D.C. may pay people to not commit crimes
WASHINGTON – They say crime doesn’t pay, but that might not be entirely true in the District of Columbia as lawmakers look for ways to discourage people from becoming repeat offenders.
The D.C. Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a bill that includes a proposal to pay residents a stipend not to commit crimes. It’s based on a program in Richmond, California, that advocates say has contributed to deep reductions in crime there.
Under the bill, city officials would identify up to 200 people a year who are considered at risk of either committing or becoming victims of violent crime. Those people would be directed to participate in behavioral therapy and other programs. If they fulfill those obligations and stay out of trouble, they would be paid.
Participants in the California program receive up to $9,000 per year.
Syria allows aid into rebel-held region
GENEVA – The Syrian government allowed aid into a rebel-held area near Damascus on Tuesday in what appeared to be a goodwill gesture after U.N.-mediated indirect peace talks got off to a rocky start in Geneva.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent delivered 14 trucks of aid provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the al-Tal suburb, said Damascus-based ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek. He told The Associated Press the delivery included food and hygiene kits for some 3,500 families as well as 25 metric tons of bulk food.
The Syrian opposition had demanded that aid be allowed into 18 besieged areas throughout the country and that Syrian and Russian forces halt the bombardment of rebel-held areas ahead of the talks, which officially began Monday.
Opposition official Ahmad Ramadan dismissed the aid shipment to al-Tal as an empty gesture, saying “the only way” to save the negotiations is for “the United Nations and the United States to force an end to bombardment and the targeting of civilians.”
Associated Press
