Five women are among the names floated to lead a transitional government in Italy in what some speculate could be President Sergio Mattarella’s attempt to break with tradition while the country’s politics are mired in stalemate. Mattarella is seeking a neutral government after rival parties failed to establish a working coalition during a last-ditch attempt on Monday to end the political deadlock that resulted from inconclusive elections on 4 March.

The 76-year-old is expected to name a prime minister on Wednesday to deal with matters such as approving the 2019 budget before fresh elections are held at the end of the year. Names mentioned in the Italian media on Tuesday included Elisabetta Belloni, the foreign ministry’s secretary general, and Marta Cartabia, the deputy head of the constitutional court.

There is also speculation that Lucrezia Reichlin, an economist, Anna Maria Tarantola, a former director of the Bank of Italy and former president of the national broadcaster Rai, and Fabiola Gianotti, the first female director of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), are in the running. Carlo Cottarelli, a former executive director at the International Monetary Fund, is among the male candidates named.

“[Nominating a woman] could really be a window of opportunity for [Mattarella] to try and change some traditions and conventions during a really extraordinary moment in Italian politics,” said Massimiliano Panarari, a politics professor at the Guido Carli Free International University for Social Studies in Rome.(theguardian)…[+]

As Canada prepares to legalize marijuana this summer, politicians are facing growing calls to grant a blanket amnesty for people convicted under the existing drug laws – many of whom belong to marginalized groups.

Since the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was elected in 2015 on a manifesto promise to legalize cannabis, more than 15,000 people have been charged over marijuana-related offences – joining close to 500,000 Canadians with marijuana charges on their criminal record. Activists argue that without an amnesty, hundreds of thousands of people will continue to feel the effects of outdated laws whose enforcement has had a disproportionate impact on racial minorities and the poor. Last week, the Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty launched a petition asking the government to consider pardons for possession charges. The group hopes to gain at least 5,000 signatures by the end of May.(theguardian)…[+]

Facebook is blocking all foreign spending on advertising around Ireland’s upcoming referendum on abortion in an effort to adhere to the “principles” of the country’s election spending laws. With just over two weeks to go until the 25 May vote on liberalising Ireland’s strict abortion laws, Facebook announced it would restrict advertising to organisations and people based in the Republic. The move follows accusations that attempts have been made to swing votes across the world through foreign-funded campaigns and so-called astroturfing.

“This is an issue we have been thinking about for some time,” Facebook said. “Today, as part of our efforts to help protect the integrity of elections and referendums from undue influence, we will begin rejecting ads related to the referendum if they are being run by advertisers based outside of Ireland.”

As part of the process, Ireland has also became the first country outside the US to receive a set of advertiser-transparency tools Facebook promised in early in April. “Our view ads feature – which enables Irish Facebook users to see all of the ads any advertiser is running on Facebook in Ireland at the same time – has been fast tracked and is operational today,” the company said.(theguardian)…[+]