The political crisis unfolding in Italy is the longest in the republic's history. For more than two months, a pair of populist parties – the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the League – that won the most votes in the March elections have struggled to forge a government. That struggle has, over the past week, landed Italy in a constitutional crisis. Sergio Mattarella, the country's president, is facing calls for impeachment from the right for refusing to allow Giuseppe Conte, the prime ministerial candidate backed by M5S and the League, to name a notorious Eurosceptic as his finance minister. Mr Mattarella then quickly went ahead and invited Carlo Cottarelli, an economist with no political experience, to form an interim government. All cabinet appointees will, like Mr Cottarelli, be non-political technocrats.
The decisive repudiation of populism inherent in Mr Mattarella's actions is a welcome departure from the growing tendency among western politicians to surrender to populists. Yet the wave of public disaffection that the populists rode is gathering force – and will probably return M5S and the League with a larger share of the vote in the next election. Mr Mattarella is already being portrayed as the anti-democratic underling of the European Union and nationalists appear thrilled at the prospect of turning this crisis into a referendum on Italy's sovereignty. We witnessed something similar in Greece. The difference is that Italy is the third-largest economy in the Eurozone and among the ensemble of populists paralysing the country are unmalleable and extreme right-wingers.
What is happening in Italy has drastic implications for the Eurozone and all who do business with it, including the UAE, which has seen a steady rise in commerce with Italy (in 2015, bilateral trade stood at Dh30 billion). The free trade agreement being negotiated between the EU and the GCC member states is likely to be further delayed by crisis of confidence in Europe. The prospect of a Eurosceptic government in Rome has already knocked the euro to a low. The task before Italy is to create political stability without succumbing to populism. It won't be easy but the future of Europe depends on it.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Schedule:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
'Downton Abbey: A New Era'
Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan
Rating: 4/5
THE DETAILS
Deadpool 2
Dir: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Justin Dennison, Zazie Beetz
Four stars
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
