SUMMARY OF RECENT MEDIA HEADLINES

Selected in the week of September 30 to October 6, 2024

Download the September newsletter here in PDF format with a synopsis of the news published on our portal.

"Brain waste": The cost to the US of not taking advantage of the talent of skilled immigrants from Latin America

BBC News Mundo, september 24, 2024

Synopsis: In the United States, there are about 2.1 million underemployed immigrants - that is, those who perform jobs below their qualifications - 446,000 of them Latin Americans, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute based in Washington, D.C.

They are professionals who work as auxiliaries, bricklayers, administrative assistants or child care workers. "It is a huge waste of human capital for the country," says Jeanne Batalova, an underemployment specialist at MPI.

According to the Census Bureau, the United States reached a record number of 46.2 million immigrants in 2022, of which about 14.1 million had a bachelor's degree or higher. Twenty percent were unemployed or lived off jobs that required at most a high school diploma, a percentage much higher than that of the native population, which is 15.8%.

The situation is especially adverse for Latin Americans, who are by far the group with the highest proportion of underemployed workers with a university education in the United States: 32%. This phenomenon, known as brain waste, has a significant economic impact on those affected.

Most irregular entries are through the border with Mexico, which in 2023 reached 2.5 million.

The North American country has 8.1 million job vacancies and there are only 6.8 million unemployed people who can fill them, according to a report released in July by the Chamber of Commerce. The progressive retirement of the large population of baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964 among whom there are qualified professionals from all fields, "makes it necessary to think about who will come to fill their positions."

N.R. This situation is truly sad and it is so for several reasons: 1) The personal situation they are going through, 2) The lack of identification with the needs of their country of origin, which allowed them to prepare themselves professionally, 3) The worsening that this desertion causes in the living conditions in key aspects such as health, education, etc. 4) The enormous expense incurred by the countries of the area in the training of these professionals, which turns into money thrown down the drain, and which is taken advantage of without any ethics by the receiving nations and 5) The enormous inability of our leaders to develop economic policies that generate the necessary income for the good living of the population.

189 carcinogenic substances detected in food packaging

RT, september 24, 2024

Synopsis: A new study by the Food Packaging Forum Foundation and published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology has revealed the presence of 189 substances, both potential and confirmed, that can cause breast cancer, the majority of which, 143, were detected in plastics and 89 in paper or cardboard, in food packaging used around the world.

Even the most recent analysis of the data used for research (from 2020 to 2022), which simulates the conditions of real use, identified 76 breast carcinogens in materials that come into contact with food, 61 of which (80%) came from plastics.

Despite existing regulations, the study shows the inadequacy of measures that can prevent exposure to carcinogens. "The potential for cancer prevention by reducing hazardous chemicals in everyday life is underexplored and deserves much more attention," said study co-author Jane Muncke, CEO of the Food Packaging Forum.

Professors from the Central University of Venezuela reiterate the proposal for a minimum wage of 200 dollars and condemn the partial payment of the Christmas bonus

Contrapunto, 10/05/2024

Synopsis: During the higher council of the Association of Professors of the UCV (Apucv), professors of the Central University of Venezuela agreed to reject the salary bonus policy and reiterate the proposal to approve a minimum wage of 200 dollars, and "to promote peaceful and organized resistance to violations of autonomy, the precariousness of our working conditions and democracy."

Likewise, the Apucv demanded that the National Electoral Council publish the electoral results "by table and voting center" and demanded the full freedom of the seven detained UCV members.

Melting glaciers force Switzerland and Italy to redefine part of their border

CNN, september 30, 2024

Synopsis: Large stretches of the Swiss-Italian border are defined by glaciers and snowfields. “However, with the melting of glaciers, these natural elements evolve and redefine the national border,” the Swiss government said in a statement, signing a border adjustment agreement.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world and the impact on its glaciers is stark. In Switzerland, they are melting at an alarming rate. The country’s glaciers lost 4% of their volume last year, second only to the record 6% lost in 2022.

UK becomes first major economy to stop burning coal for electricity

Associated Press, september 30, 2024

Synopsis: Britain's last coal-fired power station has closed, ending 142 years of coal-fired electricity in the nation where the Industrial Revolution was born. The UK government hailed the closure as a milestone in efforts to try to generate all of Britain's energy from renewable sources by 2030. The closure makes Britain the first country in the Group of Seven major economies to phase out coal.

In 1990, coal provided 80% of Britain's electricity, in 2012 39% and in 2023 just 1%. Today, more than half of Britain's electricity comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, with the rest from natural gas and nuclear power.

"Ten years ago, coal was the main source of energy in this country - it generated a third of our electricity," said Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive of trade body Energy UK. "To get to this point just a decade later is an incredible achievement"

Brazil's Geological Service reported that one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River, Rio Negro, has reached its lowest level ever recorded

la Voz de América, october 5, 2024

Synopsis: The Rio Negro, a major tributary of the Amazon River, has dropped to 12.66 meters (40 feet), its lowest level since measurements began 122 years ago, Brazil's geological service said, reflecting a severe drought that has devastated the Amazon rainforest and other parts of the country.

It could drop even further in the coming weeks, based on forecasts of low rainfall in upstream regions. All major rivers in the Amazon basin are at critical levels, including the Madeira River, which is the Amazon's longest tributary.

The Rio Negro drains about 10 percent of the Amazon basin and is the sixth largest in the world by water volume. Manaus, the largest city in the rainforest, is where the Rio Negro joins the Amazon.

Death toll from Hurricane Helene rises to 227 in six US states

CNN, october 5, 2024

Synopsis: The death toll from Hurricane Helene has risen to at least 227 across six states, according to CNN's tally, after two more deaths were announced Saturday in South Carolina.

Helene is the second-deadliest hurricane to hit the continental US in the past 50 years, after Hurricane Katrina, which killed at least 1,833 people in 2005.

Chimney Rock was washed away, as were roads and bridges along the path of the massive storm. Regional power provider Duke Energy says "significant parts of the power grid ... were simply washed away." Helene's rapid flooding toppled so many utility poles and power lines that infrastructure needs to be rebuilt before power is restored.

Robert Gaudet, founder and CEO of Cajun Navy, said that "we've seen a lot of disasters, but we've never seen anything like this," with "yards of mud filling property and homes and an entire town being swept into a lake… and it's not just what you see, but you can drive for hours and hours and see the destruction and the damage, you quickly lose sense of what life has been like and what it's like for you."

Peru to declare three regions affected by Amazon fires in emergency

EFE 9/18/2024

Synopsis: Peruvian President Dina Boluarte announced that she will declare a state of emergency in the regions of Amazonas, San Martín and Ucayali to facilitate the mitigation efforts of the forest fires that have broken out in these jungle departments of the country, where it is "difficult" for aircraft to enter to extinguish the fire from the air due to the complicated atmospheric conditions.

In this regard, the president assured the population that they will attend to the fires, as well as the problem of water shortages in Iquitos, capital of the Amazonian Loreto.

According to the report of the National Institute of Civil Defense, Peru had 34 active forest fires and 21 controlled, out of a total of 234 fires registered so far this year, while the victims rose to 16 dead and 140 injured.