Web Desk/AFP

This live blog follows updates for Day 44 of the US-Israeli war on Iran. For a recap of Day 43, go <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/usisrael-war-on-iran-day-43" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">here.</a><hr><ul style="list-style-type: square;"><li id="isPasted">Iran Guards say will deal &#39;severely&#39; with military ships transiting Strait of Hormuz</li><li>Iran delegation vows firm stance ahead of Islamabad talks</li><li>Lebanon presidency says Israel talks to take place Tuesday in Washington</li><li>Israel PM says wants Lebanon peace deal &#39;that will last for generations&#39;</li><li>French president discusses opportunity for lasting peace in call with Iranian president &nbsp;&nbsp;</li></ul><hr>Iran Guards say will deal &#39;severely&#39; with military ships transiting Strait of HormuzPublished: April 11, 2026 | 21:37 GMT | By AFP&nbsp;Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards threatened to deal &quot;severely&quot; with any military vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, state TV reported Sunday, after the US Central Command said two US Navy warships had transited the strategic waterway to clear mines laid by Tehran.&nbsp;&quot;Any attempt by military vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz will be dealt with severely. The IRGC Navy has full authority to manage the Strait of Hormuz intelligently,&quot; the Guards&#39; Navy Command said, according to state broadcaster IRIB, adding passage of the strait would only be &quot;granted to civilian vessels under specific conditions&quot;.

Middle East

Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to deal "severely" with any military vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, state TV reported on Sunday.

LIVE: Iran Guards say will deal 'severely' with military ships transiting Strait of Hormuz

KYIV: Ukraine&#39;s military command on Saturday reported nearly 470 Russian violations of a truce agreed to mark the Orthodox Easter.&nbsp;&quot;After 4:00 pm, 469 ceasefire violations were recorded, namely: 22 enemy assault actions, 153 shelling attacks, 19 strikes by attack drones... &nbsp;and 275 strikes by FPV drones,&quot; it said on Facebook.&nbsp;&quot;Today in total, the enemy carried out 57 air strikes and dropped 182 guided aerial bombs. In addition, it deployed 3,928 kamikaze drones and conducted 2,454 shelling attacks on populated areas and positions of our troops&quot;.

Europe

Ukraine’s military reported 469 Russian violations of an Easter truce, including assaults, shelling, and drone strikes. It said Russia also launched dozens of air strikes, dropped bombs, and carried out thousands of attacks on troops and populated areas, showing the ceasefire was largely ignored.

Ukraine reports 469 Easter truce violations

HOUSTON: Artemis II astronauts expressed awe on Saturday over their record-setting lunar flyby mission, urging unity on Earth after witnessing the planet&#39;s isolation like a &quot;lifeboat&quot; in space.&nbsp;The crew spoke at a news conference as NASA took a victory lap following the success of the mission.&nbsp;The astronauts did the first slingshot around the Moon in more than 50 years and traveled deeper into space than any humans before -- culminating in a smooth splashdown Friday off the coast of California.&nbsp;Flanked on stage by mission commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen, astronaut Christina Koch called for people on Earth to embrace their shared humanity.&nbsp;&quot;What struck me wasn&#39;t necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe,&quot; said Koch.&nbsp;&quot;There&#39;s one new thing I know and that is: Planet Earth -- you are a crew.&quot;&nbsp;Hansen called on fans of the Artemis mission to see themselves in the crew of four, who marked a series of milestones: Glover was the first person of color to fly around the Moon, Koch was the first woman, and Canadian Hansen the first non-American.&nbsp;&quot;I would suggest to you that when you look up here, you&#39;re not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you,&quot; Hansen said.&nbsp;&quot;And if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper. This is you.&quot;&nbsp;While hurtling through deep space and zipping around the Moon, the Artemis astronauts took thousands of photographs, amassing a stunning portfolio of images.&nbsp;They also witnessed a solar eclipse along with extraordinary meteorite strikes on the lunar surface.&nbsp;&quot;Artemis II will always be remembered. It was the moment we all saw the moon again, where childhood dreams became missions. You helped the world start believing again, and this is something no one&#39;s ever going to forget,&quot; NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said.&nbsp;Artemis II was the inaugural crewed mission of NASA&#39;s program aiming to install a sustained presence on the Moon, including the eventual construction of a base that could be used for further exploration including to Mars.&nbsp;NASA is hoping it can put boots on the lunar surface as soon as 2028.

