Author: The Guardian

North Korea has abruptly cancelled its 2026 World Cup qualifying match with Japan next week, leaving organisers frantically searching for an alternative venue.North Korea reportedly decided it would no longer host the match, which had been scheduled for next Tuesday at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, a day before the teams met in Tokyo on Thursday in the first of their two Asian qualifying Group B qualifiers.Minutes after that game, which Japan won 1-0, Kozo Tashima, the president of the Japan Football Association, told reporters that the return match in the North Korean capital would not go ahead.The Asian…

A Damien Hirst shark preserved in formaldehyde purchased by an American billionaire dates from the 1990s, although it was not produced until 2017.The 4-meter (13-foot) tiger shark, dissected into three parts, is the centerpiece of the lounge bar at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. It first appeared in Casino six years ago under the title: Unknown (Exploration, Explanation, Explosion), 1999.However, an investigation by The Guardian confirmed that the work was created in 2017, nearly two decades after it was made public. The sculpture was bought by billionaire brothers Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III, and is said to…

A Louisiana man who resigned as a Roman Catholic deacon after a priest at whose side he served sexually molested his son has been excommunicated from the church by his local diocese, a remarkably harsh punishment that his child’s abuser does not appear to have faced.Scott Peyton’s excommunication from the Catholic church at the hands of bishop J Douglas Deshotel comes as the latter’s Lafayette diocese has asked Louisiana’s supreme court to strike down a law that retroactively and temporarily eliminated filing deadlines for lawsuits demanding damages for childhood sexual abuse from years ago.The law which lawyers for the Lafayette…

Malaysia has refused to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to cost uncertainty and insufficient funding, the government said on Friday, a major setback for the quadrennial multi-sport event.Malaysia was asked to step in, with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) providing £100 million in support after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew from hosting, citing inflated costs. The latest decision raises the possibility that the Olympics may not go ahead for the first time since they were canceled during World War II.Officials said the funding provided was insufficient for Malaysia to commit to hosting the event on such a short…

In 1996, when I was 10 years old, my mother and I moved to Gamboa, a neighbourhood by the waterfront in the Port Zone of Rio de Janeiro. When I got married in 1977, we stayed in the area, had three kids and set up a pest control company.In 1990, we bought our first house there. It had a strange layout: when you entered, you had to go down a very long corridor. It was also very old, so we knew we would have to do some building work. We had dreams of adding a second floor, so each of our children could have their own room.The work finally began in…

Freestyle Chess, which debuted last month, has confirmed plans to expand to five continents next year and recruit the top 25 elite grandmasters to join a new club of competitors. This variant, also known as Fischer Random and Chess 960, has a back row of pieces on either side of a random square, with the black pieces placed equally and opposite the white pieces.German promoter Jan Buettner, who made his fortune from AOL Europe by leading the Freestyle chess competition alongside world number one Magnus Carlsen, has launched Freestyle International Prize money for the Chess Grand Slam Tour, in which…

The prosecution: Jason My stomach just can’t handle this much chilli. Jamal even puts it in spaghetti bolognese! My housemate Jamal and I take it in turns to cook each week, but when it’s his week he makes food that’s way too spicy for me. He says I should just “man up” and upgrade my palate, but it’s not that easy.I’m from a British/Irish background and he has Jamaican and Nigerian heritage, so he grew up on a spicier diet. Whenever Jamal cooks, he does a spicy curry or really well-seasoned chicken, and my digestive system just can’t handle it. I love…

McLaren boss Zak Brown has expressed frustration that multiple scandals have clouded the start of the Formula One season.A day earlier, the ethics committee of F1’s governing body, the FIA, cleared its president Mohammed bin Sulayem of “any wrongdoing” over interference allegations.Ben Sulayem has twice been accused by whistleblowers of trying to improperly influence the F1 process.Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton lashed out at Bensulayem on Thursday, saying he had never supported the FIA ​​president.Brawn believes the secrecy surrounding the FIA ​​needs to stop.”We live in 2024, not 1984, and that means full transparency,” he said Friday.”I think we need…

In autumn 2018, a shipping container full of air pollution measurement equipment arrived in the centre of the small German village of Melpitz.Dr Dominik van Pinxteren of the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research explained the reason for their investigation: “We were concerned that wood burning could be an important source of particle pollution in small villages, but these areas are not adequately covered by official air quality monitoring networks.”Located in Saxony and surrounded by agricultural land and pasture, Melpitz is home to about 200 people. They live in 63 houses, mostly heated by oil or wood central heating, with a…

England captain Heather Knight scored her second consecutive half-century in the second match of the T20 international series against New Zealand to lead her team to a 15-run victory.England currently lead 2-0 in the five-match series.Knight, the man of the match, smashed 56 off 40 balls at Nelson’s Saxton Oval as England led 149-7.She was the only batsman to score more than 20, with Tamsin Beaumont hitting 19 and Charlie Dean hitting 16.Bowlers Rosemary Mair and Sophie Devine were selected for the New Zealand team and took two wickets each.Ameila Kerr scored 44 off 36 balls to give the White…