Global Pulse

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  • England takes 4-0 lead over France at halftime of World Cup third-place match

    England takes 4-0 lead over France at halftime of World Cup third-place match

    MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – In a shocking turn of events at the Hard Rock Stadium, England produced a dominant first-half performance to secure a 4-0 lead over 2022 runner-up France in Saturday’s World Cup third-place playoff, leaving Kylian Mbappé’s race for the tournament’s Golden Boot hanging in the balance.

    Mbappé, who claimed the Golden Boot at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, retained his spot in France’s starting lineup for the high-stakes consolation match, still locked in a close top-scorer battle with Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Entering the game, both superstars sat level on eight goals apiece, though Messi holds the tiebreaker advantage with a 4-3 lead in assists.

    What was expected to be a tightly contested encounter turned into a one-sided rout inside the opening 45 minutes. England manager opted to rest key stars Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane on the bench, but the decision paid off far faster than most observers predicted. Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice broke the deadlock just three minutes into the match, curling a precise finish beyond France goalkeeper Mike Maignan to put England ahead.

    Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa doubled England’s lead in the 18th minute, nodding home from a corner kick. Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka put the game out of reach for France with a third goal in the 37th minute, before adding a fourth in first-half stoppage time. The blowout was particularly staggering for France: entering Saturday’s match, Deschamps’ side had conceded only four goals across the entire tournament.

    Both nations entered the third-place playoff acknowledging they would have rather been competing in Sunday’s title decider. France fell to Spain in a tight semi-final clash, ending their bid to reach a third consecutive World Cup final. This match also marked the final international game in charge for long-serving France manager Didier Deschamps, with Mbappé and his squad having arrived in Florida aiming to send their departing coach out with a win. That goal now looks all but out of reach heading into the second half.

    For England, a third-place finish would mark their best performance at a men’s World Cup since the Three Lions lifted their only global title in 1966.

    In the tournament’s upcoming final, defending champion Argentina – who came from behind to defeat England in the semi-finals – will face Spain on Sunday, with Messi already guaranteed a chance to claim the Golden Boot and the World Cup trophy in what is widely expected to be his final World Cup appearance.

  • Hungary’s president signs a constitutional amendment ending his term

    Hungary’s president signs a constitutional amendment ending his term

    BUDAPEST, Hungary — A dramatic chapter of Hungarian political transition drew to a close Saturday when outgoing President Tamás Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment that formally terminates his term in office, wrapping up a bitter standoff between Sulyok — an appointee of long-ruling former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — and the new administration led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar.

    Magyar, whose center-right, pro-European Tisza Party secured a landslide election victory over Orbán’s long-standing government in April, made Sulyok’s removal a top priority after taking office in May. The new prime minister has framed the ouster of Sulyok and other Orbán-aligned officials as a necessary purge to dismantle what he calls Orbán’s autocratic “mafia state.” Magyar repeatedly called on Sulyok to step down, arguing the president failed to uphold his constitutional duty by failing to check anti-democratic policies advanced during Orbán’s 12-year tenure.

    When Sulyok refused to resign voluntarily, Magyar’s parliamentary majority pushed through the constitutional amendment earlier this week, a measure that mandated the immediate end of Sulyok’s presidency. The legislation gave Sulyok five days to sign the amendment into law, and he acted on the final day of that window to put the measure into effect.

    In a video posted to Facebook Saturday evening, Sulyok — who Magyar repeatedly labeled Orbán’s political puppet — pushed back against his removal, saying the forced end to his term served as “lasting proof that the fundamental values of a free society, the rule of law, democracy, the principle of power-sharing, have been trampled on in the interest of power.”

    Sulyok’s term will officially end at midnight on Monday. Following the vacancy, Parliament Speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer will assume presidential duties on an acting basis, until Hungarian lawmakers elect a permanent new president within a constitutionally mandated 30-day window. Magyar announced Saturday he would convene his party caucus on Monday to discuss the Tisza Party’s nomination for the new head of state.

