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☆ Italy's first female prime minister leads the most far-right government since the fascist era of Mussolini
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Giorgia Meloni has become Italy's first female Prime Minister. Her new government is set to be the most right-wing since the era of Benito Mussolini. She's previously said, "No to the violence of Islam, yes to safer borders, no to mass immigration." Her new government has already shown signs of political tensions, with the leader of the Forza party, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, having left a note in public view at the opening of Parliament calling the new prime minister as overbearing, domineering, arrogant, and offensive, according to Politico. League leader Matteo Salvini, Meloni's other far-right ally, has also long been seen as a Putin admirer, reported the BBC.

☆ Italy's far-right leader Giorgia Meloni forms new government
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A presidential palace official announced that Ms Meloni and her Cabinet would be sworn in on Saturday. Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, a party with neo-fascist roots, secured the most votes in Italy’s national election last month. Meloni made no public comments before leaving the Quirinal presidential palace. Giorgia Meloni, center, leaves the Quirinale Presidential Palace in Rome on Friday. Berlusconi and Salvini are long-time admirers of Russian President Vladimir Putin; Meloni staunchly backs Ukraine in its defence against the Russian invasion.

Share this -Link copiedSteve Bannon sentenced to four months Bannon was sentenced to four months in federal prison along with a $6,500 fine. He noted Bannon had not been employed in the executive branch for several years and so was unlikely to possess information that would be covered by executive privilege. Share this -Link copiedNo comments from Bannon Bannon declined to make a comment before the judge imposes his sentence, saying his lawyers had spoken for him. The committee countered that executive privilege should not extend to Bannon, because he was not working for the White House at the time. Share this -Link copiedThis isn't the end of Bannon's legal troubles Bannon has more legal problems on the horizon.

Prosecutors decried Bannon 'stunt' Prosecutors have noted in the past that Trump lawyer Justin Clark had repeatedly told Bannon and his attorney that they were taking their executive privilege claims too far. Share this -Link copiedCourt in session Court is in session around 9 a.m. Share this -Link copiedBannon arrives to court Bannon arrived to federal court just after 8:30 a.m. The committee countered that executive privilege should not extend to Bannon, because he was not working for the White House at the time. Share this -Link copiedThis isn't the end of Bannon's legal troubles Bannon has more legal problems on the horizon.

☆ (OFFICIAL) Key ministers in new Italian government
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Italy's newly appointed Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks to the media following a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace in Rome, Italy October 21, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneROME, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Giorgia Meloni's Italian government will be sworn in on Saturday at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT). Here the profiles of some of the key figures:ECONOMY MINISTERGiancarlo Giorgetti, 55, is a veteran political wheeler-dealer viewed as a moderate and relatively pro-European member of his right-wing League party. He was not Prime Minister Meloni's first choice for the job. Meloni insisted on him for the job, overcoming resistance from Berlusconi who wanted a Forza Italia member in the justice ministry.

☆ Low-key 'fixer' Giorgetti named Italy's economy minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Gavin Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

read moreTim Jones, euro zone analyst for market consultancy firm Medley Advisors, said "long-time League fixer" Giorgetti was a better fit. I don't know if I'd be able to be economy minister." As industry minister, he helped block a number of Chinese takeover bids in strategic sectors of Italy's economy. "He backed Maroni when he got rid of Bossi, he backed Salvini when he got rid of Maroni and then he backed Draghi who undermined Salvini," said the source, asking not to be named. Tellingly, when Meloni proposed Giorgetti as economy minister, Salvini said he should be counted as an external figure, rather than part of the League's quota of ministers, a party source said.

☆ Analysis: Method or madness? Berlusconi's Russia stance hurts Meloni and Italy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Meloni, leader of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, has strongly defended Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February and has supported Western sanctions against Moscow. Berlusconi's pro-Putin remarks came in front of dozens of Forza Italia lawmakers and Napoli believed the risk of information being leaked to the press was obviously high. Some analysts believe there is no clear strategy behind Berlusconi's comments and that they could backfire and even jeopardise Tajani's chances of becoming foreign minister. Giovanni Orsina, a politics professor at Rome's Luiss university said Berlusconi has demolished his own argument that Forza Italia can be a moderating influence on the government. "It is hard to imagine that this is rational because Berlusconi and his party are the first to be damaged ...

