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For dozens of Moroccan football fans, the 2026 World Cup was supposed to be another chapter in a long, loyal journey following the Atlas Lions across continents. Instead, it has turned into a financial and emotional blow, as at least 40 supporters were denied US visas despite months of preparation, thousands spent, and a spotless record of following their national team abroad.

The denials have been delivered without clear explanation. They have left fans stranded with match tickets, hotel bookings, and travel plans they can no longer use. For many, the losses run into the tens of thousands of dirhams.

World Cup: everyone saw this coming

The Sports Association of Moroccan National Team Fans, a long‑standing and well‑organized supporters’ group, saw 40 of its 42 applicants rejected. Members had applied from Casablanca, Marrakech, Fès, and Tétouan, expecting routine approvals given their travel history and the nature of their trip.

The group’s head, Azzedine Al Attaraoui, said:

No clear reasons were given for the visa refusals.

We just want to support our national team.

Hespress English reported that:

Al Attaraoui added that several supporters had already booked hotels costing between $400 and $1,000 per night, with some total expenses reaching up to 20,000 MAD covering tickets, visas, travel, and paperwork.

Many of these fans had followed Morocco to Russia in 2018, Qatar in 2022, and even the Paris Olympics but always returning home, always representing the country with pride.

Another group, same story

The Sbouaa (Lions) supporters’ group, who are known for orchestrating the noise, choreography, and atmosphere that have become synonymous with Moroccan fan culture, have faced a similar fate. Nearly 50 of their coordinators applied for visas. Only six were approved.

For a group tasked with organizing thousands of fans inside stadiums, six coordinators is nowhere near enough. They estimate they need at least 30 to recreate the energy seen in Qatar 2022 or the Africa Cup of Nations.

The rejections, they say, were largely issued under Section 214. This is a clause used when consular officers doubt an applicant’s intention to return home. The coordinators insist this makes no sense, they have stable lives in Morocco, long travel histories, and no intention of overstaying.

What stings most is the inconsistency. Moroccan authorities have previously helped facilitate visas for supporters traveling to Chile for the U20 national team. Those visas were issued quickly and efficiently. Fans expected similar cooperation for the World Cup, especially given Morocco’s rising global football profile.

Instead, they find themselves locked out of the tournament they helped energize in previous editions.

Dreams shattered

Behind the numbers are stories of sacrifice. Fans who saved for months. Families who planned entire trips around the World Cup. Supporters who have never missed a major tournament. Coordinators who volunteer their time to create the atmosphere that has made Moroccan fans famous worldwide.

Now, many of them are left with nothing but receipts and disappointment.

This is a real blow to Morocco’s footballing identity. Moroccan supporters have become one of the most celebrated fanbases in world football. Their passion in Qatar was widely praised, and their presence at AFCON tournaments is always felt.

The mass visa refusals threaten to mute that presence at the 2026 World Cup. A tournament where Morocco’s fan culture could have shone again on a global stage.

What can happen 

For now, the fans are waiting. Waiting for answers, for intervention, for a solution that might salvage their World Cup dreams. They are calling on FIFA to acknowledge the issue and on Moroccan authorities to advocate on their behalf.

Whether anything changes remains uncertain, but the message from the supporters is clear, they want to be there for their team, as they always have been.

If the situation remains unresolved, the 2026 World Cup may unfold without one of its most vibrant and recognisable fanbases. For the fans, it’s a painful prospect, it’s a loss of energy and support. For the tournament itself, it’s a reminder that football’s global celebration can be derailed by corrupt politicians.

Featured Image courtesy of Francois Nel/Getty Images

By Faz Ali

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Yemen’s Ansar Allah de facto government has announced the Red Sea is closed to Israeli and Israel-linked shipping.

In a statement, Yemen military said the action is “in response to US-Zionist aggression” against the country plus Iran, Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq.

The announcement comes after Yemen joined Iran’s missile strikes on Israel in retaliation for the occupation’s bombing on the Dahiyeh area of Beirut.

Statement from Yemen

In response to US-Zionist aggression against the axis of jihad & resistance in Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen – and rejecting the Zionist project for “Greater Israel” under the “New Middle East” – the Yemeni Armed Forces have launched a missile strike.

