Black pharmacy students at U of A dispelling myths about darker skin through pop-up clinic

Story by Brendan Coulter • Saturday

The Black Pharmacy Students' Association from the University of Alberta is shedding light on how dermatological conditions display on skin of colour at a pop-up clinic.


Co-presidents of the Black Pharmacy Students' Association, Aisha Ibrahim and Camala Soliman, are hosting a pop-up dermatology clinic to teach people about managing skin conditions for people of colour.© Submitted by the University of Alberta Black Pharmacy Students' Association

Students in the group say university textbooks focus on diagnosing white skin, and there isn't enough information available on how conditions present on darker skin.

"Our learning and curriculum was lacking a lot in black health," said Aisha Ibrahim, co-president of the Black Pharmacy Students' Association.

"We saw a deficit in that, and we wanted to rectify that and get more information out into the public."

The group organized a pop-up clinic for Saturday (March 25) at the Castledowns YMCA to help people of colour identify and manage common skin conditions.

Students, pharmacists and dermatologists will share information through booths and presentations on topics like treating Acne and identifying Eczema. Medical professionals will also answer questions from attendees.

The Black Pharmacy Students' Association was founded in 2020 and members have worked with professors to improve representation in the University of Alberta's faculty and curriculums.

Ibrahim said there's a lack of content on darker skin in Canadian university classes.

"It's easy to kind of see it," she said. "And you see it in almost every course that you [take]."

Related video: 72% of Black Canadians experienced racism in the workplace, study finds (cbc.ca)  Duration 3:41   View on Watch

Ravina Sanghera, U of A Pharmacy professor, helped organize the pop-up event. She's worked with the association to create more inclusive pharmacy training.

Sanghera has also helped rewrite some textbooks to include more diverse discussions and photos.

She wants to ensure her three kids, who have different skin tones, have access to adequate dermatology care when needed.

"[I'm] always wondering if clinicians are equipped to notice signs and symptoms on your skin and how they would treat it," said Sanghera.

She also said the university is creating professional development sessions so care providers can better serve their patients, and faculty members are attending conferences on representative medicine to better serve their students.

Through the event, the students' association also aims to shatter myths around skin care.

Ibrahim will share information about protecting darker skin from the sun and what type of sunscreen offers the best coverage for people of colour.

She says many people of colour believe cancer rarely presents in black skin because of melanin pigmentation.

"Growing up, I never worried about sunscreen because we believed in that," she said.

"It wasn't until I started learning more about this, got into sciences … I learned that this is completely false."

Skin cancer is often diagnosed later in people of colour when it's harder to treat, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

The pop-up clinic is the first event of its kind in Edmonton, but the Black Pharmacy Students' Association plans to host additional sessions.

Group members want people struggling with skin health to leave with new, everyday management tools.

"If [attendees] just took away one thing, that would be really beneficial," said co-president Camala Soliman.

Alberta legislature wraps up with attacks, insults; next stop is May 29 election

Story by The Canadian Press • Thursday, March 23,2023

EDMONTON — The Alberta legislature wrapped up its spring sitting Thursday with politicians on both sides of the aisle test-driving insults and expected attack lines ahead of the scheduled May 29 provincial election.


NDP LEADER RACHEL NOTLEY

The Opposition NDP lambasted Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservative Party government for hiking fees, fighting with doctors, proposing royalty breaks for oil companies, firing educational support staff, breaking COVID-19 rules and failing to deliver promised economic stimulus to Calgary.

The UCP fired back, saying they saved Alberta after four years of disastrous NDP government that featured massive deficits, credit downgrades, nanny state rules and shameless kowtowing to Ottawa — all topped by a surprise consumer carbon tax.

“What a woeful group of provocateurs,” Energy Minister Peter Guthrie told the house as he squared off with NDP MLA Heather Sweet.

“The activist mentality of the NDP have a target: to end fossil fuel production.”

Sweet shot back: “Our record is (we delivered) one pipeline. UCP (delivered) zero pipelines.”

Finance Minister Travis Toews told the house Alberta’s economy is back in the black despite intrusive retrograde federal rules imposed with the quiet complicity of Rachel Notley's NDP.

“I call on the members opposite to stand with the government on this side of the house against the Trudeau-Singh alliance which is pushing our nation’s economy backwards,” said Toews.

“We’re doing everything we can to position Alberta for competitiveness, investment attraction and growth.”

