May
17
2013
Despite recent headlines trumpeting a return of America’s real estate market to its boom-time highs, a report released today by the Alliance for a Just Society shows how little of that has trickled into communities of color. The document, entitled “Wasted Wealth,” is a sobering reminder of the gap between top-line economic cheerleading and the reality of what’s happening on the ground.
As “Wasted Wealth” lays out, close to 2.5 million families lost homes in just …
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May
17
2013
A US federal judge has refused to block Arizona’s Republican governor from denying driver’s licenses to young immigrants granted temporary legal status by the federal government.
Civil rights groups had filed a lawsuit in US district court in Phoenix in November against Governor Jan Brewer and two state transportation department officials on behalf of five Mexican immigrants who qualify for deferred deportation status under a program pushed by President Barack Obama.
The suit challenged the legality of …
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May
17
2013
Chinese environmental authorities have approved construction plans for what could become the world’s tallest dam, while acknowledging that the project would affect endangered plants and rare fish species.
The 314 metre-high dam (1,030ft) will serve the Shuangjiangkou hydropower project along the Dadu river in south-western Sichuan province, according to China’s state news agency, Xinhua. A subsidiary of Guodian Group, one of China’s five major state-owned power companies, will complete the project over a decade at an …
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May
17
2013
Chinese environmental authorities have approved construction plans for what could become the world’s tallest dam, while acknowledging that the project would affect endangered plants and rare fish species.
The 314 metre-high dam (1,030ft) will serve the Shuangjiangkou hydropower project along the Dadu river in south-western Sichuan province, according to China’s state news agency, Xinhua. A subsidiary of Guodian Group, one of China’s five major state-owned power companies, will complete the project over a decade at an …
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May
17
2013
The CIA chief has made an unexpected visit to Israel to meet senior political and military figures to discuss the deteriorating security situation in neighbouring Syria.
John Brennan, who took up his post two months ago, met the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, military chief of staff, Benny Gantz, and Mossad chief, Tamir Pardo, according to reports in Israel media.
The unannounced meetings followed two Israeli air strikes on weapons stores near Damascus …
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May
17
2013
As Guatemala and the world focused on the trial of former Gen. Jose Efrain Rios Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity, the human rights situation in the country grew increasingly grave, as it has elsewhere in Mesoamerica. Testimony in the trial highlighted the complicity of the US government in Guatemala’s bloody history. Similarly, the current human rights crisis does not exist in a global vacuum and is inextricably entwined with government and private interests …
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May
17
2013
At an 11 am press conference yesterday outside a Brooklyn KFC restaurant, fast food workers and activists released a new report alleging rampant wage theft in their industry, one of the fastest-growing in the United States. The report includes results from an Anzalone Liszt Grove research survey of 500 of the city’s fast food workers, in which 84 percent reported that their employer had committed some form of wage theft over the previous year.
Yesterday’s press …
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May
17
2013
WASHINGTON — The war authorization that Congress passed after 9/11 will be needed for at least 10 to 20 more years, and can be used to put the United States military on the ground anywhere, from Syria to the Congo to Boston, military officials argued Thursday.
The revelations came during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee and surprised even experts in America’s use of force stemming from the terrorist attacks in 2001.
“This is the …
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May
16
2013
Speaking before an intergovernmental forum Wednesday on the future of the Arctic, Canadian officials vowed “unprecedented industrial development” of the pristine and fragile polar region.
The comments came as the North American country took over chairmanship of the Arctic Council during the group’s biennial gathering in Sweden this week.
The circumpolar states—which hold full membership on the council and include Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States—are convening to “promote cooperation on environmental …
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May
16
2013
Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday during demonstrations to mark 65 years since what they call the Nakba (Catastrophe) when the creation of Israel’s caused many to lose their homes and become refugees.
A shell fired from Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas, exploded in an open area of Israel but caused no injuries, according to an Israeli military spokesman. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
U.S. …
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