Following are the top foreign stories at 1800 hours

Following are the top foreign stories at 1800 hours:

FGN1 US-DOVAL

Ajit Doval in US; to meet Secretary of State and other top officials

Washington: A week after the successful India-US 2+2 Dialogue in New Delhi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is in Washington to hold meetings with top officials of the Trump Administration. By Lalit K Jha

FGN12 SWARAJ-RUSSIA

Swaraj, Russia's Deputy PM review progress in bilateral cooperation

Moscow: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov Friday reviewed the progress made in the bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade and investment, science and technology, culture and other issues of mutual interests.

 

FGN10 US-H1B-LD PENALTY

USD 300,000 penalty imposed on US firm for paying low wages to H-1B employees

Washington: A US-based IT staffing company has been asked to pay over USD 300,000 to its 12 H-1B employees for paying them far below their salary and imposed a penalty of over USD 45,000 for violating the labour provisions, amidst the Trump administration's crackdown against the abuse of the visa category popular among Indian professionals. By Lalit K Jha

FGN8 US-INDIA-RICE

Rice, wheat producing countries should be concerned about India's domestic support policy: US

Washington: The US has alleged that India is providing massive subsidies to its farmers producing rice and wheat and said that other countries need to be concerned about New Delhi's "trade distorting policy". By Lalit K Jha

FGN7 US-IRAN-OIL

Prepared to take strongest action for not complying with Iranian sanctions US

Washington: The United States is prepared to take "strongest action" against countries and entities who are found not complying with the Iranian sanctions, including reducing to zero the purchase of crude oil from Iran, a top Trump Administration official told lawmakers. By Lalit K Jha

FGN6 PAK-KULSOOM

Plane carrying Begum Kulsoom's body arrives in Lahore

Lahore: A plane carrying the body of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, from London arrived in Lahore, where she will be buried later Friday.

FGN17 LANKA-UN-WAR-CRIME

SL will urge UN to remove war crime charges against its troops: Sirisena

Colombo: Sri Lanka will seek "concessions" from the UN, including a special request to the drop war crime charges against its troops during the civil war with the LTTE, President Maithripala Sirisena said Friday.

FGN13 KOREAS-2NDLD LIAISON

Two Koreas open joint liaison office in North

Kaesong (North Korea): North and South Korea opened a joint liaison office in the Northern city of Kaesong on Friday as they knit closer ties ahead of President Moon Jae-in's visit to Pyongyang next week.