Local
Fulton County rape cases go unreported
Current police data on sexual assault in Fulton County is apparently underrepresented. Grady Memorial Hospital has not disclosed about 1,500 cases since 2000, according to the AJC. As a result, Fulton County law enforcement agencies reported 221 rapes in 2013, which was the most recent year. Additionally, Fulton County’s unreported cases adhere to obsolete definitions of rape, clinging to an older definition which omits sexual crimes against men, as opposed to the FBI’s 2013 restructuring of the definition which now includes such cases. Preliminary statistics for January through June 2014 still use the older definition, citing 74 rape cases in Atlanta compared to 52 reported for 2013.
National
U.S. poised to put heavy weaponry in Europe
Several Baltic nations and Eastern European countries may be the host of American weapons in the future, according to the New York Times. The permanent equipment formally known as the European Activity Set would be stored on allied bases to equip 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers. The equipment would include 1,200 vehicles, 250 M1-A2 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and armored howitzers. They would be stored in the countries of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary. However, the proposal still requires approval from the U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the White House. There are no current plans to transport the equipment, but approval is expected prior to NATO’s defense ministers’ meeting later this month.
International
Syrian Kurds nearing Islamic State border stronghold, thousands flee.
Syrian refugees made a bid for freedom on June 13, according to the Chicago Tribune. Hundreds poured into a Turkish-Syrian border crossing, fleeing to safety from intense fighting near the stronghold of Raqqa. Some 13,000 refugees have fled the area in the past 10 days, hundreds waiting near the Akcakale border to escape. They were at some point rebuffed by militants, returning to the border crossing minutes later. The Syrian Kurdish main fighting forces, known as the YPG, are currently encroaching upon the extremist group’s stronghold of Suluk,which is adjacent to the town of Tal Abyad. This town is a major commercial bastion noted for its black market oil and foreign fighter smuggling. The loss of which would be a major blow to the Islamic State organization.
