TRAILERS, A GROWING TREND IN CALIFORNIA’S HOUSING CRISIS

By Paula Ramon

LAYA Del Rey, United States

- Tamara Hernandez moved into a recreational vehicle when her rent shot up. Beau Beard did it because he lost everything after going to prison.

Stories like theirs abound in California where RVs and trailers, once a symbol of carefree living by the ocean, increasingly reflect a less glamorous slice of life in the Golden State: a housing crisis and the growing number of people without a roof over their head.

A third of all the homeless people in America live in wealthy California, which if it were a country would boast the world’s fifth-largest economy.

In Los Angeles County alone more than 75,000 people are homeless, Los Angeles Housing Services Authority statistics say.

And while figures are difficult to pin down, those same statistics show that more and more of them are living in recreational vehicles, trailers, vans or cars that have formed makeshift camps in Los Angeles and nearby towns. “That’s all I can afford,” Beard said as he points to his recreational vehicle, parked on a narrow street near the busy, touristy beach in the town of Venice.

Beard moved to California seeking a fresh start after he got out of prison nearly eight years ago. But things did not work out as he had hoped.

The average rent in Los Angeles was $2,950 a month in June.

And the problem of surging housing costs is not confined to California. In 2021, more than seven million Americans in the United States spent more than 50 percent of their income on housing -- an increase of 25 percent since 2007, according to a study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

On top of that, says Bear, “there’s no jobs.” At his age -- 57 -- people are reluctant to hire, he said.

When his girlfriend got pregnant in 2020 Beard bought the RV to house his family. But city officials took the baby away shortly after its birth on grounds that an infant cannot live in such meager lodgings.

“It’s been the worst experience of my life,” he says.

Not only did the vehicle cost him his daughter, it has also left him in a grey area when it comes to any chance of subsidized housing, he continues.

“They say that we’re not homeless. But we are homeless,” he explains.

“So as far as giving out housing and stuff like that, we’re last on the list.” AFP

PUTIN SAYS WESTERN WEAPONS, SUPPORT NOT HELPING UKRAINE

MOSCOW, Russia—Russian

President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Kyiv’s counteroffensive, launched to push Russian troops back in the south and east of Ukraine, was failing despite military and financial support from Western countries.

“In any case, there are no results yet” of the counteroffensive, Putin said in televised remarks from a meeting of the Kremlin’s Security Council. Kyiv last month launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive after stockpiling Western weapons.

“Neither the colossal resources that have been pumped into the Kyiv regime nor the supplies of Western weapons, tanks, artillery, armored vehicles and missiles are helping,” Putin said.

Moscow’s forces still occupy swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine and large parts of the front appears to be frozen.

Earlier this week a senior presidential aide in Kyiv told

Venezuelan Migrants Among 8 Killed By Suv In Texas

By Moisés Avila

BROWNSVILLE, United States—Police in a Texas border city announced manslaughter charges Monday against a local resident who allegedly plowed his SUV into a crowd at a bus stop killing eight men, including several Venezuelan migrants.

Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda said George Alvarez, 34, ran a red light and lost control of his car Sunday in the southern US city, leaving 10 others injured, some of them in critical condition. Sauceda said authorities were still awaiting a toxicology report on Alvarez, who had a history of run-ins with the law, and had not ruled out any motive for the incident.

“George Alvarez is a Brownsville local with an extensive rap sheet,” Sauceda said, displaying a long list of previous charges including assault, burglary and driving while intoxicated. The tragedy added to mounting tensions and worries along the southern Texas frontier over a feared surge of migrants across the border as the United States lifts its tough Covid-19 emergency immigration controls on Thursday.

After the crash the motorist attempted to flee but was held down by people on the scene until police arrived, according to Sauceda.

In addition to the eight counts of manslaughter, Alvarez was charged with 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon -- his vehicle.

Victor Maldonado, the executive director of the Ozanam Center, a homeless shelter across the street from the crash, said there was a crowd of about 25 people waiting at a bus stop at the time. Maldonado said the group included

Venezuelans who had just eaten breakfast at the facility.

He described a grisly scene, with body parts strewn along the street. Witnesses were “really shocked,” Maldonado told AFP.“It was pretty intense.”

Possible migration surge

Many thousands of migrants were in Brownsville and waiting across the border in northern Mexico in hopes of making their way into the United States.

In the 24-hour homeless center, “we’ve been housing individuals coming from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, China, Ukraine -– and multiple Venezuelans,” Maldonado said.

The accident also came one day after a man killed eight shoppers with an assault rifle at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, near Dallas in the northern part of the state. The suspected attacker was shot dead by a police officer. AFP allies, has provided Kyiv with arms and welcomed refugees.

It has however shown no interest in sending troops to Ukraine.

Putin singled out Poland and accused its leaders of trying to “directly intervene in the conflict” to occupy Ukrainian land.

Poland has reinforced its defenses at the border with Russiaallied Belarus, where fighters from mercenary force Wagner moved after an aborted mutiny in Russia.

Belarusian territory -- which borders Ukraine as well as EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania -- served as a launching pad for Russia’s Ukraine offensive.

Putin warned that Moscow would use “all the means at our disposal” to protect Belarus in case of an attack.

“Unleashing aggression against Belarus will mean aggression against the Russian Federation,” Putin said. Russia has begun transferring tactical nuclear warheads into Belarus. AFP

UK PM SUNAK APOLOGIZES FOR ‘HORRIFIC’ ABUSE OF LGBT IN MILITARY

UK PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday made a formal apology for the “horrific” historic treatment of LGBT people who served in the military when homosexuality was banned.

“The ban on LGBT people serving in our military until the year 2000 was an appalling failure of the British state, decades behind the law of this land,” Sunak told the House of Commons.

“In that period many endured the most horrific sexual abuse and violence, homophobic bullying and harassment, all while bravely serving this country,” he added.

The prime minister said he hoped those affected would now“feel proud parts of the veteran community that has done so much to keep our country safe”.

The apology was prompted by the findings of a governmentcommissioned independent review into LGBT veterans who served between 1967 and 2000. AFP

Uk Millionaire Says Rich People Like Him Should Be Taxed More

A RICH Briton is among a group of millionaires in Davos pushing for governments to tax those like him more in order to bridge a wealth gap he warns is fragmenting the world.

In an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Phil White said he was alarmed at how the rich got even richer while average people suffered during the Covid pandemic and as food and energy prices have skyrocketed.

“I am very happy to pay more taxes, I want my government to tax me and tax people like me,” White said.

White is among more than 200 “patriotic millionaires” from 13 countries sending the same message to the world’s political and global elite in the Swiss Alpine village of Davos for their annual meeting.

“We should be reducing levels of wealth,” said White.

“And government should be imposing wealth taxes to reduce inequalities.” AFP