NEWS

At least 10 Palestinians have been killed at a water collection point in central Gaza, six of them children, as famine spreads in the besieged enclave and food and water supplies remain at critically low levels.

Israeli forces on Sunday killed at least 59 Palestinians, 28 of them in Gaza City, as they targeted residential areas and displacement camps across Gaza, medical and local sources told Al Jazeera.

The attack on the water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, which also wounded 16 people, came as the Israeli military steps up attacks as it prepares to force the entire population of Gaza into a concentration zone in the south.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said there is a water crisis across the Gaza Strip.

“Even though water is not suitable for drinking as most of the time it’s contaminated, thirst is pushing people to these areas,” he said, referring to Nuseirat.

“This is not the first time it’s happening. This is close to 10 times and just in the past few months when people were directly and deliberately targeted as they were trying to get water.”

Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza killed at least 110 Palestinians on Saturday, including 34 people waiting for food at the Israeli- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution site in Rafah.

Mahmoud said nearly 800 Palestinians have been killed since the GHF began distributing food parcels in Gaza at the end of May through its “monopoly of humanitarian aid distribution”, pushing aside other efficient, more organised and trusted organisations, including the United Nations.

“A person can pick up a food parcel for their family, but that is not nearly enough to feed hungry children and hungry family members, and that’s the tragedy,” he said.

“People are forced to make these dangerous trips from northern Gaza, from Gaza City, all the way to Rafah city. They walk for 12 to 15km [7.5 to 9 miles], and it takes them a whole day. Some do that at night, sleeping inside bombed-out buildings, to get there as early as possible. Despite all of these efforts to get there as early as possible, they are met with live ammunition and deliberate shooting by Israeli forces.”

At least 67 children have died of hunger in Gaza since October 2023, Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Saturday.

Furthermore, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warned of a sharp rise in malnutrition cases as Israel’s blockade of the coastal enclave entered its 103rd day.

In a statement, the agency said one of its clinics in Gaza has seen an increase in the number of malnutrition cases since March when the Israeli siege started. “UNRWA hasn’t been allowed to bring in any humanitarian aid since,” it said.

The warnings came as Israeli forces continued to target starving Palestinians.

On Sunday, an Israeli warplane struck a house in the al-Sawarkah area west of the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 10 people.

In the northern Gaza Strip, six Palestinians were killed and others injured when an Israeli warplane bombed a house in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City.

Five others were killed and several more injured in a separate air strike that hit a house on Hamid Street in western Gaza City.

In the al-Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, a girl and another person were killed and several injured when Israeli forces bombed a home there.

In southern Gaza, Nasser Medical Complex medics confirmed the deaths of three people after an Israeli strike on a displacement tent in the al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis city.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces blew up several residential buildings in the Tuffah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City.

The strikes came amid an apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas for a ceasefire to halt the 21-month war.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a genocidal offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, killing more than 58,000 Palestinians so far, most of them women and children.

Almost the entire population of more than 2 million people in Gaza have been forcibly displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Ten people, including six children, have been killed in an Israeli air strike while waiting to fill water containers in central Gaza on Sunday, emergency service officials say.

Their bodies were sent to Nuseirat’s al-Awda Hospital, which also treated 16 injured people, seven of them children, according to a doctor there.

Eyewitnesses said a drone fired a missile at a crowd of people queuing with empty jerry cans next to a water tanker in the heart of the al-Nuseirat refugee camp.

The Israeli military has been asked to comment.

Unverified footage shared online after the strike showed bloodied children and lifeless bodies, with screams of panic and desperation.

Residents rushed to the scene and transported the wounded using private vehicles and donkey carts.

The strike came as Israeli aerial attacks across the Gaza Strip have escalated.

A spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency said 19 other Palestinians had been killed on Sunday, in three separate strikes on residential buildings in central Gaza and Gaza City.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,882 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced multiple times.

More than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed. The healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

This week, for the first time in 130 days, 75,000 litres of fuel was allowed into Gaza – “far from enough to meet the daily needs of the population and vital civilian aid operations”, the United Nations said.

