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

Organisers of the Paris Olympics have promised a "great national party" for the country, but with 100 days to go, France's bitter politics and gloomy mindset are dampening the mood.

South Korea on Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of the country's worst maritime disaster, when hundreds of schoolchildren died after the overloaded Sewol ferry capsized and sank.

Israel's armed forces chief has vowed to respond to Iran's unprecedented attack against the country, even after appeals for restraint poured in from world leaders fearing wider regional conflict.

Astronomers identified the largest stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way, with a mass 33 times that of the Sun, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The US ambassador to the United Nations visited the heavily-fortified border between North and South Korea Tuesday, urging Pyongyang to return to talks as global enforcement of UN sanctions stumbles.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday he hoped Berlin and Beijing could help achieve a "just peace" in Ukraine, as he met President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital.

Orange lava bubbles and pops, occasionally spewing large fountains from a volcano that has been erupting for a month in Iceland, the second-longest eruption since the region's volcanic activity reawakened in March 2021.

In an Amsterdam bar, six men cluster around the pool table arguing good-naturedly about how to rack the balls. Everyone is stark naked from the ankle up: welcome to Free Willie.

Former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster will join Japan's Toyota Verblitz next season, the club said Tuesday, reuniting him with Steve Hansen.

Kelly Slater, widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time, said Tuesday "this feels like the end" after being knocked out of a competition in Australia and losing his place on the world tour.

India begins voting Friday in a six-week election, with Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory all but assured, raising concerns for the health of the world's largest democracy.

Kelly Slater, widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time, said Tuesday "this feels like the end" after being knocked out of a competition in Australia and losing his place on the world tour.

China's economy grew far more than expected in the first quarter of 2024, data showed Tuesday, even as it is buffeted by a property-sector crisis and flagging consumer spending.

Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef is suffering one of the most severe coral bleaching events on record, leaving scientists fearful for its survival as the impact of climate change worsens.

Asian stocks fell and oil prices climbed Tuesday on growing fears of a wider war in the Middle East after Israel's army chief vowed a response to Iran's unprecedented attack on his country at the weekend.

Arsenal are preparing for a potentially season-defining Champions League clash against Bayern Munich on Wednesday as familiar doubts simmer over whether they can handle the pressure after their damaging Premier League defeat by Aston Villa.

Real Madrid visit Manchester City on Wednesday bidding to reach the Champions League semi-finals and forward Rodrygo Goes may hold their key to success.

Australia's Glenn Maxwell will take an indefinite "mental and physical break" from the IPL after struggling for form with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

South Korea on Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of the country's worst-ever maritime disaster, when hundreds of schoolchildren died after the overloaded Sewol ferry capsized and sank.

The final bill for the Paris Olympics is still unknown but, depending on the point of view, are likely to be expensive compared to original estimates or cheap, when set against other recent Games.

China's economy grew far more than expected in the first quarter of 2024, data showed Tuesday, even as it is buffeted by a property-sector crisis and flagging consumer activity.

Deborah Biegaj has been coming to Coachella for about a decade, and long thought little of drinking heavily at the mammoth California desert festival -- it's just what you did.

Two years ago the Shanghai International Circuit hosted a Covid hospital, but this weekend it will stage Formula One once more as the sport returns to China for the first time since the pandemic.

With his stern gaze and shiny-bald head, Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes has emerged as one of the most powerful and polarizing people in Brazil by probing far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro's alleged attacks on democracy.

Pakistan has initiated discussions with the IMF over a new multi-billion dollar loan agreement to support its economic reform program, its new finance minister told AFP on Monday.

With tens of thousands of African artworks in French museums, curators face a huge task in trying to identify which of these were plundered during colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries and should be returned.

Swiss watchmakers are increasingly turning their sights towards India thanks to a new free trade agreement that is due to gradually open the doors for luxury timepiece exports.

An anti-vaccine group founded by US presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr raised millions of dollars during the coronavirus pandemic, tax records show, boosting its coffers as it ramped up what experts call dangerous health misinformation.

Latin American metal workers are clamoring for higher import tariffs as cheap Chinese steel floods the region, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs linked to the industry.

British-American author Salman Rushdie recounts the near-fatal stabbing at a public event in 2022 that left him blind in one eye and his journey to healing in his new memoir "Knife," which hits stores Tuesday.

Wearing a necklace of jaguar fangs and a green feather headdress, shaman Claudino Perez is back home in Colombia overseeing an ayahuasca ceremony after the mind-altering brew landed him in a Mexican jail.

Peruvian cook Isabel Santos prepares a salad with carrot peels and pea shells at a community kitchen in Lima; a disciple of a sustainable cuisine movement seeking to tackle hunger and food waste at the same time.