IMMIGRATION: NO VISAS FOR LOW-SKILLED WORKERS, GOVERNMENT SAYSLow-skilled workers would not get visas under post-Brexit immigration plansunveiled by the government.It is urging employers to "move away" from relying on "cheap labour" fromEurope and invest in retaining staff and developing automation technology.The Home Office said EU and non-EU citizens coming to the UK would betreated equally after UK-EU free movement ends on 31 December.Labour said the "hostile environment" will make it hard to attract workers.But Home Secretary Priti Patel said the new system would mean "the brightestand the best will be able to come to the United Kingdom".The government, which said it was aiming to reduce overall migration to theUK, wants a "points-based" immigration system - as it promised in itselection manifesto.Under the scheme, overseas workers who wanted to come to the UK would haveto speak English and have the offer of a skilled job with an "approvedsponsor".They would be awarded 50 points if they fulfil these criteria.TURKEY RAMPS UP GULEN CRACKDOWN WITH NEARLY 700 ARRESTSTurkish prosecutors on Tuesday ordered the arrest of nearly 700 people,including military and justice ministry personnel, state media said,intensifying moves against a network accused of orchestrating a 2016 coupattempt.Authorities have carried out a sustained crackdown on alleged followers ofUS-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen since the failed bid in July 2016, inwhich about 250 people were killed.Police still routinely carry out raids targeting suspects.The latest operations marked an escalation by police against allegedsupporters of Gulen, a one-time ally of President Tayyip Erdogan whosubsequently became his arch foe.Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, hasdenied any involvement in the attempted coup.In the latest moves, prosecutors ordered the arrest of 157 people, including101 serving officers, in an investigation of the Turkish Armed Forces,state-owned Anadolu news agency said.About 100 people have so far been detained in this operation, the privateDemiroren news agency reported.MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA JOINS THE RAJAPAKSAS IN PRE-POLL ALLIANCE IN SRI LANKASri Lanka's former President Maithripala Sirisena, who defected from theMahinda Rajapaksa government to the rival political camp before beingelected to office in 2015, has re-joined his former colleague and currentPrime Minister Mr. Rajapaksa.Mr. Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on Monday formed an alliancewith the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP or People's Party) to contest thegeneral election scheduled this summer.Significantly, President Sirisena - who remained neutral in the Novemberpresidential election though the SLFP backed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa -will contest the parliamentary election as part of the new alliance in hishome constituency Polonnaruwa (North Central Province), according to SLFPgeneral secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara, who is also a State Minister."President Sirisena and our team are scheduled to meet with the SLPPleadership to chalk out the strategy for our alliance," Mr. Jayasekara toldThe Hindu on Tuesday. "This must be one of the most powerful coalitions inour history, with three Presidents at the helm," he said, referring toformer Presidents Mr. Sirisena and Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his youngerbrother and current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.The formation of the new alliance effectively signals a re-consolidation offorces that were earlier aligned to the SLFP, one of Sri Lanka's foremostnational parties that has produced three Presidents in the past, includingChandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa.VLADIMIR PUTIN SACKS PROMINENT KREMLIN IDEOLOGUE, UKRAINE HARDLINERVLADISLAV SURKOVRussian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday dismissed a veteran, once aclose adviser who until recently managed Moscow's relations with war-tornUkraine.Mr. Putin fired Vladislav Surkov, seen as a hardliner by many in Kiev, in aterse two-line statement on the Kremlin website. His sacking, whichcoincided with a flare-up in fighting in eastern Ukraine, had been rumouredfor weeks.The decree was issued a week after the Kremlin said a senior Ukrainian-bornRussian official, Dmitry Kozak, was now in charge of managing Moscow'srelations with Ukraine, effectively sidelining Mr. Surkov.Relations between Moscow and Kiev unravelled after Russia annexed Ukraine'sCrimea region in 2014 and Moscow-backed separatists launched an uprising inDonbass, eastern Ukraine, that has killed more than 13,000 people.Russia denies any role in the conflict.