critics

Infantino also addressed criticism surrounding the standard of officiating at the tournament, in particular concerns about political interference after USA forward Folarin Balogun was made available for their last-16 tie when his one-match ban was suspended by Fifa – following the intervention of US President Donald Trump.

Of the 191 other red cards shown at a men’s World Cup, only one other player has escaped a suspension.

Uefa said the decision had “crossed a red line”, labelling it “unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustifiable”, while the Norwegian Football Federation is considering filing a formal complaint to Fifa’s ethics committee.

Infantino, however, argued that such decisions are not out of the ordinary, claiming similar rulings are “routine and widely accepted in some of the biggest leagues worldwide”.

He added: “It’s curious that the same countries employing these practices are the ones criticising.”

The International Olympic Committee has said it will not investigate Infantino for any possible breaches of political neutrality, stating the complaint levelled by human rights campaign group FairSquare falls outside the jurisdiction of its ethics commission.

Infantino’s advice to his opponents was “to show some love” and “respect” to a tournament where “people came together as families, as fans, as one”.

“To everyone who missed our beautiful game, the emotions, the celebrations, the laughter, the crying, the deception and the joy. To all of you who missed watching kids, babies, grandparents and parents come together for the beautiful game… sorry that you were so consumed by hate and criticism that you missed it all,” Infantino wrote.

“While they celebrated, you were busy planting seeds of hate. Our world needs love, not hate; tolerance, not division; celebration, not mourning.

“To those spending their time and energy hating us, please take a moment to reflect, meditate, pray or watch a football match and truly observe the faces, the eyes, the emotions.

“Because only our beautiful game can deliver such an extraordinary show, a show where everyone becomes one and reconnects as humans.

“I am incredibly proud, as Fifa President, to have contributed, even a little, to this show. It’s a great feeling.”

AMANDA Holden has defended her 20-year-old daughter’s modelling career and hit back at ‘nepo-baby’ accusations.

Having been signed to Storm Models Management at 18, Lexi has already taken to the stage at London Fashion Week, following in her famous mum’s footsteps with a glam career in the spotlight.

But Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda, 55, doesn’t believe there’s any harm in helping her kids out if she’s able to.

“Being someone’s kid is not going to secure work, make a living for you and longevity in whatever career,” Amanda told the Daily Mail. “It may get a foot in the door, but then you’re on your own!”

Amanda’s comments come as Lexi features in sultry new modelling snaps, posing topless with just a banana tree leaf covering her.

Lexi wears her long blonde locks loose in the pictures, keeping her look natural with just a sweep of heavy eyeliner on her lashes and a toussled fringe.

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She completed the beachy look with leopard print bikini bottoms and a tangle of bracelets on her wrist.

Amanda also added that showbuiness is no picnic, saying: “I think it’s unfair to sort of single out showbusiness or the music industry, because they’re the worst businesses to be in!

“I just hate the term nepo baby because it’s up to them to make it on their own. And it’s often worse having a famous parent, it’s not often a good thing.’

Amanda revealed that her younger daughter Hollie, 14, asks her mum to drop her at school at the end of the road, because she “hates” having a famous mother.

Of Lexi, Amanda believes she’s “unfazed” and “has her head screwed on”, so doesn’t fret about her foray into the world of modelling.

This comes as UK TV bosses are said to be planning a loose revival of one of reality TV’s biggest ever shows – The Simple Life – featuring Lexi.

The early 2000s programme starred Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie and followed them as they got stuck in working “regular” jobs for the first time in their lives.

Now, channel chiefs are said to be bringing the format back but with a new competition element and a cast of Brit nepo-babies, seeing the least hard-working nepo baby voted off each episode.

Katie Price‘s son Junior and Jeff Brazier‘s son Freddy are also apparently on the wish list.

A source told The Sun: “Katie Price’s son Junior and Amanda Holden’s teen Lexi have been approached for the gruelling new TV show. It will see if they can survive a REAL day’s work.

“Bosses are hoping to get twelve of the country’s favourite nepo babies and many of them are currently in talks.

“The show has already been commissioned and will almost certainly go ahead as soon as everyone is signed up.”

BILLINGS, Mont. — The U.S. Interior Department on Friday canceled a rule meant to protect plants and animals that are determined to be threatened with extinction, the latest step by the Trump administration to dismantle key provisions of the landmark Endangered Species Act at the behest of industry.

Instead of receiving automatic protections, imperiled species will need individualized protection plans once they are added to the threatened species list. That’s a potentially lengthy process in which companies could seek exemptions for oil and gas drilling, mining and other development where those species live.

