A villager collects cow dung from her stable near Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district. India is promoting biogas as a low-cost rural energy source

(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-TX, and her north Texas colleagues have called for a federal investigation into alleged H-1B visa fraud occurring in counties they represent. 

Similar to the alleged Somali welfare fraud in Minnesota and hospice fraud in Los Angeles, Van Duyne argues north Texas is grappling with an H-1B visa fraud problem involving Indian nationals concentrated in her Dallas-Fort Worth district in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties.

“H-1B visa abuse is an affront to our country, it harms American workers, depresses wages, leaves graduating university students without job prospects in their area of study, and it must be stamped out for economic and national security reasons,” she said.

She and Republican U.S. Reps. Ronny Jackson, Brandon Gill and Pat Fallon, who also represent the region, sent a letter to the vice president and secretaries of the departments of State, Labor and Homeland Security, urging them to investigate. 

Alleged visa abuse in North Texas, “a major economic hub for our nation – raises additional concerns about localized exploitation of the system,” the letter states. “When bad actors are able to manipulate visa pathways at scale, it distorts local labor markets, suppresses wages, and erodes trust in lawful immigration processes. 

“Beyond economic impacts, there are also broader compliance and security considerations. Fraudulent use of employment-based visas may indicate systemic weaknesses in interagency coordination, verification mechanisms, and oversight of sponsoring employers. Ensuring that individuals entering the United States through legal channels are properly vetted and placed in legitimate employment is essential to maintaining both economic integrity and national security.”

The H-1B program is administered and overseen by several federal agencies, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the departments of State and Labor. It allows employers “to hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability … to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States.” 

The greatest number of H-1B visa holders nationwide are from India, more than 70% in 2024, according to USCIS data. The second greatest number of holders are from China.

The Texas Republicans called for respective federal agencies to conduct a coordinated, interagency investigation into reported H-1B fraud activities in North Texas, “including the role of employers, third-party agents, and any associated entities,” and review current H-1B adjudication and verification processes “to identify vulnerabilities that allow for fraudulent job offers, wage misrepresentation, or improper labor condition applications.” 

The Trump administration is already undergoing a massive review and overhaul of visa programs within USCIS, The Center Square reported. 

They also called on federal agencies to strengthen enforcement mechanisms, including increasing audits of H-1B sponsors, enhancing penalties for fraud and improving data sharing and coordination. They also asked the agencies to provide recommendations to Congress “to close loopholes and restore integrity to the H-1B program.”

They urged a federal agency investigation after presidential and state actions have been taken.  

President Donald Trump first addressed the issue by signing an executive order restricting entry for “aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in specialty occupations in the H-1B program unless their petition is accompanied by a $100,000 payment.” He said, “American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor, creating an economic and national security threat to the nation,” The Center Square reported.

In January, Gov. Greg Abbott directed all state agencies and publicly funded higher education institutions to freeze H-1B visa petitions and launch a review of current program use. A state investigation was necessary, he said, because of “recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa program, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that program to ensure American jobs are going to American workers."

The Office of Attorney General also launched an investigation into businesses in north Texas allegedly committing H-1B visa fraud after residents in Frisco have been sounding the alarm about alleged visa fraud and a disproportionate number of Indian nationals moving there, The Center Square reported. 

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas is also prosecuting a case involving Pakistani nationals charged with defrauding the EB-2, EB-3 and H-1B visa programs, money laundering, racketeering and unlawfully obtaining and attempting to obtain United States citizenship, The Center Square reported. Department of Justice prosecutions against visa fraud are ongoing nationwide.

Kentucky Derby-winner Golden Tempo will not run in the Preakness Stakes, history-making trainer Cherie DeVaux said Wednesday, dashing hopes of a Triple Crown challenge in 2026.

Golden Tempo stormed from dead last to win the 152nd Derby on Saturday, making DeVaux the first woman trainer to saddle a winner in the iconic event at Churchill Downs.

DeVaux said in a statement on Wednesday that the horse's connections had decided "as a team" that Golden Tempo will bypass the May 16 Preakness, the second race in US flat racing's Triple Crown that concludes with the Belmont Stakes in June.

Only 13 horses have completed the treble, and DeVaux said she and Golden Tempo's team were "incredibly appreciative of the excitement and support surrounding the possibility of a Triple Crown run."

However, she added, "Golden gave us the race of a lifetime in the Kentucky Derby, and we believe the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort.

