Electoral law passes the Senate, House remains

The political event of the day comes in the early afternoon: the Senate has given final approval, for its part, to the electoral law reform, with 113 votes in favour against 71 and 2 abstentions. The text introduces a proportional system with a majority bonus at 42%, the return of preference votes — up to three, with gender alternation — and retains blocked list leaders, while the 60-40 quota on list leaders envisaged by the current system falls away. This is not the end of the process: the text goes back to the House, where floor debate is expected from September 28. Those following the matter since yesterday will find continuity: on September 14 we reported the approval of the first articles, with the final vote already scheduled for today. That deadline has been met.

On the international front, the day neither disproves nor fully confirms what was announced from Washington: Trump spoke of an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine, but Zelensky made Ukraine’s participation conditional on verifiable Russian guarantees. This is a distinction worth keeping in mind: a unilateral announcement is not an agreement, and the conditional tone of Kyiv’s response remains the most solid political fact of this story, today. In parallel, Poland raised its air alert after the discovery of a Russian Gerbera-type drone in Baltic waters near Jaroslawiec — an episode that adds to, without overlapping, the already high tension in the area.

We are also updating Culture, with Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Assisi for the Franciscan centenary — news we declare to be of single origin, from a statement by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers — and Cinema & Entertainment, with the wrap-up of the Venice Film Festival: the Golden Lion went to “Woman Unknown” by May el-Toukhy, and Japanese cinema had a notable presence among the collateral awards. Sport is updated with the start of the single-group phase of the Champions League, featuring four Italian teams. It remains worth noting, with due caution, the capsizing of a ship in Indonesia with 129 missing: at this time the news comes from a single journalistic source, without independent confirmation or an official toll.

For Economy and Markets, for the general picture in Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics, and for Europe, this morning’s published pieces remain valid: this edition has not updated them, as there were no developments to justify doing so. This is today’s final edition; the next one comes out tomorrow morning at 6:30.