11.4 million people in the world are refugees with an additional 26 million internally displaced within their own country, according to a new United Nations statistic released today in preparation for June 20, World Refugee Day.
Add those numbers together and that’s more than the entire population of California lacking a home or access to basic necessities.
So it’s not that big of a bummer that the Lakers lost, right?
This is the second year that numbers have risen, with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan accounting for half the numbers. 3.1 million were Afghans, while 2.3 million were Iraqis. A majority of these people have sought refuge in Jordan and Syria.
Pakistan has the most refugees, with Syria, Iran, Germany and Jordan following.
The number of people displaced by conflicts - including those uprooted in their own countries, who are not strictly defined as refugees - rose to 26 million (from 24.4 million).
In April, UNHCR fed 150,000 refugees daily in Damascus, compared with only 33,000 people last September.
Read about one of their stories here. And here. And here. And here.
For gay couples, neither candidate in Thursday’s VP debate offered anything remotely resembling change. Tara Graham takes them to task.
Mark Evitt takes a hard look at the recent Village Voice firings and the state of print media in general.
Ryan Barrett takes you through her own person Spin Room on last week’s Vice-Presidential debate.
In our new series on classic pieces of journalism, Emily Henry pulls Martha Gellhorn’s “Dachau” out of the chest for your reading pleasure.
Deborah Stokol takes Rosie the Riveter back from the campaigning co-opters.
Tara Graham hits you with the week in gossip. Catch up on the brain candy.
Emily Henry takes a look at the new import HBO sketch-comedy series Little Britain USA
Missed your dose of gossip last week? Tara Graham rounds up all of the juicy tidbits. (Spoiler: Clay Aiken is gay)
Confused by the pro-corn syrup commercials you’ve been seeing lately? You’re not alone. Mark Evitt breaks it down for you.
Samantha Page previews the Hullaboo fundraising fest for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music
Chris Nelson weighs in on Obama’s candidacy, the punditry poison, and the speech from Invesco Field.
Max Zimbert interviews some political heavyweights on the Dem’s chances in Ohio and Iowa.
The P+P crew gives a Cribs-style walk-through of their sick DNC digs.
Torey Van Oot gets ex-Fugee Wyclef Jean to share his thoughts on courting the Latino vote for Obama.
Brooke-Sidney Gavins gets RZA of the Wu-Tang to open up about the DNC and the election.
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