As rising nationalism and the crisis surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union intensify divisions on the continent, a new exhibit in Paris looks instead at a powerful unifier. Music arriving with postwar colonial migrations helped turn two of Europe’s most important hubs, London and Paris, into multicultural melting pots. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA.
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Month: March 2019
Exhibit Traces Post-Colonial Migration to London and Paris Through Music
As rising nationalism and the crisis surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union intensify divisions on the continent, a new exhibit in Paris looks instead at a powerful unifier. Music arriving with postwar colonial migrations helped turn two of Europe’s most important hubs, London and Paris, into multicultural melting pots. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA.
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New Test Can Identify Dangerous Condition in Pregnancy
A new test can quickly identify a common and dangerous condition during pregnancy and help keep mothers and babies healthy and safe. VOA’s Carol Pearson has more.
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New Test Can Identify Dangerous Condition in Pregnancy
A new test can quickly identify a common and dangerous condition during pregnancy and help keep mothers and babies healthy and safe. VOA’s Carol Pearson has more.
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Palestinian Kills Israeli Soldier, Wounds 2 People
The Israeli army said that in the aftermath of a stabbing and shooting spree by a Palestinian man one Israeli solider is dead and two Israelis are seriously wounded.
The army said the incident happened near the Ariel junction, southwest of the Palestinian city of Nablus.
Israel said the assailant attacked and killed an Israeli soldier with a knife.
The man took the soldier’s assault rifle and shot it at passing vehicles, wounding two civilians.
The army is conducting a manhunt to find the assailant.
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Shoe Shop in Poland Restores Worn Shoes to Donate to Homeless
A homeless shelter in Wroclaw, Poland, struggled to get enough footwear to people in need. Employees at a local cobbler, who had been donating their own shoes to the shelter, asked online for donations. Nearly 200 pairs walked in, and an idea was born — to restore old shoes to help the homeless. Arash Arabasadi reports.
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Shoe Shop in Poland Restores Worn Shoes to Donate to Homeless
A homeless shelter in Wroclaw, Poland, struggled to get enough footwear to people in need. Employees at a local cobbler, who had been donating their own shoes to the shelter, asked online for donations. Nearly 200 pairs walked in, and an idea was born — to restore old shoes to help the homeless. Arash Arabasadi reports.
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Iran’s Oil Minister Blames US for Market Tensions
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Saturday that frequent U.S. comments about oil prices had created market tensions, the ministry’s news website SHANA reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made the U.S. economy one of his top issues, has repeatedly tweeted about oil prices and the Organization of the Petroleum Producing Countries. He has expressed concern about higher prices, including last month and ahead of OPEC’s meeting in December.
“Americans talk a lot and I advise them to talk less. They [have] caused tensions in the oil market for over a year now, and they are responsible for it, and if this trend continues, the market will be more tense,” SHANA quoted Zanganeh as saying.
U.S. crude futures briefly hit a 2019 high on Friday but later retreated along with benchmark Brent oil as worries about the global economy and robust U.S. production put a brake on prices.
OPEC and its allies including Russia, an alliance known as OPEC+, agreed last year to cut production, partly in response to increased U.S. shale output.
Washington granted waivers to eight major buyers of Iranian oil after the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran’s oil sector in November, after withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
“We do not know whether U.S. waivers would be extended or not. We will do our job but they [the U.S.] say something new every single day,” Zanganeh said.
South Pars
Zanganeh was speaking at a news conference ahead of the planned inauguration on Sunday of four development phases at South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, by President Hassan Rouhani.
He said Iran had invested $11 billion to complete the phases 13 and 22-24 of the giant field, which Tehran shares with Qatar, and expected to operate 27 phases by next March, SHANA reported.
France’s Total and China National Petroleum Corp suspended investment in phase 11 of South Pars last year after the United States threatened to impose sanctions on companies that do business in Iran.
But Zanganeh said talks with CNPC were continuing.
