https://insights.dice.com/2019/03/19/h-1b-visa-green-card-employment/



As H-1B hiring continues to dog frustrated domestic tech pros, a new study shows companies are offering green cards to foreign workers who agree to come stateside via the visa program.

Envoy Global, a company focused on helping companies sponsor and manage work visas globally, recently published a study showing 66 percent of queried employers say they offer green cards to employees with work visas. The same percentage say they begin the green card process on behalf of H-1B and other visa holders the first year they’re employed with the company.

“Leading companies think about immigration strategically. For example – companies that offer foreign nationals benefits that allow them to remain in the U.S. longer are finding more success in retaining foreign talent,” says Richard Burke, CEO of Envoy Global. “With heightened political scrutiny comes heightened anxiety among foreign nationals looking to work in the U.S. Companies that are able to provide their employees peace of mind by offering them a clear path to a permanent green card are getting ahead of the competition in retaining the best talent.”

Costs aren’t spared, either. Envoy Global found 80 percent of employers who sponsor foreign employees via a visa program like H-1B pay for all fees related to obtaining a green card. Although companies typically have a ‘payback’ agreement if a green card worker quits before the agreed-upon employment time has concluded, less than half (49 percent) require continued employment for H-1B and similarly visa’ed employees.

Envoy points to competition as a main driver for companies offering green cards to visa employees. “Now more than ever, foreign national employees are looking for the peace of mind and security associated with long-term sponsorship,” writes Envoy. “When choosing between competing offers for positions in the U.S., a path to permanent residence is a powerful incentive.”

In addition to the 66 percent who start the green card process within the first year of service, an additional 28 percent of companies hiring H-1B and other visa employees say they initiate the permanent residence process within five years of hiring a foreign worker, drawing a direct path to citizenship.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-part-of-midwest-starts-flood-cleanup-downstream-region-braces-for-inundation/2019/03/20/e068ab36-4b26-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html?utm_term=.cfe7df819e45&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1



FREMONT, Neb. — Chris Sewall stood with a push broom in front of an emergency shelter he manages for at-risk children, sending water sloshing down the front steps Wednesday afternoon. It had been nearly a week since he had to evacuate 10 teenagers from this facility, and the floodwaters had finally receded.

The basement still had about four inches of water, but Sewall was optimistic.

“We look around,” he said, gesturing to neighboring houses where soggy furniture had been hauled into muddy front yards. “We’re feeling pretty lucky.”

Piles of damaged appliances, water-stained upholstery and black garbage bags stretched toward the roofs of single-story houses that had been flooded when rain and melting snow produced record-high river levels. One homeowner had placed a detached door under a sump pump’s downspout, a makeshift ramp to redirect the flow into the driveway.

Communities across the Midwest are facing massive cleanup efforts after last week’s late-winter “bomb cyclone” caused at least four deaths, forced the evacuation of entire communities and drenched vast tracts of land with icy and often polluted water. Nebraska’s emergency agency set the estimated cost of the destruction at $1.3 billion on Wednesday, including $400 million for dead livestock, $440 million in lost grain and $439 million in damaged infrastructure.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/20/health/hot-tea-linked-to-higher-cancer-risk-study-intl/index.html

(CNN)Many people start their day with a cup of tea. But those who drink it piping hot could be increasing their risk of esophageal cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers found that tea drinkers who liked their beverage to be warmer than 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) and consumed more than 700 ml of tea per day -- about two large cups -- had a 90% higher risk of esophageal cancer, when compared to those who drank less tea and at cooler temperatures.

The study looked at more than 50,000 people in Golestan, a province in northeastern Iran.

"Many people enjoy drinking tea, coffee, or other hot beverages. However, according to our report, drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of esophageal cancer, and it is therefore advisable to wait until hot beverages cool down before drinking," said Dr. Farhad Islami, of the American Cancer Society and the study's lead author.

Previous research has found a link between hot tea drinking and esophageal cancer. This study, published Wednesday in the International Journal of Cancer, was the first to pinpoint a specific temperature, according to the authors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/03/18/whales-keep-eating-plastic-dying-this-ones-stomach-had-pounds-calcifying-trash/?utm_term=.f71c1257ad26



By the time Marine biologist Darrell Blatchley arrived at the fishing village Saturday, the young Cuvier’s beaked whale was already floating, dead in the water, its eyes sunken and ribs protruding through its skin. The current off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao had washed away the blood it vomited before its death.

He already knew how the 15-foot-long whale had died.

“I knew this whale had died due to plastic ingestion,” Blatchley, president and founder of the D’ Bone Collector Museum, told The Washington Post, noting that the animal showed telltale signs of dehydration and emaciation. “I was not prepared for the amount of plastic.”

The autopsy he conducted revealed more than 88 pounds of waste in the young whale’s stomach — grocery bags, plastic garbage bags, four banana plantation sacks and 16 rice sacks.

“It was so bad the plastic was beginning calcification,” he said. “The plastic had been there a long time. The stomach was trying to absorb it any way possible.”

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/17/business/airasia-tony-fernandes-quits-facebook/index.html

New York (CNN Business)People talk about quitting Facebook in protest. AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes did it.

Fernandes, who had 670,000 followers, said in a series of tweets on Sunday morning that Facebook needs to "clean up" after video of the New Zealand mosque attacks were uploaded to the platform.

"The amount of hate that goes on in social media sometimes outweighs the good," he said in a tweet Sunday. "Facebook could have done more to stop some of this."

For at least 17 minutes on Friday, a suspected terrorist streamed live video of a mass murder at a mosque in New Zealand. New Zealand police alerted Facebook to the livestream, and Facebook said it quickly removed the shooter's account and the video. Facebook also said it was removing praise or support for the shooting "as soon as we're aware."

But that was not enough for Fernandes, CEO of the Malaysian airline company. Although Fernandes said he was a "social media fan," the livestream caused him to leave Facebook.

"It is a great platform to communicate," he tweeted after canceling his Facebook account. "Strong engagement and very useful but New Zealand was too much for me to take along with all the other issues."