    Sulyok’s removal is just the latest step in Magyar’s sweeping campaign to remove Orbán-era political appointees and undo the institutional changes implemented during his predecessor’s decade-plus rule. Since taking power in May, the new government has suspended the news division of state-owned public television and radio — which Magyar accuses of operating as a propaganda arm for Orbán’s ruling party — and dissolved the controversial Sovereignty Protection Office, a body Orbán’s opponents have long condemned as a tool to harass government critics and muzzle independent media outlets.

    Beyond ending Sulyok’s term, the constitutional amendment approved this week includes a package of broader governance reforms: it introduces new judicial oversight changes, establishes a special office tasked with investigating allegations of financial corruption and abuse during the Orbán administration, and enshrines a 12-year term limit for members of parliament into the national constitution.

    Orbán, who led Hungary for 12 years before his election defeat, reacted sharply to Sulyok’s signing of the amendment Saturday. In a Facebook post, the former prime minister warned that “tyranny is no longer a threat, but a reality.” He added, “If this could be done to the president of the republic, then tomorrow no one will be safe.”

    But Magyar framed the amendment’s passage as a landmark win for Hungarian democratic renewal. In his own Saturday Facebook video statement, the prime minister argued that by approving the amendment, “we have fulfilled several of our important commitments and returned what the Orbán regime tried to take away from the Hungarian people for many years.”

  • Hungary’s president agrees to stand down after parliament backs removal

    Hungary’s president agrees to stand down after parliament backs removal

    In a dramatic shakeup of Hungarian politics that caps months of upheaval following the April general election, President Tamás Sulyok has formalized his early exit from office, signing a controversial constitutional amendment that will end his term at midnight Sunday. The move comes after Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s ruling Tisza party pushed the constitutional change through parliament in a fast-track process to remove Sulyok, a figure widely recognized as a key loyalist to long-serving former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose 16-year grip on power ended with a landslide defeat for his Fidesz party in April.

    Sulyok faced an explicit five-day deadline to sign the amendment, with the alternative being a messy constitutional crisis and formal impeachment proceedings. As the clock ran down on Saturday evening, the outgoing president confirmed he would comply with the new law — but used his final statement to deliver a scathing rebuke of Magyar’s new administration. He argued that the forced ouster via constitutional amendment represents a clear breach of the rule of law, calling the moment a “breaking point in Hungarian constitutional democracy.” In his remarks, Sulyok claimed that the “core values of a free society… have been trampled underfoot for the sake of political power,” adding that he had no existing constitutional pathways to challenge the amendment.

    This ouster marks the most high-profile and consequential action taken by the Tisza government to date, which has framed Sulyok as a leftover puppet of the Orbán era that had no place in the new administration. Since taking power after a commanding election victory in April, the party has moved rapidly to implement sweeping constitutional changes to undo the institutional legacy of Fidesz.

    The amendment has already drawn fierce pushback from Orbán and what remains of his party. Orbán has condemned the move as an act of tyranny and called on his supporters to hold public protests against the ouster. Since the April election defeat, Fidesz has collapsed into disarray, still reeling from the shock of losing power after 16 years in control. Orbán himself has largely vanished from public life, and has refused to claim his allocated seat in the new parliament.

    The roots of this political clash stretch back to the 16 years of Fidesz rule from 2010 to 2026. During that time, the party used its long-held two-thirds parliamentary majority to reshape Hungarian state institutions to align with its ideological and political goals, filling dozens of nominally independent state positions — including the presidency — with hand-picked party loyalists.

    When the constitutional amendment vote passed parliament on Monday, the 141 Tisza deputies gave a standing ovation as the final results were read out. The move has split legal and political observers, however. András Baka, the former head of Hungary’s Supreme Court, publicly expressed support for Sulyok’s removal in comments to the BBC. Baka argued that between 1989 and 2010, Hungary operated as a consistent rule-of-law democracy, but after Fidesz took power in 2010, the party systematically captured independent state institutions to build an authoritarian regime. “And it is now very difficult to break up a sophisticated authoritarian regime… which was designed to survive even after electoral defeat,” Baka explained, justifying the removal of Sulyok as a necessary step to undo Fidesz’s institutional legacy.

