Scholz Berates EU Allies over ‘Insufficient’ Military Support for Ukraine

 A rescuer with a dog works at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine January 8, 2024. (Reuters)
A rescuer with a dog works at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine January 8, 2024. (Reuters)
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Scholz Berates EU Allies over ‘Insufficient’ Military Support for Ukraine

 A rescuer with a dog works at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine January 8, 2024. (Reuters)
A rescuer with a dog works at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine January 8, 2024. (Reuters)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday the majority of countries in the European Union were not delivering sufficient weapons to Ukraine to help it battle a Russian invasion, calling upon allies to increase their efforts.

With American military assistance to Ukraine stalled in the US Congress, Scholz insisted on the need for Europe to step up, repeating his mantra that the German government would support Kyiv for as long as necessary.

Germany itself had come under much criticism in the early months of Russia's invasion for failing to step up and provide the leadership and military backing to Kyiv expected of one of Europe's major powers.

It is now, however, one of the top providers of both weapons and financial aid. Late last year it agreed to double the country's military aid for Ukraine in 2024 to 8 billion euros ($8.8 billion).

"As significant as the German contribution is, it will not be enough to ensure Ukraine's security in the long run," Scholz said at a news conference in Berlin.

"Therefore, I call on allies in the European Union to strengthen their efforts regarding Ukraine. The planned weapons deliveries to Ukraine of most EU member states are not enough," he added.

Scholz said Berlin had asked the EU to check with individual member states what deliveries they were planning as not all perhaps were known.

The chancellor said he was confident the bloc would agree its proposed 50 billion-euro aid package for Ukraine at an upcoming emergency summit on Feb. 1. The EU failed to agree on the deal at an EU summit in December due to opposition from Hungary.



US Homelessness Up 18% as Affordable Housing Remains out of Reach for Many People

The number of homeless people reflects the huge problem faced by the world's largest economy (AFP).
The number of homeless people reflects the huge problem faced by the world's largest economy (AFP).
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US Homelessness Up 18% as Affordable Housing Remains out of Reach for Many People

The number of homeless people reflects the huge problem faced by the world's largest economy (AFP).
The number of homeless people reflects the huge problem faced by the world's largest economy (AFP).

The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday.
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development said federally required tallies taken across the country in January found that more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless — a number that misses some people and does not include those staying with friends or family because they do not have a place of their own.
That increase comes on top of a 12% increase in 2023, which HUD blamed on soaring rents and the end of pandemic assistance. The 2023 increase also was driven by people experiencing homelessness for the first time. The numbers overall represent 23 of every 10,000 people in the US, with Black people being overrepresented among the homeless population.
“No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access to the affordable, safe, and quality housing they deserve,” HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman said in a statement, adding that the focus should remain on “evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”
Among the most concerning trends was a nearly 40% rise in family homelessness — one of the areas that was most affected by the arrival of migrants in big cities. Family homelessness more than doubled in 13 communities impacted by migrants including Denver, Chicago and New York City, according to HUD, while it rose less than 8% in the remaining 373 communities. Nearly 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, reflecting a 33% jump from last year.
Disasters also played a part in the rise in the count, especially last year's catastrophic Maui wildfire, the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century. More than 5,200 people were staying in emergency shelters in Hawaii on the night of the count.
“Increased homelessness is the tragic, yet predictable, consequence of underinvesting in the resources and protections that help people find and maintain safe, affordable housing,” Renee Willis, incoming interim CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in a statement. “As advocates, researchers, and people with lived experience have warned, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to increase as more people struggle to afford sky-high housing costs.”
Robert Marbut Jr., the former executive director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness from 2019 to 2021, called the nearly 33% increase in homelessness over the past four years “disgraceful” and said the federal government needs to abandon efforts to prioritize permanent housing.
“We need to focus on treatment of substance use and mental illness, and bring back program requirements, like job training,” Marbut said in an email.
The numbers also come as increasing numbers of communities are taking a hard line against homelessness.
Communities — especially in Western states — have been enforcing bans on camping as public pressure grows to address what some residents say are dangerous and unsanitary living conditions. That follows a 6-3 ruling earlier this year by the Supreme Court that found that outdoor sleeping bans don’t violate the Eighth Amendment. Homeless advocates argued that punishing people who need a place to sleep would criminalize homelessness.
There was some positive news in the count, as homelessness among veterans continued to trend downwards. Homelessness among veterans dropped 8% to 32,882 in 2024. It was an even larger decrease for unsheltered veterans, declining 11% to 13,851 in 2024.
“The reduction in veteran homelessness offers us a clear roadmap for addressing homelessness on a larger scale,” Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said in a statement. “With bipartisan support, adequate funding, and smart policy solutions, we can replicate this success and reduce homelessness nationwide. Federal investments are critical in tackling the country’s housing affordability crisis and ensuring that every American has access to safe, stable housing.”
Several large cities had success bringing down their homeless numbers. Dallas, which worked to overhaul its homeless system, saw a 16% drop in its numbers between 2022 to 2024. Los Angeles, which increased housing for the homeless, saw a drop of 5% in unsheltered homelessness since 2023. California, the most populous state in the US, continued to have the nation's largest homeless population, followed by New York, Washington, Florida and Massachusetts.
The sharp increase in the homeless population over the past two years contrasts with success the US had been having for more than a decade.
Going back to the first 2007 survey, the US made steady progress for about a decade in reducing the homeless population as the government focused particularly on increasing investments to get veterans into housing. The number of homeless people dropped from about 637,000 in 2010 to about 554,000 in 2017.
The numbers ticked up to about 580,000 in the 2020 count and held relatively steady over the next two years as Congress responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with emergency rental assistance, stimulus payments, aid to states and local governments and a temporary eviction moratorium.