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  • FIFA to review ticket strategy for 2030 World Cup

    FIFA to review ticket strategy for 2030 World Cup

    Global football governing body FIFA announced Thursday it will conduct a full review of its ticketing framework for the 2030 World Cup, responding to intense public backlash over the exorbitant ticket costs for the upcoming 2026 tournament co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

    Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the FIFA Congress wrapped up in Vancouver, FIFA Deputy Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom framed the steep 2026 ticket prices as a reflection of North America’s unique market dynamics. “I will always have understanding for fans and their opinions, but I think there are quite a wide array of ticket prices — some are cheap, some are more expensive,” Grafstrom told reporters. “But of course, you know, we listen, we take into the account the comments, and of course, as for every World Cup, we will review and see how we do it for the next one.”

    The organization has faced relentless criticism from fan groups since 2026 ticket sales launched. Football Supporters Europe (FSE), a prominent pan-European fan advocacy organization, has labeled the current pricing structure “extortionate” and a “monumental betrayal” of the global football community. Last month, the group escalated its pushback by filing a formal complaint with the European Commission over what it calls FIFA’s “excessive ticket prices” for the 2026 tournament.

    FIFA leadership has pushed back against the criticism, arguing that soaring prices are driven largely by overwhelming market demand. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has pointed to dynamic pricing models common in the North American events industry as a core factor behind the fluctuating costs, noting that prices adjust up or down based on demand for individual matches.

    Recent data from resale platforms has underscored just how extreme the pricing has become: this week, four tickets to the 2026 World Cup final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, scheduled for July 19, were listed on FIFA’s official resale exchange for a staggering $2 million per seat, according to multiple reports. Third-party resale platforms routinely list final tickets for tens of thousands of dollars, putting the sport’s biggest match out of reach for most ordinary fans.

    When asked whether fan anger over ticket pricing could damage the long-term legacy of the 2026 World Cup, Grafstrom defended the tournament’s financial model, noting that projected total revenues of up to $13 billion will be reinvested into global football development through FIFA’s Forward program. “I think, you know, the legacy is also what we’ll be able to do with the money that it generates,” he said. “This is a true legacy through the (FIFA) Forward program and in order to really develop the game of football in our member associations, and this will have a true impact.”

  • AFL 2026: Hawthorn, Collingwood coaches ‘unsure how to feel’ after dramatic draw

    AFL 2026: Hawthorn, Collingwood coaches ‘unsure how to feel’ after dramatic draw

    In a nail-biting Australian Football League clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday night, Collingwood and Hawthorn battled to a thrilling draw that left both coaches with conflicting emotions after the final siren.

    The Hawks, who had trailed by as much as 23 points midway through the second quarter and were still seven points down with just 60 seconds left on the clock, pulled off a stunning late equalizer. Forward Dylan Moore nailed a difficult goal right after the final siren sounded, locking in the two-point split for both sides that capped off a rollercoaster 90 minutes of play.

    For Sam Mitchell, the encounter marked his first draw as Hawthorn’s head coach, and he admitted post-match that he could not pinpoint exactly how he felt about the result. The Hawks dominated key statistical categories throughout the game, outpacing Collingwood 62-34 in forward 50 entries and 39-23 in total clearances, with a particularly dramatic 19-5 win in centre bounce clearances — an area the club has invested heavily in improving over recent weeks. But that on-field dominance failed to translate to scoreboard points, thanks to persistent inaccuracy in front of goal. Hawthorn managed just 5.10 (goals-behinds) in the first half, and finished the full game with a underwhelming 13.15 total that wasted their plentiful attacking opportunities.

    “I don’t know how to give a name to the emotion,” Mitchell told reporters after the match. “There is a part of me that thinks, you look at the numbers and go, ‘How did we only come away with two points’ and then with two minutes to go, ‘How did we get two points’, so I’m unsure how to feel.”

    Mitchell acknowledged that Collingwood’s tight defensive structure and clinical attacking efficiency made the result tough to crack, adding that his squad still needs holistic improvement to turn their territorial dominance into wins. While the club’s work on centre bounce clearances paid off, other reliable areas of Hawthorn’s game fell flat on Thursday, leaving Mitchell frustrated by the missed chance to claim a full four competition points. “But then to not be able to maximise it in the front half, you get frustrated with that. So the glass is exactly in the middle for me which is why it’s a difficult feeling,” he said.

