Police were guarding a Christian neighbourhood in central Pakistan on Thursday, after hundreds of Muslim men rampaged through its streets setting fire to churches and ransacking homes over accusations...

Who would win a fight between Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg? It’s the sort of question that might be asked over a drink in the pub. But a clash between the two of the world’s tech tycoons may no longer be hypothetical after Mr Zuckerberg apparently agreed to a cage fight with Mr Musk. When rumours emerged earlier this month that the Facebook boss – a Jiu Jitsu enthusiast – was looking for a rival, the Space X and Tesla founder tweeted that he was “up for a cage match”. Mr Zuckerberg then posted a screenshot of the tweet with the caption “send me location”. Now that a fight appears on the cards, how would the two men match up inside the ring? At more than 6ft tall, Mr Musk would have a clear reach advantage over Mr Zuckerberg, who measures up at 5ft 8in. His height also means he would also have a significant weight advantage over his opponent, but Mr Zuckerberg’s Jiu Jitsu skills - he recently won his first gold and silver medals at a Silicon Valley tournament - would undoubtedly enable him to get out of a few sticky situations on the canvas. Mr Musk joked he had a “great move” to show off, noting that his workout regime consists mostly of spending time with his children. “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus’ where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing,” he tweeted. He added: “I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids & throwing them in the air.” In 2020, Mr Musk also told Joe Rogan that he “wouldn’t exercise at all if [he] could”. Although Mr Zuckerberg is smaller and lighter than Mr Musk, his technical ability and aerobic capacity could prove too much for the Tesla boss, who earlier this year said that his typical breakfast included a bowl of ice cream, biscuits and a donut. Mr Zuckerberg says he used to “run a lot” and got into surfing and then MMA after the Covid pandemic. “I really like watching UFC for example, that’s because I also like doing the sport [MMA],” he said on the Joe Rogan Experience. “It really is the best sport, five minutes in I was like ‘where has this best my whole life?’ To some degree, MMA is the perfect thing because if you stop paying attention for one second you’re going to end up on bottom.” In addition to his martial arts skills, Mr Zuckerberg also recently participated in the “Murph Challenge,” a gruelling workout named after Lt Michael P Murphy, a Navy Seal who was killed in action in 2005. The challenge, which the 39 year old said he tries to do each year with his daughters, involves 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, and a mile-long run, all while wearing a 20-pound weighted vest. “This year I got it done in 39:58. The girls did a quarter-Murph (unweighted) in 15 mins!” he wrote on Instagram on 29 May. According to Total Shape, a health and fitness platform that provides resources and expertise from fitness experts, Mr Zuckerberg’s ability to “complete extreme fitness challenges and technique with mixed martial arts showcases he has substantial ability and endurance”. When it comes down to who would win in a fight, “it is agility vs strength,” experts at Total Shape say, while noting that, based on “general endurance and skill for cage fighting, Mark Zuckerberg would have the upper hand”. However, “having strength and longer reach can give a fighter a lead when it comes to forceful striking and make it more difficult for the opponent to strike back”. Ultimately, the health and fitness experts at Total Shape conclude: “Placing both titans in a cage, Mark Zuckerberg would have the edge of agility and endurance needed to take Mr Musk down, given Mr Musk isn’t able to forcefully strike him earlier on in the fight.” The potential face-off comes amid rumours that Mr Zuckerberg is preparing to create a new app to rival Twitter, which is expected to be called Threads. The app, internally codenamed Project 92, will reportedly feature a continuous scroll of text, buttons similar to Twitter’s like and retweet functions, and a 500-character limit on posts. It is not the first time Mr Musk has called for a fight with a global figure. In August last year he challenged the Russian president to a scrap. "I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to a fight. The prize is Ukraine," he wrote. Putin didn’t respond to the goading but the irony was apparently lost on his Chechen war lord ally, Ramzan Kadyrov. "A word of advice: don’t measure your strength against Putin’s, you’re in two different leagues," the henchman warned. In a statement to Verge about whether a fight will indeed take place between Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Musk, a spokesperson for Meta said: “The story speaks for itself.” Read More Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s battle of the billionaires is an ego trip worth taking Elon Musk confirms cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg takes a swipe at Twitter over handling of Hunter Biden laptop story Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg: Who would win a fight between tech titans? Elon Musk’s sister says she’s been overcharged due to her last name Holiday hygiene horrors: Summer health risks to avoid, from flying to hotels

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON The minutes of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting last month may indicate on Wednesday

President Joe Biden will head to Europe at week’s end for a three-country trip intended to bolster the international coalition against Russian aggression as the war in Ukraine extends well into its second year

But the meeting in Lithuania will see disagreement over Ukraine's ambition to join the military bloc.

Megyn Kelly poked fun at Vogue's profile of White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday, September 8

A mother-of-five tells the BBC how she escaped a Kenyan starvation cult to save her children.

