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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.

☆ From shining shoes in Africa to a seat in Italy's parliament
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Sleeping rough in the streets was traumatic, especially when I realised that this was the result of a political decision that targeted the migrants," Soumahoro told Reuters. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterNow an Italian citizen, the 42-year-old has a unique opportunity to re-shape such decision-making -- from within parliament. "One thing I will try to do is make sure that no one ends up living in the streets like me. People need to be treated as human beings regardless of what passport they have," he said, speaking ahead of the Oct. 13 opening of parliament. He is reticent about his personal life, saying only that he has a young child and remains in touch with his family in Africa.

☆ General Muhoonzi: Uganda's Museveni apologizes to Kenya for son's invasion tweets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Nimi Princewill Cnn Reuters | Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —President Yoweri Museveni has apologized to Kenyans over tweets posted by his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba that had repeatedly threatened to invade Uganda’s East African neighbor. In a series of tweets on Monday and Tuesday, Kainerugaba posted provocative messages, including proposing the unification of Kenya and Uganda. “It wouldn’t take us, my army and me, 2 weeks to capture Nairobi,” Kainerugaba wrote, referring to Kenya’s capital. Despite his apology, Museveni justified Kainerugaba’s promotion, saying his son had only erred in his comments and not in his service. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni pictured in 2018.

☆ Neither Bolsonaro nor Lula is the best choice for Brazil
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-02 | by ( Arick Wierson | Arick Wierson Is A Six-Time Emmy Award-Winning Television Producer | A Former Senior Aide To Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He Advises Political | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Although Brazil is a multi party country, Sunday’s election has been distilled down to a choice between which of the two viable candidates running is capable of doing the least amount of harm. Sadly, no matter which way the Brazilian electorate decides to go, it will almost certainly mark a wrong turn. The end result is a large number of reluctant voters who cast a vote for a candidate begrudgingly. In many respects, these pressing problems are the result of the policies and actions of Brazilian leadership over the past two decades — inextricably linked to both the Lula and Bolsonaro administrations. While Lula’s track record on the environment is mixed at best, Bolsonaro’s anti-environmental agenda has never been a secret.

☆ ECB policymakers see no need to aid Italy with new scheme: sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But four sources close to ECB decision makers said they saw no need to activate TPI because the market reactions did not appear "disorderly" or "unwarranted" - two key conditions for activating the scheme. The spread, or risk premium, over German debt edged above 250 basis points, the level at which the ECB stepped in last summer. More specifically, countries must respect the European Union's economic prescriptions, have a sustainable public debt and not show any macroeconomic imbalances. Asked about Italy earlier this week, ECB President Christine Lagarde said the scheme would not be used to buy the bonds of countries that make "policy errors" - without singling any out. The ECB can also use proceeds from its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme to buy bonds from indebted countries like Italy above their designated quotas if needed.

☆ 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.

☆ Right-Wing Populism May Rise in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( William A. Galston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Analysts who believed that the surge of right-wing populism had crested in Europe have suffered a series of shocks during the past six months. Democrats, take notice, because the U.S. could be next. In France, Marine Le Pen received 41.5% of the popular vote in her April presidential runoff with Emmanuel Macron , up from 33.9% in 2017. Earlier this month the Sweden Democrats, once a fringe anti-immigrant party, received 20.5% of the vote and became the largest party in the new center-right majority. The party’s leader, Giorgia Meloni , will likely become prime minister.

☆ Italy's Meloni tells Ukraine it can count on her
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Nationalist leader Giorgia Meloni, set to become Italy's next prime minister, has pledged her full support for Kyiv after receiving congratulations from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for her election victory. In a Tweet late on Tuesday, a day after Meloni and her right-wing allies won a commanding parliamentary majority, Zelenskiy said he was looking forward to "fruitful cooperation with the new government". "Dear (Zelenskiy), you know that you can count on our loyal support for the cause of freedom of Ukrainian people. Underscoring the depth of those ties, Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi said last week that Putin had been "pushed" into invading Ukraine and had wanted to put "decent people" in charge of Kyiv. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Euro zone yields fall from multi-year highs tracking UK gilts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Stefano Rebaudo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sept 28 (Reuters) - Euro zone borrowing costs fell on Wednesday, tracking moves in British gilts, after hitting multi-year highs amid monetary tightening expectations and concerns about potentially growing bond supply due to more public spending. The euro area bond market has recently trailed yields in British gilts, which recorded their sharpest rise in decades in response to new finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng's tax cuts and borrowing plans. The German yield curve steepened after being close to inversion last week, with the gap between 2- and 10-year yields hitting an almost 3-week high of 42.7 bps. The jump of yields in British gilts also widened yield spreads between core and peripheral government bonds. gilt&spreadItaly's 10-year bond yield was down 13 bps to 4.6%, after hitting its highest since February 2013 at 4.927%, with the spread between Italian and German 10-year yields tightening to 243 bps.

☆ 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.

☆ Italy's election humbles former populist heroes Salvini and Di Maio
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Gavin Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio listens to the opening remarks of Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi during the opening session of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia July 8, 2022. They picked unknown lawyer Giuseppe Conte as their prime minister, a compromise figure widely seen as a puppet, and installed themselves as his two deputies to dictate policy. In the last four years Di Maio gradually shed all his populist ardour, serving as deputy premier, labour minister, industry minister and foreign minister before eventually quitting 5-Star to form his own centrist party. Eugenio Pizzimenti, politics professor at Pisa University, said that unlike the more charismatic Salvini, Di Maio's support was strongly dependent on that of his party. ECLIPSED BY MELONISalvini's popularity soared during his government with Di Maio, which he brought down after 14 months in a failed bid to become prime minister.