  • Mexico’s president to attend World Cup final at Trump’s invitation

    Mexico’s president to attend World Cup final at Trump’s invitation

    In a notable shift after months of public verbal friction, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has confirmed she will accept an invitation from United States President Donald Trump to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup final this Sunday. The high-profile match, set to take place in New Jersey, will mark the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since December, a gathering that carries significant diplomatic weight amid ongoing strained bilateral ties.

    This appearance will break Sheinbaum’s earlier pattern of stepping back from prominent World Cup event engagements earlier in the tournament. When Mexico’s opening match against South Africa kicked off in Mexico City — a game Mexico won 2-0 — Sheinbaum opted not to take her place in the stands, instead gifting her ticket to a young Indigenous woman from the country, a choice that aligned with her administration’s focus on centering marginalized communities.

    Speaking to Mexican reporters, Sheinbaum clarified her decision to attend the final, emphasizing that the direct, personal invitation from the U.S. president was the core factor in her change of plans. She also confirmed that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will join the two leaders at the event, and noted that she would release a pre-recorded address with further details on her trip in the coming day.

    Tensions have lingered between the Sheinbaum administration and Trump’s White House across multiple key policy areas, including cross-border security cooperation and bilateral trade rules. The last time the two leaders shared a public appearance was back in December, during the official World Cup draw ceremony, months before the tournament kicked off.

    This iteration of the men’s World Cup marks a historic first: it is being jointly hosted by the three North American nations — the United States, Mexico, and Canada — a collaborative project that was intended to highlight regional cooperation even as political rifts have widened between the current leaders of the three countries. Sunday’s final will pit defending world champions Argentina against European powerhouse Spain for the tournament title, with Spain’s King Felipe VI also confirmed to be in attendance for the decisive match.

    This coverage is part of ongoing reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean from the Associated Press.

  • Two US troops killed and one missing after Iranian attack in Jordan

    Two US troops killed and one missing after Iranian attack in Jordan

    In a deadly escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran that has pushed an already fragile informal ceasefire into full-blown open conflict, two American service members have been confirmed dead and one is still unaccounted for following a coordinated Iranian strike involving ballistic missiles and drones targeting a location in Jordan, senior US military officials confirmed Friday.

    According to a statement released by US Central Command (Centcom), four additional US service members who required immediate medical attention after the attack were evacuated to regional medical facilities in Jordan, and all four have now been released from care after receiving treatment. Other personnel who sustained only minor injuries in the assault have already returned to their assigned posts, the command added.

    Jordan’s national military had previously released its own update on the overnight attack, confirming that its air defense systems successfully intercepted 10 Iranian missiles that entered the country’s airspace, with no reported casualties or damage from the intercepted projectiles.

    The Friday attack comes amid a sustained campaign of retaliatory action by the US military, which has now launched seven straight nights of offensive strikes against Iranian positions and assets across the region. This campaign began after former President Donald Trump announced that the temporary ceasefire agreement between the two nations was officially terminated.

    The latest fatalities push the total number of American service members killed in the ongoing active conflict between the US and Iran to 14. That count includes a US Navy pilot who went missing earlier this month and was recently officially declared dead by the military, marking another grim milestone in the rapidly deteriorating security situation across the Middle East.

  • Ukrainian strikes on Russian warehouses kill 8, shroud skies in smoke

    Ukrainian strikes on Russian warehouses kill 8, shroud skies in smoke

    In an escalation of cross-border military action, waves of Ukrainian explosive-laden drones targeted logistics facilities operated by Russia’s largest e-commerce retailer Wildberries in two Russian regions on Saturday, leaving eight people dead and nearly 90 others hospitalized. Large-scale fires sparked by the attacks filled the sky with thick black smoke that lingered for hours, marking one of the deadliest Ukrainian strikes on Russian civilian-linked infrastructure in recent months.