Artificial Intelligence

Artemis II astronauts praised Earth as a fragile “lifeboat” after their historic lunar flyby, urging unity. The mission set milestones, captured stunning images, and marked a key step toward NASA’s goal of returning humans to the Moon by 2028.

 Artemis crew urges unity on 'lifeboat' Earth

BARCELONA: Lamine Yamal set up two goals and scored another as Barcelona took a significant step towards defending their La Liga title with a 4-1 derby win over Espanyol on Saturday.&nbsp;Ferran Torres netted twice with Yamal and Marcus Rashford finding the net late on as the Catalans moved nine points clear of second-placed rivals Real Madrid.&nbsp;Los Blancos drew 1-1 against Girona on Friday and with seven games remaining, one of which is a Clasico at Camp Nou in May, Hansi Flick&#39;s side have a commanding lead.&nbsp;Barca face Atletico Madrid on Tuesday in the Champions League quarter-finals, aiming to fight back from a 2-0 first-leg defeat, but the coach still picked a strong side against Espanyol.&nbsp;Midfielder Pedri Gonzalez and 18-year-old winger Yamal played the full match as Flick tried not to let the second leg disrupt the team&#39;s league campaign.&nbsp;Torres&#39;s goals were his first since January and he was happy to help Barca move closer to the title.&nbsp;&quot;Until we win it, it&#39;s not over but it&#39;s true, it&#39;s in our hands -- we have to keep getting the three points,&quot; Torres told DAZN.&nbsp;After a strong start to the season Espanyol were beaten at home by Barca in the first game of 2026 and have failed to win a match since.&nbsp;They offered little resistance as Hansi Flick&#39;s side cruised into a two-goal lead.&nbsp;Yamal created both goals for Torres, whipping in a corner which the Spain international nodded home.&nbsp;Although some wondered if Flick would rest Yamal for Tuesday&#39;s visit to face Atletico, the teenager is always keen to play and Barca fans adore watching him.&nbsp;Yamal&#39;s assist for the second was sumptuous, playing Torres through with the outside of his boot and the striker&#39;s shot trickled past Marko Dmitrovic and into the net.&nbsp;&quot;I always believe in hard work and that you will get your reward,&quot; added Torres on ending his goal drought.&nbsp;&quot;You always hear noise around you, more for the bad things than for the good... I am always focused on myself, on improving.&quot;&nbsp;Espanyol came close when Tyrhys Dolan&#39;s chipped effort clipped the top of the crossbar but they were mainly pinned back in their own territory.&nbsp;Yamal curled a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar and Dmitrovic made a good double save to keep Fermin Lopez and Eric Garcia at bay.

Football

Lamine Yamal scored and assisted twice as FC Barcelona beat RCD Espanyol 4-1. Ferran Torres scored twice as Barca moved nine points clear with seven games left.

Yamal shines as Barca thrash Espanyol to extend Liga lead

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian man in the West Bank on Saturday, in the latest deadly attack on the occupied territory. Ali Majed Hamadneh, 23, died after settlers opened fire during a raid on the village of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah, the ministry said. &quot;He was brought to the Palestine Medical Complex in a critical condition&quot; and later succumbed to his wounds, the ministry said on Telegram. Palestinian official news agency Wafa also reported the incident. &quot;Armed colonists, under the protection of Israeli forces, attacked Deir Jarir from its western entrance and opened fire toward residents in the area,&quot; Wafa reported. There was no immediate response from the Israeli police or military. There has also been a spike in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank since the start of the Iran war on Feb 28, Palestinian authorities and the United Nations have said. Prior to Saturday&#39;s attack, at least six Palestinians were killed since then in settler attacks, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures. Recent surge has prompted criticism from influential rabbis, settler leaders, and even Israel&#39;s military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, who called the attacks &quot;morally and ethically unacceptable&quot;.

