A Milan criminal court on Wednesday acquitted Italian fashion influencer and businesswoman Chiara Ferragni of aggravated fraud in the so-called Pandorogate scandal. The case, one of Italy’s most high-profile celebrity trials, centered on allegations of misleading advertising linked to the promotion of the sweet pandoro Christmas bread — luxury sugar-dusted brioches — in 2022 and Easter eggs sold in 2021 and 2022. Prosecutors, who had requested a 20-month prison sentence, argued that consumers had been led to believe their purchases would support charitable causes, when donations had in fact already been made and were not tied to sales. Ferragni denied any wrongdoing throughout the proceedings. Judge Ilio Mannucci rejected the aggravating circumstance cited by prosecutors, reclassifying the charge as simple fraud, according to ANSA. Under Italian law, that requires a formal complaint to proceed. But because the consumer group Codacons had withdrawn its complaint last year after reaching a compensation agreement with Ferragni, the judge dismissed the case. The ruling also applies to her co-defendants, including her former close aide Fabio Damato, and Cerealitalia Chairman Francesco Cannillo. “We are all very moved,” Ferragni said outside the Milan courtroom after the verdict. “I thank everyone, my lawyers and my followers.” The scandal began in late 2023, when Ferragni partnered with confectioner Balocco to market a limited-edition pandoro to support cancer research. But Balocco had already donated a fixed €50,000 months earlier, while Ferragni’s companies earned more than €1 million from the campaign. The competition authorities fined Ferragni and Balocco more than €1.4 million, and last year, Milan prosecutors charged Ferragni with aggravated fraud for allegedly generating false expectations among buyers. Ferragni and her then-husband and rapper Fedez used to be Italy’s most politically influential Instagram couple, championing progressive causes, campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights and positioning themselves against the country’s traditionalist Catholic mainstream, often drawing sharp criticism from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Italian right. Since the scandal erupted in December 2023, however, that cultural and political empire has unraveled: the couple divorced, Ferragni retreated from public life, and Fedez reemerged in increasingly right-leaning political circles. Wednesday’s acquittal closes a legal chapter that had sparked intense political and media scrutiny, triggered regulatory fines and fueled a broader debate in Italy over influencer marketing, charity and consumer protection.

The downfall of Italy’s most politically influential Instagram couple — in a fraud scandal over sales of sweet pandoro Christmas bread — is gripping the nation, and there have been walk-on roles for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her deputy, Matteo Salvini. Chiara Ferragni, once the face of Italian fashion on social media and a darling of the left, faces a potential jail term this week, over the so-called “Pandorogate” scandal. She is accused of misleading consumers in 2023 by promoting sales of luxury sugar-dusted brioches, whose inflated prices were supposed to support sick children. Her trial began in a Milan courtroom in late November, with a verdict expected on Jan. 14. Prosecutors have requested a 20-month prison sentence. Ferragni strongly denies any wrongdoing. “Everything we have done, we have done in good faith, none of us has profited,” she told the courtroom on Nov. 25. Her ex-husband, rapper-turned-activist Federico Lucia, known as Fedez, was not charged in the scandal, but their marriage has collapsed under public scrutiny and he has made an eye-catching lurch to engaging the political right. Before the trial even began, the case was political. The glamorous couple had been famous for taking on progressive causes, pitting themselves against the more traditionalist Catholic mainstream. They tackled discrimination, campaigned for LGBTQ+ rights and raised funds for intensive-care units during the Covid pandemic. As soon as the scandal broke, conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was quick to single out Ferragni as the wrong kind of role model. “The real role models … are not influencers who make loads of money promoting expensive panettoni that are supposedly for charity,” Meloni said from the stage at the 2023 Atreju gathering of Italy’s far right. Chiara Ferragni and her husband Federico Leonardo Lucia, during the 76th Venice Film Festival on September 4, 2019 at Venice Lido. | Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images Months later, in 2024, Meloni introduced a bill — now dubbed the Ferragni law — that directly targets influencers suspected of misleading their fan base with glitzy marketing promotions. The proposed legislation is not the legal basis for Ferragni’s prosecution, which falls under existing consumer protection and fraud laws, but it was widely interpreted as a political