Kathmandu, Nepal (AHN) – Nepali Diasporas living in New York face a language barrier, creating a major challenge that causes immigrants to miss out on jobs and other opportunities in the United States.

Most of the Nepalis who reached the U.S. in search of green pastures are at the receiving end of downward socio-economic mobility, forcing them to lower their living standards in order to survive and support family members back home, a study has revealed.

“While in Nepal, people have dreams of doing well in the U.S. However, there is a huge difference between what you think of America and when you actually come here,” says New York-based non-profit organisation Adhikaar. “People have to work really hard to survive here.”

“Even if you are educated, you won’t be able to find a job of your choice if you don’t have the [right] documents,” a Nepali worker told the group. “You can earn money here, but not respect.”

Much of the problems faced by the Nepali-speaking community in New York City are typical of those faced by emerging communities. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 is not enough to survive and support a family in New York City, the report adds. Making matters worse, migrant workers in the informal sector are often exploited by the employers and are paid below the legal minimum wage.

The report titled “Snapshots of the Nepali-speaking Community in New York City: Demographics and Challenges” reveals that language barrier has become a major challenge for most of the Nepali-speaking people in finding jobs and other services. For example, many Nepalis in the U.S. do not have health insurance, and almost three-fourths of them face challenges in obtaining healthcare.

Many Nepali migrants are unable to transfer their work experience, skills and education from Nepal. Over half of the Nepalis in New York were involved in business or a professional sector in Nepal. While most Nepali immigrants are able to find jobs in New York, they are often low-wage jobs consuming long hours and providing few benefits. While immigration status is a reason for Nepali immigrants doing low-wage jobs, it is not the only one, the report adds. “Nearly half of the respondents to survey have the legal right to work in the U.S., yet most of them faced challenges.”

The most common types of job for men are works in restaurant, gas station, taxi or limousine and moving industry, while women often work as domestic workers and at nail salons or beauty parlours. Report has it that those who intend to earn degrees find themselves unable to attain their goal due to the number of hours they must work to pay for their education and living expenses.

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Los Angeles, California, United States (AHN) – A 24-year old actor who tested HIV-positive after appearing in straight and gay porno films goes public for the first time as an advocate of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, calling for the mandatory use of condoms in the adult film industry, improved testing for sexually transmitted diseases and follow-up treatment for performers.

Derrick Burts, known through his screen names “Cameron Reid” and “Derek Chambers” was tested HIV positive last October by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIMS), a Sherman Oaks, California clinic funded by the adult film industry.

The news caused the closure of the multi-billion porn industry for several weeks on fears of a possible outbreak.

The porn actor who was determined by AIMS to have sexually transmitted the disease to Burts still remains unidentified and is still active in the industry.

Burts recalled that he was made to wait six weeks by the AIMS clinic and was never given follow-up treatment impelling him to anonymously seek help from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest non-profit and government funded, AIDS organization in the world, who has since given him proper medical treatment.

Burts disclosed that prior to being tested positive with HIV, he had contracted chlamydia, gonorrhea and herpes lamenting that being an adult performer was very dangerous work, warning that making $10,000 to $15,000 wasn’t worth one’s life.

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Chicago, IL, United States (AHN) – The economic grip which had been strangling most offices during the holiday season appears to be loosening its stronghold on holiday cheer in the office. According to a recent survey employers indicate they intend to offer more holiday perks (bonuses, parties, gifts) than last year.

According to a CareerBuilder survey 33 percent of employers plan to give their employees holiday bonuses this year, up from 29 percent in 2009. Among that group, 59 percent are planning to give the same amount as in previous years.

However, nine percent of employers say they will not be giving their workforce holiday bonuses even though they have in previous years, down from 12 percent last year.

In regards to the highly desired office parties 52 percent of employers are planning on throwing some type of holiday bash for their employees this year. Up a few points from 2009′s 49 percent.

Nearly three-in-ten (29 percent) employers plan to give holiday gifts, up from 26 percent in 2009.

“Many employers are financially in a better place this season and recognize the positive impact holiday perks can have on office morale,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “Companies are not only giving back to employees this holiday season, 45 percent say their charitable donations will be the same or more than previous years.”

Holiday perks in the office aren’t just from corporate; a quarter of workers say they plan to buy holiday gifts for co-workers this year, compared to 22 percent who plan to buy their boss a gift.

86 percent of workers buying gifts say they plan to spend $25 or less on average for each holiday gift they buy for the office.

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NY, NY, United States (NewsBahn) – Tuberculosis (TB) continues to affect society’s most vulnerable – those who live in abject poverty, are marginalized or economically and socially isolated.

