The city, which will host eight matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games in 2028, has made homelessness a central policy priority under Mayor Karen Bass, directing hundreds of millions of dollars toward temporary accommodation initiatives, including hotel placements and prefabricated “tiny home” communities.

The strategy has produced measurable results. According to the latest homeless census released last year, the number of people living on Los Angeles streets fell 17.5% over a two-year period, marking the most sustained decline since local authorities began systematically tracking homelessness roughly two decades ago.

Residents who have moved into the city’s tiny-home program say the units provide a significant improvement over living on the streets or in vehicles, despite their limited size and shared occupancy arrangements. Michael Gilpin, 44, who previously slept in his car, said the accommodation offered greater safety and stability than street living.

Even with those gains, Los Angeles County continues to face a substantial homelessness burden. Official figures show approximately 72,000 unhoused people across the county, including about 47,000 sleeping outdoors.

Service providers say available shelter capacity remains far below demand. Armando Covarrubias, an outreach worker with Hope The Mission in the San Fernando Valley, said the number of homeless individuals in his area exceeds available beds by several multiples. Following the clearance of an encampment near a railway corridor last month, he said housing could not be secured for all displaced residents, and new encampments quickly reappeared.

Many homeless residents continue to face lengthy waits for assistance. Maggie, a woman in her 40s who has lived on the streets for a decade and declined to provide her full name, said she had been waiting three months for housing support while remaining on a placement list.

Questions have also emerged regarding the long-term effectiveness of temporary housing initiatives. Data from the mayor’s flagship shelter program showed that by the end of 2025 approximately 5,800 people had been placed into some form of accommodation, but about 40% later returned to homelessness.

Housing experts and advocates point to California’s broader affordability crisis as a key driver of homelessness. Limited construction of affordable housing and constrained overall housing supply have contributed to elevated property prices and rents, increasing financial pressures on lower-income households.

Michael Reyes, a 59-year-old maintenance worker, said a workplace injury reduced his income to a level that could no longer cover living costs in Los Angeles, where a studio apartment averages about $1,800 per month. After spending a year living in his vehicle, Reyes moved into a tiny-home community but expressed skepticism that current efforts would continue at the same pace once international sporting events conclude.

The homelessness challenge remains one of the most visible social and economic issues facing Los Angeles as city officials seek to balance preparations for global events with demands for durable housing solutions.

As temperatures across India’s capital continue to climb during another summer of extreme heat, the impact is being felt most acutely by those with little protection from the elements. For the hundreds of thousands of people living on Delhi’s streets, daily life unfolds under relentless heat, limited access to essential services and constant uncertainty about safety and survival.

Among them is Shahida, a 20-year-old mother who lives with her family beneath a flyover in Delhi. Their home consists of a section of pavement where they sleep under mosquito nets and store their belongings. Throughout the day and night, they remain exposed to conditions that climate experts say are becoming increasingly dangerous as heatwaves intensify across the region.

Delhi has been experiencing sustained high temperatures, with daytime readings regularly reaching 43 degrees Celsius. Nighttime temperatures have also remained unusually elevated, providing little relief after sunset. According to reported meteorological data, the city recently recorded its warmest May night in nearly 14 years.As authorities issue repeated heat alerts and many residents seek refuge indoors, an estimated 300,000 people living without permanent shelter continue to face direct exposure to extreme temperatures.

Their vulnerability extends beyond heat alone, encompassing challenges related to food security, drinking water, sanitation and healthcare access.Climate researchers say homelessness significantly increases the risks associated with extreme weather.

Chandni Singh, a lead author with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, noted that people without stable housing often lack reliable access to basic resources required to cope with prolonged periods of heat.“Beyond exposure alone, homelessness is often accompanied by unreliable access to food, water and healthcare all of which are essential to cope with and adapt to extreme heat,” Singh said.

The consequences can be severe. According to a report by the Centre for Holistic Development, at least 192 homeless individuals died during a nine-day period of extreme heat in Delhi last summer. The deaths highlighted the disproportionate burden borne by vulnerable populations during heatwave conditions.

For Shahida, summer brings anxiety long before temperatures reach their highest levels. Having spent most of her life living in similar circumstances, she said the arrival of hotter months is accompanied by concerns about health, safety and the wellbeing of her young daughter, Jannat.Throughout the day, the family must manage basic needs while exposed to intense heat.

Access to cold drinking water is limited. They rely in part on a nearby public institution that permits them to fill containers during evening hours, allowing them to store water for later use. The supply, however, remains constrained and dependent on availability.The challenge of securing shelter is equally significant.