Target: Sensitive Israeli enemy positions in occupied Jaffa area.

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Missiles achieved their objectives with precision, by the grace of Allah.

The Yemeni Armed Forces announce:

Complete naval blockade on the Israeli enemy in the Red Sea. From this moment, all enemy movements are legitimate military targets.

Escalation meets escalation – our military operations will continue to rise in line with events and in coordination with the axis of jihad & resistance.

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We will not stand idle against the siege on our people & the free peoples of the axis (Palestine, Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq). Enemy attempts will fail, by Allah’s will. Our operations continue as long as aggression & siege continue against us and the axis.

Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs. Victory to Yemen and all the free of the Ummah.

Hard-hitting blockade

In February, Ansar Allah responded to the US and Israel’s unprovoked attacks on Iran by striking US bases in the Gulf.

The Arab country’s 2024 blockade of the Red Sea bankrupted Eilat, Israel’s third-largest port. The US and Israel, as usual, responded to Yemen’s solidarity with their victims by bombing and murdering civilians and journalists.

The resumption of Yemen’s actions, in conjunction with Iranian attacks, is likely to contribute to a repeat of 2025 scenes of panicked European ‘Israelis’ flooding air and sea ports in an attempt to leave the colony. But this is unlikely to be reported by Western state-corporate media.

Featured image via Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies

By Skwawkbox

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Miles Thorpe

5 min read11 min

As Labour now knows to its cost, the Greens have sharpened their campaigning prowess considerably in recent years. Tom Scotson profiles Miles Thorpe – the man getting much of the credit for a series of wins

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Bill Clinton had ‘ragin’ Cajun’ James Carville, Boris Johnson’s election Svengali was Lynton Crosby and Keir Starmer’s swift path to No 10 is widely credited to Morgan McSweeney. Zack Polanski has a 31-year-old former stationery entrepreneur.

Miles Thorpe, from south London, has knocked around Green Party circles for years but is now developing a reputation that might one day rival the other great campaigners. He is said to have masterminded the impressive victories of Carla Denyer in Bristol Central at the 2024 general election and the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, where Green candidate Hannah Spencer won by more than 4,000 votes. 

“He is very focused, good at prioritising, great at recruiting and motivating volunteers and creating a fun team spirit,” says one Green Party source who knows Thorpe well.

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Thorpe, who left school at 18, founded Skyline Office Supplies, a stationery business, after working in sales for a brief period. He then left the business world, having not found the work to be very meaningful, and off the back of that, moved to Brighton. The seaside city – where the Greens won their first parliamentary seat in 2015 – was where Thorpe set up Earners, a social enterprise focused on getting people from underrepresented backgrounds into good careers. 

It was not until he became involved in the city’s oldest homeless charity that he became political and interested in progressive politics. YMCA Brighton, which works with 400 people each year who are homeless or at risk, opened Thorpe’s eyes to the level of deprivation in the UK as he saw first-hand what happens when the state does not meet people’s needs. 

Thorpe door-knocked for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour in the 2019 election but became a member of the Greens in 2021, after the pandemic and the election of Denyer and Adrian Ramsay as co-leaders. He had wrestled with the question of whether to stay in a larger party less aligned to his values, or switch to a smaller one that could move the two legacy parties by winning council and parliamentary seats against the odds. 

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He became heavily involved in political campaigning after identifying Bristol Central as a unique seat where the Greens had a chance of winning. For three years, he lived from Monday to Friday in Bristol, building the Greens’ presence organically and working on how they could unseat Thangam Debbonaire, then a shadow cabinet member. 

During both elections, Bristol Central and Gorton and Denton, he would open the campaign office around 7am and leave party headquarters at 10pm. With no free time and eating on the move, allies say he had an uncanny ability to galvanise activists. Thorpe credits much of his success to his business background, which made him responsible for juggling data, finances and people’s egos.

He backed Polanski in the leadership race last year, giving an insight into his views in the process. “If we’re not just here to win seats but we’re here to change a country, then we can’t do that quietly,” he wrote on an internal Green Party site.

If we’re here to change a country, we can’t do that quietly

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“I hear the concern – ‘We can’t spook the horses.’ The idea that, essentially, we can appeal to a wider range of voters by being ambiguous about our identity. But that has its limits. The limit being: it only works while you’re small enough for people not to notice.

