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

North Macedonia on Wednesday holds the first round of a presidential election seen as a key test for political parties squabbling over the country's stalled EU membership talks.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier begins a delicate visit to Turkey on Monday, taking a Berlin kebab chef with him as a show of close personal ties between the two nations despite differences with his Turkish counterpart.

An Australian coach who works with the Chinese Swimming Association has rejected claims of systemic state-run doping, saying it is "so far from anything I have seen".

Bren Smith and his GreenWave organization are helping lay the foundations for a generation of seaweed-growing farmers in the United States, while working to build a network of producers and buyers.

Biologists on a trail in the Ecuadoran Amazon hold their breath as they distribute a foul-smelling delicacy to lure butterflies, critical pollinators increasingly threatened by climate change.

Negotiators from 175 countries are meeting from Tuesday in Canada to nail down a binding global treaty to end plastic pollution with many sticking points to be resolved five months after the last round of talks in Kenya.

The unprecedented trial of Donald Trump moves to opening statements Monday, kickstarting weeks of embarrassing evidence centered on a porn star and alleged fraud that will overshadow the Republican presidential candidate's attempt to retake the White House.

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, the Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic and Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the three finalists for the NBA Most Valuable Player award, the league said Sunday.

The packed stadium shudders as thousands of orange-clad Dutch fans bounce around, chanting the name of their favourite player. But they're not watching Ajax or the Netherlands football team. This is darts.

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was on the brink of his fourth win in five starts this year when play was suspended for darkness at the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage on Sunday.

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani belted his 176th career home run to move past Hideki Matsui for most homers by a Japanese player in Major League Baseball on Sunday

Global military expenditure saw its steepest increase in over a decade in 2023, reaching an all-time high of $2.4 trillion as wars and rising tensions fuelled spending across the world, researchers said Monday.

From the air over the rolling hills of Hebden Bridge in northern England, a gigantic painting interrupts the placid green pasture with a call to action.

A veteran Australian coach who works with the Chinese Swimming Association has rejected claims of systemic state-run doping, insisting it is "so far from anything I have seen".

Thousands of Filipino and American troops will kick off joint military exercises in the Philippines on Monday, as Beijing's growing assertiveness in the region raises fears of a conflict.

World number one Nelly Korda matched an LPGA record with her fifth consecutive victory on Sunday, winning the Chevron Championship for her second major crown and 13th career tour triumph.

World number one Nelly Korda matched an LPGA record with her fifth consecutive victory on Sunday, winning the Chevron Championship for her second major crown and 13th career tour title.

Jude Bellingham snatched Real Madrid a dramatic 3-2 Clasico win over champions Barcelona on Sunday with a "fundamental" goal to take them 11 points clear at the top of La Liga.

Jayson Tatum posted his first playoff triple-double to propel Boston to an NBA playoff series opening victory over Miami on Sunday as the Los Angeles Clippers thrashed the Dallas Mavericks.

Assailants gunned down the chief warden of an Ecuador prison Sunday as citizens across the nation cast ballots on proposed tougher measures to fight a surge in gang-related crime.

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez blasted La Liga for not employing goal-line technology after his team's 3-2 Clasico defeat on Sunday left Real Madrid on the brink of the title.

New Zealand's Scott Dixon held off American Colton Herta on a tight-fuel run over the final laps to win Sunday's IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix.

Families kissed the faces of the dead and neighbours cried in the streets after one of the worst Israeli raids anyone in the Nur Shams refugee camp can remember.

The leftwing separatist coalition EH Bildu, widely viewed as the political heir of the defunct armed group ETA, made a major breakthrough in Sunday's Basque regional elections although falling short of the win predicted by pollsters.

Paris Saint-Germain are on the brink of winning another French Ligue 1 title after crushing Lyon 4-1 on Sunday, the same scoreline by which they beat Barcelona in the Champions League in midweek.

Jude Bellingham snatched Real Madrid a dramatic 3-2 Clasico win over champions Barcelona on Sunday to take them 11 points clear at the top of La Liga with six matches remaining.

Billy Horschel fired a final round 63 to win the PGA Tour's Puntacana Championship on Sunday by two strokes from overnight leader Wesley Bryan.

Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo's north on Sunday boycotted an extraordinary local election on whether to oust their ethnic Albanian mayors in a territory riddled with tension.

Japan's Takumi Minamino was on target as Monaco beat Brest 2-0 away in Ligue 1 on Sunday to climb above their opponents into second place in the table and close in on a return to the Champions League.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Colombia's main cities on Sunday to protest against the left-wing government of Gustavo Petro, whose popularity is at an all-time low.

Iran's Hossein Vafaei said Sunday that the Crucible Theatre venue for the world snooker championships "smells really bad" and the tournament can learn from China where players are "treated like stars".

Led by a triple double from Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics cruised to a 114-94 win over the Miami Heat in the opening game of their NBA playoff first-round series on Sunday.