“Negotiations are ongoing. A senior delegation from China is due to come to Iran for talks. They have promised to come to Iran soon,” said Zanganeh, according to the semiofficial news agency ISNA.
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Iran’s Oil Minister Blames US for Market Tensions
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Saturday that frequent U.S. comments about oil prices had created market tensions, the ministry’s news website SHANA reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made the U.S. economy one of his top issues, has repeatedly tweeted about oil prices and the Organization of the Petroleum Producing Countries. He has expressed concern about higher prices, including last month and ahead of OPEC’s meeting in December.
“Americans talk a lot and I advise them to talk less. They [have] caused tensions in the oil market for over a year now, and they are responsible for it, and if this trend continues, the market will be more tense,” SHANA quoted Zanganeh as saying.
U.S. crude futures briefly hit a 2019 high on Friday but later retreated along with benchmark Brent oil as worries about the global economy and robust U.S. production put a brake on prices.
OPEC and its allies including Russia, an alliance known as OPEC+, agreed last year to cut production, partly in response to increased U.S. shale output.
Washington granted waivers to eight major buyers of Iranian oil after the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran’s oil sector in November, after withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
“We do not know whether U.S. waivers would be extended or not. We will do our job but they [the U.S.] say something new every single day,” Zanganeh said.
South Pars
Zanganeh was speaking at a news conference ahead of the planned inauguration on Sunday of four development phases at South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, by President Hassan Rouhani.
He said Iran had invested $11 billion to complete the phases 13 and 22-24 of the giant field, which Tehran shares with Qatar, and expected to operate 27 phases by next March, SHANA reported.
France’s Total and China National Petroleum Corp suspended investment in phase 11 of South Pars last year after the United States threatened to impose sanctions on companies that do business in Iran.
But Zanganeh said talks with CNPC were continuing.
“Negotiations are ongoing. A senior delegation from China is due to come to Iran for talks. They have promised to come to Iran soon,” said Zanganeh, according to the semiofficial news agency ISNA.
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Armed Men Kill 9, Including Children, in North Nigeria
Armed men killed nine villagers, including children, and torched homes in northern Nigeria on Saturday, official sources said, the latest attack in a surge of violence in the Kaduna region.
“Kaduna state government has confirmed the killing of nine citizens by criminal elements who attacked Nandu in Sanga [district] in early hours of this morning,” state Gov. Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said on Twitter.
“The security agencies have so far recovered nine corpses, including children. The attackers also burnt several houses in the village,” he added.
Kaduna sits between Nigeria’s majority Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south,
Southern Kaduna is one of many areas blighted by years-long violence between largely Muslim Fulani herders and indigenous Christian farmers over land and water rights.
The clashes have been aggravated by rapid population growth in Africa’s most populous country.
Ethnic, religious turn
The violence has recently taken on an ethnic and religious dimension, with politicians accused of inflaming the violence for political ends.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday condemned the latest violence. He urged all involved “to come to terms with the fact that mutual violence has no winners.”
“No responsible leader would go to bed happy to see his citizens savagely killing one another on account of ethnic and religious bigotry,” he added.
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Armed Men Kill 9, Including Children, in North Nigeria
Armed men killed nine villagers, including children, and torched homes in northern Nigeria on Saturday, official sources said, the latest attack in a surge of violence in the Kaduna region.
“Kaduna state government has confirmed the killing of nine citizens by criminal elements who attacked Nandu in Sanga [district] in early hours of this morning,” state Gov. Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said on Twitter.
“The security agencies have so far recovered nine corpses, including children. The attackers also burnt several houses in the village,” he added.
Kaduna sits between Nigeria’s majority Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south,
Southern Kaduna is one of many areas blighted by years-long violence between largely Muslim Fulani herders and indigenous Christian farmers over land and water rights.
The clashes have been aggravated by rapid population growth in Africa’s most populous country.
Ethnic, religious turn
The violence has recently taken on an ethnic and religious dimension, with politicians accused of inflaming the violence for political ends.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday condemned the latest violence. He urged all involved “to come to terms with the fact that mutual violence has no winners.”