ROME — Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian leader who recently returned to frontline politics, has reconnected with his old friend Russian President Vladimir Putin with an exchange of gifts and “sweet” letters over his recent birthday. “I reconnected with President Putin — a little bit, well a lot,” the 86-year-old reportedly said during a conversation with lawmakers from his center-right Forza Italia party, according to Italy’s LaPresse news agency which published the comments. Meloni needs the support of Forza Italia to keep its majority in the Senate and the lower house of parliament. ... Berlusconi who reconnects with the invader of Ukraine?”It’s not the first time Berlusconi has seemingly defended Putin with whom he has a long and friendly history. Later he backtracked, saying his words had been “oversimplified.”Berlusconi responded with a joke when asked about his latest comments by reporters, although his Forza Italia party tried to distance itself from the comments.

☆ Row over Mussolini photo as Italy's Meloni readies for power
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Leader of Brothers of Italy party Giorgia Meloni attends the fourth voting session to elect the new speaker, at the lower house of parliament, in Rome, Italy, October 14, 2022. The Mussolini portrait will be taken down "to avoid polemics and manipulations," the industry ministry said in a statement. The statement noted that another picture of Mussolini hangs in Palazzo Chigi, the prime minister's office, along with portraits of other Italian heads of government. Earlier, former centre-left leader and industry minister Pier Luigi Bersani chafed at being hung alongside Italy's late dictator. The public sector chapter of the CGIL, Italy's largest trade union, was also outraged, condemning the "deplorable" display and calling for its immediate removal.

☆ The head of the ADL slams Trump's comments as 'disgusting' after the former president said American Jews 'have to get their act together'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump on Sunday wrote that US Jews "have to get their act together" on matters relating to Israel. "Support for the Jewish state never gives one license to lecture American Jews," the AJC tweeted. The American Jewish Committee also criticized Trump's post. Those remarks were also criticized by the American Jewish Committee, which called the comments antisemitic. "His past support for Israel doesn't give him license to traffic in radioactive antisemitic tropes — or peddle unfounded conclusions about the unbreakable ties that bind American Jews to Israel.

☆ Putin's Russia 'has become a fascist state' and must be stopped in Ukraine, says ex-diplomat who defected after the invasion
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russia "has become a fascist state," argues an ex-diplomat who resigned over the war in Ukraine. "The invasion of Ukraine made it impossible to deny just how brutal and repressive Russia had become," Bondarev wrote. "The war," he continued, "shows that Russia is no longer just dictatorial and aggressive; it has become a fascist state." "The sanctions suddenly cut off our access to these products and left our military weaker than the West understood," Bondarev wrote. "There's only one thing that can really stop Putin," Bondarev wrote, "and that is a comprehensive rout."

☆ Violence, chauvinism, and no masturbation allowed: 'We Are Proud Boys' details the 4 tiers of membership in the extremist group
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A new book, "We Are Proud Boys," details the four tiers of membership in the extremist organization. The top Proud Boy tier requires an arrest or a "serious violent fight," per founder Gavin McInnes. "The Proud Boys' actions," notes the Southern Poverty Law Center, "belie their disavowals of bigotry: Rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists." While Proud Boys are encouraged to boast of their membership, obfuscation is an essential part of being in the group. Tarrio was not in DC the day of the attack but, prosecutors allege, helped direct his fellow Proud Boys' actions from afar.

Newly elected Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa gives his first speech in the upper house of parliament in Rome, Italy, October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Yara NardiROME, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Italy's new rightist coalition got off to an inauspicious start on Thursday when it split over the election of the Senate speaker, who clinched the post despite a revolt by Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party. The right-wing bloc, which includes Brothers of Italy, Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini's League, have promised to bring political stability to the country after years of short-lived governments. "I will try with all my efforts to be the speaker for everybody," La Russa told the senators, as opposition chiefs denied they were responsible for his election. Former businessman Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist Action party, denied his senators provided La Russa with the votes he needed.