Opponents said it would make it harder to save wildlife awaiting federal protections and in danger of disappearing, such as monarch butterflies and alligator snapping turtles.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement that the Endangered Species Act had been used for too long “to stop almost any new project in America, driving up costs for families, weakening our competitiveness, and undermining our national security.”

“Success should be measured by species recovery and delisting, not by adding more species to the list,” Burgum added.

A second change finalized Friday requires officials to analyze economic effects when deciding whether habitat is critical to a species’ survival. Critics say it gives corporations an opportunity to put their thumb on the scale so officials will allow development in those areas.

“If you’re exempting certain industries that cause habitat destruction, in many instances you’ll be exempting the main threat to those species,” said Noah Greenwald with the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity.

Officials made similar changes during Trump’s first term, but they were reversed under the Biden administration.

The rules that gave what some consider “blanket protections” to threatened species were first adopted for wildlife in 1975 and for plants in 1977.

Two groups, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Property and Environment Research Center, sued the Biden administration in 2024 after officials restored the blanket protections rule. They argued the rule unfairly imposed the same restrictions on landowners when a species’ status improves from endangered, which is more dire, to threatened.

That removed incentives for landowners to participate in species recovery, said Jonathan Wood, vice president at the Montana-based research center.

Wood said the Trump administration’s approach allows officials to “better reward progress and encourage proactive conservation.”

There have been no species added to the endangered or threatened lists in Trump’s second term. By comparison, more than 20 species were added in Trump’s first term, and about 60 under President Biden.

About 30 species are currently proposed to be listed as threatened. Besides monarchs and alligator snapping turtles, they include California spotted owls and various snakes, fish, clams and insects.

Changes to government policies for endangered plants and wildlife have come faster and extended further in Trump’s second term than in his first.

The administration in March exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said environmentalists’ lawsuits threatened to hobble domestic energy supplies as the U.S. wages war against Iran.

A week before the latest rule change, Interior officials sharply narrowed the definition of what constitutes “harm” to a species. The change would allow development in critical wildlife habitat so long as the animals themselves are not immediately killed or injured.

Officials this week sharply reduced the amount of critical habitat in the Rocky Mountains designated for Canada lynx, forest-dwelling wildcats that are threatened by climate change and other pressures.

Also this week, Burgum said in a visit to Montana that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would turn over more management authority for grizzly bears to states where the bruins live. That’s been a long-standing priority for the Republican governors of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

The Endangered Species Act is credited with bringing back animals including the California condor, the bald eagle and the American alligator from the brink of extinction.

Burgum noted Friday that 97% of the species that have been given protections still have them. That’s a frustration for Republican lawmakers who say species should be taken off the endangered and threatened lists more quickly once they’ve recovered.

Brown writes for the Associated Press.

NEW YORK — Mahmoud Khalil is suing the federal government and several private groups, alleging they were part of a conspiracy to suppress criticism of Israel by doxing, jailing and attempting to deport supporters of the pro-Palestinian movement.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court Tuesday, alleges a coordinated campaign among senior officials of President Trump’s administration, leaders of the Heritage Foundation and two online surveillance groups, Canary Mission and Betar.

According to Khalil’s lawyers, that “public-private partnership” — first brought to light in a separate trial last year — may violate the Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law that sought to restrict government coordination with vigilante groups.

Inquiries to the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar were not immediately returned on Tuesday.

A former graduate student at Columbia University, Khalil, 31, gained prominence as a spokesperson and leader for student activists protesting against Israel and its actions in Gaza.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested in March 2025 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in his campus apartment. He quickly became the face of the Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

He then spent 104 days in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child, before a federal judge in New Jersey ordered his release.

Khalil’s deportation case, a priority for the Trump administration, has moved with unusual speed through executive-branch-controlled immigration courts, and may soon wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

He has forcefully denied that his role in pro-Palestinian protests amounts to antisemitism.

“My beliefs are not wanting my tax money or tuition going toward investments in weapons manufacturers for a genocide,” he previously told The Associated Press. “It’s as simple as that.”

Offenhartz writes for the Associated Press.

NEW YORK — When Varun Venkatesh cast his ballot in New York’s primary this week, he thought about “a good litmus test for me as a voter.” He wanted to know what the candidates are doing for the Palestinian cause.

The 27-year-old Brooklyn resident decided to support Claire Valdez, who was backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, over Antonio Reynoso, another progressive who was the choice of the Democratic establishment, because she had “a clear and more consistent stance.”

