local info
USA, New wave of foreclosures threatens market
Up to 7 million homes are potentially eligible but haven’t been repossessed (Paul Sancya / AP file)
While banks repossessed fewer homes in February than a month earlier, borrowers continued to fall behind on their payments, adding to the inventory of properties headed toward foreclosure that have yet to be put on the market, according to RealtyTrac.
Amnesty International sollecita le autorità italiane a porre fine agli sgomberi forzati dei rom
La famiglia di Saltana Ahmetovich (Nino) nel campo di via la Monachina, Roma, settembre 2009 © Amnesty International
Amnesty International ha chiesto alle autorità italiane di riesaminare un controverso piano abitativo che ha causato lo sgombero forzato di centinaia di rom e che spiana la strada allo sgombero di altre migliaia di persone nei prossimi mesi.
Questo piano potrebbe essere preso a modello per eseguire sgomberi forzati in altre regioni italiane. Uno sgombero effettuato senza consultazione preventiva e senza l'offerta di un alloggio alternativo adeguato a tutte le persone colpite è una violazione dei diritti umani.
France, Réquisition de logements: l'éclatante victoire du oui
Réquisition logements vides
Selon l’Ifop, 69 % des Français se déclarent favorables à la réquisition des logements privés. Un large consensus qui témoigne de l’ampleur de la crise du logement. Si la gauche se rassemble, la droite quant à elle se divise sur le sujet.
Victims of police violence and forced evictions near Papua New Guinean gold mine
The government of Papua New Guinea must investigate the conduct of police who burnt down homes and threatened people with guns while illegally evicting them from land next to one of the biggest gold mines in the country, Amnesty International said today.
USA, The 10 Most Notable Homeless Stories of 2009
Gala Crum is homeless, pregnant and living in a tent alongside the interstate in Prince William county. (Bill O'Leary - The Washington Post, 2009 )
The economic recession made homelessness a hot topic in 2009. It seemed every day there was a story about shelter bed shortages, record numbers of school children, or a new tent city popping up. But which stories stood out the most? Change.org has scoured the headlines and trends to compile the 10 most notable homelessness stories of 2009.
China, Owners to get say in relocation
Property owners' rights will soon receive better protection under revisions to the controversial regulations for demolishing urban housing, a senior legislative official said yesterday.
Tunnels beneath Vegas a refuge for homeless people
Tunnels beneath Vegas a refuge for homeless people
Underneath its glitzy casinos, far from the bright marquees, there is another Las Vegas, a pitch-black, dank underworld virtually unknown and unseen by those who live, work and play above.
For Some in Japan, Home Is a Tiny Plastic Bunk
Jobless, and Living in a Bunk
For Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas, home is a cubicle barely bigger than a coffin — one of dozens of berths stacked two units high in one of central Tokyo’s decrepit “capsule” hotels.
Vancouver tenants allege eviction for landlord's Olympics profiteering
Home not Games
"My sense is this is the tip of the iceberg, it's the beginning of December and this is when I imagine these situations will start to ramp up," said Laura Track, a spokeswoman for Pivot Legal Society, who joined members of the Olympic Resistance Network to publicize the situation Monday.
In April, the City of Vancouver passed a housing bylaw allowing temporary rentals during the Games, so long as landlords have a municipal licence.
Land reform must not shut out Côte d’Ivoire’s IDPs - report
Village of Yapleu, Moyen Cavally, in the western area of Côte d’Ivoire (Barbara McCallin/IDMC, July 2008)
A reform programme designed to formalise customary land rights in Côte d’Ivoire may compromise durable solutions for internally displaced persons (IDPs) if their specific needs are not taken into account, according to a new report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).