According to Indu Prakash Singh, a member of a state-level shelter monitoring committee established by India’s Supreme Court, Delhi faces a substantial shortage of accommodation for homeless residents. He estimates that the city’s shelter capacity falls short of demand by approximately 75%, leaving many families with few alternatives to sleeping outdoors.

Although a women’s night shelter operates less than 200 metres from where Shahida’s family sleeps, she said conditions inside often provide little respite from the heat.“It is even hotter inside than outside,” she said.The concern is echoed by shelter advocates. Singh said many facilities consist of portable cabin-style structures that absorb and retain heat during summer months.

In some locations, cooling systems are insufficient or non-functional, reducing their effectiveness during periods of extreme weather.Conditions inside shelters can also become crowded, particularly during heatwaves when more people seek relief. Reports from facilities in Delhi indicate that access to cooling equipment is often limited, leading to competition among residents for the coolest spaces.As evening approaches and temperatures begin to decline slightly, daily routines continue beneath the flyover.

Families prepare simple meals, organize belongings and make arrangements for the night. Shahida’s family reheats rice and curry cooked earlier in the day before setting up sleeping mats on the pavement.The reduction in temperature after sunset offers only partial relief.

Even at night, the heat remains significant, and concerns about security persist. Women living on the streets frequently report remaining alert long after lying down to sleep, aware of potential risks to themselves and their children.Shahida said rest is often difficult to achieve despite physical exhaustion. The combination of environmental stress, uncertainty and responsibility for a young child creates a constant state of vigilance.

“Even when your eyes close, your mind stays awake. I need to be always protective of myself and my child,” she said.Around her, other families settle in for the night under mosquito nets and makeshift shelters. Some fan children in the humid air while others arrange possessions in an effort to create a small sense of privacy amid the traffic and noise of the city.

Experts increasingly view such experiences as evidence of the broader social consequences of climate change. Rising temperatures, more frequent heatwaves and warmer nights are expected to place additional strain on urban populations, particularly those lacking adequate housing and access to public services.For homeless residents, adaptation options remain limited.

Without permanent shelter, air conditioning or reliable access to cooling infrastructure, exposure to dangerous temperatures becomes an unavoidable feature of daily life.As traffic continues to flow above and around the flyover where she lives, Shahida said her focus remains on caring for her daughter and enduring each day as it comes.

Looking at the child sleeping beneath a mosquito net on the pavement, she described Jannat as the source of her determination to keep going despite the hardships of life on the streets.“Maybe she is the only hope I still hold on to,” Shahida said. “Otherwise, I don’t know what is left.”

London — Street artist Banksy has confirmed that a newly installed sculpture in central London, depicting a man marching forward with his face entirely covered by a large flag, is his latest work, marking another rare public intervention by the elusive artist in the British capital.

The statue appeared overnight in Waterloo Place, Westminster, an area lined with official monuments and historic memorials near St James’s and close to government buildings and ceremonial landmarks. The work was first noticed on Wednesday, with Banksy’s signature scrawled at the base of the plinth, prompting immediate speculation over its authenticity.

Banksy confirmed authorship on Thursday through a post on Instagram, where he shared a video showing the sculpture being transported through London late at night before being installed at the site. The footage included images of nearby national symbols and landmarks, including the statue of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, British flags, a Beefeater guard and a traditional black cab, suggesting a deliberate visual dialogue between the new work and established representations of British identity and state symbolism.

The sculpture itself shows a male figure stepping forward from a plinth while holding a large billowing flag that covers his entire face. The concealment of the subject’s identity appears central to the composition, contrasting with the traditional commemorative statues surrounding it, many of which celebrate named military, royal and political figures.In the video posted by Banksy, a passerby is asked for his opinion of the statue and replies, “No, I don’t like it,” a brief exchange that adds to the artist’s longstanding use of public reaction as part of the presentation of his work.

The statue has been placed in Waterloo Place, near monuments to Edward VII, Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War Memorial, an area known for its formal statuary and ceremonial significance. Its location places it within one of London’s most symbolically charged public spaces, where imperial memory and national commemoration dominate the landscape.

Banksy, whose identity remains officially unconfirmed, is best known internationally for politically charged graffiti works that appear without warning in public spaces and often address war, migration, inequality, surveillance and state power. While murals and stencil works remain his most recognisable form, he has previously installed sculptural works in London.One of his best-known earlier sculptures, “The Drinker,” was installed on Shaftesbury Avenue in London’s West End in 2004.

