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We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
On Sunday night, Daniel Suarez stepped out of his vehicle, victorious from the Coca-Cola 600, with a poignant tribute in mind. He wore a black cap emblazoned with the number 8, a nod to the late NASCAR legend Kyle Busch.
Suarez, who once drove for Kyle Busch Motorsports, found the timing of his victory deeply meaningful. Just days after the shocking news of Busch’s passing at the age of 41, the 34-year-old driver felt the weight of the moment.
“This win carries a lot of significance,” Suarez shared with Amazon Prime, visibly emotional. “It’s been an incredibly hard week. Kyle was someone truly special.” With tears in his eyes, Suarez continued, “I dedicated this to Kyle, to Samantha, to Brexton, to Lennix, and to his entire family.”
He reflected on his journey, acknowledging, “Every victory is unique, but this one has a special resonance because of Kyle. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been an Xfinity champion or had my chance in the Cup Series. Winning this race in his honor is beyond words.”
Over the past decade, Suarez and Busch formed a close bond, even finding themselves as competitors on the track. This friendship made the tribute all the more heartfelt and personal.
The Mexico native said the two never had any issues between them, calling their relationship “amazing.”
Suarez further explained that Busch’s influence helped him progress during his career, saying he’s forever grateful that he “gave me a hand when I needed it the most.”
He set out this weekend to make sure people learned more about Busch’s legacy, and won the race after NASCAR called it 27 laps early due to weather.
“A lot of people didn’t know who he was as a person. Many people, fans, they knew him as a racing driver. “But the person that is behind the fire suit, behind that helmet, that’s what counts the most. That family man,” Suarez said. “Every time that you talk to Kyle about Brexton, his eyes light up. He was a family man. And because of that, this race is so special. All the combination of these things.
Daniel Suarez celebrates his victory Sunday. AP Photo/Matt Kelley
“I want to make sure that the focus and the most important thing about this victory is not Spire Motorsports, it’s not Daniel Suarez — it’s Kyle Busch. Because he was a very, very important piece for me to be here and for Spire Motorsports to be where it is right now.”
Suarez’s touching remarks came during a weekend when the racing world honored Busch following his death on Thursday at age 41.
A statement from the Busch family said the star driver died after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, “resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications.”
Daniel Suarez, driver of the #19 ARRIS Toyota, talks with Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, after the NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Getty Images
Busch had been scheduled to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 before being hospitalized on Wednesday, having previously been found unresponsive inside a North Carolina racing simulator.
The Indianapolis 500 honored Busch during the 18th lap on Sunday, with the broadcast going silent.
In a tragic incident in Chicago, a two-year-old boy named Jamonte Shaw lost his life after accidentally shooting himself. This heartbreaking event unfolded on a Sunday afternoon inside a residence located at the intersection of 104th and South Maryland streets, according to Chicago police.
Authorities have confirmed that a man is currently in custody in connection with this case. The boy’s untimely death has sent shockwaves through the community, prompting calls for increased vigilance in firearm safety, especially in homes with young children.
The severity of the situation became apparent when Jamonte was quickly transported to Comer Children’s Hospital. Despite the efforts to save him, he tragically succumbed to his injuries.
Community activists present at the scene emphasized the critical importance of securing firearms and ensuring they are out of reach of children. They hope this devastating incident serves as a powerful reminder for parents and caregivers to take every precaution necessary to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
The child was rushed to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition, where he later died.
Detectives and evidence technicians on scene and the hospital are now trying to piece together how this happened
“We could talk about the lessons and things that we all have to learn from this, but the tragedy I think at this point, and the pain the family’s feeling, and the pain that we all should feel for this child who was just beginning,” Pastor Donovan Price. “We can’t keep losing our babies because of some adult things, and so, whether it’s gun locks or gun safety kits, or whatever the case may be, or just plain paying attention, we got to be proactive or pray active.”
It’s unclear exactly how the toddler was able to access the gun.
Police said a 31-year-old man is now in custody.
No word yet about possible charges, nor have police said what his relationship is to the toddler.
INTERACTIVE SAFETY TRACKER Track crime and safety in your neighborhood
PLANO, Texas – As the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Texas reaches its final stretch, candidates Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton have largely stepped away from the spotlight on the eve of the runoff election. Instead of engaging in public campaign events, both candidates are relying heavily on their media presence to sway voters.
