Zero's Briefs

Italy — 2027 budget bill, Meloni’s figures — The Council of Ministers has approved the 2027 budget law. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described it as follows: “It is worth approximately 26 billion euros.” The text provides for structural increases in corporate tax (Ires) and regional business tax (Irap) on banks and insurance companies, a strengthened Tobin tax, an additional contribution of 700 million from energy companies, and a cut to personal income tax (Irpef) for incomes up to 55,000 euros. The figure currently comes from a single institutional source. (ANSA)

Italy — Viganò new president of the Consulta — Francesco Viganò has been appointed new president of the Constitutional Court. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called him by phone to offer her congratulations. (Governo.it)

World — Oleshky, evacuation completed — According to Tagesschau, the evacuation of civilians from the occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky was completed on October 31, with 25 buses used during a temporary pause in fighting agreed between Moscow and Kyiv. Some of the evacuees arrived in Belarus to continue on to Ukraine. (Tagesschau)

World — Western Sahara, Minurso mandate not renewed — On October 30 the UN Security Council failed to renew the mandate of the Minurso mission after cross-vetoes by Russia and the United States on two draft resolutions, El País reports. The mission, due to expire on October 31, has been operating in the Sahara for 35 years. (El País)

World — Machado: vote in Venezuela in 2027 — Having returned to Venezuela after roughly ten months in exile, opposition leader María Corina Machado indicated 2027 as the year for the next presidential elections. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has promised a vote without setting a date. (Local10)

Economy and Markets — Tokyo opens lower, awaiting the BoJ — The Nikkei opened on October 30 down 0.31%, at around 64,461 points, 198 points below the previous close, ahead of the Bank of Japan’s decision on interest rates. (HWready)

Health — Four UN agencies for a global avian flu plan — FAO, WHO, WOAH and CMS have set out shared priorities on surveillance, data sharing and outbreak response for avian influenza, including both high- and low-pathogenicity strains, among them the H9N2 and H7 subtypes. (Zootecnica)

Tech — Mistral releases ‘Le Chonk’ in open weights — French startup Mistral released on October 29, in open weights, Mistral Large 4, a natively multimodal model with one trillion parameters, previously previewed at a public presentation on October 6. (DEV Community)