The poor and vulnerable people are much more likely to suffer from TB due to socioeconomic factors. The poor face significant costs and delays in accessing TB services and treatment outcomes are more likely to be adverse, said Rachael Thomson from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) who was nominated by the TB and poverty sub-working group of Stop TB Partnership to speak at the Biennial Conference of Irish Forum for Global Health (IFGH) held in Maynooth, Ireland (29-30 November 2010). The IFGH meet was organized by IFGH with support from Combat Diseases of Poverty Consortium (CDPC), Irish Aid and National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM).

“In urban Malawi poorer patients face costs six times their monthly income to access a diagnosis from ‘free’ facilities, and in rural Malawi this cost rises to ten times” said Rachael.

New TB case detection in many countries is low because the poor people are least likely to access TB care services. The process of accessing care is impoverishing making the people accessing care even poorer, said Rachael.

The lack of adequate diagnosis, treatment and cure means the burden of TB in poorer communities continues to increase.

Not surprisingly, the poor people have higher risk of infection, higher prevalence of disease and worse outcome of disease too. Moreover the poor people have greater health care needs, said Rachael.

Social and economic determinants at individual, household and community levels affect a person’s vulnerability to TB.

Special situations such as massive population movements – the displacement of people and refugee flows – and living or working in vulnerable conditions also increase the risk of a person contracting TB. In developed countries, ethnic minorities and other marginalized communities are at a greater risk of contracting the disease.

There is a need to combat TB by addressing the barriers faced due to poverty such as infrastructural, housing, employment, educational and nutritional deficiencies.

Rachael explained that poverty is more than economic poverty (living on less than USD 1.25 per day) and encompasses lack of opportunities, voice and representation, and is a major determinant of vulnerability to disease – especially TB.

One of the major steps forward in addressing poverty and TB will be to put health on the poverty agenda and poverty on the health agenda, said Rachael.

Rachael gave an overview of the TB and poverty sub-group of the Stop TB Partnership. TB and poverty is the sub-group of the DOTS Expansion Working Group (DEWG) of the Stop TB Partnership and is a network of individuals and organisations interested in the needs of poor and vulnerable populations with respect to TB. Since September 2010, the secretariat of the TB and Poverty sub-working group of the Stop TB Partnership is housed in the south-east Asia regional office of The Union in New Delhi, India.

A two-days consultative workshop of the TB and poverty sub-working group was also held in Gurgaon, India on 29-30 October 2010 which brought together the national TB programme managers from India, Nepal and Thailand, state TB officers from eight poorest states of India, and partners from various other organizations like WHO, the World Bank, World Vision, GFATM Round 9 members, media (CNS, Asia Tribune), National Partnership for TB care and control in India among others, said Rachael.

Bobby Ramakant – CNS

(The author is the Director of CNS Stop-TB Initiative and a World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General’s WNTD Awardee (2008).

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Cheshunt, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – British supermarket chain Tesco on Tuesday reported solid third quarter performance, buoyed by double-digit growth in international markets and consumer recovery in the United Kingdom.

Total revenues for the world’s third-largest retailer in the period ended Nov. 27 rose 8.8 percent compared to a year ago, with value-added tax included but fuel costs excluded.

International sales increased by 15.7 percent, with revenues in Asia spiking 23.4 percent. Revenue from stores open at least a year in the region was down slightly from 5 percent in the second quarter but stayed strong at 4.3 percent.

Sales in the United States were up 38.5 percent, boosted by strong performance during the Thanksgiving holiday period. Same-store sales remained solid at 9.8 percent.

In Europe, same-stores sales in all businesses were positive for the first time in three years. Revenues rose 7.6 percent.

Revenue from the domestic market in the United Kingdom grew 5 percent. Same-store sales increased 1.5 percent while Tesco Direct, the company’s online shopping business, contributed 30 percent growth.

The Cheshunt-based company said there are signs that consumer recovery is continuing. Revenue from its higher-end Finest products has gradually improved and is now at double-digit growth on a two-year basis.

“Our continued investment in the shopping trip and our new space opening programme across our markets are giving us good sales momentum and market share gains,” chief executive Terry Leahy said in a statement.

“As the global economic recovery gathers pace,” Leahy added, “Our broad-based strategy, combined with our ongoing focus on productivity savings, is enabling us to maintain growth in a sustainable, profitable way.”

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Senate Republicans signaled willingness on Sunday to a compromise with Democrats about extending unemployment insurance and Bush administration tax cuts. The GOP blocked Democratic attempts the previous day to keep tax breaks for the middle class, arguing that tax cuts for higher-income earners should also continue.

“We’re working on that package,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’ve had more conversations in the last two weeks than in the last two years, and I think we’re going to get there.”