This absence from public appearances on Monday marks the culmination of a fiercely contested campaign, which has seen advertising spending soar beyond $109 million, with a significant portion coming from Cornyn’s camp. Unlike his competitor, Cornyn is dedicating the day to a non-campaign event in San Antonio, honoring high school graduates bound for the nation’s service academies. His last official campaign event took place in Corpus Christi on Friday.
Meanwhile, Paxton concluded his public appearances last Thursday with events in the Austin area and San Antonio. His campaign strategy leans heavily on the endorsement he received from President Donald Trump on May 19, allowing his campaign team and a supportive super PAC to amplify this message.
Trump’s endorsement, coupled with his critique of Cornyn, who has had a strained relationship with the president, was strategically timed to coincide with the early voting period, which wrapped up on Friday. As Texans prepare to cast their votes on Tuesday, the impact of these endorsements and last-minute campaign efforts remains to be seen.
Trump’s announcement and accompanying dismissal of Cornyn, who has had an awkward public relationship with the president, came on the second day of early voting, which ended Friday.
Though the candidates were quiet over the weekend, Trump reaffirmed his support for Paxton on Sunday, and disparaged Cornyn as insufficiently loyal to him.
Paxton, Trump posted on social media, “was also very loyal to your favorite President, ME,” while calling Cornyn “VERY disloyal to me.” It was Trump’s strongest rebuke of Cornyn, who had dismissed his 2024 comeback chances, and echoed the president’s reproach of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy before he lost in the May 15 GOP Senate primary.
Following Trump’s call for retribution, Republican voters in Indiana and Kentucky have also chosen GOP primary challengers over incumbent GOP officeholders who have crossed the president or opposed his agenda.
For a contest that is expected to draw a fraction of Texas’ 18.7 million voters, the two candidates’ campaigns and supporting groups were continuing to bombard all Texans with advertising, though more by Cornyn’s backers than Paxton’s.
“It’s just a slug fest, with the campaigns and third-party groups slugging it out,” said Wayne Hamilton, a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party.
The combination of Cornyn’s campaign and supporting super PACs have far outspent pro-Paxton groups over the past year, by almost nine-to-one. But the gap has shrunk as the runoff has approached. In the final week of the campaign, the combination of pro-Cornyn ad spending was less than twice Paxton’s group.
Cornyn’s network continued to air spots attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions that have shadowed him with little effect throughout the campaign. Cornyn’s campaign also had reprised an ad noting his tendency to vote in the Senate for Trump’s priorities.
Paxton’s campaign and groups supporting him transitioned midweek to all ads noting Trump’s endorsement, though Paxton’s primary super PAC, Lone Star Liberty Fund, began airing one over the weekend aimed at raising questions about state Rep. James Talarico, the Texas Democratic Senate nominee.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A touching video has emerged, capturing the moment a lost elephant calf joyfully reunites with her family after a nerve-wracking separation.
The calf, just four months old, became separated from her herd and, by sheer luck, found herself at a tourist camp in northern Kenya.
With no immediate solution, the camp staff secured the young elephant to a tree for safety and reached out to a local elephant research team, led by Professor George Wittemyer from Colorado State University.
Determined to reunite the calf with her family, Professor Wittemyer and his team embarked on an extensive search in the Samburu National Reserve. Their efforts paid off when they identified a group of elephants they were confident was her family.
Before the joyful reunion, the team ensured the calf was hydrated and refreshed with a cooling mud bath. With care and perseverance, they successfully returned the young orphan to her waiting herd.
As the calf tentatively stepped out of the trailer, the researchers watched in anticipation to see if she would be welcomed back home.
Much to Professor Wittemyer’s relief, the calf’s aunt, known as Adelaide, noticed the baby and came to investigate.
Adelaide trumpeted to the calf, and the calf called back, setting off a chain reaction that soon had the whole herd rushing to welcome their family member home.
A heartwarming video captures the moment that a missing elephant calf was returned home after scientists tracked down her lost family
As the elephants began to recognise the missing calf, they began what Professor Wittemyer describes as a ‘greeting ceremony’.
With a chorus of rumbling calls, each elephant in the group ran over to the calf and circled tightly around her.
‘Elephants are highly social, forming powerful bonds between each other that last a lifetime,’ says Professor Wittemyer.
‘Similar to our societies, these bonds make up the social fabric of elephant society and underpin the rich behaviours elephants exhibit.’
Sadly, the researchers later found the body of the young elephant’s mother, who had died of natural causes.
However, elephants have incredibly tight social networks, and other family members stepped up to ensure their young relative survived.
