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

David Miller holds an international cricket record he would prefer not to have.

Less than six months after knee surgery threatened to rule him out of next month's ODI World Cup, the goal of captaining New Zealand in India has been the key driver in getting Kane Williamson through his recovery.

After 12 months out of one-day international cricket, New Zealand seamer Trent Boult is relishing a third crack at the 50-overs World Cup after bitter defeats in the last two finals.

China said on Tuesday it had agreed with Japan and South Korea to hold a summit between the three countries' leaders "as early as possible", after a rare meeting between senior diplomats in Seoul.

South Korea on Tuesday staged its first military parade in a decade, showcasing its advanced arsenal in the face of plummeting ties with nuclear-armed North Korea.

Beijing warned Manila on Tuesday not to "stir up trouble" after the Philippine Coast Guard said it removed a floating barrier at a disputed reef that was allegedly deployed by China to block Filipinos from the traditional fishing ground.

Soaring demand for the raw materials needed for the transition towards renewable energy is creating dilemmas for investors weighing the economic, environmental and human rights risks of such projects.

A year after a homophobic double murder, Slovakia's LGBTQ community is concerned about the increase in hate speech ahead of elections on Saturday in a country where gay people have few legal rights.

Indonesia, South Korea and hosts China scooped gold at the Asian Games on Tuesday as eSports fans eagerly awaited the outcome of the first gaming medal ever at a major multisports event.

Markets fell further Tuesday as investors grew increasingly fearful about another possible US interest rate hike and the prospect they will be kept elevated for some time to combat persistent inflation.

Thousands more refugees fled Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday as officials in the self-proclaimed republic said a fuel depot explosion the previous day had killed 20 people.

Alibaba was among the high-profile Chinese tech companies brought to heel by the ruling Communist Party, but the Asian Games in the firm's home city are proving to be a golden opportunity.

A Thai court on Tuesday jailed one of the leading figures in the kingdom's youth-led pro-democracy protest movement for four years on royal insult charges.

When the Cricket World Cup opens in India next month several players will carry Kashmiri willow wood bats, but manufacturers say over-exploitation of trees means their craft faces ruin.

Slovak ex-premier Robert Fico, whose Smer-SD party is tipped to win the snap election on Saturday, is a former Communist Party member who may sway his country's foreign policy in favour of the Kremlin.

Standing in the vast windswept plains of the Kazakh steppe, miner Vladimir Khaniev stoically recalled the explosion that left him permanently disabled.

Truck drivers who transport goods around Europe have staged a hunger strike in Germany as part of a weeks-long work stoppage, describing it as their "last hope" to draw attention to the exploitation they say they suffer.

Rich and developing nations alike must sharply improve their net-zero targets, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday, warning that a clean energy surge was the main reason the world's climate goals are still within reach.

Olympic and world silver medallist Siobhan Haughey breezed into the Asian Games 100m freestyle final on Tuesday as she looks to back up her dominant 200m swim, but Japan's Rikako Ikee was a no-show.

The lush palm groves of Karima are a long way from Sudan's battlefields, but the war's effects are all too present, leaving farmers struggling to find buyers for this year's harvest.

India medal hope Aditi Ashok has a tough choice to make before teeing up in a star-studded women's golf field at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Thursday -- will it be mum or dad on her bag?

The sun had barely risen above Eagle Pass, Texas, when the migrants wading across the Rio Grande from Mexico had a crisis on their hands.

Markets fell further Tuesday as investors grew increasingly fearful about another possible US interest rate hike and the prospect they will be kept elevated for some time to combat persistent inflation.

US President Joe Biden will join the picket line with striking auto workers on a historic trip to Michigan Tuesday, putting him on a collision course with likely 2024 election rival Donald Trump who visits a day later.

Envoys from Baku and Yerevan prepared to meet in Brussels for talks on Tuesday as thousands of refugees fled Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan's lightning takeover of the majority ethnic Armenian enclave.

It's been three decades since Sister Helen Prejean entered the public eye for her memoir "Dead Man Walking," a recounting of her relationship with a death row inmate whose execution she witnessed.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called Monday for direct talks with his Guyanese counterpart to resolve mounting tensions between the two South American neighbors over a disputed border region rich in oil.

The EU trade commissioner warned Tuesday that Chinese regulations governing the transfer of data out of the country, including a revised anti-espionage law, could have "unintended consequences".

The sea ice around Antarctica likely had a record low surface area when it was at its maximum size this winter, a preliminary US analysis of satellite data showed Monday.

Former Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock has said "the worst thing" Rugby Australia can do is sack embattled head coach Eddie Jones, despite the team's poor World Cup campaign.

David McCallum, the British-born actor who broke hearts in 1960s cult show "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." has died at age 90, US media reported Monday.

Ford is halting work on a major battery plant in the northern US state of Michigan, the automaker said Monday, just seven months after launching the project with a Chinese partner.