Weekend Economists: See the Kittehs! May24-27, 2013

[DemReadingDU]

76. Riots in Stockholm, Sweden

5/23/13 Swedish riots rage for fourth night
Police attacked and cars torched in Stockholm suburbs as unrest sparked by long-term youth unemployment and poverty spreads

Hundreds of youths burnt down a restaurant, set fire to more than 30 cars and attacked police during a fourth night of rioting in the suburbs of Stockholm, shocking a country that dodged the worst of the financial crisis but failed to solve youth unemployment and resentment among asylum seekers.

Violence spread across the Swedish capital on Wednesday, as large numbers of young people rampaged through the suburbs, throwing stones, breaking windows and destroying cars. Police in the southern city of Malmo said two cars had been set ablaze.
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The disturbances appear to have been sparked by the police killing a 69-year-old man wielding a machete in the suburb of Husby earlier this month, which prompted accusations of police brutality. The riots then spread to other poor Stockholm suburbs.

"We see a society that is becoming increasingly divided and where the gaps, both socially and economically, are becoming larger," said Rami Al-khamisi, co-founder of Megafonen, a group that works for social change in the suburbs. "And the people out here are being hit the hardest … we have institutional racism."

more...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/23/swedish-riots-stockholm



5/25/13 Sweden riots spread beyond Stockholm despite extra police

There has been a sixth night of rioting in Sweden's capital, Stockholm, despite police reinforcements being deployed. Cars were set alight in poor suburbs inhabited largely by immigrants, although the unrest was reportedly not as serious as on previous nights. The rioting also spread outside the capital for the first time on Friday, with youths torching vehicles and buildings in two towns.
more...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22656657