Italy to elect a new president - a podcast by BBC World Service

This week members of the Italian Parliament will elect a new head of state in a secret ballot. The powers of the president are limited, but the role of overseeing the appointment of the prime minister will be key as the country holds a general election next year, as we hear from Paola Subacchi, professor of international economics at Queen Mary University of London. Over the weekend former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dropped out of the running. Meanwhile, the Italian economy has been growing stronger, as Valentina Meliciani, professor of economics at Luiss University in Rome, explains.

Thousands of unvaccinated American truck drivers are banned from crossing the border into Canada and now the US is also blocking Canadian truckers. We have an extended report on the problems that could be caused by a shortage of truck drivers. Plus, we revisit the panic buying at the beginning of the pandemic. Adam Kaat worked in a supermarket in the state of Colorado in 2020 and has written a book about his experiences.

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