Where’s the promised growth in Calgary, former NDP finance minister Joe Ceci needled Toews, citing high downtown vacancy rates.

“Why has the UCP spent the last four years holding Calgary back?”

“Every time the minister rises I’m afraid of another credit downgrade,” Toews shot back, echoing previous UCP taunts mocking Ceci as “Alberta’s worst finance minister.”

The NDP’s Rakhi Pancholi offered crocodile sympathy for UCP candidates heading to the doors selling four years of fee hikes.

“(They’ll) have to run on their record, their record of hiking utility prices, insurance rates, school fees, income taxes, property taxes, tuition (and) student loan interest all while handing out money to their friends and insiders,” said Pancholi.

“Alberta’s future is at stake in this election.”

The house wrapped up a short month-long sitting focused on passing a budget capped by a $2.4-billion petro-powered projected surplus to go with spending hikes virtually across the board, particularly on health care and education.

Both parties have been busy in recent weeks with pre-election announcements. Cabinet ministers have been reannouncing budget initiatives while the NDP has rolled out its own policy ideas while hammering on perceived UCP weak spots.

Smith’s government has moved controversial issues to the back burner. These include abandoning the Canada Pension Plan for an Alberta one, ditching the RCMP for a provincial police force and a proposal to reward oil companies with potentially billions of dollars in royalty breaks for cleaning up inactive wells that they are already mandated by law to do.

Notley, speaking to reporters in Calgary, said her government would introduce a bill to keep Alberta in the CPP rather than subject Albertans’ nest-egg savings to the whims of a provincial government of the day.

“Changing CPP is actually harder than changing the Canadian Constitution,” said Notley.

“But if Danielle Smith gets her way, political risk skyrockets. Smith and her UCP cabinet could change benefit levels or the retirement age in one cabinet meeting behind closed doors.”

Toews told the house that the pension plan is all about making sure Albertans have the chance to get the best deal possible.

“The NDP would not give Albertans that opportunity but this government will,” said Toews.

“We’re completing the work. We will ensure Albertans ultimately can make the choice.”

Smith, speaking at the Canada Strong and Free event in Ottawa, said her greatest achievement in her five months as premier was firing the board of Alberta Health Services, then revamping health care under a single administrator. She said the changes have resulted in reduced surgical wait lists and ambulance bottlenecks.

“You give (civil servants) clear goals and you measure them and you know you’re going to chop off a few heads if they don’t achieve results, they achieve results,” said Smith.

The focus of the campaign is expected to be Calgary.

Recent polls suggest the NDP and UCP are neck and neck in the popular vote. NDP support is strong in Edmonton while the UCP dominates outside the big cities and support is split in Calgary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2022.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

STACKED ALBERTA APPEALS COURT

Alberta faces off against Ottawa this week in Supreme Court over 'no more pipelines' law

Story by Special to National Post • Monday

A federal environmental law that has been condemned as a “wrecking ball” goes on trial Tuesday as the Supreme Court of Canada considers whether Ottawa is stepping on provincial jurisdiction by giving itself more oversight of major resource projects.

UCP RENT A CROWD

People protest against Bill C-69, in Calgary on March 25, 2019.

© Provided by National Post

The federal government is asking the Supreme Court to overrule an Alberta Court of Appeal opinion that declared the 2019 Impact Assessment Act (IAA) to be unconstitutional.

The act was adopted to “establish a federal environmental assessment process to safeguard against adverse environmental effects in relation to matters within federal jurisdiction,” the attorney general of Canada stated in written legal arguments to the Supreme Court.

The Alberta government counters that the act is “a profound threat” to provincial jurisdiction over natural resources.

“Alberta’s economic wellbeing, and the employment and prosperity of its population, are dependent on its ability to sustainably manage and develop its natural resources, and in particular its oil and gas resources,” the attorney general of Alberta argues in its written legal brief.

Alberta court quashes Liberal environmental legislation in 'historic victory'

Under the Canadian Constitution, provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over laws relating to resource development. However, neither the provinces nor the federal government have total control over environmental regulation. The IAA, also known as Bill C-69, strengthens federal authority to assess the impact of, new resource projects, and potentially stop them, if they affect climate change, public health and Indigenous concerns. The act can also stop projects from moving forward if they affect other areas of the environment regulated by Parliament, including fisheries and federal lands.

