Messi scores as Inter Miami open new stadium with a draw in the MLS
Miami captain scored his team’s first goal after David Beckham said the Nu Stadium was a ‘dream come true’ for Miami. Published On 5 Apr 20265 Apr 2026 Lionel Messi marked the opening of Inter Miami’s gleaming new stadium with a goal as the Major League Soccer (MLS) champions battled to a 2-2 draw against Austin FC. Inter Miami’s co-owner, David Beckham, was among the star-studded crowd as the club’s 26,000-capacity Nu Stadium made its debut on Saturday, marking the end of a more-than-a-decade-long journey to find a permanent home. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “To see this stadium come to life, after years and years of trying to get this stadium up and running in Miami, is something that’s very special,” Beckham said shortly before kickoff. “I came to America in the MLS 20 years ago, and I made a lot of promises. And 13 years ago, I made a lot of promises again, announcing I was coming to Miami. “Today it’s just a dream come true for us.” Inter Miami fans wave flags in Nu Stadium before the team’s first MLS match at their new home stadium [Rebecca Blackwell/AP] While the match kicked off in celebratory fashion, with Beckham joining billionaire Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas in a pre-game ribbon-cutting ceremony, Austin refused to follow the script. The Texas club, who went into the game with only one win from five matches, stunned the home crowd after only six minutes, with Guilherme Biro nodding in a corner from Facundo Torres to make it 1-0 to the visitors. Messi, though, did not take long to open his account in his new surroundings. Right-back Ian Fray burst down the flank and crossed for Messi, who equalised with a rare headed goal to make it 1-1 four minutes later. Advertisement Inter Miami dominated possession thereafter and carved out a string of chances, with Mateo Silvetti twice going close with a shot in the 34th minute before heading wide four minutes later. But Austin’s dogged defence and speed on the counter continued to pose problems for the hosts, and they once again took the lead after 53 minutes. Messi was dispossessed deep in the Austin half by Joseph Rosales, who released Myrto Uzuni, who in turn sent substitute Jayden Nelson clean through on goal to score. With Miami increasingly desperate, coach Javier Mascherano sent on veteran striker Luis Suarez in the 73rd minute. The Uruguayan duly delivered eight minutes later, prodding home from close range after a Messi corner was flicked on by German Berterame in the Austin defence. Suarez thought he had scored a dramatic winner when he finished from close range after Messi’s free-kick came back off the woodwork, but it was ruled out for offside. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s attack on UNRWA is central to its genocide of the Palestinians
It is time for the United Nations to accept that Israel’s attack on its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is an essential part of the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people. This is not an accusation coming from a critic of Israel. It is a clear, on-the-record statement from the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Arieh King, who, in January, invoked divine Jewish authority, proudly proclaiming, “God willing, we will expel, kill, eliminate, and destroy all UNRWA personnel.” As an agency founded specifically to serve Palestinian refugees after the creation of Israel in 1948, UNRWA has been involved in almost every aspect of the lives of millions of Palestinians. Its programmes span primary health, community mental health initiatives, education, relief and social services, mother and child healthcare, and refugee camp improvement. Moreover, UNRWA’s extensive and recently digitised archive contains property deeds and proof of land ownership, which can assist the Palestinians in securing compensation and the right of return, which many Israelis see as an existential threat to the Jewish state. UNRWA’s very existence, as a reminder of the Palestinians’ entitlement to a full range of inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, has always made the physical and political destruction of the agency an imperative for successive Israeli governments. Numerous statements by Israeli officials attest to this, boastfully and as a matter of public record. Israel’s decades-long campaign against UNRWA was ratcheted up exponentially when the latest phase of the genocide began in October 2023. That is because UNRWA’s function to promote long and healthy lives for the Palestinians was diametrically opposed to Israel’s genocidal goals, which, according to the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, include the imposition of conditions of life calculated to bring about their destruction in whole or in part. Advertisement In its provisional ruling in January 2024 in the genocide case brought by South Africa, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Israel was not allowing the necessary humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. UNRWA’s Gaza-wide aid delivery infrastructure, which includes a vast food distribution network to more than a million people, if allowed to function, would have made Israel’s genocidal strategy of starvation and an aid embargo impossible to achieve. Key to the Israeli campaign against UNRWA