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Local Swedish shopkeepers tell RT youth gangs carry guns, sell drugs in "no-go zones"


RT
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 17:03 UTC
Rinkeby Stockholms Sweden no-go zones
© Global Look Press Rinkeby, Stockholms ln, Sweden
Swedish police have recently expanded their list of so-called "vulnerable areas," where crime and extremism run rampant. RT talked to locals and observers about the problems in these troubled areas, widely known as "no-go zones."

Sixty-one neighborhoods throughout the country were identified in the latest Swedish police report as vulnerable areas, with 23 being categorized as particularly vulnerable, up from 15 last year. These hotspots are "characterized by a low socio-economic status where criminals have an impact on the local community," according to the police definition.

An estimated 5,000 criminals are operating in these areas, making up around 200 criminal networks in total, according to the report. Witnesses are sometimes afraid to talk to police, and the presence of criminal gangs and the high levels of poverty and marginalization makes it harder for officers to do their job.

"If you run a company in this area, insurance companies do not want to insure you," Salam Kurda, a local Kurdish shopkeeper and chairman of the corporate association in Husby, Stockholm, told RT. "One of the basic requirements for being a successful entrepreneur is safety, but the risk is quite big today."


Comment: As Jonas Christensen says, it is a problem. It may not be as big a problem as others, or when compared to worse situations in other countries, but it's still a problem that goes widely unacknowledged or downplayed. (At the same time, it is overly exaggerated by the other side of the debate, presenting the 'no-go zones' as if they were actual war zones and crime is off the charts.) Nuance is lacking, and the extreme polarization among society continues.

For a nuanced look at the migrant and demographic problems in European nations, check out: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis

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Red Flag

Courtesy of US Empire: Charities tell RT 90% of Iraqi children have lost a relative while orphans suffer from trauma


RT
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 17:07 UTC
iraq children
© RTChildren at Iraqi orphanage
The battle against ISIS in Iraq has devastated civilian lives, particularly those of children. While some have been reunited with surviving relatives, hundreds of them remain abandoned or in dire need of psychological help in Iraqi orphanages.

Over the past months, together with Iraqi and Russian authorities, RT has been leading a "Bring them home" campaign, focused on returning Russian speaking orphans back home. Some of the children, recognized by their relatives after being shown on RT, have already been sent to their families.

"We already managed to return six children [to Russia]," Iraq's ambassador to Russia, Haidar Mansour Hadi, told RT.

The ambassador explained that once children, whose parents are believed to have been killed while fighting in IS ranks are discovered, they are put in government run children's homes in Baghdad, where "they are provided with the best services, looked after and given food, clothing and good caring until we find their relatives and they prove the kinship."
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Che Guevara

How 'antifa' mirrors the 'alt-right'

Chris Hedges
Truthdig
Sun, 27 Aug 2017 16:56 UTC
black and white hands sword
Editor's note: A Berkeley, Calif., rally organized by a right-wing group turned violent Sunday after arrival of a group that carried an anarchist banner.

Behind the rhetoric of the "alt-right" about white nativism and protecting American traditions, history and Christian values is the lust for violence. Behind the rhetoric of antifa, the Black Bloc and the so-called "alt-left" about capitalism, racism, state repression and corporate power is the same lust for violence.
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Info

Indian court rules Taj Mahal Muslim tomb, not Hindu temple

Amrit Dhillon
UK Guardian
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 15:47 UTC
taj mahal
© twinsterphoto/Getty/iStockphoto
A court in India has heard testimony from government archaeologists that the Taj Mahal is a Muslim mausoleum built by a Mughal emperor to honour his dead wife - delivering an official riposte to claims it is a Hindu temple.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which protects monuments of national importance, had been ordered to give its view in response to a petition filed by six lawyers stating that the Unesco world heritage site in the city of Agra had originally been a temple called Tejo Mahalaya dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva.

The petition also demanded that Hindus be allowed to worship in it. Only Muslims are permitted to offer prayers at the 17th-century monument.

Dr Bhuvan Vikrama, the ASI's superintending archaeologist in Agra, said he rejected the claims: "Our written statement called the claims concocted and we asked the court to dismiss the petition. It's up to the judge to decide what happens."
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Shoe

Chinese company begins research and development of supersonic "flying train"


RT
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 15:53 UTC
hyperloop train
© CGTN / YouTube
China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), the main contractor for the country's space program, announced that it hoped to shatter Elon Musk's Hyperloop dream with some terrifyingly fast competition.

