The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned an earlier decision which found the Safe Third Country Agreement violated international and Canadian law. Under the Safe Third Country Agreement persons seeking refugee protection must make a claim in the first country they arrive in, whether it is the United States or Canada. Among other things, the appeal court rejected the earlier conclusion that the US is not a safe country for refugees, in part because the Americans do not respect international conventions against returning claimants to countries where they face torture. Read the original decision, Canada v. Canadian Council for Refugees (2008 FCA 40) and the most recent decision, Canada v. Canada (Council for refugees) (2008 FCA 229). You can also read a press release by the Canadian Council of Refugees, "Rights Groups Express Dismay with Appeal Court Ruling on Safe Third Country."

Picture the Homeless, a New York based activist organization, are fighting a campaign to demand that the transit authority make a bus that travels to a homeless shelter on Ward's Island, free for homeless passengers. An estimated 90% of the riders are homeless men living in the shelter on the island. They are also protesting the NYPD's practice of using that bus as an easy spot to make arrests and meet their quotas. Read more in an article in the New York Times, "On a Bus for the Homeless, a Push to Forgive the Fare."

Picture the Homeless have also recently put New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, on trial in Homeless People's Court. The mayor launched a large affordable housing program called the Five Year Plan. To mark the four year anniversary, Picture the Homeless put the mayor on trial and found him guilty. Read more and view video of the trial on the Picture the Homeless blog.

Watch a BBC news story, "Subprime -The 'new' homeless in the US" (Video), about tent cities that have sprung up outside Los Angeles as people lose their homes in the subprime mortgage crisis.