Fifa confirmed Saudi Arabia's hosting of the men's 2034 World Cup - despite the country facing years of scrutiny over its human rights and environmental record - in what has been described as one of the most controversial steps football's governing body has ever taken. Official confirmation of the Saudi World Cup came at a 'virtual' meeting of Fifa's Congress this week, but it has been a formality for more than a year. In October 2023, it emerged the Saudi bid would be unopposed after Australia - the only other potential candidate - decided not to enter the running.

The Saudi bid proposed 15 stadiums, (including three that are under construction, and eight where work is yet to start), across five host cities, including one (the futuristic development of Neom) that is yet to be built. Fifa's evaluation report hails "a range of impressive stadiums which, when built or refurbished, could offer state-of-the-art infrastructure". It is also almost certain to be held in winter.

Taliban refugee minister Khalil Haqqani was killed in a suicide bombing inside the Interior Ministry in Kabul, the movement's most high profile casualty since it returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Six others died in the blast as Haqqani was leaving his office. Khalil Haqqani was a top member of a powerful faction in the Taliban called the Haqqani network, and was designated a global terrorist by the US. There was no immediate claim for the attack, which the Taliban accused Islamic State militants of carrying out.

Khalil Haqqani's brother Jalaluddin founded the Haqqani network which was behind many attacks during the Taliban's 20-year insurgency. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the minister's nephew and son of Jalaluddin, is the current interior minister in the Taliban government. While the overall security situation in Afghanistan has improved since the Taliban gained complete control with the full withdrawal of foreign troops in 2021, there continue to be dozens of bombings and suicide attacks in the country each year.

Australia's government said it will create new rules to force big tech companies to pay local publishers for news. The long-awaited decision sets out a successor to a world-first law that Australia passed in 2021, which was designed to make giants like Meta and Google pay for hosting news on their platforms. Earlier this year Meta - which owns Facebook and Instagram - announced it would not renew payment deals it had in place with Australian news organisations, setting up a standoff with lawmakers.

The new rules will require firms that earn more than A$250m ($160m; £125m) in annual revenue to enter into commercial deals with media organisations, or risk being hit with higher taxes. The design of the scheme is yet to be finalised but it will apply to sites such as Facebook, Google and TikTok. In a statement, Meta said it was concerned that the government was "charging one industry to subsidise another".

US authorities arrested Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, for the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare, the country's biggest insurer. Police found a gun believed to be the one used in the shooting of Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America. The shooting shook US businesses and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to rethink security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites.

While the case is in early stages, police believe the suspect may have been motivated by animus toward the healthcare industry. Ammunition found near Thompson's body bore the words "delay," "deny" and "depose," mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics. These details have captured the imagination in America, with many people hailing Mangione as a hero and a distinct lack of sympathy for Thompson, and the McDonald's outlet where staff turned him in started getting negative reviews online.