response to the scandal bearing her name. By contrast, Meloni’s deputy, Salvini from the League party, came to Ferragni’s defense, saying he was “shocked” by the “malice and rancor” directed at the influencer and her family. Indeed, a bond now seems to be building between Fedez and Salvini in the aftermath of Pandoro-gate. Once a progressive provocateur and outspoken critic of Italy’s far right, Fedez has more recently appeared alongside right-wing figures, invited League hardliner Roberto Vannacci onto his podcast and attended the youth congress of the conservative Forza Italia party. In his memoir, he even praises Salvini for being among the few public figures who checked in regularly during the difficult period following his divorce. “He was the only one who showed me true empathy. And this despite the fact that we had very different ideas and we said all sorts about each other in the past,” he wrote. POLITICO reached out to both Ferragni’s company Chiara Ferragni Brand and her lawyers as well as to Fedez’s PR agency for comments, but received no response. MILLENNIAL EMPIRE Before the courtroom drama, Ferragni, 38, and Fedez, 36, spent a decade assembling something unique in Italian public life: A millennial empire that blended fashion, entrepreneurship, activism and entertainment into a single, highly lucrative influence machine. Ferragni, a former law student, launched the blog The Blonde Salad with her then-partner in 2009. By 2016, it had evolved into a lifestyle magazine and e-commerce platform, selling Ferragni-designed stilettos, luggage and sweatshirts with her well-known sardonic eye logo embroidered across the chest. Luxury houses took notice. She moved from the blogsphere to the front rows of fashion weeks, securing lucrative partnerships and becoming a Harvard Business School case study. Fedez’s path was different. He was a master “at intercepting the cultural changes in Italy,” said Francesco Oggiano, a journalist and expert in digital and political communication. Already established as a rapper in the early 2010s, Fedez reinvented himself as a political firebrand. He publicly challenged Meloni, wrote the official song for the populist Five Star Movement in 2014 and used televised appearances at the Sanremo song contest to criticize right-wing politicians. He was loud, combative, and comfortable mixing his celebrity with activism. Ferragni moved from the blogsphere to the front rows of fashion weeks, securing lucrative partnerships and becoming a Harvard Business School case study. | Donato Fasano/Getty Images When Ferragni and Fedez met in 2016, their relationship quickly became a shared brand. Their 2018 wedding was a sponsorship-saturated media event. Their home life played out as a meticulously crafted and very glitzy reality show followed by millions. And it worked. “Italy has always been an orphan of royal couples,” Oggiano explained. The country “deluded itself that [Ferragni and Fedez] were the perfect couple” and helped build their myth by following their every move. They threw their weight behind the Zan bill, a proposed law to protect people from violence and discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and disabilities that never saw the light of day. They also used their platform to amplify the Malika case, in support of a young woman kicked out of her home by her family for loving another woman; and raised millions for intensive-care units during the Covid pandemic. The duo became a kind of soft-power project, offering an outlet for a millennial Italy opposed to traditional nationalist and Catholic frameworks. They weren’t politicians, but their influence rivaled that of politicians grappling with a changing media landscape. SUGARY SCANDAL The couple’s progressive politics made “Pandorogate” a spectacular fall from grace. In late 2023, Ferragni partnered with confectioner Balocco to market a pink-boxed, limited-edition pandoro to support Turin’s Regina Margherita children’s hospital. The message was simple: Buy the pandoro to support cancer research. But the arrangement was not tied to sales. As journalist Selvaggia Lucarelli first revealed, Balocco had already donated a fixed €50,000 months earlier, while Ferragni received a commercial fee for the campaign. Even the hospital initially misunderstood how the promotion worked. Italy’s Competition Authority (AGCM) later confirmed those findings, concluding that packaging, press releases and social-media posts created the misleading impression that consumers were directly supporting the charity. In reality, no share of sales was donated, while Ferragni’s companies earned more than €1 million from the campaign. Chiara Ferragni, charged for aggravated fraud in a case linked to a Pandoro charity initiative, leaves the courthouse of Milan after a preliminary hearing, in Milan on November 4, 2025. | Piero Cruciatii/AFP via Getty Images The competition authorities fined Ferragni and Balocco more than €1 million for misleading commercial practices, and saying companies linked to Ferragni profited from the