2025

By Gavin Jones

ROME, Dec 27 (Reuters) – Italy’s parliament on Saturday approved a reform that loosens controls and sanctions regarding public tenders, amid protests from magistrates and opposition lawmakers who say it will encourage wasteful spending and possible illegality.

The reform, presented by Giorgia Meloni’s coalition two years ago, limits the powers of Italy’s powerful court of auditors, responsible for ensuring compliance with Italian and European Union rules on the use of public funds.

Meloni’s right-wing government has clashed frequently with various branches of Italy’s judiciary, accusing judges of leftist bias and hampering its initiatives on areas from public works to immigration.

Just two months ago the auditors’ court refused to authorise a landmark government plan to build a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland, a ruling denounced by Meloni as “intolerable interference.”

The bill was passed in the upper house Senate on Saturday by 93 votes to 51.

Among the changes introduced, it stipulates that the maximum penalty for administrators who are negligent in the use of public money cannot exceed 30% of the loss caused by their actions, or the equivalent of two years of their salary.

The bill also contains a “silence means consent” clause by which if an administrator requests the court’s opinion on a spending authorisation, it must reply within 30 days or else the authorisation is deemed valid and the administrator is shielded from any future sanctions.

The government says the changes will help the economy by speeding up procedures and overcoming a widespread hesitation among politicians to sign off on public works for fear of running foul of the auditors’ court.

Members of the court and opposition lawmakers have warned it will lead to wasteful spending and possible malfeasance.

Alfredo Bazoli, a Democratic Party senator, said it showed the government aimed to “demolish controls on those with power.”

The reform comes ahead of a more sweeping and contentious overhaul of Italy’s justice system to separate the career paths of prosecutors and judges, a move the government says will curb conflict of interest between the two groups and political bias.

That reform faces a national referendum in the spring.

(editing by Alexandra Hudson)

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GUATEMALA CITY, Dec 27 (Reuters) – At least 15 people were killed and 19 injured after a passenger bus plunged into a ravine on the Inter-American Highway in western Guatemala, authorities said on Saturday.

“Fifteen people have died in this traffic accident — 11 men, three women and a minor,” Leandro Amado, a spokesperson for local firefighters, told reporters, adding that around 19 injured people were taken to hospitals near the scene.

The crash occurred in the Solola Department between kilometres 172 and 174, an area known for dense fog that reduces visibility for drivers.

Images shared by the fire department on social media early on Saturday showed the wrecked bus in the ravine as firefighters worked to rescue victims.

(Reporting by Sofia Menchu. Editing by Joe Bavier and Mark Potter)

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Dec 26 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday it had captured a new village in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, while Ukraine’s military said that, despite errors, it was defending a larger town in the area.

Russian forces hold about 19% of Ukraine’s territory in the east and south and are engaged in a slow westward drive, announcing the capture of new villages several times a week.

The Russian ministry, writing on Telegram, said it had seized the village of Kosivtseve, north of the town of Huliaipole, which has come under severe Russian pressure in recent weeks.

It said Russian troops had taken more than 23 sq km (nine sq miles) of territory in securing the village, giving the “east” group of forces “a base for further offensive actions”.

Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield reports.

Ukraine’s military acknowledged that one of its units had committed errors in “an unfortunate incident”, when a group of three infiltrating Russian soldiers deceived them into abandoning a post in Huliaipole.

“There were enough of our fighters there to repel three Russian soldiers,” Dmytro Filatov, commander of the first separate assault regiment, told public broadcaster Suspilne.

“Instead of putting up resistance, offering a worthy fight, the command post was abandoned.”

Another unit, the 425th separate assault regiment, wrote on Telegram that its forces had entered Huliaipole and were clearing it of remaining Russian forces.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had deployed drones to prevent fresh Ukrainian troops from entering the town.

One of the focal points for Russia’s campaign has been the former logistics centre of Pokrovsk to the northeast.

One Ukrainian military Telegram channel said Ukrainian forces were in control of the northern part of the largely destroyed city and preventing Russian advances into the centre.

It said reinforcements had been sent to the nearby town of Myrnohrad. The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday its forces were clearing Ukrainian forces from Myrnohrad, known in Russian by its Soviet-era name, Dimitrov,

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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