Longevità a Confronto: Meloni's Record Government Meets Carroll Gardens' Changing of the Guard

Italy Today

• Giorgia Meloni’s government just became the longest-serving in the history of the Italian Republic. As of today, her coalition has held power for 1,413 days, surpassing Silvio Berlusconi’s second government — a milestone she marked with a rally for thousands of supporters at the port of Bari. Meloni framed it as a foundation rather than a trophy: “Non un record da esibire, ma la base per lavorare” — not a record to show off, but a base to work from, even as analysts note the durability hasn’t translated into rising approval ahead of 2027.

• Update: Ranucci’s fight to get his old job back just moved to a labor court. RAI has confirmed it won’t explain the “pressures, opacity, and interference” it cited when removing him from Report — and his lawyers have now filed to have a labor judge order his reinstatement, after a meeting with RAI leadership over the show’s future produced no resolution.

Brooklyn Dispatch

• A 121-year-old Carroll Gardens address got a second life instead of a wake. When Ferdinando’s Focacceria — said to be NYC’s oldest Sicilian restaurant — closed in February 2025, owner Frank Buffa handed the space to a neighbor rather than a stranger: Sal Lamboglia of Cafe Spaghetti reopened it April 15 as Bar Ferdinando, keeping the name and the room’s bones. Not preservation-as-museum — preservation-as-handoff.

  Review

  “121-year-old” — the brief’s own figure checks out (founded 1904, closed Feb 2025), but the linked BK Magazine source’s own headline says “120 years old,” a visible internal contradiction a reader may flag — suggested action: verify or swap which source anchors this figure.

• Update: San Gennaro’s 100th-anniversary program has a centerpiece date. The Solemn High Mass lands September 19, but September 26 is the big one — the Grand Procession through Little Italy from 2 to 4 p.m., followed that evening by a Napoli Expo concert flying in performers from Naples as a gift to the feast’s centennial, on top of the September 17–27 run already on the calendar.

Arts & Culture

• Venice is handing out Golden Lions like party favors this year. Beyond Clooney’s Leone d’Oro alla Carriera on opening night, the 83rd Mostra is also crowning Ellen Burstyn, Luc Besson, and a joint award to Luca Guadagnino and Chloé Zhao’s cinematographer Łukasz Zal — five lifetime-achievement lions in one edition, which is either a generous anniversary mood or Venice quietly admitting it just wanted everyone’s favorite director in the room at once.

  Review

  “Crowning Ellen Burstyn, Luc Besson, and a joint award to Luca Guadagnino and Chloé Zhao’s cinematographer Łukasz Zal” — independent sources indicate only Clooney and Burstyn are receiving the Leone d’Oro alla Carriera; Guadagnino is reportedly receiving a separate, non-Golden-Lion prize (Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker) solo, not jointly with Zal; Besson appears listed only as a masterclass participant with no award attached — this single-sourced, unusually specific claim doesn’t hold up against corroboration — suggested action: verify against NonSoloCinema directly and correct or cut.

• Update: Juventus gets its Kolo Muani reunion this weekend. The striker, back at Juve on loan from PSG after a season at Tottenham, is in line to make his home debut September 6 against Milan — a return engagement for a player Juventus fans spent all August negotiating to get back.

  Review

  Citation mismatch — the linked FotMob article’s URL slug and content concern Kolo Muani’s original loan-spell debut for Juventus against Napoli in January 2025, not a 2026 Milan fixture — suggested action: replace with a current (Sept 2026) source for the Juventus–Milan match.

  Review

  “On loan from PSG” — multiple sources describe the August 2026 move as a permanent transfer (~€38M + €12M add-ons) rather than a loan, and this claim is single-sourced (and possibly mis-cited, see above) with no unverified flag — suggested action: verify deal structure and correct wording.

Parola del Giorno

Parola: longevo (adjective) — long-lived, enduring. From Latin longaevus, joining longus (“long”) and aevum (“age, lifetime”). This week: the word of the hour in every Italian headline about the “governo più longevo” — the most long-lived government — of the Republic’s history. Usage: “Un governo longevo non è per forza un governo amato — a Bari lo sanno, e anche a Roma.”

Takeaway