Chaos in India as ‘Cockroach activists’ march on parliament
NewsFeed Chaos erupted outside India’s parliament as thousands attempted to storm the building, amid growing protests challenging Modi’s government. The ‘Cockroach Janta Party’ began as a satirical online movement. Now it’s become something far bigger. Al Jazeera’s @avawarrinerr explains. Published On 20 Jul 2026 Adblock test (Why?)
What are the new British Prime Minister’s biggest challenges?
NewsFeed Britain has a new Prime Minister: Andy Burnham. The former Mayor of Manchester must now unite a nation divided politically, economically, & socially. Will he take a firm stance on the genocide in Gaza, or focus on domestic challenges? Al Jazeera’s Antoine Allen explains. Published On 20 Jul 2026 Adblock test (Why?)
Argentina, minus Messi, return home after World Cup final heartbreak
Thousands wait to greet the team, who return without captain Messi and a few other players after the World Cup. Thousands of Argentinians lined up to welcome their football team, who returned without iconic captain Lionel Messi and a few other players after their loss to Spain in the World Cup final in the United States. The Argentinian Football Association (AFA) said on Monday that some squad members would not be on the flight, and Messi was not seen descending from the aircraft in images broadcast on local television. Coach Lionel Scaloni and the rest of the team were welcomed with a red carpet outside the aircraft and a military band. Thousands of fans braved the cold and the rain, waiting outside the AFA training complex near the Ezeiza international airport to welcome home the players, draped in flags and holding blue-and-white umbrellas to shield them from the drizzle. It was not the homecoming Argentinians had hoped for, four years after millions filled the streets to celebrate their team’s victory in 2022, but many turned out to thank the team for their performance. A fan waves a flag bearing images of Messi [Luis Robayo/AFP] ‘Thank you to Messi’ “Argentinians will celebrate anyway,” said Marga Ledezma, 36, who thanked Messi for “all the years he made us happy”, urging him not to quit playing for Argentina. Argentina lost 1-0 to Spain, failing to win back-to-back World Cups in a match that has been criticised for a plethora of fouls and displays of poor sportsmanship from La Albiceleste. “I think they criticise us because we know what it’s like to suffer, that we get up, we fall down again, and we keep going,” said Ledezma. Many fans highlighted that the real victory for Argentina was the 2-1 semifinal win over England, played against the backdrop of a lingering dispute between the countries over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. “This team united us all, and we should be grateful for that. We will always be there for them, rain or shine. I would say thank you to Messi, and that he gave it his all,” said Leonardo Barrientos, 36, who works in a textile workshop. Maria Ortiz, 28, came to welcome the team with her two-year-old, and said that Spain “deserved the win” but she was “happy for what the team gave us”. While crestfallen after the loss, thousands of Argentinians headed to the traditional celebration point at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires, where they partied for hours on Sunday evening, with fireworks and gratitude for their team. Late at night, brief clashes broke out at the monument, and police used water cannon, tear gas, and rubber bullets to disperse revellers. Fifteen people were detained, according to police sources. Adblock test (Why?)
Infantino tries to usher Trump away as Spain lift World Cup
Skip linksSkip to Content Live Navigation menu News Africa Asia US & Canada Latin America Europe Asia Pacific World Cup Middle East Explained Opinion Video Features Economy Sport Human Rights Climate Crisis Investigations Interactives In Pictures Science & Technology Podcasts Travel Sponsored Content Live Navigation menu Trending US-Israel war on Iran World Cup 2026 Tracking Israel’s ceasefire violations Donald Trump Infantino tries to usher Trump away as Spain lift World Cup NewsFeed FIFA President Gianni Infantino attempted to usher Donald Trump to move away from the stage as Spain’s team lifted the World Cup trophy on Sunday. Published On 20 Jul 2026 Adblock test (Why?)