☆ Holocaust survivor to oversee start of rightist Italian parliament
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Senator Liliana Segre attends a debate ahead of a confidence vote at the upper house of parliament after former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi pulled his party out of government, in Rome, Italy, January 19, 2021. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/Pool/File PhotoROME, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Italy's new parliament opens on Thursday, with a Holocaust survivor due to preside over the first session of the upper house Senate as the most right-wing coalition since World War Two takes control of both chambers. Liliana Segre was the only member of her family to emerge alive from the Nazi Auschwitz concentration camp at the end of the war. Honoured as a senator for life, the 92 year-old is the oldest active member of the house, meaning she will start proceedings. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterAdditional reporting by Angelo Amante; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Michael Cohen says Trump is a 'poster boy for fascism': 'I helped create this Frankenstein's monster'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In his new book, "Revenge," Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen accused him of being a fascist. Cohen said the US is "in danger" of losing its government to fascists who want to destroy democracy. He called Trump the "standard bearer for corrupt dictator wannabes" and a "poster boy for fascism." In his book, Cohen also accused Trump of being a "mirror into the depths of the soul of government corruption." Since his release, Cohen has become an outspoken critic of Trump and has commented extensively on the former president's many legal troubles.

☆ Fact Check-Satirical tweet claiming U.S. ‘progressives’ are calling for Olive Garden boycott after Meloni election victory in Italy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A satirical tweet claiming that “progressive” groups in the United States have called for a national boycott of the restaurant chain Olive Garden after Giorgia Meloni’s election victory in Italy has duped users online. The tweet reads: “BREAKING: Progressive groups call for national boycott of Olive Garden after Italy elects ‘fascist’ Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.”"Pizza and pasta are now symbols of worldwide white supremacy," they wrote. While some social media users felt the tweet was satire, others were duped into thinking that it was authentic. Meloni is likely to become the head of Italy’s most right-wing government since World War Two, after leading a conservative alliance to victory at Sunday's election (here). The tweet claiming “progressives” are calling for a nationwide boycott of the restaurant chain Olive Garden following Giorgia Meloni’s victory in the Italian elections was intended as satirical.

A total of 42% of Republicans in the U.S. identify as “MAGA” Republicans, while 58% disavow the term, according to a new national poll by J. Ann Selzer and Grinnell College. Overall, 17% of respondents said they identify as MAGA Republican when told the phrase and asked if it describes them, the poll found. The survey offered a deep dive into the demographics of the Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who embrace the “MAGA” label. They are disproportionately male (59%), 55 and older (55%), white (77%), lacking a college degree (76%), and make more than $50,000 a year (60%). Substantial majorities identify as conservative (81%), strong Republicans (65%) and Protestant (61%).

After Ukrainian forces stage ambushes and cut off the key access route to the capital, Russian soldiers tell their relatives that the military strategy is failing. … That’s what we’re fucking going to do, it seems. “Frankly speaking, nobody understands why we have to fight this war," Sergey tells his girlfriend. Replay‘I’ll quit at once.’Frustrated by continuous setbacks and fearing for their lives, Russian soldiers say they are fed up with the military. As quickly as they came, the Russian soldiers in northern Kyiv withdrew, regrouped and pivoted east, where Russian-backed separatists have been waging war for over eight years.

☆ Fact Check-Video showing Italian neo-fascist group tearing down EU flag is from 2013
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The video shows a 2013 protest where an Italian neo-fascist group tore down the European Union flag at the European Commission headquarters in Rome. The text in one post reads: “Italy… The EU flag is torn down and replaced by the Italian flag. “As a coalition of right-leaning parties stood poised to form a new government in Italy after Sunday's elections, a group of Italian protestors reportedly torn (sic) down the European Union flag from the E.U. 's headquarters in Rome,” reads part of another post (here). The video shows an Italian neo-fascist group tearing down the European Union flag at the European Commission headquarters in Rome in 2013, not 2022.

