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Europe’s message to workers: Retrain or fall behind

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

This article is part of the Bridging the Skills Divide special report, presented by Cisco.If Europe wants to have a competitive workforce, it has to teach its citizens a lesson: School is never out. For years, a person’s educational pathway was simple. They learned at school when they were young, under teachers’ supervision. They earned a degree or did vocational training, and used those skills in the workforce until retirement. Retraining was — and is — a rarity. Now, though, technological advancements and changing industry needs risk exposing a European labor force lacking in relevant, timely skills. It could cost the EU dearly — and just when it has bold green and digital plans. In last year’s State of the Union, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asserted that future European competitiveness hinged on “a workforce with the right skills.”The recent emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, which can generate new content based on a pr...

Brussels turns to ‘artisanal skills’ to mend the textiles industry

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

This article is part of the Bridging the Skills Divide special report, presented by Cisco.Born out of the Industrial Revolution, the global fashion trade has mutated into a polluting, labor-rights-evading trillion-dollar behemoth. Now, Brussels wants to tame it — in part, through a back-to-basics approach to reskilling the bloc’s textile workers. The European Commission last year launched a “strategy” to ensure that all textiles on the EU market are “durable, repairable and recyclable,” with the goal of pushing “fast fashion out of fashion.” That could mean putting power back in the hands of European artisans and textile workers. “If we want our fabrics and garments to last longer, they have to be designed with time in mind,” the Commission wrote in March. “We need to value once more the artisanal skills that make that possible, which is one core aim of this European Year of Skills.” But the legacy of industrial and economic churn will be hard to overcome. A size...

Skills shortage could be ‘Achilles’ heel’ of the Green Deal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

This article is part of the Bridging the Skills Divide special report, presented by Cisco. Trinidad del Rocío is 47 years old, lives in Seville and used to work in retail. Now, she spends her working days up a ladder, fixing solar panels onto rooftops.An email from Andalusia’s employment service, recommending a new 13-week intensive course in solar panel installation, sparked her curiosity, del Rocío said. Last year, she completed the course — managed by the skills agency Generation Spain — and now works for a green energy firm. She is, she says via email, “quite proud” to be making a hands-on contribution to Europe’s climate fight.But del Rocío is just one recruit; what Europe needs to reach its vital net-zero climate goals is an army — and right now, it’s a long way from where it needs to be.Speak to anyone in the renewable-energy sector and they will tell you that the workforce — or lack thereof — is now the key limiting factor that could hold back Europe’s transit...

Europe’s air traffic controllers are falling off the radar

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

This article is part of the Bridging the Skills Divide special report, presented by Cisco. Europe’s air traffic controllers should be retiring — but no one is coming up to replace them.Gaps in training, inflexible hours and more lucrative alternative career tracks mean the industry is struggling to lure newcomers into control towers to relieve its aging workforce. “We’re missing between — depending on who you ask — 700 and 1,000 air traffic controllers across Europe,” says Frederic Deleau, the executive vice president at the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations.The European Union’s Year of Skills initiative identifies advanced sectors like aerospace and defense as targets for upskilling. Deleau, though, argues that in an area like air traffic control, it isn’t just new skills that are needed; it’s also basic training. Unlike some links of the aviation chain that have also faced shortages in recent years — like baggage handlers or airport ...

Lucas: Biden gives China plenty of room to flex

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

Here’s the deal.Joe Biden should promise not to invade Cuba if Xi Jinping promises not to invade Taiwan.Taiwan is a thriving democracy and an economic powerhouse of 24 million people. Cuba is a communist police state and an economic basket case of 11 million people, half of whom wish they lived in Florida.Taiwan, supported by the US, is 100 miles off the coast of mainland China. Cuba, now supported by China, is 100 miles off the coast of the US.But given the cool reception the Chinese Communist Party Leader provided for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken — our appeasing Neville Chamberlain — in Beijing, XI most likely would turn down the deal.Blinken could not even get Xi to agree to resume military to military communications — a top US priority — that were cut off after the Chinese spy balloon gathering military intelligence was shot down after traversing the US for a week.President Biden, at a fundraiser Tuesday night, said Xi was embarrassed by recent tensions over the ...