Nine UN agencies warned on Saturday that Gaza’s fuel shortage had reached “critical levels”, and if fuel ran out, it would affect hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks and bakeries.

“Hospitals are already going dark, maternity, neonatal and intensive care units are failing, and ambulances can no longer move,” the UN said.

Laura Strang

‘We booked two days before’

‘We travel off-peak and look for kids go free places’

‘I swapped my London flat for a Spanish villa’

‘I use my credit card to get loyalty points for flights’

‘I house sit and get to see the US’

‘We’re staycationing in the UK’

Sinner, 23, and 22-year-old Alcaraz have created a duopoly in the men’s game over the past two seasons.

Because of his brilliance, Sinner has remained the world number one – despite serving a three-month doping ban this year in a case which rocked the sport.

The pair have gained a grip on the Grand Slam tournaments, winning the past six majors between them.

Their epic French Open battle was another demonstration of how the absorbing rivalry – which the ATP Tour has long pinned its hopes on filling the Federer-Nadal-Novak Djokovic void – could be a blockbuster for years to come.

“You cannot compare what the ‘Big Three’ did for 15-plus years. [Our rivalry] is not that big yet,” said three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner, who is aiming for his first non-hard court major.

“This is the second consecutive Grand Slam that we are in the final and playing each other – I believe it’s good for the sport.

“The more rivalries we have from now on, the better it is, because people want to see young player going against each other.”

The quality, excitement and tension of the recent Roland Garros final accelerated interest in the pair.

Alcaraz fighting back from two sets down – and having saved three championship points – to win a five-setter in over five hours has whetted the appetite for Wimbledon.

The five-time major champion expects to be pushed “to the limit” again at the All England Club.

“It’s going to be a great day, a great final. I’m just excited about it,” he said.

“I just hope not to be five and a half hours again. But if I have to, I will.”

BBC

‘Google the Latin names’

The Latin names of cosmetic ingredients

Rachel Williams

In the late 1990s, the quiet of a small Russian town was shattered when Irina Ganyushkina stumbled into a police station—an escapee from a living nightmare.

Irina revealed to authorities that she was one of five women kidnapped and held captive in a secret underground bunker by a notorious serial killer: Aleksandr Komin, chillingly nicknamed ‘the maniac.’

For Irina and the other survivors, freedom was only the beginning. In a country where women’s stories of violence are too often dismissed, they now faced a new challenge: rebuilding their lives after unimaginable horror.

In this episode:
-Dariana Gryaznova, human rights lawyer

The Sunday Telegraph says a government-backed report to be published on Tuesday will conclude that anti-Semitism has become normalised in middle-class Britain.

It’s been co-authored by Lord Mann, the government’s adviser on the issue, and the former defence secretary, Dame Penny Mordaunt.

They have written an article for the paper saying they were “stunned into silence” by the evidence they heard.

The paper says their report found antisemitism to be “pervasive” in the NHS, at universities and in the arts – and will recommend that Judaism be recognised as an ethnicity.

The Sunday Times says negotiations about a migrant return deal with Iraq are in their final stages. The paper says it could be announced by the end of the summer.

The Sunday Express instead focuses on the deal already reached with France.

It quotes critics who warn that it “won’t stop a single boat” – but the paper says the prime minister has hit back that agreements can “stop illegal migration in its tracks”.

The Sun reports that the government is working on plans for digital ID cards which would be given only to immigrants.

The Sunday Mirror says car manufacturers are to get a £2.5bn boost to help them transition to making electric vehicles.

The Sunday Telegraph also reports on a boost for electric, saying the government is to announce grants to help drivers cover the upfront cost of a new vehicle, as well as more cash for charging points.

Senior aides to King Charles and the Duke of Sussex have held a secret peace summit, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The paper has photos of a meeting between advisers at a private members’ club in London which is said to “champion international friendship”.

The Mail calls the talks “the first significant move towards resolving a rancorous family feud”.

A source close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declined to comment on the meeting.

The Princess of Wales’s appearance at Wimbledon for the women’s singles final is pictured on many of the front pages.