The appeal, which is one the most significant in the Supreme Court’s winter term, is drawing 29 intervenors, including Indigenous groups, environmentalists, business groups and seven provinces. Environmentalists and most Indigenous organizations are siding with the federal government, while industry and some Indigenous organizations and all but one province are backing Alberta.

The Alberta Court of Appeal, in its 204-page judgment last year, acknowledged climate change is an “existential threat facing this country.” But the court’s majority concluded that the legislation also poses “another existential threat” and that is “the clear and present danger this legislative scheme presents to the division of powers guaranteed by our constitution and thus, to Canada itself.”



Alberta NDP allege corruption, conflict of interest in premier's office
1:31


The environmental law, the court continued, “has also taken a wrecking ball to something else — and that is the likelihood of capital investment in projects vital to the economy of individual provinces.”

Ottawa will try to convince the Supreme Court that it already established federal jurisdiction over the environment three decades ago when it ruled the federal government had the authority to conduct an environmental assessment of a major dam being built in Alberta. The 1992 decision in the case of the Oldman River Dam recognized the federal government’s power to enact legislation preventing detrimental environmental effects, the federal government says.

Indigenous groups on both sides of the case are closely watching the outcome of the appeal.

Ryan Beaton, a lawyer for the intervening First Nations Major Project Coalition, says there is “a third order of government in Canada’s constitutional landscape” and the case can be viewed as major one in determining how Indigenous jurisdiction fits with federal and provincial powers.

The legislation sets out requirements for consultation with Indigenous communities and requires Indigenous knowledge to be incorporated.

“If this act is not there, that kind of consultation becomes much more ad-hoc and case-by-case basis,” said Beaton. The coalition represents First Nations leaders who provide technical expertise for natural resource projects on their land.

The Indian Resource Council, a group representing more than 130 First Nations involved in oil and gas production, is siding with Alberta. The council says in its legal arguments that the IAA creates “a federal veto” and “presumes that certain extractive resource projects, such as oil and gas production, are inherently adverse to Indigenous peoples.” Alberta says in court documents that it and other provinces already have systems to regulate projects within provincial jurisdiction that balance environmental concerns and resource development.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation argues the federal legislation will result in “unnecessary and costly delays in project approval and construction, jurisdictional confusion, and the loss of clear lines of governmental accountability.”

The legislation has already had an impact, Ontario and Alberta assert in their court filings.

Ontario describes how federal concerns about birds and animals have delayed construction of proposed Highway 413. Alberta says that the law has stopped a coal mine and an oil sands project.

Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney called the IAA the “no more pipelines” law , arguing it would, in effect, block further oil and gas infrastructure development in Canada.

This is not the first jurisdictional clash between Alberta and the Trudeau government. The appeal comes two years after the Supreme Court backed the federal government’s minimum national carbon tax program, overruling the Alberta Court of Appeal, which said the program’s intrusion on the province’s jurisdiction over resources violated the constitution.

The IAA hearing takes place Tuesday and Wednesday. One of the nine justices that was set to hear the case, Russell Brown, is currently on leave pending an investigation into a complaint over allegations he was involved in an altercation while on a trip to Arizona in January. Brown, who was appointed to the Supreme Court from the Alberta appeal court by former prime minister Stephen Harper, was one of the two dissenting Supreme Court judges who sided with Alberta two years ago in the carbon-tax hearing.

Benjamin Lopez Steven and Meagan Gillmore are students in a legal journalism course at Carleton University.

Special to National Post

Saudi National Bank chair resigns after Credit Suisse storm

Associated Press
Mon, March 27, 2023 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The chairman of Saudi National Bank resigned for “personal reasons” after his comments on Credit Suisse sent that firm's stock cratering, a regulatory filing in the kingdom said Monday.

The filing on Riyadh's Tadawul stock exchange announced Ammar al-Khudairy's resignation from Saudi National Bank. It dated his resignation as coming on Sunday.

Shares of Credit Suisse sank over 30% after al-Khudairy announced March 15 that its biggest shareholder — the Saudi National Bank — would not provide more money to the Swiss lender. Hours later, Switzerland’s central bank agreed to lend Credit Suisse up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) to shore up its finances.

Swiss authorities later cut a deal with its bigger rival UBS to acquire troubled Credit Suisse at a marked-down price.

Spain mulls options as wildfires gain in size, intensity

Alfons LUNA
Sun, March 26, 2023


Walking through the charred remains of the forested hillsides of Sierra de la Culebra that were devastated by Spain's worst wildfire last year, Pablo Martin Pinto is blunt.

