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The Star
a day ago
- Politics
- The Star
Italy to add 15,000 prison places to ease overcrowding
FILE PHOTO: An inmate leans against a corridor barred door inside San Vittore prison in Milan, Italy, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo ROME (Reuters) -Italy's government has pledged to expand prison capacity by up 15,000 places and facilitate the transfer of inmates with addiction problems to treatment centres to tackle a long-standing overcrowding crisis. The plight of prisoners has attracted more attention in Italy following a record number of suicides last year and complaints about soaring summer temperatures in detention facilities that are not air-conditioned. As of July 15, the country had 62,986 inmates, and an effective capacity in prisons of 47,289, justice ministry data showed. This gives Italy an occupancy rate of around 133%, one of the worst in Europe. According to the World Prison Brief database, only Cyprus, and France fare worse. Last year the Italian parliament approved a law to improve jail conditions, but it had little practical effect. "We believe that a just state should adjust the capacity of prisons to the number of people that need to serve their sentences," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement late on Tuesday. Her government presented a 758-million-euro ($890 million) plan to expand prison capacity by almost 10,000 by 2027, and a separate initiative for which it gave no budget to create an additional 5,000 places within five years. It also adopted a draft law - which will need parliamentary approval - to allow a sizeable portion of inmates with alcohol or drug addictions to leave prison and serve their sentences in rehab centres. "These are people who need treatment rather than criminals who need punishment," Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said, noting that inmates with addiction issues make up almost a third of the prison population. Nordio also referred to last week's announcement that up to around 10,000 inmates nearing the end of their sentencing could be eligible for house arrest or probation. His ministry has set up a taskforce to speed up the assessment of these cases. The early release of prisoners is set to be gradual, however, partly due to the political sensitivity of the move for a right-wing government such as Meloni's, known for its tough approach on law and order. ($1 = 0.8513 euros) (Reporting by Alvise Armellini and Angelo Amante; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
The Star
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Italy may release up 10,000 people from prison to ease overcrowding
FILE PHOTO: An inmate leans against a corridor barred door inside San Vittore prison in Milan, Italy, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo ROME (Reuters) -Italy may release up to around 10,000 people from prison, or about 15% of the total population of inmates, to ease overcrowding, the Justice Ministry has announced. Some 10,105 prisoners are "potentially eligible" for alternative measures to prison, such as house arrest or probation, the ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday. The option would apply to people whose convictions are final and no longer subject to appeal, less than 2 years of sentences left to serve, and no serious disciplinary offences in the past 12 months. People serving time for serious crimes such as terrorism, organized crime, rape, migrant trafficking and kidnapping would be excluded, the ministry added. According to the World Prison Brief database, Italy has one of Europe's worst prison overcrowding records, with an occupancy level of around 122%. Any level above 100% indicates that prisons are occupied above their maximum capacity. Only Cyprus, France and Turkey have higher scores in Europe, according to the database. The plight of prisoners has attracted attention in Italy following a rise in suicides and complaints about soaring summer temperatures in detention facilities that are not air- conditioned. However, the early release of prisoners is a politically sensitive move, and the Justice Ministry indicated that it would not happen overnight. It said it had set up a taskforce to liaise with prisons and parole judges to facilitate decisions on individual cases, which will meet weekly and report on its work by September. (Reporting by Alvise ArmelliniEditing by Frances Kerry)
The Star
14-07-2025
- Climate
- The Star
Heatwaves in Spain caused 1,180 deaths in past two months, ministry says
People walk during a heatwave, in Seville, Spain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Greco MADRID (Reuters) -High temperatures caused 1,180 deaths in Spain in the past two months, a sharp increase from the same period last year, the Environment Ministry said on Monday. The vast majority of people who died were over 65 and more than half were women, the data it cited showed. The most affected regions were Galicia, La Rioja, Asturias and Cantabria - all located in the northern half of the country, where traditionally cooler summer temperatures have seen a significant rise in recent years. Like other countries in Western Europe, Spain has been hit by extreme heat in recent weeks, with temperatures often topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The 1,180 people who died of heat-related causes between May 16 and July 13 compared with 70 in the same period in 2024, the ministry said in a statement citing data from the Carlos III Health Institute. The number of deaths increased significantly in the first week in July. The data shows an event "of exceptional intensity, characterized by an unprecedented increase in average temperatures and a significant increase in mortality attributable to heatwaves", the ministry said. In the period the data covers, there were 76 red alerts for extreme heat, compared with none a year earlier. Last summer, 2,191 deaths were attributed to heat-related causes in Spain, according to data from the Carlos III Health Institute. The data from Spain follows a rapid scientific analysis published on July 9 that said around 2,300 people died of heat-related causes across 12 European cities during a severe heatwave in the 10 days to July 2. It was not immediately clear whether the study conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was using the same methodology as the Spanish data. (Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; Editing by Alison Williams)
The Star
10-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Soccer-Italy's FA approves Serie A request for AC Milan to play Como in Australia
