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Venice rolls out day-tripper fee to try to regulate mass crowds on peak weekends

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

ROME (AP) — Venice authorities on Thursday unveiled a pilot program to charge day-trippers 5 euros ($5.45) apiece to enter the fragile lagoon city on peak weekends next year in an effort to reduce crowds, encourage longer visits and improve the quality of life for residents.The rollout of the tourist “contribution” program came after Venice, a UNESCO World Heritage site, narrowly escaped being placed on the U.N. agency’s danger list earlier this year because of the threat that overtourism was having on its delicate ecosystem. Member states cited the proposed new entry fee in deciding to spare Venice from the list.Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro stressed Thursday that the fee is not a new tourist tax or an attempt to bring in extra revenue. Rather, he said, it is a first-of-its-kind experiment in regulating tourist flows in one of the world’s most-visited places by incentivizing visitors to avoid high-traffic periods and come on other days.“Our attempt is to make a more livable cit...

Is this really the end of Ontario’s Beer Store monopoly?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, it’s one of the world’s strangest alcohol sales arrangements. Since the end of prohibition, beer in Ontario has primarily — sometimes nearly exclusively — sold at a single chain of stores, that sell only beer. Nothing else. And while The Beer Store began as a collection of Canadian brewers, it is now almost totally owned by two megacompanies who hold a huge competitive advantage.A report last week indicated that the agreement that governs the situation will be allowed to expire, and the announcement will come before the end of the year. Josh Rubin is a business reporter for the Toronto Star. “Basically, they used to control 90 per cent of beer sales in this province.[…] There’s still a lot of people out there, even in Ontario, who really just assume that it’s a provincially run thing,” said Rubin. How did Ontario end up with The Beer Store in the first place? How has it held so much power for so long? And what will hap...

EU sends border police reinforcements to Finland over fears that Russia is behind a migrant influx

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — The European Union’s border agency said Thursday that it will send dozens of officers and equipment as reinforcements to Finland to help police its borders amid suspicion that Russia is behind an influx of migrants arriving to the country.Frontex said that it expects a “significant reinforcement” made up of 50 border guard officers and other staff, along with patrol cars and additional equipment, to be put in place as soon as next week.Around 600 migrants without proper visas and documentation have arrived in Finland so far this month compared to a few dozen in September and October. They include people from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Kenya, Morocco and Somalia.On Wednesday, Finnish border guards and soldiers began erecting barriers, including concrete obstacles topped with barbed-wire at some crossing points on the Nordic country’s lengthy border with Russia.The government decided to close four busy Russia border crossings in southeastern Finland last week ove...

Batman folder, Chinese diplomats and nixed charges: what the Ortis jury didn’t hear

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

OTTAWA — A jury has declared former RCMP intelligence official Cameron Jay Ortis guilty of disclosing secrets to targets of police interest in violation of the Security of Information Act. The verdict came after weeks of testimony from Ortis and current and former colleagues at the national police force. But there’s much more the jurors didn’t hear. A sworn statement filed in court, evidence from bail proceedings and a preliminary ruling from the presiding judge — all covered by publication bans until now — reveal that authorities were gravely worried about Ortis’s next steps.In the summer of 2019, Ortis was director general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre, a unit that aimed to track emerging trends of interest to the force. He assumed the post in 2016 after several years with the RCMP’s Operations Research group, which compiled and developed highly classified information on terror cells, cybercriminals and transnational crimina...

Hungary set to receive millions in EU money despite Orban’s threats to veto Ukraine aid

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Hungary is set to receive 900 million euros ($981 million) in European Union money, the EU’s executive arm said Thursday, despite the Hungarian prime minister’s attempts to scupper the bloc’s support for Ukraine. That money comes from the bloc’s REPowerEU program aimed at helping the 27 EU nations recover from the energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, and reduce their dependance to Russian fossil fuels. The proposal to unlock the money in pre-financing came as Orban – a frequent critic of the EU and often at odds with European leaders over his government’s record on the rule of law – threatens to derail Ukraine’s ambition to join the bloc, and to block the disbursement of a planned 50 billion euros ($54.5 billion) in aid to Kyiv.EU leaders will meet in Brussels next month to discuss the opening of formal negotiations on Ukraine’s future accession.EU member countries have now four weeks to endorse the Europea...

