The outstanding chess player of his generation is the latest figure to be associated with a kingdom that uses entertainment to pacify the public

In February, Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen extended his reign over the online chess world when he defeated longtime rival Hikaru Nakamura in back-to-back matches to retain his Chessable Masters title. The tournament kicked off this year’s Champions Tour, a circuit Carlsen has dominated since its launch in 2020. But now, the stakes were even higher: the tour doubles as a qualifier for the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the winner of the chess section of the tournament will take home $250,000 for three days’ work.

The chess tournament is part of the broader Esports World Cup, a seven-week spectacle that began on 8 July and stretches into late August. This is only the second edition of the World Cup but with more than 2,000 participating players, 25 different events and a record-breaking $70m total prize pool, it is the largest and most ambitious event of its kind.

Supreme court also quashes conviction of banker Carlo Palombo over incorrect directions given to jury

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Tom Hayes, the first banker jailed over the Libor interest rate-rigging scandal in 2015, has cleared his name after the UK’s supreme court overturned a decade-old conviction against the former UBS and Citigroup trader.

A panel of five justices, led by Lord Reed, concluded on Wednesday that the judge in Hayes’s original hearing 10 years ago had given “inaccurate and unfair” instructions to the jury that found him guilty on several charges of conspiracy to defraud. This meant the former banker was ultimately “deprived” of a fair trial.

Victims’ remains misidentified and ‘commingled’ parts of more than one person placed in one casket, says lawyer

British families grieving after the Air India disaster have discovered that the remains of their loved ones have been wrongly identified before repatriation, according to an aviation lawyer representing them.

Relatives of one victim had to abandon funeral plans after being informed that their coffin contained the body of an unknown passenger.

• Deal for Sporting striker includes €10m in add-ons

• Arsenal poised to confirm Cristhian Mosquera signing

Arsenal have finally reached agreement with Sporting for the transfer of Viktor Gyökeres in a deal worth up to €73.5m (£63.7m), having resolved the problematic issue of the €10m of add-ons to end a tortuous saga and Mikel Arteta’s hunt for a No 9.

The north London club, who are poised to confirm the signing of the centre-half Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia for an initial €15m, made the official breakthrough late on Tuesday, sending an updated offer to their Portuguese counterparts to satisfy them over the structure of the bonuses. Sporting have wanted the add-ons to be achievable, based on appearances, goals and assists by Gyökeres plus Champions League qualification, whereas Arsenal had wanted to include some more difficult ones.

More than 100 aid agencies, including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and Oxfam, say ‘our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away’

Irish premier Micheál Martin on Tuesday called for the war in Gaza to end, describing the images of starving children as “horrific”. Mr Martin called for a surge in humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza.

In a post on X, he said:

The situation in Gaza is horrific.

The suffering of civilians and the death of innocent children is intolerable.