Jeff Bezos's gala wedding in Venice met with protestors
VENICE, Italy: Global environmental lobby Greenpeace added its voice on Monday to protests against this week's celebrity wedding in Venice between American tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez.
The event, expected to attract some 200 guests including U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as scores of stars from film, fashion and business, has been dubbed 'the wedding of the century'.
But some locals see the celebration as the latest sign of the brash commodification of a beautiful but fragile city that has long been overrun with tourism while steadily depopulating.
Activists from Greenpeace Italy and UK group 'Everyone hates Elon' (Musk) unfolded a giant banner in central St Mark's Square with a picture of Bezos laughing and a sign reading: 'If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.'
Local police arrived to talk to activists and check their identification documents, before they rolled up their banner.
'The problem is not the wedding, the problem is the system. We think that one big billionaire can't rent a city for his pleasure,' Simona Abbate, one of the protesters, told Reuters.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and regional governor Luca Zaia have defended the wedding, arguing that it will bring an economic windfall to local businesses, including the motor boats and gondolas that operate its myriad canals. Zaia said the celebrations were expected to cost 20-30 million euros ($23-$34 million).
Bezos will also make sizable charity donations, including a million euros for Corila, an academic consortium that studies Venice's lagoon ecosystem, Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper and the ANSA news agency reported on Sunday.
Earlier this month, anti-Bezos banners were hung from St Mark's bell tower and from the famed Rialto bridge, while locals threatened peaceful blockades against the event, saying Venice needed public services and housing, not VIPs and over-tourism.
The exact dates and locations of the glitzy nuptials are being kept confidential, but celebrations are expected to play out over three days, most likely around June 26-28.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
9 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Israel kills 40 in Gaza amid new evacuations after ceasefire with Iran
An injured boy and other mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli fire while trying to receive aid in central Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, at Al-Shifa hospital, in Gaza City, June 24, REUTERS Israeli forces killed at least 40 Palestinians in Gaza and ordered new evacuations on Tuesday, local medics and residents said, in further bloodshed shortly after Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in their air war. The Israel-Iran deal announced by US President Donald Trump raised hopes among Palestinians of an end to over 20 months of war in Gaza that has widely demolished the territory and displaced most residents, with malnutrition widespread. "Enough! The whole universe has let us down. (Iran-backed Lebanese group) Hezbollah reached a deal without Gaza, and now Iran has done the same," said Adel Farouk, 62, from Gaza City. "We hope Gaza is next," he told Reuters via a chat app, speaking before two explosions rang out in Tehran, with Trump accusing both sides of violating the deal, though voicing particular unhappiness with Israel, rebuking it with an obscenity in an extraordinary outburst of frustration. In Gaza, deadly violence continued with little respite. Marwan Abu Naser, of the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in central Gaza, said it had received 19 dead and 146 injured from crowds who tried to reach a nearby aid distribution centre of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Abu Naser told Reuters the casualties resulted from gunfire. Israel's military said that a gathering overnight was identified adjacent to forces operating in Gaza's central Netzarim Corridor, and it was reviewing reports of casualties. Responding to a Reuters request for comment, the GHF said in an e-mail that there has been no incident near their aid site, which it added was located several kilometres south of the Netzarim Corridor. UN aid trucks entering Gaza also use area roads and Palestinians have in the past few days reported killings of people by Israeli fire as they waited at roadsides to grab bags of flour from the trucks. Israel has been channelling much of the aid it lets into Gaza through the GHF, which operates a handful of distribution sites in areas guarded by Israeli forces. The United Nations rejects the GHF delivery system as inadequate, dangerous, and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules. Israel says it is needed to prevent the Hamas militants it is fighting from diverting aid deliveries. The Palestinian Islamist group denies doing so. Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations' Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday that the new mechanism was an "abomination" and "a death trap". Separately, 10 other people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, while 11 were killed by Israeli gunfire in the southern city of Khan Younis, medics said, raising the day's toll to at least 40. Israel says militants use built-up residential areas for operating cover. Hamas denies this. Gaza truce next Palestinians said they wished the Israel-Iran ceasefire announced by Trump had applied to Gaza. Adding to their frustration, the Israeli military dropped leaflets over several areas in north Gaza ordering residents to leave their homes and head towards the south, in what appeared to herald renewed Israeli military strikes against Hamas. "Coming back to combat areas represents a risk to your lives," the army statement said. Sources close to Hamas told Reuters there had been some new efforts to resume ceasefire talks with Israel. They said Hamas was open to discussing any offers that would "end the war and secure Israel's withdrawal from Gaza". But these echoed longstanding Hamas conditions that Israel has always rejected. Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war, while Israel says it can only end if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms. The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent air and ground war in Gaza has killed around 56,000 Palestinians, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, while displacing almost the entire population of more than 2 million and spreading a hunger crisis.
