French court postpones ruling on cement firm Lafarge case

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A French court has postponed until Nov. 7 a decision on whether to uphold preliminary charges against French cement manufacturer Lafarge, including "complicity in crimes against humanity."

The decision comes as the Paris appeal court on Thursday ruled in favor of Lafarge's request that some NGOs that had filed legal complaints could no longer be plaintiffs in the case.

Lafarge has acknowledged funneling money to Syrian armed organizations in 2013 and 2014 ?allegedly including the Islamic State group? to guarantee safe passage for employees and supply its plant in the war-torn country.

The company appealed the charges, which also include financing a terrorist enterprise, violation of an embargo and endangering others.

The wrongdoing preceded Lafarge's merger with Swiss company Holcim in 2015 to create LafargeHolcim, the world's largest cement maker.

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USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019

On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.

For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.

Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.

USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.