To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing, you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.
At the core, the controversial Italian leader, who died this week at 86, wanted to be liked, loved. That explains many of his choices, including the ones that have left a dark mark on Italy's history.
-Analysis-
ROME — Silvio Berlusconi was an amicable man – child-like and generous. He told bleak, bewildering, embarrassing jokes, but he did it with such bold, bubbling enthusiasm that you always ended up smiling at his incomprehensible naivety, which was above all his desire to please everyone. I'm convinced it's the key to understanding him: he was a great Casanova of politics, TV, football and business.
Aging horrified him. He thought that having hair was a matter of "respect for others," and that getting a facelift was a matter of decency, tantamount to good manners. He did not come from a well-to-do family. His father was a bank clerk, and, perhaps with some inventiveness, was actually much more, while his mother was a housewife. Berlusconi was a smart kid. He sold his homework; he sang on cruise ships. He put his best qualities to good use. His generosity was cynical but instinctive, and sometimes touching.
From his beginnings building a small company, he would change the country forever. He started with an advertising agency, which became a lever for the Italian government itself.
I was the editor-in-chief of the center-left daily newspaper L'Unità during the years of his outsized power. The climax, the beginning of the end, the Bunga Bunga (sex parties) and more – I was there for it all. I was the first to publish the photos of Mirek Topolanek, former prime minister of the Czech Republic, skinny-dipping at Berlusconi’s Villa Certosa mansion – as well as those of the singer Mariano Apicella on the state plane.
Leader for his people
There was not a day without nagging about his "elegant" parties, his possibly underage guests or the envelopes of cash to the Olgettines – Berlusconi’s mistresses, so-called after the street where many of them lived in housing he paid for – and those pretending to be the granddaughter of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Years later, the new publishers of L'Unità, his enemy, decided it was time to make space for the new Left (which ended up failing miserably). Not only that, but as they proceeded to send the old party leadership to the junkyard, they also saddled the publication's employees with the archaic, structural debt problems the paper had amassed over the decades. I was still the editor-in-chief at the time. Berlusconi called me, one day, to say: "They are despicable. You are a pro; you have personality and talent. You don't deserve this."
As the singer Giorgio Gaber once said, “I don't fear Berlusconi himself – I fear the Berlusconi in me.” Berlusconi was the type of person who embodied a people and served as their champion. He was, in many ways, the Italian archetype. Anyone would have liked to be the guy who started from nothing and dominated the scene. People thought that if he could do it, it was possible. But in reality, that is not the case. You have to be Logan Roy, the protagonist of Succession, or the Murdoch of your time and place.
He was able to protect both his companies and himself.
It began in the 1990s, when he was 58 years old and "going into politics.” Doing so was certainly convenient. He was able to protect both his companies and himself. But we remember how it went: he had generated an empire, thanks also to Bettino Craxi’s Socialist Party.
The Mammì law, which laid out rules and regulations for television stations, was passed on an ad-hoc basis rather than an ad-personam basis. It was the first of a long series of laws of its kind.
All the roads are mine, he seemed to say.
Berlusconi could now compete with RAI, the public broadcaster. It was the beginning of a new season, in which pleasing the public, and therefore being popular, was synonymous with success.
That meant all means necessary would be used. We did business with those we didn't have to. We were unscrupulous. Crimes were committed, and evidence ignored. The triumphal march continued, even as the political left tried to oppose it.
Yet it was also true that having such an opponent was profitable for plenty of otherwise upstanding politicians and newspapers. He did suffer some defeats, notably at the hands of Romano Prodi, who beat him for the prime minister job in 1996 and 2006. Yet no one was able to generate an equally powerful idea of the world to compete with Berlusconi’s, which told people it was okay to simply pursue their own private interest.
That Berlusconi owned the popular AC Milan soccer team and Einaudi, the publishing house and custodian of the hegemonic culture of opposition, showed that he had no limits. All the roads are mine, he seemed to say, like in Alice in Wonderland.
Silvio Berlusconi with Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush after signing the Rome Declaration, 2002.
Berlusconi always wanted to become Italy’s head of state, President of the Republic. He had to leave the title of “Knight” and the role of senator, due to judicial convictions. But as soon as it was possible, he returned to the field. He was key to current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's success. He tried to aim for definitive redemption, but his allies betrayed him, as in an ancient tragedy. The women he had loved so much, including his fake marriage, abandoned him as well.
Putin has lost a friend.
Putin says he has lost a friend. The local left is now an orphan; we'll see what they will do without an opponent. Starting now, the story changes. It all remains to be written.
There is no other Berlusconi. This is the end of an era. We are watching history unfold. We imagine, even hope, that there is someone up to face today’s challenges – someone with the same talent, but better intentions. It will, however, depend on us, on what we Italians are able to be as a model, based on our desires and disposition, our very nature. Is anyone up to the task?
A case of mistaken identity for our Naples-based psychiatrist, in the wake of Silvio Berlusconi's passing.
Patrizia arrives for her appointment in a frenzy.
"Dottoré, it's too painful. Why did he have to die like this."
"Signora, unfortunately there's no good way to die. If you're religious, you can always pray for him!"
"But what am I supposed to do now? He's been like family to us for the past 20 years. Whatever we needed, I'd call him and he'd get it done!"
"Signora, here we go again with your delusions. Do you mean to tell me that all this time, you had Silvio Berlusconi's phone number, and that he'd respond to whatever you needed?"
"Dottoré, who the hell is talking about Berlusconi — the whole neighborhood was rejoicing about that yesterday! No, my butcher Don Gaetano has died! Where am I supposed to go shopping now?"
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's death at the age of 86 reveals his complexity as both a public and political figure — in Italy and beyond. The author, who has tried in vain to write Berlusconi's biography, sifts through the truth behind the many myths.
-Analysis-
ROME — A few years ago, a friend suggested that I write a biography of Silvio Berlusconi — the kind that becomes indispensable to consult and cite every time Berlusconi is mentioned, like the biography of Julius Caesar written last century by French historian Jérome Carcopino.
This undertaking presented two problems. One was immediate: unfortunately, I don't have the stature of a Carcopino. The other, bigger problem showed up shortly after: Berlusconi has such a long history in politics, with so much written about him, that it becomes impossible to separate truth from legend.
For a couple of days, I dedicated myself to drafting the topics I wanted to cover. Very simple: Berlusconi is a politician, Berlusconi is an entrepreneur, Berlusconi is a sportsman.
I immediately added Berlusconi and the judiciary. This chapter was already long and complex: the investigations against him on charges of corruption, tax evasion, proximity to the Mafia, even the 1993 mob-linked killings in Milan, and many more topics.
Trying to frame Berlusconi as a politician immediately gave me hell, looking at his long career. Berlusconi and TV was already by itself a book of 400 pages. Berlusconi and soccer was another 300 pages. Berlusconi and the women in his life, his friends, his family, his connection to culture, his relationship to his wealth, his houses, his enemies and more.
The above prologue to this article quickly gets long, and was nothing compared to the original book outline, which I continued to enrich with other sections.
And so I gave up. If done right, I think it's a three-year job that requires full-time attention and dedication.
A writer's challenge
It was not just the abnormal amount of issues to dissect, but also, how to divide them. Is it possible to separate the real estate mogul from the politician, the TV man from the football man, the man of the world from the criminal defendant, the private from the public?
Doubts pile up.
And as doubts piled up, a final obstacle was added: polarization. Not so much the polarization raised in the country, but the polarization in me who, immersed in my projects, alternated moments of irresistible repulsion with moments of interminable fascination. How was I to achieve the detachment necessary to face such an enormous subject?
When the resolutions had not yet been abandoned, I had thought of dividing the book into two parts: the winner and the loser. More polarization.