scheme. Consumer groups urged prosecutors to investigate potential fraud and to consider freezing her companies’ accounts. By 2025, the controversy had shifted to criminal proceedings. Milan prosecutors incorporated the AGCM’s conclusions into their case, charging Ferragni with aggravated fraud for allegedly generating false expectations among buyers. To her political enemies, Pandorogate was a case of philanthropy being treated as a marketing accessory. The attorney general stated in the decree that decided the trial would be held in Milan that Ferragni “used” charity “to strengthen her image.” BUBBLE REPUTATION The scandal didn’t just damage the couple’s commercial brand. It also tarnished the progressive picture they created of themselves. “Fedez was always better at controlling the narrative,” said Oggiano, which may help explain why he has managed to remain relevant in Italy’s media landscape. After the divorce, Fedez took control of the public discourse yet again by writing an autobiography. In it, he describes how, already struggling after cancer surgery, he cycled through hospitalizations, panic attacks, heavy medication and periods of erratic behavior, finding support in unlikely places, not least Salvini. A public repositioning followed. Fedez launched a new podcast, where he often hosts some of Italy’s most outspoken right-wing figures, from politicians to other artists and influencers. He calls it “dialogue,” while his critics call it a political shift. His audience has changed too: More male, more skeptical and increasingly drawn to a Joe Rogan-style environment that prizes unfiltered chatter over ideological clarity. Ferragni chose silence instead. Legal troubles, reputational collapse and the withdrawal of brand partners are now pushing her largely out of public view. Their demise removes one of the few high-visibility counterweights to a nationalist government that is now mastering digital communication. What remains of their legacy? At a national level, when it comes to marketing campaigns, “brands are definitely more careful,” Oggiano said. Ferragni now faces a legal battle and a steep climb back to public trust. Fedez has traded activism for opinion-driven entertainment on his podcast. Their shared brand of entrepreneurial optimism and progressive advocacy has evaporated. She paid a heavier price than Fedez, but both careers were always built on a trade-off. As Oggiano puts it: “You have to choose between attention and reputation. Some people choose reputation above all else, and the moment there’s even the slightest scandal, everything collapses.”

Andrea Carlo is a British-Italian researcher and journalist living in Rome. His work has been published in various outlets, including TIME, Euronews and the Independent. Last month, UNESCO designated Italian cuisine part of the world’s “intangible cultural heritage.” This wasn’t the first time such an honor was bestowed upon food in some form — French haute cuisine and Korean kimchi fermentation, among others, have been similarly recognized. But it was the first time a nation’s cuisine in its entirety made the list. So, as the U.N. agency acknowledged the country’s “biocultural diversity” and its “blend of culinary traditions […] associated with the use of raw materials and artisanal food preparation techniques,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacted with expected pride. This is “a victory for Italy,” she said. And prestige aside — Italy already tops UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites — it isn’t hard to see the potential benefits this designation might entail. One study even suggests the UNESCO nod alone could boost Italian tourism by up to 8 percent. But behind this evident soft power win also lies a political agenda, which has turned “Italian cuisine” into a powerful weapon for the country’s right-wing government. For Meloni’s government, food is all the rage. It permeates every aspect of political life. From promoting “Made in Italy” products to blocking EU nutrition labelling scores and banning lab-grown meat, Rome has been doing its utmost to regulate what’s on Italian plates. In fact, during Gaza protests in Rome in September, Meloni was sat in front of the Colosseum for a “Sunday lunch” as part of her government’s long-running campaign to make the coveted list. Clearly, the prime minister has made Italian cuisine one of the main courses of her political menu. And all of this can be pinpointed to a phenomenon political scientists call “gastronationalism,” whereby food and its production are used to fuel identitarian narratives — a trend the Italian far right has latched onto with particular gusto. There are two main principles involving Italian gastronationalism: The notion that the country’s culinary traditions must be protected from “foreign contamination,” and that its recipes must be enshrined to prevent any “tinkering.” And the effects of this gastronationalism now stretch from political realm all the way to the world of social media “rage-bait,” with a deluge of TikTok