Valdez triumphed in her congressional primary, as did two other insurgent candidates endorsed by Mamdani, and Israel was a key issue in each of the races. Now the question for Democrats is how many more voters like Venkatesh are out there as the party charts its path toward the November midterms and the next presidential election.

The war in Gaza, which began during Joe Biden’s presidency and undermined Kamala Harris’ bid to replace him, remains an open wound, and how Democrats attempt to stitch it closed will help define their future. A step in any direction risks alienating pieces of the party’s unwieldy coalition at a time when it’s trying to unify around the mission of retaking control of Congress.

“The Israel question has become defining,” said Matt Bennett, who leads the centrist Democratic group Third Way and frequently criticizes progressives as jeopardizing outreach to independent voters. He said some in Mamdani’s camp have embraced “a new level of extremism,” warning that “Republicans are very good at weaponizing crazy ideas on the fringe against mainstream candidates.”

Mamdani has no such concerns as he tries to reshape the Democratic Party from the mayor’s office of the country’s largest city. He sharply criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for defending what he calls “a status quo of immorality” in Gaza, and voters who celebrated his slate’s victories on Tuesday night chanted “Free Palestine.”

The mayor, meanwhile, argues that New York should shape Democrats’ search for their national identity in the coming years.

“When does the race for 2028 begin?” Mamdani asked last week on a stage with his slate of candidates. “It starts now.”

Israel-Palestine conflict animates Democrats’ left flank

Even for a party accustomed to searing debates between progressives and moderates, the schism over Israel has been blistering. Although the U.S. alliance with Israel once had bipartisan support, the ascendancy of Israel’s right wing led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strained those ties over the years. Then the war in Gaza shredded them.

Biden was denounced as “Genocide Joe” by pro-Palestinian supporters, who shifted their attention to Harris once she replaced him as the Democratic nominee for president two years ago.

“She was trying to the right thing,” said Jamie Harrison, who led the Democratic National Committee at the time. “It was a hard and awkward place to be in.”

Harrison said the war in Gaza helped cost Harris the state of Michigan, which has a sizable Arab American population. However, he doubts that it was a defining national issue then or now.

“It’s one thing to be in New York. But I can tell you that most places, including where I am in South Carolina, it’s not what people are talking about,” he said. “They are concerned about affording gas and groceries and housing.”

Harrison expects Democrats to look for middle ground in the future, which includes “still supporting Israel’s sovereignty” while calling for “reducing U.S. aid to Israel and changing the nature of the relationship.”

One primary victor blasted the ‘hug Bibi’ strategy

Finding middle ground has been difficult so far, as demonstrated by the primary in New York’s 10th congressional district.

Brad Lander, the former city comptroller backed by Mamdani, successfully challenged U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the race.

Both candidates are Jewish, and both have criticized the Israeli government. But Lander says the war in Gaza is a genocide, and Goldman does not.

“Our party needs to admit that Joe Biden’s ‘hug Bibi’ strategy was a catastrophic mistake,” Lander said in his primary victory speech. He added, “We cannot keep paying for Netanyahu’s wars with our tax dollars. Democratic voters are saying this, loud and clear.”

Ari Rassouli, a voter in the district, said the incumbent’s views on Israel were “one of the many reasons that I didn’t like Dan Goldman.”

Describing the war as a genocide, she said “a candidate that is in support of that has no place in our democracy at all.”

While talking to reporters on Tuesday, Lander acknowledged that Israel was among the top issues along with affordability and immigration.

“I like talking to Jewish voters who feel anxiety about the times we live in and say, ‘I have these values, I want to treat everyone like they’re equal and with dignity and created in God’s image. How do we navigate the times we’re in?’” he said.

He added with a smile, “Those are probably the longest conversations at the polls.” ___

Barrow, Peoples and Offenhartz write for the Associated Press. AP writers Anthony Izaguirre and Larry Neumeister contributed to this report.

GUADALAJARA, Jalisco — Before the World Cup, critics and fans of the Mexican national team debated whether Javier Aguirre’s third stint as head coach was the right decision. Two games later, the coach has led Mexico to the tournament’s knockout round.

Thursday’s 1-0 victory over South Korea at Guadalajara Stadium made the World Cup co-host the first in the tournament to advance while also clinching the top spot in Group A with one group play game remaining. After South Korea’s goalkeeper fumbled a ball, Luis Romo scored the goal that gave the Mexicans six points and pushed them to the top of the standings.

El Tri will close out the first round against Czechia (6 p.m.) at Azteca Stadium on Wednesday.

