News

As Brazil receives Olympic flag, forced evictions taint the handover

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In Social movement news

August 12, 2012 Demonstrations are taking place in Brazil this week to call attention to the human rights violations happening in Rio de Janeiro as a result of the 2016 Olympics Today, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Count Jacques Rogge will present the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Eduardo Paes, with the Olympic flag in a […]

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In Portugal, austerity measures threaten the most vulnerable

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In In the media

August 10, 2012 “The most vulnerable social groups have been hit hardest by the fiscal austerity measures implemented in Portugal. The government should strengthen its efforts to mitigate the negative impact of the financial crisis, in particular on children, elderly and the Roma” said today Commissioner Muižnieks publishing a report based on the findings of his […]

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EU keeps close eye on French gypsy expulsion

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In In the media

August 11, 2012 EU and human rights groups say they are monitoring closely how France dismantles mobile camps across the country and removes hundreds of gypsies, to ensure Paris’s actions are consistent with the Union’s rules on the free movement of people. Throughout the week police have broken up camps around the country, including areas […]

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‘Slum cities’ in south Asia need better planning

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In In the media

August 10, 2012 In south Asia’s fast-growing cities a large part of the population are slum dwellers – and unplanned development means they face problems of flooding and a lack of resources   Sri Lanka‘s capital, Colombo, the vibrant economic and administrative heart of the bustling island nation, is rapidly turning into a city of […]

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In the US, California affordable housing projects suffer from loss of funding

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In In the media

August 12, 2012 By Alexandra Zavis and Jessica Garrison Duroville trailer park residents are among the victims of a loss of state and federal funding that affordable housing projects had historically relied on. Four years after a dilapidated Coachella Valley trailer park known as Duroville became a national symbol of slum housing, Riverside County officials […]

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Beijing’s rooms with no view

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In In the media

August 10, 2012 By Simon Rabinovitch Sim Chi Yin’s photographs explore beneath the streets of the city, where China’s low-income workers squash into tiny living spaces The man looking after the tiny one-room apartments in the basement of the Beijing high rise was nervous. “The outside world doesn’t need to know about this. It will […]

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Sudan: Torrential Rains in Central Darfur Cause Collapse of More Than 300 Homes

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In In the media

August 12, 2012 Major General Mohammad Hassan Ali Bayrak, commisioner of Nertity in Central Darfur, stated that heavy rains in several cities in Central Darfur caused destruction of homes and led to the death of a number of people. The rains are ongoing for two days now. The heavy rains and floods caused more than […]

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In the US, the one housing solution left: mass mortgage refinancing

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In Opinion

August 12, 2012 By JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ and MARK ZANDI MORE than four million Americans have lost their homes since the housing bubble began bursting six years ago. An additional 3.5 million homeowners are in the foreclosure process or are so delinquent on payments that they will be soon. With 13.5 million homeowners underwater — they owe more […]

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Fire in Spain’s Canary Islands forces La Gomera exodus

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In In the media

August 13, 2012 Firefighters are battling a forest fire on La Gomera in Spain’s Canary Islands which forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people by ferry overnight. The worst affected area on La Gomera is Valle Gran Rey. Road access has been cut by the fire, which has spread with high winds and tinder-dry vegetation. […]

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In the Name of the Future, Rio Is Destroying Its Past

Published in Monday August 13th, 2012 In In the media

August 12, 2012 By THERESA WILLIAMSON and MAURÍCIO HORA THE London Olympics concluded Sunday, but the battle over the next games has just begun in Rio, where protests against illegal evictions of some of the city’s poorest residents are spreading. Indeed, the Rio Olympics are poised to increase inequality in a city already famous for it. Last month, […]

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