Republicans during a special Saturday session in the Senate voted against floor debate on a bill extending tax cuts for workers receiving less than $200,000 annually, or $250,000 for families.

They similarly voted against discussing a compromise bill from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the fourth highest-ranking lawmaker in the chamber, that raised the income threshold from $250,000 to $1 million.

The first measure failed by a vote of 53-36, and the second bill by 53-37. In each vote, Democrats needed 60 votes to begin floor debate, but saw five different members vote with the GOP.

Tax cuts for both middle class and wealthy were implemented under the Bush administration in 2001 and 2003, and are due to expire on Jan. 1. Democrats want to extend tax breaks only for the middle class. Republicans want to extend them permanently for all, arguing that raising taxes on “job generators” during a recession would hurt the economy.

Extending tax cuts for all would cost $3.7 trillion, while continuing those for families earning less than $250,000 would cost $3 trillion.

“It is the height of irresponsibility that in a time of economic hardship Republicans would block tax cuts for middle class families and small businesses,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said after the votes on Saturday. “Even worse is that they would do so in order to secure huge tax breaks for millionaires…Those giveaways would not only add $700 billion to our deficit, but we’ve also seen that they do not create jobs.”

But McConnell dismissed criticisms about the effect of Bush tax cuts on unemployment, which increased slightly to 9.8 percent in November.

“Imagine how much worse it would been if we’d had the higher tax rate. Look, this argument’s over… You and I can continue to engage in it, but it’s over. The Senate voted yesterday,” the Republican leader told moderator David Gregory.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) likewise said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,”Those tax rates helped our economy and job production. They did not create the problem that we have today. That was a problem created, as you know, by the crash of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the housing market, the so-called bubble.”

The compromise being negotiated by the Democrats and the GOP is believed to include a temporary extension of tax cuts on higher-income earners, in exchange for support in passing a bill on jobless benefits.

“I think we will extend unemployment compensation,” McConnell said. “We’ve had some very vigorous debates… not about whether to do it, but whether to pay for it as opposed to adding it to the deficit. All those discussions are still under way.”

Unemployment insurance expired on Nov. 30 after a bill extending it failed in the House before the Thanksgiving recess.

The measure seeks to extend benefits for 2 million unemployed workers this year and for another 2 million next spring. Republicans opposed it because they believe it would increase the deficit by $12 billion, and add to the $13.795 trillion national debt.

Democrats, however, have cited economists who say the spending generated by insurance dollars boost the economy.

“Unemployment insurance… returns $2 for every $1 that is put out,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Thursday just before she led her chamber in voting 234-188 to pass a bill extending middle class tax cuts. “Giving $700 billion to the wealthiest people in America does add $700 billion to the deficit. And the record and history show it does not create jobs.”

The Senate is working on approving extensions of the tax cuts and jobless benefits during a lame-duck session loaded with a backlog of legislation, and only weeks away from a new Congress that will have a Republican majority taking over the House.

A repeal of the law against gays serving openly in the military, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” is part of the agenda, as well as the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Moscow.

The treaty, which limits deployed warheads to 1,550 and launchers to 800, was signed by President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart early this year but requires ratification by Congress.

Top Republicans do not support the current treaty due to concerns about missile defense and the need to modernize the U.S. nuclear force. The president last week had former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican and retired four-star general, joining him to urge lawmakers to ratify the agreement.

Kyl indicated on Sunday that passage of the treaty was unlikely. “No. The answer is there is not time to do it in the lame duck when you consider all of the other things that the Democratic leader wants to do,” he said.

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Dallas, TX, United States (AHN) – A Dallas area man claims his Droid 2 phone exploded in his ear. The resulting injuries caused him to be rushed to the hospital and receive four stitches.

30-year-old Aron Embry said he was using his phone making a call when the Motorola device allegedly exploded. He claims he heard a loud pop and then a tingling sensation and something running down his face. It turned out the substance was blood.

Embry had just purchased the phone two days prior to the Thursday incident.

“Once I got to the mirror and saw it, it was only then I kind of looked at my phone and realized that the screen had appeared to burst outward.”

Embry is planning to consult with an attorney, as he has no health insurance. Interestingly he confirms that despite the problems, the exploding phone still works.

Motorola, which manufactures the Droid smartphone said it will investigate and its priority is customer safety.

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Wilkesboro, NC, United States (AHN) – Home improvement retailer Lowe’s has recalled approximately 11 million blinds and Roman shades after concerns that children would strangle on the cords.

The recall includes all styles and models of Roman shades and roll-up blinds sold by the home improvement store – about 6 million shades and 5 million roll-up blinds, reports stated.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported two children became entangled in the cords while looking out of windows.

The recalled products were sold at Lowe’s stores and other retail stores since at least 1999 through June of this year, according to reports.

