Global Warming: Venice is flooding again: Watch tourists wade through knee-deep water

St Mark's Square in Venice was underwater late on Saturday night after a rare "acqua alta" or high water event.

As a city of canals, Venice has come to expect some flooding between autumn and spring each year during ‘acqua alta’ aka the high tides. But this summer flooding is very out of character for the city.

Due to climate change and rising sea levels St Mark’s square has gone from flooding four times a year in 1900 to over 60 times a year now.

Read more at: Venice is flooding again: Watch tourists wade through knee-deep water | Euronews

Italian Economy: Venice slowly comes back to life under local 'soft lockdown' rules

Read more at:
Venice slowly comes back to life under local 'soft lockdown' rules - The Local

Italy: Venice floods: Italy to declare state of emergency over damage

The damage from the 1.87m (6ft) high waters is a "blow to the heart of our country", PM Conte says.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50416306

Italy-elections: Antonella Bundu: The first black woman to run for mayor of a major Italian city

Antonella Bundu: The first black woman to run for mayor of a major Italian city 

Antonella Bundu is running to become the next mayor of Florence. If she succeeds, she will be the first woman and the first black person to have achieved this position.

Read more at:

http://www.france24.com/en/20190525-antonella-bundu-first-black-woman-mayor-italy-florence-racism-elections-immigration

Italy: Venice introduces entry fee for tourists to increase income for City upkeep

Venice starts charging tourist fees to pay 
for increasing cost city maintenance

The legendary northern Italian city of Venice moved closer to cementing its status as an open-air museum than a functioning urban landscape with permanent residents after it introduced a programme where visitors to the city must now be issued a ticket to visit.

Beginning on May 25 the visitors of the city of canals will begin paying a €3 entry fee, which will later rise to €6 in 2020.

The Venetian government eventually plans to create a variable entry fee ranging from €3-to-€10 depending on the number of tourists in the city. Visitors who attempt to avoid paying the entry fee will face a stiff €450 municipal fine.

The plan is to exempt hotel guests, as they already pay a city tax, and children under the age of 6,

Over the past decade, Venice has been so inundated with tourists that local residents have had difficulty coping with the increasing crowds and sky-high property prices that continue to climb. Local residents that have lived in Venice for generations have been forced to leave the city as scores of cruise ship visitors and day=trippers have effectively taken over.

An estimated 14 million tourists visit Venice just for a day, which brings little-to-no benefit to the local economy. Instead, tourism burden local authorities are left with excessive costs for the cleaning and maintenance of the city’s centuries-old infrastructure.

Read more: Venice introduces entry fee for tourists

ITALY: Venice to charge tourist entry fee

Venice to charge tourist entry fee for short stays -

Read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46721456

Under EU, independence feels viable to Europe's secessionists - by Henry Chu

During most of the last 1,200 years, this watery Italian city was a nation unto itself — powerful, prosperous and proud.

Now, many of its residents are convinced that their best shot at the future lies in turning back the clock.
Venice and the surrounding region, known as the Veneto, would be much better off as an independent state again, uncoupled from Italy, a growing number of people say. They're tired of paying billions of dollars in taxes to Rome, only to see the money frittered away on other, less productive parts of the country.

So this year, thousands of Venetians signed a petition demanding a divorce from their fellow Italians. A declaration of independence was delivered — by gondola, of course — to regional officials, who are mulling over a possible referendum on breaking away.

"We say we don't need Rome," said Lodovico Pizzati, an economics professor who is leading the campaign. "We have our right of self-determination."

Read more: Under EU, independence feels viable to Europe's secessionists - latimes.com

Italy - Flooding in Venice: Tourists swap gondolas for wellington boots as heavy rain hits

Venice under water

Seventy per cent of central Venice was under water yesterday after rainfall and seas whipped up by strong winds brought the Italian city's high tide mark to its sixth-highest level since records began in 1872.

But tourists refused to let the weather dampen their spirits and many donned wellington boots and swimming costumes to make the most of the city's historic waterlogged squares.

Read more: Flooding in Venice: Tourists swap gondolas for wellington boots as heavy rain hits | Mail Online

Separatism is in the air as EU leaders prepare to meet in Brussels- by Stephanie Gruner Buckley

It should be an interesting meeting in Brussels this week. While EU leaders discuss how to keep their fragile union together at their annual summit on Thursday and Friday, calls to break free are growing from nationalist movements across Europe.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron is finalizing a deal with Scottish leader Alex Salmond to let the Scots vote in 2014 on whether they want to stay part of the UK. In Spain, separatist fever is heating up in Catalonia, where in September hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to demand independence. Tens of thousands more chanted for independence at a football match between Madrid and Barcelona a week ago. The movement is expected to gain in fervor in November as Catalans go to the polls in regional parliamentary elections that could strengthen the ruling party’s nationalist position.

Independence is also in the air in Belgium, where EU leaders will meet. Flemish nationalists, who are calling for greater autonomy in the Flanders region, saw big gains in Belgian municipal elections this weekend, with leader of the Flemish Nationalist Party (FNP) Bart De Wever winning the mayoral election in Antwerp. The FNP now appears to be the biggest political party in Flanders.

Even the Venetians want a referendum on independence, which would result in a Republica Veneta of about 5 million people. Several thousand protested this month in gondolas.

Note EU-Digest:  concluding the above report Stephanie Gruner Buckley asks the question ; " given that their perception is that Europe’s prolonged economic crisis—and a lack of progress by European leaders—proves one thing: they would be better off managing finances themselves. Can you blame them?" - the answer to this question is : "yes absolutely !  If anyone of those separatist "nations" believe they have it difficult now, wait till they have to stand on their own against the likes of US, China, India, Brazil and what could be an even stronger EU, specially after they got rid of these pesky nationalistic, myopic, separatist "dropouts". 
Read more: Separatism is in the air as EU leaders prepare to meet in Brussels - Quartz