For this week’s Monday Briefing, we start by reordering the events in Iran to understand what is really happening. In other news, Elon Musk being set to buy Twitter, OPEC+ cutting oil production, the latest on Russia and Ukraine and a deadly attack in Thailand. Make sure to also out for Master’s applications closing on Thursday! 

Spotlight 

On September 16^th, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died in a hospital in Teheran after being arrested by the religious police for not wearing the hijab correctly. According to her family, Mahsa Amini was killed by the police, while the Iranian security forces claim that she died of a heart attack while following a course on how to properly wear the hijab. The death of Mahsa Amini sparked massive protests in all of Iran, starting from her funeral, on September 17^th. Demonstrations started spreading, forcing the government to restrict access to the internet and violently repress the protests. It’s difficult to estimate the impact of this repression. Norway-based Iran Human Rights has put the death toll at 133 people across Iran, while the Committee to Protect Journalists says that it has learned that security forces have arrested at least 28 journalists. Protests are taking place in various cities in Iran, and demonstrations in support of protestors are being held in European cities like London, Rome and Madrid, with some women cutting off locks of their hair. Since 1981, Iran’s law – which is approved by the theocratic regime – states that in public, women need to cover themselves either with a chador or with a hijab. This is just one aspect of one of the most theocratic regimes in the world. Over the past few years, there have been various protests in which demonstrators requested a change of regime, so far unsuccessfully. The government of Iran is currently led by ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Authorities referred to Amini’s death as a “bitter incident” and called for an investigation but said that “acts of chaos” are unacceptable and that attending demonstrations is “illegal”. It is unclear whether these protests will manage to get anything done, but so far Iranians in several cities are defying the government’s warnings, chanting “we want regime change” and “death to Khamenei”. 

Around the World 

Musk puts Twitter deal back on the table. On Monday night, Elon Musk sent a letter to Twitter in which he offered to buy Twitter for the initially agreed price of $54.20 per share. Twitter released a statement confirming that it had received the letter and stated that the “intention of the company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share”. Yet, a person close to Twitter said that the company was concerned that the offer had been made in an effort to delay the trial that was set to begin later this month.  

Russian troops retreat from front lines in southern Ukraine. Russian troops retreated in the Kherson region, only days after it was ‘annexed’ to Russia alongside other three Ukrainian provinces. It appears that Ukrainian forces are also pushing to advance in the region following the Russian retreat.  

OPEC and Russia aim to raise oil prices with big supply cuts. OPEC Plus decided to decrease its oil production by two million barrels a day in order to raise oil prices. After the announcement of the decision, the price of Brent crude, which is the international benchmark for petroleum prices, increased by more than %1.5. The cut in production was criticized by both the White House and the Chinese foreign ministry, and US officials stated that 10 million additional barrels of oil will be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in November as a response.  

African countries urge rich nations to honour $100bn climate finance pledge Ahead of next month’s Cop27 summit, Mr. Aboulmagd, Egypt’s special representative at the upcoming climate summit, criticized developed countries for not having honored the agreement, pledged during Cop15, to provide $100bn a year to developing countries by 2020. The UN deputy secretary general, Amina Mohammed, responded that investment in climate adaptation in developing countries, who are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, “must be a priority” for Cop27. 

Russia-Ukraine war: crucial bridge between Crimea and Russia collapses after huge explosion. On Saturday, sections of Kerch bridge were partially destroyed after a fire took off on the construction’s railway connection. The Ukrainian state has not directly claimed responsibility for the events, but officials took to social media to celebrate the damage of one of Putin’s symbolic infrastructure projects meant to bring the Crimean Peninsula closer to mainland Russia. The attack could potentially take a blow on the Kremlin’s ability to supply weapons to those fighting in the war in Ukraine. 

Elon Musk sparks controversy over tweet about the war in Ukraine. On Tuesday, the tech billionaire took to the social media platform to propose a peace plan for the Russian-led conflict, stating that Ukraine should “remain neutral,” and that Crimea ought to become part of Russia. The affirmations sparked outrage from Ukrainian and other European leaders, as well as from social and political activists.  

Thailand in shock after deadly terrorist attack at a childcare center. On Thursday, a 34-year-old former officer stormed the preschool right after lunchtime and killed dozens, including a pregnant teacher and 23 kids in their sleep. According to police, the man later went home, where he murdered his wife and stepson, after which he took his own life. Although gun ownership is relatively high in Thailand, mass shootings like this are relatively rare in the East-Asian country. Authorities continue to investigate the motives behind the attack.  

North Korea fires two ballistic missiles, concerns raised from neighboring countries. On Sunday morning, two missiles fell outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, according to Japan’s State Minister of Defense Toshiro Ino. This marks North Korea’s 25^th launch of such projectiles only this year, which raises security distress from other states in the region. South Korea’s Chief of Staff condemned the attacks, deeming them a “serious provocation for peace and safety.” 

Italian News 

Italiana fermata in Iran: Alessia Piperno nel carcere di Evin a Teheran. La trentenne romana è stata arrestata nella capitale iraniana subito dopo il fermo scattato il giorno del suo compleanno, 28 settembre. Dal carcere, la ragazza avrebbe poi chiamato l’Italia per chiedere aiuto. Sull’intera vicenda più fonti autorevoli ribadiscono la necessità di mantenere il silenzio, per evitare di compromettere i tentativi per riportare in Italia la donna. Prima dell’arresto, la ragazza aveva raccontato sui social alcune scene che aveva vissuto durante il suo viaggio, come quella di una notte in cui all’ostello nel quale alloggiava arrivarono due donne, due uomini e due bambini per chiedere aiuto, a seguito degli scontri.  