was the dehumanisation of UNRWA staff as terrorists. The link between genocide and dehumanisation is well established. Within weeks of the October 2023 attacks, Israel launched a global disinformation campaign against UNRWA, baselessly accusing agency staff of involvement. The accusations against UNRWA were the mother of all lies in the service of genocide. Because of it, all of the agency’s major donors withdrew funding, severely hampering the agency’s ability to deliver services. In the following two and a half years, nearly 400 UNRWA staff members were killed by Israeli forces, and hundreds of its facilities were deliberately targeted, destroyed, or damaged in violation of international law. The Knesset passed laws effectively banning UNRWA’s international staff from Palestine in violation of the UN Charter. UNRWA’s headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem were attacked and eventually demolished. In August 2024, an independent investigation led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna found Israel failed to provide any evidence to back its accusations against UNRWA. Some donors resumed support. Others, such as the United States and Sweden, disgracefully, did not. As Philippe Lazarinni prepares to leave office after a six-year term as UNRWA commissioner general, during which the systematic dismantling of the agency has taken place, his parting message is that UNRWA is on the verge of collapse. And he rightly points the finger of blame at the donor community for failing to give the agency the required financial and political support. But, shockingly, the UN system itself failed to defend the agency, and in particular the falsely accused UNRWA staffers who were dismissed on the basis of zero evidence. UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres bought into Israel’s false accusations, saying in a statement in January 2024 that he was “horrified” that UNRWA staff might be involved in the attacks. Lazarinni also justified the sacking of his staff before an investigation as “reverse due process” to protect the reputation of UNRWA. Advertisement The key objective of the genocide is to deprive the Palestinians of essential services, driving them off their ancestral lands and inflicting intergenerational trauma so that they never return. UNRWA, the living embodiment of the UN’s enduring responsibilities to the Palestinians, is mandated to oppose this multi-dimensional assault on the Palestinians. It cannot be allowed to go down in history as yet another victim of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. It is time for UNRWA’s main donors to acknowledge that Israel’s existential attack on the agency is part of its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. As signatories to the genocide convention, they have a legal obligation to prevent and suppress genocidal acts. They can do so not only by opposing UNRWA’s dismantling but also by imposing economic, political and diplomatic sanctions on Israel. Failure to do so opens them to accusations of complicity in genocide. Their failure to act also sends a signal to Israel that just as it has enjoyed virtual impunity for the genocide in Gaza, so there will be impunity for the genocide which it is now inflicting on the West Bank and for the industrial-scale violations of international humanitarian law in Lebanon and Iran. The implications of this are grave for all of us: a world in which genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are normalised. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Kuwait’s power, water plants damaged as Iran keeps attacking Gulf states
Bahrain and the UAE also reported attacks resulting in fires, which were put out quickly. Kuwait has said Iranian drone attacks damaged two power and water desalination plants and sparked a fire at an oil complex, without causing injuries. Gulf countries have borne the brunt of Tehran’s response to the US and Israeli strikes on Iran since February 28. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Fatima Abbas Johar Hayat, a spokesperson for Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, said on Sunday the “criminal aggression” caused “serious material damage” overnight to the two plants and the outage of two electricity-generating units. The attack is the latest to target civil infrastructure in Kuwait. Other drone attacks overnight caused a fire at the Shuwaikh Oil Sector Complex and “significant damage” to a government office complex. Reporting from Kuwait City, Al Jazeera’s Malika Traina referred to the incident as “devastating news” because “water desalination here and across the Gulf is extremely important. In Kuwait, around 90 percent of the country’s drinking water comes from these plants”. Alongside the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait has been at the “epicentre” of Iranian attacks over the past few days, said Al Jazeera’s Victoria Gatenby, reporting from Doha, Qatar. “The concern here in the region is that if President [Donald] Trump and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, follow through on those threats to escalate attacks on Iran, the result may be that Tehran attacks similar facilities here in the Gulf,” said Gatenby. Gulf patience is not ‘unlimited’ Bahrain also faced Iranian attacks on Sunday. Advertisement Bahrain’s Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co said