Venice divided as lavish Bezos wedding brings glamour and protests

28 June 2025 Share Save Sarah Rainsford Rome Correspondent Reporting from Venice Share Save

EPA/Shutterstock Protesters unfurled a banner aimed at Bezos from Venice’s famous Rialto bridge

The lavish wedding party of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and TV presenter Lauren Sanchez concludes on Saturday evening in Venice with the main gala event. But as their celebrity guests were preparing to step into water taxis from their luxury hotels, paparazzi poised, a crowd of some Venetians gathered to protest against the big event. Their causes are varied, from locals opposed to over-tourism in a delicate city, to activists protesting against climate change and capitalism. Hundreds marched through the city on Saturday, hanging a “no space for Bezos” banner from the Rialto bridge and setting off multicoloured flares. But plans to launch themselves into the city’s canals with inflatable crocodiles and block the wedding guests’ passage were dropped. In pictures: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding

Spotted heading into Harry’s Bar for lunch on Saturday, Bezos blew kisses towards the cameras when a local journalist asked what he made of the protests. The city’s deputy mayor dismissed the activists as “narcissists” and insisted the wedding was the “high-quality tourism” Venice needs. Simone Venturini, city councillor for economic developments, said he hoped “a lot of people will want to get married in Venice” now and boost the city’s wedding sector. “We are not Iran. The city cannot say who can or who cannot get married. We have no moral police going around,” he told the BBC on the bank of the Grand Canal, as gondolas loaded with tourists drifted by.

Reuters Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’s extravagant wedding celebrations ended on Saturday

The activists have already claimed one win, though. Tonight’s party was moved further from the city centre for security reasons. The new venue, Arsenale, is easier to protect. “I think the main problem is that Venice is becoming like an amusement park,” argues Paola, an Italian member of the Extinction Rebellion group. She’s especially incensed that wedding guests arrived here on private jets and argues the world’s elite are the worst polluters. “Of course, mass tourism is eating the city alive, but the fact that billionaires can come here and use the city as their amusement park is an enormous problem.”

Stars descend for ‘wedding of the year’

Instagram/Reuters

The Italian media have leapt on the glitz and glamour of what they are dubbing the “wedding of the year.” Their pages and posts are full of pictures of the 200 or so A-list celebrities now in town, including Leonardo di Caprio and Kim Kardashian. There’s talk of cuttlefish banquets – tonight’s spread will feature cod, cooked regional-style – and photos of the bride’s white lace Dolce and Gabbana gown, apparently inspired by one worn by Sophia Loren in the 1950s. It seems, however, that talk of this wedding bringing the city to a halt was overblown. Ivanka Trump has been spotted at an art gallery, as has Bill Gates, and the newly married couple have been photographed and filmed in various locations and outfits. But most tourists, or Venetians, are more likely to bump into a Bezos look-a-like, who made the journey from Germany specially to pose for photos, than any of the real-life rich and famous. There are plenty of water taxis and gondolas still free for hire and no crowds of angry tourists, deprived of their magical ride. Some streets were briefly closed around the main events but disruption appears to have been minimal. Most of the posters declaring “No Space for Bezos” have been ripped down and just the odd bit of graffiti can be seen. Attempts to project slogans on buildings were quickly stopped by police. A planned march by protesters on Saturday evening is taking place with official permission.

EPA/Shutterstock A host of A-list celebrities, including Kim and Khloe Kardashian, have been spotted in Venice over the three days

Venetians divided

But fears of Venice becoming a tourist playground, forcing locals out of town, are no exaggeration. Just down from the main railway station, police check visitors at random for mandatory day passes. It is a new measure to try to control the crowds. All around, cafes are packed with people shiny-faced from the humidity and pink from the brutally fierce sun. A short walk away is the pretty piazza where Roberto Zanon has spent all his life but which he now has to leave. His landlord has sold his home to out-of-town developers and the 77-year old is being evicted soon together with his two dogs. Finding anything else in his home city is impossible, Roberto says. He can’t compete with higher-paying tourists. “One, two, three doors – those are locals, but the rest is all for tourism now,” Roberto says, pointing to the wooden doors around his square. “There are fewer and fewer Venetians here,” he says quietly, deeply upset at the loss of his home. “There is no purpose any more. You lose your friends. You lose piece of your heart. But sadly this situation is unstoppable.” That doesn’t mean Roberto is fretting about a billionaire choosing Venice for his wedding, mind you. He worked in tourism himself for many years and calls it “an honour” to have such famous guests in the city he himself loves so much. “I find it positive.” He’s not alone.

