Hard Numbers: UK prisons hit capacity, Lula’s head injury keeps him home from BRICS, South Korea mulls sending weapons to Ukraine, Peru’s former president convicted

October 22, 2024

Around 1,100 inmates are expected to be let out early in an attempt to ease overcrowding in prisons.

PA Images

1,100: About 1,100 inmates were released early in England and Wales on Tuesday as part of the government’s policy to free up prison space. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing public backlash over the decision. He said he “shares the public’s anger” over footage of criminals celebrating their early releases outside prisons, but noted that “If we had not acted, we would have faced a complete paralysis of the system.” The UK’s prisons are at capacity because of a combination of tougher sentences, rises in violent crime, and an increase of people in prison on remand.

5: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will not be attending the BRICS summit in person this week in Russia because he is recovering from a serious head injury following a fall at home over the weekend. According to his doctor, the fall caused “great” trauma to the back of his head, requiring five stitches for the injury and resulting in a “small brain hemorrhage” in the temporal-frontal region.

1,500: A senior official from the office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that Seoul could consider providing defensive and lethal weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea purportedly shipping 1,500 special forces personnel to Russia to assist in the war. The prospect underscores the potential for the divided Korean peninsula to become entangled in the conflict in Eastern Europe.

20: Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo was convicted of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday. Toledo, a 78-year-old economist, is convicted of taking $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for letting it build the road connecting Peru’s southern coast with an Amazonian area in western Brazil.

The World Economic Outlook is rosy … on the surface at least

Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen speaks about her key priorities for the 2024 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank during a press conference in Washington DC, USA, on October 22, 2024, at the Department of Treasury Headquarters.

(Photo by Lenin Nolly/NurPhoto)

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank released their much-watched World Economic Outlook on Tuesday, projecting that the world economy will grow by 3.2% in 2025 as inflation cools to an average of 4.3%.

Another BRIC in Vladimir Putin’s wall

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a welcoming ceremony for participants of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia October 22, 2024.

REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

For an “isolated” world leader with a global arrest warrant to his name, Vladimir Putin is throwing a pretty decent party this week. Russia is hosting a summit of the BRICS+, a loose grouping of Global “South” countries led by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Complex, challenging, and increasingly dangerous: Findings from the 2024 Microsoft Digital Defense Report

Microsoft

In the last year, the cyber threat landscape continued to become more dangerous and complex. The malign actors of the world are becoming better resourced and better prepared, with increasingly sophisticated tactics, techniques, and tools that challenge even the world’s best cybersecurity defenders. Microsoft published its 5th annual Microsoft Digital Defense Report sharing insights and trends from cyberattacks between July 2023 and June 2024. Explore the findings here.

"Walmart has helped us lead the trend of non-alcoholic beer"

Walmart

Walmart is fueling American jobs and strengthening communities by investing in local businesses. Athletic Brewing landed a deal with Walmart in 2021. Since then, co-founders Bill Shufelt and John Walker have hired more than 200 employees and built a150,000-square-foot brewery in Milford, CT. Athletic Brewing is one of many US-based suppliers working with Walmart. By 2030, the retailer is estimated to support the creation of over 750,000 US jobs by investing an additional $350 billion in products made, grown, or assembled in America. Learn more about Walmart’s commitment to US manufacturing.

Hard Numbers: UK prisons hit capacity, Lula’s head injury keeps him home from BRICS, South Korea mulls sending weapons to Ukraine, Peru’s former president convicted

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For an “isolated” world leader with a global arrest warrant to his name, Vladimir Putin is throwing a pretty decent party this week. Russia is hosting a summit of the BRICS+, a loose grouping of Global “South” countries led by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

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Hard Numbers: UK prisons hit capacity, Lula’s head injury keeps him home from BRICS, South Korea mulls sending weapons to Ukraine, Peru’s former president convicted

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More from GZERO Media

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank released their much-watched World Economic Outlook on Tuesday, projecting that the world economy will grow by 3.2% in 2025 as inflation cools to an average of 4.3%.

When Americans head to the polls on Nov. 5, they’ll vote for more than just the next president.

The FBI on Tuesday announced it’s investigating a leak of US intelligence documents that offer details on Israel’s potential plans for retaliation against Iran over its missile attack earlier this month.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

For an “isolated” world leader with a global arrest warrant to his name, Vladimir Putin is throwing a pretty decent party this week. Russia is hosting a summit of the BRICS+, a loose grouping of Global “South” countries led by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

BRICS Summit: A "new world order" or already a relic of the past? Is Sinwar's death the beginning of the end of the war in Gaza? Yankees versus Dodgers. Who's winning? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

The US Commerce Department is looking into whether Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is — knowingly or unknowingly — producing computer chips for the Chinese technology giant Huawei.