Last night, I was Spanish, and so were millions around the world
Last night, Spain defeated Argentina to win the World Cup. Ordinarily, for those of us with no national connection to either country, the choice of whom to support would have been gloriously trivial. We might have chosen the team that played more beautiful football, the player we most admired or simply the side whose colours we preferred. But these are no ordinary times. Gaza and Palestine have changed the way many of us see the world. It has become a moral prism, refracting our judgments not only about governments and political leaders, but about institutions, universities, media, corporations and public figures. We have watched people and institutions we once respected avert their eyes from the destruction of a people. We have watched others discover elaborate vocabularies of qualification and equivocation when confronted with horrors that, in another place and against another people, they would have condemned without hesitation. And we have remembered those who refused to look away. That is why, last night, I was Spanish. Of course, a football team is not a government. Spanish footballers are not responsible for the policies of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, any more than Lionel Messi and his teammates are responsible for the politics of Argentinian President Javier Milei. But sport has never existed in the hermetically sealed apolitical world we sometimes pretend it inhabits. We bring ourselves to sport. We bring our histories, our identities, our sympathies and, inevitably, our moral judgements. We decide whom we want to win for reasons that often have very little to do with formations and statistics. And so, for many people of conscience, Spain has come to represent something larger. At a moment when much of the Western political establishment has twisted itself into moral and linguistic contortions over Gaza, Spain has stood apart. Sánchez and his government have been willing to speak with a clarity conspicuously absent from many of Spain’s Western allies. Spain recognised the State of Palestine. Sánchez has openly used the word genocide to describe what is being done in Gaza. His government has moved to entrench an arms embargo against Israel. One need not agree with every policy of the Spanish government to recognise the significance of that position. Moral courage is measured precisely when taking a position carries a cost. There was also something deeply moving about seeing Lamine Yamal, one of the brightest young stars in world football, waving the Palestinian flag during Barcelona’s celebrations after winning La Liga. It was a small gesture in the vast landscape of Palestinian suffering. But symbols matter, particularly when so many powerful institutions have worked so hard to make Palestine invisible. There was Yamal, at the summit of sporting success, surrounded by celebration, holding up the flag of a people whose suffering the world has been asked repeatedly to forget. And last night he wore the colours of Spain in a World Cup final and emerged a world champion. On the other side stood Argentina, a magnificent footballing nation led by perhaps the greatest footballer of his generation. And here, too, Gaza intruded upon the emotions with which some of us watched. An image of Lionel Messi at the Western Wall in occupied East Jerusalem has circulated widely. It dates back to Barcelona’s 2013 visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, years before the present catastrophe. But images have lives beyond the circumstances in which they were created, and Gaza has transformed the way many of us see them. FC Barcelona football player Lionel Messi puts a paper with wishes in a crack in the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, in occupied East Jerusalem on August 4, 2013 [Oliver Weiken/AFP] The contrast with Lamine Yamal is striking. There is the image of Messi at the Western Wall. And there is the image of Yamal, at one of the happiest moments of his young career, waving the Palestinian flag. Different moments, different circumstances, different intentions. But symbols matter. For those whose view of the world has been transformed by Gaza, it is impossible not to feel the emotional force of the contrast. And beyond Messi stands the politics of Javier Milei. Argentina’s president has made his allegiances clear. He has embraced US President Donald Trump and declared himself “the most Zionist president in the world” at precisely the historical moment when Palestinians in Gaza have endured unimaginable destruction. Argentina’s footballers are not responsible for Milei, and its people cannot be reduced to their president. But neither can those politics be entirely erased from the emotions with which the rest of us watch. Then there was another recent vote, far removed from Gaza but revealing in its own way. In March, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution confronting the historical wrongs of the transatlantic trafficking and enslavement of Africans and calling for reparatory justice. One hundred and twenty-three countries voted in favour. Fifty-two abstained. Only three countries in the entire