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

A deal to raise the US debt ceiling passed its first major test in Congress Tuesday, surviving a crucial procedural vote amid a conservative backlash that resurrected the threat of the country's first-ever default.

Two of late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic's spy chiefs face an appeals judgment Wednesday in the final Hague war crimes trial from the 1990s Bosnian conflict.

Canada is grappling with a ticking time bomb of violence, addiction and suicide linked to failing mental health services for its young people.

In his four years as president, Nayib Bukele has shaken up El Salvador: consolidating power, making Bitcoin legal tender and waging a "war" on gangs that's earned him opprobrium from rights groups but adoration from a crime-fatigued nation.

Brazil's lower house of Congress approved on Tuesday a bill that would limit expanded demarcations of Indigenous lands, which are considered key to protecting the Amazon and its native peoples.

Desperate. Urgent. Maniacal. Psychotic. Incredible. Unique. World class.

Nikola Jokic can cap an improbable journey to the pinnacle of his sport by leading the Denver Nuggets to a first ever championship when the NBA Finals get under way on Thursday.

A Denver Nuggets squad looking to prove its championship quality and an upstart Miami Heat lineup that made defying the odds a trademark are on an NBA Finals collision course.

North Korea launched a military spy satellite Wednesday, but it crashed into the sea soon after as an "accident occurred" during its flight, state media said.

North Korea launched its purported spy satellite Wednesday, the South's military said, prompting confusion in Seoul as the city briefly issued an evacuation warning in error.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Tuesday he was encouraged by the reaction of Ukraine and Russia to "concrete principles" laid out by the body to prevent catastrophe at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

North Korea launched its purported spy satellite Wednesday, the South's military said, prompting confusion in Seoul as the city briefly issued an evacuation warning in error.

The United Nations said Tuesday it is ready to start salvage work on an oil tanker stranded off Yemen's coast with more than one million barrels of crude that pose an acute risk to the environment.

North Korea has fired what it claims is a "space launch vehicle", the South's military said early Wednesday, prompting confusion in Seoul as the city briefly issued an evacuation warning in error.

World number two Daniil Medvedev was knocked out of the French Open in the first round on Tuesday, losing in five sets to 172nd-ranked Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil as Roland Garros attempted to move on from Novak Djokovic's Kosovo controversy.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for South American unity Tuesday as he hosted fellow leaders for a regional "retreat," but drew barbs for his warm welcome of Venezuelan socialist Nicolas Maduro.

Mauro Icardi scored twice as Galatasaray sealed the Turkish league title for a 23rd time with a 4-1 win at Ankaragucu on Tuesday.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Tuesday urged Ukraine and Russia to adhere to "concrete principles" to prevent nuclear catastrophe at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Los Angeles FC will attempt to become only the third Major League Soccer team to win CONCACAF's top club competition when they face Mexican side Leon in the first leg of the Champions League final on Wednesday.

NATO's chief voiced guarded optimism Tuesday on welcoming Sweden to the alliance as the United States pressed holdout Turkey to drop its objections, two days after President Tayyip Recep Erdogan won re-election.

US political leaders scrambled Tuesday to push through legislation to suspend the national debt limit and avert economic catastrophe as a growing conservative backlash threatened to sink the deal at its first major hurdle.

Daniil Medvedev backed 172nd-ranked Thiago Seyboth Wild to break the top 30 by the end of the year after suffering a shock French Open first round exit at the hands of the Brazilian on Tuesday.

An American man on trial for massacring 11 Jewish worshippers in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history methodically tracked down victims at a synagogue, prosecutors said in opening arguments Tuesday.

Burkina Faso's prime minister on Tuesday ruled out negotiations with jihadist insurgents who control swathes of the country, while suggesting that security risks could delay the country's return to civilian rule.

Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers, who has played a pivotal part in the franchise's success over the past decade, is stepping down, ESPN reported on Tuesday.

Disgraced biotech star Elizabeth Holmes began serving her 11-year sentence for defrauding investors in a Texas prison on Tuesday.

World 100m silver medallist Marvin Bracy-Williams says Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs needs to do his talking on the track after the Italian pulled out of a key matchup with an injury.

World number two Daniil Medvedev was knocked out of the French Open in the first round on Tuesday, losing in five sets to 172nd-ranked Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil as Roland Garros attempted to move on from Novak Djokovic's Kosovo controversy.

Tensions are running high in Kosovo after the election of ethnic Albanian mayors in Serb-majority towns, yet another divisive issue that has raised fears of a new regional crisis.

Josh Tongue is set to make his England debut after being named Tuesday in the XI to play Ireland in this week's one-off Test at Lord's.

Five men in the UK who illegally streamed English Premier League football matches to tens of thousands of people were jailed on Tuesday, the league announced.

Jose Mourinho said Tuesday that "history does not play" as he prepares his Roma team to face Europa League specialists Sevilla in Wednesday's final in Budapest.