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Straits Times
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Lockdowns and fights: Sean 'Diddy' Combs back in Brooklyn jail ahead of sentencing
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Sean \"Diddy\" Combs, next to his lawyer Teny Geragos, reacts after learning he will not be released on bail, during his sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial in New York City, New York, U.S., July 2, 2025, in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg NEW YORK - Despite being found not guilty on the most serious counts at his sex trafficking trial, Sean "Diddy" Combs will spend months awaiting sentencing at a notoriously understaffed and violent Brooklyn jail where the music mogul has lived through nearly ten months of lockdowns and fights. Combs, 55, has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center since his September 2024 arrest. The facility, which has also held convicted sex traffickers like British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and rhythm and blues singer R. Kelly, is a far cry from the luxurious Los Angeles and Miami mansions Combs called home until last year. After the verdict was read on Wednesday, Combs' lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian to release him on $1 million bond ahead of his sentencing, expected to take place by October. "I understand that you don't, that Mr. Combs does not want to go back to the MDC," the judge said. Combs shook his head. His hopes of returning to one of those homes and the embrace of his family after being cleared of the more serious charges were soon dashed. The judge denied Combs' request for bail, citing evidence of his violent behavior presented during the trial. In recent years, MDC has been plagued by persistent staffing shortages, power outages and maggots in inmates' food. Two weeks after Combs' arrest, prosecutors announced criminal charges against nine MDC inmates for crimes including assault, attempted murder and murder at the facility in the months before Combs arrived. In January of last year, a federal judge in Manhattan declined to order a man charged with drug crimes detained pending trial at the MDC, calling the conditions there an "ongoing tragedy." Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 193ha of land off Changi to be reclaimed for aviation park; area reduced to save seagrass meadow Business More Singapore residents met CPF Required Retirement Sum when they turned 55 in 2024 Singapore PAP questions Pritam's interview with Malaysian podcast, WP says PAP opposing for the sake of opposing Singapore 1 in 4 appeals to waive HDB wait-out period for private home owners approved since Sept 2022 Sport A true fans' player – Liverpool supporters in Singapore pay tribute to late Diogo Jota Singapore Healthcare facility planned for site of Ang Mo Kio Public Library after it moves to AMK Hub Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Business 60 S'pore firms to get AI boost from Tata Consultancy as it launches new innovation centre here Last August, another judge said he would convert an older defendant's nine-month jail term to home incarceration if he were sent to MDC, citing the jail's "dangerous, barbaric conditions." The U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which operates MDC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bureau has said it takes its duty to protect inmates seriously. During the eight-week trial, U.S. Marshals transported Combs to and from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan each day from the facility in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood, which has also housed former cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried and Luigi Mangione, accused of killing a health insurance executive. Bankman-Fried has since been moved to a low-security prison in California and is appealing his fraud conviction and 25-year sentence. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. A jury found Combs not guilty on Wednesday on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, sparing him a potential life sentence, but convicted him on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution that could land him in prison for several years. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges. Combs' defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in court on Wednesday that Combs had been housed in "a very difficult part of the MDC" where there have been fights. His lawyer Alexandra Shapiro said in a November 2024 court filing that frequent lockdowns at the facility had impaired Combs' ability to prepare for trial. On Wednesday, Combs' lawyers praised MDC staff, who they said had facilitated their access to him during the trial. "Despite the terrible conditions at the MDC, I want to thank the good people who work there," defense lawyer Teny Geragos told reporters after the verdict. REUTERS
Straits Times
a day ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Portuguese former prime minister Socrates goes on trial in graft case
