Good morning from the Today.it editorial team. Here’s Start, the news you need to know to start the day: it’s Tuesday 14 May 2024.
PITBULL DANGER. A two-year-old girl attacked and seriously injured by a pit bull while playing with her twin sister in Sesto San Giovanni (Milan). Long hours of fear, in the evening she was declared out of danger. The dog bit her face and limbs. We are once again talking about bans against biting breeds, which have been one of the most heated disputes in the USA for years. Alan Beck, pioneer of anthrozoology, claims that pit bulls are “loaded weapons”: a breed selected by man to be used for fighting. Sarah Knight, a British scientist, would like to see them extinct. The problem is also the owners. With the right “owner”, pit bulls and rottweilers make excellent pets. Otherwise they can be lethal. Not all breeds are suitable for everyone. Regulating the keeping of certain types of dogs, with licenses, has become necessary. Maybe before another one dies.
LIFE SENTENCE FOR PIFFERI. Alessia Pifferi, her mother who left her one and a half year old daughter to die of starvation, abandoning her at home alone for six days, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first instance. Among the 37 lifers in Italy there are members of the Red Brigades, mafiosi and Camorra members. Before her, there were no mothers who killed their children. Veronica Panarello was sentenced to 30 years, Anna Maria Franzoni to 16 (later reduced to 10). Various criminal lawyers do not rule out (some almost assume) a reduction in the sentence in the next two degrees, much will depend on the reasons for the sentence. The report judged Pifferi to be capable of understanding and will, but realistically there could be an integration of the report on the clinical history which would change the cards on the table.
SUGAR TAX. The pressure from manufacturing companies on politics will most likely have an effect: the sugar tax is heading towards postponement, for now for a year and then who knows. The possible increase in taxes (details here) on carbonated drinks, but also on tea, vegetable drinks, waters with vitamins, pasteurized juices and sports drinks, according to companies, would put 5 thousand jobs and the entire supply chain at risk. There would in fact be an inevitable increase in the prices of all these products, which are already subject to higher taxes than the rest of Europe, and consequently a contraction in sales (estimated) of 16%. On the other hand, similar measures are adopted in many countries and the WHO has certified that sweetened drinks are among the main causes of obesity and diabetes.
SALVINI DOWNLOAD ZAIA. No Salvinian barricades to push the Meloni government to change the law and allow regional presidents to run for a third term. Matteo Salvini dumps Luca Zaia, the most popular and dangerous among the potential competitors for the party leadership: “For the post-Zaia period I already have ten names ready”, he assures. In Veneto we will vote in 2025. But if the European elections were a flop (and flop means being overtaken by Forza Italia as the second centre-right party) the redde rationem would begin for the League and the match for Salvini’s succession would open: Zaia and Fedriga they are referred to as the eligible ones.
POZZOLO’S VERSION. Plot twist. Four and a half months have passed since the New Year’s Eve shooting and the Fratelli d’Italia deputy Emanuele Pozzolo decided to speak and reveal to the prosecutor’s office the name he has always alluded to and which he had never mentioned until now. According to him, he writes Republic, the one who accidentally fired the gunshot was Pablito Morello, the prison policeman who acts as head escort to the Undersecretary of Justice Andrea Delmastro. In the now mythological seat of the Rosazza tourist office, Morello’s son-in-law, Luca Campana, was injured in the thigh. Pozzolo remains, for now, the only suspect. His version will now be verified by investigators.
USA WITH ISRAEL. 360 thousand Palestinians fled Rafah in one week. Israeli tanks advance. The Biden administration estimates that Israel has amassed enough troops in the southern Gaza Strip to proceed with a large-scale incursion in the coming days: the CNN. US support for Israel, meanwhile, remains total. The ambassador in Jerusalem says that “it is a mistake to think that something has changed radically in relations” between the two countries. And the White House national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, specified that the US “does not believe that what is happening in Gaza is genocide”. Thousands demonstrate in Tel Aviv for the release of the hostages “at all costs”.
THE WUHAN JOURNALIST. Zhan Zhang, a Chinese citizen journalist jailed for covering the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic from its epicenter in Wuhan, was set to be released Monday after serving a four-year sentence. One of the lawyers told the BBC that his personal freedom “will still be limited”, he will now live with his parents in Shanghai. In those first dramatic, world-changing days, Zhang had courageously documented what he saw on the streets and in hospitals, regardless of theand threats from the authorities. She was arrested on May 14, 2020, 4 years ago. In prison she had carried out a very long hunger strike, weighing 37 kg.
I would also like to point out briefly:
TROOPS IN UKRAINE. Estonian national security advisor Roll says the Tallinn government is “seriously” discussing the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. Berlin will instead supply Kiev with another IRIS-T air defense system as early as May. The Russians advance on Kharkiv.
BALTIMORE BRIDGE. The Francis Scott Key Bridge, or rather, what remained of it after the impact with the Dali container ship, was demolished with controlled explosions yesterday. The disaster dates back to March 26, six workers died, the images went around the world. The ship was stuck in the scrap metal. The Dali will now return to the port of Baltimore, the crew has always remained on board.
SPINELLI SPEAKS. Aldo and Roberto Spinelli break the wall of silence, they do not take refuge behind the wall of silence and are the first to respond to the magistrates and make Giovanni Toti’s position more serious. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Spinelli is the great corruptor of the Ligurian tangentopolis. The investigation continues at a rapid pace, between interrogations and new revelations, and the majority hesitates to take an official position.
MASSINI ATTACKED. The writer Stefano Massini attacked at the Turin Book Fair: he was presenting “Mein Kampf”, his latest book on the rise of Nazism. An elderly man began to rail against him then tugged him by the collar: “Hitler was right, you communists without cross-examination are disguising history and rewriting it. But now we can finally tell the truth”, he said.
ITALIAN CUP. Great anticipation for the final of the 77th edition of the Italian Cup. Atalanta-Juventus will be played tomorrow evening, Wednesday 15 May, with the Bergamo side truly favourites, for once. Today the two teams received by Mattarella. The kick-off is scheduled for 9.00 pm, live on Canale 5.
PARTHENOPE. The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival kicks off tonight. For the Palme d’Or, Italy is aiming for Sorrentino’s “Parthenope”, based on the myth of the Siren Parthenope, one of the greatest Neapolitan traditions. For the director from Campania, it is the sixth participation in the prestigious event, exactly 20 years after the first time, when he presented “The consequences of love” (2004), perhaps his true masterpiece.
Have a nice day on Today.it.
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