Summary Italy's LGBT community concerned by election resultFears government will only promote 'traditional' valuesRight promises not to roll back rightsROME, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The LGBT community has "very real fears" after a conservative bloc dominated by the far-right won Italy's general election, a leading gay rights campaigner told Reuters. "Unfortunately there are very real fears" about an erosion of civil rights under the new administration, Fabrizio Marrazzo of the Gay Party said. "The League and partly Brothers of Italy have in their manifestos things that are quite negative for our community, like stressing the importance of protecting only the traditional family," Marrazzo said. She presents herself as a defender of Christian values and an enemy of what she calls "gender ideology" and the "LGBT lobby". Leader of Brothers of Italy Giorgia Meloni speaks at the party's election night headquarters, in Rome, Italy September 26, 2022.

☆ Italian state lender CDP readies offer for TIM's network after national vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationMILAN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Italian state lender CDP is readying a preliminary offer for Telecom Italia's landline grid, it said on Tuesday, as it presses ahead with plans to create a single broadband company with Open Fiber after a general election on Sunday. CDP is now expected to submit a non-binding offer in the first half of October, two sources familiar with the matter said, cautioning deliberations are ongoing. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterTIM (TLIT.MI) and CDP reached a preliminary agreement in May aimed at creating a unified broadband champion merging TIM's assets with those of Open Fiber under CDP control. Under the preliminary agreement sealed in May, CDP and TIM aimed for a binding deal by the end of October.

☆ Italy’s Election Winner Will Have to Work With Europe on Economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Margherita Stancati | Marcus Walker | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ROME—Italian election victor Giorgia Meloni faces heavy economic and diplomatic constraints as she seeks to chart a new course with her right-wing coalition. Italy’s high debts and weak growth leave Ms. Meloni’s coalition limited scope for its tax-cutting agenda. Meanwhile, the need for close cooperation with the European Union to tackle the region’s energy crisis and approaching recession will make it hard to follow a more nationalist, EU-skeptic path.

☆ 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.

☆ Italian Right-Winger Giorgia Meloni Wins Election as Economic Clouds Gather
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Margherita Stancati | Marcus Walker | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ROME—Italians elected a right-wing coalition to lead the country, choosing an untested leader who will confront Europe’s gathering economic downturn and energy crisis resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Giorgia Meloni is expected to become Italy’s new prime minister after her Brothers of Italy party won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, according to projections based on counting nearly half of the votes for Italy’s Senate. She will require approval from junior partners in her coalition to assume the role.

The Intel Corporation logo is seen at a temporary office during the World Economic Forum 2022 (WEF) in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland May 25, 2022. A spokesperson for Intel did not comment as negotiations are ongoing and confidential. Among other reasons, the site is well connected with Germany and in particular with the city of Magdeburg, where Intel will build two factories, one of the sources added. Intel and the government had also initially considered sites in the Lombardy, Apulia and Sicily regions. The sources declined to provide further details, but Reuters has previously reported that Rome is ready to fund as much as 40% of Intel's total investment in Italy.

☆ Market reaction to Italy election
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Leader of Brothers of Italy Giorgia Meloni reacts at the party's election night headquarters, in Rome, Italy September 26, 2022. read moreFollowing is some of the initial reaction from market observers:LUCA CAZZULANI, HEAD OF STRATEGY RESEARCH; LOREDANA MARIA FEDERICO, CHIEF ITALIAN ECONOMIST, UNICREDIT"We expect a rather muted market reaction in terms of BTPs credit spread in the short term, as the election outcome was broadly in line with expectations. Some short covering is possible given investors entered the election moderately short BTPs and as the risk scenario of a landslide victory by the right is priced out. "The market knew this was how it was going to end and will remain focused at this stage on economic growth, monetary policy tightening and public finances, which remain a slippery slope for Italy." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Italy bureau and London Markets Team; Compiled by Agnieszka FlakOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sterling collapses as investors fly into dollars
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

British Pound Sterling and U.S. Dollar notes are seen in this June 22, 2017 illustration photo. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"You've got to buy the dollar as a risk off-trade. In stocks, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was down 1% to a two-year low. Treasuries tanked as well last week, with two-year yields up 35 bps to 4.2140% and benchmark 10-year yields up 25 bps to 3.6970%. Gold hit a more-than two-year low on Friday and bought $1,643 an ounce on Monday.

☆ Euro zone yields at multi-year highs, Italian bonds underperform
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Stefano Rebaudo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSept 26 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields jumped to multi-year highs amid expectations that central banks will keep tightening their monetary policy despite recession risks and a new sell-off in British gilts. Meanwhile, the spread between Italian and German yields widened after the rightist coalition won a clear majority in Sunday's elections. Italian bond (BTP) prices are also more susceptible to shifts in interest rate expectations, given the country's vast debt burden. Giorgia Meloni looks set to become Italy's first woman prime minister at the head of its most right-wing government since World War Two. "Bond yields across Europe are correlated, and today's jump in Britain yields is again affecting the euro area," he added.

☆ Morning Bid: Pounded
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pound and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. On Friday, gilts suffered their heaviest selling in decades, and before that, the yen and U.S. interest rate futures have been roiled. Global tension is also mounting over the war in Ukraine, as Russia holds widely-criticised votes aimed at annexing territory it has taken by force. Besides sterling, Asian stock markets fell on Monday. European futures fell 0.3% and S&P 500 futures fell 0.6%.

☆ 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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