Fauja Singh, a British-Indian man believed to be the world’s oldest marathon runner, has died after being hit by a car in India at the age of 114.

Police say Singh was crossing a road in the village where he was born in Punjab when an unidentified vehicle hit him. Locals took him to hospital, where he died.

Singh, a global icon, set records by running marathons across multiple age categories, including when he was over 100. He began running at 89 and ran nine full marathons between 2000 and 2013, when he retired.

His running club and charity, Sikhs In The City, said its upcoming events in Ilford, east London, where he had lived since 1992, would be a celebration of his life and achievements.

The hit and run happened on Monday as the centenarian was walking in his birth village, Beas Pind, near Jalandhar.

“A search is underway, and the accused will be caught soon,” said Harvinder Singh, a top district police officer.

As news of the death broke, tributes poured in.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him an “exceptional athlete with incredible determination”.

Harmander Singh, Fauja Singh’s coach at Sikhs In The City, confirmed his death in a statement posted to the running club.

The statement said: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our icon of humanity and powerhouse of positivity Fauja Singh has passed away in India.

“His running club and charity Sikhs In The City will be devoting all of its events until the Fauja Singh Birthday Challenge on Sunday 29 March 2026 to celebrate his life of success and achievements.

“We will be doubling the efforts to raise funds to building the Fauja Singh Clubhouse on the route in Ilford where he used to train.”

(BBC News)

London Southend Airport will remain closed until further notice after a plane crashed in what witnesses described as a “fireball”.

Essex Police said it was alerted to a 12-metre plane on fire at the site in Southend-on-Sea shortly before 16:00 BST on Sunday.

Southend Airport said it would continue to update the public on any developments, and that passengers due to travel on Monday should contact their airline.

There has been no confirmation on the number of casualties.

Dutch company Zeusch Aviation confirmed that its SUZ1 flight had been “involved in an accident” at London Southend Airport.

Based out of Lelystad Airport in The Netherlands, the company said they were actively supporting authorities with the investigation, and that their thoughts were with “everyone who has been affected”.

The plane had flown from the Greek capital Athens to Pula in Croatia on Sunday before heading to Southend, with a planned return to Lelystad Airport that evening.

(BBC News)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was reportedly slightly injured during one of Israel’s attacks on Iran last month.

Iran’s state Fars news agency, close to the revolutionary guard, says that on 16 June, six bombs targeted both access and entry points of a secret underground facility in Tehran where Pezeshkian was attending an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council.

The president is said to have suffered leg injuries as he and others escaped through an emergency shaft. Iran is now reported to be following leads of infiltration by Israeli agents.

The Fars report has not been independently verified. Israel has not publicly commented on the report.

Videos posted on social media during the 12-day war showed repeated strikes against a mountain side in north-western Tehran.

Now it has emerged that the strikes on the fourth day of war targeted a secret underground facility in Tehran where Iran’s top leaders were at the time.

The Fars news agency report says the Israeli strikes blocked all the six entry and exit points, and also the ventilation system.

The electricity to the facility was also cut off – but Pezeshkian managed to reach safety.

The Supreme National Security Council is Iran’s top decision-making body after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Last week, Pezeshkian accused Israel of trying to kill him – a claim denied by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who said “regime change” had not been not a goal of the war.

Israel wiped out many of top IRGC and army commanders at the very start of the war.

Iranian leaders admit they were taken completely by surprise, and there was a decision-making paralysis for at least the first 24 hours after the attack.

Israel officials admitted that Ayatollah Khamenei was also the target – but that they had lost track of him when he was moved to a secure secret location, cut off to a great extent from the outside world.

There are still many questions about how Israel had gathered critical intelligence about the whereabouts of Iran’s top officials and commanders – not to mention the locations of sensitive secret facilities.

On 13 June, Israel launched a surprise attack on nuclear and military sites in Iran, saying it acted to prevent Tehran from making nuclear weapons.

Iran – who retaliated with aerial attacks on Israel – denies seeking to develop nuclear weapons and says its enrichment of uranium is for peaceful purposes.

On 22 June, the US’s Air Force and Navy carried out air and missile strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities.

US President Donald Trump later said the attack “obliterated” the facilities, even as some US intelligence agencies have taken a more cautious view.

(BBC News)