Online child exploitation spiked during lockdowns. Police worry it’s here to stay
UCF coach Gus Malzahn reportedly resigning to take Florida State OC job
“I am headed to Atlantis the Royal to advance my career ... it is my dream to work there,” said Kanchan Rai. She passed her apprenticeship interview at one of the most luxurious properties in the UAE, and credits it to her late mother. She says, “I can feel my mother watching over me. After returning to Nepal, I want to start a restaurant in her name.” Other young Nepalis recruited recently by the company Vision and Value shared similar excitement about star chefs at Atlantis they would work with, the multinational colleagues, and opportunities to learn new skills. “Atlantis the Royal in my CV will set me up for life,” beamed another candidate. Migrating out of ‘compulsion’ is a common theme in Nepal’s public discourse. But here, बाध्यता as a driver for migration was not a prominent feature, in fact it barely came up. Upward mobility during migration merits more attention. Reputable employers offer opportunities for cross-training and career advancement. Seven years ago, Bikash Tripathi went to the UAE to work as a packing staff. A year into his contract, he used his month-long break to cross-train and five promotions later now works as a pastry chef managing a multinational team of eight. “I was always preparing for the next job when I was working, even if it meant using my holidays or covering for colleagues when they were absent. My supervisors took notice,” says Tripathi, who wants to open a restaurant on return to Nepal. “In addition to saving money, I am glad my parents now have financial freedom and don’t have to worry about making ends meet like they did,” he says. Some motivated workers invest in their own upskilling. Dharmendra Sah went as a labourer to Qatar at a salary of 700 Riyal. When he left seven years later he was working as a lifting supervisor and earning 6000 Riyals because he followed his colleague’s advice to take a training course. “I did not know what work I would be doing overseas or what my future had in store for me,” he recalls. “I paid 1000 riyals from my own pocket for the training, but it was worth it because it opened up better opportunities.” The hard-earned perception that Nepalis are loyal and hard-working works to their advantage. But also important is the role of a trusted labour mobility industry to attract the best employers. Ultimately it is the recruiters who matchmake workers and employers. While the internet and more awareness among workers may gradually decrease reliance on them, for now recruitment is heavily intermediated. Factors like under-the-table commissions play a role in helping recruiters bag job demands from overseas employers. These costs are eventually borne by workers as recruitment fees. The competition can be unhealthy with thousands of recruiters from other countries competing against each other. In this race-to-the-bottom, standing out as good actors and responsible businesses can be difficult. Strong credentials are needed, including international licenses and accreditations, marketing and research skills, thorough audits, references from previous clients, capacity to screen and mobilise the right candidates, among others. These aspects of building a strong labour mobility industry have not received adequate policy attention in Nepal. The government also needs to engage more proactively with host country industry associations, employers, and government counterparts. Recruiters often struggle to have a direct approach with employers and instead themselves rely on intermediaries. Interviews with workers in senior positions in the hospitality sector overseas show that Nepal’s recruitment process is rife with bureaucratic hurdles that dissuade employers looking to hire in small numbers. For example, a hotel looking to hire a chef or operation manager would rather not hire from Nepal as it is significantly easier and quicker to do so from the Philippines or India. While these delays are less problematic for bulk hiring, they become a major obstacle for smaller recruitment efforts, or vacancies that need to be filled quickly even when employers are willing to cover all costs and offer competitive salary packages. Attracting good employers to Nepal is not only helpful for migrants’ financial and career growth, but is a way to prevent abuses in the first place. The risk of wage theft or contract infringement is reduced when reputable companies hire directly, and in the event of such incidents, the likelihood of corrective action is higher. Attracting quality employers should be central to Nepal’s foreign employment policy. Setting up migrants for success overseas also means preparing them for success upon return. After working abroad as a rope access cleaner, Rudra Bahadur Gurung established the Asset Integrity Group in Kathmandu, providing internationally accredited training and licensing to both Nepali and non-Nepali migrants seeking to upskill during their vacations. Shiva Sharan Khatri returned to Nepal after working in hotels in Qatar, the UAE, and Seychelles to set up Sankalpa Management Facilities Service, a cleaning company that now employs over 80 workers. Both Rudra and Shiva began their migration journeys in low-paying positions and leveraged their overseas experiences to create successful enterprises at home. Not only did they earn more, but also applied their experience in their business enterprises back home. A World Bank study in Bangladesh has shown how temporary migration can help migrant workers overcome credit constraints so they can invest in business creation. Unfortunately, this ‘continuum’ is lacking in many migrant workers. Take Gyanendra’s story. His father was the first to migrate to Qatar and villagers called him ‘Arabe Kafle’ because he has moved across Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and is now headed to Dubai. Gyanendra had to start from scratch each time, and as a cleaner in his new job in the UAE will work for the same basic salary as younger peers migrating for the first time. Remigration