TV and AC Milan
Berlusconi even polarized himself. The world before Berlusconi was one thing and the world after him was another. His media presence was to Italy what Michael Jackson and Steven Spielberg have been to America: when the party started. Berlusconi turned everything upside-down.
But when I write of the impossibility of separating one Berlusconi from another, I am thinking precisely of his Channel 5 network, which in 1981, began broadcasting the Mundialito, a friendly soccer tournament invented by Berlusconi, to create new TV licensing opportunities after decades of monopoly by state broadcaster RAI. That is the precise moment in which soccer was no longer a sport, but a show. That's it. Over. Stop.
Football, which was a stadium event, begins to transform into a televised event. The advertising revenue would be staggering. Berlusconi's purchase of the AC Milan team becomes consequential. But for the mogul's dizzying brain, the team is not playing for the TV. He wants to win, beat the competition.
As soon as he purchased the club, Berlusconi said that it had to become the best and most beautiful in the world. Sounds like a motivational speech from the perfect manager. Instead, it was a prediction and a promise.
Advertising and marketing exploded and cable TV showed the live championship. For 15 years, led by Milan, Italian teams dominated Europe.
His final undertaking, the least successful, was politics. His party, Forza Italia, swept away the opposition with a communication made up of slogans, video clips and commercial optimism. As a result, the party won the 1994 elections. Berlusconi seemed unstoppable. Everything he touches begins to shine.
His television network Mediaset and football club Milan were his own masterpieces, but the vision he built for the country was a failure.
Today, Italian politics is entirely the result and remains of Berlusconi. We live on polls, for the digital evolution, likes and followers, we live on video clips – perhaps in the form of Facebook live broadcasts or monologues for Instagram and TikTok – we live on jokes. The scandalous Forza Italia has generated other Italian political parties.
But nobody in Italy (or beyond?) knows how to go beyond Berlusconi. They take the new tools to replicate an old lesson.
Emperor's decline
Even in this, we all remained a product of Berlusconi. Not even he would have predicted his impact. He completely missed the digital revolution. His three networks live on old glories for a hoary audience. He arrived last and failed with pay TV. Streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are the daily source of entertainment for today's kids.
And what about Putin?
With Milan, he experienced a long and slow decline, mimicking the decline of his television empire. It was made up of bad player acquisitions, supporting championships and above all, economic resources no longer aligned with his ambitions.
His allies on the political right, from Giorgia Meloni to Matteo Salvini, scrambled behind him with his weapons, just adapted to the smartphone, not the television.
And what about his scandalous flirting with Putinism even through Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine? It was not anti-Atlantism, but nostalgia, or more likely self-imprisonment in the past in which Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush exchanged a peace sign, and he was the high priest.
Berlusconi was a man who changed the world and, when he no longer knew how to change it, he refused to change with the world. He preferred to remain on the throne surrounded by his own mythology, the most important of the many illusions he created.
Welcome to Monday, where Kyiv says it has liberated three villages as part of its counteroffensive, Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dies at 86, and thankfully, Hong Kong had planned for two giant rubber ducks. Meanwhile, Ukrainian news website Livy Bereg got hold of an article detailing Russia’s future mobilization process and the formation of new units before it was quickly deleted by Moscow.
This is our daily newsletter Worldcrunch Today, a rapid tour of the news of the day from the world's best journalism sources, regardless of language or geography.
It's easy (and free!) to sign up to receive it each day in your inbox: 👉 Sign up here
• Ukraine counteroffensive underway: Kyiv says its long-awaited counteroffensive that reportedly began on Saturday has liberated three villages in the southeast of the country, though Moscow has yet to confirm the news. Meanwhile Ukraine has accused Russia of having blown up another dam in the Zaporizhzhia region, which Russia denies.
• Silvio Berlusconi dies at 86: Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a billionaire real estate and media mogul, who redefined Italy’s politics in a long career that included sex scandals and corruption allegations, has died at the age of 86 in Milan. The founder of the center-right Forza Italia party had been suffering from a rare form of blood cancer, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.
• Children missing in plane crash alive: The four children missing in a Colombian plane crash in the Amazon jungle on May 1 have been found malnourished but fully conscious. They survived 40 days by eating seeds, roots and plants they identified as edible through their education in the Amazon region. Before dying along with two others onboard, the children’s mother, Magdalena Mucutuy, told her children to leave and find help.
• Nicola Sturgeon arrested: Former Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon was arrested as a probe continues into the funding of the Scottish National Party. Sturgeon, who insists she is innocent of any wrongdoing, was released without charge pending further inquiries.
• NATO biggest exercice: Beginning today, NATO is launching its largest-ever war games in the skies over Germany, Air Defender 23. During this exercise, which continues until June 23, three flight zones will be temporarily closed to civilian air traffic, which could result in delays to civilian flights.
• Mayon volcano erupts as thousands evacuate: Mayon, the most active of the Philippines' 24 volcanoes, has entered an effusive eruption, causing lava flows. At least 12,800 people have been evacuated, including tens of thousands of farmers who lived within a 6-kilometer radius of the volcano, although the alert level remains at three on the five-level Philippine system.
• Giant rubber duck deflated in Hong Kong’s harbor: One of the two 18-meter-high rubber ducks on display in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour was deflated on Saturday to protect it from sweltering temperatures, disappointing some visitors. The pop art installation entitled "Double Duck" is now on display in the harbor, though single for now.
Serbian daily Alo! celebrates “a living legend” on its front page, after Novak Djokovic won his 23rd Grand Slam singles title at the French Open on Sunday. The 36-year-old Serbian beat Norwegian Casper Ruud after a 3h13-game, breaking the record for the most Grand Slam singles trophies won by a man. The “best tennis player of all time,” as Alo! calls him, said he was “beyond fortunate” to win what he considers his “toughest” tournament. On Saturday, Poland’s Iga Swiatek defeated Czech player Karolina Muchova to win her third French Open title and become the first woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title since 2007.
Billionaire financier George Soros is handing his $25 billion empire to his 37-year-old son, Alexander. The Hungarian-American investor, philanthropist and political activist is known for his support of progressive causes. Speaking of this decision to pass control of his empire to his “more political” son, Soros said: "He's earned it."
Deleted Russian military report reveals scale of future mobilization
Moscow quickly deleted an article detailing the mobilization process and the formation of new units, which made clear that potential Russian conscripts have two choices: flee or fight, reports Kyrylo Danylchenko for Ukrainian news website Livy Bereg.
📱 The Russian Defense Ministry is planning an extensive conscription campaign for 2023 in cooperation with the Russian Interior Ministry. For this purpose, the Russian authorities are creating databases, a system of electronic summonses, and collecting data from several million current mobile phones.
🎖️ The Russian Army sees a significant problem with the unwillingness of a part of society to perform military duty. The culprits have already been named — "bloggers." It turns out that the blogging community is to blame for the fact that a million Russians have fled the country, and hundreds of thousands more are hiding from military enlistment offices, being searched for by facial recognition systems, cameras, and police units.
❓ The Kremlin is preparing to continue the war, but has problems drumming up support and finding the equipment supply. This was the gist of the deleted article. Relatively simple information was immediately deleted so that Russians would not start asking questions. Where are the last half a million soldiers? Where are 200,000 collaborators and those forcibly mobilized? How many soldiers has Russia lost in this war?
— After seven hours in police custody, former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been released without charge after being arrested by police investigating the Scottish National Party's (SNP) finances. Sturgeon released a statement on Twitter saying that she would "never do anything to harm either the SNP or the country", expressing shock over the day's events. Earlier this year, her husband, ex-chief executive Peter Murrell and treasurer Colin Beattie were also arrested, questioned and released without charge.
Welcome to Wednesday, where the EU debates hitting Russia with a 10th sanctions package, Nicola Sturgeon announces her surprise resignation after eight years as Scotland’s leader and rescuers are still pulling survivors out alive nine days after the Turkey-Syria earthquake. We also feature a report on a group of anti-Putin Russians who are supplying drones to Ukraine’s army, convinced that neutrality and “pacifism” is not an option in this war.
