united states

Explosions heard in the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Chabahar, Bandar-e Deyr and Asaluyeh as US bombs Iran for a third time this week.

Jude Bellingham was England’s hero once more by scoring twice as the Three Lions came from behind to end Norway’s historic run and reach the World Cup semifinals with a 2-1 win after extra-time.

In their first ever quarterfinal, Andreas Schjelderup fired Norway into a shock lead in the searing Miami heat on Saturday.

But Bellingham, who also netted a double in a memorable 3-2 over Mexico in the last 16, produced a moment of magic to equalise just before half-time.

Norway had a second goal controversially disallowed after a VAR review in the second half for a foul by Erling Haaland as both sets of players were pushed to their physical limits by going to extra-time.

Bellingham came up with another big moment for the winner as he pounced on an error by Orjan Nyland to sweep in his sixth goal of the tournament.

England will face Argentina or Switzerland on Wednesday for the chance to reach a first World Cup final in 60 years.

Haaland’s spectacular run of scoring in his last 14 competitive matches for Norway came to an end against the land of his birth with Norway’s exhausted talisman replaced at half-time of extra-time.

Having failed to win a World Cup knockout game after conceding first since the final of 1966 before this tournament, England have now done so twice in three matches.

Energy-sapping heat

Harry Kane’s heroics prevented an embarrassing early exit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the last 32.

But it is Bellingham who has stood up in the past two matches to keep England in the hunt to end their long wait for major tournament glory despite far from flawless performances.

The 5pm local time (21:00 GMT) kickoff in Florida meant that temperatures remained above 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) throughout, with intense humidity making for draining conditions for the players.

The heat looked as if it would spoil the spectacle in the first half.

Thomas Tuchel’s men were rattled as England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved low from Martin Odegaard before Alexander Sorloth wasted a glorious chance when he failed to feed Haaland and instead went for goal himself.

Almost immediately Bellingham pulled his team out of the mire once more.

Bellingham had been well marshalled until he collected Anthony Gordon’s pass, burst into the box at speed and then slotted home on his weaker left foot.

Momentum was suddenly in England’s favour and they nearly went into the break ahead.

Bellingham was this time the creator for Kane, who dinked the ball coolly over Nyland, but had just drifted offside.

Tuchel introduced Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze at the break for the ineffective Noni Madueke and Declan Rice – the Arsenal midfielder had been suffering with illness earlier in the week.

But those changes left England light in midfield and they were left hanging on at spells in the second half.

Torbjorn Heggem made the most of some sloppy defending to turn in at the back post, but Haaland was penalised for a push on new Manchester City teammate Elliott Anderson before the corner had been taken, and the goal was disallowed.

Norway were inches away from a winner again when Kristoffer Ajer hit the bar after England fail to deal with another dangerous corner.

Both sides visibly wilted in the energy-sapping conditions late on but were forced to endure an extra 30 minutes.

Nyland had been Norway’s supporting act in the last 16 win over Brazil with a series of saves before Haaland struck twice late on for a landmark victory.

This time the Sevilla goalkeeper was the villain as he spilled substitute Morgan Rogers’ shot from distance and Bellingham pounced and scored.

England were awarded a penalty moments later, but this time VAR intervened in Norway’s favour to deem Djed Spence had initiated contact inside the box.

Yet, Norway’s spirit was already crushed, epitomised by a slouched Haaland watching on from the bench with nothing more to give.

Tuchel said his side was “lucky” to emerge with the win.

“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today. The result is fantastic. We are in the last four. It’s amazing but not happy with the performance,” he told ITV.

“The commitment is there but we made life difficult for ourselves in the way we played – sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today.

“It’s about the quality – we need to play better. We will get better [in the semifinal]. We need to.”

Pieces from the turf used at the stadium will go on sale as memorabilia and will be priced from $450 to $1,200.

FIFA is hoping to make money off the World Cup final even after the match is finished and the tournament is wrapped up.

Segments of the pitch for the World Cup final will be up for sale starting at $450 per piece, football’s governing body announced on Saturday.

Players and coaches have criticised the quality of the field at New Jersey’s MetLife, which usually uses an artificial surface for NFL games of the New York Giants and Jets. FIFA renamed the venue to New Jersey New York Stadium for the World Cup.

FIFA, accused of charging high prices for this year’s tournament in the United States, will earn more than $11m from the sale, according to a report in The Athletic.

“Own a genuine piece of football history with an authentic 2026 FIFA World Cup Piece of the pitch, permanently preserved in a premium acrylic with a USB keepsake,” the website says. “Each piece contains an original fragment of the iconic Final playing surface, making it a unique collectable that celebrates one of the world’s greatest sporting events.”

The official store says each segment of turf is 17.5 by 17.5 by 17.5, although it doesn’t specify whether that figure is inches, centimetres or millimetres.

FIFA said “the acrylic USB features an authenticity film, while offering a sleek, contemporary display piece. Presented in a premium hinged shoulder box with striking spot UV detailing, this exclusive item is designed for collectors, fans, and football enthusiasts alike”.