“No responsible leader would go to bed happy to see his citizens savagely killing one another on account of ethnic and religious bigotry,” he added.
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Lawyer: US Navy Veteran Held in Iran Sentenced to 10 Years
A Washington-based lawyer says a U.S. Navy veteran held in Iran, the first American known to be detained since President Donald Trump took office, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Mark Zaid told The Associated Press on Saturday that Michael White was convicted on charges of insulting Iran’s supreme leader and posting private information.
Zaid says he learned of the sentence from the State Department, which in turn learned of it from the Swiss government, which looks over American interests in Iran.
Iranian state media have not reported the sentence, first reported by The New York Times.
White, of Imperial Beach, California, went to Iran to see a girlfriend he met online and had booked a July 27 flight back home. He never returned.
your ad here1 Dead in DRC Post-Election Violence
At least one person is reported dead after protests over local elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Members of the ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress party began demonstrating in the streets Friday to voice displeasure at the results of the vote for regional assembly. The election resulted in a majority going to the opposition Common Front for Congo, the party of long-time president Joseph Kabila.
One police officer was reported killed in the province of Kasai-Oriental.
In Kinshasa, protesters are reported to have attacked the headquarters of Kabila’s party.
Kabila left office in January after an election win by the head of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, Felix Tshisekedi.
Friday’s results erode the power held by the Tshisekedi government. The new president had promised to break away from the traditions of Kabila’s 18-year rule.
your ad hereUS Reacts to New Zealand Mosque Shootings
Following the deadly shootings at two New Zealand mosques, U.S. President Donald Trump offered condolences but denied that white nationalism is a rising threat. The attacks are renewing debate in the U.S. about whether anti-immigrant political rhetoric is contributing to the rise of hate crimes. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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Pope Says Hopes to Visit South Sudan to Promote Peace
Pope Francis has met with the president of South Sudan and told him that he still hopes to visit the country “as a sign of closeness to the population and of encouragement for the peace process.”
Francis met with President Salva Kiir in the Apostolic Palace on Saturday. Later, the president met with the Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister.
The Vatican said the talks focused on the country’s peace process, the return of refugees and future development.
Francis had wanted to visit South Sudan in 2017 with the archbishop of Canterbury, but security conditions interfered.
Meeting with Kiir, Francis “expressed the wish to ascertain the conditions for a possible visit to South Sudan, as a sign of closeness to the population and of encouragement for the peace process.”
your ad herePope Says Hopes to Visit South Sudan to Promote Peace
Pope Francis has met with the president of South Sudan and told him that he still hopes to visit the country “as a sign of closeness to the population and of encouragement for the peace process.”
Francis met with President Salva Kiir in the Apostolic Palace on Saturday. Later, the president met with the Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister.
The Vatican said the talks focused on the country’s peace process, the return of refugees and future development.
Francis had wanted to visit South Sudan in 2017 with the archbishop of Canterbury, but security conditions interfered.
Meeting with Kiir, Francis “expressed the wish to ascertain the conditions for a possible visit to South Sudan, as a sign of closeness to the population and of encouragement for the peace process.”
your ad hereUN: No Rights Progress in Eritrea After Peace Deal With Ethiopia
U.N. experts say Eritrea’s human rights record has not changed for the better since the government signed a peace agreement with Ethiopia last year, formally ending a two decades-long border conflict. The U.N. Human Rights Council held an interactive dialogue on the current situation in Eritrea this week.
After a 20-year military stalemate with Ethiopia, hopes were high that the peace accord would change Eritrea’s human rights landscape for the better.
U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore said that has not happened. She said Eritrea has missed a historic opportunity because the government has not implemented urgently needed judicial, constitutional and economic reforms.
She said the continued use of indefinite national service remains a major human rights concern.
“Conscripts continue to confront open-ended duration of service, far beyond the 18 months stipulated in law and often under abusive conditions, which may include the use of torture, sexual violence and forced labor,” she said.
