Violence

• He is on a secret mission to meet representatives of Britain’s ruling Labour party – including, he hopes, the recently elected prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald.
• The 38-year-old Matteotti, a tireless defender of workers’ rights, still hopes Mussolini can be stopped.
• For Matteotti, this new British government – the first to be led by Labour, although not as a majority – is a beacon of hope.

Four days in London

• Britain’s new prime minister was a working-class Scot who had made his way up via humble jobs and political activism.
• In contrast, Matteotti hailed from a wealthy family that owned 385 acres in the Polesine region of north-eastern Italy.

• The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.
• But something else may have troubled Mussolini about Matteotti’s visit to London – part of a European tour that also included stops in Brussels and Paris.

Death of a socialist

• He had reportedly been working on this speech day and night, studying data and checking numbers for many hours.
• This secret group, known as Ceka after the Soviet political police created to repress dissent, had been following Matteotti for weeks.
• The squad’s leader, US-born Amerigo Dumini, reputedly boasted of having previously killed several socialist activists.
• Socialist MPs, alerted by Matteotti’s wife, denounced the MP’s disappearance – but were not altogether surprised by it.
• For a few days, it appeared that the resulting public outrage – much of it aimed at Mussolini himself – might even bring down Italy’s government, spelling the death knell for fascism.

Why was Matteotti murdered?

• His death can be seen as one of the most consequential political assassinations of the 20th century.
• Yet for the Italian right, Matteotti is a ghost.
• Throughout her political career, Italy’s current prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has hardly ever spoken about the historical crimes of fascists in Italy, and not once about the murder of Matteotti.
• The historical debate about the murder has also never reached a unanimous conclusion about who gave the order to kill Matteotti and why.

The LSE documents

• The story of how the documents came to be secreted away in the LSE library takes us back to London for another clandestine visit – this time by Gaetano Salvemini, an esteemed professor of modern history who fled Italy in November 1925.
• In December 1926, while still in London, Salvemini received the secret package which he soon passed on to the LSE.
• But they were driven by the conviction that these documents could one day prove beyond doubt that Mussolini had orchestrated Matteotti’s assassination.
• Salvemini may thus have considered the LSE a safe haven – and there the documents have remained ever since.

A voice from the dead

• Rather, the move allowed Mussolini to legislate unchallenged while the seats of the 123 MPs who had joined the rebellion were left vacant.
• Matteotti’s article, entitled “Machiavelli, Mussolini and Fascism”, was a response to an article published in the magazine’s June issue by Mussolini himself.
• The Italian prime minister’s translated essay about the Renaissance intellectual Niccolò Machiavelli had carried the provocative headline “The Folly of Democracy”.
• The article was widely commented on in the British press, which had been following the story of Matteotti’s murder almost daily.
• His funeral was rushed through very quickly, with the coffin being transported overnight in an attempt to prevent public gatherings.

The end of Italian democracy

• In a speech to parliament on January 3 1925, he took “political responsibility” for the murder while not admitting to ordering it.
• Mussolini’s speech ended with a rhetorical invitation to indict him – to a parliament now populated only by fascists.
• The speech signalled the end of Italian democracy.
• The nature of Mussolini’s involvement was little discussed in the wake of his execution in April 1945 and the end of the second world war.
• Was it the evidence of the Mussolini government’s corruption that he planned to reveal to the Italian parliament the day after his kidnap?

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• He has also received funding from the Fondazione Giacomo Matteotti to study the LSE documents.
• Gianluca Fantoni does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Notably, Israel’s strike against Iran appears to have been more symbolic than substantive.
• Nevertheless, the overnight Israeli strike is the latest escalation in tensions between the two countries.

Reputations at stake

• To do otherwise would have damaged the Iranian government’s reputation among both its allies and its citizens.
• But the form that Iranian retaliation took is a key indication of Iran’s intentions.
• Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system and U.S. military bases in the region made the likely impact of Iran’s attack minimal.

The proxy dilemma

• Since the Iranian Revolution, Iran, through the Quds Force and its predecessors, has actively courted several proxy groups in the Middle East to increase its strategic influence.
• Hezbollah came into existence in response to Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon in the 1980s, and received extensive support from Iran.
• While these proxy groups have increased Iran’s political influence and strategic options in the Middle East, they can simultaneously be a burden for the country’s leadership because they aren’t under Iran’s complete control.
• For Iran, this presents a strategic dilemma.

A coalition of many

• The 2022 elections returned a fractured Knesset, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was only able to form a coalition government that included several far-right parties.
• The small size of his majority meant that far-right partners were able to demand concessions to support his government.
• The government’s inability to negotiate a release for the remaining hostages held by Hamas remains a festering wound in Israeli politics.
• National Unity’s leader, Benny Gantz, formed a war cabinet with Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to direct the war effort.

Netanyahu’s hand forced?

• The smaller far-right parties in Netanyahu’s coalition that are outside the war cabinet, however, likely forced the prime minister’s hand.
• National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the ultra-nationalist Otzma Yehudit party, has stated that Israel needs to “go crazy” in its response.