☆ LGBTQ Italians on alert as right-wing alliance triumphs in election
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

BERLIN — The triumph of a right-wing alliance in Italy’s election has raised concern among LGBTQ advocates, who fear nationalist leader Giorgia Meloni could adopt anti-gay policies as prime minister and set back their efforts to boost equality. What is Meloni’s stance on LGBTQ rights? Days before the election, however, a senior member of her Brothers of Italy (FdI) group suggested same-sex parenting was not normal. Despite lagging most of its EU neighbors on LGBTQ rights, a 2020 study by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center found 75% of Italians think homosexuality should be accepted. In the northern city of Verona, Stefano Ambrosini, a gay 28-year-old PhD student, said he feared Meloni’s election triumph could lead to an increase in homophobic violence.

☆ The Italian Right’s Moment of Truth
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Italians went to the polls to elect a new government Sunday, and exit polls suggest the big winner will be a right-wing coalition led by Giorgia Meloni . Freakouts over Italian conservatives have become so common in recent years one might well ask what’s different this time. Ms. Meloni leads the Brothers of Italy, a party with a lineage tracing to the fascist parties of the country’s past. She campaigned on culture-war issues such as her opposition to the “LGBTQ lobby.” Her coalition also brings back into proximity with power the League of Matteo Salvini and the Forza Italia party of Silvio Berlusconi , both European bogeymen in different ways.

Giorgia Meloni, a nationalist accused by political rivals and experts of spreading white supremacist ideas, was on Monday set to become Italy's first far-right leader since World War II. The results confirm her party’s rise from a radical fringe group to the driving force in right-wing Italian politics. Meloni, who would be Italy's first female leader, and the Brothers of Italy advocate naval blockades to stop unauthorized migration from Africa. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, in Rome on Monday. Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni casts her vote at a polling station in Rome on Sunday.

☆ A look at Giorgia Meloni's ascent to power as a far-right leader set to become Italy's next prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Far-right politician Giorgia Meloni is poised to become Italy's first woman prime minister. The 45-year-old ascended to power after she joined the Italian Social Movement as a youth activist in her teenage years. Sign up for our newsletter to receive our top stories based on your reading preferences — delivered daily to your inbox. "It's a victory I want to dedicate to everyone who is no longer with us and wanted this night," Meloni said to a crowd of supporters, according to the news outlet. One decade later, Meloni became Italy's youngest minister when she was appointed to the youth portfolio in 2008 during the reign of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

☆ "Finally!" Brothers of Italy militants in tears after victory
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Leader of Brothers of Italy Giorgia Meloni waves at the party's election night headquarters, in Rome, Italy September 26, 2022. "It's a dream," Fabio Rampelli, a party founder, told Reuters as he hugged a tearful activist who whispered to him the single word, "finally!". She says the flame represents the evolution of the Italian right, while critics say it is a vestige of the old MSI who used the same symbol. Marco Marsilio, Brothers of Italy's president of the central Abruzzo region, said he had been waiting for this moment all his life. The Italian hard right has its historical strongholds in central and southern Italy, but some of its militants come from regions with a left-wing tradition.

☆ Italy’s right-wing winners inherit poison chalice
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Soaring energy prices are destabilising large sections of Italy’s economy, possibly leading to rationing and a recession. League leader Salvini, a former eurosceptic who has backed Russian President Vladimir Putin, favours borrowing 30 billion euros to subsidise energy bills. Follow @LJucca on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSGiorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy emerged as the largest party in Italy’s parliament in the general election on Sept. 25. With counting nearly complete on Sept. 26, Meloni’s party had attracted nearly 26% of preferences, according to Interior Ministry data. The coalition is expected to form a government by the end of October with 45-year-old Meloni as prime minister, the first female premier in Italy’s history.

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