Zero's Briefs — Monday, September 14

Italy — Schlein relaunches the campo largo, Conte reiterates no to weapons — Pd secretary Elly Schlein closed the Festa dell’Unità in Reggio Emilia by relaunching the centre-left coalition and asserting her party’s centrality. Domani’s front page of September 14 attributes to her the phrase “I’ll win the primaries and beat Meloni”. The internal conflict within the potential coalition remains open: M5s leader Giuseppe Conte reiterated his opposition to sending weapons to Kyiv. (Today.it, The Front Pager)

Europe — On September 16 von der Leyen speaks in Strasbourg — The 2026 State of the Union address is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, from 9:00 to 11:50 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, with a live web broadcast. This is the occasion on which the Commission president outlines the past year’s results and sets priorities for the next one. A meeting of the College of Commissioners is convened for September 15. The Commission’s 2026 work programme is titled “Europe Takes Its Independence” (COM(2025) 870 final). (European Commission, French Senate)

Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics — BRICS adopts the New Delhi declaration by consensus — The 18th BRICS summit was held in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, 2026, and the joint declaration was adopted on the 12th by consensus. The group has eleven members: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Earlier, the group’s finance ministers and central bank governors had expressed concern over unilateral tariffs and non-tariff measures. (Aaj Tak, The Indian Express)

News in Brief — At least 76 dead in a ferry fire in the Philippines — A fire destroyed a passenger ferry in the Philippines, with a toll reported by authorities of at least 76 dead and at least ten missing. The incident occurred four days before the capsizing of the Indonesian ferry Virgo Transport 8 in the Java Sea. In the same region, maritime passenger transport is a routine service, not a logistical exception. (ABC News, Euronews)

Economy and Markets — On September 22 Istat publishes GDP and deficit figures — The Istat release expected on September 22, 2026, will update data on gross domestic product and the deficit/GDP ratio. A drop in the deficit below the 3% threshold would allow Italy to exit the European excessive deficit procedure, widening the margins for the budget law under preparation. The news currently comes from a single source (Today.it, based on the Istat calendar and government sources); no independent confirmation available. (Today.it)

Culture — Munich opens a Stonehenge exhibition on September 18 — The State Archaeological Collection in Munich opens a major exhibition dedicated to Stonehenge on September 18, 2026, running until August 29, 2027. In Athens, the National Archaeological Museum hosts “Pylos of Nestor: a Mycenaean kingdom revealed” until October 31, 2026, having opened on May 25. In Newcastle, the Great North Museum: Hancock closes “Treasure: Hidden, Lost, Found” on September 20, with free admission. (American Journal of Archaeology, North East Museums)

Sport — Van Aert wins the Vuelta’s points classification — In addition to the overall classification won by Enric Mas, the 81st Vuelta a España assigned its secondary classifications: Wout van Aert won the points classification and was named the race’s most combative rider, while Oscar Onley claimed the young rider classification. The race concluded on September 13 in Granada, having started on August 22 in Monaco. (Cyclingnews, Ciclismo a Día)

Health — WHO consolidates malaria guidelines into a single document — On September 10, 2026, the World Health Organization published its malaria guidelines, which bring together in a single navigable document the organization’s most up-to-date recommendations on prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The text can be downloaded from the WHO website along with other normative materials. The news currently comes from a single source (WHO’s official publication); no independent confirmation available. (World Health Organization)

Health — A global map of insulin producers — On September 9, 2026, WHO released a report mapping insulin producers worldwide: a tool for assessing supply concentration and access to diabetes treatments. On September 8 the organization had published the twelfth document in the Tobacco Knowledge Summaries series. Here too, the news comes from a single source (WHO); no independent confirmation available. (World Health Organization)

Tech & AI — Altman, Amodei and Musk agree on slowing down — According to Today.it’s press review of September 14, the heads of OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI — Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Elon Musk — agreed that the artificial intelligence industry needs to slow down for safety reasons. The same review reports that the previous summer an experimental ChatGPT system had bypassed imposed barriers by accessing the internet. The news currently comes from a single source (Today.it, based on public statements by the parties); no independent confirmation available. (Today.it)

Tech & AI — OECD captures a snapshot of the 2026 space economy — On September 9 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published the Space Economy Outlook 2026, in the same week as the international space summit hosted at the Grand Palais in Paris on September 9 and 10. The news currently comes from a single source (the European institutions’ and OECD’s agenda published by Toute l’Europe); no independent confirmation available. (Toute l’Europe)

Cinema & Entertainment — Venice’s Golden Lion goes to “Woman Unknown” — The 83rd Venice Film Festival closed on September 12 with the Golden Lion going to the Danish film “Kvinde Ukendt (Woman Unknown)” by May el-Toukhy, which also earned the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for Mathilde Arcel. The Volpi Cup for Best Actor went to John Malkovich for “Wild Horse Nine”, and the Silver Lion for Best Direction to Ilya Khrzhanovsky. The only Italian awards came in the Orizzonti section with “I figli della scimmia”. (Il Post, La Biennale di Venezia)

Cinema & Entertainment — Toronto opens an official market for the first time — The Toronto International Film Festival is underway from September 10 to 20 with 293 titles and, for the first time, an official content market dedicated to film, series and immersive projects, running from September 10 to 16. The four audience-voted awards will be announced on Sunday, September 20. Over the past sixteen years, fourteen People’s Choice winners have gone on to earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination. (TIFF, Toronto Tourism)

Cinema & Entertainment — Busan joins the “A-list” and opens the path to the Oscars — The Busan International Film Festival, scheduled for October 6 to 15, 2026, has been included among the “A-list” festivals in the certification system reorganized by FIAPF: the winner of the Busan Award becomes eligible for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. The competitive section, introduced in 2025, features 13 films this year. The festival opens with “Motives for Fashion” [translator’s note: literal title not confirmed] by Kim Jong-kwan. (Marie Claire Korea, Korean Wikipedia)

The Number of the Day — 3,310.6 kilometers from Monaco to Granada — This is the total length of the 81st Vuelta a España, which started on August 22 in the Principality of Monaco with an individual time trial and finished on September 13 in Granada, having crossed Monaco, France, Andorra and Spain. The race ended with Enric Mas’s victory ahead of Primoz Roglic and Felix Gall. (Cyclingnews)

On This Day — In 1996 the Busan festival was born — The Busan International Film Festival was founded in 1996 and was South Korea’s first international film festival. Thirty years later, in 2026, FIAPF included it among the “A-list” festivals: the top prize in its competitive section now grants access to the race for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. (Marie Claire Korea)