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

The city of San Jose voted Tuesday to pass a law that will compel gun owners to take out insurance to cover any damage caused by their weapon, a move its mayor said was the first of its kind in the United States.

Most Asian markets enjoyed some respite Wednesday from the hefty selling at the start of the week, with focus on the end of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later in the day, when traders hope it will provide much-needed guidance on its plans for hiking interest rates.

A Syrian neighbourhood targeted by regime bombing lies in ruins, with bodies and broken toys poking out of the rubble; tall, grey buildings are reduced to crumbling, empty shells, their walls blown away or pockmarked by the blast.

A coronavirus-hit Australian warship docked in Tonga on Wednesday, delivering desperately needed aid to the volcano-and-tsunami-struck nation under strict "no-contact" protocols.

Underground operations have finally begun at a copper mine in Mongolia, official media has reported, ending years of delays for Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto.

Opening one of his many cages, Michal Trojczak watches proudly as more than 70 dusty-blue pigeons take flight, soaring high above snow-covered fields in eastern Poland.

From hypersonic to cruise missiles, North Korea started 2022 with its most intensive spate of weapons testing in years, but analysts said the barrage is more domestic political ploy than a diplomatic gambit.

A resurgent Danielle Collins said feeling herself again after difficult surgery, coupled with improved strength and stamina, helped power her into the last four of the Australian Open Wednesday.

An Indigenous community in Canada has identified nearly 100 "potential" graves at a residential school site, months after the discovery of hundreds of children's remains at former boarding schools rocked the country.

Danielle Collins and Iga Swiatek will meet in the Australian Open semi-finals after vastly contrasting wins in the last eight on Wednesday.

Cardi B has won some $4 million in a libel lawsuit in the United States against a celebrity gossip blogger, who posted claims that the superstar rapper was a "prostitute" who had herpes and used cocaine.

Iga Swiatek came from a set down to make her maiden Australian Open semi-final Wednesday by battling past gutsy veteran Kaia Kanepi to set up a last-four clash with Danielle Collins.

Human rights activists and some academics in China have had their WeChat messaging app accounts restricted in recent weeks, multiple people affected have told AFP, as Beijing cracks down on dissent before the Winter Olympics.

When Olympic champions at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games are handed their customary bouquets on the medal stand, no one will be prouder than Shanghai pensioner Mou Guoying.

Alize Cornet said she has "eternal respect" for Grand Slam champions after her Australian Open exit Wednesday -- and now knows just how hard it is to win seven matches in two weeks to lift a major.

A coronavirus-hit Australian warship will dock in Tonga Wednesday, delivering desperately needed aid to the volcano-and-tsunami-struck nation under strict "no-contact" protocols.

Supermarket shelves are bare and restaurants can't serve meals, but Sri Lanka's economic crisis is a bonanza for used car dealers, with vehicle shortages pushing prices higher than a house in a nice area.

Two months before it is due to open with just a handful of confirmed flights, workers are racing to finish a new international airport for Mexico City -- one of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's flagship projects.

The "old fogeys" of Chilean politics must go, says Isabel Allende -- a stance that is true to form for the novelist, whose latest book "Violeta" is a sweeping epic depicting the transformation between past and present.

Asian markets enjoyed some respite Wednesday from the hefty selling at the start of the week, with focus on the end of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later in the day, when traders hope it will provide much-needed guidance on its plans for hiking interest rates.

Eric Staal headlined the list of players named by Hockey Canada on Tuesday to represent the country in the men's hockey tournament at next month's Beijing Olympics.

"He is conscious, with mobility in all four limbs" and showing signs of "further progress in his post-operative development," said the Sabana University Clinic, where the cyclist was rushed by ambulance after smashing head-on into a bus.

Danielle Collins swept into the last four of the Australian Open Wednesday to match her feat from 2019 and shatter French veteran Alize Cornet's dream of making a first Grand Slam semi-final.

For Allyssa Findorff, the decision to hit the road on short-term nursing contracts was an easy one: she'd always wanted to see the rest of America, and the attractive rates on offer helped seal the deal.

The murders of two journalists in the Mexican border city of Tijuana in less than a week have triggered calls for the government to step up protection of media workers.

The Federal Reserve's first policy meeting of the year hasn't even concluded but Wall Street already is unhappy, wary of what central bank chief Jerome Powell might say on Wednesday about his inflation-fighting plans.

A New York policeman wounded in an exchange of gunfire last week died Tuesday, raising the toll in the tragedy to two, officials said.

Beatles fans won't be able to touch them, but they can soon get their virtual hands on personal memorabilia from John Lennon's son Julian in the form of NFTs.

Microsoft beat market expectations Tuesday with strong quarterly performance in cloud computing and software, still benefitting from the pandemic's online shifting of work, play, shopping and learning.

European stocks rallied Tuesday along with oil prices, while Wall Street ended lower as markets nervously eyed the impasse over Ukraine while awaiting a key Federal Reserve decision.

China should begin to "recalibrate" its aggressive anti-Covid policy as other countries are doing, to try to ease the negative impact the pandemic continues to have on global supply chains and economic growth, a senior IMF official said on Tuesday.

Wednesday's Africa Cup of Nations last-16 tie between Egypt and the Ivory Coast brings together two of the continent's heavyweight teams who have plenty of history as well as two of the most exciting attacking players in the world just now.