From MAGA loyalist to antiwar dissident – is Tucker Carlson’s pivot sincere or a savvy reinvention?
Longtime Donald Trump supporter Tucker Carlson has broken with the president on some key issues, becoming one of the country’s staunchest critics of the US relationship with Israel. Carlson is engaging with voices he once criticised, like The New York Times, and his rising popularity has fueled speculation in Washington, DC that he could try to ride that momentum all the way to the White House.
Contributors: Wajahat Ali – Cohost, Democracy-ish Podcast Briahna Joy Gray – Host, Bad Faith Podcast Ana Kasparian – Executive producer and host, The Young Turks Jude Russo – Managing editor, The American Conservative
On our radar
In the United Kingdom, days after a knife attack in north London left two Jewish men in hospital, much of the country’s political and media class settled on a narrative that anti-genocide protests and the only Jewish leader in British politics, Zack Polanksi, were to blame. Meenakshi Ravi dissects the media coverage.
Greater Israel: How a fringe settler fantasy went mainstream
Israel’s settler movement has moved from the fringes to having influence over key Israeli institutions, including the media, where a constellation of voices is pushing for Israel to conquer new territory. The Listening Post‘s Tariq Nafi reports on the rapid normalisation of the idea of a “Greater Israel”.
Iran’s presence at the tournament has been shrouded in uncertainty since the US and Israel launched a war on the country in February.
Published On 9 May 20269 May 2026
Iran’s football federation has said the men’s national team will take part in the 2026 World Cup that begins in June, but demanded that joint hosts the United States, Mexico and Canada agree to its conditions amid the Middle East war.
The call on Saturday comes after Canada refused entry to the federation’s chief last month before the FIFA Congress because of his alleged links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideological arm of Iran’s military, which it designated as a “terrorist group” in 2024.
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Iran’s presence at the tournament, which will take place between June 11 and July 19, has been shrouded in uncertainty since the US and Israel launched a war on the Middle East country in February.
“We will definitely participate in the 2026 World Cup, but the hosts must take our concerns into account,” the Iranian federation said on its official website.
“We will participate in the World Cup tournament, but without any retreat from our beliefs, culture, and convictions.”
The Iranian football federation (FFIRI) President Mehdi Taj told state TV on Friday that Tehran has 10 conditions for attending the global spectacle, seeking assurances over the country’s treatment.
The conditions include visas being granted and respect for the national team staff, the team’s flag and its national anthem during the tournament, as well as demands for high security at airports, hotels and routes to the stadiums where they will play.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that Iran’s footballers would be welcome at the tournament.
But he warned that the US may yet bar entry to members of the Iranian delegation with ties to the IRGC, which it also designates as a terrorist organisation.
“All players and technical staff, especially those who have served their military service in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC, such as Mehdi Taremi and Ehsan Hajsafi, should be granted visas without any problems,” said Iranian football chief Taj.
FIFA chief Gianni Infantino has reiterated that Iran will play their World Cup games in the US as scheduled.
Iran, who are due to be based in Tucson, Arizona, during the World Cup, face New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt in Group G.
The Iranians open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.
“No external power can deprive Iran of its participation in a cup to which it has qualified with merit,” the Iranian federation said on Saturday.
Football has gained a foothold in the United States, and the country seems ready to host the World Cup this summer – which was not clear in 1994.
Back then, when the US last hosted the World Cup, the country had no professional league and the national team was cobbled together with ex-collegians, journeymen, and semi-professionals.
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“Leading into ’94, we were at risk on the ticket side,” former US Soccer President Sunil Gulati told Al Jazeera in a recent interview. “For the US Organizing Committee, it was a big concern if we could sell all the tickets.’’
In the end, the 1994 tournament was successful. A record 3.5 million (68,991 per game) attended matches; the US advanced from the group stage for the first time since 1930, losing 1-0 to eventual champions Brazil in the last 16; and seeds were planted for a professional league, Major League Soccer.
Football has since moved from the margins to the mainstream in the US.
MLS is thriving, the national team is ranked a creditable 16th in the world by FIFA, and as the World Cup returns this summer, ticket demand far outpaces supply.
“If you said in 1994 MLS would be a 30-team league, with [22] soccer-specific stadiums and averaging 20,000 crowds – not in our wildest dreams,” Gulati said.
“The landscape is completely different. The most visible thing is the development of professional leagues, MLS and the women’s league [NWSL]. We had no first division league. And now there is [also] USL Division 2 and 3. The number of teams has increased dramatically.”