and Instagram content lambasting “culinary sins” like adding cream to carbonara or putting pineapple on pizza. At the crux of this gastronationalism, though, lies the willful disregard of two fundamental truths: First, foreign influence has contributed mightily to what Italian cuisine is today; and second, what is considered to be “Italian cuisine” is neither as old nor as set in stone as gastronationalists would like to admit. Europe, as a continent, is historically poor in its selection of indigenous produce — and Italy is no exception. The remarkable variety of the country’s cuisine isn’t due to some geographic anomaly, rather, it is the byproduct of centuries of foreign influence combined with a largely favorable climate: Citrus fruits imported by Arab settlers in the Middle Ages, basil from the Indian subcontinent through ancient Greek trading routes, pasta-making traditions from East Asia, and tomatoes from the Americas. Lying at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and home to major trading outposts, Italy was a sponge for cultural cross-pollination, which enriched its culinary heritage. To speak of the “purity” of Italian food is inherently ahistorical. This wasn’t the first time such an honor was bestowed upon food in some form — French haute cuisine and Korean kimchi fermentation, among others, have been similarly recognized. | Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images But even more controversial is acknowledging that the concept of “Italian cuisine” is a relatively recent construct — one largely borne from post-World War II efforts to both unite a culturally and politically fragmented country, and to market its international appeal. From north to south, not only is Italy’s cuisine remarkably diverse, but most of its iconic dishes today would have been alien to those living hardly a century ago. Back then, Italy was an agrarian society that largely fed itself with legume-rich foods. Take my great-grandmother from Lake Como — raised on a diet of polenta and lake fish — who had never heard of pizza prior to the 1960s. “The mythology [of gastronationalism] has made complex recipes — recipes which would have bewildered our grandmothers — into an exercise of national pride-building,” said Laura Leuzzi, an Italian historian at Glasgow’s Robert Gordon University. Food historian Alberto Grandi took that argument a step forward, titling his latest book — released to much furor — “Italian cuisine does not exist.” From carbonara to tiramisù, many beloved Italian classics are relatively recent creations, not much older than the culinary “blasphemies” from across the pond, like chicken parmesan or Hawaiian pizza. Even more surprising is the extent of U.S. influence on contemporary Italian food itself. Pizza, for instance, only earned its red stripes when American pizza-makers began adding tomato sauce to the dough, in turn influencing pizzaioli back in Italy. And yet, some Italian politicians, like Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, have called for investigations into brands promoting supposedly misleadingly “Italian sounding” products, such as carbonara sauces using “inauthentic” ingredients like pancetta. Lollobrigida would do well to revisit the original written recipe of carbonara, published in a 1954 cookbook, which actually called for the use of pancetta and Gruyère cheese — quite unlike its current pecorino, guanciale and egg yolk-based sauce. Simply put, Italian cuisine wasn’t just exported by the diaspora — it is also the product of the diaspora. One study even suggests the UNESCO nod alone could boost Italian tourism by up to 8 percent. | Michael Nguyen/NurPhoto via Getty Images What makes it so rich and beloved is that it has continued to evolve through time and place, becoming a source of intergenerational cohesion, as noted by UNESCO. Static “sacredness” is fundamentally antithetical to a cuisine that’s constantly reinventing itself, both at home and abroad. The profound ignorance underpinning Italian gastronationalism could be considered almost comedic if it weren’t so perfidious — a seemingly innocuous tool in a broader arsenal of weaponry, deployed to score cheap political points. Most crucially, it appeals directly to emotion in a country where food has been unwittingly dragged into a culture war. “They’re coming for nonna’s lasagna” content regularly makes the rounds on Facebook, inflaming millions against minorities, foreigners, vegans, the left and more. And the real kicker? Every nonna makes her lasagna differently. Hopefully, UNESCO’s recognition can serve as a moment of reflection in a country where food has increasingly been turned into a source of division. Italian cuisine certainly merits recognition and faces genuine threats — the impact of organized crime and the effects of climate change on crop growth biggest among them. But it shouldn’t become an unwitting participant in an ideological agenda that runs counter to its very spirit. For now, perhaps it’s best if our government kept politics off the dinner table.