This is our daily newsletter Worldcrunch Today, a rapid tour of the news of the day from the world's best journalism sources, regardless of language or geography.
It's easy (and free!) to sign up to receive it each day in your inbox: 👉 Sign up here
• EU debates 10th package of sanctions against Russia: Representatives of EU countries are meeting in Brussels to discuss a new batch of sanctions against Russia. These are expected to include a ban on exports of “critical” goods worth 11-billion euros, and target Iran for helping Russia by blacklisting entities linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
• Nicola Sturgeon to quit as Scotland leader: After more than eight years in the role, Nicola Sturgeon has announced her surprise resignation as Scotland’s first minister, saying she felt she couldn’t “give this job everything it demands and deserves for another year.” Sturgeon said she would remain in office until the election of her successor.
• First UN aid convoy enters Syria: A first UN aid convoy of 11 trucks has entered rebel-held northwestern Syria from Turkey after the Bab al-Salam crossing was opened on Tuesday, as the death toll from last week’s earthquake passes the 40,000 mark.
• Philippines summons China envoy over laser dispute: Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos has summoned China’s ambassador to discuss reports that a Chinese coast guard ship used a “military-grade laser light” against a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, temporarily blinding a crew member. The U.S. has backed the Philippines and described China’s conduct as “provocative and unsafe.”
• Berlusconi acquitted in Bunga Bunga case: An Italian court acquitted former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was accused of bribing 24 witnesses to lie about his “Bunga Bunga” parties in an underage prostitution case from more than a decade ago.
• Boy who was rescued from Thai cave dies in UK: Duangpetch Promthep, captain of the Thai boys’ football team that had been rescued from a cave in the Chiang Rai province in 2018, has died in the UK, reportedly from a head injury. The 17-year-old had been enrolled in the Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicester last year after winning a scholarship.
• Jo-jo-jo Joker face: Lady Gaga shared the very first shot from the set of Joker: Folie à deux, the sequel to Todd Philipp’s 2019 Joker where she’ll be sharing the screen with Joaquin Phoenix.
Shanghai-based Jiefang daily features Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shaking hands with Xi Jinping on its front page today — the first state visit to China by an Iranian leader in more than 20 years — as both countries are looking to cement trade ties and reinforce investment cooperation.
Air India has announced it will be purchasing 220 planes from Boeing and 250 from Airbus. It’s the largest such order in history, as the Tata-owned airline looks to respond to the rapid expansion of air travel in Asia. After speaking with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, U.S. President Joe Biden called the agreement "historic."
“Pacifism is not an option” — meet the anti-Putin Russians supplying drones to Ukraine
Russians who oppose the war in Ukraine face a tough moral question: How far are they prepared to go? Around the world, a group of Russians are organizing and raising money to send much-needed drones to help Ukrainian forces fight the Russian invasion, reports Irina Dolinina in Russian-language independent website Vazhnyye Istorii/Important Stories.
🇷🇺🇺🇦 Many Russians feel deeply conflicted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Some have walled themselves off from the news, believing that they are powerless to change anything. Others have refused to fight, left the country and stopped paying taxes — and others have sent humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians. A small few, however, have decided to help the Ukrainian army directly.
🎖️ The Ukrainian Drone Forces volunteer group, which is run by Russians and supplies civilian drones to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was formed by two volunteers from Canada and Kyiv in April 2022. They bought one drone for the territorial defense of Kharkiv, then another and another, figuring out as they went which drones were most needed, and establishing closer ties with the Ukrainian military. “The confidence of Ukrainians in us is extremely valuable,” says Natalya, a 48-year-old scientist.
💊 The group has raised over €25,000 in donations from around the world — even transfers from Russians still in Russia, often via proxies for safety. “It is important to emphasize that drones are not weapons. They are the ‘eyes’ (of the military),” Natalya says. In addition to reconnaissance and artillery adjustment, the drones the group sends to the front help Ukrainian soldiers to find and recover the wounded. Medicines and supplies can also be loaded onto drones and sent to the front.
“I'm not expecting violins here, but I am a human being as well as a politician.”
— During a news conference in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that she was stepping down as Scotland's first minister. Speaking of the "physical and mental impact" the role had on her for the past eight years, she said she could not devote the required 100% of her energy to leading the country anymore, choosing to spend more time with her family. "Please know that being your first minister has been the privilege of my life," she added.
✍️ Newsletter by Renate Mattar, Inès Mermat, Bertrand Hauger, Anne-Sophie Goninet and Laure Gautherin
Let us know what’s happening in your corner of the world!
A recent wave of testimony from inside the Italian entertainment industry again failed to gain much attention, another example of MeToo failing to take off in the traditionally sexist country. There are multiple explanations, though also quieter signs that something may be changing.
For a few fleeting hours, it seemed the MeToo movement might finally break out of the shadows in Italy: the internet was buzzing after the La Repubblica daily had published the testimonies of several actresses recounting the sexual harassment they’d faced.
A week later, on Jan. 16, the associations Amleta and Differenza Donna held a press conference to report 223 additional testimonies of sexual harassment and violence in show business.
The activists broke the cases down by gender (in all but two cases the abusers were men, and 93% of the victims were women) and by job title (directors made up 41% of the abusers, followed by actors, producers, teachers, casting directors, agents, critics, and even some audience members). But it was also notable that only 12 actresses had brought their cases to court, and that the names of those accused would not be revealed so as not to compromise ongoing legal actions.
A few newspapers reported the news. Then, nothing more.
Since MeToo took off in the United States in 2017 following the revelations of systematic abuse of power and sexual assault by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, other countries and industries have had their own reckonings and high-profile public debate.
Can the lukewarm reaction be explained by the lack of a famous name facing criminal accusations, as Weinstein’s had been in the United States? Is it a problem of mindset and resistance to change in an Italian society where sexism and male privilege remain entrenched? Or perhaps, contrary to the overall perception, a change is underway, but has gone mostly unnoticed?
No momentum
Before this month’s press conference, the most relevant episode in the Italian MeToo had been the 2018 publication of Dissenso Comune, a manifesto signed by 124 actresses, directors and producers. The letter expressed support for the women who had spoken out against their abusers in the immediate aftermath of MeToo, and chose the path of challenging not only the powerful man of the day but an entire system of power that was also active in their workspace.
Missing were the very few women who had been naming and shaming their predators.
However, missing from the signatories were the very few women who had been denouncing for months and naming and shaming their predators, such as the women who accused the movie director Fausto Brizzi, the showgirl Miriana Trevisan, who had accused director Giuseppe Tornatore, and Asia Argento, the Italian actress, and daughter of horror director Dario Argento, who was one of the accusers of Harvey Weinstein. Argento criticized the initiative by saying that it was a performative act with no real impact as it was not naming names.
Even though no other country experienced quite the same earthquake that shook the United States, nationwide debates broke out in the UK and Nigeria, where the movement targeted the academic world, and Greece, where Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou appeared as a defense witness on behalf of a 21-year-old athlete claiming her coach raped her when she was 11, prompting a wave of support.
The Italian version of #MeToo - #quellavoltache (#thattimewhen) - has not had anywhere near the same effect as #BalanceTonPorc (#exposeyourpig) in neighboring France, where a discussion erupted between two generations of women about the normalization of men’s predatory behavior in different sectors, such as that of entertainment.
The lack of a bona fide Italian Metoo moment has not gone unnoticed, with the New York Times publishing an article in Dec. 2017, “In Italy, #MeToo Is More Like ‘Meh’”.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and TV presenter Barbara D'Urso
In Italy, as in other parts of the world, accusations of sexual violence are almost systematically followed by questions about who the allegations are coming from.