Mostly sunny Thanksgiving for Chicago area

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

TODAY: Mostly sunny, increasing clouds, N 10-15. 46 degreesTONIGHT: Mostly cloudy, N 10-15. 27 degreesTOMORROW: Partly cloudy, N 10-15. 35 degrees

Bulls continue losing ways with 116-102 defeat to Oklahoma City

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points and 12 assists, Chet Holmgren added 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Chicago Bulls 116-102 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory.Isaiah Joe scored 20 points for the Thunder (11-4), on their longest winning streak since the 2018-19 season.Gilgeous-Alexander raised his average to 30 points for the season and was showered with “MVP! MVP!” chants as he closed out the game with six free throws down the stretch.In his fifth season with the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander moved up to third on the Oklahoma City scoring list, behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.“Stuff like that is always cool. It’s what you dream of as a kid. Obviously the list has some heavy hitters on it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We won tonight and that’s all that really matters.”Gilgeous-Alexander is seeing more double-teams as opponents try to get the ball out of his hands and he credits that ...

How to avoid this holiday guest (pest) during Thanksgiving

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

JOPLIN, Mo. (KSNF/KODE) — As we head into the holidays, we aren't the only ones traveling across the country – bedbugs, which have gone through a "global resurgence" over the past two decades, according to one scientific review, may find their way into travelers' luggage and clothing.Your overnight stays may be at the cleanest homes or hotels — but regardless of cleanliness or pristine appearance — there's one holiday guest that could hitch a ride back home that nobody wants to deal with: the bedbug. More bed bugs found at Las Vegas Strip hotels over the summer: records It's a problem that can go hand-in-hand with travel, and today the world is constantly coming and going — especially during the holiday season. Rorie Hansen, owner and service manager of Bug-A-Way Pest Control in southwest Missouri, says as human travel has rapidly increased over the last decade, the problem of bed bugs has also rapidly increased.(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)"If we went back 10 years ago, we had v...

Don't get sick on Thanksgiving: How to avoid foodborne illness

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

(WWTI) – For most families, Thanksgiving meals are the largest cooked all year, which can be a contributor to mistakes that could cause foodborne illness.The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the New York State Department of Health recently offered some tips to prevent sickness by remembering five food safety tenets. Which grocery stores are open for Thanksgiving 2023? Tip 1: Don't wash the turkeyAccording to a survey by the FDA, 68% of people believe the turkey should be washed before cooking it — but this is not recommended. Washing the turkey can cause bacteria spread up to three feet away because water splashes onto clean counters, cutting boards, sink handles, etc. It’s recommended to cook turkeys until inner temperature is at least 165°F, by either baking, broiling, boiling, frying or grilling. This high temperature is needed to kill any bacteria that may be present. Tip 2: Use the refrigerator, the cold-water method, or the microwave to defrost a...

Hays County Food Bank sees higher demand for holiday food boxes this year

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:49 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- There's a growing need for food assistance in Hays County right now. As a result, the Hays County Food Bank increased the number of holiday food boxes it's giving out this year by 300. Even with that increase, it had to close registration early because it was at maximum capacity. 'Smell like Thanksgiving'For 17 years, the food bank has hosted its Holiday Meal Box Program. "Marshmallows and your sweet potatoes, stuffing," Hays County Food Bank Executive Director Lisa Young said. "Make it smell like Thanksgiving in your house."This year, it's increasing the number of boxes from 1,500 to 1,800.Young said they've noticed a higher demand recently. "Many, many people need this. These are not the poorest of the poor," Young said. "It's families from just all across the board."Young said both rising grocery costs and SNAP benefits decreasing because pandemic emergency benefits ended, are turning more people to the food bank."We are now doing almost double what w...