Chicago White Sox drop series finale 6-3 to Texas Rangers, their 8th loss in 11 games

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

Michael Kopech didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the third inning.After the fourth inning, he was out of the game.A high pitch count factored in manager Pedro Grifol’s decision to make a pitching change for the fifth in the 6-3 loss to the Texas Rangers in front of 18,963 on Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.“He’s thrown a lot,” Grifol said. “He had to work hard in those four innings (throwing 86 pitches). I just decided it’s one of those games where I’m going to give him a break. Instead of running him up to 100-105 (pitches). He wanted to go back out. He was good. Strong. But it was one of those games I’m going to give him a break today. He’s got six days of rest. Regroup and get back after it.”Kopech allowed three runs on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks in his shortest outing of the season in terms of innings and pitches.“If we didn’t have a day off tomorrow and if we didn&...

Jennifer Lawrence makes comedy ‘No Hard Feelings’ worth seeing

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

Since critics raved about Jennifer Lawrence as the protective older sister in Debra Granik’s 2010 Ozark Mountain-set “Winter’s Bone,” it is has been gratifying following her arc. She was in an “X-Men” film a year later (and several others since) and then played Katniss Everdeen in those dreadful “Hunger Games” movies. But Lawrence also picked up an Academy Award for David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012) and was nominated for another one in Russell’s “American Hustle” (2013). She stumbled somewhat in the deeply flawed sci-fi effort “Passengers” (22016) opposite Chris Pratt and in Darren Aronofsky’s over-the-top “Mother!” (2017) (she and auteur Aronofsky were a couple for a hot minute). Since then, she has appeared in Adam McKay’s important, if not very good “Don’t Look Up” (2021) and Lila Neugebauer’s heartfelt, war-veterans drama “Causeway” (2022).Now, she plays hard luck Maddie Barker in Kiev-born director Gene Stupnitsk...

Celtics trade franchise cornerstone Marcus Smart in stunning move to salvage Kristaps Porzingis deal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

The Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis after all.But Celtics fans will wake up on Thursday morning spitting out their coffee when they learn how it got done.A brief hitch in the talks threatened to collapse the Porzingis three-team trade that would have sent Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers. Instead, the Celtics pivoted and Brad Stevens struck one of the most stunning trades in team history, reportedly sending franchise cornerstone Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies in a revamped three-team deal that sent shockwaves throughout the league and shook Boston’s core as the clock struck midnight.The Celtics got the man they coveted all along in Porzingis, the Wizards’ 7-foot-3 unicorn but it came at a higher price and different framework than they expected. Initially, the reported trade sent Brogdon to the Clippers and players and draft compensation to the Wizards. But that deal fell apart shortly after 10 p.m., reportedly because the Clippers raised concerns about Brogdon’s injury status afte...

Editorial: How did kids in Southie squalor slip into cracks?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

The four children taken into state custody after they were found a South Boston apartment with a dead man are unwilling members of an unenviable club: youngsters whose suffering was kept behind closed doors until discovery by first responders.A fire department report, obtained by the Herald, states that a Boston Fire Department crew was sent to Old Colony Avenue Saturday morning for a call that a man had gone into cardiac arrest and required medical attention. That address is the city-run Mary Ellen McCormack Housing complex.Firefighters found more than just a medical emergency: four children, 5 to 10 years old,  in “extremely unsanitary conditions”  in a back bedroom where an adult male was in the process of hiding them. The children were also in the presence of alcohol, drugs, and sex toys, according a city official.What if there hadn’t been a medical emergency requiring outside help? It doesn’t bear thinking about.This harkens to the infamous Turpin family case which ...

Summer makeup all about fresh, bright pops of color

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:47:59 GMT

It doesn’t seem like summer’s really in full swing yet – you need loads of sunny days for that. But even with rain in our forecast, we can still dive into the seasonal vibes.Wear shades even if it’s only a little sunny. Don wide-brimmed straw hats to the grocery store. And most of all, employ all of those gorgeous colors in your makeup arsenal. They’re straight from the gardens where you’d normally be lounging. That means bright orange lip glosses and light blue nail polishes reminiscent of forget-me-nots, and hot fuchsia lip oils.Don’t give up on summer – the clouds will pass. And when they do, you’ll be way ahead of the game with these bright hues.Kick things off with The Nail Artist Polish ($30 on emilieheathe.com) in a delicate powder blue shade called Riviera. Inspired by refreshing Mediterranean waters —the polish has a subtle silver shimmer with extra glimmer of light. The non-toxic formula is enhanced with all kinds of goodies to kee...