Rules designed to better manage visitors – who often far outnumber residents – will come into force in January
Venice will oblige day-trippers to make reservations and pay a fee to visit the historic lagoon city, in an attempt to better manage visitors who often far outnumber residents in the historic centre.
Venice officials on Friday unveiled new rules for day-trippers, which will be in effect from 16 January 2023.
Continue reading...Bas Smets’ project, featuring trees and a cooling system, aims to create a more pedestrian-friendly space around Paris landmark
For most of the last year, the Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets could be found walking purposefully around the Île de la Cité in central Paris staring at and thinking about Notre Dame Cathedral.
On a blazing hot day in the French capital he is back there, pointing at the landmark, still shrouded in scaffolding after it was ravaged by a devastating fire in April 2019.
Continue reading...Ukraine nuclear plant surveillance systems restored; at least 14 Russian arms companies ‘have not been sanctioned’; warning on war’s environmental cost
Continue reading...Russia has charged former soldier Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy, believed to have been doing humanitarian work, with fighting as mercenaries
Two more Britons held by Russian proxies in east Ukraine have been charged with fighting as mercenaries, Russian state media have reported, indicating that they could face the death penalty in a likely attempt to pressure western countries to make a deal for their freedom.
Britons Andrew Hill of Plymouth and Dylan Healy of Huntingdon were reported to have also been charged with “forcible seizure of power” and undergoing “terrorist” training, according to a state news agency in Russian-controlled Donetsk. The report was sourced to an anonymous official and has not been confirmed.
Continue reading...Discovery of of printing machinery used to make fake labels led to arrest of 20 people in seven areas of France
French police have broken up a gang that had allegedly produced hundreds of thousands of bottles of fake Bordeaux wine in an elaborate counterfeiting operation, prosecutors said on Friday.
Officers investigating drug dealing in the south-western French region discovered printing machinery being used to create labels for the bottles last September, sparking a wider criminal investigation.
Continue reading...Virgilio Trujillo Arana, a 38-year-old indigenous Uwottuja man, was shot in the head three times in the city of Puerto Ayacucho
A Venezuelan indigenous leader who was an opponent of armed groups and illegal mining has been shot dead in the Amazonas state capital, a non-governmental organization and three people with knowledge of the case said.
Virgilio Trujillo Arana, a 38-year-old indigenous Uwottuja man, was a defender of the Venezuelan Amazon and had set up community groups to act as guardians of the Autana municipality of Amazonas.
Continue reading...Tourist found guilty of causing death through reckless act while on drugs, and of fleeing the scene
A British tourist has been jailed for a year after a Cypriot court convicted him over the hit-and-run death of a Swedish mother in a holiday resort on the island.
The Famagusta district court also revoked the 25-year-old’s driving licence for 18 months on Friday, but authorities did not release his name.
Continue reading...Election-related deaths plague lead-up to voting day in election closely watched by China and Australia
Papua New Guinea is heading to the polls on Monday and there are fears the vote could be more violent than the 2017 elections, in which more than 200 people died.
Violence has plagued the lead-up to the vote. Local media reports that through May and the campaign period, there have been 28 election-related deaths, several injuries, an assassination attempt on a possible candidate, the shooting of an election official and burning of five vehicles.
Continue reading...World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe also among 17 recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor
The gymnast Simone Biles and soccer player Megan Rapinoe are among 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor, the White House announced on Friday.
The two sport stars are being celebrated for their accomplishments in competition and in social activism.
Continue reading...UN body adds Ukrainian borscht-making to list of intangible cultural heritage that includes Neapolitan pizza-slinging
The UN’s cultural body has added the cooking of Ukrainian borscht to its list of endangered cultural traditions, accepting Ukraine’s petition to fast-track its application following the invasion by neighbouring Russia.
Ukrainian borscht-making “was today inscribed on Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding”, Unesco said in a statement on Friday.
Continue reading...Two countries sign restitution agreement covering more than 1,000 items in German hands
Germany has physically handed over two Benin bronzes and put more than 1,000 other items from its museums’ collections into Nigeria’s ownership, more than a century after they were looted by British soldiers from the once powerful kingdom in west Africa.