FIFA is making the turf available to send only to addresses in the United States and Europe.

“Orders will not be shipped until after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final,” the governing body said.

In addition to the high-priced tickets and memorabilia for the tournament, it will ‌cost $3,000 for the highest-priced tier of souvenir turf. The three-by-three-inch (7.6-by-7.6-centimetre) piece of grass comes with a gold-etched replica ticket, a miniature replica World Cup ball and a crystal-cut World Cup trophy.

The three other tiers of souvenir turf will sell for $450, $900 and $1,200.

There will ⁠be no more than 2,026 pieces ⁠available in any one tier.

FIFA is selling regular tickets for the final at up to $32,970 for the final and is asking $34,500 and $32,500 for hospitality tickets that include food and drinks.

The report indicated that the turf which will be used for the World Cup final was grown at a turf ⁠farm in North Carolina.

For consistency, new turf fields were installed at all World ⁠Cup venues, including those that typically have ⁠artificial surfaces like the stadiums in Seattle, Washington; Atlanta, Georgia; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Vancouver, Canada; Arlington, Texas; and Inglewood, California.

There is no indication of what will happen to ‌the turf fields that are not being used for the final.

A United States federal court has dismissed the seditious conspiracy cases against four members of the Proud Boys, the far-right group involved in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

On Friday, Judge Timothy J Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, granted the government’s motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be revived in future.

But Kelly made it clear that the defendants — Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — had been “convicted of serious offences”.

He wrote in his seven-page ruling that his decision was ultimately rooted in the separation of government powers, not in the merits of the case.

“As the Court has said many times, the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was a perilous event. It was an attack on people, including police officers, many of whom were injured,” Kelly wrote.

“It was an attack on the Constitution’s mechanism to facilitate the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next,” he added.

Inside the January 6 riot

Friday’s ruling was yet another milestone in Trump’s efforts to end the prosecution of January 6 rioters.

The attack on the Capitol came shortly after Trump lost his bid for re-election in 2020 to Democrat Joe Biden. But in the aftermath of his loss, Trump spread false claims that the election had been rigged.

January 6, 2021, was the day Congress was scheduled to certify the Electoral College votes, confirming Trump’s defeat.

His vice president at the time, Mike Pence, held a ceremonial role overseeing the certification that day. But behind the scenes, Trump reportedly pressured Pence to reject the results of the election.

At midday, Trump held a “Save America” rally in front of the White House, repeating to his supporters that he had won “by a landslide”.

“If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election,” Trump said at one point. At another, he said, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Afterwards, some of his supporters marched to the Capitol and broke into the building, attacking police officers and causing millions of dollars worth of damage. Participants signalled their aim was to stop the vote certification, with some chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.”

The attack proved to be deadly. One rioter was shot by police as she climbed through a broken window to enter the House Speaker’s Lobby. An officer died from a stroke the following day after being beaten. Others died by suicide after the attack. Members of Congress had to be led to safety.

Under the Biden administration, the Department of Justice opened criminal cases against nearly 1,600 people involved.

But Trump has long defended the rioters and called their prosecution a “national injustice”.

Trump himself faced two criminal indictments — one at state level, the other federal — over his alleged attempts to subvert the election results, though the charges were dropped upon his re-election in 2024.

Unravelling the prosecutions

Calling the January 6 prosecutions an example of government “weaponisation”, Trump had campaigned during the 2024 race on a promise to pardon the rioters.

He followed through with that pledge on the first day of his second term. On January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order granting “a full, complete and unconditional pardon” to most of the defendants involved in the Capitol attack.

Trump also commuted the sentences of 14 people, including Nordean, Biggs, Rehl and Pezzola. Under his authority, the Department of Justice also proceeded to seek the dismissal of ongoing January 6 cases.

Judge Kelly cited that series of events in Friday’s ruling, though he appeared to express a measure of scepticism.

“No one should mistake the Court’s granting of the Government’s motion for its agreement with those decisions,” Kelly wrote.

In May 2023, a jury in Washington, DC, found Nordean, Biggs and Rehl guilty of charges including seditious conspiracy, alongside Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.

Pezzola, meanwhile, was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy, but he was convicted of several felonies, including assaulting a police officer. At sentencing, the four men received prison terms ranging from 10 to 18 years, with Pezzola receiving the lightest sentence of the group.

But in weighing the future of the case against the four men, Judge Kelly explained that it was “hard to see” any other course forward other than dismissal.

The court system, Kelly explained, cannot “compel” the executive branch to pursue prosecutions. Trump’s executive order had also required the Department of Justice to seek the case’s dismissal.

“The Court will grant the motion because there are no grounds for it to withhold leave for the Government to dismiss the case with prejudice,” Kelly concluded.

But he ended his decision with a word of warning about protecting the future of American democracy from further attacks.

“Moving forward, if this Nation’s experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people — no matter their partisan preferences — will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework,” Kelly wrote.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has issued subpoenas against journalists from The New York Times, in what advocates say is an escalating attack on the free press.

Late on Friday, the Times reported that at least four of its reporters have received subpoenas, some delivered to their homes by federal agents.

