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After arriving in Italy from Ukraine, Liubov Bastriukova felt like she might have found a second home. A family let her stay with them, and she found work at a clothing store in Milan.
“Thanks to this job I have the prospect of becoming independent and one day being able to live with my two families, the Italian one and the Ukrainian one,” Bastriukova, of Kharkiv, told La Difesa del Populo, an Italian newspaper.
She is one of the more than 6.2 million people (as estimated by the U.N. Refugee Agency, or UNHCR) who have fled Ukraine since Russia began its war in February 2022.
Groups such as Milan-based AVSI Foundation, which helped Bastriukova find a job, are helping others like her adjust to life abroad. In August, AVSI completed its second summer camp for youth, helping children and adolescents among the more than 160,000 Ukrainian refugees estimated to have arrived in Italy.
È l’international #YouthDay!
AVSI and @UNICEF insieme nel programma “Empower the Next Generation” per sostenere l’#integrazione e l’#istruzione dei giovani ucraini e dei bambini e adolescenti vulnerabili attraverso attività scolastiche e campi estivi.https://t.co/mVYlSWslx1
— Fondazione AVSI (@FondazioneAVSI) August 12, 2023
[Editor’s note: The post above reads, “AVSI and @UNICEF together in the ‘Empower the Next Generation’ program to support the #integrazione and #istruzione of young Ukrainians and vulnerable children and adolescents through school activities and summer camps,” according to an X translation.]
Camp activities, such as trips to the seaside and Milan’s historic center, show Ukrainian children the history and culture of their new home. AVSI, which supports humanitarian and development projects in 40 countries, will continue to support Ukrainian youth in Italy with after-school activities.
In Rome, host to more than 13,000 Ukrainian refugees, the Intersos 24 Center offers Ukrainian women Italian language classes and guidance on how to access health care and enroll their children in school.
Like Bastriukova, many others have found themselves in unfamiliar countries and unexpected new homes … and succeeding.
Darya felt welcomed in Poland after she arrived from Zaporizhzhia in March 2022. UNHCR provided money for food and clothes. She later found a job and an apartment in Krakow and a school for her two young children. “You can find work, make friends and acquaintances that will help you in all they can,” Darya told UNHCR in March 2023. “And there are volunteers who will help you too.”
Maksym Bunchukov is one of 160 Ukrainian refugees to arrive in North Dakota, a U.S. state that has long been home to people of Ukrainian descent, according to Voice of America. Bunchukov is from Zaporizhzhia and arrived as part of a program that finds refugees jobs in or around oil fields in the state.
By the time Olha Zharko arrived in Canada in March 2023, she, her mother and young son had spent more than a year being uncertain of where they would end up. Once in Canada, she was able to find a job with her former employer in Ukraine, which also had offices in Calgary. The city is host to 20,000 of Canada’s 200,000 Ukrainian refugees, according to the Centre for Newcomers, an organization that supports refugees.
Zharko remains separated from her husband by war and unsure of what the future holds. “I don’t know now when my husband could come here or [if] we can come to Ukraine,” she told CBC News. “But of course, we want to be together.”
Like Zharko, Bastriukova longs for an end to the war. Until its end, “I would like to continue living in Italy, a country that is now my second home,” she says.
From local school boards to the halls of Congress, the ranks of elected officials of Hispanic heritage has surged throughout the United States.
In two decades (between 2001 and 2021), the number of elected Hispanics — who serve on local school boards or as town officials, as state legislators or as governors, or as members of the U.S. Congress — nearly doubled, from 4,060 to 7,087, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, a nonpartisan group that encourages Hispanics to take part in the U.S. political process.
“There’s a lot of room for growth,” says Dorian Caal, a director at the fund, because this group is becoming a larger share of the U.S. population and the voting-age population.
Nationally, the percentage of Hispanics among all eligible voters in the U.S. has been growing, according to the Pew Research Center, and is up from 7.4% of eligible voters in 2000 to 14.3% in 2022. And so is the share of Hispanics as a percentage of the U.S. population, which has grown to 19% today, according to the polling firm Ipsos.
