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UK considers scrapping visa fees for top global talent

“He admits to having been there, he remembers being there with his brother, but then he has memory lapses.“ Lafolie says he was driving his brother to an appointment in the area on the day they crossed paths with Desnoix. He says he tried to stop his brother from harming the girl, prompting his brother to strike him repeatedly on the head, causing gaps in his memory. The investigation has ruled out the involvement of his brother, who died a few months before Lafolie’s arrest. – AFP Renowned French art centre shuts for five-year refit PARIS: Paris’s Pompidou Centre, which houses one of the world’s most significant modern art collections in one of the most celebrated modern buildings on the planet, shut itself to visitors yesterday for a major five-year overhaul estimated to cost almost EUR$500 million (RM2.47 billion). The museum, famed for its multicoloured exterior and exposed piping and escalators, draws millions of visitors every year to admire the architecture as much as the art. Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers as an open space for all, and named after former president Georges Pompidou, who died in office in 1974, the centre opened its doors in 1977. Its permanent collection closed for visitors in March, when specialists began to remove works from display, including paintings by the likes of Francis Bacon or Frida Kahlo and the sculptures of Marcel Duchamp. Temporary exhibitions have remained open and yesterday was the final day for visitors to see the last show, a retrospective of the German artist Wolfgang Tillmans, until the centre reopens around 2030. The museum will stay open exceptionally until 11pm (2100 GMT) with free entry, although it is also due to host a musical and artistic show from Oct 22 to 25 to mark a Paris contemporary art week. The state of Paris’s often-crowded cultural attractions has caused concern, with the head of the Louvre warning earlier this year that the world’s most-visited museum was suffering from water damage, poor maintenance and long queues. President Emmanuel Macron visited afterwards to promise that it would be “redesigned, restored and enlarged”, with a multi-year overhaul forecast to cost up to EUR$800 million. Asbestos removal, accessibility, security and a complete interior redesign are on the agenda for the major renovations at the Pompidou Centre. Improved climate protection with new waterproofing is also planned, aiming to “reduce energy bills by 40%,“ its president Laurent Le Bon told AFP. “We are keeping the exterior framework, but from the basement to the top floor, we are changing everything,“ he said. A huge terrace open to the public on the seventh floor will offer breathtaking views of Paris. “We hope that visitors would feel a bit (of) the same shock as when the centre opened in 1977.“ The total cost of the renovation is estimated at EUR$460 million, of which EUR$280 million would be financed by the French state. For the rest, “EUR$100 million has been secured and we are hopeful of finding the remaining EUR$80 within the next five years,“ said Le Bon. Saudi Arabia has chipped in with a EUR$50 million contribution. – AFP

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is exploring proposals to abolish some visa fees for top global talent at a time when the United States has taken a tougher stance on immigration, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Starmer’s “global talent task force” is working on ideas to attract the world’s best scientists, academics and digital experts to the United Kingdom (UK) in a bid to drive economic growth, the report said, citing people briefed on the discussions inside Downing Street and the Treasury Department. The idea of cutting visa costs to zero is aimed at people who have attended the world’s top five universities or have won prestigious prizes, an official told the newspaper. According to the report, the reforms were being discussed in Downing Street and the department before the Trump administration announced its decision to impose a US$100,000 (RM421,000) fee for new H-1B visas, widely used by US tech companies, from Sunday. The US decision has put “wind in the sails” to o Plan targets people who have attended world’s top five universities or won prestigious prizes Security boosted near UN headquarters NEW YORK: Security measures are being stepped up near the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York ahead of the start of the General Assembly’s high-level week, a Sputnik/RIA Novosti correspondent reported. The general debate will take place from today until Saturday, and again on Sept 29. A number of events was held at the UN headquarters yesterday, including the second round of the conference on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. New York police have promised to deploy all available forces to ensure law and order, including bomb disposal teams, aircraft, drones and counter-terrorism teams. Streets adjacent to the UN headquarters have begun to be closed to traffic. Residents of some streets “closed” to the public were given special passes to access their homes through police cordons. The section of First Avenue near the UN headquarters have begun to be blocked off. – Bernama-Sputnik