During his post-match news conference, Aguirre spoke less about the result and more about the journey that led him to this moment. At 67 and having coached Mexico in three World Cups, he explained that his experience allowed him to approach a match he described as eminently tactical.

Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel reaches back to stop the ball from entering his goal during his team’s 1-0 World Cup win over South Korea Thursday.

(Silvia Izquierdo / Associated Press)

“I’ve always tried to get my team to play well and to help the players and the national team develop,” Aguirre said.

For the coach, advancing to the knockout round represents the culmination of more than three decades of work on the sidelines and the support of a group of players who rose to the occasion under the most demanding circumstances.

The coach also acknowledged that advancing to the next round has eased the tension surrounding the team after the doubts that existed before the World Cup. Without mentioning personal vindication, he noted that soccer tends to judge solely based on the most recent result.

“If you win, you’re the best; if you lose, you’re the worst,” Aguirre said.

Aguirre said he remains calm because he believes his approach to coaching hasn’t changed and that the team was rewarded Thursday night against South Korea in a match marked by limited space and a high degree of tactical discipline.

With qualification secured, Aguirre said he will not alter his soccer philosophy during Mexico’s final group stage match even though it no longer faces the pressure of securing a spot in the next round.

He said Czechia will enter the game with a different competitive need and a drive to advance, while Mexico will work to maintain a high level of performance that allowed it to record two consecutive wins and keep two clean sheets at the start of the tournament.

On the South Korean side, coach Hong Myung-bo avoided making excuses and focused his analysis on the play that decided the match. Although he explained that he had not yet reviewed the goal sequence in detail, he knew the team made a series of small errors in an area of the field where he had previously warned that losing possession could prove decisive.

Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel blocks a shot by South Korea’s Son Heung-min during the World Cup match on Thursday.

(Natacha Pisarenko / Associated Press)

The coach said that one of the central focuses of their preparation had been avoiding turnovers near South Korea’s box in the face of Mexico’s high press.

Myung-bo said that during the pre-match talk, he emphasized that the first 20 minutes would be crucial and believed his players had executed that part of the plan. He said that as the minutes passed, South Korea managed to create chances and was gaining strength until its critical turnover.

“After the momentum of the match shifted in our favor … both in terms of overall pressure and the play itself, we were able to create many opportunities,” Myung-bo said. “Although it ended up being a very frustrating match and we’re left with a bitter taste in our mouths over the lost possession, there’s no time to dwell on it. We have one last match ahead of us, so we’ll prepare well.”

Accra, Ghana – Ghana has recorded 14 arrests linked to false news and offensive speech in less than 16 months, nearly double the number documented during the previous administration’s entire eight-year tenure, according to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

The rise has triggered a sharp debate in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies over whether authorities are simply enforcing long-standing laws in a new digital environment, or edging into a more restrictive approach to public speech.

The controversy carries added political weight because President John Mahama, while in opposition in 2022, warned that using state power to intimidate dissent was a “dangerous blueprint” for democracy.

Government: enforcement not repression

A senior ruling party official dismissed allegations that the arrests amount to a crackdown.

“The opposition intentionally sponsors people to insult the President,” he told Al Jazeera. “When the law catches up with them, they cry persecution to score cheap political points.”

He pointed to the case of TikToker Prince Ofori, known as “Fante Comedy”, who was arrested last August over alleged threats to President Mahama.

Days after his arrest, Ofori appeared at a political rally alongside opposition figures, a development the official said showed how quickly such cases become politicised.

“They paraded him at an opposition rally,” he said.

Opposition: a warning sign for democracy

Opposition leaders see something more troubling taking shape.

Minority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has been among the most outspoken critics.

“The state-sponsored persecution must stop,” he told Al Jazeera. “Arresting citizens for words that do not constitute genuine threats is not justice. It is intimidation.”

He said free speech has limits, but argued that the state is increasingly crossing a line.

“Excessive use of state power risks undoing Ghana’s hard-won democratic gains,” he said.

Where is the line?

At the centre of the debate are long-standing provisions in Ghana’s Criminal Code and Electronic Communications Act, which authorities say are now being applied to a fast-moving digital landscape.

Government supporters argue the increase in arrests reflects the explosion of anonymous and unregulated online content.

Critics say the problem is not the laws themselves, but how they are being used.

A legal consultant who reviewed recent cases said he counted at least 16 alleged misapplications of Section 208 in the past 18 months, compared with roughly a dozen in the previous eight years.

“The law has been abused beyond repair,” he said. “Repeal is the only remedy.”

Veteran journalist Ben Ephson said Ghana needs clearer guidance on where free expression ends and harm begins.