    For Collingwood coach Craig McRae, the result also left room for reflection, particularly around his side’s tendency to concede late goals in every quarter. The Magpies conceded goals on the siren at half-time, three-quarter time, and full time, a pattern McRae flagged as a key area for improvement heading into future rounds. “When you’re in front by a goal with 40 seconds to go, you’d think you would hang onto those,” McRae said. “I think we got some work to do with our late-quarter decision-making.”

    Even with the late collapse that cost Collingwood a win, McRae struck a measured tone with his squad after the match, framing the draw as a credible performance against one of the league’s top contenders. “But fundamentally, I said to the boys, ‘We didn’t win tonight, but we definitely didn’t lose’,” he said. “It’s important to acknowledge that we played some really good footy against arguably the best team in the competition. We come here tonight to see how our game stacks up and I think most of our fans would have been pretty happy.”

  • Qantas and Jetstar extend flight schedule changes into first quarter FY27 amid fuel price pressures

    Qantas and Jetstar extend flight schedule changes into first quarter FY27 amid fuel price pressures

    The global aviation sector is facing mounting systemic pressures that are forcing major carriers to reshuffle their operational plans well into the next financial year, and Australia’s Qantas Group — which owns both Qantas and budget subsidiary Jetstar — is the latest airline to extend network adjustments to navigate ongoing headwinds. The two biggest challenges driving the changes are persistently sky-high jet fuel prices and ongoing travel market disruption stemming from conflict in the Middle East, which have combined to reshape international travel demand across the Asia-Pacific region.

    In an official statement, Qantas Group confirmed it is continuing to reconfigure its route network to two key ends: first, to mitigate the financial and operational fallout of Middle East tensions and sustained elevated fuel costs, and second, to capitalize on the unbroken strong consumer demand for travel between Australia and Europe.

    The carrier group has chosen to extend the network adjustments it first announced earlier, rolling the changes through the July-to-September period of 2026 and into the first quarter of fiscal year 2027. A core part of the international reshuffle is the redeployment of existing aircraft to boost capacity on Australian-European routes, an adjustment that also gives customers booked with Qantas’ partner airlines greater flexibility to rebook onto alternative services if their original plans are disrupted.

    A key addition to the expanded capacity is the extension of extra Perth-Rome return services through the end of October 2026. By contrast, Sydney-to-Paris services will scale back to three weekly return trips starting in August 2026, as previously scheduled; all Paris services will continue to operate out of Sydney with a stopover in Singapore. Overall, the combined adjustments add approximately 2,000 additional seats per week for travel between Australia and Europe, matching the ongoing robust demand on the corridor.

    Not all routes are seeing growth, however. Qantas will temporarily suspend its direct Sydney-Bengaluru service starting in August 2026, with a planned resumption of operations at the end of October. Both Qantas and Jetstar have also cut available capacity on trans-Tasman routes connecting Australia and New Zealand. Altogether, the changes reduce the Qantas Group’s previously planned international capacity by 2% for the first quarter of FY27.

    On the domestic front, the group is extending a previously announced 5% cut to overall domestic capacity through the end of September 2026, with the reductions largely concentrated on high-volume routes between major Australian capital cities. Qantas Group noted that all customers whose bookings are affected by the schedule changes are being contacted directly, with options to rebook onto alternative flights or receive a full refund for their tickets.

    Industry analysts note that this latest round of extended schedule adjustments underscores how the lingering impacts of post-pandemic supply chain disruptions, combined with new geopolitical and commodity price shocks, continue to create uncertainty for airline profitability and planning across the globe.

  • AFL 2026: Michael Voss backs Luke Beveridge’s rule change criticism

    AFL 2026: Michael Voss backs Luke Beveridge’s rule change criticism

    Ahead of a highly anticipated Saturday night fixture against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium, Carlton Football Club senior coach Michael Voss has added his voice to growing criticism of the Australian Football League’s (AFL) current approach to rule enforcement and in-game officiating, aligning with recent remarks from Western Bulldogs head coach Luke Beveridge.

    Last week, Beveridge drew widespread attention when he delivered a three-minute monologue slamming the state of the modern AFL, arguing the current rule set has turned the competition into a “ping pong” style of play prioritizing broadcast revenue over natural, flowing game action. Voss, a long-time respected figure across the league, has echoed that critique, calling on the governing body to adopt clearer, less ambiguous standards for simple calls and cut back on excessive reviews by the AFL Review Centre (ARC).