    The attack hit two separate Wildberries warehouses: one in the Tambov region, roughly 500 kilometers southeast of Moscow, and a second in Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, where an oil depot and an empty kindergarten were also damaged. Seven night-shift workers were killed at the Tambov facility, regional governor Evgeny Pervyshov confirmed, while a eighth person died of injuries in a Moscow region hospital, according to Moscow Oblast governor Andrei Vorobyov. An empty kindergarten in Elektrostal was also struck, but no injuries were reported at that site. As of Saturday evening, firefighters were still working to fully contain the blaze at the Moscow Oblast warehouse, while the fire in Tambov had been fully extinguished.

    Wildberries CEO Tatiana Kim called the incident an unfathomable tragedy for the company and the country. “A terrible night, terrible events for our company and for our country. It is a pain that cannot be put into words,” Kim said in a statement. An AFP correspondent on the scene observed thick black smoke billowing over the Moscow region from early Saturday morning through late afternoon.

    The strike comes as part of Kyiv’s months-long intensification of long-range attacks on Russian territory, a campaign Ukrainian officials describe as “long-range sanctions” and retribution for more than four years of Russian bombardments on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure targets. To date, this campaign has primarily targeted Russian oil infrastructure, contributing to widespread fuel shortages across nearly 90% of Russia’s regions since June — a disruption to daily life unprecedented since the full-scale invasion began. For Russian civilians, this has meant long daily lines at petrol stations, a sharp shift from years of abundant, low-cost fuel that remained cheaper than prices across Western Europe.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explicitly claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on the social platform X, confirming the targeting of the two logistics facilities. Zelensky alleged the warehouses were being used to store sanctioned components for Russian drone production and military navigation equipment, framing the strike as a direct response to ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

    Concurrent with the strike on Russian territory, new Russian bombardments across southeastern Ukrainian regions killed five people and wounded nearly 20 others, according to local reports. The cross-border attacks come amid a broader stalemate on the main front line, where Ukraine has managed to slow Russia’s ongoing summer offensive but has not made significant territorial gains of its own.

    The incident also unfolds against a backdrop of growing domestic unrest in Ukraine, where thousands of protesters have gathered for three consecutive days in major Ukrainian cities to oppose the surprise dismissal of popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Zelensky’s sudden government reshuffle, which removed the young, tech-savvy minister who led many of Ukraine’s key military innovation projects, has triggered rare public dissent during wartime. Diploatic efforts led by the United States to negotiate a end to the conflict remain stalled, as Washington has shifted its foreign policy focus to escalating tensions with Iran in recent weeks.

    Russian officials have reported a sharp surge in drone attacks targeting Moscow in recent weeks. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that more than 370 drones were launched toward the Moscow region during Saturday’s overnight attack alone, adding that nearly 1,892 Ukrainian drones targeting the capital were intercepted between July 11 and July 18.

  • Spain vs. Argentina World Cup final a very high-priced ticket to watch Messi and Yamal

    Spain vs. Argentina World Cup final a very high-priced ticket to watch Messi and Yamal

    Soccer fans hoping to catch a last-minute spot at one of the most anticipated World Cup finals in modern history are facing sticker shock of historic proportions, as resold tickets for the Sunday clash between Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Lamine Yamal’s Spain at East Rutherford, New Jersey have soared to five and even six-figure price points.

    By Saturday morning, just 24 hours before kickoff at the New Jersey venue, the least expensive entry listed on FIFA’s official secondary ticket marketplace was priced at $6,411.25 — for a mid-tier seat positioned behind one of the goals. Those budget-friendly (by resale standards) options were completely sold out by midday, leaving only far more premium listings up for grabs.