A 23-year-old died after settlers opened fire during a raid on Deir Jarir near Ramallah, officials said, as escalating violence draws criticism; Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, called the attacks "morally and ethically unacceptable".

Palestinians say Israeli settlers kill man in raid on village 

WASHINGTON: Two US warships have reportedly passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the first such transit since the war with Iran began, as President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States had started &quot;clearing out&quot; the strategic waterway. The US Navy guided-missile destroyers passed through the strait with no issues reported, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing three US officials. The operation was not coordinated with authorities in Tehran, US media outlet Axios said. &quot;We&#39;re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz,&quot; Trump said on his Truth Social platform, calling it &quot;a favor&quot; to countries such as China, Japan and France that &quot;don&#39;t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves.&quot; He insisted that Iran is &quot;LOSING BIG!&quot; in the conflict, while acknowledging that Iranian mines in the strategic strait &ndash; through which a fifth of the world&#39;s crude passes &ndash; still pose a threat. &quot;The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may &#39;bunk&#39; into one of their sea mines,&quot; Trump wrote. US officials did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comments about the reports. The key shipping lane off the coast of Iran has been virtually blocked by Tehran since the United States and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28, though reopening the strait was ostensibly a condition of the shaky ceasefire put in place earlier this week. Senior Iranian and American officials began negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday, in a bid to bring to an end a conflict that has plunged the Middle East into violence and sent shockwaves through the world economy. In an earlier post, Trump said that empty tankers were headed to the United States from around the world to purchase oil, without providing details.

A view of the vessels passing through Strait of Hormuz following the two-week temporary ceasefire reached between the United States and Iran on the condition that the strait be reopened, seen in Oman on April 08, 2026. (AFP)

Two US warships transited the Strait of Hormuz as President Donald Trump said the United States began clearing the vital waterway amid Iran conflict, while negotiations started in Pakistan Saturday.

US warships transit Strait of Hormuz: media

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Iran&rsquo;s Central Bank Governor Dr Abdolnasser Hemmati&nbsp;met Pakistan&rsquo;s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday, with both sides agreeing that peace is essential to economic cooperation and shared progress. According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both sides called for &ldquo;sustained dialogue&rdquo; and said regional peace and stability remain necessary for economic cooperation. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 672px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2042976568050692266&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=8a0eb87be270fe70829b56ed93c1b44dbc35c494&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> &nbsp;The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Islamabad Talks,&nbsp;high-level diplomatic negotiations being held in Pakistan. It brings together the United States and Iran to end a six-week-old war in the Middle East, with Pakistan acting as mediator. Earlier, Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared Islamabad&#39;s &quot;sincere resolve&quot; to continue its role as a mediator towards achieving regional and global peace and stability. According to statement issued by the Prime Minister&#39;s Office, PM Sharif engaged constructively with both the US and Iranian delegations. He hoped that the talks would &ldquo;serve as a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region.&rdquo;

Foreign Affairs

Economy

Meeting focuses on sustained dialogue and regional stability, with both sides linking peace to economic cooperation and shared progress.

FM Dar meets Iran Central Bank  governor, note peace essential for shared progress