Consumers are advised to stop using the products and contact the Window Covering Safety Council for repair kits.

Lowe’s Home Centers Inc. is based in Wilkesboro, NC..

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The House has approved the settlement of discrimination cases against the government from black and Native American farmers, bringing closure to two decades-old class action lawsuits.

Representatives voted 256-152 late Tuesday to pass the measure. Republicans remained opposed to the bill, and they made up all except three nay votes on the measure.

The legislation provides $1.15 billion in compensation for plaintiffs in the Pigford II case, and $3.4 billion for Indian farmers in the Cobell lawsuit. The Obama administration settled each case early this year, but Congress failed to appropriate the funds.

The Agriculture Department reached a $1.25 billion settlement with African-American farmers who sued the agency more than a decade ago for discrimination. The settlement is the second one reached with the farmers, led by Timothy Pigford, who filed a class-action suit in 1997 alleging racial discrimination in farm loan programs.

The government paid out $1 billion in 1999 to thousands of farmers, but thousands more were left out because their claims were not received before the deadline.

Lawmakers appropriated $100 million for the Pigford case in 2008 through a farm bill, leaving $1.15 billion that still required approval.

Republicans led by Reps. Michelle Bachman (R-MN) and Steve King (R-IA) sought to withhold funding, citing fraud in the claims process.

King on Tuesday warned, “By ignoring Pigford fraud, Congress has allowed the program to change from one designed to address black farmers’ discrimination claims to one that now serves as a modern day slavery reparations program.”

But Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack said, ” The bill… includes strong protections against waste, fraud, and abuse to ensure integrity of the claims process. In the months and years ahead, we will not stop working to move the Department into a new era as a model employer.”

The House had passed a war supplemental during summer that included a measure appropriating the Pigford II funds, but the Senate failed to pass the measure half a dozen times.

Senators included in the legislation $3.4 billion to settle another class action lawsuit, one filed by Elouise Cobell in 1996 on behalf of American Indians because of the Interior Department’s failure to account for individual Indian trust funds.

Senate Republicans had sought to reduce attorney’s fees in the Cobell case from $100 million, or less than 3 percent of the settlement, to $50 million. They also proposed other changes in the agreement despite a warning from the Justice Department that the court case had been settled through 14 years of negotiations.

The Senate approved the two settlements before going on Thanksgiving recess. The legislation then moved back to the House, which voted a final time on amendments made by the Senate. The bill now goes to the White House for the signature of the president.

The funds appropriated under the measure do not include the $760 million settlement for another discrimination case involving the USDA and American Indians led by George Keepseagle.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Two million Americans are set to lose their insurance after jobless claims expire on Tuesday. Lawmakers returned from their Thanksgiving break on Monday without voting on extending them.

About 800,000 workers who have been searching for jobs for at least six months will spend the holidays without unemployment insurance, and 2 million by New Year’s Eve. Another 2 million will see their benefits expire by the end of February.

A bill extending unemployment insurance during the holidays failed in the House on Nov. 18 before Congress went on its Thanksgiving recess. Republicans blocked the measure, saying it would add to the deficit.

Lawmakers voted 258-154, short of the two-thirds required to pass the bill. All except 11 votes opposing the measure were from the GOP.

The bill introduced by Reps. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Sander Levin (D-MI) temporarily extends benefits for three months until February 2011.

Republicans oppose the measure because it would increase the deficit by $12 billion, and add to the $13.795 trillion national debt.

The GOP also argues that some economists believe “prolonged unemployment benefits can theoretically increase unemployment duration by delaying individuals’ intensity to search for work.”

Unemployment nationwide remained 9.6 percent in October. In the long-term, 41 percent of jobless workers have been unemployed for at least six months.

“We are experiencing what can only be described as a jobs crisis, a sustained period of chronic unemployment; and two years of policies that have vastly increased the size and scope of government and added trillions to the debt and have done little to alleviate this problem,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said in last week’s weekly Republican address.

Democrats, however, cite a study by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office saying unemployment benefits increase consumer demand and spending by returning $2 into the economy for every $1 invested.

The AFL-CIO has also stated that, “With five job hunters for every one opening, long-term jobless workers have nowhere else to turn.”

The last extension in July was passed after three attempts that were blocked by Republicans, which means the expiring benefits may still be extended through Democratic efforts in Congress’ lame-duck session during the remainder of the year.

But no vote has been scheduled for the extension, with many bills in the backlog, including an extension of tax cuts for the middle class that Republicans also want for high-income earners. Lawmakers also need to work on a dozen annual appropriations bills for the 2011 fiscal year. They passed a stopgap measure on their last day of session in September before the mid-term elections, temporarily funding government operations.

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