"His health, happiness and long-term future will always remain our top priority," she said, adding that Golden Tempo would be pointed toward the Belmont on June 6.

Neither the Preakness nor the Belmont will be run at their traditional venues this year.

The Preakness will be held at Laurel Park in Maryland as Pimlico Race Course undergoes renovations while the Belmont will be run at Saratoga for the third and final year due to renovations at Belmont Park.

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The first hantavirus case on the MV Hondius could not have been infected during the cruise, a World Health Organization expert told AFP on Wednesday.

The polar expedition ship left Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde, where it arrived on Sunday, with around 150 passengers and crew on board.

The WHO, which was alerted Saturday to a rare but deadly outbreak of hantavirus aboard the Hondius, has determined that the first of three people to die must have been infected before boarding the ship.  

Out of eight confirmed and suspected hantavirus cases, a 70-year-old Dutch passenger was the first to fall ill.

He began showing symptoms including fever, headache and mild diarrhoea on April 6, and developed respiratory distress on April 11, dying on board the same day, the WHO said.

"The incubation period -- the time between infection and the onset of symptoms -- is between one and six weeks", but it is typically "more like two to three weeks", Anais Legand, a technical expert on viral haemorrhagic fevers at the WHO, told AFP.

So the first case "could not have been infected on the ship, or on one of the islands" it called at on the way towards Cape Verde.

The man "very clearly had exposure before boarding the ship", an exposure "certainly linked to a rodent", she said.

Among the three people who have died, only the Dutch man's 69-year-old wife has been confirmed positive so far for hantavirus.

She had been suffering gastrointestinal symptoms when accompanied her husband's remains ashore on the remote British territory of Saint Helena on April 24, before flying to Johannesburg on April 25, and dying the following day.

A third passenger, a German national, is also suspected of having died from hantavirus on the ship on May 2. 

Two others who were on the ship and are being treated in hospitals in Johannesburg and Zurich have also tested positive, while three suspected cases have been evacuated from the ship and are being flown to the Netherlands.

The vessel, which has been anchored off the Cape Verde capital Praia since Sunday, set sail Wednesday bound for Spain's Canary Islands.

Hantavirus is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva.

There is documented human-to-human transmission for only one strain, Andes virus -- detected in both living confirmed cases.

- Cases in Argentina -

The case fatality rate for the Andes virus can reach up to 40 percent, which is "high", said Legand.

"For this virus, there is no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to someone before symptoms appear," she stated, with the highest risk of transmission during the first week of illness.

According to the initial evidence available to the WHO, the Andes virus can only be transmitted from one person to another in cases of close contact.

Legand gave the example of an "exchange of saliva" when couples kiss, while underlining that investigations were ongoing to better understand human-to-human transmission of the strain.

The WHO says that before boarding the MV Hondius, the Dutch couple travelled in South America, including Argentina.

According to data published Monday by the Argentine health ministry, 42 new cases of hantavirus have been reported in the country this year.

The ministry also reported a family cluster in the southern Chubut region, with suspected human-to-human transmission.

- WHO team on board -

A day before the three suspected cases were evacuated from the Hondius on Wednesday, two WHO representatives joined the ship to work on an exposure assessment and help the crew keep the passengers properly informed and reassured, said Legand.

The cruise ship should arrive at a port in Tenerife in the Canaries "within three days", according to the Spanish authorities.

"Discussions between the ship, the national authorities, but also the medical authorities and WHO are ongoing," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told AFP.

This is "to establish the protocol once the ship goes to dock at the harbour, how best these people on board will be treated, how quickly they can be removed off the ship, but also how safely they can be removed," he said.

The bodies of the three people who died have not been moved, according to Legand.

They remain in Saint Helena, Johannesburg, and in a cold storage room on the MV Hondius.

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Democratic lawmakers accused US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday of lying to Congress and helping cover up the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, demanding his resignation after a closed-door deposition in the investigation into the notorious sex offender.

The extraordinary attacks came as Lutnick was answering questions before the House Oversight Committee about his ties to Epstein, the disgraced financier whose connections to powerful figures have fueled years of political controversy and conspiracy theories.

Emerging from the interview, Democrats portrayed Lutnick -- a billionaire former financial executive -- as evasive and dishonest, accusing him of contradicting earlier public statements about when he severed ties with Epstein.

"After what we have seen so far in this transcribed interview, I feel very comfortable saying that Howard Lutnick is a pathological liar who is enabling the most egregious cover-up in American history," said Arizona Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari.