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Portugal's former Prime Minister Jose Socrates holds his protective mask as he leaves the court in Lisbon, Portugal, April 9, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo LISBON - Portuguese former Prime Minister Jose Socrates appeared before a court on Thursday on the first day of a long-delayed trial in which he faces charges of corruption that were reinstated after a judge had lifted them four years ago. Socrates, 67, who denies wrongdoing, and his lawyer wanted the trial suspended and the presiding judge replaced, but the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon rejected their demands. "Four years later, the state forces me to come to court again to respond to exactly the same charges," Socrates told reporters before entering the building, accusing the court of using the pretext of a clerical error to reinstate the charges and of manipulating the statute of limitations. "The investigating judge, four years ago, considered that none of the charges were substantiated, not a single one. And he also considered them to be completely time-barred." In 2021, Judge Ivo Rosa of Portugal's criminal court for preliminary hearings dismissed the corruption and tax fraud accusations against Socrates as weak, inconsistent or lacking sufficient evidence, and noted that the statute of limitations had run out on some of them. Socrates was still facing lesser charges of money laundering worth some 1.7 million euros and falsifying documents. A Socialist who served as prime minister in 2005-2011, Socrates was arrested at Lisbon's airport in November 2014 as part of Portugal's biggest-ever corruption investigation, codenamed Operation Marquis. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 193ha of land off Changi to be reclaimed for aviation park; area reduced to save seagrass meadow Business More Singapore residents met CPF Required Retirement Sum when they turned 55 in 2024 Singapore PAP questions Pritam's interview with Malaysian podcast, WP says PAP opposing for the sake of opposing Singapore 1 in 4 appeals to waive HDB wait-out period for private home owners approved since Sept 2022 World Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota dies in car crash in Spain Singapore Healthcare facility planned for site of Ang Mo Kio Public Library after it moves to AMK Hub Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Business 60 S'pore firms to get AI boost from Tata Consultancy as it launches new innovation centre here It was the first time an ex-premier had been arrested in the country. He spent months in jail before being placed under house arrest. In a country notorious for its slow justice system, it took prosecutors three years following the arrest to formally charge Socrates with 31 offences allegedly committed in the 2006-2015 period. The statute of limitations on some of the offences has expired and in the new trial, Socrates is being tried for 22 offences, including passive corruption while in office, money laundering worth 34 million euros through the bank accounts of others abroad, and tax fraud. The alleged scheme involved the disgraced former heads of Banco Espirito Santo and Portugal Telecom, who have also denied wrongdoing. Socrates stepped down as prime minister in March 2011, halfway through his second term, after a debt crisis forced him to request an international bailout, leading to years of painful austerity. REUTERS
Straits Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Serbian police detain 79 people in crackdown on protests
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Law enforcement officers try to remove a woman from the street during road blockades organised by students and anti-government demonstrators demanding snap elections and release of arrested protestors, in Belgrade, Serbia, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Hamzagic BELGRADE - Serbian police detained 79 protesters late on Wednesday in a crackdown on street demonstrators calling for a snap election and an end of the 12-year rule of the President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party. Police and protesters clashed in the capital Belgrade and the cities of Novi Sad, Nis and Novi Pazar, the interior ministry said in the statement on Thursday. Months of protests across Serbia, including university shutdowns, have rattled Vucic, a former ultranationalist who converted to the cause of European Union membership in 2008. His second term ends in 2027, when parliamentary elections are also scheduled. The protesters launched blockades of major junctions and roads in Belgrade and other towns across Serbia on Sunday over the arrest of activists when police and demonstrators clashed at a big opposition rally on Saturday. On Wednesday evening, police moved to remove students in front of the entrance of the Law Faculty in Belgrade, and briefly detained dozens, N1 TV reported. Oliver Stojkovic, a professor at the medical faculty, told Fonet news agency that four students had been injured in the police action and taken to hospital. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 193ha of land off Changi to be reclaimed for aviation park; area reduced to save seagrass meadow Singapore PAP questions Pritam's interview with Malaysian podcast, WP says PAP opposing for the sake of opposing Singapore 1 in 4 appeals to waive 15-month wait-out period for private home owners approved since Sept 2022 World Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota dies in car crash in Spain Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Business 60 S'pore firms to get AI boost from Tata Consultancy as it launches a new innovation centre here Asia US tariff deal provides relief for Vietnam, and a sting in the tail for China Singapore Scoot launches flights to Da Nang, Kota Bharu and Nha Trang; boosts frequency to other destinations "This (the police action) is an absolute violation of human rights and a violation of the freedom of the university," Bozo Prelevic, a former interior minister, told Reuters. The U.N. human rights office said on X it was "closely monitoring situation after reports of violence, harassment & arbitrary detention of protesters" and urged authorities to exercise restraint. Vucic's opponents accuse him and his allies of ties to organised crime, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms. Vucic denies the accusations. Protests by students, opposition, teachers, workers and farmers began last December after 16 people died on November 1 in a Novi Sad railway station roof collapse. Protesters blame corruption for the disaster. REUTERS
Straits Times
a day ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Explainer-Do international carbon credits fight climate change?