“Kate aces it” is the headline in the Sunday Mirror.

According to the Telegraph, Catherine received a standing ovation from the crowd. It says she was “centre stage on centre court”.

The Mail says she appeared emotional as she made her most high-profile public appearance this year.

It recounts how eight-year-old Lydia Lowe, who is recovering from a brain injury, met Catherine before the match and advised her “don’t be nervous – take deep breaths”.

Family photo

Family photo

‘An incredible moment’

Family photo

Family photo

Family photo

Here are the key events on day 1,235 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is how things stand on Sunday, July 13:

Fighting

• Ukrainian officials said Russian air attacks overnight on Saturday killed at least two people in the western city of Chernivtsi and wounded 38 others across Ukraine.
• The raids also damaged civilian infrastructure from Kharkiv and Sumy in the northeast to Lviv, Lutsk and Chernivtsi in the west.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence said it attacked companies in Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in Lviv, Kharkiv and Lutsk, as well as a military aerodrome.
• The United Nations Human Rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said that June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured.
• In Russia, a man was killed in the Belgorod region after a shell struck a private house, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Politics and diplomacy

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told visiting Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov that his country was ready to “unconditionally support” all actions taken by Moscow in Ukraine.
• Earlier, Lavrov held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, in Wonsan, and they issued a joint statement pledging support to safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other’s countries, according to North Korean state media.
• Lavrov also warned the United States, South Korea and Japan against forming “alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia”.
• Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, said his government hoped to reach an agreement with the European Union and its partners on guarantees that Slovakia would not suffer from the end of Russian gas supplies by Tuesday. Slovakia has been blocking the EU’s 18th sanctions package on Russia over its disagreement with a proposal to end all imports of Russian gas from 2028. Slovakia, which gets the majority of its gas from Russian supplier Gazprom under a long-term deal valid until 2034, argues the move could cause shortages, a rise in prices and transit fees, and lead to damage claims.
• Russia blamed Western sanctions for the collapse of its agreement with the UN to facilitate exports of Russian food and fertilisers. The three-year agreement was signed in 2022 in a bid to rein in global food prices.

Weapons

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was “close to reaching a multilevel agreement” with the US “on new Patriot systems and missiles for them”. Ukraine was stepping up production of its own interceptor systems, he added.

Talks between Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association (BMA) will take place next week in a bid to avert strike action in England’s NHS, the BBC understands.

Resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, announced earlier this week that they will walk out for five consecutive days from 25 July until 30 July over a dispute about pay with the government.

The BMA said strikes would only be called off if next week’s talks produce an offer it can put to its members.

The government has insisted it cannot improve its offer of a 5.4% increase for this year.

Resident doctors were awarded a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year – which will go into pay packets from August – following a 22% increase over the previous two years.

But they are arguing that pay in real terms is still around 20% lower than it was in 2008 and have called for the government to set out a pathway to restoring its value.

They believe that this year’s 5.4% increase doesn’t take them far enough down that path.

Health department sources have told the BBC the health secretary is sympathetic to improving working conditions for resident doctors, but he won’t budge on salaries.

After the BMA’s strike announcement, Streeting called the strike “unnecessary and unreasonable”, adding: “The NHS is hanging by a thread – why on earth are they threatening to pull it?”

He said the government was “ready and willing” to work with the BMA, but any further strike action would be a disaster for patients and push back the progress made in reducing waiting lists in England.

BMA resident doctor committee co-chairs, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said on Wednesday they had been left with “no choice” but to strike without a “credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay”.

Lord Robert Winston, a professor and TV doctor who was a pioneer of IVF treatment, resigned from the BMA on Friday over the planned strikes.

In an interview with The Times, he urged against strike action and said it could damage people’s trust in the profession.

Resident doctors took part in 11 separate strikes during 2023 and 2024.

In order to end the previous strikes last year the incoming Labour government awarded a backdated increase worth 22% over two years.

The action in England will not affect resident doctors in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, who negotiate directly with their devolved governments on pay.