Those subpoenas compel them to testify before a grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said David McCraw, the newspaper’s lawyer, in a statement quoted by the Times.

News of the subpoenas prompted outcry from leading news groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which demanded their withdrawal.

“The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations, and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said CPJ’s chief executive officer Jodie Ginsberg.

The subpoenas were authorised by a top official in Trump’s Department of Justice: Jay Clayton, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Clayton is in line to succeed Bill Pulte as the director of national intelligence, a cabinet-level role Pulte holds on an interim basis. The Senate is set to begin hearings on Clayton’s confirmation next week.

Scrutiny on NATO travel coverage

At issue is The New York Times coverage of Trump’s return flight from the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara, Turkiye, this week.

While Trump flew to Europe on his new Air Force One, a jet gifted by Qatar and retrofitted by the US military, he left on the old Air Force One.

Trump claimed the switch was made to allow the new jet to visit RAF Mildenhall, an air force base in Suffolk, England, that supports US military operations.

He framed it as an opportunity to allow military members to tour the aircraft.

“It’s going to go to a couple of bases,” Trump said at the time, “so the soldiers can see it because it’s truly magnificent.”

But at the same July 8 news conference, Trump referenced concerns about his safety.

When asked about the airline switch by a reporter from The New York Post, Trump responded, “You know, the life of a president is very dangerous.” He proceeded to add that he’s “number one on the kill list for Iran”.

That same day, The New York Times reported swapped his new presidential jet for his old one because of security concerns, citing anonymous sources. The change reportedly came at the urging of the Secret Service.

Then, the next day, the Times expanded its coverage with a follow-up report, indicating that the new Air Force One lacked the security capabilities of the old jet.

The article anonymously cited two former Air Force officials as saying there would not have been enough time to make the necessary upgrades before the Ankara flight.

It is unclear what modifications have already been made, but experts have estimated that the updates could cost up to $1bn.

Friday’s subpoenas targeted four of the journalists involved in the Times’s reporting on the subject: Eric Schmitt, Tyler Pager, Eric Lipton and Julian E Barnes.

According to the Times, before the subpoenas were issued, the newspaper was contacted by a senior official from the FBI.

That person, who was unnamed, asked the newspaper to hold off on its reporting about Air Force One, citing national security. The FBI official also requested information on the Times’s anonymous sources.

The newspaper, however, declined to provide such information, in line with standard journalistic practice.

A testy relationship with journalists

The subpoenas mark the latest clash between the Trump administration and US media outlets that report on its activities.

Trump himself has a long-running feud with the Times. In September, he sued the newspaper for $15bn in damages, alleging it had defamed him and attempted to “sabotage” his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election, which he won.

After his initial complaint was thrown out as “improper”, Trump refiled it in October.

The Times, for its part, has sued the Department of Defence under Trump over its attempts to impose media restrictions on journalists.

Just this week, the Times also filed a countersuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, after it alleged the newspaper had discriminated against a white, male employee for failing to give him a promotion.

The Times has described the effort as an attempt to muffle the press, in violation of the free-speech protections enshrined in the US Constitution’s First Amendment.

The Times is not the only newspaper to face legal backlash from the Trump administration. In December, Trump launched a $10bn lawsuit against the BBC, arguing that a documentary it aired misrepresented his speech before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump is also seeking $10bn from The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on a birthday message he allegedly sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. After that suit was thrown out, Trump refiled it in May.

The Trump administration has also taken actions against individual journalists.

In January, for instance, the FBI executed a raid on the house of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, who covered the Trump administration’s efforts to scale back the federal workforce.

The raid came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of leaking information to the news media, but at least two judges have barred the Trump administration from using the information it seized from Natanson.

The Trump administration has denied seeking to erode the freedom of the press, instead citing national security needs.

But McCraw, the Times lawyer, argued that, with the latest subpoenas, the White House was trying to restrict “the American public’s right to know how their government is operating”.

“This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs,” he said.

Top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, also weighed in on the subpoenas, using them to slam Trump as corrupt.

“Donald Trump is one of the weakest, most thin-skinned individuals the world has ever seen,” Schumer wrote on social media.

“Reporters have the right and duty to report the truth. It’s not their fault his foreign-gifted plane is a national security threat. This subpoena is a gross overreach and a disgusting misuse of federal law enforcement resources that should alarm every American.”

WASHINGTON — Shortly before President Trump ended a ceasefire with Iran this week, Israeli officials presented his team with intelligence indicating Tehran was hatching new plots to kill him.

It was not the first such warning. U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies have tracked evidence for years of Iranian efforts to target the president, with signals only increasing since the start of the war.

Their desire to target Trump and his top aides began six years ago, just outside Baghdad International Airport, when the president ordered a drone strike that killed Iran’s most powerful general. The assassination of Qassem Suleimani brought the two countries to the brink of war.

Yet even as full-scale war was averted, top Iranian officials vowed revenge for the strike, authorizing attempts on the lives not just of the president, but of his secretary of State and national security advisor, among others, even after they had left office.