“The truth is: there is space for us. As we are. A space that people are crying out for us to occupy. It’s time to step into that – and show that with the right message, the right messenger and the right policies, people will vote for us. Not in spite of who we are – but because of it.

“In my view, this election isn’t a choice between media cut-through and ground campaigning. It’s about understanding that in modern politics, you need both.”

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He had the chance to implement that combination at the Gorton and Denton by-election. Green Party staffer Steve Jackson tells The House: “He operates on a high-trust model. If you are issuing a quote from the press side, he may look at it on the first couple of days, but after that, once he trusts you, he lets you crack on. He’s not a micromanager in any way.

“Miles was always on top of the detail, incredibly well-organised. I don’t think I ever saw him with a notepad, but he was constantly on his phone. If you rang him, he would always pick up, which is impressive considering during the campaign he must’ve been part of hundreds of group chats and receiving hundreds of queries each day.”

His key tip to activists during both elections was reminding them not to think too much about the result, which he believes can negatively affect people’s mindsets.

There is good news for Labour’s Andy Burnham, however: Thorpe is sitting out Makerfield. He has opted for a campervan holiday in Oslo, having travelled across Scandinavia to meet with Norwegian Greens and Swedish Greens. 

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Alexander Zverev is no longer the nearly‑man of men’s tennis. After years of close calls, heartbreaks and three previous failed attempts on the sport’s biggest stages, the German has finally claimed his first Grand Slam title.

And he did it the hard way, outlasting Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in a dramatic five‑set French Open final.  

On a sun‑soaked Philippe‑Chatrier, Zverev delivered the performance he has spent more than a decade chasing. The scoreline — 6‑1, 4‑6, 6‑4, 6‑7, 6‑1 — tells the story of a match that swung wildly, demanded nerve, and ultimately crowned a player who refused to let another opportunity slip away.

Alexander Zverev has a lightning start

Zverev opened like a man determined to end the narrative that had followed him for years. He tore through the first set 6‑1, dominating from the baseline and punishing Cobolli’s second serve. The Italian, playing in his first Grand Slam final, looked tight, tentative and overwhelmed by the moment.  

The match flipped quickly. Cobolli settled, found his rhythm, and began to match Zverev’s weight of shot. A break midway through the second set gave him the foothold he needed, and he rode the surge of energy from the crowd to level the match at one set apiece. Suddenly, Zverev was no longer cruising. He was in a fight for the title.

Trading blows in a tight third set

The third set became a test of margins, it had long rallies, heavy hitting, and both players refusing to blink. Zverev edged ahead with a crucial break, leaning on his serve to keep Cobolli at bay. The German’s composure returned, and with it, the sense that he was beginning to reassert control. He took the set 6‑4, moving one away from the title. 

Cobolli’s surge and a tense tie-break

The fourth set was chaos with momentum swings, missed chances, and a rising Italian who refused to go quietly. Cobolli, who had benefitted from extra rest after receiving a semifinal walkover earlier in the week, looked fresher as the set wore on. He broke Zverev twice, surged to a 5‑3 lead, and seemed poised to force a decider.

Zverev, battling visible discomfort in his lower body, clawed back to 5‑5. The tension was suffocating. Every point felt decisive. The set spilled into a tie-break, where Cobolli was fearless, aggressive, and riding the moment, he struck the decisive blows. He took it 7‑5, sending the final into a fifth set and igniting the Parisian crowd. 

For Zverev, it was familiar territory, another Grand Slam final, another lead slipping away.

Career-defining set

Zverev came out for the fifth set with a clarity and conviction that had eluded him in previous finals. He broke Cobolli immediately, then again, racing to a 4‑0 lead. The Italian’s legs, so lively in the fourth, began to betray him. The German’s experience, power and poise took over.  

At 5‑1, Zverev earned championship points. On the second, Cobolli pushed a return long, and Zverev collapsed onto his back, hands over his face, overwhelmed by the moment he had chased for so long. 

This was not just a match. It was the culmination of a journey defined by near misses and painful memories.