ROME — Christmas is becoming a new front line in Europe’s culture wars. Far-right parties are claiming the festive season as their own, recasting Christmas as a marker of Christian civilization that is under threat and positioning themselves as its last line of defense against a supposedly hostile, secular left. The trope echoes a familiar refrain across the Atlantic that was first propagated by Fox News, where hosts have inveighed against a purported “War on Christmas” for years. U.S. President Donald Trump claims to have “brought back” the phrase “Merry Christmas” in the United States, framing it as defiance against political correctness. Now, European far-right parties more usually focused on immigration or law-and-order concerns have adopted similar language, recasting Christmas as the latest battleground in a broader struggle over culture. In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has made the defense of Christmas traditions central to her political identity. She has repeatedly framed the holiday as part of the nation’s endangered heritage, railing against what she calls “ideological” attempts to dilute it. “How can my culture offend you?” Meloni has asked in the past, defending nativity scenes in public spaces. She has argued that children should learn the values of the Nativity — rather than just associating Christmas with food and presents — and rejected the idea that long-standing traditions should be altered. This year, Meloni said she was abstaining from alcohol until Christmas, portraying herself as a practitioner of spirituality and tradition.   France’s National Rally and Spain’s Vox have similarly opposed secularist or “woke” efforts to replace religious imagery with neutral seasonal language, and advocated for nativity scenes in town halls. In Germany, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has warned that Christmas markets are losing their “German character,” amplifying disinformation about Muslim traditions edging out Christian ones. CHRISTMAS SPECTACLE But Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy, has turned the message into spectacle. Each December it hosts a Christmas-themed political festival — complete with Santa, ice-skating, and a towering Christmas tree lit in the colors of the Italian tricolor. Once held quietly in late summer, the event, named Atreyu — after a character in the fantasy film The NeverEnding Story — has since moved to the prestigious Castel Sant’Angelo, drawing families, tourists and the politically curious. Brothers of Italy said on their Whatsapp Channel that the festival had been “a success without precedent. Record numbers, real participation and a community that grows from year to year, demonstrating how it has become strong, like Italy.” Daniel, a 26-year-old tourist from Mallorca, who declined to give his last name because he did not want to be associated with a far right political event, said he and a friend wandered in after spotting the lights and music. “Then we realized it was about politics,” he said, laughing. CULTURAL CHRISTIANITY For party figures, the symbolism is explicit. “For us, traditions represent our roots, who we are, who we have been, and the history that made us what we are today,” said Marta Schifone, a Brothers of Italy MP. “Those roots must be celebrated and absolutely defended.” That message resonates with younger supporters too. Alessandro Meriggi, a student and leader in Azione Universitaria, the party’s youth wing, said Italy is founded on specific values that newcomers should respect. “In a country like Italy, you can’t ask schools to remove the crucifix,” he said. “It represents our values.” Religion, however, often feels almost beside the point. Many of the politicians leading these campaigns are not especially devout, and only a minority of their voters are practicing Christians. What matters is Christianity as culture, a civilizational shorthand that draws a boundary between “us” and “them.” U.S. President Donald Trump claims to have “brought back” the phrase “Merry Christmas” in the United States. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images “In the 1980s and 1990s, the radical right largely kept its distance from the church,” said Daniele Albertazzi, a professor at the University of Surrey who researches populism. “That changed between 2010–15, following Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe, which were framed as a clash of civilizations. Christianity became a cultural marker, a way to portray themselves as defenders of traditional family, tradition and identity.” Hosting a Christmas festival is a “very intelligent” move by Meloni’s party, he said. “They have tried to reverse the stigma of their past [on the far right] by becoming a broad-church modern conservative party, and this is part of the repackaging.” That strategy benefits from the left’s discomfort with religion in public life. Progressive parties and institutions, including the EU, have tried to emphasize inclusivity by using neutral phrases like “holiday season,” which for the far right amounts to cultural self-loathing. In Italy this year, the League and Brothers of Italy have attacked several schools that removed religious references from Christmas songs. In Genoa, right-wing parties accused the city’s left-wing mayor of delivering a “slap in the face to tradition” after she chose not to display a nativity scene in her offices. “We’re not embarrassed to say ‘Merry Christmas,’” said Lucio Malan, a Brothers of Italy senator, at Meloni’s festival. “I have always promoted religious freedom and know not everyone is Christian. But Christmas is the holiday