Who decides when the vote is held, and who pays for a decree's expiry

Today’s lead story is not a matter of arms. It is a dispute over who has the right to decide when a country at war can return to the ballot box: on one side the Ukrainian president, who on August 23 ruled out voting under bombardment; on the other Mykhailo Fedorov, who until a few weeks ago sat in his government and on August 18 publicly called for elections. The choice of hierarchy rests here: a controversy over the rules of the game lasts longer than any single statement, and involves two positions, both argued. We report both without settling the matter — as rule 9 requires of us.

Below, two stories with a deadline attached. The first is Italian and ends today: the excise duty cut on diesel provided for by decree-law 139 of August 5 is valid until August 24, and from tomorrow the 17 cents per liter return to the price. This is not a forecast, it is the text of the decree published in the Official Gazette. The second is French: Mélenchon announced censure of the Lecornu government over the 2027 budget before the budget exists, and the cabinet meeting upon return is on Wednesday the 26th.

From Conakry comes the piece hardest to write with precision. The landslide at the Dar-es-Salam landfill has two death tolls: 30 dead according to the Guinean government’s statement, at least 31 according to civil protection in a later count, with people still missing. We publish both, attributed, without merging them into a single figure that neither source has stated.

On the rest: the week in markets centers on Jackson Hole with Kevin Warsh’s debut, the Nvidia earnings report and the inflation data; the ECDC counts 625 autochthonous cases of West Nile virus in twelve countries, with Italy at 311; archaeology brings to the Culture section the twenty-five kilns of Didé West, in eastern Senegal; Venice 83 awards two Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement; Norris wins at Zandvoort and Antonelli extends his lead.

Two doubts remain, and we state them within the pieces. On OpenAI — the ChatGPT version for teenagers and the withdrawal of DALL·E — we have a single source: the company’s communications. The claims about protections for minors are the manufacturer’s position, not a verified fact, and no one has checked from the outside how they work. On West Nile virus we limit ourselves to data and counts from a regulatory body: no advice, no guidance, that is not our job.

One piece was dropped during production: a Culture article that drew a parallel between the site of Áspero, in Peru, and the Senegalese kilns. The section is covered by Senegal alone. Nothing is missing from this edition.

From tomorrow, at the pump, diesel costs 17 cents more per liter.