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Hard Numbers: Italy taps first female PM, judge sentences Bannon, UN sanctions “Barbecue,” Secret Mar-a-Lago papers
Italy's first female PM Giorgia Meloni
Reuters
1: Giorgia Meloni was named Italy’s first female prime minister on Friday after receiving the mandate to form a government. The far-right head of the Brothers of Italy takes the helm amid worsening economic and energy crises. All eyes will be on her ability to keep together a discordant coalition.
4: Former Trump aide Steve Bannon was sentenced on Friday to 4 months in jail and fined $6,500 for contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House committee overseeing the Jan. 6 investigation. Bannon remains free while the case goes to appeal. This comes as the committee on Friday also dealt former President Trump a subpoena to testify.
16: The UN agreed on Friday to sanction Haitian gang lord Jimmy Chérizier, known as Barbecue, for “severe human rights abuses.” The resolution, sponsored by the US and Mexico, says that Chérizier has contributed to severe economic and political crises currently plaguing the country, including a cholera outbreak that has killed at least 16 people in recent weeks.
13,000: At least some of the 13,000 documents seized from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate contained secret information relating to US intelligence gathering on China and Iran, including Tehran’s nuclear program, according to a new Washington Post report. The Department of Justice continues to investigate the case.
Is Venezuela entering a real transition or just a more volatile phase of strongman politics? In GZERO’s 2026 Top Risks livestream, Risa Grais-Targow, Director for Latin America at Eurasia Group, examines Delcy Rodríguez’s role as Venezuela's interim president after Nicolás Maduro.
It’s been just over 48 hours since US forces conducted a military operation in Caracas and seized Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, and the future governance of the country – and the US role in it – remains murky.