Zero's Briefs

Italy — Chamber and Senate vote on budget document — The Chamber and Senate floors are discussing and voting today on the 2026 Public Finance Programmatic Document, a mandatory step before the budget law. In the Senate, the joint discussion with the report on the deviation is scheduled on the floor from 9 a.m., referred to the Budget Committee; in the Chamber, sessions continue through October 14 as well. Passage requires an absolute majority of the members of each House. Agipronews · FiscoOggi

Europe — Vilnius calls for speeding up Kyiv’s accession — Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys has urged the EU to accelerate Ukraine’s accession negotiations, calling them a security guarantee for both Kyiv and Europe. The statements come after Ukraine passed a law protecting linguistic minorities in education, which addresses a Hungarian request that had slowed the negotiations. Kyiv Post

Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics — Russian strike hits residential housing in Kharkiv — Russian forces launched an attack on Kharkiv on Monday evening with around ten Banderol-type missiles, hitting residential buildings in two districts. Eight people were injured, two seriously; an entire entrance of an apartment building was destroyed. The report currently comes from a single source (Kharkiv military administration); no independent confirmation is available. Kyiv Post

Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics — Russian drone hits building in Kyiv — A Russian drone struck the courtyard of a 25-story residential building in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district on the evening of October 12. The city prosecutor’s office reported two dead and at least seven injured, including a 17-year-old girl; the fire destroyed at least 12 vehicles and 2 motorcycles in the courtyard. NV · Deutsche Welle Українською

News in Brief — New strong tremor off Panama — An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 was recorded overnight off Panama, at 01:20 Italian time, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. No information on possible damage or casualties is available yet. The report currently comes from a single source (Ingv); no independent confirmation is available. UltimiTerremoti.it

Economy and Markets — Nobel in Economics rewards stabilization — The Swedish Central Bank’s prize in economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded on October 12 to Robert E. Hall, of Stanford University, and Michael Woodford, of Columbia University, for developing macroeconomic models useful to stabilization policies, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Britannica · Sveriges Riksbank

Today’s number — 50,035 points for Piazza Affari — The Ftse Mib closed up 0.58%, narrowly returning to the 50,035-point level, while European markets opened the day in positive territory despite tensions following the attacks on Riyadh airport. Borsa&Finanza

Culture — Anne Carson wins the Nobel Prize in Literature — The 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Canadian poet Anne Carson, honored for a body of work that engages with the classical tradition, creating new forms for contemporary literature. The announcement was made on October 8, 2026, in Stockholm; the prize will be presented on December 10. NobelPrize.org

Culture — A Roman votive altar resurfaces at Aquinum — The University of Salento’s 2026 excavation campaign at Aquinum extended investigations for the first time to the municipal territory of Aquino, unearthing a decorated cippus and a marble votive altar. A new fragment has allowed part of a previously incomplete inscription to be reconstructed, making it possible to identify the deities to whom the altar was dedicated. SiViaggia

Health — Nobel in Medicine rewards optogenetics — The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries on light-activated ion channels underlying optogenetics. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet announced the prize on October 5, 2026: Deisseroth is American, Hegemann and Nagel German. NobelPrize.org

Health — Europeans over 50 are aging in better health — A study published on October 9 in The Lancet Healthy Longevity finds that more recently born Europeans, after age 50, enjoy better health and show slower decline compared with previous generations. The study notes, however, that the trends are unevenly distributed and may have reached a limit, and warns that they should not be taken for granted. The Lancet Healthy Longevity

Tech & AI — SpaceX launches CRS-35 cargo mission to the Station — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Nasa CRS-35 cargo mission, part of the Commercial Resupply Services program. The Dragon C211 capsule is expected to dock with the International Space Station on Thursday, October 15, at the Harmony module’s zenith port. Spaceflight Now

Film & Entertainment — Susan Sarandon opens the Rome Film Fest — The 21st Rome Film Fest, directed by Paola Malanga and running through October 25, opened today, thirteen days in all, one more than previous editions. Susan Sarandon, a guest of Alice nella Città, received the Womenland Award 2026 while presenting the preview of “The Accompanist.” The Gillo Pontecorvo Award debuts this year. Moveo (Telepass) · Sky TG24

Film & Entertainment — Mar del Plata honors Natalia Oreiro with career award — The 41st Mar del Plata International Film Festival, the only Fiapf category A event in Latin America, will be held from November 5 to 15. 1,127 titles have been entered, up 27% from the previous year; Natalia Oreiro, Alejandro Agresti and Emilio Kauderer will receive the Astor Piazzolla Career Award. La Nación

On this day — Nobel in Physics rewards cosmic neutrinos — On October 6, 2026, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to American Francis Halzen, for decisive contributions to the IceCube neutrino observatory and the discovery of extremely high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. Britannica