Democratic Representative Suhas Subramanyam called on Lutnick to quit, telling reporters: "That was absolutely mind-boggling, what we just heard in the room. He was evasive, nervous, he was dishonest."

The deposition centered heavily on Lutnick's previously disclosed 2012 visit to Epstein's private Caribbean island, which came years after Epstein's abuse was already public knowledge.

In a podcast interview last year, Lutnick recounted visiting Epstein's Manhattan home in 2005 and said he was so disturbed that he decided he would "never be in the room with that disgusting person, ever again."

But records later emerged showing plans in 2012 for Lutnick to meet Epstein on Little Saint James, the island often referred to as "Epstein Island."

Lutnick acknowledged during a Senate hearing earlier this year that he had visited the island with family members.

Ansari said lawmakers had questioned Lutnick in "excruciating detail" about his relationship with Epstein and argued it was implausible that he had remained unaware of allegations surrounding the financier after Epstein's 2008 plea deal on sex crime charges.

California Democrat Ro Khanna also accused Lutnick of misleading the public and suggested his testimony raised fresh questions about whether details about Epstein's activities were being concealed.

"Now we know why that interview was not videotaped," Khanna said. "If Donald Trump had seen the video transcript, he would have fired Howard Lutnick."

Khanna said Lutnick had also appeared to retreat from previous suggestions that Epstein engaged in blackmail operations involving videotapes.

"This raises a question of what the cover-up is," Khanna said.

Lutnick has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing and Republicans on the committee have defended the broader investigation against accusations from Democrats that it has become politically selective.

The billionaire cabinet secretary agreed in March to testify voluntarily before the committee after facing mounting scrutiny over his ties to Epstein.

Epstein admitted sex crimes in 2008 under a controversial plea agreement and was later charged with trafficking underage girls before dying in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide.

Reporters shouted questions at Lutnick as he arrived for his testimony but he walked in to the deposition without commenting.

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ANACONDA, Mont. -- More information in the case of Michael Paul Brown, the suspect in a mass shooting that took place in an Anaconda bar last August, is coming out this week, starting with a status hearing at the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Courthouse on Wednesday morning.

Brown appeared in court virtually, as state officials shared an update on his status; it remains unchanged from the prior update two months ago, as Brown receives an ongoing mental health evaluation and restoration of fitness treatment plan at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs.

Additionally, District Judge Jeffrey Dahood granted a motion for another status hearing on Brown 60 days from Wednesday.

Brown is accused of four counts of deliberate homicide in a shooting at Anaconda's Owl Bar on Aug. 1, 2025, as well as attempted arson and evading police in a manhunt that lasted a week.

As owner of the Owl Bar David Gwerder says, Anaconda is still feeling the shock of the tragedy nine months later.

"The community and the whole state really came together for the victims, but I know some people in the community that are having a really hard time dealing with this," Gwerder said. "I just talked to one lady this morning about it. She was one of the neighbors of the bar, and I don't know exactly what she's seen or heard, but she's having a really hard time with it."

In the case, nearly all charging documents against Brown has been sealed away from the public.

Multiple news outlets filed suit to have that decision overturned. The Montana Supreme Court heard that case and sided with the media. Now, those documents are set to become publicly available on Friday.

Only one document, which details Brown's mental health evaluation, will remain unreleased.

Whatever information we learn from the unsealing of documents on Friday, we will let you know here on NonStop Local.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flew to Washington Wednesday for talks with US President Donald Trump on thorny issues, while seeking to boost his image at home ahead of October elections.

Lula, 80, and Trump, 79, are ideological opposites who have had a rocky relationship, and their meeting Thursday will be only their second official encounter since they held talks in Malaysia last year.

That meeting was cordial and led to Washington easing punitive tariffs imposed on Brazil over the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally who is now serving a 27-year jail term for an attempted coup.

A lot has changed since then: The US ousted Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and launched a war against Iran alongside Israel.

Lula, who has accused Trump of acting like an "emperor," has been outspoken against these actions.

"I am against any country in the world meddling and exercising political interference," he said last month.

Lula heads to the meeting politically weakened after a series of defeats in Congress. He is tied with Bolsonaro's eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in opinion polls ahead of the election.

The veteran leftist is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term in office.

Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo, told AFP that Lula will want to "strengthen the personal rapport with Trump" to reduce the risk of US interference in the elections, such as overt displays of support for Flavio.