"We are moving from the era of big forest fires to mega forest fires in Spain," says this wildfire expert from Valladolid University, warning that such vast blazes were "here to stay".

Last year, Spain suffered nearly 500 wildfires that devastated huge swathes of land, with experts warning that such California-style blazes were likely to increase.

Although spring has only just begun, some 700 firefighters have been battling Spain's first major forest fire which has so far burnt through some 4,000 hectares of land, forcing 1,500 people to flee.

Firefighters said such a blaze was more typical of summer than spring.

"We have to learn as much as we can from what has happened," said Martin Pinto.

If Spain experiences "another summer in which temperatures don't fall below 35C for 20 days and it doesn't rain for four months, the vegetation will be liable to go up in flames" with the first lightning bolt, he warned.

Located in the northwestern region of Castilla y Leon, Sierra de la Culebra was ravaged by fires in June and July, with more than 65,000 hectares burnt -- a fifth of the total area affected in Spain last year.

The blaze also claimed four lives.

- Reviving the forest decades away -

During the blaze, tractor driver Angel Martin from the nearby town of Tabara won hero status after footage emerged of him working to clear a strip of land to create a fire break.

He managed to escape but suffered extensive burns, which claimed his life three months later.

The fire damage has meant the town will lose its annual income of 80,000 euros from selling firewood, says mayor Antonio Juarez.

The fire also destroyed an area popular for hunting and mushroom gathering, and ravaged an area widely enjoyed by locals.

The forest might one day live again, but "no-one who is alive today will be around to see it", says Juarez.

According to the UN, more than 1.6 billion people depend on forests worldwide, with the 2015 Paris Agreement establishing a framework to halt and reverse deforestation which is advancing at a rate of 10 million hectares per year.

- Forest management crucial -

Experts say conserving Spain's forests is key to addressing the risk of wildfires.

The forests "must be protected" by looking after the undergrowth that can generate wildfires, which will also help protect "a resource which generates economic activity", says Jose Angel Arranz Sanz, forestry policies director in the Castilla y Leon region.

And Martin Pinto advocates the creation of areas which are "more resilient" featuring a varied "patchwork landscape" made up of "wooded forest areas.. and livestock farms, interspersed with areas of scrubland".

Where forested landscapes are more homogenous, "it really limits the ability to stop a fire from spreading," he warned.

Forest ranger Jorge de Dios, who represents a regional environmental workers union, says more resources are needed, warning of a lack of firefighters who are trained to tackle such situations.

"We are going to see more and more fires, and bigger ones," he said, saying most local firefighters "are not professionals and don't have enough training", echoing concerns also raised by regional firefighters.

Greenpeace also urged the authorities to adopt a new approach focusing on early preemptive action to minimise the risks.

"Wildfires must be at the top of the political agenda and shouldn't be tackled only when there is heat and fire, but by early preventative action with appropriate environmental management tailored to this new reality," said Monica Parrilla of Greenpeace Spain.

al/hmw/mg/ea

FETISH WORSHIP

Pray for rain: Spanish farmers hold unique Mass amid drought
 

EMILIO MORENATTI
Sun, March 26, 2023

L'ESPUNYOLA, Spain (AP) — When Josep Altarriba looks across his parched fields, the Spanish farmer can't remember a time of such widespread drought in Catalonia. If it doesn't rain in the next two weeks, he says there's little chance of saving the harvest.

What can be done? For the mountain villagers of L'Espunyola, the answer is divine intervention.

On Sunday, around 250 residents brought back the faded practice of a special Mass and procession to pray to Our Lady of the Torrents, a local virgin associated with rainfall.

Under mostly sunny skies, worshippers lifted the colorfully painted statue of the Lady of the Torrents from its place of prominence in the stone church. She was then nestled onto a wooden litter filled with green branches and hoisted aloft, to be carried around the village followed by the bishop and parishioners.

“It’s not a magic act, it is an act of trust,” Bishop Francesc Conesa told The Associated Press.

Three years of very low rainfall and high temperatures put Spain officially into long-term drought, the country's weather agency said this month. Last year was Spain's sixth driest — and the hottest since records began in 1961.

Catalonia, in the country's northeastern corner, is among the worst-affected regions. Agrotourism and farming are the primary sources of income for the 260 inhabitants of L'Espunyola, an hour and a half north of Barcelona.