Any woman reporting abuse is confronted with the paradigm of the would-be “perfect victim,” an ideal of an innocent, modestly-dressed woman who does not drink and is suspicious of strangers. The subtext is of course that a woman who doesn’t tick all those boxes somehow holds at least part of the responsibility for the crime or abuse she suffered.
In Italian rape trials, women are still asked if they were wearing provocative clothing or underwear.
The first famous case of the Italian MeToo was that of Asia Argento, a controversial figure with a troubled biography, far from the “perfect victim” that the Italian press and public opinion would have required to give her accusations a proper hearing. Moreover, a few months after her complaint against Weinstein, U.S. actor Jimmy Bennett in turn accused Argento of having abused him when he was only 17 years old, which led the already fractured Italian movement to distance itself from her.
The other (few) women who had come forward also received similar treatment. Miriana Trevisan, for example, was discredited on social media and in the press for having built her career as a television showgirl, regularly wearing revealing outfits, since she was 19.
Die-hard stereotypes
Blaming the victim in rape and abuse cases is part of entrenched gender norms in Italy, a country where until 1981 a man who raped a woman avoided criminal prosecution if he decided to marry her.
More recently, the past 20-plus years of cultural and political influence of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi have contributed to maintaining gender stereotypes, which were losing influence in other countries.
Even though the trials concerning his ‘Bunga-Bunga’ parties with underage women and prostitutes have weakened his political power, no alleged victim ever publicly accused Berlusconi of sexual violence (unlike both Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump).
For some, the 86-year-old billionaire is still considered the epitome of the Italian playboy and has never really been defeated on a cultural level. His sexist jokes towards women have always been met with laughter. His most recent exploit was to ensure a safe seat in the Italian Parliament for his 33-year-old girlfriend Marta Fascina.
We can also gauge MeToo attitudes in the case of a very different politician. When a teenaged girl accused the son of Five Star Movement founder Beppe Grillo of a gang rape of her in 2019, Grillo (who had long mocked Berlusconi) posted a video in which he defended his son and three other young men accused, saying that it was suspicious that the victim had waited eight days to report the crime.
Although many condemned the video, the claim that the girl had only come forward because she had been ashamed of having agreed to take part in the act was the subject of multiple talk shows and newspaper columns.
More recently, a football journalist and a TV presenter who were inappropriately touched on air and who then denounced the incidents were accused of wanting to destroy the lives of two innocent men who, after all, “had done nothing so serious.”
Women at a feminist protest in Italy with the word "Basta" (Stop in Italian)
And yet, perhaps, real change is happening below the surface.
In an article published in the Rome-based weekly magazine Internazionale, Giulia Siviero writes that a MeToo movement has indeed happened in Italy, even if it did not result in spectacular trials and prominent men behind bars.
Instead, the movement has led to a more quiet increase of awareness — particularly among women — regarding the existence of rape culture and systemic sexism in the country.
The common understanding of what can be considered courtship and what is harassment is definitely shifting, though not without resistance.
It is still too early to say whether the allegations made public this month by Amleta will lead to firings or court cases or a revolution in Italian workplace behavior. What we do know is that even just 10 years ago, this kind of debate in Italy would have been dismissed with a television skit or two — with showgirls, of course.
Moscow's new commander in Ukraine has changed the timing of when to strike cities and infrastructure.
For the fourth straight Monday morning, Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities have been subjected to a major air assault by Russia. At 8 a.m., the first missiles and air strikes were reported across Ukraine, again targeting critical infrastructure.
Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.
A large-scale air alert was declared throughout the country, as explosions hit Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, and Kirovohrad regions.
In the capital Kyiv, a missile hit the facility that supplies electricity to 350,000 apartments; with no light or water in vast stretches of the city, with emergency repairs trying to move as fast as possible.
In Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, rockets hit a critical infrastructure facility, knocking out service in the subway and ground electric transport. There is severe damage in Dnipro and Pavlohrad, as well as Zaporizhzhia, where there is a partial lack of electricity and water.
The President's Office warned about Ukrainian cities' massive shelling and emergency power cuts. In many regions of Ukraine, including Lviv and Chernihiv, there are power outages and problems with telephone and Internet connection.
This time Russia launched more than 80 missiles from the Caspian Sea. Forty-four of them were shot down by Ukrainian air defense.
"Instead of fighting on the battlefield, Russia is at war with civilians. Do not justify these attacks by calling them a "response." Russia is doing this because it has more missiles and a desire to kill Ukrainians," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote.
Ukrainians note that in past months of the war, attacks on targets were carried out on weekends. That changed after the Oct. 8 appointment of General Sergey Surovikin to the post of commander of the Russian army in Ukraine, with a new strategy of attacks beginning at the start of the working week, when there is a possibility of more casualties and disruption of the ordinary course of business.
Turkey Tries To Salvage Grain Initiative, As 12 Vessels Leave Ukrainian Ports
After Moscow’s weekend withdrawal from the Black Sea grain initiative, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey is determined to keep it alive.
“One third of the world’s wheat is produced by Russia and Ukraine. You are the closest witnesses of our efforts to deliver this wheat to the countries facing the threat of famine,” Erdogan told an audience at the 8th Turkish Medicine Congress in Istanbul on Monday. “We provided 9.3 million tons of Ukrainian wheat to the world and helped to relatively ease the food crisis… We will continue our efforts with determination for the service of humanity.”
This statement comes after Russia announced on Saturday that it will suspend its participation in the United Nations-brokered grain deal with Ukraine due to an alleged drone attack on the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet on Sunday that Russia was using this attack as an excuse, “By suspending its participation in the grain deal on a false pretext of explosions 220 kilometers away from the grain corridor, Russia blocks 2 million tons of grain on 176 vessels already at sea — enough to feed over 7 million people,” Kuleba said. “Russia made the decision to resume its hunger games long ago and now tries to justify it.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on “a strong international reaction” to Russia’s suspension from the grain deal, especially from the UN and the G20.
Still, it’s not clear what the effects are so far of Russia’s intentions to block grain exports, as 12 vessels left Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Monday. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, said the UN and Turkey would inspect the ships, a process that takes place near the Turkish city of Istanbul. One of the ships that set sail on Monday was loaded with 40,000 tons of grain, destined for Ethiopia. The vessels contain around 354,500 tons of grain and other agricultural products.
UK Report Says Russian Reservists Have Reached Front Lines, But Are Under-Equipped
According to a report by British intelligence released on Monday, Russia has deployed several thousand newly mobilized reservists to the front lines in Ukraine since mid-October, many of whom are not properly equipped. The British Ministry of Defense said that many Russians sent to the front lines were done so without weapons, or with weapons like AKM assault rifles, which were first introduced in 1959.
After a mobilization in late September, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that they would conscript people who had served in the army and had combat experience. However, numerous cases were recorded of conscription of individuals without training, and without real military experience.
Ukrainian Refugees In UK Face Possible Homelessness
Thousands of Ukrainian refugees who fled to the UK after Russia’s invasion on February 24, may now face homelessness. The British government's Homes for Ukraine scheme, which provides Ukrainian refugees with a host home for a minimum of six months, is about to end.
Council leaders have warned ministers to act urgently in order to prevent a homelessness crisis among the Ukrainian refugees. But local authorities responsible for overseeing the scheme say they are struggling to find people to take in the refugees. The District Councils Network said that it had received many reports of hosts deciding not to rematch.
At the moment, 4,000 Ukrainians are looking for sponsors, according to the Ukrainian Sponsorship Pathway, a charity set up to support the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Berlusconi Pressures Zelensky, Calls Putin A “Man Of Peace”
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a key member of Italy’s current governing coalition that formally backs Ukraine, has again offered a perspective on the war that is far out of step with the rest of the Western coalition.
After repeating that he supports “a free and democratic country like Ukraine,” Berlusconi suggested that if the West reduced its support of Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be forced to negotiate with Russia.
