Rome in late June

 

In my previous post I mentioned the problem of  illegal immigration, human traffickers and migrants smugglers. That's why I took the picture of six-meters-long sculpture dedicated to the world's migrants and refugees. The sculptor, the Canadian artist Timothy P. Schmaltz, said: "migration is something that humanity has always had". In January our blogging friend, Veronica , already shared a picture of such sculpture after she had gone to Italy. 

While I was walking past one of the Vatican State's gateway I saw the Swiss guard uniform. 

That typical orange,  blue and red uniform has been worn since 1506,  when the first Swiss guards come to Rome. Swiss soldiers are responsible for the safety of the pope. 

Vatican Street view

 

Vatican square and its basilica are both named after Saint Peter. The square houses more than 300,000 people, and it is probably one of the world's most breath-taking squares.

I walked as for as the river Tiber, which flows through the city of Rome and enters the Mediterranean Sea.

There are many buildings in Rome that remind us Italian rationalism, which is an architectural style inspired by structure and simmetry of the old Roman architecture.

This architectural style is also called Fascist-style. It became popular in the early 20th century.

 

Last week I saw a little kid with their parents while they were listening a rock concert in Rome. Sorry to see there isn't any specific age restriction set by the venue or event organizer.

One good thing is that the kid was wearing headphones to protect his/her hears.

The Italian singer and song-writer Vasco Rossi, who is unknown to American audiences, performed in front of 120,000 paying spectators at the Rome Olympic Stadium.

Have a nice weekend!

Tunisia's departure point

Since 2022 the coast near the Tunisian town of Sfax has become an important departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa. In this context, the EU is ready to give Tunisia 100 million euros for border management.

Italian Prime Minister and EU Commission Chief visited the North African country later last week, as they wanted to offer aid. The problem is that before they went to the North African country, Tunisian President had already said that Tunisia's government would not accept becoming a border guard for other countries. 

In my opinion, Tunisian President doesn't want to accept money from Western countries. I think he is afraid that if members of Tunisian government were to accept money from EU and Western countries, their country would lose its neutrality. As it is well known, many Africa's countries are going to join the BRICS. In addition, they  disagree on Washington's policy to support Taiwan and Ukraine.  

Meanwhile, according to Italy's National Institute for Statistics, around 9 out of 10 rape have been committed by people with an immigrant background. I'm afraid that the big surge in cross-Mediterranean illegal immigration will increase sharply in the second  half of this year. 

The photos above were taken in Tunisia two months ago. 

Northeast China

Last week, on June 8, I shared some pictures which a friend of mine had sent from Northeast China.  I was glad to see some friends of our blogging community ( Veronica , Tanza , Anna and Ashok ) enjoyed his photos. Thanks for the appreciation! He had also sent these ones.

With regards to Northeast China, I have just heard that part of the country will start using Russia's Vladivostok port, reducing freight transport. This means that distance will decrease by more than 800 km from industrial base of Northeast China provinces.

The bad news is that the unemployment rate among young Chinese people has been growing since late 2022, reaching 19.6 % in  early April 2023.

I hope you will have a nice new week!  

Magical day for Colombia

 

I'm so happy to hear that Colombia's military found four children more than five weeks after the plane they were travelling crashed. The four children have survived since May 1st in the Colombia's thick jungle.

People in Colombia are calling the rescue of the children "a miracle" .

Pictures sent by a friend of mine

 

A friend of mine sometimes sends me picture which he takes while he's travelling for job. He is involved in Italian wine export, and he mainly goes to East Asia twice a year.

He recently went to Guannang and Lyanyungang (China). Once back home, he sent me some pictures that he had took while he was working in Northeastern China. The last three photos were taken on a cloudy morning in Lyanyungang, a Chinese town located in Northeastern Jangsu province.

The picture above shows a square completely covered with hundreds of scooters. McDonalds' logo with its golden-arches yellow and red is in the middle of the square.  

His pictures remind me the Asia Security Forum, which took place last week. During the meeting China's defence minister, Li Shangfu , said: "It is undeniable that a severe conflict or confrontation between China and the United States will be an unbearable disaster for the world". He also specified that "any attempt to separate Taiwan from China would be met by military response without fearing any adversaries, and regardless of the cost".

Asian powers have bigger population, militaries, and economies ... we see how BRICS members will be able to work together in terms of creating deterrence on the planet. 

Italian Republic Day

Yesterday I went to Rome for job, once again on a sunny morning. During a coffee break I enjoyed a beautiful corner of the town. 

I don't know what exactly means the English word "impolite". Maybe it is a synonym of "uncivilized" ... I was sorry to see some impolite people leaving scooters on the sidewalk.

A woman with her baby stroller and a couple of tourists from Scotland could't walk through these scooters. So I had no choice but to collect the scooters and take them on the right side of the street.

 

I didn't take the picture below in North Africa or Central America. I took it yesterday, after I had finished work. I was walking in a neighborhood close to one of Rome's railway station (Roma Ostiense, that's ist name). This photo shows a market that is completely illegal. People who come from North Africa run that market. 

A question comes to mind: why Italian governments continue to tolerate illegal immigration in my country?  This is senseless, as  those people need our help on their country, directly. 

Most illegal immigrants are working (illegally) in the countryside. They are hired to harvest tomatoes and watermelons. But the main problem is that we, Europeans, haven't the right to steal human resources from Nigeria, Cameroun, Senegal, etc. ... we have to help them by creating jobs in their countries.

 

We get a day off on June 2nd, as Italian Republic Day is public holiday in Italy. This day commemorates 1946 referendum, when Italians decided the form of their government after World War II.