is common from Nepal, but many workers like Gyanendra struggle to build on previous experiences. While they can still use earnings to meet household expenses back home, professional growth takes a backseat with each migration episode. In some case, they are compelled to even accept lower wages and benefits. The bar is currently set very low, and many workers worry if they will get the promised job, or be able to pay off recruitment loans. Nepalis need reliable employers and recruiters so ‘good migration outcome’ is not just simply about workers getting the promised job or wages, but about attaining their full potential. Outgoing workers need better guidance to make the most of their overseas opportunity. They currently are required to take pre-departure orientation training courses that cover basic do’s and don'ts. But also needed is practical career guidance to improve job readiness with advice on cross-training, building soft skills, networking, promotions so they can make the most of their migration with long-term growth. Successful returnees like Rudra and Shiva would be stellar mentors for younger workers. Exposure, work ethic, learning, skills, technology transfer, and networks are ‘social remittances’ and can be positive gains for Nepal besides financial remittances.A Free-Market Guide To Trump's Immigration Crackdown
Sellers' 20-yard TD run with 1:08 to go lifts No. 16 South Carolina to 17-14 win over No. 12 ClemsonHome entertainment holiday gift ideas at a discountAfter a long election campaign that has polarized American and international public opinion, Donald Trump is confirmed as the 47th president of the United States. His victory generates curiosity and debates in every part of the world, spreading a certain sense of expectation and apprehension about the future of the global order. All world leaders, regardless of their political color, have greeted the president-elect by sending messages of congratulations. Among these, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stands out. Traditionally, Meloni had intense and deep relations with the conservative establishment, while recently, she has marked a U-turn toward democratic positions with the Biden administration. As a matter of fact, since her rise to power in 2022, Meloni has cooled many of her more traditionally ideological demands to better represent her institutional role within a European Union characterized by the liberal left and to honor the historic Italian-American friendship. The scenario could change today without compromising the close interests binding Italy and the U.S. Meloni certainly wasted no time in congratulating Trump on his electoral victory: During the phone call, she expressed her willingness to work in close coordination on all the main international dossiers, starting with the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East, sharing the goal "of promoting stability and security, also in the context of relations with the EU." The government note also reports that "the intention to continue the path of strengthening the already excellent bilateral relations, based on shared values and principles, agreeing on the opportunity to remain in close contact" was affirmed and that "the solid alliance, the strategic partnership and the deep and historic friendship that have always tied Rome and Washington" was confirmed. At the same time, as reported on X, Meloni called her friend Elon Musk, CEO of X and Tesla and an ally of Trump in his race toward the White House. "I am convinced that his commitment and vision will be an important resource for the U.S. and Italy, in a spirit of collaboration aimed at facing future challenges," wrote Meloni. Indeed, her relationship with Musk is quite deep and well-tested. Musk was welcomed several times by the leader of Fratelli d’Italia, the last one at the end of 2023 in Rome along a right-wing manifestation. Moreover, in September 2024, Musk himself presented Meloni with the Atlantic Council's “Global Citizen Award” in New York, marking a move that could be interpreted as an intention to reapproach the Republican front. As a matter of fact, today, there is room to think that Musk could act as a point of contact between Trump and Meloni, elevating the latter to main European interlocutor alongside Orban, who has always sided with the Republican candidate. More recently, some statements by Elon Musk are to be read as an endorsement of Meloni, although they have inflamed the Italian political climate, further exacerbating social polarization. Referring to the decision of the Italian judges to block the sending of some migrants from Italy to the reception camp set up by the Italian government in Albania, Elon Musk posted on X: "These judges must go." The externalization of irregular migration is indeed an ambitious project in which the Meloni government invested, but it immediately faced the issue of illegitimacy as established by the Italian judiciary. "Do the Italian people live in a democracy or is it an unelected autocracy that makes decisions?" Musk doubled down by sparking discontent in some sectors of Italian politics and society. "Italy knows how to take care of itself in compliance with its Constitution ... Anyone, especially if, as announced, is about to assume an important government role in a friendly and allied country, must respect its sovereignty and cannot take on the task of issuing prescriptions," the words of the president of Italy's Republic, Sergio Mattarella addressing Musk, who in turn replied that he "respected the Italian president and expressed his opinions as a free citizen." However, the Ceo of Tesla and X, also in his next institutional capacity as leader of the U.S. government efficiency, risked enlarging further some political fracture in Italy, either in terms of relations between the government and the opposition, either within the governing group and within Meloni's party, Fratelli di Italia. Meloni concluded: "We always listen with great respect to the words of the president." In a historical moment when the nomination of Raffaele Fitto as European Commissioner has been questioned