The Invisible AssetFor a grain of sand. The raw material of everything, from concrete to siliconIt seems ordinary and inexhaustible, the perfect metaphor for infinity. Yet today it is the second most consumed (and contested) natural resource in the world. Artificial islands, mafias and summer catchphrasesbyEnrico Cicchetti29 AUG 26
NINETY DAYS OF FREE TRADETrump’s savoury burgerTrump has suspended the tariffs on minced meat that he himself had imposed and has secured a commitment from importers to sell at 25 per cent below market price. Protectionism that must be suspended to remedy protectionismbyEnrico Cicchetti27 AUG 26
interviewPiave Blues. For Krano, dialect is a passport, not a barrierThe David di Donatello award for the music of “Le città di pianura”, cinema as if from another planet, the Veneto as a restless homecoming. From Valdobbiadene to America and back again. Marco Spigariol is playing tonight at Capossela’s Sponz Fest in CalitribyEnrico Cicchetti27 AUG 26
The caseA four-year-old girl has died in Palermo from suspected diphtheria. She had not been vaccinatedThe parents stated that they had not had her vaccinated because a relative is autistic and they feared the vaccine was to blame. Prof. Bassetti: "Unacceptable in the 21st century". Vaccination coverage in Sicily is the lowest in ItalybyEnrico Cicchetti21 AUG 26
beyond the fairy taleOur crocodile tears for VarenneHe is the first champion racehorse to die in the Instagram era, and Italy discovers it has a jockey’s heart. National mourning: the final windfall for an animal-brandbyEnrico Cicchetti19 AUG 26
The caseThere is a new controversy concerning Russia in VeniceFollowing criticism of the Russian pavilion at the Biennale last spring, Kyiv is now taking issue with the film “Dau”, which is in the running for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister: “It’s propaganda”byEnrico Cicchetti18 AUG 26
the blow to the mumeThe Ferragosto theft in Messina and the figures – which are, on the whole, reassuring – on art thefts in ItalyTwo paintings by Antonello da Messina remain missing, following the recovery of four other works abandoned by thieves as they fled. Comparisons with the Louvre, theories and what the authorities’ statistics on the security of Italian museums actually revealbyEnrico Cicchetti17 AUG 26
the weekend supplementsSome Like It Cold. The Life, Death and Miracles of IceCold as a luxury, a craft, an archive and a desire. A material that is anything but ‘dead’, with a history of commercial triumphs, domestic revolutions and contemporary obsessions. The journeys of an impossible commoditybyEnrico Cicchetti1 AUG 26
Technical specificationsSuspending Schengen? What the legislation says, the specific case of Ceuta, and the precedentsPalazzo Chigi is calling for a suspension of the Schengen Code, but the exclave’s special status and forty years of reinstatements never before used against another Member State point to the uncertain prospects for this initiativebyEnrico Cicchetti31 JUL 26
The tortoise beats AchillesWhilst America is at loggerheads, Europe is making progress on the right to redressFrom today, the EU directive must be implemented in all Member States: if a product is repairable, the manufacturer is obliged to repair it, even if it is no longer under warranty. Spare parts and software must be made available to independent repair shops. But Italy is already lagging behindbyEnrico Cicchetti31 JUL 26