world voted against it: the United States, Israel and Argentina. There is something extraordinary about that alignment. On an issue concerning one of humanity’s greatest historical crimes and the continuing demand for reparatory justice, Trump’s America, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel and Milei’s Argentina found themselves standing together, virtually alone. It is difficult for those of us who increasingly view the world through the prism of Gaza not to notice the pattern. The issues are different, the histories are different and the legal questions are different. But the moral instinct seems eerily familiar: when the victims of historical injustice demand recognition, accountability and redress, the same governments so often seem to find reasons to stand on the other side. So, yes, last night I watched a football match. I admired Messi because greatness remains greatness. I marvelled at the extraordinary history of Argentine football. But I wanted Spain to win. And Spain won. Perhaps that says something about what Gaza has done to us. It has rearranged our moral geography. Countries that once felt distant can suddenly feel close because
Singapore minister resigns over ‘interactions with a woman’, PM says
The People’s Action Party, which prides itself on a clean reputation, has been rocked by a series of scandals recently. Singapore’s acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim has resigned over his interactions with a woman, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has said. “Most of their interactions took place through online messages,” Wong said in a statement on Monday. “They also met on the sidelines of public events.” Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4Singapore celebrates success on 60th anniversary but challenges loom ahead list 2 of 4Singapore telecom apologises over outage linked to deaths in Australia list 3 of 4Singapore’s economy beats expectations as gov’t warns of Iran war fallout list 4 of 4Indonesia’s jailing of Gojek founder raises fears for investor confidence end of list Both parties made allegations of harassment against each other, and the matter is being investigated by the police, he added. The People’s Action Party, which prides itself on a “whiter than white” reputation, has been rocked by a series of political scandals in recent years. In 2023, then Transport Minister Subramaniam Iswaran was put under investigation for corruption alongside Malaysian billionaire hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng. A year later, Iswaran pleaded guilty to receiving more than 380,000 Singapore dollars ($294,000) worth of gifts from Ong, including tickets for West End shows and football matches, some of them in exchange for advancing Ong’s business interests. Two senior members of Singapore’s largest opposition party also resigned in 2023 after they admitted to having an affair, while two ministers were investigated and cleared of wrongdoing over their rental of state-owned properties. This prompted former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to say that his party’s image was damaged by a series of scandals. Wong said no criminal offence had been committed by either party in Faishal’s case, and no criminal action would be taken, but “there was a separate question of whether Associate Professor Faishal’s conduct met the standards expected of a political office holder and member of parliament”. Faishal has been a member of parliament since 2006 and became the acting minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs in 2025. He has now resigned from the ruling People’s Action Party as well as his cabinet position. In his resignation letter posted on the website of the prime minister’s office, Faishal said: “While there was no physical relationship between us, and I did not intend for the interactions to develop into one, there was a lapse of judgment on my part in the way I handled the interactions, and in failing to establish clearer boundaries at an earlier stage.” Wong said he was saddened Faishal was leaving politics under such circumstances. Adblock test (Why?)
Tate brothers arrested in the US
NewsFeed Video shows the moment controversial influencer brothers Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate were arrested in Miami, US. The arrests came after UK prosecutors brought 38 new charges related to rape and sex trafficking, bringing the total to 59. Published On 19 Jul 2026 Adblock test (Why?)
Designing cities for a hotter future
Talk to Al Jazeera Sustainability expert and climate advocate Mina Hasman’s vision of designing cities that behave like forests and buildings that act like trees. What if our cities could adapt like nature? Award-winning architect and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) Mina Hasman shares her vision of designing cities that behave like forests and buildings that act like trees. The Times 100 climate leader explains why cities must urgently adapt to climate change. She explores a new era of climate-ready design where buildings breathe, communities thrive and urban environments work with nature, not against it. Published On 19 Jul 2026 Adblock test (Why?)
