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Ginevra Falciani

See more by Ginevra Falciani

Photo of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin toasting with glasses of white wine
FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Don't Underestimate How Much More Putin Needs Xi Than Xi Needs Putin

Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow was a much-needed favor Vladimir Putin. But make no mistake, Beijing is there to serve Beijing — and holds virtually all the cards.

-Analysis-

Chinese president Xi Jinping’s much-anticipated visit to Moscow begins with a diplomatic mystery. In the first minutes of formal greetings at the Kremlin, Xi congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Russia has achieved significant successes under your leadership. Next year you have elections coming up, and I am convinced that the Russian people will give you their support.”

The Russian president’s candidacy in 2024, officially, is one of the biggest mysteries in Russian politics, as Putin has not yet declared his intentions, even though it is extremely unlikely that he would voluntarily move out of the Kremlin, and even less so after amending the constitution in 2020 to allow himself to enjoy two more six-year terms.

Still, the fact that Russians learned that their president will run again from Xi is extraordinary enough that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters they had "misunderstood."

According to Moscow, the Chinese president said more generally that his Russian “friend” would continue to be supported by Russians next year.

It was hardly a gaffe — not at this level of politics, where every blink is weighed and measured. Maybe it was a translation error, or a courtesy Xi wanted to show Putin, in response to his host's compliments. Putin's welcome speech included the phrase "We envy you a little bit” (for China’s rapid pace of progress), which must have truly pained the Russian leader to say.

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photo of protesters lying down on the street in Rome
FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Russian "Hybrid War"? Italy Says Wagner Group Is Using Migrant Trafficking To Divide The West

The Italian Defense minister has blamed an uptick in illegal immigrant arrivals in Italy on the Russian mercenary group, which has a strong presence in Africa, with the risk that it could divide the Western alliance. Wagner chief Prigozhin is having none of it.

ROME — The political debate over immigration in Italy was reignited a few weeks ago after a shipwreck 200 meters off the Calabrian coast that killed 80 people, including 33 children. Since the beginning of 2023, more than 20,000 people have arrived in Italy by sea, a figure three times higher than for the same period last year.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government has put forward multiple explanations for the increase in human trafficking, which now includes the possibility that the Russian mercenary outfit, the Wagner Group, is responsible.

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Photo of three protesters against the Foreign Agent Law in Tbilisi, Georgia, in March 2023.
FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Red Flags, Blue Flags: Why The Georgia Uprising Makes Moscow So Nervous

Protesters in Georgia blocked the adoption of a Russian-inspired "foreign agents" law, leading to threats from the Kremlin. Writing for La Stampa, Georgia-born political scientist Nona Mikhelidze explains why the events put Moscow on edge.

-Analysis-

Protests erupted in Georgia last week over the government's efforts to adopt a “foreign agents” law, a Russian-inspired measure which would require NGOs and independent media who receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to declare themselves as foreign agents.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

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Since a similar law was enacted in Russia, hundreds of civil society and activist groups have ceased their activities, including renowned human rights organization Memorial, a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner, which Russian authorities shut down in 2021.

Other organizations working on human rights, environment, election monitoring and anti-corruption have also ceased their activities, with many forced to close to avoid being labeled as foreign agents or because they couldn't take on the heavy fines imposed for not complying with the strict and arbitrary requirements of the law.

Tens of thousands gathered in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, carrying red Georgian and blue European Union flags and chanting slogans such as “No to the Russian law” and “We are Europe.” Among the protesters were also Russian emigrants who fled their country after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Some were also seen holding signs reading: “I am from Russia! I had to flee because of the law on foreign agents! Georgians, fight!”

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Photo of an LGBT+ march
LGBTQ Plus

Milan Forced To Stop Registering Babies Of Same-Sex Couples

Milan will now only allow the registration of biological parents. The city had been one of the few in Italy to recognize same-sex parents, but it was overruled by the country's conservative government.

MILAN — There will be no more official registration of children born to same-sex couples in Milan. After an attempt at resistance, Mayor Beppe Sala was forced to step back following a request from conservative Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.

Milan had been one of the few cities in Italy to automatically recognize at the registry office the parenthood of same-sex couples who became parents through heterologous fertilization or surrogacy abroad. The decision to discontinue this practice was announced by Sala on Monday. The certificates made so far remain valid.

The current legislation does not specifically prohibit this practice, but it does not mention this possibility either, which is why some cities, like Milan, decided to enact special laws to allow it.

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New York Stock Exchange
Economy

The World Watches Silicon Valley Bank's Collapse And Braces For 2008 Déjà Vu

The effects of the fall of Silicon Valley Bank show the limits of the tech world, but also the current fragility of the international financial system a generation after the 2008 global financial crisis that was sparked by U.S. bank failures.

-Analysis-

PARIS — Five months after the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which continues to shake the crypto world, it's the turn of Silicon Valley Bank, which was at the heart of U.S. start-up financing until it failed on March 10.