The trend is happening in states like Florida and California, which have large Spanish-speaking populations, but also across the country, Caal says. He notes that Hispanics are also being appointed to prominent government or court positions too. He points to the 2009 appointment of Sonia Sotomayor as a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Recently, both the U.S. House and Senate set records for Hispanic/Latino representation. The House set a new record after the 2022 midterm elections, with 52 Hispanic members, Caal says. The Senate has a record six Hispanic members. (The Congressional Research Service lists 54 House members with Hispanic/Latino heritage.)
State legislative seats across the country also saw a jump after the 2022 elections — from 344 to 376.
The number of Hispanic governors, while slowly growing, has been most remarkable in the state of New Mexico, whose voters elected current Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, the first Democratic Hispanic woman to be elected governor in the history of the U.S. Lujan Grisham followed the first female Hispanic governor, Republican Susana Martinez. Before Martinez, New Mexico voters elected several male Hispanic governors, including Toney Anaya, the late Jerry Apodaca and the late Bill Richardson, who also served in Congress and in the Cabinet as energy secretary and as U.S. representative to the United Nations.
Kristoffer Shields, director of Rutgers University’s Eagleton Center on the American Governor, says the dominance of Hispanic candidates in New Mexico is partly because the success of Hispanic candidates breeds more success and partly because of a strong voting bloc of Hispanics in the state.
According to the Pew Research Center, New Mexico is the only state where Hispanics are the largest ethnic/racial group, at 42% of eligible voters.
“Representation always matters. You have to see it to believe,” Shields says. “We are a diverse nation. It’s important, especially at higher levels of government, to get people with diverse backgrounds who understand their communities so those communities have a say.”
When Nika arrived in Rome in 2022, Italy offered her a chance to get back to daily life and feel happy. But months after fleeing her hometown of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian teenager began to see some unsettling scenes of big city life as a reflection of her own uprooted existence.
She noticed people without homes on the streets, for instance. “Who knows, maybe they too had a good life and, because of the war or other reasons, they had to start from scratch,” she told UNICEF. “My biggest wish is to go back to my old life, maybe that’s why I feel close to those people who have gone through a similar change and are hoping to get back to some kind of normalcy … to be well again.”
Nika is one of the more than 6.2 million people who have fled Ukraine since Russia’s brutal war began in February 2022. An estimated 167,500 Ukrainian refugees arrived in Italy as of mid-August 2023, according to Statista, a German data-gathering firm. Many of the arrivals are women and children. UNICEF puts the number of children who have crossed Italy’s northern border since the war began at 50,000.
Refugees in Italy, across Europe and beyond are looking for jobs, learning new languages and finding schools for their children. But even those like Nika, who have found moments of respite or opportunity abroad, say they miss their family, friends and homeland.
“My heart and my soul” are in Ukraine, Ivan Sakivskyi, a refugee from Odesa told Voice of America. Sakivskyi found work in the oil industry of North Dakota, a U.S. state that has long been home to many Ukrainians. Yet Sakivskyi doesn’t plan to stay long-term. “It’s my friends,” he said of why he hopes to return. “It’s my family.”
After arriving in New York, Krystyna Matafolova went looking for a job. Even this effort did not take her mind off of her mother’s safety. Matafolova left Ukraine after bombs fell on Mariupol. “It was very hard to leave because my mom is still there,” she told CBS News at a job fair in New York.
Marina Yankula’s search for work in Canada reminds her of the work she misses back home. She arrived in Calgary in April and by mid-July still had not found a job. Yet Yankula has seen other Ukrainians in Calgary succeed and is determined to make her way.
“I had a very good life in Ukraine, to be honest, and I have never thought about coming to another country,” Yankula told CBC News. “I will make here our wonderful life, and I will be [a] real Canadian and with Ukrainian soul.”
Nika, in Rome, dreams of returning to the country she fled when she was awakened by the sound of bombs falling on Kharkiv. What keeps her going, she told UNICEF, “is the hope of finding that same clear sky again when I am able to return home.”
U.S. universities are innovation powerhouses, and one measure of their research prowess is the number of patents granted to them as recorded in the National Academy of Inventors’ list of Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents in 2022 (PDF 1.7MB). (A utility patent covers the creation of new or improved — and useful — products, processes or machines.)