A major shipping group says there is still interest from ship owners in carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea if they can mitigate the risk

'You’re such an amazing friend to Madonna and you’re such an amazing person in general. Thank you so much Rosie,' wrote a fan

Russia alleges that dozens of Ukrainian militants crossed into one of its border towns in its Belgorod region, striking targets and forcing an evacuation, before over 70 of the attackers were killed or pushed back by what the authorities termed a counterterrorism operation. Ukraine denied any involvement in the skirmishes Monday and Tuesday, instead blaming two Russian groups that claim to be volunteers fighting alongside Kyiv's forces in an uprising against the government of President Vladimir Putin. While neither version could be independently verified, whatever happened appears to have sent Moscow scrambling to respond to one of the most serious border incursions since Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said an elderly woman died in the chaotic evacuation, and 12 people were wounded in the attack and shelling. As fighting there apparently continued Tuesday morning, he urged residents not to return to their homes, and only in late afternoon declared the operation was over. A look at what's known about the attack and the murky groups who say they carried it out: WHO'S CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY? Two groups — the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps – claimed responsibility for the attack and announced an ambitious goal of “liberating” the Belgorod region. Little is known about them beyond what they say about themselves, and it's not clear how they are. The website of the Freedom of Russia Legion says it was formed last spring “out of Russians’ desire to fight against Putin’s armed gang” and is “officially recognized” by Kyiv’s military. “We are fighting in full cooperation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and under the leadership of the Ukrainian command,” the website says. The website said it fought last summer in “small battle groups,” and now was involved in the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut. The Russian Volunteer Corps’ page in the messaging app Telegram used to say it was a formation within the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It now describes itself as merely fighting on the Ukrainian side. In August 2022, an announcement posted there said: “We, Russian volunteers living in Ukraine, decided to take up arms and create a military formation, the Russian Volunteer Corps, in order to together with our Ukrainian comrades defend their homeland which gave us shelter, and then continue the fight against the criminal Putin regime and his henchmen.” Other posts claimed the group was fighting in southeastern Ukraine, or as volunteers serving elsewhere in the country, including in Kyiv's suburbs of Bucha and Irpin. In March, the Russian Volunteer Corps claimed responsibility for an incursion in Russia's Bryansk region, another border area. Media reports at the time identified some of its members as Russian nationalists. In a post Tuesday, the Russian Volunteer Corps described its political views as “right-wing conservative and traditionalist." WHAT DOES UKRAINE SAY? Ukrainian officials have never confirmed any ties with either group. The government in Kyiv denied involvement in this week's Belgorod incident, calling it an act by disgruntled Russians. When they did talk about it, officials were vague. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said “patriots of Russia” and “people who actually rebelled against Putin’s regime” were behind the attack. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak blamed “underground guerrilla groups” that are “composed of Russian citizens.” In remarks to the news outlet Suspilne, Ukraine intelligence official Andrii Yusov said it was the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion. Andrii Cherniak, another intelligence representative pointed to the fact that the two groups claimed responsibility. "This is the consequence of aggressive politics of Putin’s regime and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he told The Associated Press. WHAT DOES RUSSIA SAY? Russia calls it an incursion by saboteurs deployed by Kyiv, with officials and state media using various epithets ranging from “militants” to “terrorists.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Belgorod attack was a diversion, meant “to draw attention away” from Russia's victory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Moscow claimed to have captured over the weekend after months of bloody fighting. Asked Tuesday about claims that the invaders were ethnic Russians, Peskov insisted that “these are Ukrainian militants from Ukraine.” “There are lots of ethnic Russians in Ukraine, but these are still Ukrainian militants,” Peskov said. Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said more than 70 “Ukrainian terrorists” were killed in Russia’s operation. He also referred to the attackers as “nationalists.” Russian state TV reported the invaders were from Ukraine's armed forces. One report alleged the attackers used U.S. military equipment despite Washington’s assurances its weapons won't be used for attacks on Russia. WHAT'S THE TRUTH? It's hard to know. Analysts and commentators say both Russia and Ukraine would likely benefit from its own version of the events. The British Defense Ministry tweeted Tuesday that “Russia will almost certainly use these incidents to support the official narrative that it is the victim in the war.” Russian state media coverage appears to support this notion, with its allegations that U.S. weapons were used in the attack and the general tone of some reports that overlaid video from the region with tense, dramatic music. For Kyiv, it's beneficial “to take up the position of an observer and not admit its involvement,” said Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov. “The fact is that the war is happening on Russian territory, the Kremlin is being clearly indicated that Russians are not the only ones who can employ hybrid (warfare) methods,” Zhdanov told AP. The involvement of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion should serve as signs that “there are forces inside Russia who can resist Putin’s regime,” he said. At the same time, the Belgorod attack “showed Russia’s helplessness," Zhdanov said. “Russia turned out to be completely unprepared -– neither its security forces, nor border guards, nor special services were prepared for hostilities on their own turf. The myth that Russia keeps its border locked has been busted,” he added. Some Russian voices echoed that sentiment. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private military contractor, used the incident as yet another chance to bash the Russian Defense Ministry for not adequately protecting the border. Alexander Kots, military correspondent with the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, also raised questions on his Telegram page. “What’s with our technical equipment of the border, surveillance systems, motion detection systems?" he asked. "What’s with mining of the potentially dangerous areas? What’s with anti-tank equipment? Why did an enemy armored group breach deep into our territory?” These are the questions “to which there are no answers,” Kots said. “To be more accurate, there are, but they’re very unpleasant.” ___ Karmanau reported from Tallinn and Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Russian sailors offered limited option to qualify for Paris Olympics Who is behind Belgorod incursion on Russian region bordering Ukraine? Ready for a digital euro? At 25, European Central Bank preps for future of money

The judge who signed off on a search warrant authorizing the raid of a newspaper office in Marion, Kansas, is facing a complaint about her decision and has been asked by a judicial body to respond, records shared with CNN by the complainant show.

EVERETT, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 29, 2023--