It is still too early to know if this new fire will spread or be contained quickly, but lessons can be drawn from the bank's failure, which looks like the consequence of the abrupt transition from the era of free money to the era of rapidly rising interest rates.

The first lesson concerns the world of start-ups.

It is surprising and distressing that this ecosystem, so quick to disrupt the models of the past, should find itself trapped by the simple fact that a traditional bank has become a must-have in Silicon Valley.

This has left the entire venture capital world on edge.

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photo looking through windshield
Society

The Australian Dream: Lived, Loved And Lost By Yearning Italian Youth

Every year thousands of young Italians apply for a Working Holiday visa and escape to Australia. They have many reasons for leaving — but many seek a better work-life balance down under. And then, there are those who cut their adventure short to return home to the bel paese.

MILAN — “The last two days it was 35 degrees, but last week we got over 40.” It’s December. As he speaks to me, it is just past 10 p.m. for Alberto Bellini, while here, in cold, wintery Milan, the afternoon has just begun. Alberto is exactly 12,992 kilometers away from my phone: he called me from Karratha, a town of 23,000 inhabitants in Western Australia.

Alberto is one of the thousands young Italians who, every year, decide to leave everything and move to the other side of the world, taking advantage of the Working Holiday visa that, thanks to an international convention, allows them to live and work in Australia for up to three years.

Another land, another language, another life. The reasons for leaving are many and always different, as are those that convince so many to return to Italy after months or years spent abroad. In some cases, the desire to leave is dictated by the immobility of the Italian labor market, which benefits those who already have everything.

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Photo of a bed on the floor at the Center.
Migrant Lives

Why Are Survivors Of Italy's Shipwreck Being Held In Squalid Conditions?

After a visit to a holding facility, a group of lawyers and human rights activists have charged the Italian government is mistreating nearly 100 survivors of the tragic shipwreck 10 days ago.

CROTONE — At least 70 people: that's the death toll of the shipwreck 10 days ago of the Turkish boat that crashed near the southern Italian coast of Calabria. Sixteen were children.

But there is now also the fate of the 98 survivors to consider. And human rights lawyers have discovered that they are being housed in the former Reception Center for Asylum Seekers of Crotone. Some in Italy may remember that several years ago this same facility was discovered to be part of an investigation of misappropriation of European funds by the Calabrian mafia, the 'Ndrangheta. Investigators then found poor conditions in the center, including the serving of spoiled food to the migrants it housed.

Now the facility is back at the center of the storm because of the conditions of the survivors of the Feb. 26 shipwreck, which occurred on the coast near the city of Crotone.

“They are being held arbitrarily in two sheds that are inadequate not only for those who escaped a terrible shipwreck, but for any human being," says Alessandra Sciurba, professor at the University of Palermo and coordinator of the Migration and Rights Legal Clinic. "It must be closed."

Sciurba pointed out the paradox of the outpouring from Italians over the deaths, and the conditions of the survivors. “On one side there is a country that is moved by this tragedy, on the other side there are people who are denied their rights.”

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Photo of “An oil painting of Illuminati eating with princesses, and masked men, strange rite, quirky, daggers, hyper realistic, Van Eyck, Leonardo, Raphael, Pontormo, strong colors, surreal, Magritte, maya, aztecs.”
Future

Cool New Tool Or Flat-Out Theft? Artists Split Over AI Revolution

Like photography, new forms of artistic expression arise in every age. Now, new artificial intelligence is making it possible to create incredible images in an instant — but it opens up an ethical and philosophical debate.

ROME — In 2017, when Google launched Deep Dream, an artificial intelligence image generator seemingly obsessed with psychedelic dogs, the internet's immediate reaction was curiosity and amusement.

But some people also wondered what would happen as the technology improved. Even from those naïve drawings of dogs, it was clear that it wouldn't take long for more capable neural networks to be developed, powerful enough to draw whatever a user asked.

That time is now. Last summer, as beta versions of AI programs Dall-E, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney (for now, the most effective of the networks), social media was filled with strange drawings. The style was still a bit grainy or dreamy, but immediately recognizable as something novel and significant. This was how the world became familiar with text-to-image software, which can create images based on written or dictated instructions.

At first, the reaction as these programs improved was playful. Illustrators got to know the new tool, as well as writers, including a comic strip written by an author and drawn by Midjourney.

But how do we know that Midjourney and other programs like it are just tools? Francesco D’Isa, artist and philosopher is editor of L’Indiscreto, the first magazine to publish images and stories made with Midjourney. D'Isa is convinced the technology can be useful for art.

Even before debates and controversies erupted around Midjourney and other AI image generators, D’Isa wrote that the programs were just tools, comparable to photography. The first cameras were met with amazement (if not dismay) at the rapidity with which the new medium could produce images. Even then, people feared the new technology would spell the end of painting and illustration. People complained about how easy cameras were to use — something where all "you only had to press a button” could never be art. We know how that turned out.