Express Tribune
41 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Israel strikes Iranian radar as Trump calls for ceasefire restraint
A 3D printed miniature model of U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS Israel acknowledged striking a radar installation near Tehran hours after the start of a ceasefire on Tuesday, in retaliation for Iranian missile launches, but said it had refrained from further attacks beyond that after US President Donald Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister's office acknowledged the strike in a statement after Trump publicly expressed frustration that Israel had launched strikes on Iran after the ceasefire agreement was reached but before it took effect. Trump, who had announced the ceasefire overnight, also criticised Israel's plans to respond militarily to an alleged Iranian violation of the ceasefire. Tehran has rejected accusations that it breached the truce, which was meant to start at 7 a.m Israeli time (0400 GMT), and instead said Israel had continued its attacks on Iran for an hour and a half after the ceasefire came into effect. Netanyahu's office said that Israel had carried out a strike in Tehran targeting Iranian security forces at 3 a.m. (midnight GMT), four hours before the ceasefire was due to start. Trump says Iran-Israel ceasefire in force Trump, speaking to reporters in Washington, said that he 'didn't like the fact' that Israel had 'unloaded' right after reaching the ceasefire. An Iranian missile strike on Beersheba in Israel's south killed four Israelis on Tuesday morning. Netanyahu's office said that attack had been launched before the truce started. But it also accused Iran of launching a single missile six minutes after the ceasefire went into effect and firing another two missiles around three and a half hours later, at about 10:25 a.m. (0725 GMT). Those missiles were either intercepted or fell in open areas without causing casualties or damage to property, Netanyahu's office said. In retaliation, the Israeli air force destroyed the radar installation near Tehran, it said. Israel refrained from carrying out other strikes on Iran after a conversation between Trump and Netanyahu, the prime minister's office said, without specifying if the conversation had taken place before or after the attack on the radar station. The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sequence of events.
Express Tribune
3 hours ago
- Express Tribune
UK regulators target Google search practices
Miniature figures of people are seen in front of the new Google logo in this illustration taken May 13, 2025. Photo:REUTERS Listen to article Britain's competition regulator said it may force Google to rank businesses more fairly in search results, marking the first use of expanded powers to oversee the world's biggest tech companies. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is proposing to designate Alphabet-owned Google with "strategic market status", it said on Tuesday, giving it more power to intervene in search services to increase innovation and economic growth. If confirmed in October, the designation could compel Google to enhance transparency for publishers, simplify access to rival search services and facilitate data portability for competitors. CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said Google, which accounts for more than 90% of search queries in Britain, had delivered tremendous benefits but the regulator had found ways to make markets more competitive and innovative. CMA takes first steps to improve competition in search services in the UK. We've proposed to designate Google with strategic market status under the new Digital Markets Competition — Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) June 24, 2025 "These targeted and proportionate actions would give UK businesses and consumers more choice and control over how they interact with Google's search services - as well as unlocking greater opportunities for innovation across the UK tech sector and broader economy," she said. Millions of Britons relied on Google as a gateway to the internet and more than 200,000 businesses depended on Google search advertising to reach their customers, the regulator said. The CMA, which gained global prominence when Britain left the European Union, aims to use its expanded power to rein in the power of tech giants such as Google, Apple, Meta and Microsoft without stifling investment or growth. The CMA's targeted approach contrasts with the EU's broader enforcement of digital regulations, as Britain seeks to balance curbing the dominance of tech giants with fostering economic growth post-Brexit. New powers Cardell said the CMA had set out a roadmap of changes the company could make ahead of a final decision in October. Google said on Tuesday that the CMA's SMS designation did not imply anti-competitive behaviours, but that its announcement presented clear challenges to critical areas of its business in Britain. "We're concerned that the scope of the CMA's considerations remains broad and unfocused, with a range of interventions being considered before any evidence has been provided," said Oliver Bethell, Google's senior director for competition. The CMA said it planned further action to address more complex issues, starting in 2026, such as concerns about Google's treatment of rival specialised search firms and transparency and control in search advertising. The regulator's second investigation under its new powers into mobile operating systems also targets Google, as well as Apple. It could see the company receive another designation focused on its Android operating system. The CMA can impose fines for non-compliance and has direct enforcement powers. Google has been subject to increasing regulatory scrutiny in the United States and the European Union, spanning search, advertising, AI, and digital platform practices. Over the past year it was found to have monopolised search and online ads in two major US rulings, and it was charged in March by the European Commission with breaching landmark EU digital rules.