Resident doctors’ basic salaries in England range from £37,000 to £70,000 a year for a 40-hour week, depending on experience, with extra payments for working nightshifts and weekends.

That does not include the latest 5.4% average pay award for this year which will start to be paid into wage packets from August.

Wimbledon, United Kingdom – Expectations will run high, and so will the temperatures in southwest London, when Carlos Alcaraz steps on Centre Court to defend his Wimbledon title against Jannik Sinner on Sunday.

The next instalment of an enthralling rivalry between the top two players in men’s tennis will come under the limelight once again at one of the biggest stages in the game – the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club – on a hot afternoon in the United Kingdom’s capital.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Alcaraz expects to be pushed to the limit by world number one Sinner in a meeting that has already drawn comparisons with the great Wimbledon finals of the modern era.

“I expect to be on the limit, to be on the line [in the final],” Alcaraz said while speaking to the media moments after Sinner’s near-faultless semifinal 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Novak Djokovic on Friday.

A few hours earlier, the Spaniard had booked a spot in his third consecutive Wimbledon final with a resilient performance against Taylor Fritz, which brought him a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win.

It will be the 13th on-court meeting between the two, and their second Grand Slam final in the space of five weeks.

Their duel in the French Open final lasted five hours and 29 minutes and added fuel to the fiery-yet-friendly rivalry between the young tennis stars.

🚨 THE REMATCH IS HAPPENING 🚨@janniksin will face @carlosalcaraz in the Wimbledon final on Sunday!@Wimbledon | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/JedFZHXoZL

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 11, 2025

A French Open final repeat on the cards?

Alcaraz knows his opponent all too well and expects nothing short of another spectacle.

“Whatever Jannik has is because he has learned from everything – he just gets better after every match, every day,” Alcaraz said of the top seed.

The Spaniard said he expected Sinner to be in better shape mentally and physically for the Wimbledon final, but that he was not looking forward to another hours-long match.

“I just hope not to be five and a half hours on court again. But if I have to, I will.”

Meanwhile, Sinner – the tall, stoic and speedy Italian who stands between Alcaraz and a chance to become only the fifth man to win three straight Wimbledon titles – believes beating the holder will be “very tough”.

“I’m very happy to share the court with Carlos once again. It’s going to be difficult, I know that,” Sinner said on Friday.

The Australian Open champion said he loves playing Grand Slam finals – Sunday’s will be his fifth in two years.

“I always try to put myself in these kinds of situations that I really love. Sundays at every tournament are very special.”

The 23-year-old from northern Italy termed Alcaraz as the favourite, given his record at the tournament and on grass courts.

“He is the favourite. He won here the last two times. He’s again in the final. It’s very tough to beat him on grass, but I like these challenges.”

‘Fire vs ice’

Out of the 12 occasions that both players have met, four have been at Grand Slams, but this is only their second meeting in the final.

The pair’s only other meeting at Wimbledon came in the fourth round in 2022, when Sinner won 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3. Alcaraz, however, brushed aside the reference by saying that both men are changed players from what they were three years ago.

“We’re completely different players on grass and on all surfaces.”

The 22-year-old from Murcia, in southeastern Spain, will be buoyed by his 5-0 record against Sinner in the past two years.

Despite Alcaraz’s success against his nemesis, it is Sinner who has consistently topped the men’s rankings by racking up regular wins and points on the ATP circuit.

All things considered, there is not much that separates the two ahead of their highly anticipated match.

Just ask Djokovic.

While the 24-time Grand Slam champion picked Alcaraz due to his past success at Wimbledon, Djokovic predicted “a very close match-up, like they had in Paris” when asked to choose a winner.

“I think I will give a slight edge to Carlos because of the two titles he’s won here and the way he’s playing and the confidence he has right now, but it’s just a slight advantage, because Jannik is hitting the ball extremely well.”

It is not just their contrasting styles of play – Sinner relies on his baseline game and shot speed, while Alcaraz likes to cover the court with his nimble footwork and excellent coverage – but also their on-court personalities that set the two apart while making them an engaging pair to watch.

