Pallade Veneta - News from Venice, Veneto, Venetia and Italy, as well as from around the world

Two giants stare each other down before colliding with a dull thud. After years on the sidelines, sumo is back centre stage as part of Japan's soft power arsenal overseas.

"Assemble!" someone bellowed in the prison corridor, cutting through the silence.

US President Donald Trump cut short a cabinet meeting on Thursday, declaring previous marathon sessions in which he was spotted resting his eyes were "pretty boring."

A man dressed as Batman berated officials in the California city set to host the Super Bowl next month over claims they could let ICE officers patrol the NFL championship game.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed to a personal request to halt attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, after Moscow's strikes left millions without heating during an "extreme" cold snap.

US sprint star Sha'Carri Richardson was arrested on Thursday in Florida, where she was reportedly clocked driving over 100 mph.

Artificial intelligence helps doctors spot more cases of breast cancer when reading routine scans, a world-first trial found Friday.

Arsenal travel to Leeds on Saturday desperate to prevent a Premier League wobble becoming something more serious as Manchester City and Aston Villa wait to pounce.

Argentina's government on Thursday declared an emergency in Patagonia, where wildfires have ripped through vast tracts of forest since the start of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Justin Rose conjured a bogey-free 10-under par 62 to grab the first-round lead at Torrey Pines, where Brooks Koepka showed signs of rust but basked in a warm welcome on his return to the PGA Tour on Thursday.

The United States on Thursday eased sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry, expanding the ability of US companies to operate in the country after the lifting of state controls on the sector.

Weeks after toppling Venezuela's leader, US President Donald Trump is turning to a similar playbook on Iran, sending what he calls an "armada" near its shores and warning an unpopular government.

Nottingham Forest will go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros on Thursday, while Celtic secured their place in the knockout phase with victory over Utrecht.

After more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell over parts of New York during this past weekend's historic winter storm, the city is working to melt away the remains before the next blizzard strikes.

Anthony Joshua on Thursday broke weeks of public silence and spoke on camera for the first time since a car crash which killed two of the former world heavyweight champion's close friends.

Apple on Thursday said it saw record-high earnings in the final three months of last year, with iPhone sales surging in greater China.

Nottingham Forest will go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros on Thursday, while Celtic secured their place in the knockout phase with victory over Utrecht.

On a frigid night in Canada's oil capital, Jordan Fritz joined a rally of thousands for a separatist movement once considered a sideshow, but which is now drawing interest from US President Donald Trump's administration.

Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell's successor could be named as soon as next week, President Donald Trump said Thursday, setting the stage for a major shift in the US central bank's leadership.

Donald Trump's border chief said Thursday that some federal agents could be withdrawn from Minneapolis, the northern US city that has become the flashpoint for the president's immigration crackdown.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed to a personal request to halt attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities after Moscow's strikes left millions without heating during an "extreme" cold snap.

Quinton de Kock used a borrowed bat to hammer a series-clinching century for South Africa in the second T20 international against the West Indies at SuperSport Park on Thursday.

US gymnast Jordan Chiles's bid to retain her Paris Olympics bronze medal will continue after Switzerland's top court sent the matter back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday.

Iran threatened Thursday to instantly strike US bases and aircraft carriers in response to any attack, after US President Donald Trump warned time was running out for Tehran and the EU blacklisted its Revolutionary Guards as a terror group.

The tears had barely dried on LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers uniform before the debate began anew. Is the NBA's reigning monarch -- "King James" -- ready to give up his throne?

Lawyers for Diezani Alison-Madueke, the first woman president of OPEC, denied in a London court Thursday that the former Nigerian minister took bribes in their first formal response at her corruption trial.

Another blast of Arctic air was set to spread across much of the United States from Thursday night, even as local authorities struggled to dig out from mounds of snow and ice days after a giant storm passed.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which EU ministers agreed on Thursday to designate as a terrorist organisation, is the ideological army of the Islamic republic tasked with preserving the future of the revolution but which activists say played a frontline role in suppressing protests.

Around 1,500 Israeli Jews prayed at a contested tomb in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday morning, and a settler leader hailed an "important step" towards establishing Israeli sovereignty over the site.

Iran reacted with fury on Thursday after the EU blacklisted the country's Revolutionary Guards as a terror group, as Tehran faced off with Washington after US President Donald Trump warned time was running out for a nuclear deal.

US President Donald Trump said Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to halt attacks on Kyiv and other cities for a week, as Moscow's strikes leave Ukraine facing its toughest winter since the start of the war.

A US government funding shutdown looked increasingly certain Thursday after Senate Democrats rejected a key procedural vote to express anger over the killing of two protesters against President Donald Trump's hardline immigration crackdown.

Russia's capital Moscow has this month seen the largest snowfall in more than 200 years, Moscow State University meteorologists said on Thursday.

Their icy hunting grounds are rapidly shrinking, but polar bears in Norway's remote Svalbard archipelago have defied the odds by bulking up instead of wasting away, a study said Thursday.

US self-driving car company Waymo said Thursday it is working with UK partners to launch driverless robotaxis in London, which are expected to begin operating later this year.

Colombia has restricted the importation of drones, whose increased use by guerrilla groups in a decades-old conflict killed 20 people last year and wounded nearly 300, the government said Thursday.

A contract with American Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has triggered a barrage of criticism of French IT services company Capgemini in the wake of killings and other incidents involving US border officials.

President Donald Trump's border chief vowed Thursday to press on with the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis but said a plan to "draw down" the number of federal agents in the city is in the works.

Oil prices surged Thursday after US President Donald Trump ramped up geopolitical tensions with threats of a military strike on Iran, while safe-haven gold fell back after hitting a fresh record near $5,600.