    Upper-deck seats located in the corner sections of the stadium were still listed for close to $10,000 apiece Saturday afternoon. Fans hoping for a closer view of the on-field action can expect to pay roughly $16,000 for lower-tier seating, with exclusive hospitality packages commanding asking prices that climb to nearly $60,000 per ticket.

    Major third-party ticketing platforms have followed a similar trend: SeatGeek and StubHub both list the cheapest available upper-deck entries starting around $10,000, with premium lower-bowl seats approaching $35,000 for the high-stakes final.

    For many die-hard soccer supporters, the exorbitant cost is seen as a justifiable expense to watch a once-in-a-generation matchup. Messi, widely regarded as the greatest men’s soccer player to ever step onto the pitch, is chasing unprecedented historical glory with Argentina, who are gunning for their fourth overall World Cup title and second consecutive tournament win. No men’s national team has claimed back-to-back World Cup crowns since Brazil achieved the feat back in 1958 and 1962. Standing in Argentina’s way is Spain, the 2010 World Cup champion, led by 16-year-old wunderkind Lamine Yamal, one of the sport’s most exciting and highly touted young rising stars.

  • The World Cup final awaits, with Messi and defending champion Argentina set to face Spain

    The World Cup final awaits, with Messi and defending champion Argentina set to face Spain

    The 48-nation expanded World Cup co-hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico is set to conclude Sunday with a historic championship clash that lives up to the sport’s highest billing, pitting arguably the greatest player to ever touch a ball against the most dominant international team of the current era. For years, the narrative around global men’s soccer has held that Lionel Messi rarely tastes defeat, and Spain has been unbeatable — a trend that will collide on one of the sport’s biggest ever stages at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

    Lionel Messi and defending champions Argentina enter the final against a Spanish side that has not lost a single match in 37 consecutive outings, a streak stretching back to the start of 2024. For Spain, a win would secure a second World Cup title 14 years after their 2010 triumph, and cement their status as the undisputed global powerhouse of men’s soccer. For Argentina, victory would make them the first men’s national team to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Pele led Brazil to back-to-back crowns in 1958 and 1962. For Messi himself, the match is a chance to cap off what he has signaled will be his final World Cup run with Argentina with the fairy-tale ending all fans of the sport are craving.

    Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente, who has led the side to an undefeated 28-0-9 record across their current unbeaten streak, framed the matchup as a collision of two elite squads built for the big stage. “On Sunday, we will watch a great show,” he said. “Two great national teams — two superteams, in my opinion — very similar in some aspects in terms of attitude, footballers’ talent. I think that it’s going to be an amazing final.” While the matchup is often framed simply as the world’s best individual against the world’s best collective team, the storylines run far deeper than that surface-level narrative.

    The rivalry between Messi and Spanish soccer carries decades of history. Though Messi was born in Argentina, he developed his game as a youth player and spent nearly all of his legendary club career in Spain. At multiple points, the Spanish national federation attempted to convince him to switch allegiances and represent La Roja, but Messi never wavered in his commitment to his home country. Sunday’s match will mark the first time Messi has taken the pitch against Spain since a 2010 friendly, when Argentina defeated the then-reigning world champions in a lopsided rout. When asked about the massive expectations around the match, Messi downplayed the hype, framing it as simply another chance to play the game he loves with his teammates — even with 80,000 fans in the stadium and an estimated 2 billion global viewers tuning in.

    One of the most surreal subplots of the final is the meeting between Messi and Spanish teenage star Lamine Yamal. Nearly 20 years ago, a toddler-aged Yamal was photographed with Messi during the Barcelona star’s early days at the club. Now, the young prodigy will share the same World Cup final pitch with the player he once posed for a photo with as an infant.

    Reflecting on the roots that brought him to this historic match, Messi spoke in his native Spanish about the joy that first drew him to the sport. “We grew up playing soccer with passion, eager to play,” he said. “We played everywhere. We played on the street. We played at school. We played with teams. We didn’t think about the pressure. It was just natural play.”