Speaking on prime time Italian television Sunday night, Berlusconi was asked how to end the war: “If at a certain point Ukraine understood that it couldn’t count anymore on arms and aid and if, instead, the West promised to send it hundreds of billions of dollars for reconstruction … in this case maybe Zelensky could accept to sit down at the table and negotiate.”
Berlusconi had stirred controversy earlier this month by boasting that he had sent gifts to his “friend” Putin. In the Sunday interview, he called Putin a “man of peace,” and said he had tried in vain to speak to the Russian president in the first days of the war.
Norwegian Border Town, A Possible “Staging Ground” For Russia To Divide And Conquer
A small town in Norway near the border with Russia is facing a tense standoff with its giant Russian neighbor. The Kremlin is accused of using the area as a staging ground for its policies to divide the West.
The latest escalation in a series of events occurred last Saturday when Russian Consul General Nikolai Konygin was set to give a speech in the town of Kirkenes to commemorate the Red Army’s liberation of the town.
Konygin, who was accompanied by visitors the Russian border city of Nikel, was met with Norwegian protesters who turned their back on the Consul General during the speech and began waving Ukrainian flags.
But the implications of this diplomatic showdown in a town of 3,600 stretch far beyond Norway's borders. Some believe that the Kremlin has used the region in the past as a testing lab for stoking internal divisions in the West. Read more here.
Russia's martial law for the occupied territories of Ukraine is a "pseudo-legalization of looting of Ukrainians' property," said another official in Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is fast-tracking the imposition of martial law in the four occupied territories of Ukraine — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia — which he now considers annexed parts of Russia.
Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.
But Kyiv and its Western allies are reacting with disdain more than fear or worry. Residents of Kherson have reported receiving mass text messages warning the city would be shelled and informing them that buses would be leaving from the port from 7 a.m. on Thursday. Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to the Ukrainian president, described Russian announcements as “a propaganda show,” adding that the population transfers amounted to “deportations”
In announcing the martial law on Wednesday Putin said "Heads of regions will be given additional powers to ensure security." According to the decree, proxy leaders in the occupied territories will have the power to tighten their control over public transport and critical infrastructure facilities, as well as ban people from leaving, or alternatively, deport them.
In response to Putin's announcement, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian President's Office, said that it "does not change anything" for Ukraine. "This 'martial law' should be considered only as a pseudo-legalization of looting of Ukrainians' property," Podolyak said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, in an official statement, said that Vladimir Putin's goal in his imposition of martial law was to "suppress the resistance of the residents (of these oblasts) who oppose the Russian occupation.
Reacting to Russia's declaration, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the decree has "no legal claim whatsoever” adding that Putin is “resorting to desperate tactics to try and enforce control in these areas.”
Battle For Kherson On El Correo’s Front Page
Spanish daily El Correo features Ukrainian fighters as the “battle for Kherson” unfolds.
Ukraine Says Kherson Can Be Taken, But Only With More International Aid
In order to reach the city of Kherson and eventually reclaim it from Russian occupation, Ukrainian army officials say they need more military aid. On Wednesday, Russian-installed leaders in Kherson began a massive relocation of around 60,000 people amid warnings over its ability to defend itself against a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“We are in high spirits, but we are lacking in equipment to move forward,” said a Ukrainian army commander. “So we are accumulating the hardware from our international partners [and] then we will advance because we are trying to protect our soldiers and they are prepared for us.”
Kherson, being one the four partially-occupied Ukrainian provinces that Russia annexed, it is also very strategically placed. It includes both the only land route to the Crimean Peninsula, where Russia gets its supplies. In the last few weeks, Ukrainian forces have pushed through Russia’s front lines in the region which makes this their biggest advance in Southern Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24.
Zelensky Tells Ukrainians To Be Frugal, As Russia Keeps Targeting Power Infrastructures
Russia's intense bombardment of Ukrainian electricity infrastructure continues, with a total of three power plants destroyed by Russian strikes in Ukraine in just one day, Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address. Zelensky told Ukrainians to greatly limit their electricity consumption, starting right away. "In this way, the disruptions of electricity supplies will be shorter," he said.
Regular blackouts will become a more and more realistic scenario if consumption is not reduced accordingly, warned Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the President's Office.
Spain’s Defense Ministry announced its support as Ukraine faced these difficult periods of power outages as a result of the bombardment by Russia’s missiles and kamikaze drone attacks, committing four sets of 400-kilowatt and one set of 150-kilowatt electricity generators to Ukraine.
Russian Missiles Hit School Near Zaporizhzhia
In the morning of October 20, Russian forces launched a rocket attack on a school in the settlement of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region, Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko reported in a Telegram post. There is currently no information on damages and casualties.
The head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov had already boasted that his three children, Akhmat (born in 2005), Zelimkhan (2006) and Adam (2007) began fighting on the frontline, raising questions about their age and his own attention-seeking behavior.
Now the Chechen leader has offered more details, saying his children provided fire cover for Russian soldiers during “fierce battles,” pushing back the Ukrainian counterattack. Kadyrov described the frontline activities of his sons in his Telegram channel.
U.S. Accuses Iran Drones Being Used Against Civilians, Tehran Denies Supplying
During a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday, the U.S., U.K. and France have accused Iran of selling drones to Russia, violating U.N. legislation against the transfer of drones.
Russia and Iran have both said that the drones were not sold by Iran to Russia, and were not used in the series of drone strikes on Ukrainian civilians this past week. Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine's U.N. ambassador, requested that U.N experts visit Ukraine to inspect the drones used in the attacks, which have caused about 30% of Ukraine's power to shut down.
Berlusconi: War Is Zelensky’s Fault
A new audio recording is prompting even more criticism for Silvio Berlusconi, a day after revelations that the former Italian Prime Minister was back to enjoying the company of his old friend Vladimir Putin. The new recording that leaked after a private conversation with his lawmaker allies justifies Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine saying the Russian leader’s hand was forced by Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who had “tripled” attacks on the pro-Russian forces occupied territories.
Named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize was created in 1988 to highlight outstanding contributions to human rights work and the defense of freedom of thought. It was previously awarded to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Malala Yousafzai, and last year, to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Welcome to Wednesday, where Russia reports an attempt by Ukraine to recapture the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power, Iran’s climber explains why she competed without a veil, and researchers conclude that yes, you do need that beauty sleep. Meanwhile, Marc Pfitzenmaier for German daily Die Welt takes the temperature on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, the “last bastion” between Russia and the entire Batlic region.
[*Spanish]
✅ SIGN UP
This is our daily newsletter Worldcrunch Today, a rapid tour of the news of the day from the world's best journalism sources, regardless of language or geography.
It's easy (and free!) to sign up to receive it each day in your inbox: 👉 Sign up here
• Ukraine tries to retake Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Russia calls for Kherson evacuation: Russian says an attempt by Ukrainian armed forces to recapture the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has failed. Meanwhile, pro-Russian forces have called for the evacuation of Kherson, as Kyiv appears poised to try to reconquer the southern city.
• Iranian climber explains why she didn’t wear a veil: Elnaz Rekabi, the Iranian climber who competed in Seoul without a headscarf, said she did so unintentionally, amid reports that she had refused to wear it out of solidarity with Iranian protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death in morality police custody. Rekabi said on her way back to Iran with the rest of her team in a post on her Instagram page.
• UK summons Chinese diplomat: After footage was shared of a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester being attacked on the grounds of the Chinese Consulate in Manchester Sunday, the U.K. has demanded talks with a senior Chinese diplomat.
• Ethiopian army captures several towns in Tigray: Ethiopia’s military has taken control of three towns in the northern Tigray region, amid fighting between Tigrayan rebel forces that has continued on and off since late 2020. The conflict is rooted in long-running rivalries and opinions of how power should be balanced between federal and regional authorities in the area.