    Voss specifically called out inconsistencies around the new last-disposal rule for balls kicked out of bounds. Under current protocols, any close call triggers a lengthy ARC review to determine which player touched the ball last before it went out of play. Voss argued that this process directly undermines the AFL’s stated goal of speeding up match play. He insisted that for any unclear last-touch calls, the straightforward solution of a boundary throw-in should be used immediately, eliminating the 25-second delays caused by constant reviews.

    “I think the less we use the ARC, the better we are,” Voss told reporters this week. “The ball goes out of bounds and it takes us 25 seconds to review. Please don’t do that. If you’re unsure, throw it in. Our intention was to quicken up the game and we’re slowing it down by continually reviewing everything. For that part, if the intention is to make the game faster, let’s go down that path, but let’s not slow it down by analysing whether the ball came off my foot or my hand. I think we can be better than that, we can be much more black and white on the simple things.”

    On the topic of recent draft adjustments that force Carlton to pay a higher selection price to secure father-son recruit prospect Cody Walker at the end of the current season, Voss played down the impact of the mid-season change, acknowledging that rule and system adjustments naturally bring discomfort but that the core demand from coaching staff is simply greater clarity around the league’s decisions.

    Beyond rule discussions, Voss turned his focus to Saturday’s upcoming match, which holds extra narrative weight as it marks the first time Carlton will face St Kilda following the off-season off-field player moves that saw Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni switch clubs. De Koning, who will suit up against his former side for the first time this weekend, is already expected to be a focal point of the matchup. Voss admitted that friendly banter between former teammates is likely inevitable in the lead-up, but said he expects both sides to set personal friendships aside when the ball is bounced.

    “Not that I’ve heard but I am not going to pretend there probably hasn’t been a little bit of banter that’s been exchanged,” Voss said. “I am really not too sure what Cotts (Matthew Cottrell) gets up to, so he’s the quiet assassin in all of this. It’s a bit of wait and see but look, I hope for whatever it’s worth that we walk out as competitors, really. They put the friendships aside. We’ve got jobs to do and our boys have a job to do for our team and clearly they’re going to be locked in on what they need to be able to get done. But maybe turn the microphones up (because) there might be a bit of banter between the two.”

    For Carlton, the match comes after a far less turbulent week than the club experienced in the previous round, with the Blues still chasing a much-needed victory to boost their position in the 2025 AFL ladder.

  • Violence in Australian town after arrest of man over girl’s murder

    Violence in Australian town after arrest of man over girl’s murder

    A wave of collective grief erupted into violent public unrest outside a regional Australian hospital this week, after authorities discovered the body of a 5-year-old Aboriginal girl who had been missing for five days. The incident has cast a harsh light on deep-seated community tensions in Central Australia’s Northern Territory, following the tragic death of the young child, identified publicly only as Kumanjayi Little Baby to respect Indigenous cultural mourning protocols that restrict using the full names of deceased people without family approval.\n\nThe girl was last seen alive late on Saturday night, when she was put to bed at Old Timers Camp, a government-designated Aboriginal accommodation camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs. Her body was recovered early Thursday, triggering immediate shock and anger across the local community. By Thursday evening, local residents had located Jefferson Lewis, the 47-year-old man who had been the prime suspect in the case, who had been released from prison just six days before the girl disappeared. Community members confronted Lewis, reportedly assaulting him before police arrived to take him into custody.\n\nWhen word spread that Lewis would receive medical treatment at Alice Springs’ main hospital, hundreds of local Aboriginal people gathered outside the facility to demand justice under traditional Indigenous law, a practice known locally as “payback”. Footage captured from the scene shows crowds of up to 400 demonstrators throwing projectiles at police officers, leaving multiple police vehicles damaged and several people—including emergency responders—with minor injuries. Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that when officers located Lewis, he was already unconscious from the attack by community members. When police and paramedics attempted to move Lewis for emergency care, roughly 200 demonstrators confronted the emergency teams, forcing officers to deploy tear gas to disperse the crowd.\n\nProtesters repeatedly chanted that Lewis should be killed for the alleged crime, and accused police of deliberately protecting the suspect from traditional punishment. Commissioner Dole acknowledged the overwhelming grief that drove the unrest, but condemned the violence, saying the chaotic scenes outside the hospital “are not acceptable” and do not “reflect what we’ve seen from the community of Alice Springs in the last five days”. In a remark that echoed the shared devastation of everyone involved in the search, Dole added, “Everyone involved in the search for her had been holding out hope of finding her alive. When we made that discovery yesterday it was absolutely devastating for everybody involved.”\n\nShortly after the unrest, authorities airlifted Lewis from Alice Springs to a hospital in Darwin, where he is now formally in police custody. Prosecutors confirm formal murder charges are expected to be filed in the coming days, as forensic teams continue work to confirm the girl’s identity and exact cause of death, with examinations set to continue through Friday.\n\nIn a written statement released through authorities, Kumanjayi Little Baby’s mother, who has requested to remain anonymous, shared a heartfelt tribute to her daughter, saying, “It is going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without you. We know you are in heaven with the rest of the family and Jesus. Me and your brother will meet you one day.” She also extended gratitude to the hundreds of local community members, police officers, and civilian volunteers who worked around the clock for five days to search the surrounding bush and outback terrain for the missing child.\n\nNorthern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro echoed the widespread national sorrow over the tragedy, saying, “For five days every Territorian has had their heart in their throat waiting for the moment when we got the announcement that she had been found safe and well… Everyone is incredibly devastated.” As of Friday morning, no arrests have been made in connection with the violent unrest outside the hospital, and investigations into both the girl’s death and the public disorder are ongoing.

