World

A campaigning Nigerian chess champion has played the game non-stop for 58 hours to break the world record. Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1m (£800,000) for children’s education across Africa through the marathon attempt that began in New York City’s Times Square on Wednesday. He crossed the 58-hour mark in the early hours of

Injuries and “material losses” have been reported after a large explosion at a military base in Iraq. The cause of the blast – at the Kalsu facility in the city of Babylon – is currently unconfirmed However, two security sources told the Reuters news agency an air strike from an unknown source was to blame.

The strongest of Iran’s proxies – the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon – has been almost dismissive in its response to the overnight events in Isfahan. In the first public statement, the deputy secretary general of Hezbollah Sheikh Naim Qassem seemed to express disdain at what they appear to be judging as Israel’s low-level response. “They

Donald Trump described the hush money case against him as a “mess” after the jury who will decide his fate has been selected. Leaving the court in New York after proceedings were adjourned for the day, Trump addressed reporters, saying he was supposed to be in states like Georgia, New Hampshire and North Carolina as

A bishop who was stabbed during a church service in Australia has said he forgives his alleged attacker. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel said in a video message on Facebook he is “recovering quickly” and urged the community to remain calm and not retaliate. He was attacked on Monday at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd

A woman has been arrested in Brazil after she brought a 68-year-old man who had been dead for hours into a bank to sign for a loan. Erika Vieira Nunes wheeled the corpse into the bank in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro and told an employee that the man wanted a loan for 17,000

The father of a 16-year-old accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader has said. The boy spoke in Arabic about the Prophet Muhammad after he appeared to stab Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Reverend Isaac Royel during a church service in Sydney

Tourists visiting Catalonia in Spain could be subject to water restrictions as the region battles a “drought emergency”, the regional government has said. Catalan officials warned a restriction of 100 litres (26 gallons) per tourist per day for hotels would go into effect if a municipality fails to keep domestic water use by residents below

The flame that will burn at the Paris Olympics has been kindled at the site of the ancient games in Greece. During a ceremony, an actress dressed as an ancient Greek priestess was supposed to use the sun to ignite the silver torch, but cloudy skies meant a backup flame was used to light it

The owners of a US funeral home have been accused of spending nearly $900,000 (£723,000) in pandemic relief funds on things such as holidays, cosmetic surgery, jewellery and cryptocurrency. Jon and Carie Hallford, owners of Return To Nature Funeral Home in Colorado, already face more than 200 criminal charges connected to last year’s discovery of

Four people have been stabbed during a service at a church in Sydney. A video online appears to show Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being attacked during the service at the Christ the Good Shepherd church. It’s not clear what he was attacked with. Members of the congregation can be heard screaming and rushing to help

The man who fatally stabbed six people at a Sydney shopping centre appears to have been targeting women, police have said. Joel Cauchi, 40, has been identified by police as the man who took a knife from his backpack at Westfield shopping centre in Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon and killed five women and a

A date has been set for Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to UFC. After nearly three years out, McGregor will step back into the octagon at UFC 303 on 29 June. Dana White confirmed that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion will fight Michael Chandler. The UFC confirmed the welterweight bout following UFC 300 in

There have been several moments in the last six months when the feeling of acute geopolitical anxiety from the Middle East could be felt in Washington DC. In the hours after the Hamas attacks of 7 October there was a profound sense of “what now?” Since then, there have been a few anxious inflection points.

Six people have been killed and several are in a critical condition, including a baby, after stabbings at a shopping centre near Bondi Beach in Sydney. Police said the attacker, believed to be a 40-year-old man, acted alone and was shot dead by an officer who confronted him on her own. Authorities said the suspect