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

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said the health of the preschool children badly wounded in a mass knife attack by a Syrian refugee was "heading in the right direction", as police questioned the attacker.

Russia is receiving materials from Iran to build a drone factory on its territory that "could be fully operational early next year," White House national security spokesman John Kirby warned Friday.

Australia established a sizeable first-innings lead of 173 over India in the World Test Championship final at The Oval on Friday but only after Ajinkya Rahane led a tailend rally.

Belgium's capital Brussels is a treasure trove of Art Nouveau gems and now the city is trying to attract new audiences to its rich heritage, with the help of acrobats and trapeze artists.

Fighting was raging Friday in southern Ukraine, with observers seeing the combat as the opening phase of Kyiv's long-expected offensive.

Sudan's warring generals have agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire from Saturday, US and Saudi mediators said, acknowledging that previous attempts to pause a conflict now nearing its third month had proved abortive.

India's Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur batted through the pain barrier to keep Australia at bay in the World Test Championship final at The Oval on Friday.

The Vienna Symphony on Friday announced it had appointed Petr Popelka as its new chief conductor to replace Andres Orozco-Estrada, who walked out 14 months ago.

French President Emmanuel Macron was visiting preschool children badly wounded in a mass knife attack by a Syrian refugee, as police questioned the attacker Friday.

The head of the worldwide Anglican Communion Justin Welby on Friday said he had expressed his "grief and dismay" to the Ugandan Church over its support for the country's anti-gay law.

An Indigenous community in Indonesia has requested an internet blackout in their area to minimise the "negative impact" of the online world, officials said Friday.

European stock markets dropped after gains in Asia Friday as investors awaited next week's crucial interest-rate decision from the US Federal Reserve.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said Friday she was marking her last "school strike" as she was graduating high school, but said she would continue partaking in weekly protests.

Reigning French Open Iga Swiatek will attempt to become the first woman to successfully defend the title in Paris in 16 years on Saturday when she faces surprise finalist Karolina Muchova.

Mark Telea chalked up his 12th Super Rugby Pacific try this season as the Auckland Blues powered past the New South Wales Waratahs for a 41-12 win in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires has been detected thousands of kilometres away in Norway this week, the Scandinavian country's Climate and Environmental Research Institute NILU said on Friday.

Sudanese authorities loyal to the regular army have declared UN envoy Volker Perthes "persona non grata", accusing him of taking sides in nearly two months of devastating fighting with rival paramilitaries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed former Wall Street executive Hafize Gaye Erkan as central bank governor on Friday, signalling a possible shift from his unconventional policies to fight soaring inflation.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will make a state visit to China next week, Beijing said Friday, after China expressed readiness to help facilitate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Austria international Konrad Laimer has joined Bayern Munich on a free transfer from RB Leipzig, the Bavarian club announced on Friday.

Fighting raged Friday in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian official said, with observers seeing the combat as the possible start of Kyiv's long-expected offensive.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic meet in a blockbuster French Open semi-final at Roland Garros on Friday in a clash which could define the balance of power in men's tennis in the seasons ahead.

Ten years after a giant inflatable yellow duck captivated crowds in Hong Kong, the art installation returned to the city's Victoria Harbour on Friday as a double-bill exhibition.

Stocks rallied again on Friday, fired by renewed optimism that the Federal Reserve will hold off lifting interest rates next week as fresh data indicated further tightening in the US labour market.

Deep in South Africa's semi-desert Karoo region, a glittery drag show in an old hilltop hotel brings a burst of weekly excitement to a sleepy conservative town.

In a remote pocket of the Brazilian Amazon under siege from illegal fishermen, poachers, loggers and drug traffickers, Indigenous people have taken it upon themselves to defend the land and its resources.

A new museum packed with hundreds of treasures collected by Spain's monarchs over the past five centuries is set to open in Madrid this month.

Carter Verhaeghe's game-winner in overtime lifted Florida to a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday as the Panthers clawed back a game in the NHL Stanley Cup final.

"It's a dream come true," said Filipina tourist Isabel Palijon, staring in wonder at a wooden pier framed by the turquoise waters of a Swiss lake and the towering Alps behind.

Scaling Everest is always dangerous, but expedition organisers have warned that a combination of extreme weather, corner-cutting on safety, and inexperienced and "impatient" foreign climbers has resulted in one of the peak's deadliest mountaineering seasons.

Huddled inside a tent in rebel-held northwestern Syria, Umm Khaled says she fears her baby will die unless she gets specialist treatment in neighbouring Turkey for a congenital heart defect.

The Sudanese government has declared United Nations envoy Volker Perthes "persona non grata", two weeks after the army chief accused him of stoking the country's civil conflict and sought to have him removed from his post.