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

Shanghai's grinding coronavirus lockdown is slowly clogging China's supply chains, as delays hit the world's busiest container port where staff are tangled in a morass of Covid controls.

The Thursday confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court marks an undeniable success for Joe Biden, with the American president in dire need of fresh political uplift months before midterm elections.

Israeli police said Friday they had shot dead a Palestinian gunman who had killed two people and wounded several others in Tel Aviv sparking an overnight manhunt, the latest in a surge of violence.

Drivers enthusiastically welcomed on Friday Las Vegas hosting a night-time Formula 1 grand prix, but voiced concern that traditional races in Europe could pay the price as the sport expands in new directions.

Working with rich fabrics, fine lace and flowers, gay stylists have long played a key role in dressing the Virgin Mary figures carried through the streets of southern Spain during Holy Week.

For a dozen Ukrainian scientists thousands of kilometers from home at the Vernadsky Antarctic base, the biting cold hurts less than the feeling of helplessness over the war in their homeland.

The first fully private mission to the International Space Station is set to blast off Friday with a four-member crew from startup company Axiom Space.

Along a riverbank scarred by logging, Joseph Mwandenge Mangi points out a solitary mangrove tree, a species once abundant in the forest where the mighty Sabaki River meets the sea.

Torrential rains and flooding have killed at least 12 people at a mining camp in mountainous northwest Colombia, with another two reported missing and more damage expected, authorities said Thursday.

In the shadow of Lahore's centuries-old Badshahi Mosque, Zohaib Hassan plucks at the strings of a sarangi, filling the streets with a melodious hum and cry.

The mother of a French diver missing off the coast of Malaysia said Friday she is "hoping for the best" as the search for the teenager and two other Europeans entered a third day.

An Australian aviation company says it has received more than 100 threats following an online conspiracy theory that its pilots unleashed a flooding disaster by cloud seeding.

Carlos Sainz ruthlessly outpaced Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc and world champion Max Verstappen to clock the fastest time in opening practice at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday.

For centuries the impressive arcades flanking St Mark's Square in Venice have embodied the watery city's elegance, harmony and architectural significance.

Civilians in eastern Ukraine struggled to evacuate Friday as Russia redirects its firepower, with President Volodymyr Zelensky warning of "even more horrific" devastation being uncovered around the capital.

Every five years French goose farmer Frederic Coudray-Ozbolt revels in the attention his quiet village receives when journalists come knocking at presidential election time.

Asian markets limped into the weekend Friday at the end of a tough week dominated by the Federal Reserve's hawkish tone that has set up an aggressive tightening of monetary policy, while oil drifted after another series of losses.

Indian Hindu hardliners have jumped on an explosive new film endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the mass flight of Hindus from Kashmir 30 years ago to stir up hatred against minority Muslims.

Formula One drivers have been reminded that they are not allowed to wear jewellery while racing, prompting Lewis Hamilton to joke Friday he had piercings he can't take out.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso on Friday said he planned to keep racing for at least two or three years more, denying feeling pressure to step aside for a younger driver.

Tesla welcomed throngs of electric car lovers to Texas Thursday for a huge party dubbed a "cyber rodeo" to inaugurate a manufacturing plant the size of 100 soccer fields.

A whistle reverberates through a sugar factory in central Cuba to signal the resumption of milling at midday after an hours-long halt when the raw cane ran out.

Mexico will hold its first presidential recall referendum on Sunday, promoted by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on whether he should complete his six-year term -- an exercise that has split public opinion.

Troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba has said it is suspending its plan to split into two after last month's shareholder vote against the idea and will now weigh the possibility of going private.

Rory McIlroy stumbled six strokes adrift in Thursday's opening round of the 86th Masters, his bid to complete a career Grand Slam in trouble after shooting a one-over par 73.

Augusta National's reputation for decorum proved no match for Matthew Wolff's Masters frustrations on Thursday.

A little practice with his driver and some inspiration from his father buoyed South Korean Im Sung-jae as he seized the first-round lead at the Masters on Thursday.

While Tiger Woods fought off pain to walk around Augusta National, none of his rivals managed to run away with a huge lead Thursday at the 86th Masters.

Academy governors including Steven Spielberg and Whoopi Goldberg were due to meet Friday to discuss possible sanctions against Will Smith for slapping comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars last month.

Step by painful step, Tiger Woods made an amazing return to golf Thursday at the Masters, yet the key to his green jacket chances could come from icy recovery treatments.

The United Nations suspended Russia from the Human Rights Council on Thursday, as US President Joe Biden called the atrocities continuing to emerge in Ukraine an "outrage" to humanity.

A former Doctors Without Borders (MSF) worker held for three months in Syria in 2014 by the Islamic State group testified on Thursday to the particularly brutal treatment meted out to American and British hostages.