The list, based on data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, shows that U.S. universities scored a collective 5,772 utility patents last year and occupied 14 of the top 20 spots.
Representatives from five top U.S. universities talked to ShareAmerica to describe some of their recent discoveries:
At Purdue University in Indiana, civil engineers led by professor Luna Lu invented “talking concrete” to help traffic flow and cut carbon emissions. An embedded sensor allows concrete to “communicate” with engineers about its strength. The “smart” concrete gives engineers real-time data to help them gauge when it needs to be repaired, thereby preventing potholes and reducing traffic congestion caused by construction work, while also saving money on road repairs. These sensors have already been embedded in highways in eight U.S. states, and this technology could replace methods the construction industry has been using for more than 100 years to test when concrete structures are ready to accommodate traffic loads.
At Arizona State University (ASU), researchers have developed a foldable quadrotor, “a type of drone that features four rotors akin to those found on a helicopter,” says Kyle Siegel of Skysong Innovations, ASU’s technology transfer and intellectual property management organization. “Unlike a fixed-wing drone, quadrotors have the ability to hover in place,” which is helpful for performing aerial photography or surveillance. Quadrotors can also typically execute more precise aerial maneuvers than fixed-wing drones. And when necessary, they can reduce their own size to reach tight spaces.
In an important step toward greater integrity in sports, researchers at Duke University in North Carolina devised a method to detect autologous blood transfusion, or blood doping. Despite being prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, blood doping — the transfusion of one’s own red blood cells after storing them — has been used by some athletes to improve performance. Until Duke’s solution, it was not possible to detect such cheating. Now, by extracting RNA samples from volunteers’ blood cells at eight different time intervals, researchers can detect changes in the RNA associated with blood storage.
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed systems to enhance the surface retention of fluids on plants. The systems are a response to a global problem: While pesticides increase crop productivity by eliminating insects, microbes and other elements, most pesticides end up polluting soil, air and water. Because MIT’s approach allows retention of fluids on hydrophobic (water-repellent) plant surfaces, it can help increase the amount of pesticides and water absorbed by a plant and decrease pesticide contamination elsewhere.
The University of Texas system has supported development of the ClearCam company’s ClearScope device, a disposable windshield wiper for laparoscopic surgery. ClearScope eliminates the need for surgeons to continually remove and clean a scope during surgery. The doctor can maintain a clear visual field and operate on a patient without interruption. For the patient, it means less time in the operating room and greater safety. It has already been used in nearly 2,000 procedures across the U.S., gaining traction in thoracic, general and gynecological surgeries.
“The mission of a university is research, teaching and service,” says Julie Goonewardene, the University of Texas System’s chief talent and innovation officer. “We’re an enormous source of ideas for new companies. … These innovations save people’s lives, and we’re passionate about doing this work.”
Learn about how to study in the U.S.
Vaccines are shipped great distances to save lives. But getting vital doses to people around the world is a delicate process.
Vaccines “need to stay within strict temperature conditions,” says Ben Hubbard, chief executive officer of Parsyl Incorporated. Otherwise, vaccine doses may spoil, fail to prevent disease and thereby erode public confidence in the vaccine.
Parsyl tracks vaccine transport in African nations “from production through to the last mile” using a network of more than 80,000 temperature sensors, Hubbard says. The effort began with a partnership with Senegal’s Ministry of Health and Social Action, and the company now works in a half dozen African nations including Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Parsyl’s real-time temperature monitoring identifies weaknesses in cold-chain vaccine delivery systems. And monitoring data informs targeted investments that strengthen vaccine supply chains.
One delivery driver says Parsyl technology lets him know when to protect his cargo. “If we see that the temperature is too high or too low, we stop and either try to replace them or fix a problem with the fridge,” he said.
Based in Denver, Parsyl is one of two U.S. companies that October 30 received the State Department’s 2023 Award for Corporate Excellence in the sustainable supply chains category. The award recognizes U.S. companies that uphold high standards in the communities where they operate and demonstrate that sustainability can support the economy.