Today, the US Soccer Federation, commonly referred to as US Soccer, sanctions 127 professional teams – 102 men’s and 25 women’s.
“Eighteen of the top 50 [valued] teams in the world are in MLS,” Gulati said. “That’s an extraordinary statistic. The women’s team in Columbus just sold for $205m. Commercial interest in soccer and soccer leagues is at an all-time high.”
Credit Joao Havelange for seeing the future. During his reign as FIFA president, Havelange usually got what he wanted, and he wanted the 1994 World Cup in the US, along with a professional league.
Easier said than done, though. Organised football has been played in the US since the late 19th century, with the American Cup inaugurated in 1884. But over the following decades, several professional leagues collapsed, and after the North American Soccer League (NASL) folded in 1984, there appeared to be little future for the game. Enter Havelange and FIFA.
“FIFA recognised a long time ago that, for the sport to grow internationally, it had to be successful in the US,” Farrukh Quraishi, a Tampa, Florida-based administrator who played in the NASL, told Al Jazeera.
“For me, it was purely a matter of time. This is a huge and wealthy market. Now, you look at who is buying clubs in MLS, and it’s a who’s who of NFL owners.”
Looking back, it’s remarkable that the US actually competed in World Cups and played host to one at all, without a nationwide professional league.
Brazil celebrates winning the 1994 World Cup after defeating Italy 3-2 in a penalty shootout [Ben Radford/Getty Images]
For years, football’s foundation in the country was built on amateur and youth participation. By the early 1990s, the numbers were high, with an estimated 18 million people playing the sport at some level in the US. But the pyramid lacked a top tier, leaving a dead end for aspiring players, little media coverage, and scattered fan interest.
The 1994 World Cup came and went, and, in 1996, MLS finally kicked off.
Havelange duly arrived to commemorate the inaugural game, sitting in the rickety stands of Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California.
The San Jose Clash edged DC United 1-0, as Eric Wynalda scored an 88th-minute goal – just in time to avoid the game going to a “shootout”, in which draws were decided by players going one-on-one with goalkeepers from 32 metres (35 yards) out. This novel method of deciding games ended in 2000.
Football-specific stadiums started springing up in 1999. Lamar Hunt’s Columbus Crew Stadium became the country’s first major purpose-built football venue since Mark’s Stadium in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1922. Now, Columbus are on their second stadium, the ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, and a total of 22 MLS teams compete at their own venues.
Football finally became part of the American sporting scene.
“Is it in the same way as the NFL, with [average figures of more than 18 million] watching it, or the American Pastime that baseball is? No,” Gulati said.
“It’s not at that viewership level, [but] there is worldwide coverage of games. Look at everyone wearing jerseys on the street, Lionel Messi playing in Miami. It is part of the mainstream.”
‘Soccer still isn’t king in the US’
Not that the picture is not flawed. Wynalda, who went on to score 34 goals in 106 games for the US national team, sees the current system as a recipe for mediocrity, registering millions of youngsters but limiting their ambition as few US players take up prominent roles on MLS teams.
Most are offered the league’s minimum annual salary ($80,622) and only two US players were listed last year among the top 40 highest-paid, according to the MLS Players Association – Austin FC forward Brandon Vazquez (24th at $3.55m) and Nashville SC defender Walker Zimmerman (27th at $3.45m).
“Look at the growth of [MLS] and you can say soccer looks professional, looks like a big deal, looks major league. And a lot of people look at the sport with a different lens now because it’s a legitimate sport,” Wynalda, now a coach and commentator, told Al Jazeera.
“[But] facilities do not create ability. We need more focus on a competitive environment to develop players. We tell them winning doesn’t matter and then wonder why they can’t win. We’ve lost that competitive mentality.”
He favours introducing promotion/relegation as a solution.
“If you’re going to a team that is never going to be relegated, because it’s got enough money, you never learn how to fight relegation, how to beat 11 angry men with their livelihood on the line,” Wynalda said.
And while the MLS franchise model has created riches, with teams valued as high as Los Angeles FC at $1.25bn (thanks to owning the 22,000-seat BMO Stadium) by Forbes Magazine, the quality of play does not always correspond.
MLS teams have tended to struggle in CONCACAF competitions, although in 2022 the Seattle Sounders ended a 22-year drought for an MLS side to win the federation’s elite competition, which was previously won by DC United in 1998 and LA Galaxy in 2000.
“There are things we agree with and disagree with, on and off the field, but [MLS] is successful,” Fox Sports commentator Alexi Lalas, a central defender for the US in 1994, told Al Jazeera. “I don’t think you can argue against that.”