• Blast at Myanmar prison: At least eight people have been killed and another 10 injured in explosions at Myanmar’s Insein prison, where close to 10,000 prisoners are held. No party has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
• Flesh-eating bacteria in U.S. after hurricane: After a hurricane tore through southern states of the U.S. last month, a surge in cases of flesh-eating bacteria illnesses and deaths are said to have caused 29 illnesses and four deaths in the area. The bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, can enter the body through open cuts and thrives in warm, still pools of water, like flood-waters.
• Anna May Wong to be first Asian American on U.S. currency: Anna May Wong, considered the movie industry's first Chinese American star, will be the first Asian American to be featured on the back of new U.S. quarters as of Monday.
“Berluscomic,” titles Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano after an audio file revealed that Italy’s former Prime Minister had said during a closed-door meeting with his allies that he had re-established relations with his long-time friend Vladimir Putin and that they had exchanged “sweet” letters and gifts. Berlusconi denied a resumption of relations with the Russian President and said his comments referred to a past episode. The scandal comes as Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s likely next prime minister, is struggling to form a government.
Results of a study done by PLoS Medicine say that at least five hours sleep a night may cut the chances of certain chronic health problems in people over 50. According to researchers, people around that age who slept five hours or less had a 30% greater risk of multiple ailments than those who slept seven hours, and shorter sleep was associated with a higher risk of death due to chronic disease.
Gotland, the Swedish island standing between Russia and NATO vulnerability
The Swedish island of Gotland is the last bastion between Russia and the entire Baltic region. Sweden has been busy fortifying the island, with the stakes even higher as Stockholm is set to join NATO, and life for locals makes it clear that something has changed, reports Marc Pfitzenmaier for German daily Die Welt.
📍 More than 1,000 kilometers separate Sweden from the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Yet since February 24 nothing on Gotland is as it was before. With the start of Moscow's invasion, the decades-old abstract scenario of having to defend one's homeland from the imposing Russian neighbor became a plausible future. Nowhere in the country is this more evident than on the scenic Baltic island of Gotland, which occupies a key geographical position. If it were to fall into enemy hands, the Baltic states would be all but lost, and the Nordic Baltic states would be largely cut off from NATO aid by sea.
🎖️ Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, defense capacities have been expanded, and the government in Stockholm put together a financial package of around 150 million euros to expand the infrastructure on the island so that significantly more servicemen and women can be based here and ready for action in the future. Several hundred Swedish soldiers are now permanently stationed on the island — and there are even more volunteers who live on the island permanently and now spend significantly more time on the military grounds training for emergencies.
🇸🇪🇫🇮 But Sweden's rearmament is by no means limited to Gotland. After more than 200 years of military non-alignment, the country has also decided to join NATO. Similar to its neighbor and friendly rival Finland, public support for membership had hovered between 20 and 30 percent for two decades. But then an unprecedented change of opinion took place after the invasion of Ukraine, to which Stockholm had to react. Joining NATO would mean much better protection for Sweden and Finland, and two strong new members for the Alliance, having long invested in modern land, sea and air forces.
After far-right politician Giorgia Meloni emerged as the top vote-getter in Italy's election, the question on everyone's lips is what will her relationship be with the European Union. The risk of her pushing for an Italian exit from the EU is slim.
-Analysis-
ROME — Giorgia Meloni has unquestionably earned the trust of Italians. But now she will have to work on earning the trust of the rest of the world, especially the world to which Italy belongs: the West and Europe.
Italy cannot afford political isolation, economic self-sufficiency or cultural marginalization.
"Italy first" does not represent the national interests. Not for an Atlantic, European and Mediterranean middle power that belongs to organizations scattered around the globe — a dense network of interdependencies and ties on which our security and well-being depend.
New leaders are often given a trial period on the international scene. Not so for Meloni, who will get to the prime minister seat with the Russian-Ukrainian war at the center of Europe and a pressing energy emergency.
Foreign and European policy will be the de-facto litmus test of her new government — and a test of the coalition's cohesion and the future prime minister's leadership. For the sake of the continuity of the North Atlantic alliance, continued support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia must remain.
The Russia-Ukraine war as litmus test
From the opposition, Giorgia Meloni has consistently voted in favor of these government measures, including sending arms to Kyiv. She will most likely follow the same line as from the governing alliance.
She can do so because Matteo Salvini of the far-right League party emerged downsized from Sunday's vote and Silvio Berlusconi's nostalgic Putinism is not shared by the rest of his party, Forza Italia.
And she must do so because Italy's good relationship with the United States, which she cherishes, depends on Ukraine. On this issue, Washington sees no party lines. There is a war, with a nuclear threat. Italy is a member of NATO, cornerstone of Europe's security, and of Italy's too. U-turns or neutrality belong to an old geological era.
No more Euro-sceptic fantasies
Matteo Salvini, Silvio Berlusconi, Maurizio Lupi and Giorgia Meloni attend the final rally of their election campaign in Rome.
Concerns about the new Italian government are no secret in Brussels.
But it is best to wait for the actions, the formation, the program and, above all, the behavior of the new government and not to forget that Meloni's success is the result of democracy. These were the smart words of Emmanuel Macron, who spoke of respecting the "democratic choice" of the Italian people.
She has given up fantasies of leaving the euro or the EU.
The EU and other leaders must not leave the monopoly of congratulations to Hungary's far-right prime minister Viktor Orban, otherwise they will push her into his arms. Meloni said she wanted to distance herself from him.
She has given up fantasies of leaving the euro or the EU, which Italians do not want. Instead, she wants to "reform" the Union, in a direction to transfer more sovereignty back to member states. This turns European policy into an acid test for the new government.
First, she will not want to undermine the national interest when it comes to national recovery plan (PNRR). Draghi, a former chief of the European Central Bank, drafted the PNRR and almost €200 billion of EU recovery fund cash was already approved by Italy’s parliament and the EU. Two out of three Italians credit Draghi with Italy's first economic revival in a long time — thanks in part to the PNRR and the reforms it triggers.
Second, Italy's two most important European partners remain Germany and France. Common sense, not politics, makes the relationship with Paris and Berlin a constant in Italy's position in Europe.
Finally, when it comes to fiscal discipline — which is a more sensitive issue to Meloni than her two allies — she can get on the warpath with Brussels, but the markets are unforgiving — just look at what is happening in the UK.
A pragmatic, non-ideological approach to European politics allows Meloni to present herself in Brussels as a leader with whom the EU can work constructively. Brussels must be able to reciprocate without being narrow-minded.
Building a positive relationship is of mutual interest: Italy needs the EU but it is also the third country in the Union — "too big to fail" and to be marginalized. We will soon find out if Meloni and other European leaders can work together. Let's hope so.
Russia's proxies in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions announced that referendums on joining Russia had begun that Ukrainian and Western officials have denounced as shams.
Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.
For four days, "voting" will be held at people's homes "for security reasons," Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti wrote. On the last day of the "referendums," on September 27, locals will be asked to go to "polling stations."
In Zaporizhzhya and Kherson oblasts the question is: "Do you support secession from Ukraine, formation of the oblast as an independent state and incorporation into Russia?" and in the already self-declared independent republics of DNR and LNR: "Are you for incorporation into Russia as a subject of the Federation?”
Concerns grow that by claiming the areas as Russian, Moscow will portray attempts to retake them as an attack on Russia itself. The votes are thus seen as linked to the mobilizationVladimir Putin announced this week to escalate the war.
In the Luhansk region, citizens have been forbidden from leaving the city. Head of the Luhansk OVA, Serhiy Gaidai, wrote on Telegram that "Residents of the occupied Luhansk region are forbidden to leave the cities: If you work, they will force you to vote at work; if you stay at home, the military will come."