  • ‘I don’t want to be a burden’: Sea Eagles great set to play on in 2027 as club prepares for ultimate Panthers test

    ‘I don’t want to be a burden’: Sea Eagles great set to play on in 2027 as club prepares for ultimate Panthers test

    As the clock ticks down on one of the most anticipated career decisions in the NRL this season, Manly Sea Eagles veteran Jake Trbojevic is increasingly certain he will extend his decorated career into 2027, with a recent form resurgence under interim head coach Kieran Foran pushing him toward activating the player option in his existing contract.

    The 32-year-old former New South Wales State of Origin skipper, who made his top-flight NRL debut back in 2013, has spent years navigating a string of concussions that sparked widespread speculation about his potential retirement. After a underwhelming start to the 2024 season that mirrored the entire Sea Eagles squad’s slow start, Trbojevic has found new momentum since Foran took over the head coaching role from Des Hasler earlier this month.

    In a press statement this week, Trbojevic confirmed he is “definitely” leaning toward playing another season, noting that his recent run of strong on-field performances has made his choice far simpler. He emphasized that any final decision will prioritize the long-term interests of both himself and the club he has represented his entire career, adding he has no intention of becoming a “burden” to the side he has supported and played for over more than a decade.

    “It’s been a really enjoyable month. Having Foz (Foran) take over has been a breath of fresh air, and the consistent footy we’ve put together makes life a lot easier,” Trbojevic said. “The last few weeks have definitely made things a lot clearer. I just want to make a good decision for both me and the club. I don’t want to be a burden. We’re obviously always having ongoing conversations, and there’s great respect between both parties, so a final decision won’t be far away.”

    His younger brother, injured star fullback Tom Trbojevic, has thrown his full support behind another season for the veteran lock, arguing that criticism of Jake’s early-season form was wildly overblown. The Sea Eagles remain heavily reliant on Jake Trbojevic’s leadership both on and off the pitch, with his veteran presence viewed as a core asset for the club’s developing young core.

    “He’s definitely playing some of his best footy right now and really enjoying himself, so I definitely want to see him play on,” Tom Trbojevic said. “I thought everyone copped a bit of criticism at the start of the year, but I don’t think he was playing as badly as everyone was saying. We know what he’s capable of, and it’s great that he’s out there showing everyone that right now.”

    As Trbojevic nears his final call, the resurgent Sea Eagles will face their biggest test of the Foran era this Sunday night, when they go head-to-head with the ladder-leading Penrith Panthers. Manly has notched four straight wins since Foran took over as caretaker coach, but the clash with the five-time defending premiers will be the first true measure of how far the side has progressed in recent weeks.

