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

Confronting intimate accounts of abortion, gender identity and paedophilia, Pope Francis gamely takes part in a no-holds-barred encounter with young adults in a new film released Wednesday, accepting both questions and rebukes.

Scotland's ruling party faced fresh turmoil Wednesday after the husband of its former leader Nicola Sturgeon was arrested as part of a police investigation into financial irregularities.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that China had a "major role" to play in finding a path to peace in Ukraine, as he kicked off a three-day visit to Beijing.

Racism has been experienced by players at all levels of elite rugby in England, according to a survey published by the Rugby Football Union.

In Jordan, a sumptuous dish that has its roots in an ancient war has evolved over the centuries to be widely cherished as a symbol of peace and hospitality.

Serie A condemned on Wednesday "all instances of racism" in Italian football after Romelu Lukaku was abused during Inter Milan's cup semi-final clash at Juventus.

Former Springboks coach Ian McIntosh died aged 84 on Wednesday in a hospital near Durban from cancer, his family told AFP.

The German economy, Europe's largest, is expected to dodge a recession and grow by 0.3 percent this year thanks to a drop in energy prices, leading economic institutes said Wednesday.

Joel Embiid enhanced his MVP credentials with a 52-point masterclass as the Philadelphia 76ers held off a furious late rally from the Boston Celtics to win a hard-fought battle of the Eastern Conference heavyweights on Tuesday.

Fresh images from inside a crippled reactor at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant revealed heavy damage to its foundation and significant debris, its operator said.

Latif Dalyan offers shirts and sweatpants at knock-down prices to Turkey's earthquake victims from a storefront surrounded by piles of debris.

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern bowed out of parliament on Wednesday, making an impassioned plea during her tearful final speech to "please take the politics out of climate change".

Israeli police arrested more than 350 people after clashes erupted inside Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque early Wednesday when officers entered to dislodge "agitators" in a move denounced by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Nine-year-old Cesar Paredes enters the bullring impeccably dressed in his traditional Venezuelan bullfighter's suit, pink cape neatly folded over one arm, to the ovation of an enthusiastic crowd.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sits down with Taiwan's president on Wednesday for a highly symbolic meeting in California that has already prompted outrage and dire warnings from China.

Francisco Rojche left his Guatemalan town, its dirt roads and sugarcane plantations in search of better opportunities in the United States. But the dream died with him when a fire broke out in the Mexican immigration center where he was detained.

Nearly 1.5 million working-age people in Japan are social recluses, according to a new government survey, with a fifth citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the main reason for their withdrawal.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan will hold talks Wednesday with Taliban officials in Kabul "to seek clarity" on a new government ban that blocks women from working for the world body across the country.

With around a month until King Charles III's coronation, plans are at an advanced stage to mark his historic accession to the throne -- Britain's first in seven decades.

At the top of 52 steep, narrow steps at All Saints Church near London, expert bell ringers are showing the ropes to two new recruits ahead of King Charles III's coronation.

Clashes erupted inside the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem early Wednesday as Israeli police said they had entered to dislodge "agitators", a move denounced as an "unprecedented crime" by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

UBS shareholders get their first chance to grill the bank's bosses Wednesday over its shotgun marriage to Credit Suisse, done in double-quick time behind their backs.

Despite the enticing produce in their windows, Muslim-owned retailers on east London's Brick Lane are unusually quiet as a cost-of-living crisis bites into Ramadan earnings.

Joel Embiid enhanced his MVP credentials with a 52-point masterclass as the Philadelphia 76ers held off a furious late rally from the Boston Celtics to win a hard-fought battle of the Eastern Conference heavyweights on Tuesday.

In Cyprus's southern coastal city of Limassol, Russian and Ukrainian firms fleeing wartime conditions, and Israeli investors betting on real estate, have driven prices up and local residents out.

Under the glow of a ring light in the spare bedroom of a Mumbai high-rise apartment, Indian make-up maven Debasree Banerjee has found fans across the world with a simple philosophy: brown is beautiful.

A senior Russian official, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes charges, is set to virtually attend an informal UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.

Asian stocks drifted Wednesday after a retreat on Wall Street as data showing a softening in the US jobs market pointed to a slowing economy and fuelled fresh fears of a recession.

Brazilian chef Ana Lucia Costa is putting the finishing touches on an exquisite dish of marinated pork loin with lime and ginger, preparing to serve around 100 diners.

In Colombia's far north, wind farm expansion is unsettling the Indigenous Wayuu inhabitants of a semi-desert region earmarked as an El Dorado of renewable energy.

Apple fans are watching to see whether the iPhone-maker puts a culture-changing spin on virtual reality, even as rivals slow their march toward the metaverse.

US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday proposed an $8.9 billion settlement to resolve years-old lawsuits claiming that its talcum powder products caused cancer.