Zverev had lost Grand Slam finals in 2020, 2024 and 2025, each in its own agonising fashion. He had suffered a devastating ankle injury on this very court in 2022, leaving in a wheelchair and unsure if he would ever return to the same level.  

He had been labelled the best player never to win a major. Now, that label is gone.

His triumph also marks a historic moment for German tennis, the first men’s Grand Slam singles title for the country since Boris Becker won the Australian Open in 1996.

Though defeated, Cobolli leaves Paris transformed. The 10th seed had never been this deep in a Slam before, but his run aided by a semifinal walkover yet defined by fearless shot‑making, has announced him as a rising force in the sport.

He pushed Zverev deeper than many expected, matched him physically for long stretches, and showed a competitive edge that suggests this will not be his last appearance on a major stage. 

His fourth‑set surge, in particular, electrified the crowd and turned the final into a genuine spectacle.

A tournament of opportunity

This French Open was wide open from the start. Carlos Alcaraz withdrew with injury. Jannik Sinner suffered an early exit. Novak Djokovic was eliminated before the second week. The draw cleared, and Zverev, who has long been burdened by expectation suddenly had a path to greatness.

He beat Benjamin Bonzi, Tomáš Macháč, Quentin Halys, Jesper De Jong and Jakub Menšík en route to the final, navigating the chaos of an upset‑filled tournament with a steadiness that had often deserted him in the past.

What does this mean for Alexander Zverev?

This title changes everything. It validates years of work, silences doubts, and resets the trajectory of his career. He now becomes part of a rare group of players who won their first major in their fourth final, joining names like Andre Agassi, Goran Ivanišević and Dominic Thiem. 

With Wimbledon looming, Zverev enters the next phase of the season not as a contender searching for a breakthrough, but as a Grand Slam champion with the confidence to chase more.

A classic French Open final

This was a match that had everything: dominance, collapse, revival, tension, and ultimately, redemption.

Alexander Zverev’s maiden Grand Slam title wasn’t handed to him. He had to fight for it, suffer for it, and steady himself when the ghosts of past failures threatened to return. Cobolli pushed him to the edge, but the German found the resolve that had eluded him in previous finals.

In the end, he lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires high above his head. A trophy 13 years in the making, earned on the court that had given him both his darkest and now his brightest moments.

Featured image via Clive Brunskill/ Getty Images

By Faz Ali

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Tommy Robinson is a far-right agitator who’s led street movements like the English Defence League (EDL) and Unite the Kingdom (UtK). While Robinson’s propaganda has shifted over the years, the common throughlines have been Islamophobia and the fear of migrants.

As these prejudices aren’t unique to white Brits, there are some people from minority groups who have thrown in with Robinson and his ilk.

Now, one of the Sikh men who supported Robinson in the past is being warned to watch his back.

Short story:

Bobby Singh, who twerks for Tommy Robinson, is now being threatened by Tommy Robinson.

"If I personally see Bobby Singh, I'll personally punch his fucking head off." pic.twitter.com/CKsdzy0Npv

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) June 7, 2026

Robinson’s ex-mate Bobby Singh — who is he?

Bobby Singh is the co-founder of Love Your Postcode, a real estate and property management company. Recently, Singh attended the far-right Unite the Kingdom rally (as Mukhtar highlighted in the video above), where he voiced his support for Robinson. He’s also reshared anti-Muslim posts from Robinson like the following:

Because the above comes from Robinson — a known bullshitter and far-right propagandist — most people would ask themselves:

• Is this AI?
• Was it staged?
• Did it happen recently or years ago?

The other thing to remember is that sometimes Muslim people commit crimes. This is true of every group. But smear merchants like Robinson give the impression that Muslims are uniquely bad by only highlighting crimes committed by them.

Either Singh is willing to turn his brain off when he sees Islamophobic content or he lacks critical thinking skills.

The controversy surrounding Singh

Singh has now attracted controversy because of a TikTok panel in which he asked viewers to vote one “if you’re in support of the Singh” or two “if you’re in support of Henry”. From context, it’s clear that the men in question are the murderer Vickrum Digwa and his victim Henry Nowak (most baptised Sikh men have the surname ‘Singh’, but Digwa does not).

The video attracted greater controversy because at one point another man asks to change the vote, stating:

Can you put a 1 in the comments if I should piss on Henry’s grave, and a 2 if I should shit on his grave.