Before the French Open final, Alcaraz said in an interview that a “fire vs ice” analogy fits them perfectly.

“I guess you can say I am like fire because of the way I react on court and show emotions, while Jannik remains calm,” the Spaniard said with his trademark smile.

In the shadow of the greats

For the fans, though, the pair offer another chance to pick sides and look forward to tennis tournaments that could pit the two against each other.

“It’s a dream final,” Catherine Shaw, a tennis fan who watched both the men’s semifinals on Centre Court, told Al Jazeera.

“They are the next big thing when it comes to tennis rivalries, so it’s exciting times for tennis fans.”

Stepping out in the shadows of some of the greatest players and rivals – Stefan Edberg vs Ivan Lendl, Bjorn Borg vs John McEnroe, Andre Agassi vs Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer – the young players will have big shoes to fill.

Both are aware of the weight their match-up carries but refuse to be compared with their heroes just yet.

“I think the things that we are doing right now are great for tennis,” Alcaraz said ahead of the final.

“We just fight to engage more people to watch tennis. We’re fighting for tennis to be bigger, as all the tennis players are doing.

“For me, it’s sharing the big tournaments with Jannik, or just playing in the finals of the tournaments… We’re still really young.

“I hope to keep doing the right things for the next five to 10 years, so our rivalry is on the same table as those players.”

Agreement allows the archipelago that endured unrest last year to be its own state but remain within French fold.

France has announced a “historic” deal with New Caledonia in which the South Pacific overseas territory, which was rocked by a wave of unrest last year over controversial electoral reforms, will be declared a new state.

The 13-page accord, reached on Saturday after negotiations in Paris between the French government and groups on both sides of the territory’s independence debate, proposes the creation of a “State of New Caledonia”, with its own nationality, but stops short of the independence sought by many Indigenous Kanaks.

“A State of New Caledonia within the Republic: it’s a bet on trust,” French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X, saying that the time had come for “respect, stability, and… goodwill to build a shared future”.

Under the agreement, New Caledonia would immediately control its foreign policy, but could put the transfer of additional sovereign powers over defence, currency, security and justice to a public vote, potentially paving the way to becoming a member state of the United Nations, according to French newspaper Le Monde.

Unrest broke out in May 2024, after Paris proposed a law allowing thousands of non-Indigenous long-term residents living in the territory to vote in provincial elections, diluting a 1998 accord that restricted these rights.

Kanaks, who make up about 40 percent of the territory’s population of nearly 300,000, feared the move would leave them in a permanent minority, diluting their influence and crushing their chances of winning independence.

The violence, in which 14 people were killed, is estimated to have cost the territory two billion euros ($2.3bn), shaving 10 percent off its gross domestic product (GDP), according to Manuel Valls, France’s minister for overseas territories.

The accord will help “us get out of the spiral of violence”, said Emmanuel Tjibaou, a Kanak lawmaker who took part in the talks.

Lawmaker Nicolas Metzdorf, who is in favour of remaining in the French fold, said the compromise deal was born of “demanding dialogue”, describing Caledonian nationality as a “real concession”.

Both chambers of France’s parliament are to meet in the fourth quarter of this year to vote on approving the deal, which is then to be submitted to New Caledonians in a referendum in 2026.

‘Intelligent compromise’

Located nearly 17,000km (10,600 miles) from Paris, New Caledonia has been governed from Paris since the 1800s.

Many Indigenous Kanaks still resent France’s power over their islands and want fuller autonomy or independence.

The last independence referendum in New Caledonia was held in 2021.

But it was boycotted by pro-independence groups over the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Kanak population, and the political situation in the archipelago has since been deadlocked.

Valls called Saturday’s deal an “intelligent compromise” that maintains links between France and New Caledonia, but with more sovereignty for the Pacific island.

The deal also calls for an economic and financial recovery pact that would include a renewal of the territory’s nickel processing capabilities.

The Nasser hospital in southern Gaza has said 24 people have been killed near an aid distribution site.

Palestinians who were present at the site said Israeli troops opened fire as people were trying to access food on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said there were “no known injured individuals” from IDF fire near the site.

