Good morning from the Today editorial team. Here’s Start, the news you need to know to start the day: It’s Friday, September 29, 2023.
Clash of migrants. When Italy stops reforming the Dublin Treaty (temporarily), a conflict arises with Germany; the dispute shifts to the EU regulation to deal with crises like the one in Lampedusa. In fact, Rome demands that in the passage that provides for measures against those who use migration as a hybrid weapon, not only third countries but also the vessels of civil society are mentioned. At the moment, 7 are traveling “under the German flag” in the Mediterranean, 4 of which are in the Italian special administrative region. The government senses something burning, but has no reason to. If you talk about NGOs as a pull factor again (as Tajani also did yesterday), it seems to be a purely Italian gamble: 95% of the migrants who disembark are rescued by the coast guard. Between 2019 and 2023, departures on days when NGOs were off the Libyan coast were even lower than on days when they were not. We are witnessing internal competition among the right in search of consensus. With Salvini pressuring her every day, Meloni is being encouraged to take a harder line: permanent campaigning and real solutions – already very difficult in themselves – even further away.
Still a femicide. A 35-year-old woman of Albanian origin, Vefa Klodiana, was killed on the street in Castelfiorentino (Florence) as she returned home from work. The murderer shot her in the back of the head. Hunt for the husband from whom the woman separated. Last night around 8 p.m. several people heard the shot and called the police. An execution in style because the man shot her with a single fatal shot to the back of the head. The blood trail of femicide never ends. Vefa Klodiana leaves behind two teenage children.
Payroll increases. The combination between the reduction of the tax burden, which the Meloni government wants to extend with the next budget, and the introduction of the first module of the IRPEF reform, which would bring the tax rate of 23% from 15 to 28,000 euros of income (was ). (confirmed by Economy Minister Giorgetti to support families and low earners) will bring between 67 and 120 euros more per month to Italians’ paychecks next year: the calculations were carried out by the National Accounting Foundation.
KHALED, THE ITALIAN. There are concerns about the fate of Khaled el-Qaisi, who was arrested by the Israeli occupation army at Allenby Bridge a month ago as he prepared to return with his wife and son after a holiday in Bethlehem, his hometown Returning home: Since he is imprisoned without charge in Israeli prisons, he cannot even meet a lawyer. The arrest may have stemmed from a chance meeting with “uncomfortable” old friends. The repression of students, intellectuals or ordinary citizens who advocate for the culture and rights of their Palestinian people is nothing new. Khaled is Italian, of Italian-Palestinian descent. If the government doesn’t lift a finger soon, it could spread the message that there are second-class Italians and that diplomatic relations with Israel are more important than dignity.
STANG TO THE LIGHT. Winter is approaching and electricity bills are starting to rise again, significantly. The jump is double digits. The Energy Department has said electricity rates for the 15 million consumers in the sheltered market will rise 18.6% in the fourth quarter. “Wholesale prices are primarily to blame for this.” The increase in electricity had stopped in the last few quarters. The National Consumer Association had called for the abolition of electricity tariffs deducted from April, and not just gas tariffs, to be restored, but that would have cost the state treasury too much. The billing crisis is not over and there could be further increases.
ARRESTED AT OKTOBERFEST. Two 24-year-old Italians from the provinces of Isernia and Matera are now in great danger: They were arrested for giving the Hitler salute during the Oktoberfest in Munich. Saluting with an outstretched hand is prohibited by law and is punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine. The judiciary is usually particularly strict because it is assumed that the Hitler salute is unacceptable everywhere, but this is even more the case in the former “capital” of National Socialism.
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FEAR IN ROTTERDAM. Madness in Rotterdam: A 32-year-old young man in military clothing kills mother and daughter and then shoots the professor. The two shootings at the University Hospital and at a nearby house caused panic and fear of a terrorist attack in the city, but here the motive would be personal.
PUTIN’S NUCLEAR. Russia confirms a 70% increase in defense spending in 2024, making it clear that the offensive in Ukraine remains a priority for Putin, who again points to the nuclear threat: the Russian nuclear sector “introduces cutting-edge technologies in the creation of advanced technologies” . Weapons,” he assures.
MYSTERY IN ALEXANDRIA. The Alessandria massacre, in which Martino Benzi wiped out his family before finishing it, is still a mystery. The killer’s computers are protected by passwords: perhaps there is truth, the motive may not be purely economic.
PHLEGREAN FIELDS. The government announces an ad hoc law to manage the Campi Flegrei area, where almost half a million people live in the “red zone”. In the event of an eruption and an earthquake, there are critical problems in escape routes due to the population density: “It is impossible to believe that the Campi Flegrei will go out, they are an active volcano,” warns the INGV.
THE DISTRIBUTION IS FLYING. The spread rises to 200. Italy’s historical fragility, i.e. the enormous debt burden caused by ever higher interest rates, is once again making our country a kind of “sick man of Europe”.
UNLAWFUL DISCHARGES. It all ended with an email in June, without even a month’s notice. Uber Eats left Italy with the dismissal of 8,000 passengers: “Obviously illegitimate,” according to the Milan court that blocked everything. Relations broken on June 14 must be restored.
COLLAPSE OF ROME. In one of the postponements of the 6th matchday of Serie A, Roma lost 4-1 at Genoa. Mourinho has never been this bad in terms of leading the league in his entire career, but the season is still very long.
THE PHOTO OF THE DAY. Within two weeks, almost identical weather phenomena caused floods and floods in the same place in Europe: central Greece (image below – from thetoc.gr – Hyperia under water). Something incredibly similar to what happened in May in our Emilia-Romagna.
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