South Africa's Olympic committee has named Durban as its preferred host city for a bid to stage the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the first such Games in Africa. The South African cabinet has approved the bid. Acting committee president Lwandile Simelane said the bid would likely be spread across several cities, with some events held elsewhere, and Cape Town and Johannesburg were also considered. The preferred city must reach the International Olympic Committee by 31 October. Presentations to the IOC's Future Host Commission are due in November, feasibility reviews end in March 2027, and the host for 2036 is to be chosen in mid-2029. Seven countries have expressed interest in 2036. Officials have not yet released cost estimates.
Researchers call for the World Health Organization to label climate change a global health emergency, citing a Lancet Countdown study that attributes three million heat‑related deaths worldwide since the 2015 Paris Agreement, with 68 % directly linked to human‑caused warming. The report also notes a record 710,000 heat‑related deaths in 2023, over 70 % of which stem from climate change, and highlights a surge in extreme drought affecting 52 % of land in 2025. The study was released ahead of COP 31 in Turkiye.
Qatari mediators have presented Iran with a new draft to end the conflict with the United States and Israel. The plan sets a seven-day timeline with daily confidence-building steps and would involve several guarantor countries, possibly starting early next week. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is in close contact with intermediaries and could implement the plan in less than a week, while a senior Iranian official called Doha's ideas unacceptable and not an offer. Earlier talks in Tehran with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey ended without a deal, and US President Donald Trump suggested Iran may be delaying until after the 3 Nov midterm elections.