Italy’s top story on Friday:

The Italian government faced pushback from the US and France on Thursday against a reported attempt by Italy to water down a G7 leaders’ declaration on abortion rights by removing a reference to “safe and legal” terminations.

US President Joe Biden “felt very strongly” that the statement must reiterate statements made in Japan, AFP reported, while French President Emmanuel Macron noted the French parliament’s vote earlier this year to enshrine the right of abortion in his country’s constitution.

Meloni’s office denies abortion rights have been slashed from the draft final summit statement, saying negotiations are ongoing with Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the US.

On Wednesday, a source close to the negotiations told AFP that since 2021 there has “been a mention of ‘safe access'” in the G7 leaders’ statement, but “Meloni doesn’t want it”.

“She’s the only one, she’s isolated on the issue. But since it’s the host country, the others have decided not to make it a casus belli,” the source said, using the Latin term for an act that provokes a war.

Opposition parties to stage Rome protest over parliament brawl

Italy’s opposition parties on Thursday announced that they will stage a protest in Rome next week after a brawl in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday resulted in a Five-Star Movement MP being injured and needing medical attention, Ansa reported.

The fight broke out after Five-Star Movement deputy Leonardo Donno tried to tie an Italian flag around the neck of regional affairs minister Roberto Calderoli, from the populist League party, in a stunt intended to denounce contested plans to grant regions more autonomy.

In response, Calderoli’s fellow League deputies left their benches en masse to mob Donno, with the debate quickly descending into chaos.

READ ALSO: Shameful’: What’s behind the punch-ups in Italy’s parliament?

“After the physical attack by the ruling majority in parliament, we cannot accept that the country is also hostage to this climate of continuous intimidation,” a joint statement from the Five-Star Movement, the Democratic Party, the Green-Left Alliance and More Europe read on Thursday. 

The statement invited “citizens, political and social groups and the civic and democratic forces of this country” to join the protest, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 18th, in Rome’s Piazza Santissimi Apostoli.

Employment rate up 400,000 on last year, report finds

Italy’s national statistics office Istat on Thursday said that the number of people in employment in the first quarter of 2024 was up by some 394,000 (1.7 percent) compared to the first quarter of last year, Ansa reported.

Istat’s report also said that employment figures for the first quarter of this year were up by 75,000 (0.3 percent) against the previous quarter.

The rise drove Italy’s employment rate to 62 percent – up by 0.1 percent against the previous quarter.

The country’s unemployment rate fell from 7.4 to 7.2 percent, but the inactivity rate (this refers to people not available for or not actively seeking employment) for individuals aged from 15 to 64 rose to 33.1 percent – up by 0.1.

EU Commission set to approve ITA-Lufthansa deal

European Commission sources on Thursday said that they expected the EU body to authorise German carrier Lufthansa’s acquisition of a 41-percent stake in ITA Airways in the coming days after both airlines provided the necessary reassurances over the deal, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported. 

Last March, the European Commission raised objections to Lufthansa’s plan to buy a stake in Italy’s flag carrier, citing competition concerns including the strengthening of ITA’s already dominant position at Milan’s Linate airport.

But the parties edged closer to an agreement last week after Lufthansa made as-yet unknown concessions over long-haul flights from Rome’s Fiumicino airport to the United States.

The deal between the two airlines was expected to be worth some 325 million euros, reports said.