Researchers say the calf, which has not been given a name, is now being cared for by her aunts, Adelaide and Markle.
Markle, who lost her own calf earlier in the year, even nursed the hungry calf after her return to the herd.
Researchers watched as the elephant family performed a ‘greeting ceremony’, letting off rumbling calls and rushing to surround the returning calf
The four-month-old orphan was found in the Samburu National Reserve in Northern Kenya, after wandering into a tourist camp. Staff tied her to a tree and called a research group led by Professor George Wittemyer of Colorado State University (above)
Are African elephants endangered?
All living species of elephant are currently classed as endangered, meaning that they are at risk of extinction.
The African elephant population has been reduced to around 415,000 individuals, mainly found in Southern Africa.
The population of African savanna elephants decreased by at least 60 per cent over the last 50 years, according to assessments.
Since 2008, their numbers have seen another sharp decline due to increased poaching, which peaked in 2011.
African forest elephants are even more at risk, being classed as critically endangered.
Their numbers have fallen by 86 per cent over the last 31 years.
The young calf still managed to scare the researchers one last time, when she appeared lying motionless in a river depression the following morning.
The herd had already moved on to higher ground, and Professor Wittemyer feared she had died in the night.
But about an hour later, the calf woke up from her lie-in and began calling out for her aunties.
Hearing her wayward charge, Adelaide soon led the family back to the river, surrounding the calf before moving on.
Elephants live in closely connected female-led groups, controlled by a dominant older female known as the matriarch.
Their deep social relationships have fascinated researchers for decades, revealing powerful bonds of family and friendship between herd members.
Professor Wittemyer says: ‘Elephants are one of the most sentient and, therefore, relatable animals we share this planet with.’
Social intelligence is absolutely vital for Earth’s largest land animals to survive in the harsh environment of the savanna.
Elephant calves have a hard start to life and are at great risk of being lost, as research shows that their mothers do not slow down their pace even slightly after they are born (illustrated)
Elephants must stay constantly on the move, chasing water and fresh vegetation to fuel their enormous bodies.
That means young calves must be ready to keep up with the pack from the very day they are born.
Thanks to a 22-month gestation period, elephant calves are born ready to run alongside their family, with a little help from their aunts along the way.
However, Professor Wittemyer’s own research suggests that this nomadic lifestyle is becoming harder to sustain.
Elephants need vast amounts of land to roam and can cause significant damage to people’s property if they move through farmland or populated areas.
Thanks to conservation efforts and a crackdown on poaching, the elephant population of the Samburu National Reserve has been slowly recovering.
Scientists estimated that around 900 now pass through the park each year.
Researchers working with Save the Elephants gave the calf water and a cooling mud bath before returning her to the care of her two aunts
But encroaching human development could be putting that progress at risk.
Professor Wittemyer used drones and GPS radio collars to track elephants’ collective movements.
This revealed that elephants were often forced to wander off protected land in search of food and water, putting them in conflict with people.
Over the last 20 years, these elephants’ movements have contracted in areas where the human population has expanded and where wilderness has been developed for human use.
‘Landscape integrity and protection are critical for the species’ survival given projections about human population growth in Africa over the next 80 years,’ says Professor Wittemyer.
‘At the same time, we need solutions that reduce the challenges of living alongside elephants while helping people appreciate the remarkable lives these animals lead.’
ELEPHANTS ARE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND VERY SOCIAL WITH ‘SOME HUMAN-LIKE PERSONALITY TRAITS’
Research has established that elephants’ emotional characteristics are similar to those of humans.
It turns out the animals have distinct personalities.
They can be aggressive, attentive and outgoing.
For the study scientists asked elephant riders, or mahouts, to answer questions about the behaviors of the animals they worked with each day.
A new study has found that elephants, like humans, have distinct personalities. They can be aggressive, attentive and outgoing. Pictured is an elephant with its mahout, or rider, who the animal works with each day in Myanmar’s timber industry
Dr Martin Steltmann, who worked on the new report, explained how his team defined the traits that categorize elephants.
He said: ‘Attentiveness is related to how an elephant acts in and perceives its environment.
‘Sociability describes how an elephant seeks closeness to other elephants and humans and how popular they are as social partners.
‘Aggressiveness shows how aggressively an elephant acts towards other elephants and how much it interferes in their social interaction.’
Dr Steltmann’s team is hopeful the new research can aid in elephant conservation efforts.
