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Australia lifts minimum wage for skilled migrant workers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia will end a decade-old freeze on the minimum wage for skilled migrant workers as part of an overhaul of what the government described Thursday as a broken migration system that fosters exploitation and favors attracting low-paid employees over filling critical skill shortages.“What has emerged is a system where it is increasingly easy for migrants to come to Australia in search of a low-paid job, but increasingly difficult for migrants with the skills that we desperately need,” said Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil. “One of the reasons there is so much exploitation in Australia is because we have allowed low-wage migration programs to operate in the shadows.”Australia has long had one of the highest rates of immigration of any country within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. But the migrant workforce that used to settle permanently has become increasingly temporary.The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold had bee...

Food prices fall on world markets but not on kitchen tables

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

A restaurant on the outskirts of Nairobi skimps on the size of its chapatis — a flaky, chewy Kenyan flatbread — to save on cooking oil. Cash-strapped Pakistanis reluctantly go vegetarian, dropping beef and chicken from their diets because they can no longer afford meat. In Hungary, a café pulls burgers and fries off the menu, trying to dodge the high cost of oil and beef.Around the world, food prices are persistently, painfully high. Puzzlingly, too. On global markets, the prices of grains, vegetable oil, dairy and other agricultural commodities have fallen steadily from record highs. But the relief hasn’t made it to the real world of shopkeepers, street vendors and families trying to make ends meet.“We cannot afford to eat lunch and dinner on most days because we still have rent and school fees to pay,” said Linnah Meuni, a Kenyan mother of four. She says a 2-kilogram (4.4-pound) packet of corn flour costs twice what she earns a day selling vegetables at a kiosk.Food prices were al...

Tunisia rounds up migrants at sea in unprecedented numbers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

OFF THE COAST OF SFAX, Tunisia (AP) — A young man wearing a baseball cap emblazoned with “Dior,” women clutching babies wrapped in blankets, children bundled in winter coats. All gingerly stepped from rickety boats into the sturdy craft of the Tunisian Maritime National Guard — and away from their dreams of life in Europe. Cold, wet and heartbroken, they are among hundreds caught daily in overnight sweeps for migrant boats on the Mediterranean Sea.“Sit down! Sit down! Sit down!” The shouted order confirmed the group was no longer in charge of their destiny. A woman sobbed.On an overnight expedition with the National Guard last week, The Associated Press witnessed migrants pleading to continue their journeys to Italy in unseaworthy vessels, some taking on water. Over 14 hours, 372 people were plucked from the fragile boats.Migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, are undertaking the perilous journey in unprecedented numbers. In the first three months of this year, 13,000 migra...

What is the latest on Netanyahu’s corruption trial?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial has resumed after a month-long break, refocusing the spotlight on the long-serving leader’s legal woes after a wave of protests over his government’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate scandals involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies wrongdoing. Critics say that Netanyahu is driven to weaken the courts and change the judicial system as a way to open an escape route from his trial, claims he dismisses as untrue. The corruption charges also have been at the center of a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years — each vote essentially a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule. After losing power in 2021 to a coalition of opponents, Netanyahu returned as prime minister late last year, despite his legal probl...

Bank: Asia must quit coal faster to stem worst climate woes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Asia must rapidly cut fossil fuel subsidies and plow more money into a clean energy transition to avoid catastrophic climate change that puts its own development at risk, according to a new report Thursday from the Asian Development Bank.The region’s economic development is being fueled in a carbon-intensive way that is well above the world average, said David Raitzer, an ADB economist and one of the authors of the report. He urged quick action on an energy transition for greater benefits and lower costs.“Ambitious action on climate change with well-designed policies can have a massive payoff,” Raitzer said.Several countries are developing new coal-fired power plants in Asia, which accounts for 94% of the global pipeline of coal-fired power plants under construction, planned, or announced, according to the report. Even as China, India and Indonesia accounted for a third of all emissions of planet-warming gases in 2019, six of the top 10 countries most a...

Facing elimination, it’s life or death with Nathan MacKinnon and Avalanche’s stars: “If we’ve gotta play him 30, we’ll do it.”