Singh has since claimed the backlash is a ‘character assassination’, and that while he was on the TikTok panel, he doesn’t agree with everything that was said.

Bobby Singh has RESPONDED to the live TikTok video circulating online.

In it, he shared a panel with someone who asked: “should I shit or piss on Henry Nowak’s grave?”

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The video also shows him agreeing that “Henry is wearing a turtleneck, so he means trouble,” and endorses… pic.twitter.com/V5Vo7xP5Ky

— Sydney Jones (@SydneyJones_) June 7, 2026

Regardless of whether Bobby Singh made the worst comments or not, it was clearly in poor taste to ask viewers to vote on which man they backed.

Digwa murdered Nowak with an illegal weapon, and then he fooled the police into thinking Nowak was the aggressor. Digwa’s actions, then, contributed towards a situation in which Nowak was handcuffed while bleeding out (with the other factor being police incompetence).

Dis-unite the Kingdom

Ironically, Love Your Postcode says the following about itself:

Our commitment to community cohesion and philanthropy is interwoven with a passion for business, inspiring others to lead with confidence and a sense of social responsibility.

We say, ironically, because co-founder Singh attended Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally, this now-yearly event isn’t committed to “community cohesion” at all. We say that because it promotes “remigration”.

Speakers at the first event included the Dutch Generation Remigration. The Canary wrote this about the group:

Well, they’re the leading proponents of ‘remigration’, which is the plan to mass deport migrants and their descendants from European countries.

We’re not quite sure how that will work in Britain given the continuous influxes of populations we’ve experienced since the Roman Empire, except we are sure, obviously – they’re talking about deporting Black and brown people.

Generation Remigration did not attend the 2026 UtK event. No doubt because key member, Eva Vlaardingerbroek, was banned from entering the UK earlier this year.

Robinson has kept the ethnic cleansing torch burning, anyway, and regularly posts about “remigration” himself. Take this from 12 May:

Invaders and their offspring, tormenting and brutally attacking our people in Europe and filming it “for fun” and to assert dominance.

Remigration and de-islamisation can’t come quick enough.

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You’ll note Robinson calls for “remigration” and “de-Islamification”. He’s doing this to make it clear it won’t just be Muslims who go.

You’ll also notice he’s not saying something like ‘deport the non-indigenous Brits‘. This is because the in-group currently includes all white Europeans.

This won’t last, of course, and we only have to look back to 2016 to see when the far right was actively hostile towards continentals — most notably Polish people.

Clearly, to anyone smart enough to read between the lines, Bobby Singh isn’t in the in-group, so why was Robinson promoting him before this latest controversy? And why was Singh promoting Robinson?

Singh and Robinson: Bedfellows

To Robinson, there’s an obvious benefit to tolerating a guy like Bobby Singh. Specifically, he can point at him and say: “See, how can I be racist when I’m best mates with this guy?” The answer is obvious, and it’s that in this case, the two are friends because of racism, specifically racism against migrants, which seems to be Singh’s beef if his retweets are anything to go by.

In modern Britain, establishment politicians like Nigel Farage warn ‘All migrants are bad‘ and their supporters hear ‘All Muslims are bad‘.

Inevitably, this becomes ‘All Black and Brown people are bad‘, because believe it or not, the white rioters shown below aren’t the best at identifying cultural signifiers; they just see a person’s skin colour and lose their minds.

Dozens of bricks being thrown pic.twitter.com/VwPXkfZlmR

— Taj Ali (@Taj_Ali1) June 2, 2026

Unless you’re a white British man, a guy like Robinson will always always turn on you at some point. But for some, their desire to punch downwards overrides their instincts for self-preservation.

To be fair, what Singh said was obviously grim, but Singh isn’t the only Sikh man facing backlash from the far-right.

Sikhs at a London remembrance march describe their fears and report a rise in abuse following Henry Nowak’s murder.

https://t.co/Zl3K65O6Kq pic.twitter.com/WB5y5UwmnD

— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 7, 2026

Nigel Farage has retweeted JD Vance's tweet, calling British Sikhs "mass invasion of migrants."