Inset: Tyrah Adams (WDRB/YouTube). Background: A photo of a Louisville, Ky., garbage truck’s hydraulic arm and claw (WHAS/YouTube).
A tragic incident in Kentucky has brought attention to an alleged fatality involving a homeless woman and a garbage truck during a cleanup operation in an alleyway.
In a recent lawsuit, the victim’s family contends that the 35-year-old woman was inadvertently picked up by the truck’s hydraulic trash claw, which then crushed her body and left her in the alley, allegedly bypassing essential safety measures.
The lawsuit highlights that “[Louisville Metro] knew or should have been aware that homeless individuals and other vulnerable persons were likely to be present in the alleys, debris piles, and cleanup sites targeted by Public Works activities,” according to a report by Louisville Public Media.
The family of Tyrah Adams alleges that in February, a Louisville Metro sanitation truck, while clearing debris, accidentally collected her as she rested in a cardboard box near garbage. They accuse the city and its sanitation employees of “gross negligence” and “reckless behavior,” claiming these actions resulted in Adams’ wrongful death.
The legal complaint goes further, asserting that two unnamed workers neglected the city’s established safety protocols for operating the truck’s hydraulic claw, known as a knuckle boom, as reported by LPM.
“They physically picked her up with that claw, squeezed her, compressed her, and dropped her,” the family’s attorney, Stephanie Rivas, told NBC affiliate WSMV in April before filing their lawsuit.
“[The workers] left her there to find her own help,” Rivas said.
According to the complaint, Adams had to shuffle her battered body to a nearby J&M Food Mart while suffering from fatal and “catastrophic” injuries. A store clerk called 911 after Adams stumbled in, screaming for help.
“The woman laying on the floor was ‘turning colors no white woman should be,’” the complaint says, citing an alleged statement made by a person in the store.
Adams died from her injuries; a coroner’s report stated she succumbed to severe blunt force and compressional trauma.
The city and sanitation workers “breached” a duty of care to Adams by “failing to maintain a proper lookout, failing to inspect the work area, failing to keep personnel clear of the operation zone, failing to use proper spotting procedures, failing to supervise employees, failing to enforce safety procedures, and otherwise failing to exercise reasonable care,” according to the complaint.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg reportedly released a statement after the incident saying garbage crews were cleaning the alley when the truck accidentally picked up Adams. Greenberg said the workers did not see her.
A spokesperson for Greenberg told the Courier Journal his office’s “thoughts and condolences remain with the victim’s family.” They declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, may be seeking to secure a generous financial arrangement from the Royal Family to avoid revealing details in an explosive interview about her connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
Reports have surfaced suggesting the 66-year-old is contemplating lucrative offers for a high-profile television interview or a tell-all memoir. The potential revelations would focus on the controversy involving her and her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, and their links to the late convicted sex offender Epstein.
Sarah Ferguson may be attempting to secure a “nice pension” from the Royal Family in exchange for avoiding a bombshell tell-all interview about Jeffrey Epstein
Royal biographer Andrew Lownie, whose newly updated book on the House of York has cast renewed attention on the former Duke and Duchess, suggests Sarah might be negotiating for lifelong financial security from the royals in return for her discretion.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Lownie speculated, “Fergie might be trying to secure a comfortable pension from them to avoid doing an interview like the one with Oprah.”
Andrew told the Daily Mirror: “That may be what Fergie’s negotiating at the moment. Can she get a nice pension from them and not have to do an Oprah interview?”
The author also said Andrew and Sarah’s daughters – Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 36 – were in the midst of a “schizophrenic” relationship with the royal family.
Andrew, 64, said about the princesses: “The fact that they are still swanning around the Middle East, using their titles… it doesn’t send out the right signals if you want to work your passage back. It’s confusing.”
He added: “I think it’s a very schizophrenic relationship at the moment with the royals and Beatrice and Eugenie.
“One minute they’re very publicly being told they’re not going to be invited to Ascot, then they are going. You get the sense of distancing and I think there’s possibly two schools of thought here. There’s Camilla, William and Kate, who see the reputational damage and want to keep them at arm’s length, and then there’s Charles who is a bit sentimental and feels obligated to be protective.”
Andrew’s biography Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York caused controversy when it was first published last year.
He has now released an updated edition featuring fresh claims about Andrew and Sarah.
They come as King Charles, 77, continues reshaping the monarchy amid ongoing debate over a slimmed-down royal household, while Prince William, 43, and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, 44, are said to be increasingly conscious of reputational risk surrounding the Yorks.
