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

Parachuted into office four years ago, Italy's former premier Giuseppe Conte helped take down his successor and is now trying to revive the fortunes of his populist Five Star Movement.

Bookish and fervently pro-European, former premier Enrico Letta returned from self-imposed exile to take the fight to Italy's far-right as leader of the centre-left Democratic Party.

Silvio Berlusconi will turn 86 next week but the scandal-plagued former Italian premier and billionaire media mogul has refused to retire and is leading his Forza Italia party into Sunday's general election.

Most people packed up and left the remote North Macedonia village of Babino years ago.

Australian Rules' chief executive said Wednesday it was "hard to find more serious allegations" after a top club was accused of separating Indigenous players from their families and pressuring one couple to have an abortion.

As Europe suffered its worst drought in centuries, residents in Austria's capital were feeling fortunate for their plentiful water supply that courses from streams in the green forests of the Alps.

It is the rescue retold around the world: 12 boys, their coach, and impossible odds.

The Federal Reserve is poised to roll out another big increase in interest rates Wednesday as it tries to cool the economy to tamp down the highest inflation in 40 years, but recession fears are rising.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will hold a donor conference Wednesday in New York, where it aims to raise at least $18 billion during an event hosted by US President Joe Biden.

Just two months before France begin their defence of the World Cup, the mood around the team is in stark contrast to the celebrations that followed their win over Croatia in the 2018 final.

A US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are set to blast off to the International Space Station Wednesday on a Russian-operated flight despite soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

China's "inflexible" and "inconsistent" zero-Covid policy is crippling European business operations in the country, a major business lobby said Wednesday, warning that the presence of the companies "can no longer be taken for granted".

Rising levels of obesity are set to cost the world economy 3.3 percent of GDP by 2060, slowing development in lower-income countries and making it hard for people to lead healthy lives, according to a new study published Wednesday.

Disillusioned by work and tired of life, Seiji Yoshida withdrew from the world for seven years, but now he's taking part in a play about the experiences of Japan's "hikikomori", or social recluses.

Matteo Salvini turned his once regional League party into a national force in government, but the far-right leader has seen his star eclipsed by the more polished Giorgia Meloni.

A US destroyer and a Canadian frigate sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday in the latest joint operation aimed at reinforcing the route's status as an international waterway.

From teenage activist who praised Mussolini to favourite to become Italy's first woman prime minister, Giorgia Meloni has had quite a journey, leading her far-right party to the brink of power.

With a sunny smile to the camera Alaina Wood delivers a burst of "good climate news" to her young TikTok audience, trying to reassure them that it is not too late for action on global warming.

Asian markets resumed their downward spiral Wednesday after a brief respite the previous day, as traders prepared for what many expect to be a third successive jumbo interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

Istanbul's popular mayor faces the threat of being banned from politics on Wednesday in a trial stemming from his surprise election victory over an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2019.

Ukraine will take center stage at the United Nations on Wednesday as world leaders warned of a new era of divisions over the war and other crises including climate change.

A thrilling MotoGP season moves to Japan this weekend after world champion Fabio Quartararo crashed in Aragon to blow the title race wide open with five grands prix to go.

The United States could begin their bid to win a fourth straight women's basketball World Cup on Thursday with just seven players, but coach Cheryl Reeve is adamant they can cope.

Global leaders called Tuesday for urgent efforts to address global food insecurity amid fears of disastrous harvests next year, as Ukraine's president blamed Russia for the crisis and sought the world's "toughest reaction" against Moscow.

Hurricane Fiona continued its slow and devastating march northward after slamming the Turks and Caicos Islands as a powerful Category 3 storm on Tuesday and leaving a trail of destruction in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Australian wildlife investigators were on Wednesday trying to piece together why more than a dozen young male sperm whales died in a mass stranding on a remote beach in the state of Tasmania.

The video was painful to watch, but spoke volumes to Brazil's isolation on the world stage: President Jair Bolsonaro awkwardly meandering alone around the room as other G20 leaders chatted amiably in Rome last year.

A man set himself on fire near the Japanese prime minister's office on Wednesday after expressing opposition to a state funeral for assassinated ex-premier Shinzo Abe, local media said.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday renewed his offer to meet North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong Un, as tensions simmer over Pyongyang's nuclear program.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday accused Rwanda of direct aggression, renewing charges as he addressed the United Nations.

Coach Cheryl Reeve admitted Wednesday the fate of "gentle soul" Brittney Griner was weighing heavily on the USA team at the basketball World Cup in Sydney and the jailed star's number 15 jersey would not be worn at the tournament.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday met for the first time in more than a decade with an Israeli prime minister, with Yair Lapid seeking his help on citizens held by Palestinian militants Hamas.