “reimbursable,” and meant to deter people from staying for longer than theyre allowed. Those travelers who stay in the U.S. after visa expires will forfeit their bond; those who leave before it expires will get their money back, according to the New York Times. When does the requirement begin? The pilot program starts in about two weeks on August 20, according to a statement from the State Department sent to the Washington Post. It will expire on August 5, 2026, but it is unclear if that date will be extended. Which countries are being targeted? On Tuesday, a notice from the State Department said travelers from Malawi and Zambia would be required to post the bonds, the Washington Post reported. It also indicated additional countries could be added. How can I get further information? For further information, contact the Visa Services Office at the Bureau ofConsular Affairs, Department of State, by phone at (202) 485-7586 or via email at VisaRegs@state.gov.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Titan submersible was crushed by intense water pressure beneath the North Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 2023. A catastrophic implosion instantly killed the four passengers and pilot, Stockton Rush, who was also the CEO of the company that owned the vessel. Two years later, the U.S. Coast Guard released a lengthy report saying the disaster could have been prevented, but deeply flawed safety procedures and efforts to avoid oversight had effectively doomed the vessel and all aboard. Things to know about Titan: What was the Titan? Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic shipwreck since 2021. Owned by OceanGate, a company based in Washington state, the final dive came on June 18, 2023. The submersible was reported overdue that afternoon, and ships, planes and equipment were rushed to the scene about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. Johns, Newfoundland. The Titanic rests on the ocean floor about 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) below the surface. Experts had cautioned that the submersible’s hull could implode under intense pressure at extreme depths. The craft’s design OceanGate touted Titans roomier cylinder-shaped cabin made of a carbon-fiber, although experts say it was a departure from the sphere-shaped cabins made of titanium used by most submersibles. A sphere is a perfect shape because water pressure is exerted equally on all areas, said Chris Roman, a professor at the University of Rhode Islands Graduate School of Oceanography. Titan had made more than two dozen deep-sea dives, which put repeated stress on the hull, said Jasper Graham-Jones, an associate professor of mechanical and marine engineering at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. Investigators also found that Titan was stored outdoors over the Canadian winter, where its hull was exposed to temperature fluctuations that compromised the integrity of the vessel. The water pressure at the Titanic is roughly 400 atmospheres or 6,000 pounds per square inch. Arun Bansil, a Northeastern University physics professor, likened the pressure to the force of a “whale biting on somebody. The passengers probably would have had no idea what happened, Bansil said in 2023. What investigators said OceanGate had a culture of downplaying, ignoring and even falsifying key safety information to improve its reputation and dodge scrutiny from regulators, Coast Guard investigators found. OceanGate ignored red flags and had a toxic workplace culture, while its mission was hindered by lack of domestic and international framework for submersible operations, the report says. Numerous OceanGate employees have come forward since the implosion to support those claims. By strategically creating and exploiting regulatory confusion and oversight challenges, OceanGate was ultimately able to operate TITAN completely outside of the established deep-sea protocols, the report found. In addition to Rush, the implosion killed French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British adventurer Hamish Harding and two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood.
Category:
E-Commerce
Shares of Palantir Technologies sailed past previous record highs Tuesday after booking its first $1 billion sales quarter and raising its performance expectations for the year. The stock rose above $170 on Tuesday after breaking previous records four times this year in the global artificial intelligence race. The previous high for the stock was set just over a week ago when its stock closed at $158.80. Since going public in 2020 when it posted a $1.17 billion annual loss, the artificial intelligence software company has swung swiftly to a profit and sales are booming. Profit rose 33% to $327 million in the second quarter. Its $1 billion quarterly revenue haul was fueled by a 53% spike in government sales, despite massive spending cuts under President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency, once led by the worlds richest man Elon Musk. DOGE has had zero negative impact on Palantirs U.S. government business, which achieved its fastest growth rate since the second quarter of 2021, wrote William Blair analysts Louie DiPalma and Bryce Sandberg. Palantir is clearly benefiting from AI industry momentum across its government and commercial customer bases. The company also recorded a 93% jump in business sales. Overall U.S. revenue surged 68% to $733 million. Late Monday, Palantir raised its annual revenue expectations to between $4.14 billion and $4.15 billion. It also raised its U.S. commercial revenue guidance to more than $1.3 billion, which would mean that Palantir achieved a growth rate of at least 85%. This was a phenomenal quarter, CEO Alex Karp said in a statement accompanying the earnings release. We continue to see the astonishing impact of AI leverage. Karp believes AI will benefit everyone, saying during a call with industry analysts on Monday that Palantir is, bullish on all aspects of American life, including and especially people in the blue collar.” He said Palantir wants to arm the working class or blue collar workers with AI agency enhancing skills, and said that the company will reach out to labor leaders to help familiarize workers with the technology. People with less than a college education are creating a lot value and sometimes more value than people with a college education using our product, Karp said. Palantir, headquartered in Denver, specializes in software platforms that pull together and analyze large amounts of data.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||