Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has been forced to drop his support for a controversial policy in a northern city that led to the children of immigrants paying more for school lunches than their Italian counterparts.The minister came under pressure after a crowdfunding appeal raised €60,000 (£46,000) within a few days to fund school lunches for the children of mainly African migrants in protest against a resolution passed by Sara Casanova, the mayor from Salvini’s League party in the Lombardy city of Lodi, that in effect forced them to eat separately.

The edict had obliged parents to declare their assets, in Italy and their countries of origin – a difficult if not impossible request for those coming from African countries – in order to qualify for the standard cost of meals. Failing to provide the asset details meant they had to pay the highest rate of €5 per child, and with migrants constituting the poorest people in the city, many could not afford to do so. Families were also required to pay €210 per child each quarter for the school bus. The resolution meant that for two weeks, more than 300 children were in effect excluded from school canteens across the city and forced to dine at home. Activists and leftwing politicians attacked the resolution, with a senator from the centre-left Democratic party, Simona Malpezzi, describing it as “apartheid”.(theguardian)…[+]

Kingston resident Kimani Ramon Anderson, who singlehandedly and heroically rescued three young girls, all wards of the State, from a burning building at the Walker’s Place of Safety in January, will receive the Badge of Honour for Gallantry from the Government. He is one of nine people shortlisted for the award, and is among more than 200 being recognised for outstanding service to Jamaica during this year’s honours and awards ceremony at King’s House on National Heroes Day, today.

Anderson tells JIS News that he is honoured by the recognition being accorded him for braving the raging flames to extract the three girls who were trapped in their dormitory on the night of January 16. The 32-year-old security officer recounts bolting from his house to the home after being awakened by screams and the sound of breaking glass emanating from the facility, which is situated beside his residence on Lyndhurst Crescent in Kingston. Anderson says he instinctively kicked in the door to the dormitory, sections of which were already on fire and filled with smoke, and extracted the girls. (JAMAICA OBSERVER)…[+]

MANILA-Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos (OFs) increased by 2.4 percent year-on-year to 21.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of 2018, the Philippine central bank (BSP) data showed on Monday.

BSP officer-in-charge Maria Almasara Cyd Tuano-Amador said in a statement that personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more grew by 2.1 percent to 16.3 billion U.S. dollars, while transfers from sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts expanded by 3.8 percent to 4.4 billion U.S. dollars.

However, she said personal remittances for August 2018 were 1.4 percent lower than the level posted in August 2017. Meanwhile, from January to August 2018, the BSP said cash remittances from OFs coursed through banks recorded a 2.5 percent growth from the same period a year ago to reach 19.1 billion U.S. dollars. The BSP said cash remittances sent by land-based workers rose by 2.1 percent to 15.1 billion U.S. dollars, and transfers from sea-based workers grew by 3.8 percent to 4.0 billion U.S. dollars.For August 2018, however, the BSP said cash remittances posted a 0.9 percent decrease year-on-year to 2.5 billion U.S. dollars.(Xinhua)…[+]