that several of its operational units were subjected to an attack by Iranian drones, while earlier in the day, the country’s national oil company, Bapco Energies, said an oil tank at one of its storage facilities was hit. Both attacks caused a fire but were later brought under control and extinguished, Bahraini media reported. No casualties were reported in either attacks, and damage from both was being assessed. Earlier, Bahrain’s Ministry of the Interior had reported on the Bapco Energies fire without specifying where the blaze had broken out. The Interior Ministry has said civil defence crews “extinguished a fire in the facility” that broke out “as a result of the Iranian aggression”. The announcement came an hour after Bahrain activated air raid sirens. Authorities in neighbouring Abu Dhabi on Sunday also stated they responded to several fires that broke out at the Borouge petrochemical plant, caused by falling debris from an interception. “Operations at the plant have been immediately suspended pending a damage assessment,” read a statement issued by Abu Dhabi Media Office. No injuries have been reported so far, it added. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, intercepted missiles early on Sunday, the kingdom said. “Iran has said that it is only really attacking US military bases and US assets in the region, but we know from what’s been happening over the past five weeks and from what Gulf leaders have been saying that they have very much been targeting civilian infrastructure and critical energy infrastructure in this region as well,” said Gatenby. While Gulf countries have shown “incredible restraint” in the face of attacks over the past five weeks, it is not because they lack the ability to respond and, increasingly, countries are talking about the fact that their patience is not unlimited, said Gatenby. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has been talking in the past week about its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter, she said. “The GCC countries continue to say their main priority is de-escalation and dialogue, but some others have been saying this defensive posture may have to change if they continue to be attacked,” said Gatenby. Adblock test (Why?)
Vehicles burn in Israel after being hit with Iranian projectile debris
NewsFeed Video captured vehicles on fire, a damaged house and emergency responders rushing to the scene in central Israel after debris from an intercepted Iranian projectile struck Ramat Gan. Published On 4 Apr 20264 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Witness records Israeli strike on building in Lebanon’s Tyre
NewsFeed Video captured the moment an Israeli strike targeted a building in Burj Shamali in Lebanon’s Tyre district. Israeli strikes in the area injured at least 11 people and damaged the Lebanese Italian Hospital. Published On 4 Apr 20264 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Three suspects ordered to stay in UK custody over Jewish charity attack
The Metropolitan police said the three men were charged with arson ‘being reckless as to whether life would be endangered’. Published On 4 Apr 20264 Apr 2026 Two British nationals and one UK-Pakistani national have been remanded in custody after they appeared in a court charged with arson in relation to four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in London that were torched. The March 23 attack in Golders Green, an area of North London with a large Jewish community, destroyed four ambulances belonging to the volunteer organisation Hatzola. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Two of the suspects were identified by police on Saturday as British nationals, Hamza Iqbal, 20, and Rehan Khan, 19. The third suspect, a 17-year-old UK-Pakistani dual national, cannnot be named for legal reasons. According to a statement by the Metropolitan Police, the three suspects, who had been arrested at different locations in East London on Wednesday, were charged with arson and “being reckless as to whether life would be endangered”. The suspects did not enter a plea in a 45-minute appearance at the Westminster Magistrates Court. The court heard that British police also arrested a fourth person in connection with the arson attack. ‘Deeply shocking’ The ambulances that were set on fire were run by Hatzola, a volunteer organisation which provides free medical transportation and emergency response primarily for the Orthodox Jewish community. According to the London Fire Brigade, the explosions from cylinders on the vehicles had shattered nearby windows, but no one was injured. Since the fire, the police have promised to increase security around Jewish community sites across the capital. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident as a “deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack”. Advertisement The police have said they are treating the incident as an anti-Semitic hate crime. So far, the incident has not been declared a “terror offence”, but counterterrorism officers are leading the investigation. The three defendants are set to appear at London’s Central Criminal Court, better known as the Old Bailey, on April 24. The Iran-aligned Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) group claimed responsibility for the attack. It has also previously claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands. Adblock test (Why?)
