Venice

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Selfie-Taking Tourists End Up Soaked in Venice Canal

They reportedly didn't sit down when asked

(Newser) - It's another entry in the tourists behaving badly file, this time out of Venice. The Guardian reports a group ended up toppling into "a murky, cold canal" after they apparently refused their gondolier's requests that they sit down in the gondola and stop taking selfies. While directing...

Migrants Hailed as Heroes After Italy Bus Disaster

They pulled mother, child to safety from burning bus

(Newser) - Two migrants from Africa are being praised for saving lives after the horrific bus disaster near Venice Wednesday. Boubakar Toure, 27, from Gambia, and Nigerian citizen Godstime Erheneden, 30, ran to the scene after the bus fell from an elevated road, the Telegraph reports. The men, who have been in...

21 Dead in 'Apocalyptic' Bus Crash Near Venice

Bus fell from elevated street

(Newser) - A bus carrying foreign tourists including Ukrainians crashed near the Italian city of Venice when it fell from an elevated street Tuesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring 18 others, authorities said. Four of the injured were in serious condition following the accident in the Mestre borough, on the...

Overrun With Tourists, Venice to Start Charging
This City Will Be the First
to Charge Day-Trippers
in case you missed it

This City Will Be the First to Charge Day-Trippers

Tourists in Venice, Italy, will be hit with proposed fee of $5.40 on certain days starting next spring

(Newser) - Venice, Italy, will be the first city in the world to charge its day-trippers, CNN reports. Starting next spring, the island city's authorities plan to charge visitors who aren't staying overnight as part of a 30-day experiment meant "to discourage daily tourism in certain periods, in line...

Protesters Strip, Disrupt Woody Allen Premiere
Not Everyone Was Happy
at Woody Allen Premiere
the rundown

Not Everyone Was Happy at Woody Allen Premiere

Protesters scuffled with cops, slammed organizers for featuring directors accused of sexual abuse

(Newser) - There was chaos on the red carpet at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on Monday as protesters scuffled with police while shouting "Abusers!" and "No rape culture!" The Italian film festival is premiering new films by three directors accused of sexual misconduct: Woody Allen, Roman...

Venice May Soon Be Labeled 'Endangered'

City isn't doing enough to counter risk of damage from tourists, climate change, UNESCO says

(Newser) - Venice isn't doing enough to protect its cultural heritage, according to experts at UNESCO, who are recommending that the Italian city and its lagoon be added to a list of endangered World Heritage sites. Mass tourism, overdevelopment, and rising sea levels linked to climate change put the site at...

Mystery Solved on Why Venice Canal Turned Bright Green

Authorities know nontoxic chemical fluorescein is the cause; they just don't know who put it in water

(Newser) - Venice environmental authorities have now pinned down the "what" behind the city's suddenly fluorescent green Grand Canal—they just don't have the "who" yet. Per the Guardian , an analysis of samples showed that the color shift was caused by the presence of fluorescein in the water,...

'Imbeciles' Pay for Surfing Canal
'Imbeciles' Pay
for Surfing Canal

'Imbeciles' Pay for Surfing Canal

Venice fines pair of foreigners, takes their boards after insulting them

(Newser) - A pair of foreigners who raced on motorized surfboards along the Grand Canal in Venice on Wednesday have been fined, had their boards taken, and been publicly insulted for the offense. And the Italian tourist destination isn't through with them yet, USA Today reports; the city attorney plans to...

After UNESCO Warning, a Big Move in Venice

Cruise ships, other large vessels will no longer be permitted to sail into city's lagoon

(Newser) - Giant cruise ships filled with tourists will no longer float past St. Mark's Square, or Piazza San Marco, in Venice after Italy put the kibosh on the longtime practice to protect the lagoon in which the city sits. Starting Aug. 1, cruise liners or other large ships, including yachts,...

