Italy headed toward first far-right-led government since World War II

Giorgia Meloni is poised to become Italy’s first woman premier as vote counting comes to an end. [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- What The World is following Italy headed toward first far-right-led government since World War II [Far-Right party Brothers of Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni shows a placard reading in Italian "Thank you Italy" at her party's electoral headquarters in Rome, Sept. 25, 2022.] Credit: Gregorio Borgia/AP Italy Preliminary results in Italy’s national election show an alliance of far-right parties, led by the Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, set to win the majority of votes. The win will make Meloni the nation’s first female premier and give the country its first far-right-led government since World War II. Meloni co-founded the Brothers of Italy party in 2012, which is rooted in “Euroskepticism” — a political position involving criticism of the EU and European integration — and [anti-immigration policies](. And though Meloni supports Ukraine, her coalition partners also admire Russian President Vladimir Putin, [criticizing sanctions]( against Moscow. Russia A gunman wearing a swastika has killed 15 people at a [school in Russia](, including 11 children, and wounding 24 others. Authorities identified the attacker as Artem Kazantsev, who had once been a student at the school. Investigators say that he killed two security guards before opening fire on students and teachers, and then committing suicide. The incident took place in Izhevsk, a city about 600 miles east of Moscow. No details have been released yet about a motive. The National Guard said that the two handguns that were used were [not registered]( with the authorities. US-South Korea The US and South Korea are holding four days of joint maritime drills, which will be the first since 2017 to [involve an aircraft carrier](. A statement by the South Korean navy said that more than 20 US and South Korean ships were mobilized, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. It comes a day after North Korea [fired a ballistic missile]( ahead of planned drills. The exercises also come as US Vice President Kamala Harris heads to east Asia to attend the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and to meet with regional leaders. --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [Spain passes law to remember and exhume victims of civil war and dictatorship]( [A visitor approaches some of the 65 mass graves discovered recently near a provisional field hospital in northeast Spain.]( Credit: Gerry Hadden/The World ​​​​​​​Spain’s socialist government recently passed a new law greatly expanding the [rights and recognition]( of victims during the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco and the years that followed. [Ukrainian refugees found shelter in Spain’s empty hotels. But then, tourists came back.]( [Tourists enjoy the summer weather at the beach of Calella, Spain, Aug. 16, 2009.]( Credit: Manu Fernandez/AP Beach towns like Calella, Spain, turned their hotels — shut down by the pandemic — into [safe havens]( for thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the war. But with tourists back, refugees have been struggling to find more reliable forms of accommodation. --------------------------------------------------------------- Bright spot Brothers [separated for nearly eight decades]( have recently been reunited. Ted, Barry and John Nobbs were separated from their youngest brother Geoff in 1945. After their mother died that year from cancer, their father was no longer able to care for all of the children, and gave up the youngest one for adoption. After searching for years, the brothers, living in England, were able to find Geoff in Australia. Ted flew there — with John having passed away and Barry too ill to travel — for a tearful reunion. 💞 [Screenshot of Metro tweet]( Credit: Twitter In case you missed it on The World --------------------------------------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. [The World]( is produced by [PRX]( and [GBH](.