Roberto, 77, is being evicted from his Venice home but still finds the wedding ‘positive’ for the city

Massive Russian strikes hit Ukraine for second day

27 August 2024 Share Save Robert Greenall BBC News Share Save

Serhii Lysak/Dnipropetrovsk region A hotel was hit in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, leaving at least two people dead

Russia has targeted Ukraine with another wave of deadly strikes, a day after one of its biggest air attacks of the war. At least two people were killed in an attack on a hotel in the central city of Kryvyi Rih and two more died in a wave of drone strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region in the south east, officials said. Ukrainian monitors had earlier detected Russian aircraft launching hypersonic missiles and the air force said it had shot down five missiles and 60 drones. At least six people died overnight Sunday to Monday and dozens were wounded as more than half of Ukraine’s regions were attacked by drones and missiles.

Reuters On Monday people took shelter in metro stations in Kyiv

Power infrastructure was hit causing blackouts in many cities, with water supplies also affected. A statement from the Russian defence ministry said long-range air and sea-based precision weaponry had been used to strike power stations and related infrastructure across Ukraine, including in Kyiv, Lviv and the Kharkiv and Odesa regions. US President Joe Biden called the attacks “outrageous”, saying Washington would continue to support Ukraine’s energy grid. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned “Russia’s cowardly missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure”. In the latest attacks overnight into Tuesday, Russia said it had launched 10 missiles and 81 drones. A hotel was struck by a ballistic missile in Kryvyi Rih late on Monday, killing a man and a woman and leaving several others wounded. Two people were reported missing. Kryvyi Rih is the home city of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Meanwhile, Zaporizhzhia regional administration head Ivan Fedorov said two people had been killed and four more wounded by drone strikes. Explosions have also been reported in Kyiv, Sumy, Khmelnytsky and Mykolayiv regions. Launches of several hypersonic Kinzhal (dagger) ballistic missiles, which are hard for air defences to intercept, have been detected.

Missile strikes Ukraine reservoir in Kyiv Oblast

Deadly new Russian drone and missile attack hits Kyiv

1 day ago Share Save Paul Adams BBC diplomatic correspondent Reporting from Kyiv Jaroslav Lukiv BBC News Share Save

Reuters A residential building was among the buildings damaged in a Russian drone attack overnight

A massive overnight Russian attack has hit Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, killing at least two people and injuring 16, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. The attack involved 18 missiles and about 400 drones, primarily targeting the capital, Zelensky added. Residents’ sleep was interrupted for three hours as drones and missiles converged on the capital. Authorities in Kyiv said drone wreckage struck the roof of a residential building and fires burned across the city. In June, Ukraine recorded the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured, according to the UN.

Reuters Firefighters attended the scene of a strike on another residential block in Kyiv on Thursday

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Ukraine’s police reported that Russian drone strikes had hit eight districts in Kyiv. “Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouses, office and non-residential buildings are burning,” administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a post on Telegram. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko confirmed that a 68-year-old woman and a 22-year-old police officer at a metro station had been killed. In Kyiv’s Podilsky district, a primary healthcare centre was “almost completely destroyed”, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said. City residents were urged to shelter until the air raid siren was lifted, and also close windows when they returned to their homes because there was a “lot of smoke” in Kyiv. Overnight, Ukraine’s air force reported a threat of Russian drone attacks in a number of regions. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties outside Kyiv. Russia’s military has not commented on the reported latest attack. It followed what Ukraine described as the largest Russian aerial attack on Tuesday night, when 728 drones and 13 cruise or ballistic missiles struck cities across the country. In June, Russia launched ten times more “missile and loitering munitions attacks” against Ukraine than in June last year, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission (HRMMU) in Ukraine reported. Civilians were killed or injured in at least 16 regions of the country and in Kyiv, the HRMMU said. “Civilians across Ukraine are facing levels of suffering we have not seen in over three years,” Ms Danielle Bell, head of the HRMMU, said. “The surge in long-range missile and drone strikes across the country has brought even more death and destruction to civilians far away from the frontline.” Late on Wednesday, three people were killed in a Russian air strike in the town of Kostiantynivka, close to the front line in eastern Ukraine, the country’s emergency service DSNS said. “Russia is obviously stepping up terror,” Zelensky said. “It is necessary to be faster with sanctions and pressure Russia so that it feels the outcomes of its own terror. Our partners need to act faster investing in weapons production and developing tech.” He said that on Thursday, he would be speaking to partners about additional financing for producing interceptor drones and air defence supplies. The US had resumed sending some weapons to Ukraine, Reuters reported late on Wednesday, days after it halted shipments of some critical air defence arms.