The Epstein scandal has continued to follow Andrew since his disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, which effectively ended his public royal duties.
Sarah, best known internationally as “Fergie” during her years as a senior royal alongside Andrew, has remained publicly supportive of her former husband despite years of controversy surrounding his friendship with Epstein.
Andrew’s updated biography also includes allegations that Andrew once kicked a dog during a royal shooting trip and behaved in a “foul manner” towards staff.
Pope Leo XIV made history on Monday by issuing a profound apology for the Vatican’s involvement in legitimizing slavery and its long-standing failure to denounce it. Describing the Vatican’s past actions as a “wound in Christian memory,” the pontiff’s remarks addressed demands from Black American Catholics, activists, and scholars for the Holy See to confront its historical role.
In an unprecedented move, the pope directly acknowledged and apologized for the actions of his predecessors, who had granted European rulers explicit permission to subjugate and enslave non-Christians. While previous popes have expressed regret for Christian participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Leo’s apology marks the first acknowledgment of papal complicity.
As the first pope born in the United States, Pope Leo XIV has a personal connection to this history, with ancestors who were both enslaved and slaveholders. He delivered his apology through his inaugural encyclical, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), which was unveiled on Monday.
This story continues below.
This comprehensive document focuses on protecting humanity in an age increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence. Pope Leo XIV linked the trans-Atlantic slave trade to what he described as modern forms of slavery and colonialism, highlighting the unregulated labor practices involved in mining rare minerals crucial for AI technology.
The sweeping manifesto is about safeguarding humanity in an era of increasing reliance on artificial intelligence. Leo raised the trans-Atlantic slave trade in relation to what he called the new forms of slavery and colonialism that the digital revolution is fueling, such as the unregulated labor required to procure rare minerals needed for AI chips.
In doing so, Leo responded to decades of calls by Black American Catholics, activists and scholars for the Holy See to atone for its own role in the colonial-era trade in human beings.
“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord,” Leo wrote. “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
The Vatican has insisted that it always upheld the dignity of all human beings as children of God. But a series of 15th-century directives from the Vatican authorized Portuguese sovereigns to conquer Africa and the Americas and enslave non-Christians.
In 1452, for example, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which gave the Portuguese king and his successors the right “to invade, conquer, fight and subjugate” and take all possessions — including land — of “Saracens, and pagans, and other infidels, and enemies of the name of Christ” anywhere.
The bull also gave the Portuguese permission “to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”
That bull and another issued three years later, Romanus Pontifex, formed the basis of the Doctrine of Discovery, the theory that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of land in Africa and the Americas.
Nicholas V’s permissions to the Portuguese were confirmed or renewed by Pope Callixtus III in 1456, Pope Sixtus IV in 1481, and Pope Leo X in 1514, according to the Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman, a Jesuit priest and author of “All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.”
Spanish kings received the rights for the Americas.
In 2023, the Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, but it never formally rescinded, abrogated or rejected the bulls themselves. The Vatican insists that a later bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples shouldn’t be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, and weren’t to be enslaved.
In his encyclical, Leo recalled that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was the first pope to explicitly condemn slavery in 1888, though that was long after many countries had already abolished it. Before that, in antiquity and the Middle Ages, even church institutions had slaves.
In acknowledging the Holy See’s own role and the 15th-century papal bulls, Leo wrote in his encyclical: “Already in the early modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome, responding to the requests of sovereigns, intervened several times to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation, and, in certain cases, including the enslavement of ‘infidels.’”
Leo said that it wasn’t possible to judge the morality of the decisions with today’s standards.
“Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the church came to denounce the scourge of slavery,” he said.
The pope said that the church has long affirmed the dignity of every human being as the basis of its doctrine, “even if it took eighteen centuries for its full incompatibility with slavery to be explicitly recognized.”
“This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached,” he said.
Leo said that the church today must firmly condemn all forms of trafficking related to the digital technological revolution “if we want to avoid the need to ask for pardon again in the future for having failed to respect the treasure of human dignity that is required by our faith.”
During a 1985 visit to Cameroon, St. John Paul II asked forgiveness of Africans for the slave trade on behalf of Christians who participated in it, but not for the popes’ own role in it. In a 1992 visit to Goree Island, Senegal, which was the largest slave-trading center in West Africa, he denounced the injustice of slavery and called it a “tragedy of a civilization that called itself Christian.”