Like I said the other day. Look how quickly they turned on the Sikh community. pic.twitter.com/1eGb1WYbnb

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) June 6, 2026

In-fighting

Known white supremacists like James Goddard are repeating the following:

Deport the Sikhs

It should be noted Robinson is still defending Sikhs despite a significant proportion of his far-right followers turning on them.

About 535,000 Sikhs live in the UK (around 0.8% of the population).

The Sikhs aint taking over our towns or cities, or even the UK for that matter you fucking moron.

They integrate and add value, they love, respect and do fight for our country.

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Sikhs are not… https://t.co/bv5Qa4IUwp

— Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra) June 4, 2026

You're a disingenuous shithouse.

Fuck you and your framing.

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Nobody said we should "give up our homeland to Sikhs", own it dickhead.

— Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra) June 4, 2026

Lest we forget, Robinson literally calls for “remigration”. Clearly he doesn’t actually respect Sikhs; he’s just using them as cover for his Islamophobia.

What this shows, anyway, is that it’s impossible to maintain tactical positions on the reactionary far right. There will always be those who are willing to go further, and they will always find themselves arguing from a stronger position because the logical end point of this ideology is a patriarchy of indigenous whites.

An odd one

One final thing to note about Bobby Singh is that he’s not completely deluded about the white supremacist movement he’s attached himself to. In a video which appears to have been filmed at Unite the Kingdom, Singh said:

And by the way, just for the record, just for the record, lads. If they do go back and you ask me to go back, I wouldn’t have a fucking issue…There is no greater honour than going back to a country where it’s your real people of your colour. So what I’m saying is, mate, I’m patriotic, but if you ever want to say to me, ‘Bobby, your time’, I’m more than happy.

It’s not good that Singh — or anyone — feels this way. Every British citizen who isn’t 100 years old grew up in a multicultural country. The problems we’ve faced since then don’t arise from that fact; they arise from rich people stealing all of Britain’s wealth while blaming minority groups as cover.

Speaking as a white Briton, believe me, skin colour is no indicator of individuals being “your real people”. The people I have the least in common with in this country are the white identitarians who line up behind Tommy Robinson. If such people ever take power, I’ll be doing everything I can to move to a country that doesn’t treat skin colour as the defining characteristic.

Although Bobby Singh may not have an issue, you have to assume foreign countries would object to us banishing millions of European-born citizens into their territories. This might surprise people who think the British Empire never ended, but we actually don’t have the right to dump people wherever we like. This is especially true when it comes to nuclear powers like India and Pakistan.

The few

It’s important to re-emphasise that guys like Bobby Singh are a minority of a minority. Most Sikhs don’t support a movement which will inevitably come for them. At the same time, most would never willingly volunteer to be deported to a country they weren’t born in.

Singh being ex-communicated from the British far right was predictable. The same thing will happen to every other person who isn’t a member of the core inner group because this movement is only heading in one direction.

Featured image via Mario Tama/ Finnbarr Webster/ Getty Images

By Willem Moore

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The World Cup is supposed to be the moment the world comes together. Instead, with less than a week to go, the United States is facing mounting accusations that it is shutting the world out.

The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) has formally written to FIFA, warning that “many” Iranian and African journalists have been denied visas needed to cover the 2026 tournament on U.S. soil.

The letter sent June 5 and published on the AIPS website, was addressed to Bryan Swanson, FIFA’s director of media relations, and Jochen Steinhoff, FIFA’s head of media operations & services. And its message was blunt.

AIPS president Gianni Merlo wrote:

We find ourselves facing a long-standing and unacceptable problem for us journalists: the denial of entry visas to regularly accredited colleagues.

He went further, saying the issue is widespread and worsening:

There are many cases: Iranian colleagues, African colleagues, some of whom have been given single entries, so if their team goes to play in Canada or Mexico and they follow it, they can no longer return to the States. The cases are countless and, I repeat, unacceptable.

For a tournament marketed as the most inclusive in history, the optics are disastrous.

World Cup chaos

Merlo’s letter cuts at the heart of the contradiction: the U.S. is hosting a global event while enforcing some of the strictest immigration policies in modern American history.

He continued:

Politicians always say that sport unites and builds bridges between young people in countries in conflict, but in this case, we are going in the opposite direction.