Reuters Elsewhere in Kyiv, a shopping mall was damaged in the attacks

Trump says Ukraine will receive more weapons after US pause on shipments

Among the armaments reported to have been placed on pause last week were Patriot air defence missiles and precision artillery shells. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky had appealed for the shipments to continue, describing US Patriot systems as “real protectors of life”.

Trump also indicated the US would send primarily “defensive weapons” to help Ukraine’s war effort.

During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he was “not happy” with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and that Ukraine was “getting hit very hard”.

Donald Trump has said the US will send more weapons to Ukraine after an announcement last week that Washington would halt some shipments of critical arms to Kyiv.

The White House said last week the decision had been made “to put America’s interests first” in response to a defence department review of military support to other countries.

Trump’s apparent change of heart came after days of deadly Russian drone and missile barrages on Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv. One attack on the city last Thursday has claimed a third life, according to local officials.

Trump said late on Monday that Kyiv needed to be able to defend itself.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to… They’re getting hit very hard now,” he said during a news conference with Netanyahu.

“I’m disappointed that President Putin has not stopped,” he added.

The Pentagon responded with a brief statement, saying that “at President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops”.

After a week of uncertainty, the US move will come as a relief to Ukraine, says the BBC’s Paul Adams in Kyiv.

Kyiv had warned that the move to pause some shipments would impede its ability to defend against escalating airstrikes and Russian advances on the front lines.

Zelensky said late last week that he had spoken to Trump “about opportunities in air defence and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies”.

The war in Ukraine has been raging for more than three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ceasefire talks have also largely stalled after several attempts by Trump to broker a deal between the two parties.

Following a call with Putin last week, Trump said that “no progress” to end the conflict had been made, adding “I don’t think he’s looking to stop”.

Hours after the call, Ukraine said Russia fired a record 539 drones and 11 missiles targeting Kyiv, but also hitting the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv.

Zelensky has called on international allies – particularly the US – to increase pressure on Moscow and impose greater sanctions.

Ukrainian intelligence officer shot dead in Kyiv

1 day ago Share Save Aleks Phillips BBC News Share Save

Reuters CCTV footage shows the SBU officer heading outside shortly after 09:00 local time

A senior Ukrainian intelligence officer has been gunned down in broad daylight in Kyiv, officials have said. The agent of the domestic Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was shot several times in a car park after being approached by an unidentified assailant who then fled the scene, footage circulated on social media shows. The spy agency did not identify the victim, though Ukrainian media outlets have named him as Colonel Ivan Voronych. The SBU is primarily concerned with internal security and counter-intelligence, akin to the UK’s MI5. But since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, it has also played a prominent role in assassinations and sabotage attacks deep inside Russia.

Sources within Ukraine’s security services have previously told the media – including the BBC – that they were behind the killing of the high-ranking Russian Gen Igor Kirillov in December 2024. Earlier this year, Gen Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow – an incident the Kremlin blamed on Kyiv. Ukraine’s security services have never officially admitted responsibility for the deaths. Neither the SBU nor the Kyiv police gave a possible motive for the shooting. The Ukrainian capital’s police force said in a statement that officers arrived at the scene to find a man’s body with a gunshot wound. It said officers were working to identify the assailant and that “measures are being taken to detain him”. The SBU said it was taking “a comprehensive set of measures to clarify all the circumstances of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice”. CCTV footage – which has been verified by the news agency Reuters – shows a man in jeans and a dark T-shirt exiting a building in the southern Holosiivskyi district shortly after 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) on Thursday. As he walks to a nearby car while holding a plastic bag and a holdall, another man can be seen running towards him.

Reuters The unidentified assailant can be seen running towards the victim before shooting him several times