According to genealogical research published by Henry Louis Gates Jr., 17 of Leo’s American ancestors were Black, listed in census records as mulatto, Black, Creole or a free person of color. His family tree includes slaveholders and enslaved people, Gates wrote in The New York Times.
During a visit to Angola last month, Leo prayed at a Catholic shrine located at the site of an important hub of the African slave trade during Portugal’s colonial rule. While at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, Leo recalled the “sorrow and great suffering” Angolans endured for centuries, but he didn’t refer specifically to slavery.
Nicole Winfield reported from Middletown, Connecticut.
Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Without uttering a single word, Clarissa Liu gracefully extends her hand to her opponent at a Brisbane chess club.
The room remains hushed, interrupted only by the irregular ticking of chess clocks and the gentle scratching of pens on paper.
Her vivid pink-and-yellow cardigan is a striking contrast in the room, where each competitor is intently focused on their chessboard.
As she has done many times before, the nine-year-old is on the verge of defeating a man more than twice her age.
“I love seeing more girls playing chess. When I notice other girls competing, it makes me happy and motivates me to win,” Liu shares with SBS News.
“So, I like more girl chess players, and when I see people around me that are girls, I feel happy and I want to win,” Liu tells SBS News.
Nine-year-old Clarissa Liu often competes against and beats adult players. Source: SBS News / Jesmine Cheong
While chess has found a new audience through pop culture and online platforms, many female players say the competitive world still feels overwhelmingly male, prompting questions around why so few girls continue playing into adulthood.
A game dominated by men
Popular streaming content, such as drama series The Queen’s Gambit and a recent documentary about Hungarian chess champion Judit Polgár, has again put a spotlight on the experiences of women in the game.
Chess.com, the world’s largest online chess platform, says it has surpassed 250 million members worldwide, with nearly 15 million new accounts created in the first three months of 2026 alone.
But despite chess soaring in popularity, the number of women playing at an elite level remains low.
Girls and women make up just 16.5 per cent of the world’s 1.4 million active chess players, according to the International Chess Federation’s (FIDE) 2026 Gender Equality in Chess Index (GECI) report.
Queensland-based Eleanor Wu is the 2025 Australian under-8 girls’ chess champion.
She is also one of the few young female players at her club and says she gets frustrated when she hears chess described as a game for boys.
Eleanor Wu is the 2025 Australian under-8 girls’ chess champion. Source: Supplied
“Some of my friends say girls shouldn’t play chess because they aren’t smart enough,” Wu tells SBS News.
“I just say ‘only smart girls can play’ because chess is really hard.”
While there are more than 1,500 chess grandmasters worldwide — the highest title a player can achieve — less than 50 are women.
Grandmaster David Smerdon, an associate professor in the school of economics at the University of Queensland, started playing at the age of five after finding a board in his attic.
Chess grandmaster David Smerdon says women face more barriers in professional chess, contributing to many teenage girls dropping out of the game before reaching elite levels. Source: Supplied
Smerdon has since represented Australia at the Chess Olympiad, an international team chess tournament organised by FIDE.
He believes women face additional barriers in competitive chess, contributing to many teenage girls dropping out of the game in Australia.
“As soon as school finishes and they have to go to their first open tournament, there might be 100 men in the room and three girls, and suddenly you don’t have that same social connection,” Smerdon tells SBS News.
“The real issue here is that if girls don’t see role models, they don’t see clear support, and they don’t see a clear path forward, then they’ll leave the game, even if they’d prefer to keep playing.
The challenge isn’t really so much getting girls into chess, it’s convincing them that it’s a good place to stick around.
Some chess organisations argue that participation gaps are gradually improving, pointing to increased visibility of female players and growing junior programs aimed at girls. However, researchers and players say retention remains a significant challenge.
Australia lags in participation
Smerdon wrote the GECI report on gender-related disparities in chess, which ranked 119 countries. The rankings are based on female participation, performance and progress in each country.
Australia sits 108th on the GECI list, with participation rates at 9.64 per cent — well below the global average.
Source: SBS News
While many Australian female players stop playing chess in their youth, Smerdon’s report found that the same drop-off is not happening in all countries.
Countries like Mongolia and Sri Lanka have some of the largest and highest-performing female chess communities in the world.
Source: SBS News
The report notes that participation rates can be shaped by a range of cultural and economic factors across different countries.
Smerdon attributes some of that success to greater funding for women’s tournaments, more female players being appointed to organisational roles and clearer pathways for young players.