Gilmore urged Eritrea to bring its national service in line with the country’s international human rights obligations.
“The peace agreement signed with Ethiopia should provide the security that the government of Eritrea has argued it needs to discontinue this national service and help shift its focus from security to development…. In the absence of promising signs of tangible human rights progress, that flow of asylum-seekers is not expected to drop,” Gilmore said.
Human rights groups say unlimited national service forces thousands of young men to flee Eritrea every month to seek asylum in Europe. They say many lose their lives making the perilous journey across the Sahara Desert or while crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
The head of the Eritrean delegation to the Council, Tesfamicael Gerahtu, said his country has had to adopt certain measures to counter the negative effect of the last 20 years on peace, security and development. He insists there is no human rights crisis in his country.
He accused the Human Rights Council of exerting undue pressure on Eritrea by monitoring his country’s human rights situation and adopting detrimental resolutions. He called the actions counterproductive.
“The honorable and productive way forward is to terminate the confrontational approach on Eritrea that has been perpetrated in the last seven years and that has not created any dividend in the promotion of human rights. And, there is no crisis that warrants a Human Rights Council agenda or special mandate on Eritrea,” Gerahtu said.
Daniel Eyasu , head of Cooperation and International Relations of the National Youth Union and Eritrean Students, agrees there is no human rights crisis in Eritrea. He offered a positive spin on the country’s controversial national service, calling it critical for nation building.
Unfortunately, he said, the reports of the council’s special procedures characterizing national service as modern slavery is unwarranted, unjustified and unacceptable.
The Founder of One Day Seyoum, Vanessa Tsehaye, said the government has not changed its stripes. She said it is as repressive today as it was before the peace accord with Ethiopia was signed.
Tsehaye’s organization works for the release of her uncle, a journalist who has been imprisoned without a trial in Eritrea since 2001 and for all people unjustly imprisoned. She said they continue to languish in prison.
“The standoff at the border cannot justify the fact that all capable Eritreans are enlisted into the national service indefinitely. It cannot justify the fact that the country’s constitution still has not been implemented and that the parliament still has not convened since 2002. It does not justify the fact that the only university in the country has been shut down, that the free press has still not been opened and that tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned without a trial simply for expressing their opinions, practicing their religion or attempting to leave their country,” Tsehaye said.
But delegates at the council welcomed the peace process and expressed hope it will result in better protection for the Eritrean people. But they noted the prevailing abusive conditions are not promising.
They urged the government to reform its military service, release all political prisoners, stop the practice of arbitrary arrests, and end torture and inhumane detention conditions.
your ad hereUN: No Rights Progress in Eritrea After Peace Deal With Ethiopia
U.N. experts say Eritrea’s human rights record has not changed for the better since the government signed a peace agreement with Ethiopia last year, formally ending a two decades-long border conflict. The U.N. Human Rights Council held an interactive dialogue on the current situation in Eritrea this week.
After a 20-year military stalemate with Ethiopia, hopes were high that the peace accord would change Eritrea’s human rights landscape for the better.
U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore said that has not happened. She said Eritrea has missed a historic opportunity because the government has not implemented urgently needed judicial, constitutional and economic reforms.
She said the continued use of indefinite national service remains a major human rights concern.
“Conscripts continue to confront open-ended duration of service, far beyond the 18 months stipulated in law and often under abusive conditions, which may include the use of torture, sexual violence and forced labor,” she said.
Gilmore urged Eritrea to bring its national service in line with the country’s international human rights obligations.
“The peace agreement signed with Ethiopia should provide the security that the government of Eritrea has argued it needs to discontinue this national service and help shift its focus from security to development…. In the absence of promising signs of tangible human rights progress, that flow of asylum-seekers is not expected to drop,” Gilmore said.
Human rights groups say unlimited national service forces thousands of young men to flee Eritrea every month to seek asylum in Europe. They say many lose their lives making the perilous journey across the Sahara Desert or while crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
The head of the Eritrean delegation to the Council, Tesfamicael Gerahtu, said his country has had to adopt certain measures to counter the negative effect of the last 20 years on peace, security and development. He insists there is no human rights crisis in his country.