KYIV: A temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine entered into force on Saturday, with Kyiv warning it would respond &quot;immediately&quot; if Russia violated it. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the ceasefire on Thursday to coincide with Orthodox Easter, more than a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky first made the proposal. Both sides have agreed to observe it. The ceasefire is due to last for 32 hours, from 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, according to the Kremlin. &quot;Ukraine will adhere to the ceasefire and respond strictly in kind. The absence of Russian strikes in the air, on land, and at sea will mean no response from our side,&quot; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X. The Ukrainian army said it was ready to &quot;immediately&quot; respond if Russia violated it. Hours before the truce was due to start, Russia launched at least 160 drones at Ukraine, killing four people in the country&#39;s east and south and wounding dozens of others, Ukrainian authorities said. The southern Odesa region was among the hardest hit, with authorities reporting two dead and damage to civilian infrastructure. A wave of Ukrainian drones sparked a fire at an oil depot and damaged apartment buildings in Russia&#39;s southern Krasnodar region, authorities said. Four people died in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine&#39;s eastern Donetsk and Kherson regions, according to Russian-installed officials. Ukrainians have expressed scepticism about whether the truce will hold. The two sides held a ceasefire for Orthodox Easter last year, but both accused the other of hundreds of violations. Despite tensions over the truce, the warring sides exchanged 175 prisoners of war each on Saturday, according to officials. The United Arab Emirates helped mediate the exchange, the Russian defence ministry said. Prisoner of war exchanges are one of the few areas of cooperation between the warring sides. Stalled diplomacyUS-led talks aimed at ending the four-year conflict have stalled in recent weeks because of the war in the Middle East. Even before the Iran war, progress towards a peace deal in Ukraine had been slow, due to differences over the issue of territory. Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines. But Russia has rejected this, saying it wants Ukraine to give up all the territory in the Donetsk region that it currently controls -- a demand Kyiv says is unacceptable. Several rounds of US-led talks have failed to bring the warring sides closer to an agreement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Russia had discussed the ceasefire with Ukraine or the United States in advance and said it was not linked to negotiations to end the war. The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe&#39;s deadliest conflict since World War II. After four years, fighting on the front has come to a near standstill. Russia has made small territorial gains at a high cost. But Kyiv recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Apart from Ukrainian counter-attacks, analysts attributed the slowdown to Russia being banned from using SpaceX&#39;s Starlink satellites and Moscow&#39;s own efforts to block the Telegram messaging app. But the situation is unfavourable for Ukraine in the Donetsk region, near the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to the ISW. Moscow occupies just over 19 percent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.

A temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine entered into force with Kyiv warning it would respond "immediately" if Russia violated it

Easter truce between Russia and Ukraine begins

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday declared Islamabad&#39;s sincere resolve to continue its role as a mediator towards achieving regional and global peace and stability. According to statements issued by the Prime Minister&#39;s office, PM Sharif engaged constructively with both the US and Iranian delegations, affirming Pakistan&rsquo;s sincere resolve to continue playing its role as a mediator, hoping that the talks would &ldquo;serve as a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region.&rdquo;&nbsp; In his meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, the premier commended the commitment of both delegations, reiterating that Pakistan looked &ldquo;forward to continue its facilitation of both sides in making progress towards sustainable peace in the region.&rdquo;&nbsp; <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 720px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2042910785614287026&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=383a10414700dc8da9e6199b4a243df1107c145a&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> &ldquo;The US vice president was assisted by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Jared Kushner,&rdquo; PMO said.&nbsp; While meeting the Iranian delegations, comprising Iranian Consultative Assembly Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the prime minister affirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s sincere resolve to continue playing its role as a mediator to help build momentum towards achieving meaningful results in the interest of regional and global peace and stability. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 600px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2042943272117768493&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=383a10414700dc8da9e6199b4a243df1107c145a&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi attended both meetings.&nbsp; In the prime minister&rsquo;s meeting with the Iranian delegation, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshall Asim Munir was also present, the Prime Minister&#39;s Office said.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with the Iranian delegation led by the Head of Iranian Consultative Assembly, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf at Islamabad Talks on April 11, 2026. (PMO)

Reaffirms country’s sincere resolve to continue mediating; hopes talks serve as a stepping stone towards durable peace; reiterates that Pakistan looks forward to continuing its facilitation of both sides in making progress towards sustainable peace in the region.



