the times | Monday May 2 2022 2GM 29security cameras and high-resistance
glass will complete the high-tech
arrangements. “If anything is missing
the client will inform us first, or he will
be charged for it on departure. That will
get rid of the idea that someone might
walk out with the television,” the
entrepreneur said.
Filippetti is planning to open a dozen
similar hotels over the next seven years,
catering for price-sensitive customers
who travel for work and are likely to be
short of money.
He is intending to expand in the
human-intensive sector as well, with
plans for boutique hotels in Rome,
Milan and possibly Bologna. “They will
be small luxury hotels with high-quali-
ty service and prices of €600 to €800
for a room,” he told La Repubblica.Witches gather for
spring fertility rite
Page 30production might resume, or if he
would return to the film.
“We’re both professionals,” he said.
“We like each other I think and if you
can’t really get along and trust each
other, there’s no point in going fur-
ther working together.”
Being Mortal was midway
through filming and was due to be
released next year. It was written
and directed by the comedian Aziz
Ansari, who also stars alongside
Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer.
Murray, who starred in Ghost-
busters, Caddyshack and Lost inBill Murray said there
had been a difference
of opinion on the set
of Being MortalThe governor of Texas is considering
an incendiary plan to declare the record
surge of illegal migration at the US
southern border an “invasion” and in-
voke war powers to tackle the crisis in a
direct challenge to the federal govern-
ment.
Greg Abbott, 64, has discussed
enforcing greater state authority over
control of the border, allowing state
police to arrest and deport migrants,
powers that usually lie with federal
agencies.
To do this, Abbott could declare the
migrant crisis an invasion in accord-
ance with an article in the US Constitu-
tion which says that individual states
cannot engage in war unless they are
“actually invaded”.
The move would prompt an immedi-
ate court challenge and another stand-
off with the US government, as the
political posturing over the crisis at the
border ramps up ahead of midterm
elections in November.
The Biden administration is itself
under pressure, however, as immigra-
tion surges to record highs. A further
wave of migrants is anticipated as the
government prepares to end Title 42
border restrictions imposed under
Donald Trump later this month.
First written into law in 1944, the
Title 42 rules allow the US to turn away
migrants at the border and bar them
from seeking asylum if they risk bring-
ing an infectious disease into the
country.
The law was invoked by the Trump
administration in March 2020 in a bid
to halt the spread of Covid-19.
Border authorities arrested 210,000
migrants attempting to cross the border
from Mexico in March, the highest
monthly tally in two decades and a 24
per cent increase on the previous year.
Lifting the Title 42 restrictions is
expected to trigger a massive surge of
migrants and further chaos at the
border.
Republican-led states have been
swift to exploit the border troubles,Governor taunts
Biden with plan to
declare ‘invasion’
seeking political capital for the mid-
term elections in November.
Abbott, facing re-election, has
launched initiatives to tackle the crisis
and shore up his core support.
Last month, he ordered state troop-
ers to inspect every commercial truck
arriving in Texas from Mexico, a move
he billed as a crackdown on drug smug-
gling and human trafficking.
The scheme created gridlock along
the state’s 1,250-mile frontier and dent-
ed international trade. One analysis
estimated that Abbott cost the US
almost $9 billion in lost gross domestic
product, with Texas hardest hit.
He abandoned the inspection
scheme in mid-April amid growing fury
at the chaos. Undaunted, however, he
began bussing migrants apprehended
at the border from Texas to Washing-
ton in a bid to shame the White House
for its failed immigration strategy. “I’m
going to take the border to President
Biden,” he said.
The proposal to declare an invasion
would be a more provocative move. The
scheme has support on the right,
including from former Trump officials,
and underscores how far some Republi-
cans will go to embarrass the White
House.
Abbott has convened teams of law-
yers to discuss the idea and the potent-
ial legal backlash from Washington. “If
we do use this strategy, it could expose
law enforcement in the state of Texas to
being prosecuted,” Abbott told a recent
press conference. “Is it something we’re
looking into? Yes.”
The White House said last week it is
still preparing to lift Title 42 restrictions
on May 23, but Democrats are split on
the decision. Many candidates seeking
re-election have pleaded with the
administration to delay the move. Left-
wing Democrats have attacked the gov-
ernment for not moving faster to
rescind Title 42, however, denouncing
the restrictions as racist and inhumane.
The policy provoked outrage as
reports emerged of families split up by
security agents and thousands of unac-
companied children being detained at
the border or expelled from the US.minister, Catherine Vautrin, 61, chair-
man of the Greater Rheims council in
eastern France, and Christine Lagarde,
66, president of the European Central
Bank, are among other figures cited by
French press outlets as possible prime
ministers in the new administration,
which must take over by May 14.United States
Hugh Tomlinson Washingtonwhere at least 29 people were arrested as the May Day parade was broken up by clashes between protesters and officersbad start when his first choice for the
prime minister’s job turned him down.
Véronique Bédague, 58, the manag-
ing director of Nexity, a real estate
developer, was said to have been of-
fered the opportunity but refused, pre-
ferring to remain in her current post.
She appeared to meet the criteria laiddown by Macron, having gone from a
centre-left background — she had been
chief of staff to Manuel Valls, the social-
ist former prime minister — to an
important post in the private sector
while retaining an interest in the war on
global warming.
Élisabeth Borne, 61, the employmentItaly’s first staff-free hotel is due to open
in the Adriatic resort of Rimini next
year, replacing human beings with
technology at every turn.
The hotel, to be called Homie, will
initially have a human at the reception
desk, but guests will book online and be
given a code to enter the hotel and to
access their rooms. There will be no
meals available, but drinks and snacks
can be bought from a dispenser.
Totem apps will be used for communi-
cation with staff in a control centre.
The minimalist 42-bedroom hotel,
within walking distance of the beach, is
the brainchild of Nardo Filippetti,
founder of the Lindbergh Hotels andRoom service is DIY in staffless hotel
Resorts group. He said the beds would
have the same mattresses as in his five-
star hotels, and each room would be
fitted with a 50-inch television. The
cost will be about €50 a night.
Massimo Garavaglia, Italy’s tourism
minister, has said that the country’s
hospitality sector is short of about
250,000 workers as it gears up for the
post-Covid summer season. Filippetti
has acknowledged that the difficulty in
recruiting reliable staff was one of the
key factors behind the decision to go
ahead with his €3.5 million investment
in Homie.
“The situation won’t improve in the
coming months, so I said to myself, why
pay for a service that is a disservice?”
Filippetti said. “We’ll use an outside
firm for cleaning.” Solar panels,Italy
Philip Willan RomeTranslation, has been accused of abu-
sive behaviour on set in the past. During
production of the 2000 film Charlie’s
Angels, the actress Lucy Liu said
Murray verbally abused her with
language that was “inexcusable
and unacceptable”.
In a 2009 interview with
The Times, Murray suggest-
ed Liu had been “unprofes-
sional”. He said: “Look, I will
dismiss you completely if
you are unprofessional and
working with me.”
Murray also famously
got into a brawl with
Chevy Chase, his
co-star, on the set of
Saturday Night Live
in 1978.says star, after row with actress
SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS, THOMAS COEX/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; ZUMA PRESS/ALAMY LIVE NEWS