Good morning from the Today editorial team. Here’s Start, the news you need to know to start your day: It’s Wednesday May 24th, 2023.
BAKHMUT IS NO MORE. Bachmut remains a handful of rubble. There are snapshots that mark a before and after in the rest of the world’s perception of the war in Ukraine. This includes the very rare New York Times drone footage. Images that will end up in a peace museum in the future. An overview of burnt buildings, destroyed schools, cratered parks. What may seem like a foggy morning is the acrid smoke billowing from another night of relentless shelling. The city of peace in the Donbass, known for its salt mines and sparkling wine, is being reduced to rubble. The drones also filmed the uncertain steps of some civilians looking for an escape route. However, signs of life are the exception. About 100,000 Russian soldiers were killed and wounded in the battle for Bakhmut. Ukraine also suffered heavy casualties. A meat grinder.
Flooded Bonus. In the first post-flood relief decree, we note a necessary and desired transversal nature of the interventions: from tax deadlines to layoffs, from guarantees for small and medium-sized businesses to the recovery of health facilities. There is also a one-off bonus of up to EUR 3,000 (EUR 298 million is available for this purpose) for self-employed people who had to stop working due to the flood. For Meloni it is the first real test in the face of a serious emergency since his stay at Palazzo Chigi. The Commissioner for Reconstruction may not be Bonaccini: there is Salvini’s veto. In the meantime, the death toll has risen to 15, it should be the final number. The body of 68-year-old Fiorenzo Sangiorgi from Fusignano found, whose disappearance was reported last Wednesday; When he got out of the van, the water had swept him away. Today is national mourning.
Antimafia and controversy. Chiara Colosimo, 37, a member of the Brothers of Italy, is the new President of the Anti-Mafia Commission. Giorgia Meloni’s candidate was elected on the first ballot, to the applause of the majority and the protests of the opposition, who left the hall, with the exception of the Third Pole. Colosimo is Meloni’s “loyal” if there is one. It is part of the Prime Minister’s very small “magic circle”. The proximity to the former black terrorist Nar Ciavardini puts a strain on her. “There is no such thing as friendship,” she assures, but web archives are rarely forgiving. The appeals of the families of the victims of the mafia and terrorism, who urged the political forces not to vote for them, fell on deaf ears. The anti-mafia commission got off to a really bad start, in fact two MPs are on trial for crimes against public administration, Giuseppe Castiglione from Azione and Francesco Silvestro from FI.
ILARIA DEROSA. The Farnesina wants to expel from Saudi Arabia Ilaria De Rosa, the 23-year-old hostess from Treviso who was arrested with unclear contours during a dinner with friends at the end of an anti-drug operation. The impression is that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to intelligence sources. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, crimes related to the use and possession of even the smallest amounts of drugs are considered very serious and carry devastating prison sentences. The young woman has been living in Jeddah for three months, where she works for Avion Express. Minister Tajani is following the story closely. His father, Michele De Rosa, an Air Force officer serving at a NATO base in Belgium, has already reached Arabia.
Racism out of control in football. Seven people have been arrested in the last few hours for racist slurs against Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Vinícius Júnior, a case that quickly took on the dimensions of an international controversy. Spanish police said the arrests were related to two separate incidents. Three in Valencia accused of “hate crimes” for those who took part in the chant of insults – including “monkey” – directed at the Brazilian star during Sunday’s loss to Real. Four arrests in Madrid for the hanging of a mannequin wearing a junior shirt in January. Brazilian President Lula also intervened in the matter. Brazil has officially complained to the Spanish ambassador that the lights at the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro were turned off for an hour.
I would also like to briefly point out that:
RAI SOVEREIGN. Once the Rai News leaders have been selected, the public information will continue to move to the right. Rg1 to Gian Marco Chiocci as premier; Rg2 to Antonio Preziosi (Fi), Rg3 and Rainews remain to Mario Orfeo (Pd) and Paolo Petrecca (FdI). The league keeps the TgR with Alessandro Casarin and adopts the Gr1 with Francesco Pionati. The M5 consoles itself with Giuseppe Carboni in the Rai Parliamento.
Goodbye RDC. In April 2023, the number of families receiving basic income dropped to 956,817. This has not happened since 2020 when it bottomed in October.
COVID WAVE, The virus is no longer scary. But China is preparing for a new wave of Covid-19, which will peak at the end of June with 65 million cases a week. A small peak of the Covid-19 infections with around 40 million infections per week is already expected at the end of May.
GERSHKOVIC REMAINS IN PRISON. The Moscow court has extended the provisional detention of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested last March on espionage charges, until August 31.
THE ANTI-TRUMP. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will announce today that he will run for the White House in a confrontation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. The only credible anti-Trump among Republicans is he.
ITALY CUP. Tonight the Stadio Olimpico in Rome hosts the Coppa Italia final between Inter and Fiorentina. Live from 9pm on Canale 5.
THE PICTURE OF THE DAY. The Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, one of many school massacres across the US, happened a year ago, on May 24, 2022. A boy with semi-automatic weapons broke into the elementary school in the quiet Texas town, taking 19 children and two teachers were killed. Unlike after other massacres, here a group of parents have not resigned themselves to the inevitability of such absurd deaths and have focused their efforts on HB2744, a state bill that would raise the minimum age for the purchase of some semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 years old . The killer here legally bought two “war” rifles just days after he turned 18. If you read the “weird” hashtag #HB2744 on social media today, you’ll know why.
I wish you a nice day today.