Palestinian Christians in Gaza mark Good Friday
NewsFeed Palestinian Christians in Gaza marked Good Friday at the Holy Family Church during a fragile ceasefire. Once numbering around 1,300, the community’s numbers are believed to have fallen sharply since Israel’s genocidal war began. Published On 4 Apr 20264 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Iranian missile attack hits residential areas in central Israel
NewsFeed An Iranian missile attack has caused damage across residential areas in central Israel, according to Israeli media. Cluster munitions were reportedly seen over Israel, leaving one person injured in Tel Aviv. Published On 4 Apr 20264 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
European Parliament’s Rima Hassan: I’m a target of ‘political harassment’
NewsFeed European Parliament member Rima Hassan says she’s facing “genuine judicial and political harassment” for her political opinions. She was detained in France on suspicion of “apology for terrorism”. Published On 4 Apr 20264 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
US court orders resentencing for Colorado clerk involved in election scheme
Former clerk Tina Peters has become a cause celebre for the election denial movement and President Donald Trump. By The Associated Press Published On 2 Apr 20262 Apr 2026 An appeals court in the state of Colorado has ordered the resentencing of Tina Peters, a former county clerk convicted of involvement in an election meddling scheme in the United States. The court overturned Peters’s nine-year prison sentence on Thursday, but not her conviction for helping to tamper with voting machines after the 2020 presidential race. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Her case has become a cause celebre for President Donald Trump and the election denial movement, after it emerged that she was seeking evidence to support Trump’s false claim that his 2020 loss was due to massive fraud. In Thursday’s decision, the three-judge appeals panel ruled that a lower court had considered Peters’s personal beliefs when deciding upon a punishment, thereby rendering the sentence improper. “The trial court’s comments about Peters’s belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing,” the appeals court wrote. The panel cited comments from Judge Matthew Barrett, who blasted Peters as a “charlatan” promoting “snake oil” claims. “Her offence was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud,” the appeals court said. “It was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud.” Peters was convicted in August 2024 for helping someone from outside the government gain access to the Mesa County election system and make copies. That person was affiliated with efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss, and the copies they obtained were then shared on social media. False claims that the 2020 election was marred by massive fraud have been a persistent fixation for Trump and his allies, even after his successful re-election in 2024. Advertisement Trump’s efforts to remain in office after his 2020 defeat were the subject of a 2023 criminal indictment brought by former special counsel Jack Smith. He alleged that Trump led a criminal conspiracy to undermine the election process and rally supporters to overturn the results. Those charges, however, were ultimately dropped when Trump took office again in 2025, as the US Justice Department has a policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. Since his inauguration, Trump has continued to push the claims he won the 2020 race. He has also used his allegations of fraud to demand greater control over the country’s election infrastructure in advance of the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. In December, the president pardoned Peters, even though she was not in federal custody, and the presidential power of pardon does not extend to state crimes. The appeals court panel confirmed on Thursday that Trump’s pardon had no impact on state offences. “We have found no instance where the presidential pardon power has been stretched in such a way as to invade an individual state’s sovereignty,” the panel said. State Governor Jared Polis suggested last month that he could consider clemency for Peters. Adblock test (Why?)