    “Any time you play Penrith, it’s going to be a tough challenge,” Jake Trbojevic said. “It’s nice that we come in with good form because it gives you a bit of confidence. But we know it’s going to be a very hard test. Anyone who goes up against Penrith knows they’ve been the best side for the last five or six years. It’s a great challenge for us to see where we’re at. I’m just happy with our progression; we’ve continually gotten better and better. Hopefully, we can just go out and compete with them. I’m not going to talk about an end result, I just hope we can compete for a full 80 minutes.”

  • ANZ half-year profits surge 9 per cent to $3.65bn

    ANZ half-year profits surge 9 per cent to $3.65bn

    Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), one of the nation’s big four lenders, has delivered a robust 9% jump in half-year statutory profit to AU$3.65 billion, outpacing national inflation twice over, as the bank pushes forward with a sweeping internal restructuring and cultural reset under a year-old leadership team.

    Released on Friday morning, the latest financial results covering the six months to March 31 show steady growth across core banking metrics: total customer deposits rose 3% to add AU$23 billion to the bank’s balance sheet, while aggressive cost-cutting measures brought operating expenses down 22% year-on-year. The cost reductions have been tied to a widely publicized plan to cut 3,500 roles, announced in September 2023, with full implementation of the layoffs scheduled for September 2024.

    Nuno Matos, ANZ’s chief executive who will mark his first year in the role later this month, framed the strong results as proof the bank’s overhaul is on track. “We have refreshed our leadership team and commenced our cultural reset with new corporate values,” Matos said in a statement accompanying the results. “We have also made significant progress to reduce duplication and simplify the bank’s operations.”

    Against a backdrop of rising interest rates, persistent inflation, and intensifying competition across Australia’s retail banking sector, where consumers are increasingly shopping around for better loan and deposit terms, Matos noted that the bank’s active margin management kept profit margins stable through the half-year, even as lending and deposit growth remained moderate. Statutory profit, which excludes one-off significant items, hit the AU$3.65 billion mark, while the bank’s preferred cash profit metric recorded a stronger 14% year-on-year increase.

    Shareholders will receive an 83-cent dividend per share, fully franked to 75% — an increase from the prior period’s 70% franking, though the total dividend amount has held steady from the last reporting cycle. All key performance metrics improved over the period: return on tangible equity rose and the bank’s cost-to-income ratio also moved in a positive direction, in line with the lender’s cost-cutting targets.

    Matos, whose first year in charge has been defined by mass layoffs, structural streamlining and cultural reform, acknowledged the challenging operating environment facing the global and domestic economy, singling out the ongoing Iran crisis as a growing risk to global growth and inflation. “As Australia’s most international bank we have a front-row seat to global developments,” he said. “Much of the potential impacts of this crisis in Iran remains ahead of us, but the longer the flow of oil is constrained, the greater the chance the crisis shifts from being primarily an inflation challenge to much more of a supply and growth challenge.”

    On the domestic front, Matos noted that both corporate and household balance sheets have held up well through the current period of economic volatility. ANZ’s corporate clients have been proactive about building capital and liquidity buffers, boosting flexibility and strengthening supply chain resilience, he said. For households in both Australia and New Zealand, he added, most entered the current period of financial shock with strong balance sheets and elevated savings buffers accumulated during the pandemic.

    “ We have not seen any material increase in new customers entering hardship or receiving assistance,” Matos said. “However, we recognise that some individuals and businesses are navigating these challenging circumstances. We urge customers who may need assistance to contact us.”

    Matos is scheduled to answer questions from financial analysts and reporters later on Friday, where further details on the timeline of restructuring, future cost-cutting plans, and the bank’s outlook for the second half of 2024 are expected to be revealed.

  • Coles says it can absorb cost rises as it reports sales revenue rises 4 per cent to start 2026

    Coles says it can absorb cost rises as it reports sales revenue rises 4 per cent to start 2026

    One of Australia’s largest supermarket chains, Coles Group, has released its latest March quarter financial results to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), alongside a major pledge to local consumers that the retail giant will absorb the bulk of looming supplier-driven price increases to keep grocery costs manageable for households.

    For the three-month period ending March 31, Coles reported total supermarket sales hit $9.8 billion, representing a 4% year-on-year revenue increase that outpaced analyst market expectations. This growth came even as elevated fuel costs squeezed household disposable incomes and shifted consumer spending patterns across the country.