He’s calling for Australia to follow suit.
“We have an incredibly successful school program for chess in almost every state in Australia.
“It’s just that challenge of converting them to stay longer in our game, and if we can do that, we could have incredible success on the world stage and hopefully follow a similar trajectory to, say, the Matildas soccer team.”
Female players still ‘fighting’ for funding
At a Brisbane girls’ school, an eager group of students gather around an automated chessboard.
The pieces move seamlessly on their own, as teacher Matt Gilpin methodically explains the strategy at play.
These girls are nearing a pivotal age, when many young players drop out of the game.
Gilpin is the head of a chess program at Somerville House boarding school and has seen the positive impact chess can have.
“It gives the children confidence … It really changes the way that they think about things,” he tells SBS News.
“If you can introduce it at an early stage and get enough students in at this level, then you can build on them and keep them at those levels and then hopefully into adulthood.”
Former Australian women’s champion Alexandra Jule is also a chess teacher at Somerville House.
Alexandra Jule teaches chess to young girls at a boarding school in Brisbane. Source: SBS News / Jesmine Cheong
Jule, who has also played in the Chess Olympiad, is no stranger to the pressures of competing in a game historically dominated by men.
She says she was once told by a tournament organiser that she was distracting her male opponent because her hair was down.
“It’s quite intimidating for female players to come in and really try and make a go of it [chess],” she tells SBS News.
“I think a combination of that and also just not having the social support is quite difficult and did lead to a big drop-off in female players as I got older.”
While she believes school programs are vital, Jule is also echoing calls for the Australian Chess Federation (ACF), the country’s peak body, to invest more in female players.
As a mother of a two-year-old, she says one of the biggest challenges in continuing to compete has been balancing her personal life with her chess career.
“The female players have always seemed to be fighting to get funding and assistance, and we often are all working full-time jobs,” she says.
There’s no reason why females can’t challenge on the same level as males, and I think that extra support [is needed] to be able to incentivise them to keep going.
SBS News has contacted the ACF for comment.
Building connections for migrant families
Chess is particularly popular amongst migrant communities, fostering social connections among multicultural families.
Vicky Wu, Eleanor’s mother, has noticed her daughter making a diverse friendship circle through the game.
“I think that when we put the kids in sports like chess, they come meet other migrant kids as well, some Chinese, some kids Eastern European,” she tells SBS News.
“It’s always good to make new friends, and it’s a small world; they can know each other.”
Although parents of young chess players have seen the benefits of the game, continuing in the competitive space often comes with sacrifice.
Clarissa’s mother, Stephanie Liu, has travelled across Australia and internationally with her family for chess tournaments.
Clarissa Liu, who hopes to become a grandmaster one day, says she wants more girls to play chess Source: Supplied
“Every time we travel the cost is a lot, like accommodation, the travelling, the flight ticket … I also need to take annual leave as well,” Stephanie Liu tells SBS News.
“I think probably it’s sort of worth it.
“I think at her age, if she can commit [to] something, we will of course try to support her [to] the best of our ability.”
That support is something Clarissa is grateful for, as she prepares to compete at an upcoming international chess competition.
She dreams of becoming a grandmaster one day and has a clear message for girls considering taking up the game.
The room is filled with boys and I want more women to play chess.
“I just hope for the future that more girls will play chess and so maybe more girls would beat the boys and try and actually play it.”
The term “deuce” gained an unexpected twist during this French Open match.
Arthur Gea’s first appearance in the French Open singles will be unforgettable, largely due to an unscheduled bathroom break. Gea warned the umpire of potential mishaps if he couldn’t leave the court to relieve himself.
“I’m gonna s–t on the f–king court,” Gea declared during the first round on Sunday.
Ranked 135th globally, Gea struggled with stomach issues throughout his 6-3, 7-6, 6-0 defeat against Karen Khachanov on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
The French player revealed he felt unwell upon waking that morning, and the 88-degree heat in France only worsened his condition, as reported by the Associated Press.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 24, 2026
Gea, the World No. 135 player, became sick to his stomach during an eventual 6-3, 7-6, 6-0 loss to Karen Khachanovat Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
The Frenchman said he did not fell well after waking up Sunday, and added that the 88-degree heat in France exacerbated the situation, according to the Associated Press.
Mid-match breaks are not usually permitted, with players instead having to wait for the time between sets.
Gea, though, tried to make it clear that he needed to exit, telling the umpire, per the AP: “I need to go to the bathroom. I can’t move anymore. I’m going to (go) on the court.”
