Marco Maraffi

📊 Explore updated data on self-reported life satisfaction around the world from the 2026 World Happiness Report (@HappinessRpt)— How satisfied are people with their lives? Are they getting more satisfied over time, or less? How does this vary across cultures and life circumstances? The World Happiness Report (WHR) is one of the key sources we have for answering these questions. Based on the Gallup World Poll, the WHR has published data on life satisfaction since 2012 and covers more than 140 countries worldwide. Our colleague Tuna Acisu just updated our charts with the latest data (through 2025) from the 2026 edition of the report, released today. The WHR is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board.

“Gli amici dell'America devono aiutarla a uscire da una guerra illegale La superpotenza ha perso il controllo della sua politica estera, scrive Badr Albusaidi, Ministro degli Esteri dell'Oman.” economist.com/by-invitation/…

The reckless campaign against Iran will weaken America’s president. That will make him angry. Be warned: he makes a very bad loser econ.st/4lA7lEQ

58% of Americans disapprove of U.S. military strikes against Iran. Check out our new roundup of polling related to the Iran conflict to see how people in America, Canada, France, the Netherlands and the U.K. are feeling amid this ongoing crisis ipsos.com/en/global-opin…

To achieve European collective security, Europeans must “relinquish the primacy of national sovereignty” and give the EU more power to organize collective defense, argues @maxbergmann. fam.ag/4loFYNR

Secondo @Euractiv, quasi 80 mila italiani si sono candidati al nuovo concorso EPSO AD5 per funzionari dell’Unione Europea: rappresentano il 45% delle candidature arrivate da tutta l’UE. In totale le application sono state 174.922, molto più delle circa 60 mila previste all’apertura del bando. I posti messi a concorso sono però 1.490, quindi passerà circa un candidato su 117. Le linee guida UE prevedono che le nazionalità siano rappresentate in proporzione al peso demografico: l’Italia conta circa il 13% della popolazione dell’Unione, quindi per i candidati italiani la competizione sarà ancora più dura.

Smoking has already killed far more people this century than in the entire 20th century— Throughout the entire 20th century, about 100 million people died earlier than they would have because of smoking. That’s a lot, but it pales in comparison to the expected numbers for this century. Between 2000 and 2023 alone, smoking-related deaths are estimated at 163 million. You can see this comparison in the chart. Some epidemiologists project that unless there is a substantial change in smoking uptake and rates across the world, there could be as many as one billion smoking-related deaths in the 21st century. In the 20th century, most of these occurred in today’s high-income countries. In the 21st century, most will come from low- and middle-income countries. Many of the people who are expected to die are smoking today, but even more are expected to be future smokers. Finding ways to help people stop smoking and prevent them from starting matters for keeping this huge figure in the millions, not billions. (This Data Insight was written by @_HannahRitchie.)

Women in Spain, Italy, and Portugal marry on average six years later than just two decades ago— Marriage is closely linked to decisions about having children in many societies. It also matters for legal rights, family finances, and many other aspects of life. The age at which people marry has rapidly changed in many countries. The chart shows this by tracking the average age at first marriage among women, using records from national statistics. In Portugal, Italy, and Spain, the average age at first marriage has risen rapidly and consistently. Portugal saw the largest increase: from around 26 years in 2002 to over 32 years by 2020. This is more than six years in less than a generation. It’s also the largest increase among the countries in the OECD Family Database with data available from the early 2000s up to 2020 (the most recent year with available data in the series). Changes in the timing of marriage have come together with other related shifts. For instance, a growing share of people are not marrying at all. (This Data Insight was written by @EOrtizOspina.)

On 31 January 2026, 4.38 million non-EU citizens who fled 🇺🇦Ukraine had temporary protection status in the EU. 🛂 Highest number of temporary protection beneficiaries in:⁠ 🇩🇪Germany (1 260 230 people; 28.8% of EU total)⁠ 🇵🇱Poland (965 990; 22.1) 👉 link.europa.eu/TNFxrR

Adam Smith’s book 'The Wealth of Nations' turns 250 this month. Published in 1776 — the year of the US Declaration of Independence and 13 years before the French Revolution — Smith took aim at trade protectionism and extreme wealth reut.rs/3N5tQF1

Donald Trump’s dangerous ‘war of whim’ ft.com/content/611e8f… via @ft

Come va il potere d’acquisto degli italiani? Questo è il tema del nostro libro "Il Prezzo Nascosto", EGEA. Negli ultimi cinque anni i salari reali hanno perso terreno, non perché sia crollata la produttività, ma perché molti contratti sono stati rinnovati in ritardo.

Quanto (ci) costano fiscal drag e inflazione? Su @repubblica, Valentina Conte ci racconta la dieta degli stipendi italiani a partire dal libro di @marcoleonardi9 e @leonziorizzo. 🗞️L’articolo completo, qui: tinyurl.com/PrezzoNascosto… 📖E “Il prezzo nascosto”: tinyurl.com/IlPrezzoNascos…

@UgoTramballi Ben detto. Troppi parlano di cambio di regime (pardon, regime change...) come se il nuovo ordine sorgesse magicamente e spontaneamente dalle ceneri del vecchio. Chiedere a Lenin o anche al generale MacArthur, che se ne intendono

Palude iraniana Su Slow News ugotramballi.blog.ilsole24ore.com

@ForeignAffairs @therealBehnamBT I strongly doubt that "The Iranian people ... have made it more than clear that they are ready to transform their country". This is now almost taken for granted by too many (foreign) analysts and policy makers. This is dangerous, especially for the Iranian people themselves.

“The real source of destabilization in and around Iran is not the prospect of regime change. It is the Islamic Republic itself,” writes @therealBehnamBT. foreignaffairs.com/iran/what-it-w…

US officials skeptical of regime change in Tehran after Khamenei killing, say sources reuters.com/world/middle-e…

US lawmakers see no Trump plan for Iran following strikes reuters.com/world/us/us-la…