Former Real Madrid coach replaces Liam Rosenior at the end of a difficult season for the London-based club.

Xabi ⁠⁠Alonso has been appointed as Chelsea’s new ⁠⁠manager, the Premier League ⁠⁠club says, with the Spaniard signing ‌‌a four-year deal that begins on July 1.

“Chelsea is one of the biggest ⁠⁠clubs in world ⁠⁠football and it fills me with ⁠⁠immense pride to ⁠⁠become manager ⁠⁠of this great club,” Alonso said in ‌‌a statement on Sunday.

The former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen manager becomes the fifth permanent appointment under Chelsea’s BlueCo ownership, ⁠⁠following Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior.

It marks a return to English football for Alonso, who made 210 appearances for Liverpool as a player before leaving for ‌‌Real Madrid in 2009 and later ending his playing career with Bayern Munich in 2017.

“From my conversations ⁠⁠with the ownership group and sporting leadership, ⁠⁠it is clear we share the same ambition,” Alonso said after his appointment.

“We want to build a team capable of competing consistently at the highest level and fighting ⁠⁠for trophies.

“There is great talent in the squad and huge potential at this ⁠⁠football club and it will be ⁠⁠my great honour to lead it. Now the focus is on hard work, building the right culture and winning trophies.”

Chelsea have endured a difficult ‌‌season, slipping to ninth in the Premier League and facing a long-shot battle to qualify for European competition after ‌‌losing ‌‌the FA Cup final to Manchester City on Saturday.

“Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Xabi Alonso as manager of the men’s team,” Chelsea said in a statement.

MMA legend will compete for the first time in five years at UFC 329 in the United States.

Conor McGregor, a huge ‌name in mixed martial arts (MMA) despite not fighting ⁠since 2021, ⁠will return for a match with Max Holloway on July 11 in Las Vegas, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ⁠CEO Dana White has announced.

Ireland’s McGregor (22-6-0) will face fellow former champion Holloway (27-9-0) in a nontitle welterweight bout ⁠as the main event of UFC 329 during International Fight Week, White said on Saturday. It’s a rematch of their featherweight bout in August 2013, which McGregor won by a three-round decision ‌despite a torn ACL.

McGregor, 37, last fought on July 10, 2021, losing by TKO to Dustin Poirier after breaking his leg during the final seconds of the first round. The fighters had split two earlier matches.

Another return ⁠was cancelled when McGregor sustained ⁠a toe injury before his match with Michael Chandler scheduled for June 2024.

McGregor became the first UFC fighter to be champion simultaneously ⁠in two weight divisions in 2016. He knocked out Jose Aldo for ⁠the featherweight belt in December 2015 ⁠and stopped Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title in November 2016. He is 1-3 in his last four bouts.

Holloway, 34, is a ‌former featherweight champion who has beaten Justin Gaethje, Aldo (twice), Poirier and Frankie Edgar. The Hawaii native is ‌1-1 since ‌moving to lightweight in 2025, losing his last bout to Charles Oliveira by a five-round decision in March.

Russian authorities say three people killed in the Moscow region and one in Belgorod in Ukrainian attacks.

At least four people have been killed after Ukraine launched large-scale drone attacks on several Russian regions, including Moscow, in what officials described as the biggest drone assault in more than a year.

Russian authorities said on Sunday three people were killed in the Moscow region and another person died in Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border.

Moscow region’s Governor Andrei Vorobyov said a woman was killed after a drone struck a house in Khimki, north of Moscow. Rescue workers were searching the rubble for another possible victim. Two other men were killed in the village of Pogorelki in the Mytishchi district, he said.

Vorobyov added that apartment buildings and infrastructure sites were damaged in the attacks.

Russia’s state news agency TASS, quoting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, reported that air defence systems shot down 81 drones targeting the capital overnight.

He said 12 people were injured, most of them near Moscow’s oil refinery, adding it continued operating without disruption, while three homes were damaged.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it intercepted 556 drones across the country overnight and into Sunday morning.

Sheremetyevo airport, Moscow’s largest, said drone debris had fallen on its grounds but caused no damage.

The attacks came after United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, suggested the war could be nearing an end. Trump said last week he believed Moscow and Kyiv would “soon reach a deal” to stop the fighting.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks continued in parts of Ukraine. In the Kharkiv region, authorities said Russian forces targeted 15 settlements over the past 24 hours, wounding seven people.