Kimi Antonelli wins Belgian Grand Prix to extend F1 championship lead
Mercedes driver won his sixth GP of 2026 as championship rival and teammate George Russell crashes out on first lap. Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to stretch his Formula One lead to 45 points over Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on a bleak day for teammate George Russell, his closest title rival heading into the race. Russell had been the 19-year-old Italian’s closest rival before the start at Spa-Francorchamps, but the Briton spun off into the gravel on the opening lap after a collision with Hamilton while trying to make up places lost at lights out. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4Spain vs Argentina: Five key factors that could decide World Cup final list 2 of 4World Cup 2026 final: Closing ceremony and half-time show – what to know list 3 of 4The story behind football stars Messi and Yamal’s viral photo list 4 of 4Why is Argentina’s football team so white? end of list Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was second in the 44-lap race, 1.952 seconds behind after leading, thanks to a pit stop while a virtual safety car was deployed, with Max Verstappen third to give Red Bull their 300th Formula One podium. Hamilton finished fourth, despite serving a five-second penalty for the collision with Russell, but remained under investigation for an unsafe release from a pit stop that could drop him to fifth and further stretch Antonelli’s lead. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leads Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen at the beginning of the Belgian Grand Prix [Sarah Meyssonnier/POOL via AFP] It was Antonelli’s sixth win in 10 rounds this season, leaving him 50 points clear of Russell. Antonelli was first in qualifying, continuing Mercedes’ clean sweep of pole positions this season. “It’s great to be back on the top step after a few difficult rounds,” said Antonelli, who had drawn a blank in two of the past three rounds. “It was a hard-fought race. We lost first place with the VSC but then we managed to make our way back. “The momentum was always there. It was just about getting the results,” he added. “Today we were a bit lucky with what happened in terms of the championship but you have to take every opportunity because we saw how much it can swing.” McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fifth, with Isack Hadjar sixth for Red Bull from last on the grid. Reigning champion Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren after starting 13th due to a 10-place grid drop. Gabriel Bortoleto brought more points for Audi in eighth place, with Arvid Lindblad ninth for Racing Bulls and Argentine Franco Colapinto completing the scoring in 10th place for Renault-owned Alpine. Adblock test (Why?)
FIFA World Cup 2026 sees major increase in goals from outside the box
A trend of teams defending deep has enticed forwards to take shots from outside the penalty area, Jurgen Klinsmann says. The proportion of goals scored from outside the box has doubled at the World Cup in North America from the previous tournament in Qatar, FIFA says. Sixteen percent of the goals scored in this World Cup came from outside the penalty area, versus 8 percent in 2022, FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG) revealed on Saturday. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of 3Kylian Mbappe breaks all-time World Cup scoring record with 22nd goal list 2 of 3Saka hat-trick helps England down France to win World Cup Bronze Final list 3 of 3Netanyahu declares support for Argentina ahead of World Cup final end of list Football experts explained the reason behind the increase: a trend of teams defending in a low bloc and pushing the opposition to try their luck from long range. Jurgen Klinsmann, a member of FIFA’s TSG, said the large number of players in and around the box also makes it more difficult for goalkeepers to track the ball from afar. “There’s no space – eight, nine players are in the box or outside the box, so it is definitely a recipe for shots from the outside,” the former US national team manager told reporters. “It’s something fun for us coaches to watch … We saw some beautiful goals that way.” Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s chief of football development, also paid tribute to the quality of the shots being taken. “The balls look fast. Shots – they delivered rockets from outside the box, really. The ball – boom, the quality of the shots was great in this tournament,” he told reporters. Argentina, in particular, have relied on long-range shots while trailing to break down sides sitting deep. The team has scored five goals from outside the box, including the screamer from Enzo Fernandez that brought them back into the match in the 85th minute of the semifinal against England. Julian Alvarez also hit a spectacular curler from 22 yards out against 10-man Switzerland in extra time to help book Argentina’s place in the semifinal. In the third-place match on Saturday, English midfielder Declan Rice found the bottom corner from outside the box in the third minute in what turned out to be one of the wildest encounters of the World Cup, with France losing 6-4. Adblock test (Why?)