Thanks to the 1994 WC and MLS, football in the US became “a very different world, to finally be even recognised for what you did, let alone respected”, Lalas said. “You know, soccer still isn’t king in the US, but, let’s be honest, it’s part of the palate and certainly part of the landscape when it comes to this generation.”
Lalas predicts the US will harness the “magic” of being hosts to reach the quarterfinals, while Gulati expects the sport to continue to grow in the US after the World Cup.
“That is what the legacy of the tournament is about and why we bid,” Gulati said.
Britain’s famed natural historian David Attenborough is celebrating his 100th birthday. The broadcaster has made some of the world’s most iconic wildlife documentaries, in a 70-year career that saw him become a global voice for conservation and climate change advocacy.
Footage released by the Pentagon shows US strikes on two Iranian oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The US military says the vessels were disabled following overnight exchanges of fire with Iranian forces, preventing them from reaching ports in the Gulf of Oman.
Truce will also include swap of 1,000 prisoners of war from each country, US president says.
Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026
United States President Donald Trump says there will be a three-day ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Posting on Truth Social on Friday, the US leader said the truce would last from Saturday to Monday.
“I am pleased to announce that there will be a THREE DAY CEASEFIRE (May 9th, 10th, and 11th) in the War between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump posted.
“The Celebration in Russia is for Victory Day but, likewise, in Ukraine, because they were also a big part and factor of World War II. This Ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country,” he added.
Russia had previously announced a two-day unilateral ceasefire to mark its May 9 World War II Victory Day on Saturday.
Ukraine previously stated that it too had offered a truce but that this had been ignored by Moscow.
“This request was made directly by me,” Trump said on Friday, thanking his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy for agreeing to it.
“Talks are continuing” on ending the war, Trump said, adding that “we are getting closer and closer every day”.
“Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War.”
Prosecutors charge Florida served as central hub in 2021 assassination of Moise, which sparked ongoing political crisis.
Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026
Four people have been convicted in the United States in connection with the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.
Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages were found guilty on Friday of conspiring to kill or kidnap Moise, whose assassination left a political vacuum in the Caribbean nation that has compounded overlapping security and humanitarian crises.
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They were also convicted of providing material support for the plot in violation of US law. All four face possible life sentences.
US prosecutors have said that the south of Florida, the closest US state to Haiti, served as a central hub for planning and funding Moise’s assassination.
During the trial, which began nearly two months ago, the defence argued that the defendants were scapegoats.
They claimed they had instead been involved in a plan to serve Moise an arrest warrant, amid a dispute about whether the president had overstayed his term.
They further maintained that Colombian mercenaries involved in the assassination were meant to accompany Haitian police to execute the warrant, but that Moise was killed by his own security forces before they arrived.
“This is a Haitian plot, and it is a Haitian conspiracy,” defence lawyer Emmanuel Perez said, as reported by the Miami Herald.
US prosecutors, in turn, charged that the men initially sought to remove and replace Moise, but the plan eventually escalated to assassination.
A fifth defendant, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-born doctor who allegedly wanted to be named president after Moise was killed, was set to be tried at a later date due to health issues.
Eight other individuals accepted plea deals as part of the US investigation.
No national elections have been held in Haiti since Moise’s assassination, although a provisional council was appointed in September 2024 to organise new polls.
The council has since been replaced by US-backed Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, who has said elections will be held by the end of the year.
The UN has said a stable government is essential to restoring order in Haiti, which has been beset by a series of natural disasters and rising violence, with criminal gangs controlling large swaths of territory.
At least 8,100 gang killings were documented in 2025, with insecurity displacing about 1.5 million people, according to the UN.
FIFA have come in for criticism for the inflated prices of tickets at World Cup 2026 in US, Canada and Mexico.
Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026
President Donald Trump is the latest person to take a shot at the sky-high World Cup ticket prices, saying he would not pay $1,000 to watch the United States play against Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles.
Trump said he was unaware of the prices football fans are being asked to pay to watch a group-play match at the World Cup.
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“I did not know that number,” Trump told The New York Post. “I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you.”
Earlier this week, FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended the cost of seats for the World Cup, saying they were in line with prices for major US sporting events.
“We have 25% of the group stage tickets which can be bought for less than $300,” Infantino said. “You cannot go to watch in the US a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300. And this is the World Cup.”
The average cost of a ticket for the World Cup final on July 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is $13,000, according to reports. It was $1,600 for the 2022 final in Qatar.