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: A coal-fired power station is seen in As Pontes, Spain, February 8, 2022. Picture taken February 8, 2022. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal/File Photo BRUSSELS - The European Commission has proposed an EU climate target for 2040 that allows countries to count carbon credits bought from developing nations towards the EU goal for the first time. Here's what that means, and why the EU move on Wednesday faced criticism from campaigners and some scientists. WHAT ARE CARBON CREDITS? Carbon credits, or offsets, involve funding projects that reduce CO2 emissions abroad in place of cuts to your own greenhouse gas emissions. Examples include forest restoration in Brazil, or converting a city's petrol buses to electric. The buyer counts "credits" for those emission reductions towards its climate goal, and the seller gets finance for their green project. Proponents say the system generates much-needed funding for CO2-cutting efforts in developing nations and lets countries work together to cut emissions around the world. However, the reputation of CO2 credits has been dented by a string of scandals in which credit-generating projects failed to deliver the climate benefits they claimed. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Singapore PAP questions Pritam's interview with Malaysian podcast, WP says PAP opposing for the sake of opposing Singapore 1 in 4 appeals to waive 15-month wait-out period for private home owners approved since Sept 2022 World Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota dies in car crash in Spain Business 60 S'pore firms to get AI boost from Tata Consultancy as it launches a new innovation centre here Asia US tariff deal provides relief for Vietnam, and a sting in the tail for China Singapore Scoot launches flights to Da Nang, Kota Bharu and Nha Trang; boosts frequency to other destinations Singapore Electrician who bit off part of coworker's ear during fight gets 6 months' jail WHY IS THE EU BUYING THEM? The European Commission proposed allowing up to 3 percentage points of the EU's 2040 target - to cut net emissions by 90% from 1990 levels - to be covered by carbon credits bought from other countries. The EU's existing climate targets require countries to meet the goals entirely by cutting emissions at home. The bloc's executive Commission said last year it hoped the EU could agree a 90% emissions-cutting target for 2040, with no mention of carbon credits. Tumultuous geopolitics and the economic woes of European industries have since stoked political pushback, with governments from Germany to Poland demanding a softer target. In response, the Commission said it would add flexibilities, and landed on carbon credits as a way to retain a 90% emissions-cutting goal while reducing the domestic steps needed to reach it. EU countries and the European Parliament must negotiate and approve the goal. WHAT ARE THE RISKS? The EU plan was welcomed by countries including Germany, which had pushed to include carbon credits in the goal, and by carbon credit project developers as a boost for climate finance. But environmental campaigners said the EU was shirking domestic CO2-cutting efforts and warned against relying on cheap, low-value credits. The EU's climate science advisers had also opposed buying credits under the 2040 target, which they said would divert money from investments in local clean industries. The EU banned international credits from its own carbon market after a flood of cheap credits with weak environmental benefits contributed to a carbon price crash. To try to address the risks, the Commission said it would buy credits in line with a global market and rules for trading carbon credits which the U.N. is developing. These include quality standards aimed at avoiding the problems that unregulated credit trading has faced in recent years. Brussels will also propose rules next year on specific quality standards for the carbon credits the EU buys. HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? The EU doesn't yet know. Carbon credit prices today can be as low as a few dollars per tonne of CO2, up to more than $100, depending on the project. EU emissions records suggest the bloc would need to buy at least 140 million tonnes of CO2 emissions to cover 3% of the 2040 target, roughly equivalent to the Netherlands' total emissions last year. One senior Commission official said the bloc was determined not to hoover up cheap junk credits. "I don't think that would have any additional value. The credits we see currently on voluntary carbon markets are very, very cheap, and that probably reflects a lack of high environmental integrity," the senior official said. REUTERS
Straits Times
a day ago
- Business
- Straits Times
1 in 4 appeals to waive 15-month wait-out period for private home owners approved since Sept 2022