    In the official ASX filing, Coles Chief Executive Leah Weckert noted that current cost pressures facing Coles’ network of suppliers mirror the intense strains seen during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges, she confirmed the grocery giant would take on much of the impending price hikes rather than passing the full burden to shoppers.

    “We know value and product availability will be top priorities for our customers in the months ahead, and we are well positioned to respond to this challenge,” Weckert said. She pointed to Coles’ extensive range of affordable private-label brands, market-leading digital e-commerce infrastructure, and robust end-to-end supply chain capabilities as core strengths that let the company absorb extra costs without immediate price increases for consumers.

    The latest quarter saw supermarket price inflation (excluding tobacco products) drop to 0.8%, down from 1.7% in the prior quarter. Coles attributes this cooling inflation to multiple factors: declining prices and strong supply of popular fresh produce, easing cost growth for packaged groceries, an increase in promotional sales events across stores, and targeted price reduction investments in high-demand categories including cleaning supplies and baby care products.

    However, the company has flagged growing cost pressures stemming from the ongoing Iran conflict, which erupted in late February and has driven up global fuel, freight, and commodity input prices. In recent weeks, Coles has received a growing number of requests from suppliers for price increases, while the company’s own internal operational costs—particularly for fuel, freight, and packaging—have also trended upward.

    “We are actively managing these cost pressures and will mitigate impacts where possible, while balancing the needs of both our customers and our supplier partners,” the company’s statement read. Already, the chain has partially absorbed sharp price increases for red meat, a trend that was also noted by competitor Woolworths when it released its own quarterly results a day earlier.

    Beyond grocery, Coles reported that sales at its alcohol retail subsidiaries—including Liquorland, Vintage Cellars, and First Choice Liquor—have been hit by softening consumer sentiment that emerged in March. The company expects this downward trend will flow through to lower earnings for its alcohol division in the second half of the financial year, as reduced consumer spending cuts into sales volumes and fixed cost allocation across the business segment.

  • Infantino confirms Iran will play World Cup games in US

    Infantino confirms Iran will play World Cup games in US

    As FIFA’s 76th Annual Congress kicked off in Vancouver, Canada on Thursday, global football governing body president Gianni Infantino opened his address by cementing a long-stated position: Iran will compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States as scheduled, and all of the team’s group-stage matches will be held on U.S. soil.

    Iran’s participation in the upcoming tournament has been mired in uncertainty since regional tensions flared across the Middle East in February, following joint strikes by the U.S. and Israel. Multiple competing proposals emerged in recent weeks to upend the original fixture plan: Iranian officials briefly floated moving their group games from the U.S. to Mexico, a idea Infantino already rejected outright. Just one week prior, reports surfaced that Italy-born U.S. special envoy Paolo Zampolli had suggested replacing Iran with Italy in the tournament draw. The U.S. State Department quickly walked back that proposal, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirming that Iranian footballers would be welcome to compete.

    Even as the fixture status was confirmed Thursday, new controversy emerged around Iran’s presence at the FIFA Congress itself. The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) delegation was the only group absent from the 211-member body’s opening session, after a confrontation with Canadian border officials earlier this week. FFIRI president Mehdi Taj, a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and two colleagues left Toronto abruptly after landing, turning around and flying back to Iran rather than continuing on to Vancouver. Iranian state media reported the group was “insulted” by Canadian immigration officers during processing. Canada officially designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization in 2024, and Canadian officials confirmed Wednesday that any individuals linked to the group are considered inadmissible to enter the country.

    For the 2026 World Cup, Iran is slotted into Group G alongside New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt, with plans to base their team camp in Tucson, Arizona. The squad is scheduled to kick off their tournament run against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. Immediately following Infantino’s confirmation that the matches will proceed as planned, U.S. President Donald Trump, a close ally of the FIFA president, voiced his public support for the decision. “Well, if Gianni said it, I’m OK,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I think let ’em play.”

    Beyond confirming Iran’s participation, Thursday’s congress also served as a major milestone in Infantino’s bid for a fourth term as FIFA president, set for 2027. The head of global football has faced growing criticism in recent months: fan advocacy groups have slammed skyrocketing 2026 World Cup ticket prices as a “monumental betrayal” of supporters, and watchdog group Fairsquare filed a formal ethics complaint in December accusing Infantino of violating FIFA’s political neutrality rules after he awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize during last year’s World Cup draw.

