Good morning from the Today.it editorial team. Here’s Start, the news you need to know to start the day: it’s Monday 17 June 2024.
EURO 2024. Everything was supposed to be perfect at Euro 2024, a meticulous organization, “German style”, so they assured: instead the transport of fans to and from the Gelsenkirchen stadium, where Serbia-England was played yesterday, was absolutely appalling. Tens of thousands of supporters remained stranded and crowded together for hours after the match waiting for public transport which never came. The crowd that was created at the train station was denounced by the fans in a flood of potentially very dangerous messages about X. Spain-Italy will be played in the same stadium on Thursday. A steward described the organization of last night’s match as “a disgrace”. Storm over UEFA.
SUICIDES IN PRISON. It is a duty to continue talking about it, if we want to define ourselves as a civilized country. “Suicides in prison are a national emergency”, says the Antigone Association. At this rate, 2024 will surpass the tragic figure of 2022 when there were 85 suicides in prison. Unworthy numbers. The silence on the topic of the Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, and of the Meloni government in general weighs heavily. Suicides, fights, assaults, rapes, illicit trafficking, drug addiction, mental distress: this is what Italian prisons are today. A pressure cooker. Three things are urgently needed, just to start. A decree-law to address overcrowding (there are over 14 thousand prisoners in excess of capacity). At least 18 thousand penitentiary police units are missing. And the strengthening of psychiatric assistance can no longer be postponed.
HE KILLS HIS MOTHER. Matricide on the outskirts of Cagliari. A single stab wound was fatal to Maria Dolores Cannas, the 57-year-old woman, killed on Sunday afternoon in a house in Sinnai, in the hinterland of the capital. His 27-year-old son, Andrea Tidu, was arrested. A discussion at home, for unknown reasons, seems futile. The argument escalated and the 27-year-old allegedly grabbed a knife and stabbed her mother in the back, puncturing her lung.
BEARS IN THE TOWN. We’re back to talking about bears in Trentino, after the latest incursions into the inhabited centers of the Val di Sole (and beyond). The death of Andrea Papi a few hundred meters from his home shook Italy. Now very confident, they move through streets and gardens. The administrators of the Noce valleys are asking for more culling. The NW provincial law provides for up to a maximum of 8 per year, but only for specimens deemed problematic. There are more and more bears, at least 98 (there were 85 in 2021). Animal rights activists are critical, but the safety problem will remain: with a hundred plantigrades around, crossing them is not a surprise.
40 DEGREES. The African anticyclone begins its “comeback” over the central Mediterranean from today, but the peak of the heat wave will be around mid-week, between Wednesday and Friday when temperatures may exceed 40° in several regions of the Center and South C in principle. On Wednesday peaks of 40/41°C in Sardinia, 39/40°C in Sicily and Puglia. Thursday and Friday scorching heat in the South with peaks above 40°C in Sardinia, Sicily, Puglia. 40°C also possible in the Center. Lower temperatures but sultriness in the North. From the weekend we can breathe again.
NO BREAK IN GAZA. The Israeli army spokesman had announced a daily mini-break between 8am and 7pm along a key road in the south of the Strip. No stop to the war but “a tactical pause” to facilitate the entry and delivery of aid to the Palestinians. “Unacceptable” says Netanyahu. There are signs of a disconnect between the military and the government and the issue of the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews is back in the foreground: there is no compulsory military service for them, the armed forces believe that things must change. In the enclave people continue to die under bombs, including dozens of deaths yesterday.
I would also like to point out briefly:
UKRAINIAN INTEGRITY. The first peace conference on Ukraine ends with an official communiqué signed by 78 countries – the global South (including India, South Africa and Saudi Arabia) marches out – which affirms the importance of Ukrainian territorial integrity. A clear response to Russia, which wants four large regions. It was expected that all delegations would endorse a condemnation of the Russian invasion. This was not the case.
ISIS IN RUSSIA. ISIS returns to show itself in Russia. In Rostov-on-Don prison riot: two prison officers were taken hostage by members of the jihadist organisation. Then six alleged kidnappers, prisoners belonging to the Islamic State, the terrorist branch of the Sahel and awaiting trial, were killed during a special operation to free the hostages, who remained unharmed.
URSULA BIS. Von der Leyen remains in pole position for an encore at the helm of the European Commission, but the match on top jobs may still hold surprises. This evening he is Meloni at the informal dinner of the heads of state and government of the 27, called to discuss the appointments package: the prime minister asks that Italy count more in Brussels.
MATURITY 2024. From the day after tomorrow, half a million students will take the final exam. Since 2023 there has been a full return to the pre-pandemic regime, with two written tests of a national nature (decided by the ministry), a third test only for the areas where it is foreseen, an oral interview in a multidisciplinary key.
IMU INSTALLMENT. The payment of the first installment of the 2024 IMU expires today: the advance is worth approximately 11 billion euros. The balance will be paid by December 17th and concerns approximately 25 million Italians. According to Confconstruction’s calculations, since 2012, the year the tax was introduced, Italians have paid almost 300 billion euros.
THE PHOTO OF THE DAY. The fires in California continue to spread: over the weekend, more than 6,000 hectares were destroyed by flames that attacked an area northwest of Los Angeles. Experts are talking about an alarming season for the west coast of the United States. In the picture AP, firefighters work against the advancing fire front in Gorman: only two percent of the fire has been put out. The winds, which blow at eighty kilometers per hour, complicate everything.
Have a nice day on Today.it.
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