Eight sections updated, two successions and a market without trades

The day closes with two institutional transitions that the morning edition did not have. The first is in Oslo: the Norwegian Royal House announced the death of Harald V at 06.35 local time on August 28, and under article 6 of the Constitution his son became head of state at that very moment, subsequently announcing in an extraordinary Council of State that he will reign as Haakon VIII. No interregnum, no conditioning ceremony. The second is in Budapest, where since August 25 the Office of the Prosecutor General has been run by deputy prosecutor Lajtár István following the early end of the term of Nagy Gábor Bálint, who had been elected for nine years only last summer: the choice of successor goes through a proposal by the President of the Republic, and at this moment it is András Baka who sits at Sándor Palace.

On the Hormuz front the register changes, not the stalemate. Tehran says it is putting the conditions for reopening in writing at the mediators’ request, and with Oman there is an understanding on a maritime corridor that nonetheless remains contingent on those conditions; Washington’s official position is that there are no talks and that economic pressure continues. These are two statements, not a confirmed negotiation: we treat them as such.

The afternoon’s lead story is Milan. The FTSE Mib closed at 52,616 points, up 0.67 percent, but the week remains at −0.1 percent and trading value fell to €2.49 billion from €3.06 billion. The Btp-Bund spread exceeded 80 basis points. On the European picture, Insee’s revision adds to the mix: French second-quarter growth was revised from +0.2 to zero, with the first quarter at −0.2. It is the zero that avoids a technical recession, and it should be stated for what it is: a downward revision.

This edition updates Economy & Markets, Europe, Foreign Affairs & Geopolitics, News, Health, Cinema & Entertainment and Italy, in addition to the Briefs. On the malaria case reported at Frankfurt Airport, we publish within a declared scope: a single source, no independent confirmation. On the flooding between Nepal and Tibet, we have no new elements beyond the morning edition and we are not rewriting the same piece in different words.

Sport and Tech & AI remain with their 6.30 pieces, published and accessible on their respective section pages: two articles were in progress, did not mature, and we have not replaced them with duplicates. Venice 83 opens Wednesday, September 2 with “Ink” by Danny Boyle, twenty films in competition through the 12th.