In the southern Kherson region, officials said a 36-year-old man was killed after a Russian drone dropped explosives on the village of Inhulets in Kherson on Saturday morning.

Republicans want to allocate $1bn in public funds for Secret Service security upgrades linked to the plans.

A senior United States Senate official has put up a major roadblock for Republicans as they seek to use taxpayer money for security upgrades linked to President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled on Saturday that the proposed funding, as written in a spending bill, does not comply with the chamber’s budget rules, a Democratic lawmaker said.

Trump had repeatedly said the ballroom itself would be funded through $400m in private donations. But Republicans have sought to include $1bn for the Secret Service to pay for security improvements tied to the ballroom and other planned underground facilities.

Democrats have sharply criticised the proposal, describing it as an unnecessary luxury project at a time when many Americans are struggling with the rising cost of living, including higher fuel prices.

Trump, a former real estate developer, has promoted the project heavily, calling it “the finest building of its kind anywhere in the world”.

According to the office of Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, MacDonough determined that the security funding could not be passed under the fast-track budget process Republicans are using to avoid needing 60 votes in the Senate.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber, meaning they would struggle to secure enough Democratic backing if the ruling stands.

Merkley said Democrats would continue challenging any attempt by Republicans to rewrite the legislation to satisfy Senate rules.

The disputed funding is part of a wider $72bn spending package focused largely on immigration enforcement, which Republicans hope to pass without Democratic support.

Democrats have opposed additional funding for Trump’s immigration policies unless broader reforms are included, especially after incidents in Minnesota in January in which US citizens were killed during operations involving federal immigration agents.

Republicans argued the security funding is necessary to protect the president. They pointed to an April incident in Washington, DC, in which an alleged gunman reportedly tried to enter a black-tie media event attended by Trump.

Trump said he expects the ballroom to be completed by September 2028, towards the end of his second term in office.

Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is gradually increasing as Iran says its open for vessels who coordinate with the Iranian military, with the exception of ‘adversaries’. Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reports from the strait and explains Tehran’s newest plan to manage shipping.

Veteran striker Azmoun was not named in the 30-man squad, which will be trimmed to 26 by June 1.

Experienced forward Sardar Azmoun was a glaring omission as Iran named their preliminary World Cup squad before departing for a pre-tournament training camp.

Azmoun, who was reportedly expelled from the national team for a perceived act of disloyalty to the government amid the US-Israel war on Iran, was not among the 30 players named in the squad on Saturday.

The 31-year-old striker, who plays his club football in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Dubai’s Shabab Al-Ahli, upset the Iranian authorities in March by posting a picture on his Instagram feed of a meeting with Dubai’s ruler, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, according to reports in Iranian media.

A report on the Fars News Agency in March quoted “an informed source within the national team” as saying Azmoun had been expelled from the squad. The player later removed the picture but was still lambasted on state TV.

Azmoun has scored 57 goals in his 91 appearances for his country and was part of Iran’s squad in its last two appearances at the World Cup.

Iran’s forward line at the World Cup will be led by Mehdi Taremi, who has played in major European football leagues and is currently plying his trade at Olympiacos FC in the top tier of Greek football.

The 30-member squad will travel to Turkiye on Monday for a training camp, friendlies and to complete visa applications before heading to the United States, head coach Amir Ghalenoei said.

Team Melli will be returning to Antalya, where they trained and played friendlies in March.

The squad will have to be trimmed to the World Cup maximum of 26 by June 1.

“Selecting 30 players for this final training camp ahead of the World Cup was the most difficult technical decision of my coaching career,” Ghalenoei told the Iranian football federation website, adding he had selected players solely on “technical criteria”.

Iran hope to play two friendlies in Antalya. They have already confirmed one match against The Gambia on May 29, said Sam Mehdizadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who heads a company that sets up friendlies for the team.

The Iranian squad and support staff have not been issued visas for the World Cup, but football’s global governing body FIFA has issued reassurances in advance of the June 11 tournament kickoff.

“No visas have been issued yet,” Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian football federation, said on Thursday.

Taj said players were expected to undergo fingerprinting in Turkiye as part of the visa process, but wished to avoid a trip of more than 450km (280 miles) from Antalya to the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Iran will begin their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on 15 June, before facing Belgium in the same city and then Egypt in Seattle, in Group G.