Light News (LN)

  Superstar Lionel Messi is back for a sixth World Cup and leads Argentina into their group match debut against Algeria. We might be six days into World Cup 2026, but many purists feel the tournament isn’t truly under way until the defending champions,  Argentina , and their iconic star Lionel Messi, take to the stage. After winning the  Qatar World Cup in 2022  in one of the most dramatic games in history, Argentina begin their quest for a fourth title when they face Algeria in their opening Group J fixture at Kansas City on Tuesday night. Can ageing Argentina win back-to-back World Cup titles? Lionel Scaloni’s side are seeking to become just the third nation ever to defend a World Cup title after Italy (wins in 1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962). This has been a golden era of Argentinian football with Copa America wins either side of their Qatar 2022 success, but nobody is quite sure what we’re going to get from La Albiceleste this time around. Are key players ...

  Analysts say Britain is responding to civil disobedience with unprecedented severity. The United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal has  upheld  the government’s decision to proscribe the activist group  Palestine Action  as a “terrorist organisation”, marking the latest chapter in a growing debate about the right to protest in Britain. Palestine Action, founded in 2020, describes itself as a “direct action” movement committed to disrupting companies and institutions it says are complicit in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Its activists have targeted weapons manufacturers and military facilities in the UK mainly through acts of vandalism and property destruction. Supporters say the group belongs to a long British tradition of civil disobedience while critics accuse it of engaging in tactics that cross the line into “terrorism”. The dispute raises a broader question: How has Britain historically treated direct-action movements, and what, if anything, has changed? We loo...

  At a G7 meeting in France, the US president has also made unusually critical comments about Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon. United States President Donald Trump has warned Iran that “all hell will rain down” if it tries to get a nuclear weapon, and has also rebuked Israel over its military offensive in Lebanon in unusually critical comments during his visit to a G7 summit in France. The ceasefire deal agreed with Iran would ensure the country “can’t have a nuclear weapon” or “they get blown up,” Trump said on Tuesday before a bilateral meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on the sidelines of the summit in Evian-les-Bains. “This deal is a wall to a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “The only thing that really ‌matters to me is Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and it says it ⁠loud and clear.” Trump said he thinks Iran “has rational leadership now”, and the leaders who were “totally irrational” are “now gone”, after US and Israeli attacks killed numero...

  The Trump administration has been adamant the investment fund is not a payout for Iranian enriched uranium. The  US-Iran memorandum of understanding  expected to be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday could allow for the establishment of a $300bn investment fund for Iran, as part of a broader settlement to end the war that triggered a global energy crisis and upended markets worldwide. US Vice President JD Vance told CBS News on Monday that the incentives would be connected to Iran’s “performance” in adhering to the deal, which was digitally signed by both sides on Sunday. The scale of the financial incentives grabbed the headlines due to US President Donald Trump’s longstanding criticism of a 2015 nuclear accord that he claimed delivered economic benefits to Tehran. In a bid to manage perceptions around this politically sensitive issue, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to claim that “the story that the US is paying Iran 300 million Dollars is Fake News,” wh...

  Secretary of State Marco Rubio joins U.S. delegation as trade, China, and NATO dominate discussions. President  Donald Trump  traveled to France for the G7 summit after announcing a deal with Iran, setting up high-stakes meetings Monday with world leaders over the Middle East, trade, Ukraine and artificial intelligence. Trump jetted off to Évian-les-Bains following the  UFC  Freedom Fight that took place on the South Lawn at the White House Sunday. President Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a U.S. delegation as leaders from France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union gather from Monday through Wednesday as part of the annual meeting. Discussions are expected to focus on trade, artificial intelligence, supply chain resilience, critical minerals, and illegal immigration. " President Trump has effectively restored America's standing on the world stage and strengthened relationships abroad and the pres...

  In what’s been hailed by the European Union’s enlargement chief as ‘Mega Monday’, Ukraine and Moldova are breaking a two-year political deadlock by formally kicking off the first phase of negotiations on joining the bloc. Ukraine and Moldova open the first phase of negotiations on joining the European Union in Luxembourg on Monday, ending a two-year political deadlock driven by the former Hungarian government’s opposition to opening talks with Kyiv. “It is a historic milestone for my country,” Moldova’s deputy Prime Minister, Cristina Gherasimov, told Euronews on Monday. “This is also a strong signal for us that the EU is also getting ready to receive new member states.” Describing the talks as the “biggest step” in Ukraine and Moldova’s accession bid since they were granted candidate status in 2023, the EU’s enlargement chief Marta Kos told reporters on Monday she was “positive” both countries could sustain the momentum and open the remaining five phases – known as “clusters” – ...