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UK: Human trafficking rates surge 80%


RT
Sat, 25 Mar 2017 14:56 UTC
trafficking
© Sigit Pamungkas / Reuters
Britain has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of alleged human trafficking victims reported by local councils.

The latest statistics released by the National Crime Agency (NCA) seen by the Independent reveal that in 2015, local councils referred 306 people to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the UK's method for identifying victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.

This marks an almost 80 percent increase on the previous year.

Some cities saw a very clear spike in the number reported human trafficking victims. Greater Manchester experienced a 197 percent increase.

Despite the noticeable increase in reported cases of abuse, there are still up to 13,000 victims of human trafficking in the UK, according to the government.

Modern-day slaves are forced into various activities, from prostitution to unpaid work in factories and nail bars. They are often vulnerable individuals who are dependent on their captor in some way, and a disproportionate number are foreign citizens residing in the UK illegally, usually trafficked by their abusers.
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Eye 2

Trump has authority to issue revised travel ban, Virginia judge rules in favor


RT
Sat, 25 Mar 2017 11:03 UTC
Travel ban
© Steve Dipaola / Reuters
A federal judge in Virginia has ruled in support of President Donald Trump's latest travel ban for people from six Muslim-majority countries. The ruling comes a week after two federal courts decided against the ban.

In a decision hailed by the White House, US District Court Judge Anthony Trenga ruled Friday that the revised travel ban could go forward, seeing the latest version as markedly different from the Trump administration's initial effort. The first version of the travel ban was the subject of negative rulings in federal court last month, most recently in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle, Washington.

Signed on March 6, Trump's second travel-ban executive order placed a 90-day suspension on the issuance of visas to citizens of the six nations - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - and all refugee admissions into the US for 120 days.

"The substantive revisions reflected in [the second order] have reduced the probative value of the President's statements to the point that it is no longer likely that Plaintiffs can succeed on their claim that the predominate purpose of EO-2 is to discriminate against Muslims based on their religion and that EO-2 is a pretext or a sham for that purpose," Trenga wrote.

The new executive order includes "detailed justification," Trenga added, that is "based on national security needs, and enjoining the operation of EO-2 would interfere with the President's unique constitutional responsibilities to conduct international relations, provide for the national defense, and secure the nation."

Comment: See also: US Marshals sent to guard judge who blocked travel ban

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Fire

3-alarm fire overtakes metal plant in Croydon, Pennsylvania


RT
Sat, 25 Mar 2017 11:04 UTC
Bucks County, PA
© Google Maps
A massive blaze broke out in a metal manufacturing building in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where reportedly at least 15 fire companies fought the flames. The cause and number of injuries are unknown.

The building, located in the small town of Croydon, belongs to the Metal Finishing Corporation. The fire was first reported around 5:00pm, and went from a two-alarm to three-alarm after 6:00pm, according to WCAU.
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Laptop

Facebook group admin tries to justify posting nude female Marine photos

Joshua Rhett Miller
New York Post
Thu, 23 Mar 2017 13:24 UTC
soldiers and laptop
© Shutterstock
Weeks after hundreds of US Marines were exposed for sharing explicit nude photos of female service members and veterans, the sleazy scandal continues on Facebook — and the former administrator of one such group told The Post it was all just a failed sting op.

Tim Luckey, 43, served as the administrator of one of two private Facebook groups called Marines United 3.0 that had more than 200 members until he was contacted by a Post reporter late Wednesday. Luckey, of Medford, Minn., claims to have launched the group weeks ago — after seeing the widespread carnage left behind by the original Facebook group called Marines United — to trap unsuspecting users and report them.

"I made my page with the intent to report people for posting those things," Luckey said of the graphic images of purported active-duty service members and veterans previously shared on the private group. "I am totally against any kind of sexual assault against men or women, it gets my blood boiling. I don't think a sexual assault against anybody is welcome for any frickin' reason."

Comment: Further reading:

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Arrow Up

Colorado must protect health & environment of its citizens before allowing fracking, court rules


RT
Sat, 25 Mar 2017 10:40 UTC
Fracking
© Andrew Cullen / Reuters
The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision on fracking, siding with a group of teenage plaintiffs who argued that the state must protect the health and environment of its citizens before allowing oil and gas drilling in the state.

"We, therefore, conclude that the commission erred in interpreting [the Oil and Gas Conservation Act] as requiring a balance between development and public health, safety and welfare,"stated the three-judge appeals court in its 2-1 decision on Thursday.