He warned that blocking journalists undermines the very image FIFA claims to champion:

We believe it is important to allow colleagues to attend the event and work, because their presence will be crucial to the image of sport and what it represents, especially in a country like the United States of America, where freedom of the press is a must.

The practical consequences are already being felt. Some journalists have lost money on flights they can no longer use. Others face the prospect of being locked out of the U.S. mid‑tournament if they follow their teams to Canada or Mexico.

Merlo explained:

We’re already significantly behind schedule, and many colleagues have already lost the opportunity to use plane tickets booked on time, and they’ll also face significant additional expenses.

FIFA responds by passing responsibility back to governments

FIFA confirmed it had received the AIPS letter. A spokesperson said only that:

the ability to enter host countries are ultimately consular and immigration matters.

In other words: FIFA are trying to dodge any blame for this.

But that stance is becoming increasingly difficult to defend. Multi‑entry visas are essential for journalists covering teams that move between the three host nations. Ivory Coast, for example, will play in Philadelphia, then Toronto, then back to Philadelphia. Senegal finish their group in Toronto and may need to return to the U.S. for the knockouts. Tunisia start in Mexico before heading to Kansas City.

If journalists can’t follow them, fair coverage simply collapses.

The timing of the dispute is awkward. AIPS and FIFA have long maintained a close working relationship. In April, dozens of AIPS representatives visited FIFA’s headquarters in Switzerland. AIPS even awarded FIFA the Best Press Facilities Award for 2025, praising its media operations during the Club World Cup in the U.S.

At that event, Swanson told delegates:

We appreciate and respect the important work of the media. We understand journalists have a job to do in covering FIFA’s activities and we do what we can to support you… All we ever ask is to be reported on with fairness and balance.

Those words now ring hollow for the reporters who cannot even enter the host nation.

The Trump factor

The visa crisis cannot be separated from the political climate. Since returning to the White House last year, President Donald Trump has reinstated and expanded travel restrictions affecting several World Cup nations.

The U.S. has active travel bans on nationals from Iran, Haiti, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast. That is four countries that have qualified for the tournament. Additional visa bond measures apply to Algeria, Cape Verde and Tunisia.

Athletes, support staff and immediate family members are exempt. Fans and journalists are not.

This is the core of the crisis: the World Cup is being hosted by a country that is simultaneously restricting entry to the very people who make the event global.

The situation also places FIFA president Gianni Infantino under renewed scrutiny. In December, he controversially awarded Trump a FIFA Peace Prize. And only this week, after meeting Trump, Infantino posted on Instagram:

America is ready to welcome the world for the FIFA World Cup 2026, I thanked (Trump) and his Administration for their continued support of this truly global event.

But Infantino’s past statements now haunt him. In 2017, during the U.S. bid to host the tournament, he said:

Any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup.

Trump himself wrote to Infantino in 2018 promising that:

all eligible athletes, officials and fans, would be able to enter the United States without discrimination.

Those assurances now look a lot like lies.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said

The United States is well prepared to welcome legitimate travelers from around the globe for the largest and greatest FIFA World Cup in history.

But the statement also made clear that security takes precedence:

The Administration will not waver in upholding U.S. law and the highest standards of national security and public safety… We adjudicate each visa application on a case-by-case basis after rigorous review and thorough vetting.

That leaves journalists, especially those from countries under travel restrictions in limbo. Clearly, the US’ definition of “legitimate” differs from the rest of the world.

A total disaster before it begins

The World Cup is meant to be a celebration. Instead, the conversation is dominated by who can’t get in.

The AIPS letter is more than a complaint, it is a warning. If journalists cannot enter the United States, the world cannot see the World Cup. Coverage will be uneven, distorted, or absent entirely for nations already underrepresented in global media.

The symbolism is stark, a tournament branded as “uniting the world” is being undermined by the host nation’s own policies.

FIFA can insist immigration is not its responsibility. The U.S. can insist security comes first. So unless the two sides find a solution, the 2026 World Cup risks becoming the most politically fraught, least accessible tournament in modern history.

A global event cannot function if the world cannot attend.

Featured Image via Jia Haocheng – Pool/Getty Images

By Faz Ali

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A campaign group has called out Microsoft’s sham investigation into the Israeli Ministry of Defence’s use of Microsoft technology.