"If it doesn’t rain within two weeks, it's very hard to say what might happen,” Altarriba, the farmer, said after celebrating Mass.

Local councilor and firefighter Eduard Perarnau described the special Mass as a last resort. The government has restricted water usage, asking farmers to limit watering crops and trees as much as possible.

All three reservoirs in the area are below a third of their capacity. The nearby La Baells reservoir is down to 25%, and in some places only a trickle of water cuts through the layers of silt that used to be underwater.

The last time the village offered prayers and hymns to Our Lady of the Torrents was in 2008, local media reported. And it worked — residents say the rains came not long after.

But this year, the bishop doesn’t guarantee success.

“We have asked with faith, and many people have come and prayed with faith,” Conesa said. “The Lord will give us what suits us.”

___

AP Writer Raquel Redondo in Madrid contributed to this report.

Spain Drought Catalonia Local bishop Francesc Conesa sits next to the virgin Our Lady of the Torrents as he leads a mass in l'Espunyola, north of Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 26, 2023. Farmers and parishioners gathered Sunday at the small hermitage of l'Espunyola, a rural village in Catalonia, to attend a mass asking the local virgin Our Lady of the Torrents for rain. The eastern Spanish region is among the worst affected by the severe drought that hits the whole of the Mediterranean country. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A scorched southwestern France braces itself for fires to come








Sat, March 25, 2023
By Juliette Jabkhiro and Stephane Mahe

HOSTENS, France (Reuters) - As France frets about an extended drought and prospects for more wildfires in another long summer, one blaze that erupted eight months ago in the southwest of the country still smoulders away underground.

Columns of white, acrid smoke rise from a forest floor outside the town of Hostens in the Gironde region, south of Bordeaux. The smell of burning tyres is caused by the brown coal in the area's peaty soil which is fuelling the fire underground.

"It's been burning since mid-July," said Guillaume Carnir, who works for France’s National Forest Agency (ONF). "To this date, we don't have a clear answer as to how to stop it."

The blaze at Hostens is a remnant of huge wildfires that ravaged southern Europe last summer when the worst drought on record was compounded by successive heatwaves which scientists say are consistent with climate change.

The Gironde region was particularly badly hit with 20,000 hectares of forest destroyed, and the risk of renewed fires is a great concern.

"All the greenery will come back in the spring, which will be flammable, so we have to make sure new fires can't start from these hot spots," Carnir said.

Pascale Got, a local official in charge of environmental protection, said that the fire at Hostens was under constant surveillance from drones measuring heat levels.

When it comes to wildfires risk, she said that prevention was crucial, as well as swift intervention when a fire first starts, which is easier to do from above.

"It is obvious that we need an urgent answer from the government on air assets," said Got.

The interior ministry said measures for fighting forest fires across France will be presented in the coming weeks.

An unusually dry winter across parts of the south of the European continent has reduced moisture in the soil and raised fears of a repeat of 2022, when 785,000 hectares were destroyed in Europe - more than double the annual average for the past 16 years, according to European Commission (EC) statistics.

Governments are thus working out how to make forests and woodlands more resilient to climate change with better scrub clearance, more hardwood trees that burn less easily and other steps to prevent the region becoming an inferno every year.

The risk from failure to act is collapsing soils, falling trees and the prospect of an endless cycle of increasingly uncontrollable fires that have not only devastated natural habitats but also destroyed homes and businesses.

Spain's first major wildfire of the year raged in the eastern Valencia region on Friday, destroying more than 3,000 hectares of forest and forcing 1,500 residents to abandon their homes, authorities said.

LUNAR LANDSCAPE

In Gironde, the wildfires that surrounded the town of Origne and displaced its inhabitants for two weeks last July are long extinguished. Firefighters managed to save all but one house, yet some scars remain.

"It's no longer the village I knew: there were woods, we could hike, it was wonderful," said Bernard Morlot, 79, who told Reuters he was thinking of moving away. "Now, it's the desert. It looks like the moon, it's dreadful."

Mayor Vincent Dedieu, 46, could not hide his sadness while looking at the wide empty land punctuated with piles of cut trees right outside the village.

"It will take at least 15 years to get back to a normal landscape," he said.

Dedieu added that he felt powerless and abandoned by authorities since the disaster: "We need to rebuild our roads and our pathways," he said. "It's going to be exceptionally costly, and so far we have zero."

From officials to wood workers, everyone agreed that clear pathways and firebreaks in forests are key to slowing down wildfires.