He accused the Human Rights Council of exerting undue pressure on Eritrea by monitoring his country’s human rights situation and adopting detrimental resolutions. He called the actions counterproductive.
“The honorable and productive way forward is to terminate the confrontational approach on Eritrea that has been perpetrated in the last seven years and that has not created any dividend in the promotion of human rights. And, there is no crisis that warrants a Human Rights Council agenda or special mandate on Eritrea,” Gerahtu said.
Daniel Eyasu , head of Cooperation and International Relations of the National Youth Union and Eritrean Students, agrees there is no human rights crisis in Eritrea. He offered a positive spin on the country’s controversial national service, calling it critical for nation building.
Unfortunately, he said, the reports of the council’s special procedures characterizing national service as modern slavery is unwarranted, unjustified and unacceptable.
The Founder of One Day Seyoum, Vanessa Tsehaye, said the government has not changed its stripes. She said it is as repressive today as it was before the peace accord with Ethiopia was signed.
Tsehaye’s organization works for the release of her uncle, a journalist who has been imprisoned without a trial in Eritrea since 2001 and for all people unjustly imprisoned. She said they continue to languish in prison.
“The standoff at the border cannot justify the fact that all capable Eritreans are enlisted into the national service indefinitely. It cannot justify the fact that the country’s constitution still has not been implemented and that the parliament still has not convened since 2002. It does not justify the fact that the only university in the country has been shut down, that the free press has still not been opened and that tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned without a trial simply for expressing their opinions, practicing their religion or attempting to leave their country,” Tsehaye said.
But delegates at the council welcomed the peace process and expressed hope it will result in better protection for the Eritrean people. But they noted the prevailing abusive conditions are not promising.
They urged the government to reform its military service, release all political prisoners, stop the practice of arbitrary arrests, and end torture and inhumane detention conditions.
your ad hereBlazes, Clashes Hit Paris During Yellow Vest Protest
Large plumes of smoke rose above Paris’ landmark Champs-Elysees avenue as French yellow vest protesters set fires, smashed up luxury stores and clashed with police Saturday in a 18th straight weekend of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron.
Police tried to contain the demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons. Fire trucks rushed to extinguish two burning newspaper kiosks that were set ablaze, sending black smoke high into the sky.
As demonstrators targeted symbols of the luxury industry, shops including brands Hugo Boss and Lacoste were smashed up and pillaged, and mannequins thrown out of the broken windows. A posh eatery called Fouquet’s, which is associated with politicians and celebrities, was vandalized and set on fire. A vehicle burned outside luxury boutique Kenzo, one of many blazes on and around the Champs-Elysees.
The violence started when protesters threw smoke bombs and other objects at officers along the famed avenue — scene of repeated past rioting — and started pounding on the windows of a police van. Riot police then retreated, with protesters kicking the side of the large truck.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said there were 7,000-8,000 demonstrators in Paris on Saturday of which 1,500 were “ultraviolent ones that are there to smash things up.”
Pushing a hard line, Castaner ordered police to retaliate against these “inadmissible” acts, condemning those who “call for violence and are here to ferment chaos in Paris.”
After dwindling numbers in recent weekends, protesters are hoping their latest day of action can breathe new life into their movement against a president seen as favoring the elite.
Paris police told The Associated Press that 64 people were arrested by early afternoon. Bracing for a potential uptick in protester numbers and violence, the French capital deployed more police Saturday than in previous weekends. Police closed down several streets and fanned out around the Right Bank.
Yellow vest groups representing teachers, unemployed people and labor unions were among those that organized dozens of rallies and marches Saturday in the capital and around France.
The actions mark the end of a two-month national debate that Macron organized to respond to protesters’ concerns.
Protesters dismiss the debate as empty words and a campaign ploy by Macron for European Parliament elections in May. They are angry over high taxes and Macron policies seen as coddling the business world.