“The government must properly explain the arrests so people can draw the line between press freedom and responsible journalism,” he said.

He added that both journalists and state institutions risk overstepping if the rules remain unclear.

“When you compare the freedom of the media and the rights of the individual, we need to be careful that the media, in trying to do their work, don’t trample on people’s rights,” he said.

A wider global debate

Others say Ghana’s debate mirrors tensions playing out in other democracies.

Tegha King of the Universal Peace Federation Ghana said concerns about shrinking civic space are not unique to Ghana.

“The global civic space must cultivate more free speech, not less,” he told Al Jazeera.

He said stronger institutions, not more arrests, are needed to manage the pressures of the digital age.

“There must be independent courts, transparent enforcement, media self-regulation and digital literacy,” he said.

Civic awareness and external concern

Some analysts point to gaps in public understanding of constitutional rights.

“There is a lack of constitutional education among many Ghanaians,” said David Adofo of the African Chamber of Content Producers. “People must know the consequences of their actions before they act, not after.”

Concerns are also being voiced outside the country.

“We have had many concerns from diasporans about perceived erosion of press and political freedoms, especially news of blogger arrests,” said Nana Kofi Opoku-Agyemang of the NuGhana Expat Center. “Negative news sells fast. The government must be cautious so it does not project a negative image of Ghana in the diasporan community.”

Government stance

Officials insist there is no coordinated effort to silence dissent.

An NDC communicator said the legal framework in question predates the current administration and defended the approach.

“Ghana’s laws, Section 208 of the Criminal Code and Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, have been on the books for decades,” he said. “What has changed is the sheer volume of reckless, anonymous and sometimes dangerous content on social media. There is no systematic crackdown. There is simply enforcement of existing law.”

A political irony at the centre of it all

Ghana remains one of West Africa’s more open democracies, with a competitive political system and active media landscape.

But the rise in speech-related arrests has sharpened scrutiny of how far the state can go in policing online expression without undermining the democratic culture that helped define its reputation.

The debate is also politically charged because of Mahama’s own past warnings.

As opposition leader, he described the use of state power against dissent as a “dangerous blueprint.” Today, critics say his government faces accusations it once condemned.

For Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the moment calls for restraint — and reflection.

“We should not continue to say that because it happened yesterday, it should happen today and tomorrow. That cycle must end,” he said. “President Mahama has an opportunity to leave a legacy of tolerance and free speech. I hope he takes it.”

SINGER Junior Andre, the son of Katie Price and Peter Andre, has hit back at nepo baby critics and insisted he “doesn’t want handouts” after getting a job on the London Underground.

Junior revealed earlier this year during an episode of ITV‘s The Princess Diaries that he secretly worked nights for TFL to help fund his music career.

The 20-year-old opened up on his “hard” reality in a candid conversation with his sister.

He worked through the nights, full time, while he sorted out “differences” with his record label.

Now, in a new interview alongside his girlfriend, Jasmine, Junior has shut down trolls, making it clear that he’s paving his own way in the industry.

Junior said: “My dad was brought up very strict, so regardless of anything he says, ‘You’ve got to work son.’

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“As much as he’s there for me, and my mum is there for me, I don’t want handouts. I need to learn life the proper way.

“So when things get hard, instead of sitting there doing nothing I was like, ‘I need to do what I’ve got to do.’ I threw myself in the deep end, but I never gave up on my dream.”

He continued: “It made me [the job] understand the value of money and grafting. People say, ‘You’ve never done a hard days work in your life,’ and I’m like ‘I have!”

Elsewhere in the chat, Junior and Jasmine, who have been together for two years, confessed their future plans as a couple.

Reality TV star Junior said: “I get scared if I think about kids, marriage, because we’re not there. There’s so much more we want to do before we think about that stuff.”

Jasmine added: “We’re on the same page in that they’re such big things. Having a child – that’s a full human!”

“We’ll know when the time is right,” added Junior.

Junior used to work for TFL, “grafting, lifting heavy metals, cutting, filing, painting,” so he could fund his music career.

Princess, 18, gushed over her brother saying: “So proud of Junior, his last two singles went in at number one , but while he was sorting differences out with his label he went to work through the nights and work a full time job so he was fully self sufficient.

“Which I’m super proud of.”

Junior has previously told fans that despite his parents celebrity status, he doesn’t want to live of them.

His dad, Peter, is a huge pop star, topping the UK charts in the mid-90s with his tunes “Mysterious Girl” and “Flava.”

And Junior’s mum, Katie, also shot to fame in the 90s but as a glamour model using the alter ego Jordan.