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

Two days after Russia invaded Ukraine, an account on the Telegram messaging platform posing as President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his armed forces to surrender.

Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq has shed some of the burden of being the nephew of a legend with a century in each innings against Australia in the drawn first Test.

In deeply divided Bosnia, the country's Croats have unleashed new calls for sweeping electoral reforms along with threats of a potential boycott of upcoming polls, sparking fears that a new period of instability awaits the impoverished Balkan nation.

Asian equities were mixed Wednesday as three days of painful losses gave way to a semblance of stability, though oil prices extended gains after the United States and Britain moved to ban imports of Russian crude.

Defending champions England slumped to a second loss at the Women's Cricket World Cup on Wednesday as underdogs the West Indies continued their sparkling start to the tournament.

Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific on Wednesday posted a loss of just over US$703 million for last year, a massive improvement on the record loss suffered in 2020 even as the airline struggled with tough travel restrictions.

The United States has banned imports of Russian oil, firing one of its biggest economic weapons against Moscow over the war in Ukraine where new humanitarian corridors were set to open Wednesday for civilians trying to escape besieged cities.

Two Americans, including a former executive of oil giant Citgo, were released from prison in Venezuela Tuesday, just days after a high-level US delegation met with President Nicolas Maduro.

After two decades of Paralympic greatness, Norway's Nils Erik Ulset is hanging up his skis and gun and heading into retirement for some important play dates with his toddler son.

Asian equities mostly edged up Wednesday as three days of painful losses gave way to a semblance of stability, though oil prices extended gains after the United States and Britain moved to ban imports of Russian crude.

South Koreans were at the polls electing a new president Wednesday with economic inequality a top concern especially among young swing voters, despite growing sabre-rattling from the nuclear-armed North.

Solar farms along tsunami-ravaged coastlines, green energy "micro-grids" and the experimental production of non-polluting hydrogen: 11 years after its nuclear nightmare, Japan's Fukushima region is investing in a renewable future.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is no longer transmitting data to the UN's atomic watchdog, the agency said Tuesday, as it voiced concern for staff working under Russian guard at the Ukrainian facility.

Israel's president heads to Turkey Wednesday to meet his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the first visit by an Israeli head of state since 2007, as the countries seek to mend fractured ties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is using nuclear "blackmail" to keep the international community from interfering in his Ukraine invasion, the head of the Nobel prize-winning group ICAN said.

When her husband woke her up at 5:00 am saying Russia had invaded, Ukraine's Eurovision winner Jamala didn't know what to do first: pack, find their passports or take care of her two toddlers.

Amid a roar of engines and clouds of dust, Sattar Amiri clambers into a pickup truck with his wife and infant son in a remote Afghan frontier town, ready for a perilous drive through the desert.

Former student leader Gabriel Boric will take on Chile's greatest challenge since the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship when he is sworn in as the youngest president in his country's history on Friday.

The tiny handful of Lithuanians living in Taiwan are suddenly in vogue among the island's residents after their small Baltic nation did something Taipei has long staked its identity on: stand up to China.

Florida's state senate on Tuesday passed a controversial bill banning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools, a step that critics complain will hurt the LGBTQ community.

A sexual assault lawsuit brought in New York against Prince Andrew by his longtime accuser Virginia Giuffre has been formally dismissed after the disgraced British royal paid a financial settlement, court documents showed Tuesday.

Thousands of Airbnb users have booked vacation rentals in war-battered Ukraine, not to visit but to provide aid to local hosts struggling to survive the Russian invasion.

Novak Djokovic was entered into the draw for this week's ATP/WTA Indian Wells tournament on Tuesday but it is unclear whether he will take part in the tournament, organisers said.

World number two and tournament top seed Barbora Krejcikova has withdrawn from this week's ATP/WTA Indian Wells Masters tournament after failing to overcome an arm injury.

McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks on Tuesday bowed to public pressure and suspended their operations in Russia over Moscow's internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine.

Mohamed Salah admitted Liverpool might have suffered from complacency as they crept into a fourth Champions League quarter-final in five years despite a rare 1-0 defeat at Anfield to Inter Milan on Tuesday.

The United States led a Western assault on Moscow's economic lifeline Tuesday, banning imports of Russian oil as civilians fled besieged Ukrainian cities in a desperate evacuation push blighted by Russian shelling.

Crude oil prices surged Tuesday as the United States banned Russian energy imports, while nickel prices rocketed to a record peak on Russian supply fears.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Tuesday he plans to speak to Phil Mickelson to address his criticism of the tour before the six-time major champion decides to return to playing.

Jonny Bairstow's eighth Test hundred anchored England’s revival from a woeful start in reaching 268 for six at stumps on the opening day of the first Test in Antigua on Tuesday.

Robert Lewandowski scored a record-breaking 11-minute hat-trick to send Bayern Munich sailing into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-1 win at home to Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday.

Top-division Mexican football team Queretaro were ordered Tuesday to play home matches without spectators for a year and its owners must sell the franchise after a mass brawl between rival fans.