“Those who participated in this great debate are mostly retirees and upper middle class, meaning Macron’s electorate, even though we understood this great national debate was supposed to respond to the yellow vest crisis,” lawyer and protester Francois Boulo told Europe-1 radio.
In their online appeal for Saturday’s protests, organizers said they wanted the day to serve as an “ultimatum” to “the government and the powerful.”
your ad hereBlazes, Clashes Hit Paris During Yellow Vest Protest
Large plumes of smoke rose above Paris’ landmark Champs-Elysees avenue as French yellow vest protesters set fires, smashed up luxury stores and clashed with police Saturday in a 18th straight weekend of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron.
Police tried to contain the demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons. Fire trucks rushed to extinguish two burning newspaper kiosks that were set ablaze, sending black smoke high into the sky.
As demonstrators targeted symbols of the luxury industry, shops including brands Hugo Boss and Lacoste were smashed up and pillaged, and mannequins thrown out of the broken windows. A posh eatery called Fouquet’s, which is associated with politicians and celebrities, was vandalized and set on fire. A vehicle burned outside luxury boutique Kenzo, one of many blazes on and around the Champs-Elysees.
The violence started when protesters threw smoke bombs and other objects at officers along the famed avenue — scene of repeated past rioting — and started pounding on the windows of a police van. Riot police then retreated, with protesters kicking the side of the large truck.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said there were 7,000-8,000 demonstrators in Paris on Saturday of which 1,500 were “ultraviolent ones that are there to smash things up.”
Pushing a hard line, Castaner ordered police to retaliate against these “inadmissible” acts, condemning those who “call for violence and are here to ferment chaos in Paris.”
After dwindling numbers in recent weekends, protesters are hoping their latest day of action can breathe new life into their movement against a president seen as favoring the elite.
Paris police told The Associated Press that 64 people were arrested by early afternoon. Bracing for a potential uptick in protester numbers and violence, the French capital deployed more police Saturday than in previous weekends. Police closed down several streets and fanned out around the Right Bank.
Yellow vest groups representing teachers, unemployed people and labor unions were among those that organized dozens of rallies and marches Saturday in the capital and around France.
The actions mark the end of a two-month national debate that Macron organized to respond to protesters’ concerns.
Protesters dismiss the debate as empty words and a campaign ploy by Macron for European Parliament elections in May. They are angry over high taxes and Macron policies seen as coddling the business world.
“Those who participated in this great debate are mostly retirees and upper middle class, meaning Macron’s electorate, even though we understood this great national debate was supposed to respond to the yellow vest crisis,” lawyer and protester Francois Boulo told Europe-1 radio.
In their online appeal for Saturday’s protests, organizers said they wanted the day to serve as an “ultimatum” to “the government and the powerful.”
your ad hereSwamped by Tourists, Venice Plans Visitor Fees
Overwhelmed by tourists Venice will soon start to charge an entrance fee. Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro says the money raised will help pay for the upkeep of the historic lagoon city.
Venice routinely has more tourists than permanently declared residents. Rising housing costs and the use of properties for tourist accommodation have driven the population down by two thirds since the middle of the 20th century.
As a result, Venice for years has been struggling with numerous woes, including high tides that regularly flood the city’s iconic Saint Mark’s Square, and growing numbers of tourists.
To deal with the endless flows of visitors no solutions at this moment are final but, starting later this year, all tourists will be paying a fee that will go towards the upkeep, cleaning and services that are needed for the city to survive. City administrators say the maintenance costs of Venice are extremely high compared to other cities.
Visitors who stay in hotels for the night are already paying a tax which is added to their room rate. But later this year day-trippers or tourists who visit Venice for just for a few hours will also be subject to a fee. Mayor Brugnaro this week outlined the plan to the foreign press gathered in Rome.
He said they want to defend the city for current and future residents and visitors because Venice is a marvel of the world and only in this way will they be able to safeguard it”.
