Our daily gondola ride around the world

🇮🇹 Venice launched the world’s first tourist-entry fee. Day-trippers will be subject to a $5+ entry fee on 29 dates between April and July, as part of a pilot program aimed at curbing overtourism (overnight travelers are exempt). Visitors will be given a QR code to enter Venice, with a $50-$300+ fine for attempting to enter without one. A few hundred residents protested the fee yesterday, saying it targets low-budget travelers.

🇮🇷 An Iranian court sentenced a local rapper to death. In his recent music, rapper Toomaj Salehi publicly supported the 2022-23 anti-government protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police. Salehi was initially arrested in 2022 and sentenced to 6+ years in prison for his music and participation in the protests, but avoided a death sentence following a Supreme Court ruling. However, a lower Iranian court reinstated the death penalty this week in an unusual move, though Salehi plans to appeal.

🇮🇳🏓 Professional pickleball is coming to India. The United Pickleball Association – which was created last year following a merger between Major League Pickleball and the Professional Pickleball Association – announced a deal to host pro pickleball games in India, marking the new association’s first international agreement. As part of the deal, the PPA Tour will make an official tour stop in India next February, while MLP plans to sell franchises in India and launch a full 12-team season there in 2025-26.