While Parsyl improves Africa’s access to vital medical supplies, Ampersand USA Incorporated’s production of electric motorbike parts and batteries is making transportation in Rwanda and Kenya cleaner and more affordable. The company operates out of Kigali and provides electricity and vehicles to power thousands of electric motorcycle taxis across east Africa.
More than half of vehicles on Rwanda’s roads are motorbike taxis. While conventional motor taxis bring high emissions and fuel costs, Ampersand chief executive officer Josh Whale told ShareAmerica that electric versions save drivers 35% on their annual fuel and oil change costs. “This translates into doubling the income for many people,” he said.
Thacien Rukundo, Ampersand’s first customer in Rwanda, says increasing electric motor taxis in Africa reduces pollution and creates opportunities for workers. “My family is thriving,” he said. “I attribute the success to being part of the Ampersand community.”
This story was written by freelance writer Grace Hayward.
In Boston, 175 years ago, a medical college opened its doors to women, and 12 enrolled. Today, roughly 52,000 women are studying to be doctors at U.S. med schools. In fact, women’s enrollment outpaces men’s.
Since November 1, 1848, when the Boston Female Medical College opened — the first in the world for women — Boston has become a hub for medical innovations that attracts thousands of students, male and female.
There are 350,000 practicing women doctors in the U.S., and while their achievements bring economic empowerment, they also help patient outcomes. “We’ve proven that outcomes are better when it’s a diverse group,” says Dr. Jennifer Tseng, the surgeon-in-chief at Boston Medical Center, the teaching hospital at Boston University’s medical school. “Especially in high-stakes operations, you want to make sure that there’s a diversity of thought in it to come to the best decision.” Women surgeons, she says, “can really make a difference.”
Boston University, having merged with the Boston Female Medical College in the 1870s, takes pride in its institution’s connection to such a vanguard for academic opportunity for all students. In 1864, the first Black female physician, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, graduated from the school and began to practice in Boston, focusing on African-American communities that had been overlooked by the medical establishment. And in the 1870s, the merged schools admitted one of the first Native American medical students in the country, Ohiyesa, from the Santee Dakota tribe.
Kaye-Alese Green, a third-year medical student at Boston University, says part of why she chose to attend Boston University was its inclusive history. She likes the fact that the school seeks to produce doctors who strive to deliver quality health care to all kinds of patients.
The highest-paying specialties in the United States — such as neurosurgery, thoracic surgery and orthopedic surgery — are still primarily male-dominated, while women are more likely to choose lower-paying specialties, such as dermatology, pediatrics or obstetrics.
But even here, there are shifts occurring: In the most recent 10 years for which data is available, women’s share of neurosurgeon positions and thoracic surgeon positions nearly doubled, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Dr. Tseng is witnessing big contributions by women in the field, noting that 60% of residents in surgery at Boston University are women.
While Green, now a third-year medical student, is not yet at the hospital-residency stage of her training, she is already thinking about what specialty she will choose when she gets to that point. “I love surgery,” she says.
“Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism,” says Uzra Zeya, under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy and human rights.
President Biden announced that the U.S. government will provide $100 million in new humanitarian assistance for Palestinians. And the U.S. Department of State will continue working with partners in Egypt, Israel and the United Nations to ensure that humanitarian assistance is delivered and civilian lives are protected in Gaza.
Below is a message from Under Secretary Zeya, who spoke October 20 about the urgent need for humanitarian assistance.
Our message to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and all around the world is clear: we see you, we grieve with you, and we mourn every loss of innocent life. Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism. pic.twitter.com/oIcI2PpPRd
— Department of State (@StateDept) October 20, 2023
President Biden, speaking at the White House October 7:
“Today, the people of Israel are under attack, orchestrated by a terrorist organization, Hamas. In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to them and to the world and to terrorists everywhere that the United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back.”
“The United States stands with Israel.”
— President Biden
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Saudi Arabia October 14:
“As Israel pursues its legitimate right to defending its people and to trying to ensure that this never happens again, it is vitally important that all of us look out for civilians. And we’re working together to do exactly that, in particular working on establishing safe areas in Gaza, working on establishing corridors so that humanitarian assistance can reach people who need it. None of us want to see suffering by civilians on any side, whether it’s in Israel, whether it’s in Gaza, whether it’s anywhere else. And we’re working together to do our best to protect them.”
