Aug 8, 2019

Italy's Salvini calls for breakup of coalition and fresh elections

Dave Lawler, author of World

Salvini on the move. Photo: Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s interior minister, has today declared the governing coalition between his far-right League party and the anti-establishment Five Star movement unworkable and demanded fresh elections.

Between the lines: The latest spat with Five Star was over a train line between Italy and France, but the populist partnership has long been volatile.

  • Five Star won the most seats in last year’s election, but League has surpassed it in popularity and Salvini could cement his status as Italy’s most powerful man if the country goes to the polls again.
  • It’s unclear whether that will happen, particularly as Parliament is currently on recess. Either way, the League-Five Star marriage looks doomed.

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11 GOP congressional nominees support QAnon conspiracy

Lauren Boebert posing in her restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, on April 24. Photo: Emily Kask/AFP

At least 11 Republican congressional nominees have publicly supported or defended the QAnon conspiracy theory movement or some of its tenets — and more aligned with the movement still may find a way onto ballots this year.

Why it matters: Their progress shows how a fringe online forum built on unsubstantiated claims and flagged as a threat by the FBI is seeking a foothold in the U.S. political mainstream.

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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Lindsey Graham says he will ask Mueller to testify before Senate

Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tweeted Sunday that he will grant Democrats' request to call former special counsel Robert Mueller to testify before his committee.

The big picture: The announcement comes on the heels of Mueller publishing an op-ed in the Washington Post that defended the Russia investigation and conviction of Roger Stone, whose sentence was commuted by President Trump on Friday.

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