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - AC Milan v Como - San Siro, Milan, Italy - March 15, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo (Reuters) -AC Milan's Serie A clash with Como could become the first major European domestic league fixture played outside its home country after Italy's football federation (FIGC) gave the green light on Thursday for the match to be staged in Perth, Australia. The venue switch stems from Olympics logistics rather than commercial ambition as Milan's iconic San Siro Stadium will be unavailable that weekend when it hosts the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics on February 6. The proposal moves European football into uncharted territory after previous requests to stage domestic league matches abroad were knocked back by authorities. "The Federal Council gave a positive opinion to the Lega Serie A's request to play Milan-Como in Perth," the FIGC said in a statement. "This brings closer what would be a historic 'trip' abroad for a Serie A match." However, the FIGC cautioned that the "complex authorisation procedure" still requires formal approval from Football Australia, UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA before the historic fixture can kick off Down Under. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Straits Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Blistering heat, empty chairs and the C-word mar UN's flagship development event
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during the opening segment of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, in Seville, Spain, June 30, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Greco SEVILLE - Brutal heat scorched Spain this week, a blistering reminder of the climate change that is battering the world's poorest countries - stretching their finances even as government debt climbs to new heights. But at a once-a-decade UN development finance conference in Seville, two key ingredients were in less abundance: money and power. Just one G7 leader - France's Emmanuel Macron - attended the event, where he and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addressed rooms filled with dozens of empty chairs. Organisers initially said they expected 70 heads of state; that was whittled to 50 as the conference got underway. Back in Washington, Paris, London and Berlin, rich-country leaders are slashing aid and cutting bilateral lending in a pivot to defence spending and rising debt at home. "The mood is ... I would say realistic, but also a sense of unity and of pragmatism," said Alvaro Lario, president of the International Fund of Agricultural Development, adding the question on everyone's mind this week was how to do more with less. "How can we come together, or think out of the box, or create new type of ways of really stretching it more?" The Financing For Development meeting is a flagship UN conference, charting the trajectory to help tackle changes the world must make to tax policies, aid spending or key areas such as debt, health and education. Its outcomes guide global aid funding and UN policies for the decade to come. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Seller's stamp duty rates for private homes raised; holding period increased from 3 years to 4 Singapore Sengkang murder: Man accused of killing elderly mother escorted back to crime scene Singapore Multiple charges for man accused of damaging PAP campaign materials on GE2025 Polling Day Asia Japan urges evacuation of small island as 1,000 quakes hit region Singapore Jail for man who recruited 2 Japanese women for prostitution at MBS World Trump eyes simple tariff rates over complex talks, says letters will start going out on July 4 World Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending Bill wins congressional approval Asia Indonesian rescuers widen search for missing after ferry sinks EMPTY CHAIRS, MISSING LEADERS Few disagree over the need for action; hundred-year floods and storms are happening with alarming regularity, and rising debt-servicing costs are siphoning money away from health, education and infrastructure spending in the developing world. But even top developing-world leaders Mia Mottley, the Barbados prime minister and prominent global climate champion, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, currently chairing the Group of 20 major economies, backed out of the event at the last minute. The media room was stacked with bored-looking Spanish press gossiping about a domestic political scandal while disillusioned civil-society leaders stalked the halls, upset with the watered-down agenda and the lack of fiscal or political firepower. "We are facing a backsliding of many agendas that we had advanced a few years ago," said Henrique Frota, director of ABONG, a Brazilian association of NGOs. "Developed countries are reducing their investment in (official development assistance) and European countries are not fulfilling their commitment ... they are giving less and less money right now for every kind of agenda." Event leaders were relieved to produce an outcome document - despite gnawing fears in the past months that Washington would torpedo any deal. In the end, U.S. officials backed out altogether. "The entire community was very afraid of coming here because one country wasn't attending," said UN Assistant Secretary General Marcos Neto. "But the document ended up working out ... I'm leaving happy, with more optimism than I thought I would leave with." Neto highlighted significant steps toward implementing climate and development goals, including the Seville Platform and multiple agreements from public and private sectors to leverage funds for the biggest possible impact. The Seville Commitment included tripling multilateral lending capacity, debt relief, a push to boost tax-to-GDP ratios to at least 15%, and get more rich countries to let the IMF use "special drawing rights" money for countries that need it most. But in Seville, only host nation Spain signed on to commit 50% of its "Special Drawing Rights" for the purpose. THE C-WORD UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed acknowledged that the attendance was not as star-studded as hoped, and that public funds are under pressure. "But there's innovative financing, there's the private sector, there's the triple lending of MDBs ... so the resources are there," she said. "We just have to have the political will to leverage through these mechanisms that have come out of the platform of action and continue moving with them." U.S. President Donald Trump, despite his country's absence, loomed large over the event; his climate change scepticism, hostility toward diversity initiatives and pledge to review U.S. participation in multilateral organizations made some keen to strip the "c-word" - climate change - and rebrand initiatives as focused on resilience, education or health. Still, some say the gloomy backdrop should not deter leaders focused on progress. "Ultimately the important thing is doing it," said Jose Vinals, former group chairman of Standard Chartered and co-chair of both the FFD4 Business Steering Committee and the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance. "The private sector is, for the most part, still willing to walk the talk." REUTERS
