The women bringing chess into the 21st Century - with 'bullet' matches and viral videos

Olga Sawczuk BBC World Service

BBC A young woman is sitting in a computer chair, in an e-sport venue. She is looking directly into the camera, smiling. Her hair is dark and long, she is wearing a striped shirt and a headset. Behind her is a large screen displaying the word 'final' in French, and a row of chess players in front of computer screens. BBC
Sarah El Barbry became a chess streamer in 2025 and has more than 75,000 followers across platforms

During Covid, Nemo Zhou was "losing [her] mind" locked down at home and thought it would be nice to make some money.

So she started streaming chess - and now it's turned into a career.

A woman grandmaster - the highest female-only chess title - Zhou was pursuing a degree in economics and mathematics at the University of

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Medvedev stuns Alcaraz to set up Sinner final

Sinner has won 21 of his 24 titles on hard courts and looked on top form as he raced to victory against Zverev in one hour and 23 minutes.

The 24-year-old is aiming to become just the third man - after Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic - to capture all six ATP Masters 1,000 hard-court titles.

"It was a great performance - very solid from the back of the court. I tried to go for shots and that felt like one of


'Gruesome' war bets fuel calls for crackdown on prediction markets

Natalie Sherman Business reporter

Bloomberg via Getty Images A Polymarket advertisement in a subway station in New York, US, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Betting apps Polymarket has announced an investment of up to $2bn from the owner of the New York Stock Exchange

Stew, a 35-year-old from Montana, has enjoyed dabbling in sports bets since he downloaded the Kalshi app about 18 months ago.

But just a few weeks ago, after spotting reports of elevated pizza deliveries around the Pentagon during some late-night scrolling, he made a different kind of bet - wagering $10 (£7.

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Oscars 2026: What to expect, how to watch and who will win

Steven McIntosh Entertainment reporter

Getty Images Jessie Buckley attends the Getty Images
Irish actress Jessie Buckley is the favourite to win best actress for her performance in Hamnet

Hollywood stars are gearing up for Sunday night's Oscars, in an exciting year for the awards race where several categories are too close to call.

Political thriller One Battle After Another is the favourite to win best picture, but it faces tough competition from vampire horror Sinners, which has a record-breaking 16 nominations.

Irish star Jessie Buckley is considered the firm frontrunner to win best actress for her

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Will Trump help or hinder Zimbabwe's white farmers in their compensation battle?

AFP via Getty Images Two men and one woman in green hats and one holding a Zimbabwean flag attend a political campaign meeting held by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in July 2018 for members of the white farming and business community. AFP via Getty Images
Zimbabwe agreed a compensation deal to pay $3.5bn for infrastructure improvements to land that was seized

Desperate and ageing white farmers whose land was seized during Robert Mugabe's rule more than two decades ago hope Donald Trump may be able to help them get billions of dollars in unpaid compensation owed to them by Zimbabwe's government.

After all, some of them argue, the US president intervened last year to fight for the rights of white farmers in neighbouring South Africa, where he feels they

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Iraq taking private plane to Mexico for World Cup play-off

Iraq will travel to Mexico by private plane for their World Cup play-off despite calls from coach Graham Arnold to postpone the match amid the US-Israeli war with Iran, the Iraqi Football Association's president says.

Iraq are due to face either Bolivia or Suriname in Monterrey on 31 March, with the winner of the inter-continental play-off booking their place at the 2026 World Cup.

Airspace in the Middle East has been closed since 28 February when US-Israeli strikes began


BBC visits aftermath of Israeli strike on Lebanon that killed family as IDF targets Hezbollah

Alice Cuddy Younine, northeastern Lebanon

BBC The yellow flag of the Hezbollah group hanging by the ruins of a house BBC
The yellow flag of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah was hanging on top of a pile of rubble

Warning - this article contains a graphic description of the aftermath of an explosion.

As Israel continues to attack targets connected to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the BBC visited the remains of a home where eight members of a family, including three children, were killed in a strike.

The yellow flag of the Iran-backed armed group was hanging on top of a pile of rubble in the

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France take title with thrilling last-gasp win over England

After an elaborate pre-match ceremony, featuring riders on horseback, pyro and laser projections, the two teams served up a superb, see-sawing game which would have graced any era of their 120-year rivalry.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey, France's warp-speed wing, burned England twice in the opening 12 minutes with trademark tries.

The 22-year-old, whose has now scored in 10 successive Six Nations matches, raced on to well-weighted kicks from Ramos


Russia exploiting Iran war, Zelensky says after fresh bombardment

Reuters A woman walks past a burning house at the site of Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Brovary, in Kyiv region Reuters
The Kyiv region reportedly bore the brunt of the latest drone and missile strikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of attempting to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause "even greater destruction" in his country.

He said Ukraine needed air-defence systems regardless of what was happening elsewhere. The US-Israeli war with Iran has led to many air-defence missiles being expended fending off retaliatory attacks.

Zelensky's comments came after Russia launched another massive aerial bombardment overnight into Saturday in which at least five


Three more Iran football team members change minds over asylum

Robert Greenall and

Simon Atkinson , Sydney

EPA Iranian coach dressed in green (on left) talks to player Mona Hamoudi, wearing red shirt with brown sleeveless top, during match as two other players sit on each side. EPA
One of the three has been named as Mona Hamoudi, pictured here during a match against the Philippines on 8 March

Three more members of the Iranian women's football delegation - who were given humanitarian visas to stay in Australia - have changed their mind and will return home.

The trio have been named by human rights activists in the Iranian diaspora as Zahra Soltan Meshkehkar, Mona Hamoudi, and Zahra Sarbali.

Concerns grew for the Iranian team after they were silent