Pakistan PM meets US, Iranian delegation as talks continue

ISLAMABAD: Ten Indian nationals were indicted last week on charges of paying an organizer to stage armed robberies at convenience stores so they could falsely claim to be crime victims on United States immigration applications, according to the US Attorney&#39;s Office for the District of Massachusetts. The fee to participate, federal prosecutors say, was $20,000. The &quot;robber&quot; would brandish an apparent firearm, take cash from the register, and flee. The clerk (a supposed victim) would wait five minutes as instructed, then call police. The surveillance cameras were deliberately positioned to capture it all. Nobody was ever in real danger. The entire encounter was choreographed. The target was a &ldquo;U visa&rdquo;, a humanitarian benefit created by US Congress in 2000 for undocumented crime victims who cooperate with law enforcement. A successful application offers deportation protection, work authorization, and a pathway to permanent residency. According to the US prosecutors, the defendants arranged to be &quot;robbed&quot; solely to fraudulently claim that status. The Boston case is, in the broader telling, a footnote. A pattern across states Federal court records and US Justice Department filings describe a fraud pattern, centered on the U visa, stretching across multiple states and involving levels of institutional corruption that go far beyond staged robberies. In Mississippi, according to the US Attorney&#39;s Office for the Southern District, an organizer named Sachin Girishkumar Patel never required anyone to fake a robbery. His operation retained a licensed attorney and a sitting Jackson Police Department officer. The officer wrote fictitious police reports. The attorney converted them into official law enforcement certifications and submitted them to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of paying clients. 19 people were indicted while 12 pleaded guilty. It went further in Louisiana. According to USCIS, an organizer named Chandrakant Patel maintained a bribery scheme for nearly a decade involving four law enforcement executives, among them three sitting police chiefs. The law enforcers produced fraudulent robbery reports on demand. The federal indictment ran to 62 counts. Rambhai Patel, at the center of the Boston case, was the low-tech version of the same enterprise. He was convicted in May 2025 with the court ordering forfeiture of $850,000 in proceeds. The ten defendants indicted last week are accused of being his clients. Why the &lsquo;U Visa&rsquo; The program&#39;s appeal to fraud networks is not accidental. It is partly a function of the program&#39;s own design. Congress capped U visa admissions at 10,000 per year. Demand long ago outpaced that ceiling, producing a backlog stretching several years, according to peer-reviewed immigration law research. But some applicants, it seems, did not wait in silence. Anyone who files a facially valid petition receives an Employment Authorization Document and protection from deportation while the case is pending, regardless of whether it is ever approved. The waiting period is what organized networks sell. For an undocumented worker already established in the United States, the $20,000 investment can be recouped quickly through above-board employment. The verification system has not kept pace with its exploitation. A 2022 audit by the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIC) found that USCIS adjudicators rely almost entirely on paper law enforcement certifications, with no secure electronic link to the thousands of local agencies authorized to sign them. In a reviewed sample of 591 U visa petitions, 66% were marked &quot;completed&quot; by the certifying official at submission. This means law enforcement no longer required ongoing cooperation from the applicant, thereby eliminating the continued contact that might otherwise expose a fraudulent claim over time, according to the OIG report. The real victims There is a particular damage embedded in the mechanics of U visa fraud that extends beyond the immigration system itself. The program it exploits was built for people with nowhere else to turn: domestic violence survivors, trafficking victims, exploited workers. Many do not come forward precisely because they fear the same immigration apparatus that fraud networks have learned to game. When organized schemes flood USCIS with manufactured claims, the resulting backlogs can stretch wait times to a decade or more, according to immigration legal researchers. The political scrutiny that follows invariably targets the program as a whole. This in turn threatens protections for the genuine victims the statute was written to protect. The ten defendants indicted in Boston are presumed innocent. But the program they are accused of manipulating will keep running, replete with a growing backlog, relying on paper certifications, and waiting for a verification system that, as of the US government&#39;s last audit, does not yet exist.

A United States passport and an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card sit atop India Rupee banknotes. (AFP)

India

A Boston indictment exposes a fraud industry built on staged crimes, bribed police chiefs, and a humanitarian visa program that organized criminal networks have quietly turned into a commodity.

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