Brugnaro said an experimental entrance fee of about $3 will be charged to those who visit Venice this year but said no date had yet been set as to when this charge would start. The fee, the mayor said, would be collected by transport companies bringing the visitors to the city on planes, trains, buses and cruise boats. Cameras, he said, would also be installed in certain parts of Venice for those arriving for the day in private cars. He made clear there would be stiff fines for those who do not comply with the new charge.
Some, like students and workers, would be exempt from paying the fee, as would those who were born and reside in Venice and children under the age of 6.
From January 1st, 2020, the entrance fee will be set to about $7 but will be variable and range from $3 to $11, depending how busy the city is.
Some in Venice say they do not believe the entrance fee plan will work. Lawyer Roberta Pierabon said it will be impossible to implement.
She said visitors arrive from all sides. It’s impossible to block Venice because Venice is an island and you reach it on water. She does not believe the flow of arrivals can be controlled and added that she disapproved of the plan.
Other Venetians favor the idea, saying that it will help control the tourism so that it is not so “aggressive.” Michele Tessari, who, often works with tourists on lagoon transport, said Venetians would like a more elite kind of tourism, not so much “eat-and-run” tourism and the entrance fee will help with this. He said locals want to avoid seeing tourists eating their sandwiches sitting on the bridges of Venice like tramps.”
Venetians love their city and know it will never stop attracting visitors. Venice is so special, they say, that it belongs to the whole of humanity, and everyone should have the opportunity to visit this incredible city at least once in their lifetime.
your ad here
Swamped by Tourists, Venice Plans Visitor Fees
Overwhelmed by tourists Venice will soon start to charge an entrance fee. Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro says the money raised will help pay for the upkeep of the historic lagoon city.
Venice routinely has more tourists than permanently declared residents. Rising housing costs and the use of properties for tourist accommodation have driven the population down by two thirds since the middle of the 20th century.
As a result, Venice for years has been struggling with numerous woes, including high tides that regularly flood the city’s iconic Saint Mark’s Square, and growing numbers of tourists.
To deal with the endless flows of visitors no solutions at this moment are final but, starting later this year, all tourists will be paying a fee that will go towards the upkeep, cleaning and services that are needed for the city to survive. City administrators say the maintenance costs of Venice are extremely high compared to other cities.
Visitors who stay in hotels for the night are already paying a tax which is added to their room rate. But later this year day-trippers or tourists who visit Venice for just for a few hours will also be subject to a fee. Mayor Brugnaro this week outlined the plan to the foreign press gathered in Rome.
He said they want to defend the city for current and future residents and visitors because Venice is a marvel of the world and only in this way will they be able to safeguard it”.
Brugnaro said an experimental entrance fee of about $3 will be charged to those who visit Venice this year but said no date had yet been set as to when this charge would start. The fee, the mayor said, would be collected by transport companies bringing the visitors to the city on planes, trains, buses and cruise boats. Cameras, he said, would also be installed in certain parts of Venice for those arriving for the day in private cars. He made clear there would be stiff fines for those who do not comply with the new charge.
Some, like students and workers, would be exempt from paying the fee, as would those who were born and reside in Venice and children under the age of 6.
From January 1st, 2020, the entrance fee will be set to about $7 but will be variable and range from $3 to $11, depending how busy the city is.
Some in Venice say they do not believe the entrance fee plan will work. Lawyer Roberta Pierabon said it will be impossible to implement.
She said visitors arrive from all sides. It’s impossible to block Venice because Venice is an island and you reach it on water. She does not believe the flow of arrivals can be controlled and added that she disapproved of the plan.
Other Venetians favor the idea, saying that it will help control the tourism so that it is not so “aggressive.” Michele Tessari, who, often works with tourists on lagoon transport, said Venetians would like a more elite kind of tourism, not so much “eat-and-run” tourism and the entrance fee will help with this. He said locals want to avoid seeing tourists eating their sandwiches sitting on the bridges of Venice like tramps.”
Venetians love their city and know it will never stop attracting visitors. Venice is so special, they say, that it belongs to the whole of humanity, and everyone should have the opportunity to visit this incredible city at least once in their lifetime.