    Make no mistake, however: the pressure on Sunday will be unprecedented. For Argentina, the match is widely understood to mark the end of the Messi era for the national team, regardless of the final result. Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni summed up the magnitude of Messi’s legacy for his nation and the sport, calling him “The best footballer that the world has seen.”

    This historic final run was almost derailed before it even began, after a high-profile retirement a decade ago. In 2016, a heartbroken Messi walked away from the national team after missing a decisive penalty in a Copa América final loss to Chile, leaving Argentina empty-handed in another major tournament. At 29, he had grown exhausted from falling short of the ultimate prize for his country, and his retirement only lasted a few weeks. In the years since, Argentina has claimed the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup, and a second Copa América title in 2024, cementing a dynastic run that no one could have predicted after that 2016 loss. What makes the moment even more poetic is that the 2016 final that prompted his retirement was held on the exact same pitch that will host Sunday’s World Cup final: MetLife Stadium.

    Messi never truly left the game, of course. He continued to dominate at the club level, starring for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and now Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami, where he has claimed back-to-back MLS MVP awards and led the club to a league title. Even at this stage of his legendary career, he remains capable of producing match-winning moments in the biggest games with almost effortless ease. Scaloni summed up his legacy simply: “He is pure history. History. A legend.”

    Spain is also chasing unprecedented history of its own at this World Cup. Entering Sunday’s match as pre-tournament favorites, La Roja have conceded only one single goal across their first seven matches of the tournament, and have not trailed for even one second of play across the entire tournament. By comparison, Argentina has spent more than 100 minutes of the tournament trailing, including stoppage time. Historic defensive performances of this caliber are almost unheard of at the World Cup. Only three previous World Cup-winning teams — the 1998 French squad, the 2006 Italian side, and Spain’s own 2010 champions — finished the tournament with just two goals conceded. This current Spanish squad is on track to beat that record by miles.

    Spain captain Rodri emphasized that his side is not overlooking Argentina’s strength beyond Messi, noting that the two finalists are the most cohesive collective teams in the tournament. “Argentina is far more than Messi,” he said. “They’ve proven that they’re a very complete team with top players. … We are the best two teams playing in a collective manner as a group. Of course, we need to be mindful of Leo, but many other players.”

    After a month of thrilling matches, the 104th and final match of the biggest World Cup in history comes down to this: the defending champions against the next generation of global soccer greats, the biggest star the sport has ever known against a squad of players who grew up idolizing him, now with a chance to end his reign on the biggest stage.

    This 2026 iteration of the World Cup was not without its share of controversies and challenges, echoing the geopolitical tensions that define the modern era. The tournament faced widespread criticism over multiple high-profile issues, including onerous travel restrictions imposed on the Iranian team amid ongoing geopolitical conflict between Iran and the United States, backlash against FIFA after the governing body lifted a red-card suspension for U.S. star Folarin Balogun following public pressure from former U.S. President Donald Trump — who will be in attendance Sunday to present the championship trophy — and calls for an investigation into Argentina’s squad from the British government after players posed with a banner claiming sovereignty over the Falkland Islands following their semifinal win over England.

    Regardless of off-field controversy, the World Cup will end as it always does: with one team lifting the trophy in celebration, and the other left to process heartbreak. Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez summed up the shared hope of players and fans alike ahead of kickoff: “They’ve got their strengths. So do we. I wish it will be a final that goes down in history.”

    AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno in New York contributed to this report.

  • Spain, Argentina tune up for World Cup final in smoggy New Jersey

    Spain, Argentina tune up for World Cup final in smoggy New Jersey

    As the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States heads toward its historic conclusion, two of football’s strongest national sides Argentina and Spain are wrapping up final preparations for Sunday’s championship match at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey — all while a thick, choking smog from Canadian wildfires hangs over much of the eastern U.S.

