In the News
by Te-Ping Chen
In the past two weeks, activists have rallied to keep Haiti's creditors from hounding the quake-shattered nation, which has already lost 150,000 people to the disaster.
The ONE campaign, in particular, is at the forefront of the call to drop Haiti's $1 billion debt. So far, their petition in support of debt relief has garnered 168,000 signatures, and last night, a conference call for activists attracted over 6,000 participants.
Change.org talked with Aaron Banks from ONE this morning about the campaign, and their expectations for success:
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced support Tuesday for forgiving Haiti's debt, doubting the earthquake-battered nation would be able to repay it.
"It's just unrealistic to think that Haiti would ever, in the far foreseeable future, be able to repay," Clinton said in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks broadcast Tuesday.
Clinton said the United States was looking at plans outlined by international lenders to forgive Haiti's debt which stood at around one billion dollars before the earthquake.
by Anna Pratt Special to Finance & Commerce
It isn't just about people losing their homes.
Ripples from the long-running foreclosure crisis, experts told an audience in Minneapolis on Saturday, are spreading throughout the U.S. economy, affecting even those who, intuitively, might be expected to benefit.
By OLU ALEMORU, Staff Writer
Story Published: Jan 20, 2010 at 3:55 PM PST
As millions more dollars are set to be raised at Friday's Live Aid style cross-continental "Hope For Haiti" telethon, it will cap a week of global relief efforts that still seem infinitesimal considering the scale of the unfolding catastrophe.
By Shantella Y. Sherman - WI Staff Writer
Long before the candlelight vigil Wed., Jan 13, outside the Haitian Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest, throngs of concerned Haitian Americans showed up seeking answers. Many understood that questions concerning the whereabouts of relatives living or working near Port-au-Prince during the 7.0 seismic earthquake that rocked the region, could not be definitely answered. Still, what Marie-Lisette Edouard called the Haitian spirit, brought hundreds out to offer their assistance and support to others.
By Victoria Kim and Jack Leonard
As part of a comprehensive review of the department, which is ongoing, Justice Department officials found that Inglewood's policies on the use of force are poorly written and legally inadequate despite recent reform efforts. In a letter sent to the city's mayor in December, federal officials called for numerous changes in the way the department trains and investigates its officers.
By EVENS SANON and JONATHAN M. KATZ Associated Press writers
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters is criticizing a decision by Haiti's electoral council to exclude more than a dozen political parties from next year's legislative elections.
In a letter sent Wednesday to President Rene Preval, she urged the president to ensure the provisional electoral council provides a complete, public explanation for the disqualifications and to reinstate unlawfully banned parties before parliamentary elections Feb. 28.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) has asked the FBI to look into the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson and the circumstances of her arrest and release from sheriff's custody.
Richardson, who lives in the South L.A. area represented by Waters, was arrested by L.A. County Sheriff's deputies in September for not paying her dinner bill at a Malibu restaurant. She was released from custody in the early hours of Sept. 17 and vanished.
By Joseph Williams, Globe Staff
Stung by accusations from some African-Americans that he has not done enough for urban communities, President Obama has embarked on an effort to soothe a constituency once counted as his fiercest source of support.
In a series of interviews this week with media outlets aimed at African-Americans, Obama said he understands pent-up frustrations about foreclosures, bank bailouts, and festering social issues, while he also challenged assertions that he has given short shrift to cities.
Imagine that your family has barely enough money to scrape by. A school sits down the street, but fees make it too expensive for you and your siblings to attend—so you've never been able to go to school.
But then imagine that one day the government announces that it has cancelled those school fees. You can go to school. You finally have the chance to learn everything you wanted to know.