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Russia Slams ‘Hypocrisy’ of New Western Sanctions
Russia on Saturday slammed the “hypocrisy” of new Western sanctions against its officials over their role in a naval confrontation with Ukraine last year, and vowed to respond to the “unfriendly” move.
The United States, Canada and the European Union Friday slapped new sanctions on more than a dozen Russian officials and businesses in response to Moscow’s “continued aggression in Ukraine.”
“The pretext for including our countrymen in the illegitimate sanctions list of the EU astounds with hypocrisy and cynicism,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
In a previous statement late on Friday, it said Russia “will not leave the unfriendly act of the EU without a response” and accused Brussels of siding with Kyiv on the eve of its presidential election due on March 31.
“It cannot be ignored that the decision came not long before the presidential election in Ukraine,” it said.
It also accused Washington and Ottawa of “Russophobia” and said the sanctions will “not lead to the results the U.S. and Canada want”.
A U.S. Treasury statement Friday said six Russian officials, six defense firms and two energy and construction firms had been targeted, either over the seizure of Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Straight last November, or for their activities in Russian-annexed Crimea or separatist eastern Ukraine.
The U.S. sanctions freeze all property and interests in property belonging to the designated individuals and entities, and prohibit U.S. persons from transacting with them.
Four of the individuals are border guard or coast guard officials, singled out for their role in a November 25, 2018, naval confrontation, in which Russian ships fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels in the narrow Kerch Strait the two countries share.
The four were targeted jointly with the EU and Canada according to the State Department.
Twenty-four Ukrainian crew members were detained in the naval incident.
In the statement on Saturday, Russia said its border guards were “bravely fulfilling their duty to defend the state borders of our country” and that the confrontation was the result of a “provocation” by the Ukrainian side.
It said Moscow was acting “within the norms of international law” in arresting the Ukrainians.
Russia has said the sailors will go on trial for violating its maritime borders. They face up to six years in prison for illegally crossing Russian borders, lawyers have said.
your ad hereRussia Slams ‘Hypocrisy’ of New Western Sanctions
Russia on Saturday slammed the “hypocrisy” of new Western sanctions against its officials over their role in a naval confrontation with Ukraine last year, and vowed to respond to the “unfriendly” move.
The United States, Canada and the European Union Friday slapped new sanctions on more than a dozen Russian officials and businesses in response to Moscow’s “continued aggression in Ukraine.”
“The pretext for including our countrymen in the illegitimate sanctions list of the EU astounds with hypocrisy and cynicism,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
In a previous statement late on Friday, it said Russia “will not leave the unfriendly act of the EU without a response” and accused Brussels of siding with Kyiv on the eve of its presidential election due on March 31.
“It cannot be ignored that the decision came not long before the presidential election in Ukraine,” it said.
It also accused Washington and Ottawa of “Russophobia” and said the sanctions will “not lead to the results the U.S. and Canada want”.
A U.S. Treasury statement Friday said six Russian officials, six defense firms and two energy and construction firms had been targeted, either over the seizure of Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Straight last November, or for their activities in Russian-annexed Crimea or separatist eastern Ukraine.
The U.S. sanctions freeze all property and interests in property belonging to the designated individuals and entities, and prohibit U.S. persons from transacting with them.
Four of the individuals are border guard or coast guard officials, singled out for their role in a November 25, 2018, naval confrontation, in which Russian ships fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels in the narrow Kerch Strait the two countries share.
The four were targeted jointly with the EU and Canada according to the State Department.
Twenty-four Ukrainian crew members were detained in the naval incident.
In the statement on Saturday, Russia said its border guards were “bravely fulfilling their duty to defend the state borders of our country” and that the confrontation was the result of a “provocation” by the Ukrainian side.
It said Moscow was acting “within the norms of international law” in arresting the Ukrainians.
Russia has said the sailors will go on trial for violating its maritime borders. They face up to six years in prison for illegally crossing Russian borders, lawyers have said.
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