"The better the forest is looked after, the lower the fire stays," said Pierre Berges, 53, a private forest manager at local business Planfor.

For months now, Berges has been busy salvaging what he could from forests ravaged by wildfires. Below the charred bark of burnt trees, some wood is still in good condition and businesses like Planfor have been converting it into lumber, timber and fuel.

FOREST OF THE FUTURE?

When it comes to reforesting, burned patches will only be replanted next year. Some experts suggest that diversifying varieties of trees would make the forest more resilient.

But in private parcels, the economical incentive is to plant pine, that will rapidly grow into marketable wood.

"The maritime pine is a champion in all categories in terms of wood production, and even adaptation to the environment we have, with the strong variations in drought, the very draining soils," explained ONF agent Carnir.

But he said that shouldn't stop forest actors from bringing in a diversity that will help protect the forest from parasites and risks of fire spreading.

For the past few years, there has been a push for planting more hardwood trees, such as oak or birch. Jean-Marc Bonedeau, head of Planfor nursery, told Reuters over the phone that he has seen a drop of "classic" forest varieties in orders, not in volume but in proportion:

"Maritime pine used to make 70% of our production four or five years ago, now it's only 45%," Bonedeau said.

But finding seeds might become a challenge. "Climate change impacts the tree's ability to bear fruit," Bonedeau said.

(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro and Stephane Mahe; Writing by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Many migrants who flooded into NYC are ‘on the edge of despair’ as they struggle to find work — and stability


Josephine Stratman, 

New York Daily News
Sat, March 25, 2023 

NEW YORK — Jesus O. was a skilled HVAC technician and business owner in Venezuela who thought his skills would easily secure him work when he came to New York last October amid a flood of migrants flowing into New York.

But now, each day, he wanders the streets looking for work.

“I have the experience. And I have the ability,” he said. “And there is this passion and desire to work. I’m just waiting for someone to let me work.”

More than 45,000 migrants have come to New York City since last spring, straining the city’s shelter system and sparking conflict over policy and funding between New York and Washington. Their journey here was treacherous: Nearly all of the migrants coming from the southern border waded through the Rio Grande, braved the dangerous stretch of jungle called the Darien Gap, walked for days on end and faced thieves and attackers.

But getting here was one thing.

Making a life here is another, and finding consistent work is nearly impossible for recent migrants.

“If I don’t have a job, I can’t just sit in the hotel, locked up, sleeping, doing nothing,” Jesus O. said. “I came to New York to work, to produce.”

The migrants The News spoke to said they are ready to start working. They want to build lives for themselves and support their families, especially after being bounced around the city’s shelter system and relying heavily on straining networks of nonprofits and volunteers.

However, their options are limited. While asylum seekers are legally allowed to work, federal policy requires they wait six months after they submit asylum applications to get a work permit. Mayor Eric Adams has called on Washington to loosen federal rules for asylum seekers to allow them to more quickly enter the workforce.

Even after the six months have passed, the legal system is so backed up that the process is all but guaranteed to drag on longer.

“A lot of them are living on the edge of despair,” said Pastor Juan Carlos Ruiz, of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, where he does migrant outreach.

Many of those who dreamed of a better life in New York are losing hope, he said. Some are thinking of giving up and trying their luck elsewhere.

“They come under the perception that once they get here, they will get a job,” he said.

“And it’s a big lie.”

Shadow economy

With legal paths forward closed off, Migrants are pushed into the city’s shadow economy, working for cash under the table. Beyond the day to day challenges of finding steady work, they are particularly vulnerable to wage theft, are more likely to work long hours for less pay and may be exposed to unsafe working conditions.

“These are jobs that are poorly regulated, industries where there are very few protections, and a lot of the businesses and employers actually rely on and make a profitable and sustainable business by exploiting the labor of newly arrived migrants because they’re more vulnerable,” Ligia Guallpa, Director of the Workers Justice Project, a worker’s rights center.

“Because of the lack of employment, job opportunities and workforce development pathways, workers have to feel that they have to accept anything that employers can offer,” Guallpa added.

The influx of migrants, the turbulent economy and the rising cost of labor have made jobs even more scare, said Kimberly Vega, director of the Day Laborer Workforce Initiative at La Colmena, a nonprofit based on Staten Island. Last week, she had 198 people she was trying to find work for. She was only able to place for ten.