people care about most. Let’s not forget its origins.” The irony, critics note, is that many Christmas traditions are relatively modern, shaped as much by commerce as by religion. Yet Christmas remains politically potent precisely because it is emotive, tied to family rituals, childhood memories and local identity. For Meloni’s government, taking ownership of Christmas fits a broader project to reclaim control over cultural institutions from public broadcasting to museums and opera, after what it sees as decades of left-wing dominance. The narrative of the far right as the defenders of Christmas presents a challenge for mainstream parties who have struggled to find a compelling counter-argument to convincingly defend secularism. And nowhere is that clearer than at the Brothers of Italy’s Christmas festival itself. As dusk falls over Castel Sant’Angelo, families skate to a soundtrack of Christmas pop, children pose for photos with Santa, and tourists wander in, drawn by lights and music rather than ideology. Politics is present, but softened, wrapped in nostalgia, tradition and seasonal cheer.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s plan to sell gifts received while in office fell apart before the first gavel strike, after the chosen auction house was snared in a criminal investigation. Bertolami Fine Art, selected to handle the sale, is under investigation as part of a long-running probe into the alleged illegal trafficking of archaeological artifacts. The company’s founder and owner has been placed under a suspension order, according to Italian media reports, in connection with the case. Prosecutors allege that a network of traffickers stole archaeological objects and funneled them through auction houses, including Bertolami, to launder the items and reintroduce them into the legal art market. Bertolami has denied wrongdoing in the past. Meloni’s office said it was not aware of the investigation at the time of the appointment, noting that the inquiry was subject to judicial confidentiality. Palazzo Chigi said it severed ties with the auction house immediately after details of the case were reported by Il Fatto Quotidiano. Under Italian law, the prime minister cannot personally keep gifts valued at more than €300 received from foreign leaders. As a result, most such items are stored in a secure room at Palazzo Chigi and are not publicly displayed. There is no official inventory. Some gifts received by Meloni have nevertheless drawn public attention, including an action figurine presented by chainsaw-wielding Argentine President Javier Milei and a diamond, gold and citrine quartz necklace given during a state visit to Uzbekistan in January 2023 by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The now-canceled auction was expected to raise around €800,000, with the bulk of the proceeds earmarked for charitable organizations. A smaller portion was intended to cover the auction house’s fees.

Europe’s far-right firebrands are rushing to hitch their fortunes to Washington’s new crusade against Brussels. Senior U.S. government officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have launched a raft of criticism against what they call EU “censorship” and an “attack” of U.S. tech companies following a €120 million fine from the European Commission on social media platform X. The fine is for breaching EU transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act, the bloc’s content moderation rule book. “The Commission’s attack on X says it all,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on X on Saturday. “When the Brusselian overlords cannot win the debate, they reach for the fines. Europe needs free speech, not unelected bureaucrats deciding what we can read or say,” he said. “Hats off to Elon Musk for holding the line,” Orbán added. Tech mogul Musk said his response to the penalty would target the EU officials who imposed it.  “The European Commission appreciates censorship & chat control of its citizens. They want to silence critical voices by restricting freedom of speech,” echoed far-right Alternative for Germany leader Alice Weidel. Three right-wing to far-right parties in the EU are pushing to stop and backtrack the integration process of European countries — the European Conservatives and Reformists, the Patriots for Europe, and the Europe of Sovereign Nations. Together they hold 191 out of 720 seats in the European Parliament. The parties’ lawmakers are calling for a range of proposals — from shifting competences from the European to the national level, to dismantling the EU altogether. They defend the primacy of national interests over common European cooperation. Since Donald Trump’s reelection, they have portrayed themselves as the key transatlantic link, mirroring the U.S. president’s political campaigning in Europe, such as pushing for a “Make Europe Great Again” movement. The fresh U.S. criticism of EU institutions has come in handy to amplify their political agendas. “Patriots for Europe will fight to dismantle this censorship regime,” the party said on X. The ECR group — political home to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — issued a statement questioning the enforcement of the DSA following the U.S. criticism. “A digital law that lacks legal certainty risks becoming an instrument of political discretion,” ECR co-chairman Nicola Procaccini said on Saturday after the U.S. backlash. The group supported the DSA when it passed through the Parliament, having said in the past the law would “protect freedom of expression, increase trust in online services and contribute to an open digital economy in Europe.”