He said there was a split between the "more pragmatic strategists" in Washington and "MAGA people who are super keen to convince Trump to intervene in the elections."

- Fight against cartels -

Security is the main concern of Brazilian voters ahead of the election, and combating organized crime is high on the agenda of the meeting.

Finance Minister Dario Durigan, who is part of the delegation, said Wednesday that Brazil wanted to expand cooperation in fighting cartels.

The US and Brazil in April signed a deal to share information to combat arms and drug trafficking, such as X-ray data on containers traveling from the US to Brazil.

Trump has made the fight against so-called "narcoterrorism" a priority of his second term, designating major cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and using this to justify the ouster of Maduro.

Stuenkel said Brazil was keen to show it was doing its part and hopes to "reduce the risk" of Washington designating Brazil's powerful gangs, Comando Vermelho (Red Command) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), as terrorist groups.

"The US increasingly sees these groups as sophisticated transnational criminal organizations with regional reach," said Rebecca Bill Chavez, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.

"But in Brazil, there is real concern about the legal, political, and sovereignty implications of applying a terrorism framework to criminal groups."

- Scramble for rare earths -

Also up for discussion are Brazil's vast reserves of rare earth minerals -- crucial for the production of high-tech goods -- which Washington is scrambling to invest in.

The country holds the second-largest reserves of the critical elements in the world after China.

"Of course, foreign investment in Brazil is welcome, but we want to ... drive industrialization within Brazil, generating high-quality jobs in partnership with our universities," said Durigan.

The US is also investigating Brazil for unfair trade practices, such as whether the country's free PIX electronic payment system is undermining the competitiveness of US companies.

Launched in 2020, PIX has revolutionized payments in Brazil and surpassed the use of credit and debit cards, with seven billion transactions in January alone, according to the central bank.

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Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic says it's still unclear when he'll return from a hamstring strain that has sidelined him for the team's NBA playoff campaign.

"I don't think people understand how frustrating it is," the 27-year-old Slovenian told reporters in Oklahoma City, where the Lakers dropped game one of their second-round series against the reigning champion Thunder on Tuesday.

"All I want to do is play basketball, especially this time. It's the best time to play basketball."

Doncic was injured on April 2, missing the final few games of the regular season and the Lakers' first-round victory over the Houston Rockets.

"It's very frustrating seeing what my team is doing. I'm very proud of them. It's been very tough just to sit and watch them play," he said.

He said he was told after an initial MRI scan that recovery would take eight weeks.

Doncic, who moved to Spain as a teenager and launched his professional career with Real Madrid, said he traveled to Spain to receive platelet rich plasma treatments in a bid to hasten his recovery.

"I think that is one of the best countries to do that," he said, adding that he had consulted with Lakers doctors and "everybody agreed for me to go there."

While Doncic said he is "doing everything I can" to return, he's leery of coming back before regaining full fitness.

"It's a tough one for me because I came back from injuries (before) too soon and it wasn't the best result," he said.

"It's not the same like other injuries," he said of the hamstring injury.

"You have to be very careful and I'm doing everything to come back," added Doncic, who says he has resumed running in training but hasn't taken part in any contact drills.

Doncic led the league in scoring in the regular season, averaging 33.5 points per game with 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds.

James noted after the Lakers were held to 90 points in Tuesday's game that Doncic's offensive presence was sorely missed.

"We're playing against the number one defensive team in the NBA," James said. "When you play against great defenses, you have to have guys that can attract multiple defenders on the floor at all times ... when you play against the world champions, having a guy that averages 34 (points per game), that's special."

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Rory McIlroy says he's "more motivated" than ever after bagging his second Masters title to take his tally of major championships to six.

The Northern Ireland star said his repeat triumph at Augusta National last month "feels a lot different" from his 2025 victory, when he ended an 11-year major title drought to complete a career Grand Slam.

"Even winning felt different," the Northern Ireland star said Wednesday as he prepared to tee it up in this week's PGA Tour Truist Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"I felt like winning the Grand Slam was going to be this life-changing thing and in some ways it was, but in other ways I had to remember like, no, I still have a lot of my career left and I want to keep playing and keep competing.

"So this year was I think winning was validation for all the work that I've put in over the last few years to get myself back to this place where I'm winning majors.

"I'm excited for the road ahead," McIlroy added, looking ahead to next week's PGA Championship at Aronimink near Philadelphia as well as the US Open at Shinnecock Hills in June and the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July.

"I feel like if anything I'm more motivated after what happened at Augusta this year than I've ever been."

