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

Former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra returned from 15 years in exile on Tuesday and was immediately jailed, but his time behind bars could be cut short with his party on the cusp of winning back power.

Japan will release water from the stricken Fukushima power plant into the Pacific Ocean from Thursday, 12 years after one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

Stocks rose Tuesday after a recent streak of losses, though investors' mood remained dimmed by concerns over China's economy and the outlook for US interest rates.

Australia's new Twenty20 captain Mitchell Marsh said Tuesday that the "incredible talent" of uncapped fast bowler Spencer Johnson will make him one to watch on their white-ball tour of South Africa.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un slammed his cabinet's "irresponsible" handling of flooding, blaming them for recent storm damage in the isolated country, state media reported Tuesday.

Passenger traffic at Dubai international airport leapt 50 percent in the first half of the year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, its operator said on Tuesday.

Moscow said Tuesday it had destroyed a Ukrainian military "reconnaissance boat" near Russian gas infrastructure in the Black Sea, in the latest clash in the waterway since Moscow's withdrawal from a major grain export deal.

Using a powerful torch, Aliki Buhayer-Mach momentarily drenches a nearby mountain top in light, straining to see if wolves are lurking in the shadows.

Greece on Tuesday was battling a growing wildfire front that killed two and forced widespread evacuations in the second deadly wave of fires in a month.

Thailand's divisive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra was jailed Tuesday as he returned to the kingdom after 15 years in exile, hours before parliament votes to install his party's candidate as the new prime minister.

BRICS leaders meet in South Africa on Tuesday as the loose association of major emerging economies seeks to assert its voice as a counterweight to Western dominance in global affairs.

Japan will begin releasing cooling water from the stricken Fukushima power plant on Thursday, 12 years after one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

A tenacious negotiator and master of multiple European languages, Dutch politician Frans Timmermans has become the bearded face and impassioned voice of the EU's efforts to forge an ambitious Green Deal climate pact.

Japan has announced plans to release wastewater from the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant into the ocean starting Thursday.

He was ousted in a coup 17 years ago and spent the last 15 of them in self-imposed exile, but Thailand's billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra still casts a remarkable shadow over the kingdom's politics.

Stocks wavered in nervous trade Tuesday as investors struggled to pick up the baton from a Wall Street rally, with the mood darkened by concerns over China's economy and the outlook for US interest rates.

Thailand's divisive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra returned to the kingdom Tuesday, after 15 years in exile and hours before parliament votes for a new prime minister.

Most Fukushima fishermen are tight-lipped but Haruo Ono can't keep his thoughts to himself on Japan's plans to release treated cooling water from the stricken nearby nuclear power plant into the Pacific from Thursday.

It would be hard to pick the Sydney Convicts from any other of the city’s suburban rugby union teams.

Cambodia's new prime minister Hun Manet was groomed for years for the job by his iron-fisted father Hun Sen, and his takeover sees the completion of a dynastic transition long in the making.

After being banned in some Arab countries, the film "Barbie" is dividing audiences in the conservative Gulf.

North Korea has informed Japan it plans to launch a satellite in the coming days, Tokyo said Tuesday, less than three months after a failed effort saw a military satellite plunge into the sea.

Cambodia's parliament on Tuesday elected long-time ruler Hun Sen's eldest son as the new prime minister, sealing a dynastic handover of power after last month's one-sided election.

The release of wastewater from Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific will begin on Thursday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced, despite opposition from fishermen and protests by China.

Excitement is building among Taylor Swift fans in Latin America who have endured months-long queues, expensive tickets and, in one case, assault to realize their dream of seeing the pop superstar.

With a historic three-way summit with Japan and South Korea, President Joe Biden has further deepened the web of US partnerships in a determined signal to adversaries despite question marks on the political climate at home.

Hundreds of supporters gathered Tuesday to welcome Thailand's divisive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra as he returns from 15 years in exile hours before a deadlocked parliament votes for a new prime minister.

The redesign of Adolf Hitler's birth house will go ahead as planned, starting on October 2, Austria's interior ministry said Monday, after a documentary aired new claims about the late Nazi dictator's wishes for it.

President Joe Biden told survivors of a horrific blaze in Hawaii the government would not abandon them as he toured the scene of the worst wildfire the US has seen in over a century.

Donald Trump said he will turn himself in on Thursday in Georgia to face racketeering and other charges stemming from his bid to overturn the 2020 election.

Southern California was cleaning up Monday after record rainfall triggered landslides and flooding, shuttering schools, roads and businesses in an "unprecedented" tropical storm.

Veteran All Blacks hooker Dane Coles said he was "gobsmacked" to hear former New Zealand coach Steve Hansen is helping rivals Australia prepare for the Rugby World Cup.