According to Gaidai, the Russian media were preparing propaganda stories about a kind of "active participation of local residents in voting." In particular, in Bilovodsk, a business owner announced to all employees that attendance was mandatory. Those who will not take part in the voting will be automatically dismissed from their jobs, and the lists of those who will not appear will be handed over to Russian authorities.
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also addressed the residents of Donbas on his Telegram channel. “Our dear compatriots, make your choice freely. Don't be afraid of anything. Make a decision to become part of the Russian Federation — we will support you, ” he wrote.
Berlusconi Defends Putin With Italy Set To Vote
Silvio Berlusconi attends at the rally closing the election campaign of the center right in Piazza del Popolo
Ahead of Italy’s general election on Sunday, some of the country’s top politicians — including those expected to be part of the winning coalition — have made declarations in favor of Russia.
In the prime time TV show Porta a Porta on Thursday, the final official day for campaigning, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, likely to become a government minister after the elections, justified his long-time friend at the Kremlin Vladimir Putin by saying that “ he fell into a very difficult and dramatic situation.”
Echoing Putin’s rationale for his invasion, the 85-year-old Italian billionaire politician said that Russian minorities in Ukraine asked Putin to help them because the Ukraine government was attacking them. “Putin was pushed by the Russian population, by his party and his government ministers to come up with this special operation,” Berlusconi said, using Putin’s euphemism for the war. “Russian troops had to enter Kyiv and within a week to substitute Zelensky’s government with a government of decent people.”
Berlusconi later said his statements were taken out of context and that he believes the “aggression of Ukraine is unjustifiable and unacceptable.”
The exchange came after Berlusconi’s far-right ally and former interior minister Matteo Salvini said that Europe should rethink sanctions against Russia because they are harming the Italian population.
Another former prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, now leader of the 5Star Movement, which has opposed the sending of more arms to Ukraine, also spoke out in favor of Russia. “It is obvious that Russia is moving in a logic that needs to be grasped, not justified, we are talking about the security of a neighboring territory, we are talking about Russian minorities,” Conte was quoted as saying in daily La Stampa.
Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right party Brothers of Italy is the frontrunner in Sunday’s elections in a coalition with Berlusconi’s and Salvini’s parties, has instead backed sanctions against Russia in what seemed a deep crack within the coalition. Observers around the world will be watching the results to see if the EU could potentially lose a key ally in the backing of Ukraine, especially as the economic and energy effects take their toll across the West.
One Million Recruits? Novaya Gazeta Reveals “Secret” Number In Mobilization Decree
Mobilized reservists arrive at a republican recruitment centre.
Stringer/TASS
A secret paragraph of the decree on mobilization allows the Ministry of Defense to call up one million people instead of the 300,000 originally stated by the Russian government, a source in the presidential administration told Novaya Gazeta Europe.
The seventh paragraph of the decree isdesignated "for official use." Later, at a press conference, the President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the classified item referred to the number of reservists who could be called up for military service.
Novaya Gazeta’s source inside the Russian government said “The figure was corrected several times, and in the end, they settled on a million”.
Zelensky Tells Russians To “Protest, Fight Back, Run Away Or Surrender”
Reacting to Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a national mobilization, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russians to "protest, fight back, run away or surrender to Ukraine." Speaking in his daily address, he added: "You are already complicit in all these crimes, murders, and torture of Ukrainians because you remain silent. It's time for you to choose, for men to choose to die or to live."
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk previously said that Russians who don't want to fight should surrender. "If you don't want to return to Russia, then, according to the Geneva Conventions and Ukrainian law, no one will transfer you back to Russia," she said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian journalist Anna Akage reflects for Worldcrunch on Vladimir Putin’s failure to avoid the nationwide mobilization of new recruits and how this could put his own destiny at stake.
Germany To Welcome Russians As Political Refugees, Kazakhstan Bows To Kremlin
Passengers queue at check-in desks at Vnukovo International Airport
Vladimir Gerdo/TASS
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine that Russians who oppose the regime and flee the country could be accepted as those escaping "political persecution."
"Anyone who courageously opposes the regime of President Vladimir Putin and therefore puts themselves in great danger can apply for asylum in Germany […] As a rule, deserters threatened by severe repression receive international protection," Faeser said, adding that granting asylum is a case-by-case decision.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's parliament speaker Maulen Ashimbaev has said that the country would not deliver permanent residence permits to Russians without the Kremlin's agreement. After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his plan of "partial mobilization", many Russians began leaving for Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, where they can enter without visas.
El Periódico- Spain
An Entire Family Exterminated: Die Welt Shows Horror In Izyum
Reporting for German daily Die Welt, Anatoly Shara writes that he needed to wear a breathing mask with a menthol ointment to deal with the smell of decomposing bodies. Regional authorities have said that more than 440 bodies have been buried, with widespread signs of torture that may make the crimes even worse than Bucha, the city near Kyiv that was the site of different massacre last spring.
Shara reports how a team of investigators dug out an entire family. A woman, sobbing, explains: “It's just terrible, it's just terrible. Over there is a whole family: grandfather, grandmother, father, mother and two children. The children's bodies were piled on top of each other and wrapped in some rags."
Independence Commission Confirms War Crimes Committed In Ukraine
War crimes have been committed in Ukraine following investigations conducted in four regions of the country, said the chair of an independence Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine on Friday.
"Based on the evidence gathered by the Commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine," Erik Møse told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.
The commission found a large number of executions, as well as victims of sexual violence and torture Møse said. Even though he did explicitly say who had committed the crimes, the commission’s investigations were focused on areas in Ukraine previously occupied by Russian forces like Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy.
Russia continues to deny deliberately attacking civilians during the war in Ukraine and has previously said that the accusations of human rights abuses are a smear campaign.
Russian Banks Losses Estimated To $25 Billion, Regulator Not Fazed
Maxim Lyubomudrov, who heads the regulator's department that supervises Russia’s largest banks, said this level of losses was “acceptable” and that the government had put in place measures to support Russia’s lenders through the economic crisis.
Finland Seizes Yandex Assets, Other Russian Oligarchs Targeted
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh in 2017
Finnish authorities have seized the holdings of Russia's largest technology company Yandex after the European Union added the company's founder and CEO Arkady Volozh to its sanctions list, Finnish media Helsingin Sanomat reports.
Meanwhile, Russian oligarchs Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had extensive business interests in Finland, had their assets seized by the state as well.
On Cover Boys, Obituaries And Putin Getting The Last Word
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the choice of who or what was on the cover of a weekly print magazine could be worth the equivalent of seven days of today’s internet #trending topics.
And so it was back in 2004, I was eagerly finalizing what would be that week’s cover story after an exclusive interview (over lunch!) with the trendingest of world leaders: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Just a few hours from our final Saturday night deadline, a news flash arrived: Ronald Reagan dead at 93. Stop the presses, people. Sorry, Jeff. Sorry, Silvio. Cover goes to Ronnie.
Eighteen years later, another news flash: Mikhail Gorbachev dead at 91. The passing of Reagan’s partner-in-arms in ending the Cold War would be displayed prominently the next day on the front pages of daily newspapers around the world, and our computer screens filled with obituaries, reflections, hot takes and tweets. Still, Gorby’s passing was trending online for no more than 18 to 24 hours — and will be featured on few if any major magazine covers.
The relatively muted reaction to the death of such a consequential historical figure may be explained by the simple passage of time (we are now 33 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall), and perhaps the internet age has only so much space for old people dying.
And yet the difference in coverage is also certainly linked to the way Gorbachev’s legacy looks right now in light of the current occupant of the Kremlin. With his invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is busy attempting to take every “end of the Cold War” magazine cover and rosy “East-meets-West” editorial and toss it in the bin of posterity. Within Russia, Gorbachev himself had long since become a source of both scorn and mockery.
Putin’s propaganda is to blame, but it’s not alone. The journalism in our democracies, it’s been said, is the “first draft of history.” A less generous take is that our industry has, as the parent of a six-year-old boy might say, attention-span issues.