Microsoft released a bizarre “final update” on the investigation on Thursday, June 4th, after the group, No Azure for Apartheid, disrupted all days of Microsoft’s Build conference this week.

It included protests from the water, sky, and ground to call out the company’s continued complicity in Israel’s genocide.

Microsoft whitewashing

According to the group, the statement is the company’s latest failed attempt to “whitewash its genocide-profiteering” and avoid accountability for its:

active role in powering Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and genocide.

In reality, the statement provides “no meaningful update” since Microsoft’s September announcement of cutting a few services to Unit 8200, an Israeli military spy agency, which it made only after a sustained pressure campaign.

In a statement, the group said:

Microsoft pretends to have a bold stance against mass surveillance by cutting a single service to a single unit while it continues to facilitate mass surveillance and genocide of Palestinians through many other ways.

In August 2025 right before launching this so-called “investigation,” Microsoft colluded with the Israeli military to quickly transfer the intercepted Palestinian phone call data out of the Netherlands to the Microsoft Israel data center. In doing so, Microsoft expedited the concealment of crimes against humanity from any European regulator or international investigation.

Thursday’s statement does not even mention the phone call data hosted in Microsoft’s data centres in Ireland and Israel. It only mentions the Netherlands. This makes it clear that Microsoft chose to focus on this site after local protests at the data centre in the Netherlands.

Microsoft has made it clear it does not care about Palestinians’ privacy. It cares only about its reputation and how it impacts its profits.

‘Digital backbone’

To make matters worse:

Microsoft allows the Israeli military and government to host other surveillance projects on Azure, including the Rolling Stone database, a Palestinian population and movement registry and the Al-Munasseq or “The Coordinator” application, which is used to collect surveillance data on Palestinians. Israel forces Palestinians to download the app to manage apartheid permits to control and restrict their movement.

Microsoft also refuses to address how other Israeli surveillance units, including Unit 81 and Unit 9900, which are other Israeli military spy agencies, use its technology.

Additionally, the Lotem Unit has received direct training from Microsoft workers.

From providing services to Israeli combative and central military units, to being embedded in the national water and electricity companies which steal Palestinian resources, and the Israeli police and prison systems that arrest and torture Palestinians, Microsoft provides the digital backbone of Israel’s entire illegal occupation of Palestine.

Sustained pressure

As the Canary has previously reported, Microsoft workers have been speaking out and protesting against Microsoft’s complicity for years. And they’re not the only ones:

Civil society organizations have reached out to Microsoft. Legal experts have put the company on notice for facilitating illegal crimes against humanity. Shareholders have called Microsoft out on failing proper due diligence. Still, Microsoft decided to stall for months, as the filename Summary-of-2025-External-Investigation-Follow-Up.pdf indicates that the “investigation” actually concluded in 2025.

The group points out that even the follow-up steps detailed in the investigation report are a load of rubbish. There are no additional details on deals with private companies. Companies such as Cellebrite and Cobwebs regularly conduct mass surveillance of Palestinians. Both host their software on Azure and have been used to hack into thousands of Palestinians’ phones.

Microsoft also claims that its follow-up steps include:

additional guidance to employees regarding Microsoft policies related to acceptable use of its products and services

and:

additional mechanisms for employees to raise concerns.

But as the campaign group points out, Israeli Microsoft workers were not ignorant when they developed surveillance systems to spy on Palestinians, or proudly showed off their employees committing genocide in Gaza on its Facebook page. Company leadership were also not ignorant of what their second-largest military customer was doing with their products.

Of course, there is no moral way to work with a genocidal military or government:

Beyond the failed whitewashing, accountability evasion, and feigned ignorance in Thursday’s statement, Microsoft egregiously lists a series of “follow-up steps.” Let us be clear, there is no moral, legal, or compliant way to work with a genocidal military and government. As long as Microsoft works with the Israeli military and government in any capacity, it is complicit in crimes against humanity.

Microsoft is not only complicit in genocide – it is actively enabling and directly participating in war crimes for a genocidal terrorist state. And its latest statement does nothing except show the world how little accountability it is willing to take.

Featured image via No Azure for Apartheid

By HG

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