What’s next?

• It eliminated a leader of the Quds Force, and Iran’s retaliation did not manage to breach the defences of Israel or its allies.
• Now, the world waits to see if Israel’s latest strike against Iran leads to a broader regional escalation.

James Horncastle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• At least a quarter of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related.
• Injuries can be unintentional (falls, road crashes, drowning, burns) or intentional (self harm, violence, assault).
• The type, place and cause of injury differs by age, developmental stage and sex.

children aged 1–4 years are the age group most likely to present to an emergency department with injuries
adolescents aged 16–18 years are the age group most likely to be admitted to hospital for injuries
boys are more likely to be hospitalised for injuries than girls. This continues into adulthood
girls are five times more likely to be hospitalised for intentional self-harm injuries than boys
falls are the leading cause of childhood injury, accounting for one in three child injury hospitalisations. Falls from playground equipment are the most common
fractures are the most common type of childhood injury, especially arm and wrist fractures in children aged 10–12 years.

• For children under age one, drowning, burns, choking and suffocation had the highest injury hospital admission rates compared to adults.
• In early childhood (ages 1-4 years), the highest causes of injury hospitalisation were drowning, burns, choking and suffocation and accidental poisoning.

What about sports?

• Cycling causes the highest number of sporting injuries with almost 3,000 injury hospital presentations.
• For the top 20 sports that are most likely to cause injury hospital admissions, fractures are the most common type of injury.
• How to spot a serious injury now school and sport are back

Balancing risk and safety

• To prevent injuries, we need to balance risk and safety.
• Embracing risk is a fundamental part of play in all environments where children play and explore their world.
• But with proper guidance and supervision from parents and caregivers, we can strike a balance between offering opportunities for risk-taking and ensuring children’s safety from serious harm.

What can governments do to prevent injuries?

• This will provide clear guidance for all levels of government and others on prevention strategies and investment needed.
• Better reporting on childhood and adolescent injury trends will better inform parents, caregivers, teachers and health professionals about the risks.

• She is currently undertaking a project specific short term contract at the AIHW, in the Family and Domestic Violence Unit.
• Dr Sharwood is recognised as a Professional Fellow in the Faculty of Engineering and IT, UTS, for her industry expertise in product related injuries.
• Warwick Teague is Director of Trauma and Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne (RCH).

• It’s still not clear how Juste Pour Rire / Just for Laughs (JPR/JFL) went from one of the biggest comedy festivals in the world to bankruptcy.
• On April 12, La Presse reported the festival lost $800,000 in an email phishing scheme in 2023.
• The company also applied for protection from creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

From burst to bust

JPR was founded by businessman Gilbert Rozon in 1983 as a two-day French-language comedy event in Montréal. In 1985, Rozon was joined by promoter Andrew Nulman who brought the event to anglophone audiences and co-founded the company’s bilingual iteration. JPR/JFL is a behemoth in Canadian comedy and tourism. The flagship festival still took place in Montréal but expanded nationally and globally.

Conflicts around sexual assault, harassment

• In recent years, JFL has contended with a series of high-profile conflicts.
• At the height of #MeToo in 2017, Rozon stepped down as president after being named in numerous sexual assault allegations.
• This also brought back to light Rozon’s previous 1998 sexual assault charge that he plead guilty to.
• : Sexual misconduct and the pursuit of justice

  Mausner said Rozon’s stepping down was a “a surface-level solution for a systemic problem” and called the festival an “accessory to sexual assaults.” Following the earlier assault allegations, the organization implemented an
  anti-harassment policy and brought in new investment partners.

Royalties issues, pandemic challenges

• The channel, which once played exclusively Canadian content, would now primarily feature classic JPR/JFL recordings, meaning a substantial reduction in royalties for Canadian comedians.
• Intense public pushback from comedians led JPR/JFL to walk back their proposal and commit to playing 100 per cent Canadian content.
• The pandemic hit live festivals hard, but JPR/JFL did receive significant monetary assistance from government sources.

Blockbuster festivals, broke comedians

• Canadian comedians often think of performing at JPR/JFL as a massive career goal.
• But for years, JPR/JFL has been taken to task for their prioritization of American comedians.
• Even if JPR/JFL survives restructuring, comic Sam Sferrazza says this likely will mean “bringing in more bankable American talent paid for by Canadian taxpayers and artistic institutions.” Canadian funding agencies tend to favour blockbuster events like JPR/JFL but in the world of art grants, stand-up comedians are at a disadvantage.

Boosting international exposure

• But what if we created an environment where they not only wanted to stay but could stay.
• One option is boosting Canada’s comedic digital content internationally.

Funding for local comedians and festivals

• Another option is putting more funding directly into the pockets of individual Canadian comedians, producers, and (smaller) festivals, strengthening the comedy industry nationwide.
• We need to be asking comedians what they need to succeed and recognizing their work as both artists and contributors to Canadian culture.

Madison Trusolino has received funding for her research from SSHRC, OGS and the Jackman Humanities Institute.