Biden, speaking from the Oval Office October 20:
“We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24:
“We all recognize the right, and indeed the imperative, of states to defend themselves against terrorism.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24:
“Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas.
Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
— President Biden
Biden, speaking at the White House October 18:
“The vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24:
“We all agree on the vital need to protect civilians.”
Biden, in a statement issued October 21:
“The first convoy of humanitarian assistance since Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel crossed the border into Gaza and reached Palestinians in need. I made it clear from the outset of this crisis … that humanitarian assistance was a critical and urgent need that had to get moving.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24:
“Even as we address this immediate crisis, we all agree that we must redouble our collective efforts to build an enduring political solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The only road to lasting peace and security in the region, the only way to break out of this horrific cycle of violence, is through two states for two peoples.”
“We must keep pursuing a path so that Israel and the Palestinian people can both live safely, in security, in dignity, and in peace.”
— President Biden
Biden, speaking from the White House October 18:
“We must keep pursuing a path so that Israel and the Palestinian people can both live safely, in security, in dignity, and in peace.”
Blinken, speaking at the U.N. Security Council Ministerial Meeting October 24:
“A broader conflict would be devastating, not only for Palestinians and Israelis, but for people across the region and, indeed, around the world.”
As President Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcome Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Commonwealth of Australia, the White House staff is preparing for a special evening October 25, when the Bidens will hold a state dinner to honor their guest.
For more than a century, American presidents have put diplomacy on the menu at these formal dinners. At this one, Katie Button, a chef and restaurateur based in Asheville, North Carolina, will oversee the meal. The entertainment will be provided by the Marine band and the Army and Air Force Strolling Strings.
Are you ready to experience a state dinner? The State Department’s latest digital story puts you front and center in the White House dining room.
A version of this story was previously published on June 21.
Individuals with B1/B2 visas that have expired within the last 24 months may apply to renew their visas beginning this week, starting Sunday, October 4th.
DHAKA, October 5, 2020 – The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce beginning this week, on Sunday, October 4, we will accept interview-waiver applications for B1/B2 (tourism, business, and medical) visas along with the following nonimmigrant visa categories: C, C1/D, F, I, J, M, O, and Q. Please keep in mind that due to COVID-19, processing times could be as long as six weeks. It is recommended you submit your application well ahead of your proposed travel dates.
We can NOT YET accept new visa applications for any nonimmigrant visa categories, including F1 (students) and F2 (spouses/children of students). We continue to offer emergency visa services for applicants with life or death emergencies. Visit our website for more information: https://www.ustraveldocs.com/bd/bd-niv-expeditedappointment.asp
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eligibility for interview-waiver renewal of nonimmigrant visas was extended to 24 months. This change will be in effect through December 31, 2020. To see if you qualify to submit an interview-waiver renewal for a non-immigrant visa category, please visit https://bd.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/
Qualified applicants need to log in and/or update their profile online at www.ustraveldocs.com/bd, and submit the application packet, after paying associated visa fees, at the designated offsite service provider:
https://bd.usembassy.gov/important-notice-regarding-changes-visa-collection-center/.
After the Embassy receives an application, the reviewing Consular Officer may determine that the applicant will require an in-person interview. These applicants will have to schedule an interview when regular in-person, visa services resume.
Until Embassy Dhaka’s regular visa services resume, the application fee (MRV) will remain valid and may be used to schedule an interview appointment there until December 31, 2021.
Reminder to student visa applicants: We are only accepting interview-waiver applications for continuing students who want to renew their student visas for the same field of study at the same institution. We are also accepting applications for continuing F2 spouses and their children under the age of 21.
For the latest updates on visa processing, visit our Bengali (https://bd.usembassy.gov/bn/) and English (https://bd.usembassy.gov/) language websites and our Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/bangladesh.usembassy) and Twitter https://twitter.com/usembassydhaka) pages.
By U.S. Embassy Dhaka | 5 October, 2020 | Topics: Commercial Affairs, News, U.S. & Bangladesh, Visas
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