World number two McIlroy has kept a low profile since his Masters win, opting out of the RBC Heritage and last week's Cadillac Championship at Doral, both elite signature events.

He said he gave himself "a good 10 days to enjoy myself and the thought I needed to get back on the range and start to practice and get ready for this stretch coming up."

McIlroy, who celebrated his 37th birthday this week, is chasing his fifth career win at Quail Hollow, where he won his first US PGA Tour title in 2010 and added victories in 2015, 2021 and 2024.

He fell to Rickie Fowler in a playoff in 2012.

"I really feel like this tournament got my career going, especially on the PGA Tour," McIlroy said. "Getting my first win on tour in 2010, then it's been a pretty fruitful place since then as well.

"Some of my best days of my career have been on this golf course."

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France's aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle was on Wednesday heading towards the southern Red Sea to pre‑position for a possible mission to restore navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, Paris said.

The move was intended to send "a signal that not only are we ready to secure the Strait of Hormuz but that we are also capable of doing so", an aide to President Emmanuel Macron told reporters.

Traffic in the strategic waterway, through which around one-fifth of the world's crude oil normally transits, has all but stopped since conflict erupted in the Middle East in late February.

Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are leading a multinational mission towards restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, which they say would be entirely defensive and only deployed once the war ended.

Macron said on X he told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday of his "deep concern" at escalation in the Gulf region amid stalling peace talks. 

"All parties must lift the blockade of the strait, without delay and without conditions," he said on X, in reference to a US blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran's own chokehold on the vital sea route.

The Charles de Gaulle, the flagship of the French navy, and its escorts were transiting through the Suez Canal en route to the southern Red Sea, the defence ministry said.

The decision was intended "to reduce the time needed to implement this initiative as soon as circumstances allow", the ministry said.

More than 40 countries have begun military planning towards the Hormuz mission following talks hosted by Britain.

Macron's aide said France was taking action as "the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues, the damage to the global economy is becoming increasingly severe, and the risk of prolonged hostilities is too serious for us to accept".

- 'Common interest' -

France has proposed to the United States and Iran that they "deal with the issue of the Strait of Hormuz separately" from the rest of the conflict.

"It is in the common interest," the aide said.

"We can offer Iran the chance to pass through the Strait of Hormuz again," on the condition that it agrees to take part in talks with the United States, the aide said.

The Americans must in turn "lift their blockade of Hormuz and take advantage of Iran's willingness to negotiate on key issues," the Elysee representative added.

If those conditions are met, the coalition can deploy resources to guarantee the safety of vessels passing through the strait and "help restore the confidence needed to calm the markets".

The aircraft carrier has around 20 Rafale fighter jets and is escorted by several frigates.

It set sail from the southeastern French port city of Toulon in January for a deployment to the North Atlantic.

But in early March, it was redirected to the eastern Mediterranean to defend French interests and allied countries struck by Iran's retaliation for Israeli‑American attacks.

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The FBI has opened a criminal leak investigation focusing on a journalist who wrote a critical article about Kash Patel, the head of the US law enforcement agency, the cable news channel MS Now reported on Wednesday.

Patel filed a $250 million suit last month against The Atlantic magazine and the author of the article, Sarah Fitzpatrick, calling it a "sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece."

The Atlantic story accused Patel of frequently drinking to excess and said he was in danger of losing his job as FBI director.

MS Now, citing two people familiar with the matter, said the FBI has launched a so-called "insider threat investigation" into the Atlantic story, which cited two dozen anonymous sources.

The network said the investigation is highly unusual because leak probes are generally focused on government officials who leak information and not the journalists who publish it.

An FBI spokesman, Ben Williamson, denied to MS Now that an investigation was underway.

"This is completely false," Williamson was quoted as saying. "No such investigation like this exists and the reporter you mention is not being investigated at all."

In a statement, The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg said "if confirmed to be true, an FBI criminal leak investigation targeting our reporter would represent an outrageous attack on the free press and the First Amendment itself.

"We will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously; we will not be intimidated by illegitimate investigations or other acts of politically motivated retaliation," Goldberg said in a statement.

According to The Atlantic, Patel's job as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is in jeopardy in part because of what it said were "bouts of excessive drinking" and "unexplained absences."

Since being named FBI director, Patel has been accused of carrying out a purge of agents perceived as being disloyal to President Donald Trump. Among those dismissed have been agents who worked on criminal cases brought against Trump after he left office in 2021.

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