Venice Cruise Ships Get Mixed Reception
Cruise Ships Return
to Cheers, Protests
photos

Cruise Ships Return to Cheers, Protests

Demonstrators thought the government was keeping liners out of Venice

(Newser) - Venice hosted a cruise ship Saturday for the first time since the pandemic began, drawing celebration from port employees thrilled at the return of business and demonstrations from those concerned about the damage the large ships cause. Hundreds of people on land and in small boats, displaying "No big...

Venice Spent $8B to Prevent What Happened Tuesday

New barrier system wasn't activated because prediction was off

(Newser) - St. Mark's Square in Venice was submerged on Tuesday, and an incorrect forecast may be to blame. The city has since October had an experimental system of inflatable barriers in place to prevent flooding. Thing is, the $8 billion system is activated when high tides are expected to reach...

Venice Volunteers Help Out in a Very Fitting Way

Female rowers using gondolas in famed Italian city to deliver groceries

(Newser) - Volunteers are coming to the assistance of the needy all over the world in different ways, but this one has an only-in-Venice feel to it. Female volunteers are using gondolas to deliver groceries in the Italian city, reports Jezebel . They belong to a nonprofit group called Row Venice, and they'...

Hidden in Plain View, an Ancient Sword

5K-year-old blade was initially labeled as medieval sword on display at monastery

(Newser) - A PhD student had a hunch that a monastery's sword, labeled as medieval, was actually much, much older. After two years of study, "it all came full circle," Italian archaeologist Vittoria Dall'Armellina, who's now completed her schooling at Venice's Ca' Foscari University, tells CNN...

Nation Cancels Big Festival Over Outbreak

With 133 cases reported, Italy calls off public events

(Newser) - Scrambling to contain the rapidly rising number of new coronavirus infections in Italy, the most outside Asia, authorities on Sunday stepped up measures to ban public gatherings. Venice's famed carnival events, which have drawn tens of thousands of revelers to a region that is now in the heart of...

Flooding Swamps Venice, Including Banksy Creation

Forecast calls for waters to recede this weekend

(Newser) - A state of emergency has been declared in Venice, where basillicas, squares and Banksy artwork are underwater. The historic city is dealing with its worst flooding in more than 50 years, Sky News reports. Italy's government declared the emergency Thursday. "It hurts to see the city so damaged,...

Venice Rejects Climate Change Measures, Is Immediately Flooded

Timing eerie as far-right members of Venice council reject moves to help environment

(Newser) - Venice has faced extraordinary flooding this week, with the mayor blaming climate change for the super-high tides—which is why what happened in the city's regional council gathering Tuesday is making waves. CNN reports the council's chambers in Ferro Fini Palace, located on the Grand Canal, flooded for...

Venice Swamped by Highest Tide Since 1966

'These are the effects of climate change,' mayor says

(Newser) - Venice is no stranger to flooding—the Italian city is made up of 118 islands in a lagoon—but what it is experiencing this week is extraordinary. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro plans to declare a state of emergency amid major flooding caused by the second-highest tide on record, the Guardian reports....

Making Coffee at Landmark Gets Tourists a Ticket Out

Venice didn't like a stove being set up at Rialto Bridge

(Newser) - The picturesque Rialto Bridge in Venice seems like a lovely spot to enjoy your morning coffee. But setting up a travel stove on the bridge's steps to make it got two backpacking tourists from Berlin expelled from the city and fined $1,000, the BBC reports. A resident passing...

Cruise Ship Plows Into Tourist Boat, Dock

Big boat in Venice fails to put the brakes on

(Newser) - A towering, out-of-control cruise ship rammed into a dock and a tourist river boat on a busy Venice canal on Sunday morning. Italian media reported that at least five people were injured in the crash, reports the AP . The collision happened about 8:30am on the Giudecca Canal, a major...

Banksy: This Is Me Getting Booted From Venice Exhibit

No permit, no Biennale display

(Newser) - Banksy claims he showed up to "the largest and most prestigious art event in the world" and was abruptly kicked out. An Instagram video shared by the British street artist's account Wednesday shows a man—whose face is never seen—setting up a collage of nine oil paintings...

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