Now, calls for revenge have reached a sharper pitch in Tehran, after a joint U.S.-Israeli operation killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the start of the war in February.

At Khamenei’s funeral ceremonies this week, red flags of vengeance flew throughout the capital as protesters explicitly called on their government to “kill Trump.” His son, Mojtaba, the new supreme leader, was absent from the commemorations, fearing assassination himself.

Mourners hold an anti-President Trump banner at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque during mass funeral prayers for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family in Tehran on Sunday.

(Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The prospect of foreign assassination plots targeting U.S. leaders puts the United States in dangerous new territory, where its embrace of political killings could ultimately place its own officials at unprecedented risk. And experts fear the existential threat of assassination has pushed peace further out of reach: When both sides believe their survival is at stake, the trust required for diplomacy becomes far harder to achieve.

Israeli news organizations have reported that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, cited Iranian attempts to kill Trump in recent years as part of his case to go to war in the first place.

A U.S. official told The Times that a range of serious threats exist against the president, including from Iran, but that Israel’s intelligence pointed to a more specific plot. The official did not provide further details. Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has said in recent months that the government sees vengeance against U.S. officials as “its legitimate duty and right,” and “will fulfill this great responsibility and duty with all its might.”

“The Suleimani killing accelerated a lifting of restraints on foreign assassinations — and the taboo on targeting and killing foreign leaders, with U.S. military assets, has been more or less lifted,” said Matt Dallek, a political professor at George Washington University.

“If the United States sets the example of how to conduct international relations, and it is using assassination of foreign leaders as a political weapon, it’s only logical that other countries will be more inclined to also engage in assassinations,” Dallek added. “It does seem likely that Trump will have a bigger target on his back.”

Returning from a NATO summit in Turkey on Wednesday, Trump was forced to switch back to an old model of Air Force One — equipped with specialized defensive technologies — from a new plane given as a gift by Qatar, after the Secret Service warned of potential threats to the aircraft from Iran.

“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me,” Trump told reporters aboard the plane. “I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long.”

The threat has remained on his mind in the days since. In an interview with the New York Post, Trump told the reporter, “I hope you’ll miss me,” adding that he has “been on their list for a long time.” And in a subsequent social media post Friday night, he warned of a catastrophic response he instructed the administration to pursue in the event Tehran succeeds.

“1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he wrote, “with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!”

The United States had a decades-old prohibition against assassinating foreign leaders before Trump’s presidency, codified in an executive order signed by President Ford in 1976 over concerns of a CIA plot to kill Fidel Castro.

The policy was only strengthened further by subsequent administrations, fearing a new international standard for targeted killings could result in unintended consequences in the halls of Washington.

Other administrations have been accused of targeting foreign leaders before. Under the Obama administration, an international coalition targeting the Libyan regime of Moammar Kadafi during the country’s 2011 civil war struck his fleeing convoy, leading to his capture and killing by rebel fighters.

But experts say Trump’s explicit targeting of Suleimani and Khamenei — and his public celebration of their deaths — marks a new paradigm.

“Through words and actions, President Trump has done more to normalize political violence than any other U.S. president, certainly in modern times,” said Robert Pape, a professor at the University of Chicago and author of “Our Own Worst Enemies: America in the Age of Violent Populism.”

“On the international front alone, the president routinely brags about killing Iranian leaders and seizing the leader of Venezuela, among others,” he added, “to the point that assassination is becoming the new normal in international politics.”

Albanian prosecutors probe forged deeds tied to Kushner resort land as protests over the project intensify.

Albania’s anticorruption prosecution service is investigating whether the deeds to a stretch of protected coastline earmarked for a Jared Kushner-backed resort were forged, according to case files reviewed by the Reuters news agency, adding another legal complication to a project that has already provoked months of street protests.

The files, compiled by the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK), name Artur Shehu, a Miami-based businessman, as the seller who transferred the land to Albania Land Development, the entity behind the Kushner-linked scheme, in April.

Prosecutors allege Shehu and his associates funnelled proceeds from cocaine trafficking into Albanian property, using falsified titles to disguise the money’s origin, and have since frozen roughly 110 million euros ($126m) tied to the sale in a notary’s account.

Shehu’s lawyer, Kujtim Cakrani, rejected the allegations outright. “Nothing that has been alleged regarding Mr Artur Shehu’s character is true,” he told Reuters, adding that his client was neither a trafficker nor a document forger and had lawfully sold land his family had held since Ottoman times.

Cakrani said Shehu was untroubled by the arrest warrant, arguing it was widely assumed in Albania that prosecutors answered to political and business interests. He also said Shehu fled to the United States and won asylum in 1998 after gang violence killed his brother and uncle.

The SPAK files, running to 200 pages and not previously made public, were issued the same day the agency unveiled separate arrest warrants for 20 people accused of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Reuters found no evidence that Kushner, Sazan Real Estate Development or other backers of the resort knew of any suspicions surrounding Shehu when the land changed hands.

The disclosure comes amid sustained unrest over the development, which sits on wetlands and beaches along Albania’s southern coast that are home to sea turtles and flamingos, the latter adopted as a symbol by the self-styled “Flamingo Revolution” against the resort and alleged government corruption in general.

Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, have said the idea for the resort came to them after they spotted the coastline from a yacht. He unveiled renderings of hotels, villas and marinas on social media in 2024.

Nightly rallies that began in May, initially focused on the project, have broadened into a wider movement demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation over accusations of corruption.

A crackdown last week saw riot police deploy tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators outside parliament, injuring 15 officers and leading to 25 arrests. A Tirana court freed 19 of those detained on Sunday, placing two under house arrest and ordering a dozen others to report periodically to judicial police.

Entela Koja, one of the protesters, said “this is a revolution against the big guys who want to use Albania like a playground for the rich.”

Villagers near the site have separately pursued a decade-long legal challenge to Shehu’s ownership claim, presenting title deeds and tax records they say establish that they are the rightful owners.

Nikolin Markpalaj, one of the landowners, told Al Jazeera: “I told them it would not be easy for them to take this land and enjoy someone else’s land and property. What is happening in this country is madness.”

Rama’s government has dismissed the protests as orchestrated by political rivals and insists the project complies with Albanian and European Union law.

Victor Wemnanyama, the NBA’s tallest player, inked the third-largest rookie extension in history.

Hours after he told Spurs fans he was “here to stay”, Victor ⁠Wembanyama signed a ⁠multiyear contract extension with San Antonio that ESPN reported is for five years and $252m.

The deal, ⁠which is worth $50.4m per year, is the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) maximum rookie-scale extension and carries a player option ⁠for the fifth season.

“Spurs family, I’m here to stay,” Wembanyama tweeted Friday. “Whatever it takes.”

The Spurs, who did not confirm financial details, published photos and videos of Wembanyama inking his ‌contract.

Wembanyama has been viewed as one of the elite young players in the sport going back before the Spurs selected him No 1 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.

The 7ft4in (2.24-metre) centre with an 8-ft (2.44-metre) wingspan has averaged 23.4 points, 11 rebounds, 3.5 assists ⁠and 3.5 blocks per game through ⁠three NBA seasons.

The Defensive Player of the Year and a first-time All-NBA first-team selection, Wembanyama finished third in Most Valuable Player (MVP) balloting this season ⁠after putting up career highs of 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.

He ⁠is a career 34.2% 3-point shooter ⁠who has made 2.2 triples per game, and he’s led the league in blocks in every season since his arrival.

The Spurs fell to ‌the New York Knicks in five games last month in Wembanyama’s first NBA Finals.

The current pieces around ‌him ‌include guards De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper, and the Spurs recently signed veteran forward Tobias Harris.

Meta has rolled back its ‘Muse Image’ AI feature after widespread backlash over privacy and consent. The tool allowed users to generate AI images of people by simply ‘@ mentioning’ public Instagram accounts. The negative reaction was swift and global – forcing Meta to say it ‘missed the mark’.

Epic food, amazing shows, museums you won’t find anywhere else and a helicopter ride down the famous strip – here’s my ultimate Las Vegas itinerary

The glitz, the glam, those unforgettable “wow” moments – it’s easy to see why Las Vegas remains the ultimate bucket-list destination. Whether you’re marveling at the neon skyline from 1,000 feet up or walking the Strip to soak in the music and eclectic fashion, this town is a sensory explosion that demands to be experienced at least once.

The home of the famous strip, countless wedding chapels and its own Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty, this place almost doesn’t feel real. It’s defined by vintage camp, 24-hour casinos, more buffet restaurants than you can possibly imagine, and high-class dining eateries. Welcome to Vegas, baby.

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The most exciting area to stay in Las Vegas

I arrived via a direct flight from Heathrow, checking into The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Arguably the best-positioned hotel on the Strip, it offers the perfect paradox: you are in the heart of the action, yet the rooms are a sanctuary of total silence.

My suite featured a private balcony overlooking the city’s glowing landmarks and the iconic choreography of the Bellagio fountains. Watching the water dance from my room, the excitement for my desert escape truly set in.

Where to find the best places to eat in Las Vegas

Food is central to the Vegas experience, so first on the agenda once we’d dropped our bags was brunch at Alexxa’s – situated on the Strip, right in the thick of the action. In the spirit of a true American getaway, we went straight for the classics, ordering a spread of fried chicken and waffles, fluffy American-style pancakes and steak and eggs.

Of course, no Vegas brunch is complete without a little “hair of the dog.” I washed it all down with the most gargantuan Bloody Mary I’ve ever seen, complete with a slice of bacon. Nothing here is small-scale – it was the perfect, over-the-top introduction to the local food scene.

But don’t miss breakfast at the hotel either. The Cosmopolitan‘s Wicked Spoon is a brilliant buffet, with pretty much everything you could possibly think of… I even had a few sushi rolls on the side.

For dinner, we feasted at Mayfair Supper Club inside the Bellagio (yes, the one from Ocean’s Eleven), where live dancers perform around diners as they tuck into all-American classics.