social housing.” He said hundreds of thousands of migrants who came to the UK under more relaxed post-Brexit rules introduced by former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s Tory government, as part of what Reform is branding the “Boriswave”, would in January begin to qualify for permanent residence. Yusuf said Reform’s proposals would “lead to hundreds of thousands of people having to apply and ultimately losing their settled status in the UK, which would be done on a staggered and orderly basis to allow businesses to train British workers to replace them”. The savings to the taxpayer would exceed £230 billion, he claimed. Farage said: “Welfare would end for everyone that is not a UK citizen. We would close the loopholes. Reform would ensure welfare is for UK citizens only. “We are cleaning up the mess of Boris Johnson. The Boriswave would bankrupt us. Reform would deal with Boriswave, the biggest betrayal of voters’ trust in modern times.” A government spokesperson said: “People here illegally rightly do not get anything from our benefits system. Foreign nationals usually have to wait five years to claim universal credit and we are looking at increasing this to 10 years. “We inherited a broken welfare system and spiralling benefits Bill. That is why we are taking action and reforming the system, and have seen the proportion of universal credit payments to foreign nationals fall since last July.” – Reuters

those pushing for changes to Britain’s high-end visa system, aiming to spur growth ahead of the Nov 26 Budget, a person involved in the UK discussions said. Britain’s global talent visa application costs £766 (RM4,347), with partners and children paying the same fee. The Treasury Department and Downing Street did not immediately respond to Reuters’s request for comment. In a separate development, Nigel Farage has said Reform UK would end the right of migrants to apply for permanent residency in the UK after five years, and force those who have settled status to reapply for a new stricter visa, reported PA Media/dpa news. He wants to abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR), for which migrants can currently apply after five years, and force them to renew their visa every five years. Applicants would have to meet certain criteria, including a higher salary threshold and better standard of English. They would have to have lived in the UK for seven years, up from five, and there would be tighter restrictions on bringing spouses and children to the UK. The new visa would also prevent any access to benefits under the plans set out by Reform UK’s policy chief Zia Yusuf. Yusuf said: “We would abolish ILR altogether, including rescinding it retrospectively, and close all loopholes to ensure only UK citizens receive welfare or

HIGHLY COMPETITIVE ... Stilt walkers arriving to participate in the Golden Stilt tournament organised as part of the Wallonia Festival in Place Saint-Aubain in Namur, Belgium on Sunday. – AFPPIC

Man goes on trial for cold-case murder of schoolgirl LILLE: A man accused of murdering a schoolgirl in northern France over three decades ago went on trial yesterday, in one of the country’s oldest cold cases to reach court in recent years. road leading to her high school in the town of Chateau-Thierry. Near her schoolbag were a nylon cord and a freshly picked rose. An autopsy revealed no signs of sexual assault. However, this changed in 2021. That year, new tests revealed that Lafolie’s DNA, taken a few months earlier in a domestic violence case, matched that found on a hairband Desnoix was wearing when she died.

The killing of 17-year-old Nadege Desnoix in 1994 in the Aisne region had for years remained unsolved until DNA evidence led to the arrest of Pascal Lafolie, now 58, in 2021. Lafolie faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted by the criminal court in the town of Laon. A verdict is expected tomorrow. In late May 1994, Desnoix’s stabbed body was discovered under some foliage on a side

Lafolie, who has previous convictions for rape and sexual assault, initially confessed to investigators during questioning. But he later retracted his statement and now says he is innocent. “His ability to remember is not complete. These events date back more than 30 years,“ his lawyer Justine Devred told AFP.

Investigators looked into numerous leads, including her boyfriend and notorious serial killer Michel Fourniret, but found no concrete evidence. Genetic evidence was discovered on Desnoix’s clothing but DNA databases of suspects and people convicted in other cases failed to find a conclusive match.