The work was a satirical reinterpretation of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker,” showing the figure slumped with a traffic cone placed on its head. It was removed shortly after installation. In 2019, Sotheby’s withdrew the sculpture from auction following concerns over its ownership and removal history.Banksy’s most recent confirmed London work before the Waterloo Place statue was a mural unveiled in December showing two children lying on their backs and looking upward.

The mural appeared near Centre Point Tower and was widely interpreted as referencing homelessness, with the tower long associated with Britain’s housing inequality and homelessness debates. The children in the mural appeared to be pointing toward the building, linking the artwork to wider concerns over urban displacement and housing insecurity.

Another work appeared in September outside the Royal Courts of Justice, where Banksy created a mural showing a judge using a gavel to strike a protester lying defenseless on the ground. The image emerged during a period of heightened arrests linked to demonstrations involving signs associated with the proscribed activist group Palestine Action. The mural was later removed.

Court authorities said they were legally required to preserve the listed character of the building and could not retain the artwork permanently.The new Westminster sculpture arrives as public interest in Banksy’s identity has again intensified following a recent Reuters investigation that reported the artist was likely Robin Gunningham, a Bristol-born figure who has long been suspected of being Banksy.

Reuters said its findings aligned with a similar investigation first published by the Mail on Sunday in 2008.Gunningham has denied being Banksy. According to Reuters, Banksy’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, said the artist “does not accept that many of the details contained within your inquiry are correct” and stressed that anonymity remained essential because Banksy had been “subjected to fixated, threatening and inappropriate behaviour.”The preservation of anonymity has long been central to both the artist’s legal protection and public mythology.

Banksy’s work frequently appears without official permission and often challenges institutions of power, making anonymity both a practical necessity and a core part of the artistic identity itself.The new sculpture’s use of a face hidden behind a national flag may also reinforce that theme, placing concealment, identity and public symbolism at the centre of the work.

Unlike conventional monuments that celebrate recognisable individuals, the Waterloo Place installation removes personal identity altogether, replacing portraiture with obscurity.Its proximity to Churchill’s statue is particularly notable. Churchill remains one of Britain’s most politically contested historical figures, and monuments associated with imperial history and nationalism have been the subject of repeated public debate in recent years.

By placing a faceless flag-bearer within this landscape, the work appears to invite reflection on patriotism, public memory and the politics of visibility.No official statement has been issued by Westminster authorities regarding the installation or whether it will remain permanently in place. As with many Banksy works, questions over ownership, preservation and removal are likely to follow.

Public artworks by Banksy often trigger disputes between local councils, private property owners and cultural institutions over conservation and commercial value. Several murals have been removed for protection or sale, while others have been destroyed or painted over.

For now, the Waterloo Place statue remains in place, attracting visitors and photographers in one of London’s busiest ceremonial districts. Its sudden appearance, followed by Banksy’s confirmation, has once again turned a section of the capital into an open-air site of interpretation, where the meaning of the work is shaped as much by public debate as by the sculpture itself.

The 34-year-old Democrat has drawn large crowds to public appearances and infused routine municipal functions with heightened visibility, often relying on high-profile figures to amplify initiatives.

His administration has reported gains in public participation, including thousands of recruits for snow removal efforts during winter storms and more than 50,000 new subscribers to the city’s emergency alert system following a social media campaign.

Mamdani has also collaborated with public figures such as Natasha Cloud and Cardi B to promote civic engagement. Initiatives include a public voting competition on neighborhood repairs and a promotional campaign for a childcare program targeting two-year-olds.

The mayor said his administration aims to match the pace of city residents, emphasizing responsiveness in delivering essential services such as sanitation, snow clearance and infrastructure maintenance.His high-profile approach has drawn criticism from political opponents, including Curtis Sliwa, who cited concerns over homelessness and infrastructure challenges.

Mamdani also faced backlash for appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon during a period of extreme cold weather linked to rising deaths among homeless populations.

At the same time, the mayor has sought to address fiscal challenges, highlighting a significant budget gap and warning that measures such as tax increases may be required. His public stance has been viewed as an effort to pressure Kathy Hochul to support higher taxes on wealthy residents, a proposal she has opposed.

Tensions have also emerged with the City Council after Mamdani criticized an alternative budget plan and publicly challenged Julie Menin, prompting online backlash from some supporters.

Analysts say Mamdani’s communication strategy could help build public support as the administration navigates fiscal constraints, though the unresolved budget gap remains a key test for his policy agenda.

Despite criticism, Mamdani retains strong support among segments of the public, with large crowds continuing to attend appearances and engage with his initiatives.

Recent events, including a policy announcement at Bellevue Hospital on transferring seriously ill detainees from Rikers Island for treatment, drew significant public attention and turnout.