But the highlight was dinner at Vanderpump Paris – and as a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fan, it was the dream. Lisa Vanderpump knows how to put together a menu. Curated with Parisian themes embellished with Vegas flair and eclectic cocktails, I felt like a total superstar eating here.

Experiences you must not miss while you’re there

I could have filled the days just walking up and down the infamous strip. With buskers, magicians, show girls (and show boys) I spotted the Eiffel Tower, the Luxor pyramid, the Empire State Building, the Paris globe and the iconic casinos – which were already getting busy, despite it being barely two in the afternoon.

But there are so many bucket list experiences to try, too. We started with an ice hockey Game: Golden Knights vs. Edmonton Oilers (tickets around £55). I was pretty much an ice hockey novice, but that doesn’t matter a jot. American sport is packed with entertainment, and it didn’t take me long to soak up the atmosphere and join in with the chants. Why can’t this be a thing in the UK?

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one night, we then ticked off another iconic moment – a helicopter ride down the Strip.

Now, I’m no daredevil (I was slightly apprehensive), but as soon as we got up into the sky it was magical. We were given a 10-minute tour by our pilot, taking off at 10:30pm, just as Vegas was truly coming alive for the night.

We also checked out The Sphere, which I’d like to call an immersive cinema but it’s so much more than that. It’s a one of a kind, multi-sensory show with holograms and AI. With tickets for the classic The Wizard of Oz, I was expecting a cinematic experience. In fact, it was fully immersive, to the point it made us feel like we were actually in the storm with Dorothy.

Another recommendation is the Neon Sign Museum. The bright lights of the signs are what makes Vegas so magical, so what happens to the signs when they are no longer in use? They go to the Neon Sign Museum – and it’s nearly as impressive as the Strip itself.

I loved seeing the ‘old’ Vegas here, bringing history to light – literally – and for the best experience I recommend the illuminated evening tours (from £26) but there are also self-guided daytime options (from £19).

Finally, in dedication to the stars of all the shows, we couldn’t miss a stop at the Show Girl Museum – the home of all the iconic showgirl costumes. But what makes this museum one of a kind? It’s inside Grant Philipo’s house – a former showgirl costume designer. Tickets are $33 each and Grant has nearly 300 mannequins in his home as he led us around the impressive pad, paying homage to the glamour and beauty of Las Vegas.

And if the brunch and dinner performances weren’t enough, we topped the day off by going to watch Jennifer Lopez perform at her residency in The Colosseum theatre – part of Caesar’s Palace Hotel.

You’d think with all that I wouldn’t have found time to have a little flutter on the tables, but this is a 24-hour city – there’s always time to squeeze something else in, if you can just stay awake.

How to book the ultimate Vegas trip

• Discover more at Visit Las Vegas.
• Stays at he Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas start at $189.35 / approx. £142 per night including resort fee and taxes. Stays in the Terrace One Bedroom Suites with Fountain View starts from $246.49 / approx. £185 per night, including resort fee and taxes.
• Vegas Views helicopter tour by Maverick Helicopters start at £75 per person, see maverickhelicopter.com
• Book Vanderpumps in advance here
• Virgin Atlantic offers daily direct flights to Las Vegas from London Heathrow starting from £512*, and seasonal flights from Manchester Airport. *Prices subject to change.

Iranian leaders say they’ll never surrender and US President Donald Trump says the ceasefire between the two sides is ‘over’. Iran and the US are locked in the most serious escalation in almost a month. So is the war back on? Soraya Lennie breaks it down.

England captain Harry Kane has labelled Erling Haaland “a machine” but said he and Norway’s “beast” of a number nine are completely different players as they prepare to face off in the World Cup quarterfinal.

“I think we’re completely different players. I know we’re both strikers, but we’re in almost two different positions,” Kane told his pre-match news conference on Friday.

Haaland has struck seven times in his first four matches ever at a major tournament, including a devastating double to eliminate Brazil, and his goals have carried Norway into the last eight for the first time.

Kane is only one goal behind the Manchester City striker for the tournament and has taken his overall World Cup record to 14 goals.

“Erling is incredible. His goalscoring record, physically, he’s a machine, he’s a beast. His finishing is at the highest level, and his goalscoring record speaks for itself.

“I see myself as a different player, although I score the same goals. I like to maybe touch the ball a little bit more, be involved with the play a little bit more, but also can play as maybe the out-and-out number nine.

“I don’t think it’s one to compare ourselves. I respect him a lot as a player and as a professional. Obviously, I’m hoping he has a quiet day tomorrow, but I think his overall performance is very good. He’s a fantastic player.”

‘Amazing World Cup for strikers’

Despite their phenomenal goalscoring record, Haaland and Kane trail Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, who have both netted eight times in the 2026 tournament, in the battle for the Golden Boot.

Kane won the prize for the World Cup’s top goalscorer in 2018, but England fell short of glory as they exited in the semifinals to Croatia.

Ending a 60-year wait for England to win a major tournament remains Kane’s primary aim, but he is hoping to score the goals to carry the Three Lions to glory.