“Usually, we have 20 people looking for a job, and at least would be able to dispatch half of them,” Vega said.

Jesus lives in a homeless shelter in lower Manhattan. He’s worked with heating, ventilation, and cooling systems for 18 years – since he was a teenager.

He spent money he barely has printing business cards with his contact information and a picture of him working, and posts about his work and skills on Instagram to market himself. When he’s not looking for work, he finds construction training courses. He’s gathering every bit of legitimacy he can, trying to leave absolutely no doubt that he’s qualified.

“The hardest part about not finding consistent work is that I can’t support myself, because you have to work to pay rent, for your own things, to avoid depending on the government,” Jesus said. “I need to work.”

Armed with his certifications and cards, he walks – a lot. He walks through Manhattan, stopping to drop a card at construction sites he passes. He walks through Queens, from Long Island City to Ozone Park. He pops into every construction company and introduces himself, showing managers examples of his work.

As he walks and goes to different construction sites and companies, he writes the names, addresses and contact information of potential employers in his tight handwriting on a carefully folded white sheet of paper.

When he does find work, he has to be cautious – recently, he was hired for a few weeks to do electricity work – but they never paid him. Jesus says the company owes him around $3,500.

“They never call”

Karen Tipan, a 25-year-old migrant from Ecuador, came to the US looking for a better opportunity for her three-year-old son. She’s a single mother who came to NY with her father, who was placed in a shelter far away, in the Rockaways.

“It’s tough to get a job,” Tipan said. “They ask me for a work permit, social security. If I don’t have that, they’ll tell me, for example, they’ll pay me $13, $12, $10 an hour. Others tell me, if you don’t have papers, I can’t let you work, because it’s illegal… I’ve tried all kinds of restaurants, McDonalds, fast food places, they all ask for social and ID.”

Having a child makes the search for work even more difficult: Her son is too young to go to school, and the shelter rules prevent her from letting another mother look after him. She has to coordinate with her dad, who is far away, or others, to watch her toddler outside the shelter while she looks for work.

“Some say, ‘Okay, we’ll call you, we’ll look for a position for you,’” she said.

“But they never call.”

Jaison Fernandez, 26, has two kids and a wife. He’s been able to find somewhat consistent work installing windows for a construction company. He gets paid $130 for a full 12 hours of work, about ten dollars an hour. He found it through a friend and considers himself lucky to have the gig – but the hours and days vary widely. Sometimes, he just works one day of the week..

“One day I work, the other, I don’t. Nothing is consistent. Sometimes I don’t get paid,” said Fernandez, who has been in NYC since September. “... We came looking for help,” he said. “It’s not what I hoped–fine. But we need to work, we need working permits.”

Pastor Ruiz said many of those who came to New York with dreams of a brighter future are losing hope.

“The shelter system is riddled with violence,” he said. “They don’t have kitchens where they can cook. Any kind of normalcy that they knew back in their home countries has been taken away. And often they come expressing their anxiety, their despair and they say, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ “

“I think many, I’d say even half of them, are considering to go to other states, because they don’t have enough money to get out of the shelter system – and secondly, the scarcity of jobs, to move so they can find jobs,” Ruiz said.

Gustavo Moreta, from Venezuela, has two young children with his wife. Last week, he decided that he had enough of New York. A friend told him he could get him a job in construction in Minneapolis, and a place to stay for his family.

“It’s too difficult here,” Moreta, 33, said as he sat with his family on the floor of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. “There aren’t any jobs. I walked all over: Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Jamaica Center. I was looking for jobs in construction, but I never found anything. There aren’t any opportunities here.”

Britain’s biggest microchip plant ‘will shut down’ if takeover blocked

James Titcomb
Sat, March 25, 2023 

nexperia - Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

The Chinese-backed owner of Britain’s biggest microchip plant has claimed the facility will be forced to shut down if the Government successfully blocks its takeover.

Nexperia has argued that Newport Wafer Fab would lose £170m a year and face a staff exodus that will render the factory unviable if the Chinese-owned company is forced to sell it.

The Government has ordered Dutch company Nexperia, which is owned by China’s Wingtech, to sell Newport Wafer Fab, reversing the 2021 takeover, on national security grounds.

Nexperia is now taking the Government to court in an attempt to overturn the decision, enlisting Lord Pannick, the high-profile barrister representing Boris Johnson in his Partygate defence.

In legal filings at the High Court, Nexperia said a divestment order “would have a devastating impact on Newport’s financial position”.