    Infantino pushed back against ticket price criticisms in his opening address, noting that while some premium tickets carry high price points, a range of affordable options are also available to fans. He added that all projected tournament revenues, estimated between $11 billion and $13 billion, will be reinvested into global football development programs across all member nations. “And what is important is that all the revenues that we generate from the world go back to the entire world and finance football in all of your countries,” he said.

    Despite the ongoing criticisms, Infantino secured a major boost to his re-election campaign Thursday when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially pledged their support for his 2027 candidacy. Together, the two confederations control 101 of the 211 total votes in FIFA’s presidential election. Combined with the 10 votes already pledged by the South American football confederation CONMEBOL, Infantino enters his re-election campaign with a commanding lead in pledged support.

  • Drivers help study road-trip mystery: what became of bug splats?

    Drivers help study road-trip mystery: what became of bug splats?

    For generations of summer road-trippers, returning home with a windscreen and license plate plastered with squashed flying insects was an unavoidable, messy ritual. But in recent decades, drivers across the globe have noticed a quiet, dramatic shift: far fewer bug splats mark their journeys, a change that has sparked growing alarm among ecologists studying widespread insect population decline.

    While casual drivers may welcome the less frequent need to scrape sticky bug remains off their glass, ecologists warn that this so-called “windshield phenomenon” signals a devastating collapse of insect populations that underpin nearly every terrestrial ecosystem. Insects act as critical pollinators for 75% of global food crops, maintain balanced food webs as a core food source for birds, bats and small mammals, and break down organic waste to regenerate healthy soil. Even a steep decline in their numbers risks cascading damage to natural systems and global food security.

    Until now, most observations of falling insect splatter counts have stayed anecdotal. To turn these everyday driver observations into rigorous, large-scale scientific data, a coalition of French research and conservation organizations has launched a new citizen science project that turns ordinary motorists into volunteer researchers.

    Modeled after similar successful projects in the United Kingdom, the initiative centers on a free mobile app called *Bugs Matter*, launched jointly by France’s National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), environmental nonprofits OPIE and Noe, and the French Biodiversity Office. The data collection protocol is intentionally simple to lower barriers to participation: before starting a trip, drivers wipe their front license plate completely clean, log their starting geolocation via the app, complete their journey as planned, then open the app again to count the number of bug squashes on the plate and submit the final data.

    AFP joined project participant Marjorie for a test run of the protocol ahead of her planned long-distance summer road trip near Enghien-les-Bains, just north of Paris. Now 53, Marjorie recalled the mandatory ritual of cleaning bug-smeared windscreens during family road trips in her childhood — a step she rarely has to take today. After completing a 22-kilometer (14-mile) test drive, Marjorie counted zero bug splats on her license plate, a result that aligns with the trend the project expects to document.

    This new French study builds on a growing body of research confirming steep insect population declines across Europe and beyond. A 20-year Danish study that concluded in 2017 found shocking reductions of 80% to 97% in insect splat counts on two major test road routes. An ongoing UK study, which also uses the *Bugs Matter* app, has recorded a nearly 63% drop in bug splat numbers between 2021 and 2024. A landmark 2017 German study, meanwhile, found a more than 75% decline in the total biomass of flying insects in protected nature reserves over three decades.

    Grégoire Lois, a researcher with MNHN working on the project, compared the scale of the decline to a grocery store running out of 75% of its stock: “It’s pretty incredible. Imagine going into the supermarket and finding only two out of every 10 products are in stock.”

    Scientists broadly agree that human activity is the primary driver of this collapse, with overlapping pressures including widespread habitat destruction, intensive agricultural pesticide use, light and chemical pollution, and climate change. The French project aims to answer still-open questions about the decline: how does the loss vary across different landscapes, from dense urban areas to intensive agricultural zones to intact forests? What specific local factors have the biggest impact on insect populations down to the species level? Down the line, researchers plan to expand the project to collect DNA from sampled bug splats to identify which specific species are experiencing the steepest losses, data that is critical for targeted conservation action.

    Researchers chose standard front license plates as the standardized measurement point for a simple, practical reason: “It’s the only shared, standardised thing on every car, in both size and position: facing the road, perpendicular to the ground and travelling forward,” Lois explained. The simple protocol means the project can collect data from thousands of trips across the country, far more than a small team of professional researchers could ever gather on their own, turning everyday road trips into a powerful tool for insect conservation.