“I think it’s been an amazing World Cup on that front in terms of all the top strikers, all the top goalscorers scoring goals and affecting games. It’s not always the case at these major tournaments,” added the Bayern Munich striker.

“It’s a great competition. It puts me in a mindset to be at my very best level as much as possible.

“My main goal is to win the World Cup more than another Golden Boot, but I also know I’m a goalscorer, I’m the number nine, so if I’m scoring goals, it’s obviously going to help the team.”

Kane issued a rallying cry for a huge final effort to get over the line in what could be three games in eight days to make history.

“Ultimately, until we win that trophy, there’s always going to be that talk around England and the team, but we’re in a good position. We’re in a place that we wanted to be six weeks ago when we met up for prep camp,” he added.

“Now we’re in the final eight days of the final push. We’re going to need everyone to be at the highest level to achieve our dreams.”

Vikings ready for one more historic game

Meanwhile, Norway coach Stale Solbakken said the showdown between Haaland and Kane will go a long way in deciding the match.

“I think it’s Norway versus England, but I don’t think it is a secret that Kane is the match winner number one for England and Haaland is the match winner number one for us,” Solbakken said at his pre-match news conference in Miami.

Norway are in their first major tournament of any kind for 26 years and have exceeded expectations, most notably in their stunning 2-1 win against Brazil thanks to Haaland’s late double in the last 16.

“Every game has been the most important [in history] for Norwegian football, especially in the knockout rounds, so this is the third time it is the most important game,” added Solbakken.

“I think England has more pressure than us, but we also put pressure on our performance. When the game has started, I don’t think the players think so much about the pressure when it’s 11 versus 11.”

Norway’s progress has caught the imagination at home and across the Atlantic in the United States.

Their fans’ Viking row celebration has become one of the iconic images of the tournament, while Haaland’s status as a global star has soared thanks to his goalscoring prowess on the pitch and jovial personality off it.

“I think the whole of Norway is looking forward to tomorrow. We’ve had some great nights in this World Cup before, and it brings the country together,” said Solbakken.

“Maybe this will never come back to Norway because I think we will qualify more. Every time 1783744646 we have a possibility to go through to a European Championship or a World Cup. But now it’s 26 years since we had it last time.”

Spanish star has scored just one goal in the World Cup, where he’s been sharing celebrations with his little brother.

Despite not scoring a goal in Spain’s quarterfinal win over Belgium, Lamine Yamal was named the player of the match for his contributions and capped off the win by sharing a touching moment with his little brother during the post-match celebrations in Los Angeles.

Yamal, who has not scored since Spain’s group-stage win over Saudi Arabia on June 21, said after the match on Friday that nobody will care about his lack of goals if Spain win the World Cup.

At a tournament where stars like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane have been prolific, 18-year-old Yamal has just one goal to date, in a routine 4-0 group drubbing of Saudi Arabia. He failed to find the net once again as Spain booked their place in the World Cup semifinals for the second time.

“Obviously I want to score, but I don’t go onto the pitch thinking about that. I do it thinking about helping the team,” said Yamal.

“If we win the World Cup, no one will remember whether I scored goals … The important thing is winning,” said the Barcelona star, after the victory in Los Angeles set up a semifinal clash with France.

“I know I can contribute even if I don’t score. I know my movements draw in many opponents, so I do everything I can to help the team,” he said.

Despite the lack of goals, Yamal has performed consistently for La Roja and has also broken records along the way.

On Friday, he made his sixth FIFA World Cup appearance, the outright most by a player aged 18 or younger in the competition.

Breakout star

Two years ago, then aged 16, Yamal was the breakout star of the Spanish team that won the European Championships in Germany.

He only scored once during that victorious campaign – a stunning strike in a 2-1 semifinal win against France.

“There’s an idea that I should be scoring more, like at the Euros, but we won the Euros with me scoring just one goal. And I have one goal here too, so I’m relaxed about it,” he said, with a smile.

But Spain will be hoping Yamal, who turns 19 the day before the semifinal, can bag further goals if his side is to see off the free-scoring tournament favourites France.

“There are two possibilities – either they reach three consecutive World Cup finals, or we beat them three times in a row. We’ll see what happens,” said Yamal.

“We aren’t afraid at all.”

Yamal shares endearing moment with brother Keyne

Amid Spain’s post-match celebrations, Yamal and his half-brother Keyne were caught in a sweet moment when the younger sibling was shown on the big screen.

The three-year-old was screaming and stuck his tongue out when the camera panned on him. Keyne then blew a kiss at his brother, making the teen Spanish star laugh and wave at him.

Keyne, who often accompanies Yamal to award shows and other public events, has been a fan favourite for the crowds at the World Cup.

He has been picked up by the cameras on multiple occasions, drawing a chuckle from his older brother and cheers from the crowd around him.

Edward Pinto, co-director of the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center argues that the new US housing bill is unlikely to significantly ease the country’s housing crisis. He says it’s too limited to address the core issues – like restrictive local zoning. For the full segment, watch Al Jazeera’s ‘This is America’.

The dismissals leave the federal election body vacant as Trump presses for broader changes to US voting rules.

