A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday

Italy’s Senate to vote on 2026 budget bill

Italy’s Senate is set to vote on the 2026 budget bill on Tuesday, after the Upper House’s budget committee approved an updated draft on Monday.

“The path was tortuous but the important thing was to get to the end,” said Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti.

The draft budget has been through a number of revisions since it was first unveiled in October, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s executive introducing a key amendment worth an additional 3.5 billion euros last week.

Some last-minute amendments sparked controversy within Italy’s own coalition government, with a proposed pension reform reportedly coming under fire from the League Party. Centre-left opposition Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein on Monday accused the government of presiding over “unacceptable” chaos.

The bill is expected to get the green light on Tuesday, and will then pass to the Chamber of Deputies for final approval before the end-of-year deadline.

Italy fines Apple nearly 100 million euros over app privacy feature

Italy’s competition authority said on Monday it had fined US tech giant Apple 98 million euros for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the mobile app market.

The AGCM said in a statement that Apple had violated privacy regulations for third-party developers in a market where it “holds a super-dominant position through its App Store”.

Apple said it would appeal the decision and defended its “strong privacy protections for our users,” news agency AFP reported.

But Italy’s antitrust body said its investigation had established the “restrictive nature” of the “privacy rules imposed by Apple… on third-party developers of apps distributed through the App Store”.

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Italy says wants military to stay in Lebanon after UN peacekeepers leave

Italy said on Monday it intends to keep a military presence in Lebanon even after the UN peacekeeping force it belongs to leaves as planned from December 31, 2026.

“Even after (the peacekeeping force) UNIFIL, Italy will continue to do its part, supporting with conviction the international presence and supporting the capacity development of the Lebanese armed forces,” Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said during a visit to Lebanon, according to a statement.

Asked by AFP if this meant Italy wanted to maintain a military presence in the country, a ministry spokesman confirmed that this was the case.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, remaining after Israel ended an occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000.

“Support is needed to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces, so that they are in the best possible position to defend the country, ensuring security and respect for its borders,” Crosetto said in Monday’s statement.

“We will guarantee our presence in multilateral and bilateral contexts,” he said.