Libyan warlord Osama Al-Masri Njeem, controversially released from jail by Italian authorities in January, was arrested Wednesday in Tripoli on charges of torture and violence against prisoners. “As sufficient evidence was established to support the charges, the Public Prosecutor has referred the accused to trial, while he remains in pre-trial detention pending judgment,” the Attorney General Office of the State of Libya said in a statement. It added that investigations into Al-Masri uncovered “violations of the rights of inmates at the main Tripoli Reform and Rehabilitation Institution,” including the torture of at least 10 detainees and “the death of one inmate as a result of torture.” Al-Masri, long known as a key figure at Libya’s Mitiga prison, was previously arrested in Turin on Jan. 19 after attending a Juventus football match, following an International Criminal Court arrest warrant accusing him of war crimes, torture, murder and sexual violence. Despite those charges, Italy released him after 48 hours, a move that sparked outrage in Rome and prompted the Court of Ministers to open an investigation into Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano over allegations they facilitated Al-Masri’s return to Libya. The inquiry was ultimately dismissed by Italy’s lower house of parliament, where the government holds a majority, in early October. Government critics accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration of returning Al-Masri to Libya to protect Italian energy interests and prevent potential retaliation, including threats to curb cooperation on migration control. The Italian government, for its part, defended the decision as a matter of legal procedure and national security. On Nov. 2, Rome and Tripoli renewed for three more years the controversial Italy-Libya Memorandum of Understanding, a deal in which the Libyan coastguard would block the departure of migrants from the African continent. Hannah Roberts contributed to this report.

ROME — Safety rules on Italy’s construction sites must be improved, politicians and unions said, following the death of a Romanian worker who was trapped under rubble for 11 hours in Rome after the partial collapse of a medieval tower. Octav Stroici, 66, was working on an EU-funded project to restore the Torre dei Conti, the former home of a noble papal family in the Roman Forum, when it partially collapsed twice on Monday. He was eventually removed from the rubble but suffered cardiac arrest and died in hospital. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible manslaughter. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shared her “deep pain” and sent her condolences to the family for their “unspeakable suffering.” Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said: “We mourn Octav Stroici. His heart stopped beating despite the valiant efforts of the fire brigade, who got him out of the rubble alive.” Workplace safety has become a hot-button topic in Italy, with strikes and a national protest held earlier in the year. In the first nine months of 2025, there were 777 reported deaths at work in Italy, around three a day, according to the National Institute for Insurance against Workplace Accidents, or INAIL. Construction workers, over-65s and foreign workers are considered particularly at risk, according to INAIL. Among the major incidents last year, five workers died at a supermarket construction site near Florence, five maintenance workers were killed in Sicily after inhaling poisonous fumes at a sewage treatment plant and seven workers died in an explosion at a hydroelectric plant outside Bologna. Francesco Boccia, of the opposition Democratic Party, said the death of Stroici “is a tragedy that affects us all and drives us to never lower our guard when it comes to safety in the workplace.” He added: “I renew my appeal for workplace safety to be placed at the top of every political agenda and for the necessary resources to be allocated so that every worker can return home at the end of the working day.” Another opposition party, the 5Star Movement, has called for the creation of a dedicated prosecutor’s office for safety at work. The government last week approved measures worth €900 million to improve workplace safety, including incentives for responsible employers as well as more training, inspections and fines. But unions said the measures won’t reduce the number of accidents caused by hiring inexperienced temporary workers, subcontracting tenders and cutting costs. Natale Di Cola, the leader in Rome of CGIL, Italy’s largest union, on Tuesday called for an official day of mourning, writing on social media: “Today is a day of pain and anger … Work is humanity, brotherhood and solidarity, that work must protect life and not endanger it.” He added: “In a healthy country, Octav, at 66, would not have found himself on a construction site doing heavy, intense and dangerous work to earn a living. All this must change.” Di Cola said safety standards at the Torre dei Conti should have been higher considering it was a public project, funded by the EU. Four other people died in workplace accidents in Italy on Monday, he said, adding: “For Octav and for all of them, we will continue to fight so that work is no longer a cause of pain and suffering.”