President Donald Trump has removed the last remaining members of an independent federal commission that helps support United States elections, leaving the bipartisan body with no sitting commissioners.

The White House confirmed the news on Friday, with only months to spare before November’s midterm elections.

“The President, and head of the Executive Branch, reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections,” the White House said in a statement.

It added that the administration had been “working across all agencies and local partners to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse” in the run-up to the midterms.

The decision concerns the Election Assistance Commission (ECA), an independence office created by Congress in 2002 to support state and local election officials. Among its duties are creating non-binding election guidelines, certifying voting systems and maintaining the national mail voter registration form.

Four commissioners typically helm the agency. But on Thursday, the two Democratic appointees — Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland — were fired by email, according to the news agency Reuters.

The lone remaining Republican, Christy McCormick, resigned. A fourth commissioner, Republican appointee Donald Palmer, had already left in April.

The commission is required by law to be made up evenly of Democrats and Republicans, and it was put in place to help after the disputed 2000 presidential election.

Trump’s decision to fire the remaining commissioners has further raised concerns that he may seek to intervene in the upcoming midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress for the rest of his term.

Under the US Constitution, election administration is the responsibility of the state, not the federal government.

The Election Assistance Commission had previously declined to implement part of Trump’s March 2025 executive order that called upon it to require proof of citizenship on the national mail voter registration form.

A federal judge later blocked that part of that executive order, ruling the president had exceeded his authority. Trump has appealed the ruling.

Voters are already required to affirm their citizenship before voting, as non-citizen voting is illegal in the US. Instances of non-citizen voting are rare.

The firings are the latest in a broader effort by the president to reshape how elections are conducted.

The Trump administration has pushed to tighten vote-by-mail rules and threatened to withhold some federal funding from states that refuse to adopt new election requirements. Many of those efforts have been challenged in court.

Earlier this week, the administration also sent out letters warning election officials that they could face prosecution if they fail to remove noncitizens from voter rolls.

Trump has defended the actions as necessary to protect election integrity. He has repeatedly claimed that his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election was the result of fraud, a claim not backed by evidence.

The latest firings come after the US Supreme Court last month expanded the president’s power to fire members of independent agencies, even without cause.

The court ruled six to three in Trump’s favour, arguing that “neither Congress nor the courts may saddle” the president with executive-branch leaders he does not approve of.

The president is allowed by law to appoint replacements to the commission. It is not yet clear whether Trump plans to nominate replacements or leave the seats vacant.

France faced Morocco in a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semi-final. Al Jazeera’s Samantha Johnson was in Boston to soak up the atmosphere, speak to fans from both sides, and see whether Morocco would finally get their revenge.

United States President Donald Trump declared that the agreement pausing the war with Iran was over this week – and ordered a series of strikes.

He accused Iranian forces of violating the ceasefire by attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran was quick to respond, targeting US interests in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.

The escalation was the worst since the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding last month.

It was meant to pave the way to more talks and a permanent deal to end the war.

Now regional mediators are working to ease the tension.

But does diplomacy still stand a chance?

Presenter: Per Nyberg

Guests:

Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria – Assistant professor at the University of Tehran

Salman Shaikh – Founder of The Shaikh Group, a peacebuilding organisation

Kirsten Fontenrose – Non-resident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council

The housing legislation will become US law at midnight with or without President Donald Trump’s signature.

United States President Donald Trump says he will not sign a bipartisan housing affordability bill in protest at the Senate not passing the controversial SAVE America Act voting legislation.

In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump said he would not support signing the unrelated housing bill, which would speed up environmental reviews for construction projects, expedite development, and limit the number of single-family homes institutional investors can buy.

The bill will become law with or without the president’s signature. Once a bill reaches the president’s desk, the officeholder has 10 days to either sign it into law or veto the legislation. If he does neither, it becomes law at midnight.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the president is unlikely to issue a last-minute veto.

The housing legislation, known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which Trump called a “yawn” on June 29, was a rare moment of bipartisan agreement in a starkly divided US Congress. It passed the Senate by a vote of 85-5 and the House by a vote of 358-2.

The provisions included in the legislation are popular. A Bipartisan Policy Center poll suggested that 70 percent of Americans support banning institutional investors that own more than 350 homes from buying additional single-family homes.

The legislation would also establish incentive programmes for communities to build more housing and encourage the development of modular homes. It also includes provisions that would make it easier for communities to convert underutilised land into residential housing.

Housing remains a major pressure on Americans, with 79 percent saying the cost of housing is either “an extremely important” or “very important” issue, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The US median home price hit a record $440,600 in June, while mortgage rates remain elevated. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is currently at 6.49 percent.

Voting act pressures

Trump cancelled the original signing ceremony for the housing legislation on June 24 in an effort to pressure Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act. Among its provisions, the bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and create a national voter database using state records.

It would also impose new limitations on mail-in voting, even though roughly one-quarter of Republicans voted by mail in the 2024 presidential election, according to an MIT survey.

A version of the voting legislation passed the House but failed to clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.

Under current election law, states administer elections, not the federal government.

The White House did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.