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

As Hollywood grapples with existential questions and fickle audiences, one of its top stars, Ryan Gosling, has a simple credo.

Two more players of the Iranian women's football team, which competed in the Asian Cup in Australia, and one member of the backroom staff have withdrawn their requests for asylum in the country, Iranian state media said on Saturday.

Austrian Julia Scheib won her fifth giant slalom of the season in Are on Saturday to secure the discipline globe for the first time with US star Mikaela Shiffrin finishing fifth after a scare to remain on track for the overall World Cup title.

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine, who has been in hiding since a January presidential election he alleged was stolen, announced Saturday that he has left the country.

France's Dorian Godon won Saturday's shortened seventh and penultimate stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race with Dane Jonas Vingegaard poised for overall victory.

Kharg Island, targeted in US air strikes on Saturday, is a scrubby stretch of land in the Gulf that handles almost all of Iran's crude exports.

Russian skier Varvara Voronchikhina secured her second gold medal of the Milan-Cortina Paralympics on Saturday as she won the women's slalom standing, securing her nation's fifth gold under its own flag at the 2026 Games.

An overnight blast against an exterior wall of a Jewish school in Amsterdam did not cause any injuries, Mayor Femke Halsema said Saturday, denouncing "a cowardly act of aggression".

Israel said the war against Iran was entering its "decisive phase" on Saturday, as explosions rocked cities across the Middle East, with strikes on the US embassy in Baghdad and a major Emirati energy facility.

Defending champions China scored twice in extra-time to book a blockbuster semi-final against hosts Australia at the Women's Asian Cup Saturday with a dominant South Korea joining them in the last four.

Hezbollah suffered heavy losses in a war with Israel more than a year ago, but the Shia movement has now regrouped only to end up fighting what it has called an "existential battle" and which some warn could be its last.

India on Saturday ended the preventive detention of prominent Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, freeing him six months after he was held over protests in the Himalayan region.

The men's world cup super-G event at Courchevel has been cancelled due to heavy snow and fog, the International Ski Federation said on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday, becoming the youngest driver to achieve the feat in Formula One history.

World champion Lando Norris admitted Saturday that McLaren had a performance deficit to Mercedes and Ferrari after he and teammate Oscar Piastri qualified fifth and sixth for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The men's world cup super-G event at Courchevel has been postponed due to heavy snow and fog, the International Ski Federation said on Saturday.

Explosions rocked cities across the Middle East on Saturday as the US embassy in Baghdad was hit by a drone strike and Tehran warned Emiratis to stay away from ports as it targets the world's energy supply lines.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen cut a disconsolate figure Saturday after qualifying only eighth for the Chinese Grand Prix, saying every lap in his underperforming Red Bull was about "survival".

The 19-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday, becoming the youngest driver to achieve the feat in Formula One history.

Defending champions China scored twice in extra-time to book a blockbuster semi-final with hosts Australia at the Women's Asian Cup after a tense 2-0 win over Taiwan on Saturday.

North Korea fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the sea of Japan Saturday, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of "terrible consequences" over South Korea-US military drills.

Already the continent's biggest single supplier of natural gas since Russia invaded Ukraine, Norway is hoping to use the Middle East war to get European Union blessing to drill in the Arctic.

An "Origami Deer" statue rescued from a Ukrainian city destroyed and occupied by Moscow's army is touring six European countries before featuring at the 61st Venice Biennale, which has sparked outrage over the inclusion of Russian artists.

On the outskirts of the town of God, not far from Budapest, white smoke rises from a Samsung electric vehicle battery factory accused of exposing workers to cancer-causing chemicals, with Hungary's government under attack for failing to shut it down.

Coach Nils Nielsen said Saturday Japan have the tools to take apart the Philippines in their Women's Asian Cup quarter-final as the ominous two-time champions bid to keep a fourth straight clean-sheet.

Iran threatened Saturday to reduce US-linked oil facilities to "a pile of ashes" as the two-week-old Middle East war spilled over into a global oil price crisis.

George Russell won "a pretty fun" sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday, as the Mercedes driver continued his early-season dominance by leading home both Ferraris to extend his world championship lead.

George Russell won a breathless sprint for Mercedes on Saturday at the Chinese Grand Prix, with the first 100km dash in the new era of Formula One witnessing a late safety car and multiple lead changes.

Aryna Sabalenka roared past Linda Noskova on Friday to book an Indian Wells title showdown with Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina.

The United States struggled to another major sporting victory over border rival Canada on Friday to reach the World Baseball Classic semi-finals, where the Americans will face the unbeaten Dominican Republic.

Threatened by volleys of Hezbollah rockets and missiles from Iran, residents of Arab towns in northern Israel are complaining about a lack of public shelters.

Evan Mobley matched a season high with 29 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers cruised to a 138-105 NBA victory at Dallas on Friday with every player scoring in the rout.

Iran's leaders are seeking to show the staying power of their near half-century old clerical-based system and prove that it can withstand the killing of its longtime ruler and war with United States and Israel, analysts said.

US-Israeli strikes killed Iran's leader but have not toppled the government, which now, from its perch on the Strait of Hormuz, has put the entire world economy on the war's frontlines.

Star striker Sam Kerr said she was aiming to play at a fifth World Cup in 2027 after Australia became the first team to qualify for the global showpiece in Brazil.

Republican leaders in the US Congress are facing mounting pressure to respond to anti-Muslim rhetoric after a series of inflammatory remarks and policy proposals reignited debate over Islamophobia in American politics.

Just over two weeks before President Donald Trump is due to meet his counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, Chinese uncertainty over the US leader's goals and the impact of the Iran war hang over the highly anticipated state visit.

It's Oscars time, and 10 films are in the running for best picture -- Hollywood's most prestigious prize.

Austin Wells smashed the game-winning home run and unbeaten Dominican Republic advanced to the World Baseball Classic semi-finals with a 10-0 romp over South Korea on Friday.