New Zealand

Australia left its key interest rate unchanged yesterday, with central bank governor Philip Lowe saying previous hikes were "working" but the outlook was uncertain.

The pause is the second in a row that the rate has been kept on hold at 4.1 percent, following a string of rises aimed at taming runaway prices.

A gunman killed two people and wounded six others at a building site in central Auckland Thursday, hours before New Zealand's biggest city was to host the opening match of the 2023 FIFA football World Cup.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the gunman died at the scene and there was no national security threat, so the marquee tournament would go ahead as planned.

Park Eun-seon was "humiliated" a decade ago by unfounded claims about her sex but has put the episode behind her to stand on the cusp of a third Women's World Cup.

And now the 36-year-old South Korean forward, who played her first World Cup 20 years ago, told AFP that she has one more ambition in what will be her farewell to the tournament.

Jitka Klimkova says her New Zealand team must get "gritty" if it is to end its 32-year wait for a first Women's World Cup win and avoid embarrassment on home soil.

The co-host kicks the tournament off with a tough test against Norway at Eden Park in Auckland on July 20, before matches against Switzerland and minnow the Philippines.

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo's status for the FIBA World Cup is uncertain following knee surgery, The Athletic reported Wednesday.

The World Cup runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. Antetokounmpo and Greece are in Group C with the United States, Jordan and New Zealand.

Giant center Han Xu sank 26 points as China stunned five-time defending champion Japan 73-71 Sunday to win its first women's Asia Cup basketball title in more than a decade.

New York Liberty's Han also made 10 rebounds and two assists at Sydney Olympic Park while fellow superstar Li Meng poured in 17 points to hand world number two China's its 12th crown and first since 2011.

Elon Musk and China's industry minister discussed ways to develop new energy vehicles yesterday, a day after the Tesla CEO flew into Beijing and declared he wanted to expand his business in the world's second largest economy.

The mercurial billionaire, one of the world's richest men, is on his first trip to China in more than three years.

NASA launched two small satellites designed to track tropical cyclones hour by hour from a base in New Zealand yesterday, in a project that could improve weather predictions on devastating storms.

Kemal Derviş, Türkiye's former economy minister, has died at the age of 74 in the hospital in Washington where he received treatment.

The former minister had been receiving Parkinson's treatment in the U.S. for a while.

Derviş served as the Economy Minister during an economic crisis in 2000 and 2001, and then was elected as a deputy of the Republican People's Party (CHP).

After the second mass shooting in Serbia in 48 hours, President Aleksandar Vucic compared the situation in the country today to the 9/11 attacks in the United States and to the mass murders in Christchurch, New Zealand. In an emotional address to the nation, he announced that the most important goal now is to protect the children and police units will be stationed in front of all schools.