Gas: Gazprom, trovata soluzione per ripresa flussi all’Italia. Sono ripresi oggi i flussi di gas approvvigionati da Gazprom all’Italia e, come comunica l’Eni: “la ripresa delle forniture è stata resa possibile dalla risoluzione da parte di Eni e delle parti coinvolte dei vincoli che derivano dalla nuova normativa introdotta dalle autorità di regolamentazione austriache”. Le forniture, precedentemente interrotte a causa dell’impossibilità di trasportare gas da parte di Gazprom attraverso l’Austria, sono riprese dopo aver trovato un accordo che permettesse al gas russo di fluire nuovamente attraverso il territorio austriaco.  

Dopo il no di Panetta Meloni attacca Draghi: “In ritardo sul Pnrr”. Pare che il membro della BCE. Fabio Panetta abbia rifiutato la proposta di incarico come Ministro dell’Economia offertagli da Giorgia Meloni. Allo stesso tempo la futura premier si esprime con parole dure nei confronti di Mario Draghi e del Pnrr, dicendo: “I ritardi sono evidenti e difficili da recuperare, è una mancanza che non dipende da noi, ma che a noi verrà attribuita anche da chi l’ha determinata”.  

Draghi saluta l’Europa cantandogliene quattro. Venerdì 7 ottobre, Mario Draghi si è infuriato con la Commissione europea a Praga, durante il suo penultimo vertice UE. La ragione è che dopo 6 mesi di solo parlare non si è ancora raggiunta una soluzione definitiva. Le posizioni sono ancora troppo distanti, dice Draghi: “Stiamo discutendo di gas da sette mesi. Abbiamo speso decine di miliardi dei contribuenti europei, serviti a foraggiare la guerra di Mosca e non abbiamo ancora risolto nulla. Se non avessimo perso così tanto tempo ora non ci troveremmo sull’orlo della recessione».  

Bocconi News 

Our campus has been living probably the last sunny days of 2022, yet the adventures of this academic year have only just begun. 

• On Tuesday, the university students were mainly focused on Residence Representatives elections, as the residents chose the two people set to  represent them for the upcoming year. Good luck to everyone elected! 
• On the very same day, the newly-elected class representatives of undergraduate, graduate and law schools met together for the first time, to begin a collaboration which will last until next October. On Thursday, the class representatives voted to elect 4 representatives for each course. Once again, good luck to all of them! 
• Tuesday was also the day in which the Bocconi Community Volunteer Fair was held in the Gobbi Aula Magna: several volunteering associations which have been working with the Volunteering Desk for the last years presented their activities to the students and invited them to get engaged in several opportunities (some of them held in English)  
• On Friday, Rector Gianmario Verona declared the academic year open for the last time in a pompous ceremony that saw the participation of keynote speaker Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2018. Dr. Mukwege delivered an emotional speech, remembering Ambassador Luca Attanasio, who was killed in his own country, the Democratic Congo Republic. Dr. Mukwege also spoke about the horrors women in Congo have been living, as rape has been used as a war technique, while also criticizing the “variable geography humanitarianism”, a syndrome the West has been suffering of since ever. On the occasion of the Inauguration of the Academic Year, President Mario Monti also announced that on the 13^th of December President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella and European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen will be in Bocconi! 
• Starting from Friday, 7^th October it is possible to register for the IT Education Center and the Language Center supplementary activities 
• It is Graduation Weekend! Our campus has been once again filled with enormous joy and the brilliant red of the gowns worn by Undergraduate Students passing through the lions in these days. Congratulations to you all! 
• Starting on Monday, you can register for some of the upcoming cultural courses of Campus Life, which will be held in the November month. If you are interested, check out your Bocconi email or Campus life website! 
• Thursday, the 13th of October will be the last day to submit application for Bocconi Master of Science degrees. Remember that 60% of the places will be assigned during this first round, with only a residual 5% available with the second round in March! 

That is all that happened on campus this week, but even more will be going on next one! See you next Monday with more Bocconi news! 

In Case You Missed it: 

On the TiL Rundown column, Bocconi University’s new student association Behavioral Finance and Development Economics (BFDE) published an article about behavioral finance and the cognitive biases that impact investment decisions. 

Luca Francesco Giacobbe dell’associazione studentesca bocconiana Keiron ha scritto un articolo sull’evoluzione della normativa riguardante la corruzione internazionale. 

Tra i Leoni’s 100^th edition is out! Nell’editoriale la Direttrice Editoriale Linda Bia Fasoli, con i suoi predecessori Marco Visentin e Francesca Sofia Cocco, si interroga sull’”ingrediente segreto” che ha accompagnato Tra i Leoni in venticinque anni di “delitti giornalistici”’. 

For this week’s Monday Briefing, we start by reordering the events in Iran to understand what is really happening. In other news, Elon Musk being set to buy Twitter, OPEC+ cutting oil production, the latest on Russia and Ukraine and a deadly attack in Thailand. Make sure to also out for Master’s applications closing on Thursday!