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The 15-month wait-out period was part of a series of measures introduced to help cool the HDB resale market. SINGAPORE - About one in four appeals from private property owners seeking to bypass the 15-month wait-out period to buy a Housing Board resale flat has been successful, the Housing Board said. From the time the rule was introduced on Sept 30, 2022 until March 31, 2025, HDB received and processed about 5,500 appeals for a waiver. Around 25 per cent of these were approved, after careful assessment of each case. Extenuating circumstances of the flat buyers and their families are taken into account 'to ensure that applicants and families with genuine needs are given fair consideration', a spokeswoman for HDB told The Straits Times. When asked, the agency did not specify the typical reasons cited in appeals and the criteria used to assess them. The 15-month wait-out period was part of a series of measures introduced to help cool the HDB resale market , which was heating up partly due to demand from private property downgraders flush with capital. It also helps to prioritise public housing for Singaporeans with more urgent housing needs, HDB said. The rule applies to private property owners and ex-owners looking to buy a non-subsidised HDB resale flat. It does not apply to those aged 55 and over who are buying a four-room or smaller resale flat. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Singapore PAP questions Pritam's interview with Malaysian podcast, WP says PAP opposing for the sake of opposing World Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota dies in car crash in Spain Business 60 S'pore firms to get AI boost from Tata Consultancy as it launches a new innovation centre here Asia US tariff deal provides relief for Vietnam, and a sting in the tail for China Singapore Scoot launches flights to Da Nang, Kota Bharu and Nha Trang; boosts frequency to other destinations Singapore Electrician who bit off part of coworker's ear during fight gets 6 months' jail National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat said recently that the rule may be relaxed before 2027, due to an expected rise in supply of new and resale flats . The HDB spokeswoman said there are early signs of moderation in resale price growth. 'We expect the market to further stabilise as more flats reach the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) and enter the resale market over the next few years starting from 2026,' she said. 'We will also maintain a strong supply of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats to meet housing demand.' Shift in demand patterns Since the rule took effect, analysts have noted a marked impact on the resale market, particularly on the larger flats. Mr Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research and data analytics at real estate firm Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI), noted that the number of five-room flats resold dropped by 22.5 per cent to 1,482 units between January and March 2025, compared with 1,913 units resold from July to September 2022, just before the 15-month wait-out period kicked in. Executive flats saw a steeper dip of 32.1 per cent in transactions between the two periods. The figures suggest that the wait-out rule has helped dampen demand from private property downgraders to some extent, said Mr Mohan. He added that the latest flash estimates for April to June 2025 released by HDB on July 1 showed resale flat prices continue to moderate, rising by 2.5 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared with 4.2 per cent in the same period in 2024. While the rule has helped cool demand, some private home owners facing unexpected life changes – such as job loss or financial strain – could benefit from more flexibility, said property analysts. Mr Eugene Lim, key executive officer at real estate agency ERA Singapore, said the HDB resale price index (RPI) slowed after the 15-month wait-out rule took effect on Sept 30, 2022, but picked up once eligible private home sellers re-entered the market in the first quarter of 2024. Resale transactions rose to 7,068 units from January to March 2024, with the RPI climbing 1.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter. The index rose another 2.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, which was close to the 2.6 per cent gain seen in July to September 2022, before the rule was introduced. Growth eased to 1.6 per cent in the first three months of 2025 , likely due to the February 2025 Sales of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise absorbing some demand, said Mr Lim. He has also observed that price growth in the HDB resale market has been increasingly driven by buyers favouring newer flats with longer remaining leases. This preference, especially among home owners looking to move to a flat that better suits their needs, has led to a divergence in price trends between 'younger' and 'older' flats. The agency's analysis showed that unit prices of newer flats – typically, those under 25 years old – have seen stronger appreciation compared with older flats. Mr Lim said lease decay concerns among home buyers have contributed to the faster appreciation for newer units, which are often priced at a premium. Lease decay is the erosion of a flat's value as the end of its 99-year lease approaches. He added that such buyer behaviour is independent of any possible revision to the 15-month wait-out policy and he expects it to remain a key driver of overall price trends. Between 2025 and 2027, more than 50,000 flats will be launched by HDB, including a growing number of Shorter Waiting Time flats and SBF, which will help to absorb demand that might otherwise flow into the resale market, said Mr Mohan. More flats will also hit the market as they complete their minimum occupation period (MOP) – a mandatory stay period (typically five years) before owners are allowed to sell them on the resale market. About 13,500 flats will reach their MOP in 2026, up from 8,000 in 2025. In 2028, this will rise to 19,500 flats. Mr Chee said he expects that the effect of a strong continued supply of new BTO flats and resale units would moderate resale prices, making it timely for the authorities to consider if the 15-month cooling measure should be partially or entirely removed.
