How do you say “lame duck” in Italian?

Meloni's G-7 meeting is off to a rough start. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a full-blown freakout of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Hungry for more? We made this [free bundle]( for you. Today’s Agenda - The [G-7’s]( gotta rally. - [Aliens]( are in the alley. - Wells Fargo’s [dilly-dally](. - Florida’s [climate tally](. [Lame Ducks]( Photographer: Ludovic Marin/AFP Do you think they do icebreaker questions at the G-7 summit? Because if they do, then someone should ask Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, this year’s [host](, why Italians are [so obsessed]( with Donald Duck. It’d be the perfect conversation starter! Although Rolling Stone reporter Ej Dickson made [noble headway]( on the question with the help of her Italian [cousin-in-law](, there is still so much we don’t know. Yes, talk of a fictional duck might be a little too on-the-nose for the geopolitical summit, considering how many real ones are there: “6 Lame Ducks and Giorgia Meloni: Meet the G-7 Class of 2024,” reads Politico’s [brutal headline](. The world is in [electoral limbo]( right now, with an unsettling [churn rate]( among heads of state. Instability is in the air, and [the vibes]( are not all right. Instead, they’re [far right](. This picture of the UK’s Rishi Sunak awkwardly giggling with Meloni — the [big winner]( of the recent European Parliament elections — says as much: Then there’s the matter of Joe Biden. As Bloomberg’s editorial board [notes](: The president’s approval rating “has been underwater since 2021 and hasn’t topped 40% [in nine months](. Democratic Party activists report a ‘[full-blown freakout](’” — and that’s not even considering his son’s recent felony convictions. So Biden really can’t afford to have a bad summit. Andreas Kluth [says]( it’s “one of only a few chances Biden has before the election in November to prove that ‘America is back’ as leader of the free world, as he claimed when taking office.” Today’s [bilateral security pact]( to help Ukraine is a start, but the president must continue to push the West to counter the growing [authoritarian alliance]( between Xi and Putin. Speaking of which: James Stavridis [says]( Russia and China are working overtime to consolidate political and military power across Africa. The continent, which has more than half of the [arable land]( on the planet and a population of almost 1.5 billion, is crucial for global security. “Unfortunately, the US has not been adapting to a rapidly changing scene,” James writes. “In the latest blow, US troops have been forced to leave [Niger](, where the Pentagon had enjoyed a longstanding security partnership.” Given that the G-7 summit’s unofficial theme is “disarming the Russian war machine,” drafting a sensible strategic plan to prevent further encroachment in Africa seems wise. “Washington should coordinate more closely with its global allies,” James suggests, to retain “strong business and military connections in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin and Chad.” Clearly, there is plenty to discuss at the G-7. Maybe better to ask about Donald Duck in a sideline meeting. Bonus European Right Reading: Le Pen and Meloni represent tough [new obstacles]( to climate action. — Lara Williams [Aliens]( If the risk of China and Russia dominating Africa weren’t worrisome enough, there’s always the possibility of extraterrestrial life-forms: To be clear, this [Harvard study]( has yet to be peer-reviewed, so it might end up being complete and utter hogwash. But when it comes to UAPs, the new acronym for UFOs (it stands for Unexplained Anomalous Phenomena), “you don’t have to think they are space aliens to realize that they are [threats]( to national security,” Tyler Cowen [writes](. “At the very least, the mere fact that some experienced military pilots [entertain]( the more [speculative]( alien-linked hypotheses suggests that the military is not processing information effectively.” Tyler says UAPs will remain a thorn in our side as long as China and Russia — there they are again! — continue to be national security threats, because the US will always want to protect its airspace. Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee passed the [Intelligence Authorization Act](, which called for a review of the Pentagon’s “All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office,” which issued a 63-page [nothingburger]( on UFOs last year. “If this were an undergraduate term paper, I would have given it a D+,” Tyler quips, arguing that “the Senate Intelligence Committee deserves credit for reopening the issue.” Read [the whole thing](. Mouse Movers My TikTok algorithm knows I’m lazy. The other week, I got targeted with an ad for a [mouse mover]( that lets you step away from your desk without having to worry about your boss finding out. Obviously, I did not buy one! My mouse, like my keyboard, is only ever touched by human hands! But some former employees at Wells Fargo [can’t say the same](: Wells Fargo & Co. fired more than a dozen employees last month after investigating claims that they were faking work. The staffers, all in the firm’s wealth- and investment-management unit, were “discharged after review of allegations involving simulation of keyboard activity creating impression of active work,” according to disclosures filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Matt Levine’s [response](? “Ahahaha come on.” This isn’t Wells Fargo’s first foray into fakery. Back in 2016, you may recall the bank got in trouble for [opening fake accounts]( because it had “strict quotas regulating the number of daily ‘solutions’ that its bankers must reach,” and its managers would “constantly hound, berate, demean and threaten employees to meet these unreachable quotas.” To meet those quotas, the employees would just cut corners and open up fake accounts. “The problem, it seemed to me, was that Wells Fargo — a giant company with thousands of employees — was stuck managing its employees by crude metrics,” Matt writes. And what’s the crudest metric of them all? “Moving the mouse at least once every five minutes for eight hours a day.” Telltale Charts Woo-hoo!! Score one for Team Ovaries: Today, the Supreme Court decided to preserve women’s access to mifepristone, the widely used medication abortion pill. Lisa Jarvis [says]( “reams of data and years of real-world experience [affirm the safety]( of mifepristone.” But while reproductive rights advocates may be celebrating today, the battle is far from over: “The court dismissed the case on reasonably technical grounds,” Lisa notes. “You can bet that conservative groups are already looking for new plaintiffs and inventing new, similarly specious legal arguments to restrict access to mifepristone.” How can Florida Governor Ron DeSantis say climate change is [outlawed](, then declare a [state of emergency]( when it rains? Make it make sense: “Large swaths of South Florida were underwater this week after the sky turned into a firehose that flooded Miami and dumped 10 inches of rain on Fort Lauderdale in a day. It was the worst rainstorm in Fort Lauderdale … since the one in April 2023 that dumped more than 2 feet of rain in a day,” Mark Gongloff [writes](. Climate change is all around us. Even the [catfish]( know it! Further Reading Cornering the [copper market]( just got a lot easier. — Javier Blas The [executive pay gap]( in Japan’s boardrooms is unacceptable. — Gearoid Reidy A [trademark lawsuit]( over “Trump too small” is a win for the former president. — Stephen L. Carter The [Elon Musk allegations]( are a reminder that sexual harassment is always about power. — Sarah Green Carmichael A [win for humanity]( in Gaza will require both Hamas and Israel’s leaders to lose. — Marc Champion Australia’s new [army recruitment plan]( should be adopted by Taiwan. — Karishma Vaswani It’s been [a magical time]( for the stock market — but don’t count on it lasting. — Allison Schrager ICYMI Trump wants to cut the [corporate tax rate](. The Supreme Court sides with [Starbucks](. The Big 12 is exploring a [naming rights deal](. ADHD startup executives got [arrested for fraud](. Kickers There’s a new [hot priest]( in town. A [hot-dog eating contest]( is coming to Netflix. The [$100 million quest]( to build the greatest golf ball. Billie Eilish is [obsessed]( with the idea of nonchalance. Notes: Please send [hot dogs]( and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. 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