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• The 2026 FIFA World Cup will feature a record 48 national teams competing in 104 matches, including debutants Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. • The final will take place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and will introduce a Super Bowl-style halftime show featuring headliners Shakira, Madonna, and BTS. • A new disciplinary rule will be implemented, where players who cover their mouths during confrontations with opponents risk receiving a red card and immediate dismissal.

• Singer-songwriter P!nk hosted The 79th Tony Awards on Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in New York. • The event celebrated excellence in live Broadway theater, featuring a mix of awards and performances. • This annual ceremony serves as a critical industry benchmark for recognizing the best in theatrical production and performance.

• A new report from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program reveals that global conflict levels have reached their highest point since World War II. • The data highlights a surge in one-sided violence in Africa, specifically citing massacres in El Fasher as a primary driver. • This escalation marks the most severe level of one-sided violence seen on the continent since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Sharp rise in hospital visits will in turn drive up annual healthcare costs for heat-related conditions to over $1bnPeople in the US are poised to endure another summer of unusually ferocious heat and there will be little respite in the years ahead, with a new study finding that the coming 15 years could see a doubling in hospitalizations due to heat-related illnesses.The number of annual heat-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations across the US are set to rise from about 109,000 cases a year to as many as 237,000 cases by 2040, the new research has estimated. Continue reading...

• Football writers are providing live updates and a countdown leading up to the World Cup 2026 opening ceremony scheduled for Thursday. • The coverage includes a current ranking or listing of 48 competing nations, featuring top teams like Argentina, France, and Spain, as well as Scotland and Norway. • Recent reports highlight tensions between teams, specifically noting that Norway has labeled Scotland as "unprofessional."

Police and hunters in Utsunomiya, 100km north of the capital, resume their search for animal that is not usually seen so close to TokyoA city in Japan has closed all its 94 primary and secondary schools after a bear was spotted in the municipality for the first time.Officials in Utsunomiya, a city of half a million people about 100km (62 miles) north of Tokyo, took action after a medium-sized black bear – estimated to be about one-metre-long – was seen near a park in the city on Saturday. The bear was spotted again on CCTV running just in front of two startled young men in the city centre, in the early hours of Sunday. Continue reading...

• The upcoming World Cup will feature an expanded format with 48 teams and 104 matches hosted across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. • The event faces unprecedented security challenges due to its scale and the current climate of global tensions and rising political violence. • To manage risks, the tournament has been granted a high-level federal security designation, similar to the Super Bowl, to ensure seamless coordination between federal, state, and local agencies.