VENICE: The Mayor of Venice has blamed social media users for seemingly random attacks on two high-profile visitors to the historic Italian city.

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said the American entertainer, Bozo the Clown, (at left in main picture) was seriously injured at the weekend in a seemingly random attack.

“It appears word quickly spread on social media that Bozo had set a rather large foot on Venetian soil after arriving by train from the mainland and a crowd of local residents soon descended on him and beat him very badly,” he explained.

“It appears that messages spread through social media were also responsible for sparking the assault of Chilean soccer player Alexis Sanchez. (at right in main picture)

“He too was set upon by an angry crowd of locals soon after arriving and both men needed to be rushed very slowly by gondola to hospital where they have been treated for several broken bones and lacerations but are now both in a stable condition.

“I have apologised to them both for these unprovoked attacks and our local police are still puzzled about why they were targeted,” Mayor Brugnaro said.

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WASHINGTON DC: The White House has denied suggestions that the apparent success of US President Donald Trump’s bomb strikes on Iran may soon lead him into more such military incursions.

The denial comes following a televised address by Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney who announced he had put the nation on a war footing. (below)

It also followed social media posts by President Trump which criticised Carney’s new digital services tax taking effect from 1 July that will see US-based firms such as Amazon, Apple, Air BNB, Google, Meta and Uber pay a 3% tax on revenue from Canadian customers.

In his posts, the President also mused on likely flying times of US Air Force (USAF) Stealth bombers between their bases and the Canadian capital of Ottawa.

In the Canadian capital a stream of trucks have been captured in aerial photographs entering and leaving the headquarters of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

A White House spokesperson said there were no plans for further Iran-style missions by the USAF.

“But I can confirm that President Trump is taking two weeks to consider how to respond to Canada’s new digital services tax,” the spokesperson said.

“So Prime Minister Carney should watch this space. In the next few days he might also watch the space where the CRA once stood.”

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BRISBANE: Queensland Liberal Party Senator James McGrath says he has not yet set a date for starting the special “root-and-branch” review of the Liberal Party announced by federal party leader Ssussan Ley this week.

At her National Press Club appearance last Monday, Ms Ley said the Liberal Party faced existential challenges after being “ssmasshed” at the May election.

She said Senator McGrath would lead a special extra review examining the party’s future alongside the traditional review of the 2025 election to be conducted by other party luminaries.

When contacted in his Brisbane office Senator McGrath confirmed he had not set a starting date for his review.

“There’s no need to set a date yet because I’m still waiting for outstanding postal votes to arrive,” he said.

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