    With only two matches left on the 104-game schedule for this expanded 48-team tournament, Saturday will first see the third-place playoff between 2022 runners-up France and European powerhouse England in Miami. Sunday’s main event, however, carries historic stakes for both finalists. Lionel Messi’s Argentina are chasing an unprecedented back-to-back World Cup title: if they win, they will become the first men’s side to defend the crown since Brazil’s legendary 1962 squad. For Spain, the match offers a chance to claim a second World Cup trophy, a decade and a half after their maiden win in South Africa in 2010.

    The match is set to draw a high-profile crowd of over 80,000 spectators, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, who will attend his first World Cup match during the tournament. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also confirmed she would attend the final after accepting an invitation from Trump. On Friday, Trump hosted a reception for FIFA President Gianni Infantino at Trump Tower in New York, where he praised the 2026 tournament as the most successful sporting event “maybe in the history of the world.”

    Infantino echoed the praise with equally enthusiastic remarks, saying the tournament has “exceeded all expectations.” “The American dream, Mr President, came to reality. We united the world,” Infantino proclaimed, going on to call the 2026 World Cup “the greatest human, social, and cultural event that mankind has ever witnessed.” He even joked that FIFA is “the official happiness provider to humanity,” to which Trump quipped back: “Unless your team loses.”

    The upbeat celebration, however, has been overshadowed by poor air quality across the Northeast U.S. Uncontrolled wildfires burning across Canada have sent thick, acrid smoke drifting south across the U.S.-Canada border, forcing residents in major cities from New York to Washington D.C. and across the Midwest to stay indoors due to unsafe air pollution levels. Air quality tracker IQAir reported that at one point Saturday, New York City ranked as the most polluted major city in the world, just ahead of Toronto and the U.S. capital.

    MetLife Stadium, located just across the Hudson River from New York in northern New Jersey, has not escaped the hazardous conditions. Early Saturday morning, New York’s iconic skyline was completely hidden by dense smog, with people venturing outdoors seen wearing protective face masks. Forecasters predict some relief may come via incoming heavy storms that could clear much of the smoke, but the weather system also carries risks of flash flooding and dangerous damaging winds.

    Beyond the unusual environmental conditions, Sunday’s final is widely expected to be the last World Cup appearance for Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi, the 39-year-old Inter Miami forward who is widely regarded as the greatest men’s footballer of all time. Heading into the match, Messi is tied with France’s Kylian Mbappé for the tournament’s Golden Boot lead, both having scored eight goals. Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni urged fans to savor the chance to see Messi leading his side, calling him a legend who has already cemented his place in football history after leading Argentina to the 2022 Qatar World Cup title.

    Argentina, a three-time World Cup champion, has displayed a gritty never-say-die attitude throughout the 2026 tournament, highlighted by a dramatic late comeback win over England in the semi-finals that booked their place in the final. In contrast, Spain has delivered an almost perfect run to the championship: La Roja has conceded just one single goal in seven matches on their way to the final, after a dominant semi-final win over France.

    Spain captain Rodri said his side is preparing for a physical, hard-fought encounter with Argentina, and that the team has trained to adapt to whatever style of play Argentina brings. “It will be a more physical one, and we must be prepared,” he said. “But I believe that if we are known for something in this national team, it is that we know how to play different games based on the moment.”

    Sunday’s final will also make World Cup history with its entertainment lineup: it will host the first ever standalone halftime show in World Cup final history, with A-list performers Madonna and Shakira set to take the stage after the first half. Hollywood star Tom Cruise will perform during the pre-game closing ceremony ahead of kickoff.

    Looking ahead to Saturday’s third-place match, both beaten semi-finalists England and France are focused on ending their tournaments on a high note. England head coach Thomas Tuchel acknowledged that his side’s 2-1 last-minute semi-final defeat to Argentina left a lasting mark on the squad. “It is our scar that we carry now. It is a very painful defeat, and we have to live with this defeat,” he said. For France head coach Didier Deschamps, Saturday’s match will be his final game in charge of Les Bleus, and he pledged his side would play with pride, saying there would be no tears from his side ahead of the fixture.