"The clear language of the act... mandates that the development of oil and gas in Colorado be regulated subject to the protection of public health, safety and welfare, including protection of the environment and wildlife resources."
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Question

Decade of uncertainty: Curious case of ex-FBI agent who vanished in Iran


Sputnik
Sat, 25 Mar 2017 13:50 UTC
Robert Levinson poster
© AP Photo/ Manuel Balce Ceneta
The family of a retired FBI agent who went missing in Iran a decade ago has filed a lawsuit against the Islamic Republic for the man's disappearance

The relatives of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared ten years ago during a business trip to the Iranian island of Kish, filed a lawsuit with the US District Court of Washington. The plaintiffs insist that the Iranian government is responsible for Levinson's kidnapping and imprisonment while Tehran denies these claims.

Mojtaba Jalalzadeh, global politics expert at the Islamic Azad University in Tehran, told Sputnik Persian that this entire case is simply absurd.

"One of the key aspects of this case is the security issue. In 2007 Robert Levinson, who at that time had already retired from the FBI, arrived by himself at the Iranian island of Kish. Later however it became known that he maintained close ties with the FBI and arrived to Iran on a spy mission. The American media wrote a lot about it, and in 2010 these revelations were published by the Associated Press," Jalalzadeh said.
.

Comment: For more on how this case affected the Iran deal:

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Attention

VA urges 'hiring surge' to reduce backlog of veterans' benefit appeals, waiting time 8 1/2 yrs


RT
Sat, 25 Mar 2017 10:40 UTC
Veterans
© Molly Riley / Reuters
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is warning the backlog for veterans appealing decisions involving disability benefits will grow if the Trump administration goes ahead with its harsh budget cuts. Waiting times could grow to as much as eight-and-a-half years.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on Veterans Affairs Disability Benefits released on Thursday found staff resources at the agency had not kept pace with increased pending appeals, and concluded that additional staff were needed.

"As of October 2016, officials estimated that if the agency does not take any action, such as increasing staff in 2018, veterans may have to wait an average of 8.5 years by fiscal year 2026 to have their appeals resolved," the GAO said in its report.

Comment: See also: "My son fought for this country, not for Mexico": Court orders US Army vet who served 2 Afghanistan tours deported to Mexico

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Attention

They thought she was crazy: Doctor extracts RFID chip from sex trafficking victim

Daniel Lang
Activist Post
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 20:26 UTC
rfid chip
If someone walks into a hospital and claims that they're being tracked, and that they need to have a tracking device removed, there's a pretty good chance that they're going to be sent to a mental institution instead. However, according to a doctor who wished to remain anonymous to protect his patient, that very situation occurred last October and it didn't end how you might expect.

The patient in question was a 28-year-old woman who claimed that she had a GPS tracking device planted in her body. Normally a patient like that would be regarded as crazy, but this woman appeared totally sane, and she had an incision mark on her side. So the doctor decided to check her out anyway. The medical staff at the hospital were stunned when they finally gave her an X-ray.
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Heart - Black

Live-streamed Facebook rape trial begins in Sweden


RT
Fri, 24 Mar 2017 13:18 UTC
Swedish police
© Bertil Enevag Ericson / Reuters
A trial has begun in Sweden of three men arrested in January on suspicion of gang raping a woman and livestreaming the crime on Facebook.

The three men - two Afghans aged 18 and 21, and a 24-year-old Swede - appeared before an Uppsala court on Wednesday. The two younger men were charged with rape while the 24-year-old was charged with defamation for spreading the video on social media, and is also accused of facilitating the rape by not doing anything to stop it. Despite having a phone in his hand, he never dialed 112 (the Swedish emergency number), even though several people online asked him to intervene, GP reported. Instead, the man allegedly laughed and encouraged his friends.

The two other men admit to having sex with the woman, but claimed it was consensual.

"He admits that there has been sexual contact between him and the plaintiff. However, it happened an hour before this Facebook film. So it was a completely different scenario," the 21-year-old defendants' lawyer told reporters, as quoted by The Local.
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Airplane

Small plane crashes in front yard of Marietta, Georgia home; 1 dead


RT
Sat, 25 Mar 2017 13:11 UTC
Cessna Citation
© wikipedia.org
One person has been reported dead in Marietta, Georgia, after a plane crashed in front of a house, causing it to become engulfed in flames.

A Cessna Citation I was traveling to Fulton County Airport and crashed east of Cobb County International Airport/McCollum Field, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said, according to WXIA.

WXIA reported one person dead at the scene, shortly after 9:30pm. WSB reported the deceased to be the pilot. The crash occurred around 7:20pm Friday.
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