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

Smoke from an Israeli strike still lingered in the air as a plane from Lebanon's national carrier took off from Beirut airport, which has stayed open despite the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah.

American and Iranian officials were holding face-to-face talks in Pakistan on Saturday, the most significant since the 1979 Islamic revolution as the foes try to end a war that plunged the Middle East into violence and rocked the world economy.

Carlos Alcaraz lined up a blockbuster Monte Carlo Masters final with chief rival Jannik Sinner after the Spaniard ended the run of local boy Valentin Vacherot in the last four on Saturday.

World champion Tadej Pogacar admitted on Saturday that he is dreaming of winning Paris-Roubaix and completing cycling's 'Monument' clean-sweep.

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday was a "big punch in the face", calling on his players to stand up as the club's Premier League title charge threatens to unravel.

Shreyas Iyer led from the front with an unbeaten 69 to steer Punjab Kings to a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a high-scoring IPL contest on Saturday.

Arsenal suffered a huge blow in the Premier League title race on Saturday, losing 2-1 at home to Bournemouth to give Manchester City renewed hope of catching the long-time leaders.

They came from around the world: hundreds of journalists rushed to Islamabad's flagship convention centre -- converted into a media hub by Pakistani authorities for landmark talks between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East.

Rory McIlroy's astonishing finish to grab a Masters record six-stroke lead after 36 holes remained the talk of Augusta National as Saturday's third round began.

World No.2 Jannik Sinner eased his way into the final of the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time with a clinical 6-1, 6-4 semi-final win over Alexander Zverev on Saturday.

Arsenal suffered a huge blow in the Premier League title race on Saturday, losing 2-1 at home to Bournemouth to give Manchester City renewed hope they can catch the long-time leaders.

Senior Iranian and American officials began negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday, Iranian media reported, in a bid to bring to an end the Middle East war which plunged the region into violence and sent shockwaves through the world economy.

A temporary truce between Russia and Ukraine entered into force on Saturday, with Kyiv warning it would respond "immediately" if Russia violated it.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners Saturday but also fired waves of drones at each other overnight, just hours before a temporary ceasefire was set to take effect for Orthodox Easter, according to officials.

Britain indicated Saturday it would shelve plans to hand back the Chagos Islands -- which hosts a strategic US-UK military base -- after US President Donald Trump strongly criticised the deal.

Senior Iranian and American delegations met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Saturday to begin negotiations towards a deal to end the Middle East war unleashed six weeks earlier by US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.

In a first for Europe, the Netherlands is poised to allow Tesla owners to use their car's self-driving feature -- as long as they are in the vehicle and keeping a watchful eye over it.

Pop princess Sabrina Carpenter took fans on a nostalgic journey through a Hollywood-themed fantasy world dubbed "Sabrinawood" on Friday as Coachella wrapped up its first day in the California desert.

Some three-quarters of the airstrikes during the Middle East war targeted sites in Iran or Lebanon, according to an AFP analysis of data from ACLED, a non‑profit that tracks political violence worldwide.

An Iranian government delegation met Pakistan's prime minister on Saturday to discuss the terms of planned "make or break" negotiations to end the Middle East war with a US party led by Vice President JD Vance.

Britain is shelving its plan to hand back the Chagos Islands -- which hosts the strategic Diego Garcia US-UK military base -- according to a government spokesperson Saturday, following strong opposition from US President Donald Trump.

Russia and Ukraine fired waves of drones at each other between late Friday and early Saturday, just hours before a temporary ceasefire between the two was set to take effect for Orthodox Easter, according to officials.

Somalia president Hassan Mohamud congratulated football referee Omar Artan who has made history as the first Somalian to be selected to officiate at the World Cup finals.

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad on Saturday for talks with Iran that the Pakistani premier hosting the warring sides called a "make or break" effort to permanently halt weeks of fighting in the Middle East.

With Artemis II successfully completing its historic lunar mission on Friday, NASA is banking on billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk for the next step: landing astronauts on the Moon.

Tourists crowded beneath the Door of No Return, an arch built by the beach at Ouidah in southern Benin in memory of those crammed onto slave ships bound for the New World.

Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage won a decisive doubles rubber to power Britain into the Billie Jean King Cup finals on Saturday with an emphatic 3-0 thumping of Australia.

When NASA flight director Zebulon Scoville was working a shift during the uncrewed Artemis I test flight, he realized the US space agency wasn't consistently livestreaming the spacecraft's journey to Earth.

A temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine for Orthodox Easter is set to begin on Saturday afternoon, as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war falter.

The Atlanta Hawks secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own.

US President Donald Trump's administration on Friday revealed renderings for a colossal triumphal arch proposed for construction in Washington near some of the nation's most revered monuments.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party is poised to secure a majority in parliament in by-elections Monday, but a year into his tenure, hints of vulnerability may be emerging.

From false claims that a historic lunar fly-by was staged in a movie studio to unfounded narratives that footage of the crew was AI-generated, the Artemis II mission has been clouded by a blizzard of misinformation.

Rory McIlroy spent nine days over his three-week PGA Tour break making visits to Augusta National, practice that has helped him seize the greatest 36-hole lead in Masters history.

From undercover police to panic buttons, bus drivers in Peru's capital Lima are pulling out all the stops to protect themselves from attack by extortion gangs, a key theme in Sunday's presidential election.

Iran and the United States were scheduled to hold peace talks in Pakistan on Saturday with the foes appearing to be far apart on key demands and expressing mutual mistrust.

The NASA spacecraft carrying four astronauts splashed down as planned Friday off the California coast, capping the US space agency's successful crewed test mission around the Moon, the first such flyby in more than 50 years.

The NASA spacecraft carrying four astronauts splashed down as planned Friday off the California coast, capping the US space agency's successful crewed test mission around the Moon, the first such flyby in more than 50 years.

An hour's drive north of New York City, the greenhouses at Cropsey Farm are seeing their first leaves of kale, spinach and arugula emerge. But the farmer who runs the outfit is obsessed with something else: the soaring price of fuel.