Spain, Israel, Serbia: three developing stories, a budget taking shape

Redazione Zero’s afternoon edition updates six stories: the railway accident in Spain, the elections in Israel, the vote in Serbia, the budget law, the stock markets and the semiconductor front with Meta’s capital raise, plus an analysis on extreme heat and health. For Cinema & Entertainment, News, Culture, Economy and Markets (aside from the update analysis), Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics, Europe, Italy, Health, Sports and Tech & AI, the pieces published this morning at 6:30 remain valid: those who have already read them will not find a repetition here, those who have not yet read them will find them where they were, on the front page and in the section pages.

The story that weighs most today is the collision between two high-speed trains near Toledo, in Spain: the provisional toll from the authorities of Castile-La Mancha speaks of at least 64 dead and 80 injured, figures that the same authorities state are still being updated. We are not treating this as Italian crime news nor as a judicial matter — it is a transport accident with international relevance, and we are covering it as such, with the most recent figures verifiable at the time of publication.

On the electoral front, two pictures have become clearer since last night. In Israel the actual count has overtaken the exit poll snapshot: Netanyahu’s bloc is estimated at 53 seats, Eisenkot’s at 48, neither close to the 61-seat majority. In Serbia the result was already clear this morning and is consolidating today: the Students’ List closes 14 years of Vučić’s power with 53.5% of the vote, while turnout at 68.95% confirms mobilization above the average of recent rounds.

On the economic front, the 23.5 billion budget discussed today in the Council of Ministers remains a work in progress, with the issue of the 33% tax rate above 50 thousand euros still undefined in the text. On the stock market, Stellantis surged as much as 14% on third-quarter results, while the markets remain in wait of tonight’s Fed decision. And the figures from the semiconductor sector — SK Hynix’s profit up 631% and demand five times over for Meta’s capital increase — show that the race for investments in artificial intelligence is not slowing down.

A service note: “Zero’s Briefs” did not come out today, and no piece replaced them. It is the only absence in this edition, which is also the last of the day: the paper returns tomorrow morning at 6:30 with full coverage of the ten sections.