In the span of a couple of weeks, Italy’s populist League party banned a migrant-friendly mayor from Riace, denied school meals and bus services to 200 migrant children in Lodi and called for the closure of ethnic shops by 9pm in Rome.
The flurry of xenophobic policies does not justify the alarmism on the resurgence of a fascist regime in Italy, analysts told The National. But, if unchallenged, these policies threaten to demonise – and potentially begin to tarnish – Italian democracy.
During the last rally before the March national elections, League leader Matteo Salvini swore on the gospel “to be loyal to my people, 60 million Italians”. Despite the party's former leader being convicted for embezzlement, Mr Salvini’s motto “the League is the people, and the people cannot be stopped” still strikes a chord with the Italian electorate.
“The League is extremely present on the ground and is working to be even more present,” said Benedetto Coccia, research co-ordinator at the think tank Istituto Pio V in Rome. While it brands itself as a new force advocating for change, the party is the oldest running electoral force, the analyst noted.
Established in 1991, the League – formerly known as Northern League – has been spreading its roots in the peninsula, gradually making a foray into the disparaged south.
The League picked up on growing popular resentment spurred by the economic crisis and the mismanagement of the migrant flow to “market itself as the problem-solver”, Mr Coccia said.
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But theirs are easy solutions to complicated problems. “Ours is not a direct democracy, it is a system with checks and balances. What I find worrying is that these very checks and balances are now being pointed out to the public opinion as the problem.”
This builds a narrative where the League is the arm of the people while the state is the stick. Under this logic, if a budget law is marketed as belonging to “the people”, the court of audit cannot stop it without coming off as an authoritarian agency, the analyst said.
Similarly, by preventing an Italian migrant rescue ship from docking Mr Salvini “sends [a precise] message: If it were for me, they would not have been allowed to dock. The state’s rules are preventing me from doing what you would like me to,” the analyst said.
The demonetisation of Italian state institutions, in turn, nurtures Mr Salvini’s image as the strong leader willing to break the rules.
The proposed closure of little ethnic shops managed by migrants by 9pm and the exclusion of migrant children from bus services and school meals in Lodi “is part of the logic of ‘zero tolerance’ on immigration”, Mr Coccia said.
Riace, a town famed for taking in migrants and hailed as a success story, was an ideal target to send out such a message. Following accusations of mismanaging funds, mayor Domenico Lucano was put under house arrest and later banned from living in his hometown – a measure historically reserved only for mafia bosses.
“It does not matter whether integration is successful or not. What matters is affirming that there will be no tolerance towards immigrants,” the analyst said.
Since March, support for the League soared from 17 per cent to about 30 per cent, a poll by Ipsos revealed. Among Catholics who attend mass at least once a week – about a third of Italians – support for Mr Salvini has doubled, from 15.7 per cent in March to 31.8 per cent in July. Conversely the popularity of Pope Francis – who called on Italians to open their doors to refugees – dropped from 88 per cent in 2013, when he was elected, to 71 per cent. Among the key reasons, according to the poll’s author, Ilvo Diamanti, is migration.
In 2017, a survey by Demos found that half of Italians perceived migrants as a threat – the highest percentage yet recorded.
According to Francesco Anghelone, a researcher at Istituto Pio V studying the rise of sovereignist parties across Europe, the European Union did not prove itself able to tackle the issue of immigration.
“The attitude has been that of closure and countries that were already facing economic problems were left to bear the burden,” Mr Anghelone said. As a consequence, the message spread by parties who wish to reclaim the sovereignty has been an easy sell.
“The European Union is now failing to represent what it did at the end of War World II: a place where citizens could find economic growth, greater civil rights and justice,” Mr Anghelone said.
But while the Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn accused Mr Salvini of using "fascist" methods in a spat over immigration, Mr Anghelone dismissed such claims. The League leader was also criticised for using fascist slogans.
“As things stand, I do not see the danger of drifting back into fascism,” he said.
In March, the League won only 17.37 per cent of the votes, later sticking an unlikely coalition with the Five Star Movement which had scored little over 32 per cent.
The party is also diverse and some administrations identify more with Italy’s historic Christian Democratic party, while others drift more towards the far right.
What needs to be addressed, however, is the fact that the League – like other parties in Europe – are building consent over the failures of the European Union. Last week, a survey conducted by Eurobarometro revealed that one Italian in two would like to exit the European Union – the highest percentage in Europe, including among UK voters.
“The League is successful in cynically and efficiently exploiting themes that are close to the people,” Mr Anghelone said. “The EU should think long and hard about its mistakes.”
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
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Williams at Wimbledon
Venus Williams - 5 titles (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008)
Serena Williams - 7 titles (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016)
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
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The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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Feeding the thousands for iftar
Six industrial scale vats of 500litres each are used to cook the kanji or broth
Each vat contains kanji or porridge to feed 1,000 people
The rice porridge is poured into a 500ml plastic box
350 plastic tubs are placed in one container trolley
Each aluminium container trolley weighing 300kg is unloaded by a small crane fitted on a truck
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5