Still, there are a few obvious differences between photography and programs like Midjourney.

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Photo of a graduation ceremony showing the students' hats.
Society

Reports Of A Quiet Rise In University Student Suicides In Multiple Countries

On top of the traditional troubles some young people face on their own for the first time are the added factors of social media pressure and the effects of the pandemic. The crisis appears to have hit hard in Italy, with other countries, from India to France to the UK, reporting a similar situation.

TW: Contains references to suicide and suicidal thoughts.

On the first day of February, a 19-year-old took her own life in the bathroom of Milan’s IULM university. As reported in Italian daily La Stampa, a note left in the victim's purse said she considered her life and studies a failure.

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Photo of Ángela Maria Ponce wearing the Miss Universe Spain crown
LGBTQ Plus

Meet The Transgender Women Breaking Into The World's Top Beauty Pageants

After years of resistance, more and more major beauty pageants are selecting transgender women to compete. It's shaking up ideas about inclusivity, questioning the modern world’s beauty standards — and perhaps redefining gender itself.

Jenna Talackova’s selection to compete for Miss Universe Canada in 2012 was a watershed moment for both beauty pageants and transgender rights. Believed to be one of the first trans women to participate in a major beauty contest, Talackova won the title of Miss Congeniality, and many hoped it would pave the wave for more trans pageant contestants around the world.

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It would take awhile, but just over a decade later, the revolution that Talackova sparked is finally gaining momentum. As Berlin-based Die Welt reports, Germany just announced that for the second year in a row, a trans woman has made the finals of its national pageant. Last week Miss Universe Puerto Rico said it will include its first openly transgender woman, all adding to a wave the past three years of top pageants opening up to trans contestants to compete.

Not surprisingly, there has been resistance. Last year, a U.S. judge rejected the appeal of Anita Green, a transgender woman, who had sued The Miss United States of America pageant for barring her from participating in the competition.

Meanwhile across the world, Miss Fabulous Laos 2022, a beauty pageant competition that allowed transgender women to participate, has been discontinued after the country’s ruling party banned transgender people from entering any beauty pageants.

Still, it seems as though the universe of women’s beauty pageants is reaching its transgender tipping point with more and more competitions opting for inclusivity, questioning the modern world’s beauty standards and redefining gender itself.

Here’s a look at some of the transgender women participating in beauty pageants around the world:

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Photo of A relative of one of the victims praying in front of the Crotone's sports hall where the coffins have been momentarily placed
Italy

With Those Mourning Italy's Shipwreck Victims — A Double Immigrant Tragedy

The death toll from a shipwrecked migrant boat off the coast of Italy has reached 63. Relatives of the victims and survivors, who have begun to arrive in the southern town, are all mostly immigrants themselves.

CROTONE — His world is about to be shattered.

In front of the Reception Center for Asylum Seekers in this southern Italian city, a man has arrived from Germany. He is a Syrian refugee, and he is asking about his wife. “She was on that boat! Please tell me she is here. Let me in." The man shows a photograph: "She texted me that she was arriving. It was four o’clock in the morning. She could see the lights of Italy.”

But his wife is not among the rescued, so the man keeps looking. He rushes into the San Giovanni di Dio Hospital in Crotone, in Italy's southern Calabria region. “I need to see the wounded, tell me if my wife is there.”

His wife, 23, was the only traveler of Tunisian nationality on the barge that left Turkey five days ago and crashed 200 meters off the Italian coast before dawn on Sunday. He would later recognized her body among the 63 bodies lined up at the sports hall.

They were married. But their documents did not suffice to allow her a plane ride. “We couldn’t apply for family reunification,” says the widowed man. “We paid the smugglers so we could live together. It was the only way. I was here waiting for her.”

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Photo of a show amid the remains of the boat after migrants washed ashore following the shipwreck.
Migrant Lives

After Four Days At Sea, A Migrant Tragedy Plays Out Just 200 Meters From Italy's Shore

Dozens of migrants are confirmed dead, with many more casualties feared. Survivors say the crew threw people overboard, with land finally in sight after a perilous Mediterranean journey from Turkey.

STECCATO DI CUTRO — “Land!” They kept screaming, praying and vomiting. Force 6 waves. Unrelenting wind.

“When we saw the lights, we thought we were safe," recounted one of the survivors. "‘They’re coming for us!’ we all starting to shout. We were sure we had made it. But the crew started throwing boys down, pulling them by the arms and throwing them into the sea. Panic broke out on board. The boat flipped. And they hadn't seen us; they didn't come to save us."

An estimated 150 to 180 people were on board the trawler, having already survived a terrifying crossing from Turkey. But at least 74 didn't make it, confirmed dead, having drowned just 200 meters from the shore. Just 200 meters from arriving in Europe.

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