The official apparently wanted Gea to wait, telling him, “After the game,” but the 21-year-old Frenchman insisted he had to go now.
“I can’t, I can’t. Just explain the situation please,” said an exasperated Gea, with the latter remark seemingly referring to the official informing his opponent of the grim situation.
Two men eventually made their way over to Gea, who asked which one was the doctor before telling them in vulgar detail how he may not make it to the restroom.
One man, apparently not understanding the gravity of the situation, asked if it was for a medical reason before someone unspecified said: “He has some stomach problems.”
Gea succinctly then summarized his issue: “Diarreah.”
Kcahanov eventually walked toward the official with his hands out in a confused gesture.
The match continued three minutes later, per the AP, before Kchanov took his 4-2 lead.
That’s when Gea fled to the bathroom, with the broadcast even picking up two individuals surprised at what just transpired.
Gea said he received some medicine to help settle his stomach, according to the Associated Press.
The youngster competed in the French Open after receiving a wild card invitation.
James Maddison joyfully announced the arrival of twins with his girlfriend, Kennedy Alexa, through an Instagram post on Monday evening. The couple welcomed a son and a daughter, further expanding their family.
The 28-year-old England football star shared an endearing black-and-white photograph of their newborn twins peacefully asleep. Along with the image, Maddison revealed the charming names they have chosen for their new additions.
In a lighthearted caption, Maddison quipped about having a “five a side football team,” noting that the twins were born on October 30.
He expressed his admiration for Alexa, calling her a “superwoman,” and wrote: “Jensen & Frankie Maddison 30.10.25. Five a side team complete. You’re a superwoman @kennedyalexa.”
The couple, who began their relationship in 2020, are already the proud parents of fraternal twins, Delilah and Rome, born in July 2023, following the arrival of their son Leo two years prior.
Fans quickly rushed to the comments including James’ football pals Declan Rice, Jordan Henderson and Dean Henderson to congratulate the couple.
James Maddison has announced that he and ‘superwoman’ girlfriend Kennedy Alexa have welcomed twins, a boy and a girl, on Instagram on Monday evening
The England footballer, 28, and his model girlfriend shared a sweet black and white photo of their newborns peacefully sleeping and shared their adorable names
Alongside the photo, James joked he now has a ‘five a side football team’ and revealed the twins were born on October 30
In September, the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder and WAG shared an amazing gender reveal shooting a blue and pink cannon into the sky.
The couple looked happier than ever by the news as they jumped up and down with joy in front of a giant TWINS sign.
Kennedy wrote: ‘Cannot wait to meet yous’.
In June this year, the happy couple revealed they were expecting twins for the second time.
Following welcoming twins in 2023, Kennedy wrote on social media ‘our family is complete’, but she revealed at the time the couple were expecting twins once again.
She confirmed the news on Instagram by posting a video of herself alongside Tottenham star James with their three children at the beach.
The video starts with Kennedy facing away from the camera, before she turns around to reveal her baby bump.
The couple then hold up photos of the baby scan as they pose for pictures with their children.
Fans quickly rushed to the comments including James’ football pals Declan Rice, Jordan Henderson and Dean Henderson to congratulate the couple
The couple – who began dating in 2020 – are already proud parents to fraternal twins Delilah and Rome in July 2023 after Kennedy gave birth to a baby boy named Leo two years earlier
In September, the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder and WAG shared an amazing gender reveal shooting a blue and pink cannon into the sky
James proceeds to write the word ‘AGAIN’ into the sand, prior to writing a separate message that reads: ‘Maddison Twins part 2….’
Kennedy captioned the post: ‘Beyond blessed. Bring on the chaos.’
It was not long before some of James’ Tottenham team-mates reacted to the exciting news.
Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro both replied to the video with heart-eyes emojis, while Spurs’ official club account simply put a white heart emoji.
Popstar Olly Murs was also delighted for the couple as he wrote: ‘Wow twins again!! Unbelievable. Huge congratulations.’
English-born Kennedy lived in Los Angeles before returning to the UK in 2020, shortly before she met James.
She has 74.8K Instagram followers and has been involved in a number of glamorous fashion shoots, including for American swimwear brand Montce.
Kennedy was by James’ side when Spurs won the Europa League by beating Manchester United in the final last season.
James was unable to play in the final due to injury, but was seen celebrating with Kennedy on the pitch after the final whistle in Bilbao.