Separately, an Israeli military official said warning shots were fired to disperse people who the IDF believed were a threat.

The claims by both sides have not been independently verified. Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza.

Footage seen by the BBC later on Saturday showed what appeared to be a number of body bags at Nasser hospital’s courtyard surrounded by nurses and people in blood-stained clothes.

In another video, a man said people were waiting to get aid when they came under targeted fire for five minutes. A paramedic accused Israeli troops of killing in cold blood.

The videos have not been verified by the BBC.

Reuters said it had spoken to witnesses who described people being shot in the head and torso. The news agency also reported seeing bodies wrapped in white shrouds at Nasser hospital.

There have been almost daily reports of people being killed by Israeli fire while seeking food in Gaza.

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in March, and later resumed its military offensive against Hamas, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the Palestinian armed group to release Israeli hostages.

Although the blockade was partially eased in late May, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, there are still severe shortages of food, as well as medicine and fuel.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, says there are thousands of malnourished children across the territory, with more cases detected every day.

In addition to allowing in some UN aid lorries, Israel and the US set up a new aid distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), saying they wanted to prevent Hamas from stealing aid.

On Friday, the UN human rights office said that it had so far recorded 798 aid-related killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF’s sites, which are operated by US private security contractors and located inside military zones in southern and central Gaza.

The other 183 killings were recorded near UN and other aid convoys.

The Israeli military said it recognised there had been incidents in which civilians had been harmed and that it was working to minimise “possible friction between the population and the [Israeli] forces as much as possible”.

The GHF accused the UN of using “false and misleading” statistics from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Earlier this month, a former security contractor for the GHF told the BBC he witnessed colleagues opening fire several times on hungry Palestinians who had posed no threat. The GHF said the allegations were categorically false.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’ cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,823 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

On the eve of the FIFA Club World Cup final, the governing body’s president hails a ‘golden era’ for the club game.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino triumphantly declared the Club World Cup to be “the most successful club competition in the world” on Saturday before this weekend’s final between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

The first 32-team edition of the tournament faced criticism in the build-up for stretching demands on elite players and has been played out in baking temperatures in the United States that have raised concerns for the health of those involved.

There were also doubts about the level of interest the competition would generate among fans, but Infantino said he was satisfied with the attendance at matches, despite many games being far from sold out, and claimed it had been a major success financially.

“The golden age of club football has started. We can definitely say this FIFA Club World Cup has been a huge success,” Infantino told reporters at Trump Tower on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, where FIFA has just opened an office.

“We heard that financially it would not work, that nobody is interested, but I can say we generated almost $2.1bn in revenues, for 63 matches,” he said.

“That makes an average of $33m per match – no other club competition in the world comes close.

“It is already the most successful club competition in the world.”

Former Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp has been one of the leading voices against the tournament, calling it “the worst idea ever implemented in football” in a recent interview.

But the head of world football’s governing body dismissed suggestions that Klopp might be speaking for most observers in Europe.

“We shouldn’t say that the opinion of Europe on this is very bad because it is not true,” said Infantino, who was appearing on a stage alongside numerous footballing greats, including the Brazilian Ronaldo.

“All the teams who have come here have been happy – some teams who didn’t come here because they didn’t qualify were calling us to see how they could qualify.

“Of course, I would have liked to have Liverpool here, Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona, Tottenham, AC Milan, Napoli … but you have to qualify and there are different criteria.”

The next Club World Cup is due to take place in 2029, with Infantino refusing to commit when asked whether the tournament could be played every two years or be expanded to feature more teams.

“We created something new, something which is here to stay, something which is changing the landscape of club football,” he added.

O’Donnell says the Republican US president hates her because she sees ‘him for who he is – a criminal con man’.

United States President Donald Trump has said he might revoke talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship after she criticised his administration’s handling of weather forecasting agencies in the wake of the deadly Texas floods.

Trump’s threats are the latest salvo in a years-long feud the two have waged over social media.

“Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump has long called for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, but in recent weeks, he has suggested that he would remove US citizens that he disagrees with from the country.

