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

"Dollars, selling dollars!" a money changer shouts to people streaming past in Buenos Aires' financial district.

A secret passageway built 500 years ago to allow the Medici family to pass through the Italian city of Florence unhindered reopens to the public Saturday after an 10-million-euro restoration.

A post from Elon Musk on his platform X claiming that only the far-right AfD party can "save Germany" sparked accusations Friday that he was seeking to interfere in the country's upcoming election.

Mikel Arteta says the "best is yet to come" as he celebrated five years in charge of Arsenal on Friday.

Vitor Pereira said he was happy to achieve a career ambition of managing in the Premier League after being appointed by struggling Wolves.

As Germany heads for February 23 elections the grey winter weather has become a hot campaign topic because of its impact on the country's shaky green energy transition.

Russians will be able to qualify for the ice skating competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics as neutral athletes, the sport's governing body said on Friday.

Russian missiles targeted Kyiv at sunrise Friday, killing at least one person and damaging embassies and a university in the centre of the Ukrainian capital.

Syrian media outlets which trumpeted the glories of Bashar al-Assad's oppressive rule quickly adopted revolutionary fervour after his ouster, but uncertainty shadows the sector.

US diplomats met with Syria's new ruler on Friday, an official told AFP, as outside powers seek assurances the country's Islamist-led authorities will be moderate and inclusive.

The European Union and Switzerland announced Friday they had sealed a new set of agreements aimed at recalibrating relations between the two neighbours.

Global stock markets slid on Friday as investors grow concerned about the economic outlook for next year and a looming US government shutdown.

Two people were killed and several injured when a bus and a minivan carrying tourists mainly from China and Singapore collided in Finnish Lapland, police said Friday.

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure rose for a second straight month in November, according to government data published Friday, although the increase came in a touch below expectations.

A Madrid court sentenced ex-IMF chief and Spanish economy minister Rodrigo Rato to more than four years in prison for tax crimes, money laundering and corruption, it said Friday.

Spain has ordered another 25 advanced Eurofighter jets from European aerospace giant Airbus in the NATO member's drive to modernise its air force, the defence ministry said on Friday.

Freed anti-whaling activist Paul Watson on Friday arrived in France after five months in detention in Greenland pending an extradition demand from Japan, an airport source told AFP.

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure rose for a second straight month in November, according to government data published Friday, although the increase came in a touch below expectations.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says he welcomes scrutiny but that some of the criticism directed at him is "offensive".

A seven-year-old pupil was killed and several others injured in a stabbing attack at a school in the Croatian capital Zagreb on Friday, with a 19-year-old man arrested as a suspect, authorities said.

US ski legend Lindsey Vonn will make her return to World Cup skiing on Saturday in St Moritz at the age of 40, after a near six-year absence and with the 2026 Winter Olympics her ultimate goal.

Mason Mount is facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines, compounding his misery during another stop-start season at Manchester United.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka are likely to be the first players who will want to leave the club due to a lack of game time as the January transfer window looms.

US lawmakers raced Friday to prevent a government shutdown due to bite within hours, after Donald Trump and Elon Musk sabotaged a bipartisan agreement that would have kept the lights on well beyond Christmas.

France's new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou was Friday racing to name by Christmas at the latest a government to lead the country out of its political crisis but with no sign of an end to months of tensions that have rattled President Emmanuel Macron.

Russian missiles targeted Kyiv at sunrise on Friday, killing at least one person and damaging six diplomatic missions and a university in the centre of the Ukrainian capital.

Manchester City defender Ruben Dias has been ruled out for up to four weeks with a muscular issue, compounding Pep Guardiola's problems as he seeks to save the club's season.

Mattia Casse claimed his first win in the alpine skiing World Cup on Friday when the veteran took a narrow victory in the super-G at Val Gardena.

Bursting with customers one afternoon the week before Christmas, a second-hand charity shop in London's Marylebone High Street looked even busier than the upscale retailers surrounding it.

A French court on Friday was expected to deliver a verdict against eight people charged in connection with the jihadist beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty in 2020, a murder that horrified France.

Serbia's government closed schools early for Christmas Friday just as teachers and pupils were set to join nationwide protests over the collapse of a train station roof that killed 15 people last month.

Russia's central bank kept interest rates at 21 percent on Friday despite surging inflation, a surprise decision that follows criticism from the country's political and business elite over the effects of higher borrowing costs on the economy.