More than 8.3 million people pulled out of poverty in Mexico between 2022 and 2024
It marks a nearly 18% drop in people living in poverty in a country that has long struggled with high levels of economic precarity and unemployment. The number of people living in extreme poverty dropped 23% while those in moderate poverty dropped more than 16%, according to the report by Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). Today, one in three Mexicans still live in poverty.
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Winnipeg Free Press
a few seconds ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Gas valve failure during routine maintenance work may have led to fatal explosion, US Steel says
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Preparations for a routine maintenance task may have led to an explosion at a U.S. Steel coal-processing plant near Pittsburgh that left two dead and sent 10 to hospitals, the company said Friday. U.S. Steel said it developed the information, along with other investigators, from reviewing video footage and interviewing employees. That has suggested to them that the explosion happened when workers were flushing a gas valve in preparation for a routine planned maintenance task, the company said. The explosion, which heavily damaged part of the sprawling facility, started around a set of ovens where coal is baked to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit (648.89 Celsius) into a more efficient carbon fuel called coke, a key component in steelmaking. A byproduct of processing the coal is a combustible gas called coke oven gas, made up of a lethal mix of methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. 'Pressure built inside the valve, leading to valve failure and coke oven gas filling the area and ultimately exploding when finding an ignition source,' U.S. Steel said. U.S. Steel didn't say why pressure built inside the valve or what was the ignition source. It said the investigation is in the early stages and that it will provide more information when it can. The United Steelworkers union, which represents workers killed and injured in the explosion, had no immediate comment. The massive plant along the Monongahela River in Clairton is considered the largest coking operation in North America and, along with a blast furnace and finishing mill up the river, is one of a handful of integrated steelmaking operations left in the U.S. The blast was so powerful that it sent a plume of black smoke into the sky, shook the ground and was heard by some people a mile or more away. It took hours to find two missing workers, one dead and one alive, beneath charred wreckage and rubble. The Clairton plant is nearly 110 years old. Japan-based Nippon Steel finalized its acquisition of U.S. Steel in June, winning President Donald Trump's approval after he reversed then-President Joe Biden's decision to block it. To change Trump's mind, Nippon Steel boosted its commitment to invest money into U.S. Steel's aging plants and gave the federal government a say over some matters involving domestic steel production. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at
Winnipeg Free Press
a few seconds ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Some workers would be excluded from student loan forgiveness program for ‘illegal' activity
WASHINGTON (AP) — Teachers, social workers, nurses and other public workers would be cut off from a popular student loan cancellation program if the Trump administration finds their employer engaged in activities with a 'substantial illegal purpose,' under a new federal proposal released on Friday. The Education Department took aim at nonprofits or government bodies that work with immigrants and transgender youth, releasing plans to overhaul the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Opponents fear the new policy would turn the loan forgiveness benefit into a tool of political retribution. The proposal would give the education secretary the final say in deciding whether a group or government entity should be excluded from the program, which was created by Congress in 2007 to encourage more college graduates to enter lower-paying public service fields. The proposal says illegal activity includes the trafficking or 'chemical castration' of children, illegal immigration and supporting foreign terrorist organizations. 'Chemical castration' is defined as using hormone therapy or drugs that delay puberty — gender-affirming care common for transgender children or teens. President Donald Trump ordered the changes in March, saying the loan forgiveness program was steering taxpayer money to 'activist organizations' that pose a threat to national security and do not serve the public. The public will be given 30 days to weigh in on the proposal before it can be finalized. Any changes would take effect in July 2026. Under current rules, government employees and many nonprofit workers can get their federal student loans canceled after they've made 10 years of payments. The program is open to government workers, including teachers, firefighters and employees of public hospitals, along with nonprofits that focus on certain areas. The new proposal would exclude employees of any organization tied to an activity deemed illegal. The Education Department predicts that fewer than 10 organizations would be deemed ineligible per year. It doesn't expect a 'significant reduction' in the percentage of borrowers who would be granted forgiveness under the program, according to the proposal. Yet the agency acknowledges that not all industries would be affected evenly. Schools, universities, health care providers, social workers and legal services organizations are among those most likely to have their eligibility jeopardized, the department wrote. It did not give more specifics about what 'illegal' actions those groups were taking that could bar them from the program. But the proposal suggests that performing gender-affirming care in the 27 states that outlaw it would be enough. If a state or federal court rules against an employer, that could lead to its expulsion from the program, or if the employer is involved in a legal settlement that includes an admission of wrongdoing. Even without a legal finding, however, the education secretary could determine independently that an organization should be ejected. The secretary could judge whether an organization participated in illegal activity by using a legal standard known as the 'preponderance of the evidence' — meaning it's more likely than not that an accusation is true. Once an organization is barred from the program, its workers' future loan payments would no longer count toward cancellation. They would have to find work at another eligible employer to keep making progress toward forgiveness. A ban from the Education Department would last 10 years or until the employer completed a 'corrective action plan' approved by the secretary. Critics blasted the proposal as an illegal attempt to weaponize student loan cancellation. Kristin McGuire, CEO of the nonprofit Young Invincibles, which advocates for loan forgiveness, called it a political stunt designed to confuse borrowers. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. 'By using a distorted and overly broad definition of 'illegal activities,' the Trump administration is exploiting the student loan system to attack political opponents,' McGuire said in a statement. The Education Department sketched out its plans for the overhaul during a federal rulemaking process that began in June. The agency gathered a panel of experts to help hash out the details — a process known as negotiated rulemaking. But the panel failed to reach a consensus, which freed the department to move forward with a proposal of its own design. The proposal released on Friday included some changes meant to ease concerns raised by the expert panel. Some had worried the department would ban organizations merely for supporting transgender rights, even if they have no direct involvement in gender-affirming care. The new proposal clarifies that the secretary would not expel organizations for exercising their First Amendment rights. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Toronto Star
30 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Trump tax law could cause Medicare cuts if Congress doesn't act, CBO says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal budget deficits caused by President Donald Trump's tax and spending law could trigger automatic cuts to Medicare if Congress does not act, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Friday. The CBO estimates that Medicare, the federal health insurance program for Americans over age 65, could potentially see as much as $491 billion from 2027 to 2034 if Congress does not act to mitigate a 2010 law that forces across-the-board cuts to many federal programs once legislation increases the federal deficit. The latest report from CBO showed how Trump's signature tax and spending law could put new pressure on federal programs that are bedrocks of the American social safety net.
