Thousands of drug inmates set for early release

Thousands of drug inmates set for early release

WASHINGTON

Thousands of federal inmates serving sentences for drug crimes are set for early release next month under a cost-cutting measure intended to reduce the nation’s prison population.

The more than 5,500 inmates set to go free in November are among the first of what eventually could be tens of thousands eligible for release. The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted last year to retroactively apply substantially lower recommended sentences for those convicted of drug-related felonies.

The commission, an independent panel that sets federal sentencing policy, estimated the prison terms would be cut by an average of 25 months.

Turkey reports another air confrontation

ISTANBUL

Even as NATO called an emergency meeting Monday to denounce Russia’s repeated violations of Turkish airspace, another incident was unfolding, with Russian or Syrian forces threatening Turkish F-16 fighter jets as they conducted a routine patrol along the Syrian border, the Turkish army said Tuesday.

In a statement, the Turkish general staff said a MiG-29 jet fighter locked its radar on a group of eight F-16s Monday for more than four minutes at the same time that Syrian air-defense missiles also locked their radar on the Turkish warplanes.

The terse bulletin did not identify the country operating the MiG-29. The aircraft is Russian-made, but Russia is not known to have them in Syria. The Syrian air force, however, does operate the planes.

It was the third such incident in as many days. On Monday, NATO said Russian planes on bombing runs in Syria had crossed into Turkish airspace on both Saturday and Sunday. NATO labeled the incursions “reckless behavior” that caused “extreme danger.”

EU offers Turkey incentives to better tackle refugee crisis

BRUSSELS

The European Union is ready to offer Turkey new incentives to better tackle the Syria refugee crisis, including money, the easing of visa restrictions and better intelligence sharing.

The offer came in an action plan unveiled Tuesday, which in exchange, would see Turkey improve its asylum and documentation procedures and beef up border security.

About 2 million refugees from Syria are currently in Turkey, and tens of thousands of others have entered the EU via Greece this year, overwhelming coast guards and reception facilities.

Harvard debate team loses to New York inmates

BOSTON

Months after winning a national title, Harvard’s debate team has fallen to a group of New York inmates.

The showdown took place at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison where convicts can take courses taught by faculty from nearby Bard College, and where inmates have formed a popular debate club. Last month, they invited the Ivy League undergraduates and this year’s national debate champions over for a friendly competition.

The Harvard debate team also was crowned world champions in 2014. But the inmates are building a reputation of their own. In the two years since they started a debate club, the prisoners have beaten teams from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of Vermont. The competition with West Point, which is now an annual affair, has grown into a rivalry.

Combined dispatches