Trump is worried the pricing will shut out working-class Americans from being able to attend a game.
“If people from Queens and Brooklyn and all of the people that love Donald Trump can’t go, I would be disappointed, but, you know, at the same time, it’s an amazing success,” he said of the World Cup that he helped land for the US during his first term as president. “I would like to be able to have the people that voted for me to be able to go.”
FIFA also released some tickets on Thursday, which gives fans a chance at first-come first-serve tickets.
According to TicketData.com, the current average price for Group Stage games is $567, down from $684 14 days ago and $720 from 30 days ago.
Field Level Media took a quick look Wednesday on the Ticketmaster website for the June 19 group-stage match between the US and Australia in Seattle, and that search did not display any bargains.
The lowest price for two tickets early Wednesday evening was a resale pair for $2,725.10, which broke down to $2,290 for the tickets and $435.10 in service fees. However, a new search 30 minutes later showed the total price climbing to $2,770.90 for seats high in the upper deck along the sideline at Lumen Field. For fans more familiar with football than futbol, they could be considered on the 25-yard line.
On Thursday afternoon, a newly listed pair of resale tickets was the lowest offering – two for $2,553.10. Those tickets were in the upper deck around the football end line and NFL end zone.
On its own marketplace, FIFA takes a 15% purchase fee from the buyer of a resold ticket and a 15% free from the seller.
TicketData.com said the cheapest available ticket has dropped in price for 87 of the 91 matches in the US and Canada over the past 14 days.
The World Cup will be played at 16 sites in the United States (11), Mexico (three) and Canada (two).
Rodney Barreto has received reassurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ICE would steer clear of World Cup.
Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not be seen at World Cup matches this summer, according to the co-chair of the Miami host committee.
Rodney Barreto said on Thursday that he received reassurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ICE would steer clear of the world football showcase.
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“ICE is not going to be at the stadium,” Barreto told US-based website, The Athletic. “This is not going to turn into some ‘round them up’ type of thing. That’s not the purpose of this.
“It’ll be a great experience for everybody. I think that we’re lucky that we do have a president who loves sports and has given us the resources to reimburse the cities for their police protection.”
Barreto added, “I spoke to Marco and, first of all, he’s going to make sure that the passports get processed and people can get here and there is an orderly process so people won’t be held up. It’s going to be a major undertaking by the federal government to do that. We feel very comfortable that we’re going to be in good hands.”
The deployment of ICE for immigration-enforcement raids has increased since Donald Trump began his second stint as president last year, igniting a significant political debate in the US.
South Florida’s role as a World Cup host market also comes against the backdrop of scenes from the 2024 Copa America championship game, when fans stormed the gates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, causing a number of injuries and delaying the start of the Argentina-Colombia match.
“(The Miami World Cup organising committee) took the position that we didn’t want to be critical of the planners of that event,” Barreto told The Athletic. “It wasn’t our event. But now that time has passed, I would tell you that where the failure was, which was that there were no perimeters.
“People without tickets should have been nowhere near the entrance ways of that stadium. It didn’t take much to overrun an entrance. But listen, you learn from all these events, and you learn to do it better and come up with different scenarios which mitigate this from happening in the future. So that’s where we’re at.”
The CPJ says the ‘lack of concrete progress’ in the FBI investigation represents a failure by the US government.
Published On 8 May 20268 May 2026
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded a “public progress update” from United States authorities on the FBI probe into the Israeli military’s killing of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, who was shot dead in the occupied West Bank in 2022.
In an open letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI chief Kash Patel, the CPJ said on Thursday evening that “the effectively stagnant status of this case is inconsistent with ensuring the security of US citizens anywhere in the world.”
It said the “lack of concrete progress” represents a failure by the US government to respond to the “killing of one of its citizens by a foreign military”.
It noted that there had been no formal interviews with witnesses, “despite the willingness of multiple witnesses to cooperate”, and no signs of FBI activity to gather evidence in Israel or Palestine.
Longtime TV correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, Abu Akleh, was covering Israeli army raids in the West Bank city of Jenin when she was killed by Israeli forces on May 11, 2022. She was wearing a clearly marked press vest when she was shot dead.
Shireen Abu Akleh shows her reporting from Jerusalem on May 22, 2021 [AFP]
Israel initially accused Palestinian fighters of her death, but the Israeli military later released a statement saying “it is not possible to unequivocally determine the source of the gunfire which hit” Abu Akleh. It added that there was a “high possibility” that she was hit by Israeli gunfire.