At the Commercial Aerospace Forum held in Wuhan Wednesday, CASIC claimed it had begun research and development on a new type of supersonic transport involving "near-ground flight," similar to SpaceX's Hyperloop project. There is one catch, however: the final phase of CASIC's proposal would produce trains that travel at a staggering 4,000kph.

The company proposes a three-stage plan in which their "flying trains" would first operate an intercity network achieving maximum speeds of up to 1,000kph.

All going to plan, in the second phase the flying pods would aim to double this travelling speed reaching 2,000kph.
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Dollars

Hurricane Harvey could be one of costliest natural disasters in US history; Moody's forecasts economic costs of up to $75B


RT
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 10:54 UTC
Hurricane Harvey
© Agrees Latif / ReutersHouses partially submerged in flood waters caused by Tropical Storm Harvey, Texas, US
Property damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in just parts of Harris and Galveston counties in Texas could add up to $23 billion, according to a Reuters report based on analysis of satellite imagery.

The data from the flood imagery was combined with property parcel maps. The integrated information revealed floodwaters had submerged nearly 30,000 houses in the two counties.

The estimated market value of the affected properties seen by satellite is $23.4 billion with 26 percent of that represented by land value while buildings and other improvements made up the remainder. Nearly 18 percent of the property hit by the storm in Harris County is residential.
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Heart - Black

'They deserve it': Heartless Trump opponents use Harvey as ammo against president & supporters


RT
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 16:00 UTC
Trump protesters Texas
© Carlos Barria / ReutersA protester stands by the motorcade transporting U.S. President Donald Trump to a briefing on Tropical Storm Harvey relief efforts at the Texas Department of Public Safety Emergency Operations Center in Austin, Texas, U.S., August 29, 2017.
As Americans struggle to cope with Hurricane Harvey's aftermath, some seem more focused on slamming the president and first lady. One person claimed Texas deserved the devastation after voting for Trump, while others took aim at Melania's footwear.
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Snowflake

Greek Life retreat cancelled after banana peel found in tree

Anthony Gockowski
Campus Reform
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 08:17 UTC
bannanapeel
© Unknown
A Greek Life retreat at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) was promptly cancelled this weekend after a banana peel was found hanging in a tree.

"To be clear, many members of our community were hurt, frightened, and upset by what occurred at IMPACT," Interim Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Alexa Lee Arndt remarked in an email between Greek leaders, according to The Daily Mississippian. "Because of the underlying reality many students of color endure on a daily basis, the conversation manifested into a larger conversation about race relations today at the University of Mississippi."

Apparently, student Ryan Swanson admitted to discarding the banana peel in a tree after he was unable to locate a garbage can, and it was later spotted by Alpha Kappa Alpha President Makala McNeil, who leads one of the campuses historically black sororities.

Comment: Just when you think you have seen it all, you haven't!

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Monkey Wrench

Adding toxins to Harvey's misery: Texas air pollution sensors switched off as refineries seep toxic chemicals into air and water


RT
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 08:22 UTC
exxon mobil refinery
US crude oil and petrochemical refining capacity in Texas has been severely damaged by Hurricane Harvey, releasing hazardous pollutants into the air and flood waters left in the wake of the storm.

Arkema, a global chemical major, warned Wednesday that flooding has severely damaged their Houston plant's refrigeration systems, increasing the likelihood of an explosion in the coming week and a heightened risk of yet more pollutants leaking into the ecosystem.

"At this time, while we do not believe there is any imminent danger, the potential for a chemical reaction leading to a fire and/or explosion within the site confines is real," Arkema said in a statement.
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Pistol

Sacramento shooting leaves one deputy dead, 2 officers wounded, suspect arrested after high-speed chase


RT
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 19:23 UTC
sacramento police shooting
© Kevork Djansezian / Reuters
A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy has succumbed to his wounds, after he and two California Highway Patrol officers were shot. The suspected shooter was also wounded and has been arrested after a high-speed chase. Other suspects related to the incident have been arrested as well.

Deputy Robert "Bob" French, a 21-year veteran of law enforcement, was shot and killed Wednesday, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department confirmed. He died on the way to the hospital.

Two California Highway Patrol officers were also shot. They were in stable condition and expected to survive.

Three suspects, two women and a man, were detained after two high-speed chases. A subsequent shooting occurred at and near the Ramada Inn hotel in the 2600 block of Auburn Boulevard, near Fulton Avenue in the Arden-Arcade area of Sacramento, California, KOVR reported.
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