The National Times - News around the clock from Sydney, Australia and around the world

King Charles III announced awards for actors Stephen Fry and Carey Mulligan, as well as victims of Britain's Post Office scandal in the country's traditional New Year's Honours on Tuesday.

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said the English giants are in a battle for Premier League survival after Newcastle cruised to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford to inflict a fourth consecutive defeat on the hosts.

Ruben Amorim said Manchester United are in a battle for Premier League survival after losing 2-0 to Newcastle on Monday to end 2024 14th in the table.

Aston Villa wasted a chance to close the gap on the Premier League's top four as Tariq Lamptey's late equaliser salvaged a 2-2 draw for Brighton on Monday.

Chelsea's bid to climb back into the Premier League title race suffered a major blow as lowly Ipswich beat the Blues 2-0 at Portman Road on Monday.

Manchester United ended a 2024 to forget with a fourth consecutive defeat as Newcastle cruised to a 2-0 win at Old Trafford to intensify the scrutiny on Red Devils' boss Ruben Amorim.

In Jimmy Carter's tiny hometown of Plains, Georgia on Monday, the former US president's death was only beginning to sink in, even if friends and neighbors have been bracing for it since he went into hospice care nearly two years ago.

The US Treasury Department said Monday that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach resulting in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to Congress seen by AFP.

Venezuela's highest court on Monday fined TikTok $10 million in connection with viral challenges that authorities say left three adolescents dead from intoxication by chemical substances.

United Nations rights experts on Monday said Israel must face the consequences of "inflicting maximum suffering" on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, alleging Israel was defying international law and being sheltered by its allies.

About half of school-age children in Syria are missing out on education after nearly 14 years of civil war, Save the Children told AFP on Monday, calling for "immediate action".

Retiring Spanish football legend Jesus Navas tearfully bid farewell to his playing career on Monday with songs, chants and other tributes at a ceremony at Sevilla's packed Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium.

The death toll from a road accident in southern Ethiopia has risen to at least 71 after a vehicle carrying a wedding party veered into a river, a local official said.

A Mexican mayor is under investigation for possible criminal links after public thanks were offered to a notorious cartel leader for giving gifts to children, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.

The German government, under fire for failing to prevent a deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market, argued on Monday that the tragedy would have been hard to prevent and said that the suspect appeared to be mentally disturbed.

The World Health Organization on Monday implored China to share data and access to help understand how Covid-19 began, five years on from the start of the pandemic that upended the planet.

Germany's government said Monday US billionaire tech baron Elon Musk is trying to sway February elections by praising the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a move strongly rejected by major parties.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has tapped dozens of former rebels for high-ranking army positions, several of whom are foreign fighters, a war monitor and experts said on Monday.

The United States on Monday unveiled almost $6 billion in military and budget aid for Ukraine, as Washington races to provide assistance before Donald Trump takes office next month.

Five people have been indicted in Argentina over the death of British singer Liam Payne, who fell from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony in October after consuming alcohol and drugs, prosecutors said Monday.

Part II of the AFP Sports deaths of the year includes Bela Karolyi, who coached Nadia Comaneci to the first 'Perfect 10' in Olympic gymnastics and Welsh rugby legends Barry John and JPR Williams:

Flags flew at half-staff across the United States on Monday as global tributes poured in for the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter -- the longest-lived US president who died aged 100.

Afghanistan veteran Hashmatullah Shahidi and Zimbabwe rookie Brian Bennett starred as the first Test was drawn after a rain-shortened final day in Bulawayo on Monday.

When LeBron James, who turned 40 on Monday, takes to the court for the Los Angeles Lakers against his former team the Cleveland Cavaliers on New Year's Day, he will join a long line of sporting legends who have defied time.

The year was marked by the deaths of a number of sporting superstars from Franz 'Der Kaiser' Beckenbauer to the notorious OJ Simpson.

Global stock markets mostly fell Monday in jittery holiday trading ahead of a potentially tumultuous 2025 when Donald Trump returns to the White House.

A Belgrade court on Monday sentenced the parents of a 13-year-old boy to prison after he shot dead nine students and a security guard at an elementary school in Serbia's capital last year.

For decades, any Syrian daring to broach political topics got used to speaking in hushed tones and with a watchful eye trained for a listener among the crowd.

Iran played a central role in Jimmy Carter's presidency, but in Tehran, where state television branded him the "architect of economic sanctions", many have far from fond memories of the late US president.

AC Milan named Sergio Conceicao as their new coach within hours of sacking fellow Portuguese Paulo Fonseca on Monday after just six months in charge.

German security and intelligence chiefs faced questioning Monday about the car-ramming attack that killed five people and wounded more than 200 at a Christmas market 10 days ago.

Serbian prosecutors on Monday charged 13 people, including a former transport minister, over the fatal collapse of a train station roof in the city of Novi Sad last month that killed 15 people.