Many independent investigations conducted by CNN, The Associated Press news agency, and The Washington Post concluded that Abu Akleh was deliberately targeted, the CPJ letter noted.
‘Justice remains elusive’
The CPJ asked for a public update on the status of the investigation, a commitment to a timeline for the investigation, and the public release of its findings. It also said the investigation needs to be “impartial and independent, free from political considerations”.
Abu Akleh’s family said in a statement on Thursday, “despite the passage of time, justice remains elusive,” adding that the lack of justice “sends a dangerous message that journalists can be targeted without consequence”.
Abu Akleh’s death became a symbol of the wider Palestinian struggle. Murals of her have adorned the cities of the occupied territory as people remember her for her fearless reporting.
Since her killing, Israel has killed 258 journalists and media workers, the CPJ reported. Israel has acknowledged killing a number of journalists, alleging they had links to armed groups, accusations their employers deny and the CPJ calls “deadly smears”.
“The prevailing culture of complete impunity enjoyed by Israel is a direct factor in the continued targeting of journalists without deterrence,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director. “Without an independent investigation and real accountability, such attacks will only continue to escalate, emboldening those who seek to silence the truth through violence.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 125-107 in an NBA playoff thriller, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and finalist for the award this season, scored 22 points and the Thunder capitalised on 21 Lakers turnovers on Thursday to hand LeBron James a defeat in his 300th career playoff game.
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Elsewhere, Eastern Conference top seeds Detroit are also up 2-0 after a 107-97 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In Oklahoma City, Gilgeous-Alexander was again below his best, but he was amply supported.
Chet Holmgren scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds, Ajay Mitchell added 20 points, and Jared McCain delivered 18 points off the bench to help the Thunder withstand a 31-point performance from Austin Reaves.
James, who became the first player to contest 300 postseason games, scored 23 points and handed out six assists, and the Lakers led by five points early in the third quarter.
But with league-leading scorer Luka Doncic still sidelined by injury, the Lakers could not hang on, even with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench for considerable stretches because of foul trouble.
Oklahoma City produced a 22-5 scoring run to seize control and will aim to keep the pressure on when the series shifts to Los Angeles for games three and four on Saturday and Monday.
“We’ve got to be the aggressor,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I feel like they were playing with more force, they were attacking harder, making quicker decisions, playing with a better sense of urgency, especially in the first half.
“As long as we take care of that, we should have our foot in the right direction.”
A bruising contest saw both teams irked by the officiating. Gilgeous-Alexander was whistled for a flagrant foul, and both he and James were sprawled out under the basket after a foul by Reaves late in the game.
Lakers coach JJ Redick took issue with the officiating, saying the Thunder “have a few guys who commit a foul on every possession”.
But, he added, “We didn’t lose because of the refs.”
Cunning thrives in ‘high-stakes’ situation
In Detroit, Cade Cunningham scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and handed out 10 assists to lead the Pistons.
They set the defensive tone early but had to rally late after the Cavaliers battled back to take a two-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
“I just want to win games,” Cunningham said of his dominant fourth-quarter performance. “It’s been a lot of games down the stretch where it’s tight … The ball is in my hands and I’ve got to make plays with it.
“The pressure and the moment, it’s high stakes … all of that stuff fuels me.”
Cunningham in action at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan [Brian Sevald/NBAE/Getty Images via AFP]
Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 31 points. Jarrett Allen chipped in 22, but James Harden had just 10 on three-of-13 shooting, and his four turnovers included a costly giveaway in the final minute.
The Cavaliers have a mountain to climb as they head home for game three on Saturday and game four on Monday.
The Pistons, who locked up the top seed in the East with the third-best record in the league, had to fight back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Orlando Magic in the first round.
In this series, they were determined to hold on to home-court advantage, and game two featured another lockdown defensive display from Detroit, leading to a 54-43 halftime lead.
The Cavaliers responded in the third quarter and took the lead on Evan Mobley’s dunk minutes into the fourth – their first lead since the opening minutes.
But they could not hang on. A Duncan Robinson three-pointer put Detroit back in front, and they would not trail again.
Cunningham said the Pistons will have to “turn up our energy even more” in Cleveland.
Tennessee has approved a new congressional map that breaks apart a majority-Black district centred on Memphis, triggering protests inside the state Capitol and accusations of racial gerrymandering. The move could help Republicans strengthen their narrow majority in the US House ahead of November’s midterm elections.
US President Donald Trump says the ceasefire with Iran is still in effect, despite American and Iranian forces trading fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. Trump threatened pain for Tehran unless it signs a truce quickly.