  • US strikes leave 10,000 Iranians without water as Kuwait desalination plant burns

    US strikes leave 10,000 Iranians without water as Kuwait desalination plant burns

    The rapid escalation of direct military conflict between the United States and Iran has inflicted mounting damage on critical civilian infrastructure across the Persian Gulf region, triggering widespread disruption of basic services and raising alarms over the risk of a full-scale regional war. In the most recent civilian casualty of the escalating hostilities, Iranian officials confirmed that overnight US airstrikes destroyed a key coastal desalination plant that supplied drinking water to roughly 10,000 residents across 20 rural communities.

    Hamzeh Pour, chief executive of Hormozgan Province’s Water and Wastewater Company, told Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency that the strikes targeted desalination pumps and core electrical infrastructure in Bunji village, located in the coastal Jask district. “The supply of drinking water to 20 villages with a combined population of approximately 10,000 people has been completely disrupted,” Pour said. He labeled the attack on the civilian water facility “a series of crimes and terrorist acts,” noting that the facility’s seawater pumping station and main power transformer were “completely destroyed” and that the affected communities are now grappling with a severe drinking water shortage.

    The strike on the desalination plant came as part of the United States Central Command (Centcom)’s seventh consecutive round of overnight airstrikes targeting Iranian positions across the region. Centcom confirmed in a public statement that the latest wave of attacks focused on Iranian surveillance outposts, military logistics hubs, underground weapons storage facilities and maritime military assets. The operation drew on a full spectrum of US military capabilities, including fighter aircraft, attack drones, and naval warships, and unfolded as more than 50,000 US service members remain deployed across the Middle East to support ongoing operations against Iran.

    As hostilities spread across the Gulf, neighboring Kuwait reported its own critical infrastructure damage following Iranian retaliatory strikes. Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy announced that a fire broke out at a key component of one of the country’s integrated power generation and desalination plants after an Iranian attack. In response, authorities implemented precautionary safety measures, taking several power generating units offline to protect plant staff and preserve the stability of the national electrical grid. The ministry confirmed that emergency response plans have been activated to maintain uninterrupted power and water services, while technical teams continue round-the-clock monitoring of the situation. Kuwait also temporarily closed its airspace, suspended operations at Kuwait International Airport, and rescheduled nearly all commercial flights amid the wave of incoming missile and drone attacks.

    Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has issued a stark warning to all nations hosting US military forces in the region, urging them to prepare for imminent retaliatory action. In an official statement, the IRGC called on host countries to “activate their civil defence units to protect their citizens and move them away from potential military targets,” accusing these states of allowing their territory to be used as “launchpads for aggression against Iran.” The IRGC confirmed it launched missile and drone strikes against multiple US-aligned military sites, including Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, US naval facilities at Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi port, and key military installations in Bahrain. Bahraini authorities activated air raid sirens across the country multiple times during the attacks, while Kuwaiti military forces confirmed they intercepted a number of incoming missiles and drones before impact.

    Iranian state media also reported new damage to two key bridges along the busy Bandar Abbas-Rudan highway, while provincial officials confirmed that at least eight civilians were killed in US strikes carried out in Hormozgan Province on Friday. Against this backdrop, a senior Iranian military official has announced a major shift in Tehran’s military posture, warning that Iran will abandon its long-held policy of restraint if US attacks continue. “Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses… and no political border will be safe,” Major-General Mohsen Rezaee told Iran’s state-run IRIB news agency. “Until now, we have not focused on expanding the war, nor on launching an invasion. Until now, the goal was deterrence, to put an end to the conflict,” he said, adding that “the policy of negotiating during war is over.”

    Beyond the immediate human and infrastructure damage, the latest round of cross-border attacks has disrupted one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints. Data from ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic shows commercial vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level in three years, with only eight vessels transiting the strategic waterway on Thursday, down from 15 the previous day. Roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supply passes through the strait, so any extended disruption to shipping there risks roiling global energy markets and driving up fuel prices worldwide.