Maurizio Cattalan, Zoe Saldana join iconoclastic Vatican Biennale exhibition inside women’s prison
Venice, Italy AP A pair of nude feet – dirty, wounded and vulnerable – are painted on the façade of the Venice women’s prison chapel. It’s the work of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and part of the Vatican’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale contemporary art show in an innovative collaboration between inmates and artists. That […]
Italian climate change protesters turn Venice’s Grand Canal green
Venice, Italy Reuters Italian environmentalists used a dye to turn Venice’s Grand Canal green on Saturday in protest at what they said was a lack of progress at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. The protesters from the Extinction Rebellion group, dangling from the Rialto Bridge over the canal with the aid of climbing ropes, […]
At least 21 dead after Italian bus falls from Venice overpass
Venice, Italy Reuters At least 21 people died on Tuesday after a city bus carrying tourists to a campground crashed off an overpass near Venice in northern Italy and caught fire, the city’s prefect Michele Di Bari said. The bus veered off the road and fell close to railway lines in the district of Mestre, […]
Venice avoids being added to UNESCO list of endangered sites
Rome, ItalyReuters A UNESCO committee has decided not to add Venice to the organisation’s World Heritage List in Danger, disregarding a recommendation from experts and sparing the Italian government from an embarrassing verdict on the city’s condition. “The World Heritage Committee…has made the decision not to inscribe Venice and its Lagoon on the World Heritage […]
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef off UNESCO danger list, still under “serious threat”
Sydney, AustraliaReuters A UNESCO heritage committee on Tuesday stopped short of listing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as a site that is “in danger” but warned the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem remained under “serious threat” from pollution and the warming of oceans. A colony of mushroom leather coral grows on the Great Barrier Reef off […]
Venice’s waters turn fluorescent green near Rialto Bridge
Milan, ItalyReuters The waters in Venice’s main canal turned fluorescent green on Sunday in the area near the Rialto bridge and authorities are seeking to trace the cause, Italy’s fire department said. The regional environmental protection agency has received samples of the altered waters and is working to identify the substance that changed their colour, […]
Italy faces new drought alert as Venice canals run dry
Milan, Italy Reuters Weeks of dry winter weather have raised concerns that Italy could face another drought after last summer’s emergency, with the Alps having received less than half of their normal snowfall, according to scientists and environmental groups. The warning comes as Venice, where flooding is normally the primary concern, faces unusually low tides […]
Death of Queen Elizabeth II marked around world with tributes and flowers
London, UKReuters As world leaders paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on her death aged 96 on Thursday, ordinary people in Britain and around the globe paid their own respects to a woman who had been the face of her nation for more than 70 years. On a rainy London night, thousands gathered outside Buckingham […]
Renaissance synagogues being restored in Venice’s ghetto
Venice, ItalyAP Venice’s Jewish ghetto is considered the first in Europe and one of the first in the world, and a new effort is underway to preserve its 16th-century synagogues for the Jews who have remained and tourists who pass through. For nearly two years, restorers have been peeling away paint and discovering the original […]
Venice’s ‘Carnival of hope’ kicks off as COVID worries ease
Venice, ItalyReuters Thousands of people revelled in the start of the annual Carnival celebrations in Venice on Saturday, marking a slow return to normality after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the two previous editions. The 2020 Venice Carnival, which usually draws tourists from around the world, was curtailed when the pandemic broke out in Italy in […]