World

Alexander Zverev is guaranteed to finish the 2026 season as world number one after Carlos Alcaraz's surprise defeat in the Shanghai Masters. German Zverev was on course to climb above current world number one Jannik Sinner, who has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury. Alcaraz still had a mathematical chance of stopping Zverev until he was beaten 7-5 7-6 (7-4) by Belgium's Zizou Bergs in the third round on Monday. "It's been a fantastic season for me. Knowing that I will finish the year on top of the rankings is just a dream come true," said Zverev. After losing three major finals, Zverev landed the first Grand Slam title of his career by winning the French Open in June, and followed that with victory at the US Open last month. The 29-year-old has taken advantage of the injury problems suffered by Spaniard Alcaraz and Italian Sinner - the dominant pair on the ATP Tour in the previous two seasons - to become the world's leading player. Zverev cannot overtake Sinner until 2 November at the earliest. He will become the first German man to end the year as number one, and the oldest player to achieve the feat for the first time.

After a season in which the DP World Tour granted conditional releases to LIV Golf players, the circuit has decided not to allow those still playing in the new version of the league to participate in its tournaments The DP World Tour will not allow golfers who participate in LIV Golf 2.0 to join its league during the 2027 season, according to BBC Sport. The decision comes five weeks before players must commit to the European circuit ahead of a year in which participation will dictate eligibility for the Ryder Cup. In order to be eligible for selection to the biennial event, a European golfer must be a member of the DP World Tour. Those who continue to participate in LIV Golf will effectively forfeit their opportunity to play for the blue and gold at Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland, next fall. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were the only European players from LIV Golf to play under captain Luke Donald at Bethpage Black in 2025. "Players need to make a choice," CEO of the DP World Tour, Guy Kinnings, told BBC Sport. "We have rules and regulations which are there to protect our tour and which our members must all abide by.

The end of the world is just a month away, according to a scientific paper published 66 years ago. The 1960 paper, published in the prestigious journal Science, predicted the date of Doomsday would be Friday 13th of November, 2026. Written by Austrian American physicist Heinz von Foerster alongside researchers from the University of Illinois, the study analysed historical demographic trends to conclude that world population growth was hyper-exponential. “At this date human population will approach infinity if it grows as it has grown in the last two millennia,” the paper stated. “Our great-great-grandchildren will not starve. They will be squeezed to death.”The paper’s publication proved controversial among demographers at the time, but its predictions about global population remained accurate until the 1990s. Birth rates have since plummeted and recent forecasts from the United Nations World Population Prospects suggest the world’s population will peak at around 10.3 billion in 2084 before declining.

Pope Leo XIV greets a child during a meeting with members and volunteers of the Circolo San Pietro at the Vatican Oct. 12, 2026. Political and religious leaders worldwide offered prayers and support for Pope Leo after he announced Oct. 11 that he will undergo surgery to remove a small, localized lung nodule detected by doctors. (OSV News photo/Matteo Pernaselci, Vatican Media) (OSV News) — Prominent political and religious leaders from around the world expressed well wishes and prayers for Pope Leo XIV after he announced he would undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule.

4 days agoMadison ChapmanAlexander Pomper(Credit: Alexander Pomper)Trevor Warmedahl has spent years documenting rare and traditional cheesemaking methods, and believes that "cheese is an edible manifestation of a place". Trevor Warmedahl was working as a commercial cheesemaker in Seattle when he realised he was using milk that came from animals he never saw. So, he quit his job and set off on what has become a global odyssey to discover places that still make cheese the old-fashioned way. In 2019 he arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and lived alone in a yurt with a dog as his companion. He soon discovered that dairy was sacred there: the women flicked milk into the air before cheesemaking, a gesture of respect called a milk libation. He visited homes where whey bubbled over central hearths and fresh, unripened byaslag cheese covered tables. After hiking to shrines, he noticed people offered dairy products as a symbol of purity. As summer unfolded and city-dwellers migrated to the Mongolian steppe to farm, Warmedahl itched to join. He jumped on a Soviet-era coal-powered sleeper train for a rickety overnight ride across the Gobi Desert.

© Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2026. GW, Games Workshop, Citadel, White Dwarf, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Battletome, Stormcast Eternals, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or ™, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world. All Rights Reserved.© New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of Middle-earth Enterprises, LLC under license to New Line Productions, Inc. (S26)© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. MIDDLE-EARTH, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are ™ of Middle-earth Enterprises, LLC under license to New Line Productions, Inc. (s26)© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed signing a Ukrainian “diesel deal” with US President Donald Trump, arguing that Kyiv – not Moscow – can help determine whether Russian refineries operate and fuel shipments leave the country. Speaking by video link at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, Oct. 12, Zelensky questioned the stated economic justification for Washington’s agreement to allow Russian diesel onto US and global markets. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “If there are such deals, then why doesn’t America conclude a ‘diesel deal’ with Ukraine?” Zelensky said in remarks later published on his Telegram channel. “Let Ukraine offer a ‘diesel deal.’ We influence whether these ships sail or not, whether these refineries work or not.”On Friday, Trump announced an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin allowing Russian diesel exports despite Western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine offers reciprocal energy arrangementZelensky said Ukraine would suspend strikes against Russia’s oil and diesel infrastructure if Washington could guarantee that Moscow would stop attacking Ukraine’s electricity system.

With just four teams remaining in the MLB postseason, the stage is set for the championship series. That leaves us with four potential matchups in this year’s World Series. In the National League, we’ll be treated to a clash between the two teams with the best records in baseball in the Brewers and Dodgers, while in the American League, it’ll be the top-seeded Rays taking on the Guardians. We’re going to rank the four potential matchups based on how likely they are to provide the most excitement, taking into account regular-season success and historical context.4. Brewers vs. GuardiansFans of the long ball might not be too keen to see the Guardians and Brewers clash in the World Series. During the regular season, Cleveland ranked 27th in MLB with 162 home runs, and the Brewers were one of the three teams to hit even fewer (154, tied for 28th). The Guardians were not a good offensive team, but the same can’t be said for Milwaukee, even if they weren’t leaving the yard regularly. The Brewers ranked inside the top five in MLB in doubles, runs scored, hits, walks, batting average and on-base percentage.

The climate crisis is coming for some of the world’s greatest surf breaks, submerging some as sea level rises and wiping out others as classic breaks get crushed against coastal developments. Analysis of dozens of famous waves in world surfing reserves (WSR) found more than three-quarters were at high risk because of changing tide levels, hardened shorelines and shifting sands. The impacts matter not only to the surfers catching the waves but also to the communities that depend on the multibillion-dollar surf economy, often located in places with little else. The waves rated at most risk in the study include the “bombing barrels” of Croyde beach in north Devon, UK, the point breaks at Noosa in Australia and Oriente Salvaje, El Salvador, and Santa Cruz reefs of California such as Sewer Peak and Wind and Sea. Croyde’s heavy wave is considered the best beach break in the UK. Photograph: Rob TibblesThe best surfing waves are created by intricate combinations of sea-floor shape, swell direction and tide.

The DP World Tour is in talks with LIV Golf players over a deal that will see some notable names leave the league. Several LIV Golf players are in advanced talks over an exit plan from the bankrupt league with a deal which guarantees them playing opportunities on the DP World Tour, TG understands. Agents have been exploring potential pathways out of LIV on behalf of players ever since it emerged that the Saudi Public Investment Fund would be withdrawing its multi-billion dollar backing of the league in April. And bosses at Wentworth are now in negotiations with a significant number of players planning to use the DP World Tour as a landing ground next season. LIV has been granted a 12-day extension to convince players to stay for a proposed relaunch, after BC Partners Credit conditionally agreed to invest a total of $300million into the post-Saudi project. League sources remain confident they can secure a “critical mass” of players to sign up before the new October 25 deadline, but David Puig’s move to follow Jon Rahm out of the exit door this week has intensified fears of an exodus.

The winner of a prestigious scientific photography competition has been disqualified after organizers concluded that his use of generative AI broke the rules.

Billionaire’s blindness and the price of gas may ultimately be the end of Donald Trump’s tumultuous tenure. U. S. President Donald Trump, pictured on Oct. 5, 2026, has talked up a non-existent 'booming' economy, and called the affordability crisis a 'hoax.' He has also described the increase in the cost of gas as 'peanuts.' That is a hard sell to lower-income families facing hour-long commutes to work, writes Michael Harris. Photograph courtesy of the White House/Daniel Torok

One of science fiction’s oldest themes is its insistence that the future isn’t inevitable. Few contemporary authors embody that idea more than Becky Chambers, whose stories imagine alternative futures—not through grand revolutions or galaxy-spanning battles but through ordinary people trying to care for one another. As a defining voice of the “hopepunk” genre, Chambers has built a reputation for science fiction that prizes empathy as much as imagination. Her latest novel, As You Wake, Break the Shell, brings us to the hostile, unpredictable world of Fortune, where acid rain falls and billowing volcanoes shroud the horizon. The story follows a reclusive botanist and a spacefaring pilot across alternating timelines as they search for connection and purpose, attempting to navigate a life where Fortune has never favored the bold. We caught up with Chambers to discuss a toxic planet’s world-building, scientific accuracy in storytelling and the motivational merits of unrelenting spite. On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing.