Wake Up
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Victoria police discriminating against Africans: report
A survey of African residents in Melbourne has prompted more allegations of racism in Victoria, this time against the police.
The report by a coalition of Melbourne legal centres claims discriminatory treatment of African youths by police has led to increased tensions.
One such claim of discrimination comes from Ethiopian man Daniel Haile-Michael, who says he was assaulted by a police officer while walking with a friend late at night near his housing commission flat in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Flemington about five years ago.
Mr Haile-Michael says he believes he was targeted because he is black.
"The divvy van just swerved up in front of us and it stopped us, and one of the officers came towards me and asked me what the hell I was doing," he said.
"I told him I'd just come from the flats and then he got more and more aggressive, and the next thing I knew ... I was on the ground and he was laying punches into me.
"All I could do was start screaming."
Mr Haile-Michael says he was only 15 years old at the time and the attack was entirely unprovoked.
[ ... ]
Police admit tensions
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland says there are racial tensions between some police officers and African youth, but big efforts are being made from the recruitment level up to stamp out intolerant attitudes.
"This is not a new problem. With every wave of migration that's come into this country, we've had problems with youths," he said.
"If you go back far enough it was the Italian wave, the Greek wave, the Vietnamese wave, and what we're seeing now is a wave of migration coming out of Africa, mainly driven by our humanitarian-refugee policy.
"Predictably, we are seeing some tensions with youth and we know that we have to deal with it. We are dealing with it."
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Greece - the fifth largest recipient of conventional weapons
Appendix 7A. The suppliers and recipients of major conventional weapons
THE SIPRI ARMS TRANSFERS PROGRAMME
Appendix 7A provides data on the suppliers and recipients of major conventional weapons and the size of the international arms trade.
The five largest suppliers of major conventional weapons, 2004–2008
Supplier | Share of global arms exports (%) | Main recipients (share of supplier's) transfers) |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 31 | South Korea (15%) Israel (13%) UAE (11%) |
| Russia | 25 | China (42%) India (21%) Algeria (8%) |
| Germany | 10 | Turkey (15%) Greece (13%) South Africa (12%) |
| France | 8 | UAE (32%) Singapore (13%) Greece (12%) |
| UK | 4 | USA (21%) India (14%) Chile (9%) |
The five largest recipients of major conventional weapons, 2004–2008
Recipient | Share of global arms imports (%) | Main supplier (share of recipient's) transfers) |
|---|---|---|
| China | 11 | Russia (92%) |
| India | 7 | Russia (71%) |
| UAE | 6 | USA (54%) |
| South Korea | 6 | USA (73%) |
| Greece | 4 | Germany (31%) |
This data is obtained from the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database.
Report reveals a foreclosure in Chicago every 22 minutes
National People's Action with support from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) releases a Chicago Foreclosure Report for 2009.
Click here for PDF copy of report.
18 months after reckless and predatory lending took down the U.S. economy, foreclosures are occurring at a record pace and Washington has yet to enact any meaningful reform of the financial industry.
While the minority and low-income neighborhoods that were the main targets of predatory lending continue to bear the brunt of foreclosure, the devastation is spreading. The sub-prime crisis has meant high unemployment and slashed City and State budgets, which in turn has led to foreclosure spikes in virtually every neighborhood in the City of Chicago. Over half of the land in Chicago is within 1/10th of a mile of a foreclosed property. In addition, the average Chicago homeowner has lost $27,000 in their home's value in the last 5 years. Citywide that adds up to approximately $15 Billion in wealth down the drain.
"The picture we get is that foreclosures only happen in low income and working class communities" said Curtis Smith, a community leader from the Lakeview Action Coalition. "We know that the foreclosure crisis is a wave that is afflicting communities of all stripes. In my community, Lincoln Park, the rate of foreclosures increased 105% in the last year, which is the largest increase in Chicago. It has taken longer to reach us, but the foreclosure crisis is here."
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