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Aircraft that transported team to match is same one used to deport dozens of Venezuelans to Cecot mega-prison

A plane used by the Portugal men’s soccer team to fly to a World Cup match is the same one used daily for the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, and brought dozens of Venezuelans to a Salvadoran mega-prison last year against a judge’s orders.

Video shows Portugal flying on a Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX) aircraft en route to Dallas on 4 July ahead of their match against Spain, with the plane’s tail number, N837VA, clearly visible. A review of flight records for that Airbus shows it flew removal-related flights both the day before and after flying the Portuguese athletes.

Incoming PM has deigned to answer some quickfire TikTok questions – also revealing his stance on socks with sandals

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It was Tony Blair who wrote that the “leader sets out for the people what they need and not simply what they want. Otherwise, the leader is just a follower.”

The incoming Labour prime minister, Andy Burnham, must have been channelling his predecessor when, this week, he started to set out his views on the big issues facing the UK: should milk go in the cup before the tea? What items belong in a Christmas dinner?

Escaped flowerhorn cichlids are causing concern for native species and about parasites capable of infecting humans

Escaped ornamental aquarium fish have integrated into a local ecosystem in the Philippines, but scientists say they may be threatening the native biodiversity of the lake.

Flowerhorn cichlids – human-bred hybrid fish prized for their bright-gold colour and prominent head humps – are believed to have escaped from breeding facilities into Lake Sampaloc, which sits in a volcanic crater, during a typhoon.

109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US

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Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.

The pungent wildfire blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow.

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Donald Trump has largely steered clear of the Geopolitics World Cup: he is yet to attend a game and appear on screen with his good pal “Jonny” Infantino. Oh, though there was that time Trump rang Fifa to lobby for a review into Folarin Balogun’s red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the reversal of the USA USA USA forward’s last-16 suspension crushing the integrity of the competition. An impactful cameo off the bench, you could argue.

Re: naming the 2030 World Cup (Football Daily letters passim). May I suggest ‘The Carbon Footprint WC’ or simply ‘El Carbonaro’” – Krishna Moorthy.

Brian Saffer’s suggestions for letting everyone join in the next World Cup and splitting into three divisions surely must lead to it being called the Swiss Model World Cup – SMWC” – George Paterson.

You could always stop trying to be too clever by half and just refer to it as ‘the World Cup’” – Alan Burgess.

Oh, you thought the STOP FOOTBALL campaign might last two days but, no, Major League Soccerball is back, baby! Four matches were played last night as the league announced, via its back-to-action campaign: ‘Thanks, World; We’ll Take It From Here’” – JJ Zucal.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Mykhailo Fedorov, celebrated by many for innovative, tech-driven approach, was sidelined for military old guard

Volodomyr Zelenskyy’s abrupt dismissal of Ukraine’s youthful and innovative defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, at precisely the moment Kyiv appeared to be gaining advantages in several spheres of its war with Russia has exposed, not for the first time, a troubling flaw in the president’s leadership.

The move, which has startled senior European officials and caused consternation, and demonstrations, in Ukraine, is all the more shocking given Fedorov’s role in pushing a clear strategy to prosecute the war, leveraging Ukraine’s rapidly developing technological advances in drone and missile technology.

109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.

The pungent smoke blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air-quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow.

Mykhailo Fedorov, celebrated by many for innovative, tech-driven approach, was sidelined for military old guard

Volodomyr Zelenskyy’s abrupt dismissal of Ukraine’s youthful and innovative defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, at precisely the moment Kyiv appeared to be gaining advantages in several spheres of its war with Russia has exposed, not for the first time, a troubling flaw in the president’s leadership.

The move, which has startled senior European officials and caused consternation, and demonstrations, in Ukraine, is all the more shocking given Fedorov’s role in pushing a clear strategy to prosecute the war, leveraging Ukraine’s rapidly developing technological advances in drone and missile technology.

Illness surging in Michigan and other US states is rarely life-threatening, CDC says – but it can have severe effects

• CDC investigates parasite that’s caused cases of ‘explosive’ diarrhea in 18 US states

Cases of cyclosporiasis – a parasitic illness that can cause “explosive”, watery diarrhea – have surged across the United States in recent days, health officials have said, with an abnormally large outbreak of almost 1,000 cases reported in Michigan.

Michigan typically reports about 50 cases a year, making the current outbreak the largest in the state’s history and one of the nation’s biggest in recent years. Ohio has also reported a sharp increase, with 177 cases as of 2 July, since the CDC’s last count.

Christopher Nolan’s epic adaptation has been met with almost universal acclaim – from mostly male film critics. Might women find the journey less comfortable?

Long ago, almost as long ago as Homer composed The Odyssey, I was a film critic on the Sunday Telegraph. People sometimes ask me how sexist the scene was then, back in the bronze age mid-noughties, when male critics outnumbered female by about eight to one. Well, there wasn’t any sexism. It was actually totally fine and everyone was really nice.

They were nice in Soho, anyway. Farther afield, less so. Particularly certain readers, when it came to certain films, made by certain directors. Quentin Tarantino, obviously. Ken Loach, weirdly. And Christopher Nolan. Question their genius and prepare for epic correction by a legion of self-appointed bouncers.

Illness surging in Michigan and other US states is rarely life-threatening, CDC says – but it can have severe effects

• CDC investigates parasite that’s caused cases of ‘explosive’ diarrhea in 18 US states

Cases of cyclosporiasis – a parasitic illness that can cause “explosive”, watery diarrhea – have surged across the United States in recent days, health officials have said, with an abnormally large outbreak of almost 1,000 cases reported in Michigan.

Michigan typically reports about 50 cases a year, making the current outbreak the largest in the state’s history and one of the nation’s biggest in recent years. Ohio has also reported a sharp increase, with 177 cases as of 2 July, since the CDC’s last count.

Argentina and Spain will contest the 23rd World Cup final on Sunday. How much do you know about the previous 22?

This is a quiz by Richard Foster, who presents the It Started With A Kick podcast and is writing a daily World Cup quiz on the Seventh Heaven app, on Apple and Google Store.

Visas will be shortened to 240 days, down from five years, and Chinese journalists will be limited to 90 days

The Trump administration has said it will drastically shorten visas for foreign journalists in the US to 240 days, down from five years, and cut those for Chinese journalists to only 90 days.

The rule announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will do away with the “duration of status” system, which allows foreign journalists to stay and work in the United States as long as they meet eligibility requirements.

The military said Friday it used intelligence sources to target militants over the previous 24 hours. The operations were in response to attacks by militants earlier in the week.

(Image credit: AP)