The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, and the culture minister, Claudia Roth, signed a restitution agreement with their respective Nigerian counterparts, Zubairu Dada and Lai Mohammed, in Berlin on Friday afternoon.
Continue reading...Forest fire broke out on Tuesday and destroyed around 100 acres of land – the equivalent of about 50 football pitches
Peruvian authorities say firefighters have managed to control a forest fire near the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu after three days battling the flames.
The blaze near one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites broke out on Tuesday, destroying around 100 acres of land – the equivalent of about 50 football pitches.
Continue reading...Phuc, pictured in 1972 running from napalm attack during Vietnam war, has final laser treatment in Miami
Phan Thi Kim Phuc, whose photograph became a symbol of the horrors of the Vietnam war, has had her final skin treatment with a burn specialist, 50 years after her village was struck by napalm.
Phuc was photographed aged nine as she ran, unclothed and screaming in agony, after napalm was dropped by a South Vietnamese Skyraider attack aircraft. Nick Ut, the photographer who captured the image in June 1972, drove her away to find medical treatment.
Continue reading...Collaboration between national water agency and craft brewer described as ‘highly quaffable’
It is a beer made with only the finest ingredients: premium German barley malts, aromatic Citra and Calypso hops, farmhouse yeast from Norway – and reclaimed sewage.
NewBrew, a collaboration between Singapore’s national water agency and the local craft brewery Brewerkz, has already proved popular and has sold out on tap at the brewery’s restaurants, according to reports.
Continue reading...This blog is closed. All the Guardian’s Ukraine coverage can be found here
Two children are among 18 people killed by a missile strike in Odesa, according to the latest update from regional governor Maksym Marchenko.
He posted to Telegram to say:
As a result of a night missile strike by Tu-22 strategic aircraft from the Black Sea in the Belgorod-Dniester district of Odesa region, three X-22 missiles hit an apartment building and a recreation centre.
As of 9am, 18 victims were identified, including 2 children, and 31 people were hospitalised, including 4 children and a pregnant woman. Another 8 sought medical help. 8 people were rescued from the rubble, including 3 children. Rescue work continues.
Continue reading...Coalition government consults health experts, economists and growers in race to clear legal hurdles within two years
Germany is mulling over the consequences of soon becoming the world’s largest potential market for legally sold cannabis, as the country’s left-liberal government presses ahead with plans to allow the controlled distribution of the drug among adults.
Olaf Scholz’s coalition government has in recent weeks reiterated its 2021 coalition-deal vow to legalise for recreational use what its Green and liberal party minister have taken to referring to as Bubatz, a slang word for weed popular among German rappers.
Continue reading...Armed forces urge residents to seek shelter after twin attacks on southern port city, say Ukrainian officials
At least 18 people have been killed after two Russian missiles struck a multi-storey apartment building and a recreation centre in the southern port city of Odesa in the early hours of Friday, Ukrainian officials have said.
Ukraine’s armed forces issued an alert urging residents to seek shelter after three explosions and air raid alarms were heard shortly before 1am local time.
Continue reading...Human Rights Watch calls for donors to cut off funding to security forces and urges international court to investigate
Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip systematically torture critics in detention, a practice that could amount to crimes against humanity, an international rights group has said.
In its report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for donor countries to cut off funding to Palestinian security forces that commit such crimes and urged the international criminal court to investigate.
Continue reading...At least 18 dead after Russian missile strikes multi-story apartment building in Odesa; Russian forces withdraw from Snake Island in Black Sea
Continue reading...The January 6 committee cannot charge Trump, but they can make criminal referrals. Here are the key legal issues at stake
In six televised hearings, the House January 6 committee has presented extraordinary testimony about Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election and its culmination, the deadly attack on the US Capitol by a far-right mob.
The committee is made up of seven Democrats and two rebel Republicans, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, who refused to follow their party in bending the knee to Trump.
Continue reading...