News

Vast Oklahoma Tornado Kills Dozens

Published in Wednesday May 22nd, 2013 In In the media

A giant tornado, a mile wide or more, killed at least 91 people, 20 of them children, as it tore across parts of Oklahoma City and its suburbs Monday afternoon, flattening homes, flinging cars through the air and crushing at least two schools. The injured flooded into hospitals, and the authorities said many people remained trapped, even as rescue workers struggled to make their way through debris-clogged streets to the devastated suburb of Moore, where much of the damage occurred.

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Resistance to eviction in Muara Baru, Jakarta, from only a few

Published in Tuesday May 21st, 2013 In In the media

Two months after the first row of houses in Muara Baru, North Jakarta, as demolished by the city administration, dozens of squatters remain defiant and are occupying one of the last buildings standing to prevent its destruction. They said that the house, owned by a heavy equipment renter, was their last bastion. The administration could not provide them with a new place after destroying all their shanties, or so they said.

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Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights

Published in Monday May 20th, 2013 In Social movement news

The Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights champions women’s secure access to land by providing resources and training that connects policymakers, researchers, and practitioners around the world. We pilot innovative solutions to secure women’s land rights and educate development experts about the gap between customary and institutional law. Our program goal is to build capacity to promote approaches that strengthen and secure women’s land rights.

New Lands Act in Kenya Set for August, says Swazuri

Published in Monday May 20th, 2013 In In the media

Kenyans will have to wait up to August before their land problems will begin to be effectively tackled, the National Land Commission chairman has said. Mohamed Swazuri yesterday said the Lands Act will be fully functional only after it is passed by the national assembly. Swazuri said they are still collecting views from the public that will be used in forming a credible Lands Act.

Angry mob rejects eviction in East Jakarta

Published in Monday May 20th, 2013 In In the media

May 20, 2013 Hundreds of residents of Sumur village in Klender, East Jakarta, blocked a road to prevent a housing developer and personnel from the public order agency (Satpol PP) from evicting them from their residences. East Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Mulyadi Kaharni said on Saturday that the angry mob stopped dozens of vehicles […]

Ivory Coast finding reconstruction easier than reconciliation

Published in Monday May 20th, 2013 In In the media

Construction sites loom at every twist and turn of the super six-lane highways that weave around the Ébrié lagoon in the heart of Abidjan. Roads are being widened. New apartment blocks and shopping malls are joining 1970s skyscrapers on the skyline. And the final touches on a shiny new high-rise tower signal the African Development Bank’s return after more than a decade. Two years after the post-election conflict, when more than 3,000 people were killed, Ivory Coast’s economy is bouncing back. With the country relieved of nearly $8bn (£5bn) in debt after reaching completion point of the heavily indebted poor countries initiative, investors are returning and GDP climbed to 9.8% last year.

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State must fix mortgage crisis plan and make it work

Published in Monday May 20th, 2013 In Opinion

In the EU, new mortgage laws are on the horizon. They claim it will make the mortgage process more transparent, but it will make the borrower a target should anything go wrong. And it could remove the one-year freeze on banks moving in on distressed homeowners. Instead, they could act within 30 days. It was always about saving the banks. The borrowers don’t matter.

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UK spends £2bn housing homeless in B&Bs, hostels and shelters

Published in Monday May 20th, 2013 In In the media

The UK has spent almost £2bn housing vulnerable homeless families in short-term temporary accommodation, according to figures that demonstrate the scale of Britain’s housing crisis.

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400 families forcibly evicted in Kenya

Published in Friday May 17th, 2013 In Social movement news

Some 400 Kenyan families were forcibly evicted on 10 May from an informal settlement in the capital, Nairobi. They are homeless and in urgent need of food, water and shelter. Police, who were providing security for the eviction, used live ammunition and teargas.

Together, stronger to cope with the global, housing and territorial crisis

Published in Friday May 17th, 2013 In Mobilisation and agenda

“The people united will never be defeated!” was heard in several languages as the approval of the Declaration of the World Assembly of Inhabitants was welcomed, cementing the convergence of struggles of the inhabitants of towns and rural areas for systemic changes, which are essential to overcome the global crisis.

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