Newport Wafer Fab factory - Crown Copyright

“Newport would be left with only a single remaining client, and no immediate pathway to return to profitability,” it said. “Nexperia’s forecasting in this scenario projects a cash flow deficit of more than £170m by the end of 2024.

“In the short-term, the plant would require significant capital backing in order to remain solvent during the transition... there is the potential for a staff exodus that would cripple Newport’s production capacity, threatening Newport’s viability as a feasible business.

“For both prospective customers, as well as potential alternative owners of the Newport facility, such a turn of events would decimate Newport’s value proposition even in the event that a viable alternate buyer and customers could be found.”

Newport Wafer Fab made a £13m loss in 2020, the year before it was acquired, when production was disrupted by the pandemic. Nexperia is yet to file accounts for the following year, which are now almost three months overdue. The plant employs more than 500 people.

Investors have been circling the plant in anticipation of Nexperia being forced to sell it. The taxpayer-backed Automotive Transformation Fund has also held talks about supporting the plant under new ownership.

In November Grant Shapps, the former business secretary, told Nexperia to sell the 86pc of Newport Wafer Fab it acquired in July 2021, following a “detailed national security assessment”.

Nexperia has argued that the order threatens jobs and shows “that the UK is closed for business”. It has sought a judicial review on the decision, which is expected to be heard in the coming weeks.

The Government blocked the deal due to fears that the company could restart work on cutting-edge compound semiconductors, which “could contribute to undermining UK capabilities”. Newport Wafer Fab’s position as part of the South Wales cluster of semiconductor firms could also prevent work on national security projects in the area, officials said.

Nexperia told the court that its chips are instead “generally for use in household appliances like kettles and toasters”.

The filings reveal that Nexperia offered a series of pledges that were rejected by the Government, including blocking the export of technology overseas, committing to no military manufacturing, and not to assist with “indigenous Chinese compound semiconductor capabilities”. They also show that Nexperia is seeking damages if it is successful in its appeal.

The company paid Lord Pannick £450,000 between September and December last year, according to Parliament’s Register of Interests.

A spokesman said: “Nexperia applied for a Judicial Review earlier this year. Whilst we await the court’s hearing and decision in the coming months, Nexperia continues to focus on protecting the interests of its UK employees and delivering for its customers.”

Twitter hunts Github user who posted source code online

The Canadian Press
Mon, March 27, 2023 


NEW YORK (AP) — Some parts of Twitter's source code — the fundamental computer code on which the social network runs — were leaked online, the social media company said in a legal filing that was first reported by The New York Times.

According to the legal document, first filed with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California on Friday, Twitter had asked GitHub, an internet hosting service for software development, to take down the code where it was posted. The platform complied and said the content had been disabled, according to the filing.

Twitter, based in San Francisco, noted in the filing that the postings infringe on copyrights held by Twitter.

The company also asked the court to identify the alleged individual or group that posted the information without Twitter’s authorization. It's seeking names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, social media profile data and IP addresses associated with the user account “FreeSpeechEnthusiast” which is suspected of being behind the leak. The name is an apparent reference to Twitter's billionaire owner, Elon Musk, who described himself as a free speech absolutist.

It is difficult to know if the leak poses an immediate cybersecurity risk for users, said Lukasz OIejnik, an independent cybersecurity researcher and consultant, but he did say that breach underscores internal turbulence at the company.

“While this is the internal source code, including internal tools, the biggest immediate risk seems to be reputational," Olejnik said “It highlights the broader problem of Big Tech, which is insider risk," and could undermine trust between Twitter's employees or internal teams, he said.

Musk had promised earlier this month that Twitter would open source all the code used to recommend tweets on March 31, saying that people “will discover many silly things, but we’ll patch issues as soon as they’re found!” He added that being transparent about Twitter's code will be “incredibly embarrassing at first” but will result in "rapid improvement in recommendation quality."

The leak creates another challenge for Musk, who bought Twitter in October for $44 billion and took the company private. Twitter has since been engulfed in chaos, with massive layoffs and an exodus of advertisers fearful of exposure on the platform to looser rules on potentially inflammatory posts.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission is probing Musk’s mass layoffs at Twitter and trying to obtain his internal communications as part of ongoing oversight into the social media company’s privacy and cybersecurity practices, according to documents described in a congressional report.

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Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report from London.

Anne D'innocenzio, The Associated Press