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

On the bright side, Cale Makar will be fresh off three days of rest.The Avs are battered and blistered and barely hanging onto life as the sweet release of a long offseason beckons. Nobody needs recharge time more than the superstars, whose usage has reached unprecedented heights. But Jared Bednar refuses to allow Nathan MacKinnon to leave the ice between shifts long enough for the season to flash before his eyes.“Do we get to a point where he runs out of gas? Maybe,” Bednar said after the Avalanche’s Game 5 loss to the Kraken on Wednesday. “But we’re facing elimination, so if we’ve gotta play him 30, we’ll do it.”MacKinnon’s 27 minutes and one second of ice time were all for naught in a 3-2 loss for a 3-2 series deficit against the Seattle Kraken. In the last 10 seasons, only three NHL forwards surpassed 27:00 in a regulation playoff game: Edmonton’s Connor McDavid in 2022, Toronto’s Mitch Marner in 2021 and Philadel...

Kazakhstan-UK co-operation: Paving way for new chapter in trade and investment

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

Recent events in co-operation between Kazakhstan and the United Kingdom have opened new horizons for both countries to maximize the benefits in trade and investment. The test of time and geopolitical developments have proved the stability of this partnership, enabling the countries to further enhance business ties and work together to address emerging economic and environmental challenges, writes Assem Assaniyaz in Editor’s Picks, Op-Ed. The oil, gas, and mining industries were the main beneficiaries of the economic co-operation from the early years of the relationship. Present-day economic ties between Kazakhstan and the UK have morphed into an interest-based collaboration, which prioritizes green energy and technology, agribusiness, mechanical engineering, petrochemical and chemical industries, mining and metallurgy, food production, education, and infrastructure. Assem Assaniyaz, author at The Astana Times.As an upper middle-income country in Central Asia, Kazakhstan is the UK’s ...

Central Asia and Europe must work together to tackle the consequences of climate change

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

Inaction to tackle climate change and its consequences will negatively impact the close economic, trade and investment ties between our regions, as well as our populations, says Kazakhstan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Zulfiya Suleimenova.The climate crisis is reaching a tipping point. Just last month the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered a final warning to humanity, as rising greenhouse gas emissions push the world to the brink of irrevocable damage that only swift and drastic action can avert.Along with the rest of the world, Europe and the Central Asian region faces increasing vulnerability to climate change, as warmer temperatures and more volatile weather patterns disrupt ecosystems and increase the frequency of extreme droughts, floods, heat waves, and forest fires.Kazakhstan could be key to Europe’s energy transitionKazakhstan is becoming a regional hub for foreign investmentForeign investors look set to back Kazakhstan’s ec...

Coachella road rage caught on camera

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

A road rage confrontation during a traffic jam in Coachella was caught on camera Sunday afternoon on the final day of the four-day music festival.  An aggressive driver in a white Honda CRV was captured on video attempting to cut off several cars when the clash occurred and then escalated.  “I saw everything happen for what it is only because he was harassing me at first and merging into my lane,” one of the victims, a man identified only as Shawn, told KTLA.  He had been in one vehicle when a backseat passenger in the white Honda started hurling insults. Shawn said that it was surprising to see that kind of behavior outside the popular music event, which is spread over two weekends. “Nobody really expects to go to a festival and get assaulted and harassed. So, like always good energy and good vibes,” he said.  The car that he was in didn’t yield to the aggressive driver, and that’s when the situation got even more heated. A backseat passenger in the white Honda threw...

Kurtenbach: Draymond Green was a problem for the Warriors, so he became a solution

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:24 GMT

Draymond Green is a basketball genius, and after watching Game 3 of the Warriors’ first-round series with the Sacramento Kings at home, he came to a significant conclusion:He had been the problem when the Warriors lost the series’ first two games.The Warriors’ offense looked better when Green watched the game on TV. There was more space on the floor for Steph Curry and Jordan Poole to work. The Warriors’ sets and rotations made more sense. And on the other side of the floor, where Green has built a Hall of Fame resume, the Warriors looked good, too — Kevon Looney and Andrew Wiggins formed a defensive combination with balance and poise.It was only one game, but the Warriors were better off without Green. Pair that with his up-and-down play in last year’s NBA Finals and his preseason punch of Poole, and things were looking bleak for No. 23.But with the problem diagnosed, Green went about fixing it.He offered to start Game 4 on the bench. Warriors coach Steve Kerr agreed with tha...