By Giuseppe Fonte and Giselda Vagnoni

ROME (Reuters) -Italy approved an aid package worth some 14 billion euros ($14 billion) on Friday to shield firms and families from surging energy costs, in probably the last major act by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi before a Sept. 25 election.

The latest measures come on top of some 52 billion euros already budgeted since January to soften the energy crisis in Italy.

They will be funded by higher value added tax revenues as a result of rising electricity and gas bills and by adjustments elsewhere in the state budget, without resorting to extra borrowing which had been requested by some parties.

Draghi told reporters the government was "helping families and firms without putting public finances at risk and causing tensions on the markets."

Italy is confirming its 2022 budget deficit target at 5.6% of national output set in April, Economy Minister Daniele Franco said at a news conference alongside Draghi.

Despite a worsening economic outlook due to the impact of Ukraine war, Draghi said he still saw no sign of recession in Italy.

He also said he was not available to serve another term as prime minister whatever the outcome of the election, at which he is not a candidate.

Some centrist parties have been pushing for the former European Central Bank chief to carry on as premier if the vote produces no clear winner.

Under the new aid package, Rome boosts and extends until November existing tax breaks that help firms pay lower electricity and gas bills.

A new scheme of state guarantees will help companies facing liquidity problems due sky-high energy costs.

A draft of the government decree seen by Reuters showed that state export agency SACE would offer free guarantees on loans with a rate no higher than that paid by government bonds with the same maturity.

The financing is intended to help with the payment of energy bills issued in the last quarter of 2022.

Among a raft of other measures, the scheme envisages a one-off 150-euro handout for 22 million workers and pensioners with an annual income below 20,000 euros. A cut in excise taxes on fuel at the pump will stay in place until November instead of Oct. 17.

To discourage firms from closing plants in Italy, the government decree revokes any state benefits already received if they move production abroad and fire 40% or more of their staff, Industry Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said.

(Editing by Valentina Za and Gavin Jones)

"Did I do everything I could to persuade people? Of course, of course," Breyer said during an interview with CNN's Chris Wallace.

The House GOP released their policy pitch for what they want to do if they win Congress, breaking with McConnell and Senate Republicans.

"For our part," the panel wrote, "we cannot discern why Plaintiff would have an individual interest in or need for any of the one-hundred documents with classification markings."

Putin announced military mobilization shortly after Xi and Modi criticized the war, potentially out of fear of losing their support, an expert told Insider.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich insulted a Capitol Hill reporter after the journalist asked him to comment on the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “What do you think about the January 6 committee,” Scott Wong, a reporter for NBC News who previously worked at The Hill, asked…

Raymond Dearie tells the legal team to detail what Trump claims was "planted" at his Florida resort, even though the ex-president watched the search on video.

Cohen said one or two of Trump's adult children might have to "fall on the sword" for him as a result of a New York probe into the Trump Organization.

Judge Eric C. Tostrud referenced the 11th Circuit Court’s ruling against the former president in deciding to allow the DOJ to retain the MyPillow founder's phone

The former attorney general compared the executive positions held by three of Trump's middle-aged kids to how some parents buy their children cars.

Colleen Shogan, a political scientist, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that she has not been briefed on the details of the investigation.

This isn't the first time Judge Raymond Dearie — appointed at Trump's request — has asked Trump's lawyers to put their money where their mouth is.

Donald Trump's fixer-turned-critic doesn't think most of the "Peekaboo" theories are right. His theory? "Dementia."

Dmitry Peskov's son told the pranksters that he does not intend to go to war and will resolve the issue "on a different level."

For months on end, Americans have been struggling with sky-high living costs. Now earlier on in the pandemic, there were several rounds of stimulus checks that served as a lifeline for those who were struggling. As such, it's hard to make the case for another federal round of stimulus checks.

ROME (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin was "pushed" into invading Ukraine and wanted to put "decent people" in charge of Kyiv, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has said, drawing fierce criticism just ahead of Italy's election. The Italian leader, whose Forza Italia party belongs to a right-wing coalition expected to win Sunday's parliamentary election on Sunday, is a long-time friend of Putin and his comments are likely to alarm Western allies. "Putin was pushed by the Russian people, by his party, by his ministers to come up with this special operation," Berlusconi told Italian public television RAI late on Thursday, using the official Russian wording for the war.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s repeated claim that he had declassified all the documents that the FBI seized in the search of his Florida home last month — including those marked as top secret — has heightened interest in the scope of a president’s power to declassify information. In an interview on Fox News that was broadcast Wednesday, Trump insisted that he “declassified everything.” There does not have to be a formal process to do so, he added, because “if you’re the president

One of the videos appears to show a child held up to the window of a bus to say goodbye to a man who was mobilized into the war.

(Bloomberg) -- California is committing to a plan that will make it the first US state to phase out gas-fueled furnaces and water heaters in homes, a move environmentalists are betting will provide a template for other states. Most Read from BloombergBank of England Says Paper Banknotes Only Good for One More WeekJapan to Restore Visa-Free Travel From Oct. 11 as Covid Pandemic Recedes Risk Assets Swept Up in Rout as ‘Fear Gauge’ Soars: Markets WrapSouth Korea President Caught on Hot Mic Insultin

The Texas senator touted highway funding for his state in a recent tweet — but neglected to mention something.

A U.S. appeals court ruled that Donald Trump has not produced evidence supporting this claim