“She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump wrote.

Under the law, a president cannot revoke the citizenship of an American born in the US. O’Donnell was born in New York state.

Trump’s latest jab at O’Donnell seemed to be in response to a TikTok video she posted this month, mourning the 119 deaths in the July 4 floods in Texas and blaming Trump’s widespread cuts to environmental and science agencies involved in forecasting major natural disasters.

“What a horror story in Texas,” O’Donnell said in the video. “And you know, when the president guts all the early warning systems and the weathering forecast abilities of the government, these are the results that we’re gonna start to see on a daily basis.”

The Trump administration, as well as local and state officials, have faced mounting questions about whether more could have been done to protect and warn residents in advance of the Texas flooding, which killed at least 120 people earlier this month.

Trump, on Friday, visited Texas and defended the government’s response to the disaster, saying his agencies “did an incredible job under the circumstances.”

O’Donnell responded to Trump’s threat in two posts on her Instagram account, saying: “the president of the usa has always hated the fact that i see him for who he is – a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself.”

She added that he opposes her because she “stands in direct opposition with all he represents”.

O’Donnell has been a longtime target of Trump’s insults and jabs.

In 2014, when she opened up about her weight loss journey, Trump said on X that “she felt ‘shame’ at being fat-not politically correct! She killed Star Jones for weight loss surgery, just had it!”

During Trump’s first presidency, O’Donnell told W magazine that she feared whether she would be able to “live through” his presidency.

Following Trump’s inauguration for his second presidential term in January this year, she moved to Ireland earlier this year with her 12-year-old son.

In a March TikTok video, she said that she would return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.

Earlier this month, Trump said he may look at options to deport his former aide-turned-critic, Elon Musk, a naturalised US citizen.

And last month, the White House said allegations that Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has supported “terrorism” in the past “should be investigated”, with the intent of revoking his citizenship.

Pacemaker

Pacemaker

PA Media

Eleventh night bonfires

Swiatek, a former world No.1, did not drop a game in the women’s singles final to claim her sixth Grand Slam title.

Iga Swiatek demolished Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the most one-sided women’s Wimbledon final for 114 years to seal her sixth Grand Slam.

The Polish eighth seed, who has now won all six major finals in which she has competed, was in charge from the first point and wrapped up victory in just 57 minutes on Saturday.

It is the first time a woman has won a final at Wimbledon without dropping a game since 1911.

And Swiatek, 24, is just the second player in the Open era to win a major title without losing a game in the final after Steffi Graf beat Natalia Zvereva at the 1988 French Open.

Swiatek, who reached the final of the grass-court tournament at Bad Homburg two weeks ago, has looked increasingly strong while the top seeds tumbled at the All England Club.

She lost just one set in her run to the final.

But US 13th-seed Anisimova was expected to prove a stern test after ousting world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals.

Anisimova made a nervous start in hot conditions on Centre Court.

She was broken in the first game, soon slipping 2-0 behind, and the signs looked ominous.

She appeared to have found her feet in her next service game, but the tenacious Swiatek refused to give ground and recovered to move 3-0 ahead when Anisimova double-faulted.

At 4-0 down, Anisimova was facing a first-set wipe-out, but she was powerless to halt the rampant Swiatek, who sealed the first set 6-0 in just 25 minutes.

The American won just six points on her serve in the first set and committed 14 unforced errors.

An increasingly desperate Anisimova could not stem the tide in the second set, double-faulting again in the third game to give her opponent game point and then netting a backhand.

The crowd got behind her, but to no avail as Swiatek kept up her level, serving out to win and celebrating before consoling her devastated opponent.

The distraught Anisimova left the court briefly before returning for the trophy presentation.

Swiatek is Wimbledon’s eighth consecutive first-time women’s champion since Serena Williams won her seventh and final title at the All England Club in 2016.

Terry Tozer, a pilot and aviation analyst, believes there was some degree of human involvement in shutting off the fuel switches on the Air India flight prior to the crash. His comments follow an investigation that identified a disruption in the engine’s fuel supply as the likely cause of the incident.