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Italy’s Meloni shuts down opposition party talk of halting aid to Ukraine
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended the country’s aid to Ukraine, shutting down critics who claim the war could be stopped by allowing Russia to win. (Italian House of Deputies, Twitter/Visegrád.)
A gondola in Venice, Italy, capsized after tourists didn’t listen to warnings to sit down and stop taking selfies.
According to The Guardian, a group of tourists from China were taking selfies and moving around the gondola when orders were given to sit down.
The gondolier was attempting to navigate the small boat underneath a bridge , which required passengers to be balanced and not move around.
Passengers on the gondola reportedly ignored the warning and continued to take pictures and stand up, which resulted in the boat tipping over.
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Gondolas are fixed in front of the Rialto Bridge (Italian: Ponte di Rialto) in the lagoon city of Venice. (Stefanie Rex/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The group of tourists were rescued from the water and taken to the nearby La Fenice theater, where they were provided with “hospitality and warmth,” according to the report.
Tourists on the flipped gondola could be heard yelling “Oh my God,” a video of the incident posted to TikTok on Sunday shows.
According to the New York Post, gondola tours reduced their capacity in 2020, with Venice’s gondoliers association president Andrea Balbi citing overweight tourists.
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Boats travel along a canal on September 30, 2023 in Venice, Italy. Venice is among Europe’s top tourist destinations. However, recently UNESCO recommended that Venice should be put on its endangered list, claiming that too many tourists and other concerns was having a detrimental effect on the historic city. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
“It’s true that compared to 10 or 15 years ago, tourists weigh a bit more,” Balbi said. “Unlike in a lift, where there’s a message that says ‘only six people or a maximum weight’, we don’t have scales to weigh people, and so we reduced the number of passengers.”
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The tourists likely plunged into cold water, as the average temperature in Venice in December is 46 degrees.
No individuals were injured in the incident.
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @asabes10.