ROME — A medieval tower in the center of Rome undergoing EU-funded restoration work partially collapsed on Monday, injuring a worker and leaving another trapped inside. The Torre dei Conti, close to the Roman Forum, collapsed for the first time late Monday morning. As emergency services worked to secure the site, there was a second collapse. The imposing fortress was built in the 13th century as the residence of the family of then-Pope Innocent III. It was undergoing restoration as part of the Caput Mundi–Next Generation EU project, funded by the EU’s post-Covid economic reconstruction program. The prefect of Rome, Lamberto Giannini, said one person remained trapped inside. The second collapse “had rendered the operation very long and complex,” he said. “We hope for a good result but it’s not simple.” The accident came days after the government approved legislation to improve safety in the workplace, after a series of fatal accidents. The mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, and Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli rushed to the scene Monday.    Luke, who didn’t want to give his surname, a 33-year-old security guard from Manchester, who is on vacation in Rome, told POLITICO: “We went to the Colosseum and as we left we heard lots of sirens coming this way. When we came round the corner, we could see the dust. The fire brigade took three people out of the window. They were all covered in dust. One was bleeding.” He added: “Not long afterward we were walking through the Roman Forum when we saw the dust from the second collapse.” The holidaymaker said it was “crazy” that a building in the center of Rome could collapse. “We had seen it last night and said maybe we could come back in a few years and visit it. You would think that with them restoring it, it would be safe. Obviously that’s not the case and there was a mistake in the planning.”

Italy’s Senate on Thursday approved Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s flagship justice reform, marking significant progress for the right-wing plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. With 112 votes in favor, 59 against and nine abstentions, the Senate passed the constitutional amendment in what officials described as the fourth and final reading. The judicial reform is one of the Meloni government’s key initiatives, alongside plans to strengthen the prime minister’s powers, redefining the balance between Italy’s branches of government. It seeks to create separate career paths for judges and prosecutors, ending the possibility of moving between the two roles, and to create distinct governing councils, one for judges and one for prosecutors, responsible for appointments, promotions, transfers and disciplinary procedures within their respective branches. The Italian government says the changes will improve accountability and efficiency within the judicial system, but critics — including opposition parties and judicial associations — warn they could weaken prosecutorial independence and politicize the judiciary. Meloni has long been at odds with the country’s judiciary, accusing magistrates of blocking her government’s priorities and framing the reform as part of a broader institutional reset. Thursday’s stage was crucial: Under the Italian constitution, amendments require multiple votes, and Senate approval marks the final parliamentary step. The reform now moves to a confirmatory referendum, where Italians will decide its fate. If approved, the changes will enter into force. Meloni described the vote as a “historic milestone,” affirming that both the government and parliament had “done their part” before leaving the final decision to Italian citizens. Opposition senators from the Democratic Party, 5Star Movement and other parties staged protests in the chamber, warning against granting what they called “full powers” to the executive. The reform, long championed by late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was celebrated by his Forza Italia party as the fulfillment of a historic ambition. After the vote, party members took to the streets in Rome in celebration, carrying large portraits of Berlusconi and chanting slogans in his honor. Forza Italia Senator and former MEP Licia Ronzulli invoked Berlusconi’s legacy, declaring: “Our president up there must be very happy; the magistrates have even brought down governments!” Giulia Poloni contributed to this report.