again at a European level and many dossiers are on the government's desk, the priority of the Italian Prime Minister is focusing on a climate of substantial social unity. In this regard, along with growing concerns, Meloni would warn her friend Musk to tone down and not " put her in difficulty." As it is evident, between the two, there is great political harmony, also hinging on important complementarities in business, both about the Italian acquisition of Tesla and the Starlink satellite network. This was supplied during the flood hitting Italy's northern region of Emilia Romagna in 2023 by ensuring precise localization and communication to cope with the emergency. There are rumors about agreements regarding satellite coverage projects at institutional, defense and security levels. To some extent, this marks a new page for the Italian PM, for her party Fratelli di Italia and for the Italian government, which in the past four years had flattened itself on the democratic positions of the outgoing President Joe Biden, distorting in a certain sense its own political identity in the name of the values of the transatlantic alliance. Undoubtedly, Meloni and her party embed the right-wing instances genetically close to conservative programmatic contents of the Republicans, on which politically there is a substantial convergence on internal issues pivoting mainly on migration and border defense. When in the past, she was still in the opposition circles, Meloni celebrated Trump, then president of the U.S., pronouncing words of criticism towards Europe and characterized by a strong sovereignism. However, once she became head of the Italian government, the tone changed as she was totally embedded in the European structure; even the rhetoric regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war recorded a u-turn, aligning itself with Biden's positions. It is therefore clear that, as Italian Prime Minister, Meloni has been in the position of keeping a complicated balance regarding American politics: the Italian imperative is indeed to demonstrate that it is a reliable ally of the U.S., given the enormous economic and diplomatic influence and the historical legacy binding them. In this light, in her government tenure, Meloni has assumed controversial positions, thus she was criticized especially by her traditional electorate. Her transition from opposition leader to head of government, coinciding with the Biden administration, has therefore marked a sort of transformation from more Trumpian instances to those more aligned with democratic values. Eventually, with Trump's reconfirmation at the White House, these contradictions may disappear without implications to the structural limits imposed by Italy's ties with the EU and by Italian interests in some regional chess boards. To date, in several sectors, the great question mark is over the future of Italy's positioning in Ukraine and in the Middle East. Besides, the fear of the return of economic duties and of constraints of the allies on the NATO budget is looming. Nevertheless, within the Italian political spectrum, different feelings about Trump are carved out. While the opposition has always been against the conservatives' actions and perceives Trump as “the worst that could happen” in terms of the defense of rights, the Italian center-right was quite divided, except Matteo Salvini, leader of the Lega, who has always openly supported Trump. "Tax cuts, the fight against illegal immigration, the return to peace as a priority ... President Trump will act in the interests of U.S. citizens, as it is right. If, in pursuing these interests, we could create a new international balance, with the closure of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Palestine, the entire world would gain from it," Salvini claims. On top of everything, the great unknown is related to the future of the EU and its relations with the U.S. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Trump with “an excellent phone call,” stating: “Looking forward to strengthening EU-U.S. ties and working jointly to address geopolitical challenges,” X reports. However, there is room to believe that dark prospects await the EU, which – now more than ever – must make an immediate leap in quality and broadening its vision. In an increasingly fractured European framework characterized by strong growth of right-wing movements, a progressive loss of French influence, and the German crisis, Giorgia Meloni is undoubtedly the leader who enjoys stable support and a certain international projection. All these elements eventually suggest the rise of Meloni as a privileged interlocutor of Trump's America, together with Orban, who recently hosted the European Political Union Summit in Budapest, where a new wind of change was felt. It is, therefore, not surprising if, in the medium term, within the EU, we would observe new alignments in favor of Italy, which is proving to be increasingly central in the management of some dossiers. On the other hand, Meloni is in the delicate position to find the right balance between the inner original spirit of Fratelli d'Italia, which was aligned with Trump's approach, and the national and European political constraints. In this case, by echoing Meloni, it would not be wrong to say that “with this American vote, Italy will be stronger in Europe.”
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HP Inc. Reports Fiscal 2024 Full Year and Fourth Quarter ResultsThe endured a frustrating 34-26 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in a game filled with historic moments at Northwest Stadium. Despite outgaining Dallas with 411 total yards and showcasing resilience late, struggles on special teams and key mistakes allowed the Cowboys to claim victory. Head coach Dan Quinn, former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, attempted to lead his new team as they looked to turn around their losing streak but ultimately fell short in the tightly contested battle. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Thanks for the feedback.
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