Here’s another episode from back in the day: an April 2008 press conference in the seaside town of Porto Rotondo on the Italian island of Sardinia, following a bilateral meeting between two world leaders, Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi.
After several policy questions, a reporter named Natalia Melikova of the Russian independent daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta stands up and asks Putin about multiple recent reports that he is dating a former gymnast-turned-politician. As Melikova is speaking, saying the public has the right to know if the married Russian president was getting a divorce, Berlusconi flashes his Cheshire-cat smile and then turns in mock anger and makes the gesture of firing a machine gun toward the reporter. Putin chuckles, and nods his head.
With a long list of journalists killed in Putin’s Russia, it was no doubt one of the lowest of the many low moments for Berlusconi, who was always eager to butter up to the bully of Saint Petersburg.
But it is also an emblematic moment for the rest of the West: a nervous acknowledgement that Putin was the most dangerous man in the room, and nobody really knew what to do with him. You can only hold the presses so long.
— Jeff Israely
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
What do you remember from the news this week?
Argentina’s Vice-President Cristina Kirchner survived an assassination attempt this week. What saved her life?
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died Monday at 91, is remembered for ushering in an era of “opening” (Glasnost) and “restructuring,” which was called? Matryochka / Perestroika / Sputnik
What did Serena Williams respond when asked whether she was surprised at her current good form?
A 60-year-old U.S. man broke a world record by paddling 38 miles down the Missouri river on what kind of embarkation? A giant pumpkin / A toilet / An inflatable bed
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
Saudi Arabia has opened an investigation after a video of women being attacked by men, some in police uniform, went viral on social media Wednesday. The leaked footage, reportedly shot at an orphanage in the southwest of the country, shows a group of women being dragged and beaten by men using sticks and belts.
The online outrage (trending under the hashtag #KhamisMushaitOrphans) led the governor of the province to order the creation of a special committee tasked with investigating the incident and “refer the case to the competent authority.” In the meantime, Saudi human rights advocates have described the video as additional proof of the Saudi government’s abysmal track record vis-à-vis women’s rights under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
Venice Film Festival dives into the Metaverse: This year’s edition of the Venice International Film Festival is offering a brand new experience to its visitors: Venice Immersive, which runs from Sept. 1-10. Festival-goers will be able to frolic in different worlds (beaches, forests, science fiction places), play games, dress in costumes and meet historical figures such as Coco Chanel.
New Madam C.J. Walker Barbie: In the early 20th century, hair care magnate Madam C.J. Walker became the first woman self-made millionaire. She has now become the latest addition to Mattel’s Barbie Inspiring Women Series to celebrate how “she created opportunities for herself, and uplifted other Black women” alongside other icons such as Ida B. Wells, Maya Angelou or Dr. Jane Goodall.
Camilo Guevara dies at 60: Marxist revolutionary leader Che Gevara’s son Camilo Guevara died on Monday at the age of 60 while on a visit to Caracas, Venezuela. He had dedicated much of his life to documenting his father’s life and led the Center of Che Guevara Studies in Havana, where his father fought for the Cuban revolution.
“La Tomatina” catchup: The world’s largest food fight, “La Tomatina” festival, was back for its 75th edition in Buñol, Spain, after the past two editions were canceled due the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of people splattered each other with tomato pulp from 130 tons of over-ripe tomatoes.
Doggy Parton woofing 9 to 5: U.S. iconic singer Dolly Parton is launching a line of fabulous pet apparel and accessories called Doggy Parton, with items ranging from pink cowgirl dresses, to squeaky toys, to a curly blonde wig inspired by the country star. A part of the proceeds will be donated to rescue organization Willa B. Farms.
✈️ Is A Russian Visa Ban The True Priority?
At a summit meeting in Prague, the European Union’s foreign ministers were deeply divided over the possibility of enforcing a total visa ban on Russian citizens. While many countries in the East and the North were in favor of it, Germany and France called for a compromise.
The issue raises many ethical and economic questions, among which the risk of penalizing students and poorer Russians, but it’s also a distraction from the real suffering that Ukrainians are going through every single day. Attention should be focused on sanctions that will have a truly significant impact, and on providing Ukraine with the weapons the country so desperately needs, Anna Akage writes for Worldcrunch.
🇩🇪☢️ Why Young Generations Are In Favor Of Nuclear Power
The younger generations are more worried than their elders about the effects of climate change on the planet. That is leading an increasing number of them to support nuclear power as a better option for the environment, reversing decades of anti-nuke activism of progressives.
Diana Pieper explains in German daily Die Welt why Green Party politicians are calling for nuclear power plants to remain open and the move to phase out fossil fuels in order to promote the expansion of renewable energy sources.
France’s tax authorities discovered more than 20,000 undeclared swimming pools across the country, thanks to a new AI technology. Developed by Google and French company Capgemini, the software spotted pools using aerial imagery. This led to the state being able to collect some 10 million euros in tax revenues from owners who had failed to declare their pools.
🐧 SMILE OF THE WEEK
Meet Lucas, a four-year-old penguin from San Diego's Zoo, who’s just received a brand new tailor-made orthopedic webbed-footwear. Lucas suffers from bumblefoot, a chronic avian condition that creates lesions on his feet. The zoo partnered with Thera-Paw organization, which specializes in rehabilitative products for special needs animals. Thanks to his neoprene and rubber flip-flops, Lucas can now stand, walk and play with his peers. Happy feet indeed!
👉 OTHERWISE
Here’s the latest Dottoré! piece from the notebook of Neapolitan psychiatrist and writer Mariateresa Fichele:
Social Media Envy Is More Than Just Your Imagination
Some of my female patients are struggling with the way life is exposed on social media. It is becoming extremely problematic not only in relation to the beauty standards exhibited online, but also the family models that are exposed.
Some women — who struggle with their role as working women and mothers or housewives — have difficulty in understanding that behind a bright young entrepreneur who constantly shows herself on social media as a loving mother and wife, immersed in an opulent and perfect reality, there is a hidden world of waiters, nannies, makeup artists, hairdressers, drivers, airplane pilots and photographers, who certainly do not appear in videos and Instagram stories.
My job, in dealing with these patients, is to relieve them of the sense of frustration and inadequacy that arises from the comparison, trying to bring them back to the level of reality. And yet it may be reality itself that is the biggest obstacle in any of my therapeutic efforts.
For it is looking ever more true what one of my patients, Gennaro, once told me: "Dottoré, this story that money doesn’t buy happiness is bullshit. It was invented by the rich to comfort and trick those who have nothing…”
UN Secretary General António Guterres will be in Pakistan on Friday for a “solidarity visit” as the country struggles with devastating floods.
Starting next week, the U.S. government will suspend free COVID-19 at-home test deliveries in an effort to limit the supply of tests, as Congress is yet to provide additional funding to replenish the nation’s test stockpile.
1. Argentina’s former President and current Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner survived an assassination attempt as she was greeting a crowd outside her home in Buenos Aires on Thursday. Her assailant, a Brazilian national whose gun jammed, has been taken into custody.
2. After rising through the ranks of the Communist party, Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms ushered in a period of perestroika (“restructuring”) that contributed to the mostly peaceful end to the Cold War and eventually, the fall of the USSR. Here’s how international newspapers marked Gorby’s passing on Tuesday, at age 91.
3. After reaching the third round of the U.S. Open by defeating world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit, tennis legend Serena Williams was asked by an interviewer if she surprised herself with her level. Williams replied confidently: “I’m just Serena.”
4. Duane Hansen, 60, broke a Guinness World Record by paddling 38 miles (61km) down the Missouri river inside a giant 384-kg pumpkin.
✍️ Newsletter by Worldcrunch
Sign up here to receive our free daily Newsletter to your inbox
