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Hundreds of thousands of people expected at London march against the far right – live | London
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Millions of Americans expected for No Kings anti-Trump protest
Millions of Americans are expected to take to the streets on Saturday for the No Kings protests against the Trump administration.
The protests, which have no connection to the demonstrations taking place in the UK, will be led by a coalition of organisers that includes “anti-authoritarian” groups Indivisible and 50501, labor unions and other grassroots organisations.
More than 3,000 events are planned in all 50 states, plus in 16 countries.
Saturday’s protest will be the third No Kings; the last one in October drew 7 million people nationwide.
Protesters are expected to turn out on the basis of a multitude of issues, organisers said, from ICE raids to voting rights threats.
“Since the last No Kings, we’re seeing higher gas prices and groceries, all while there’s an illegal war in Iran,” said Sarah Parker, the executive director of Voices of Florida and a national coordinator for the 50501 movement. “The people of America are pissed.”
Who are the Together Alliance?
Dozens of coaches will leave from across the country on Saturday morning – including 10 from Manchester alone – to begin marching from Park Lane to Trafalgar Square at midday but who are Together Alliance?
The anti-discrimination group Stand Up to Racism are members of the alliance and Sabby Dhalu, a co-convener, has said the Together Alliance’s formation was a direct reaction to growing far-right sentiment espoused in last September’s “unite the kingdom” demonstration.
Dhalu said: “The overwhelming majority of people reject the racism, Islamophobia, division, hatred and violence promoted by Tommy Robinson and the far right.
“This Saturday we will demonstrate that clearly. Tens of thousands will take to the streets of central London, bringing the same spirit of unity that helped bring the racist riots of 2024 to a halt.”
Two stages – one on Whitehall for speeches and one in Trafalgar Square for music, which are both free to attend – will feature cross-party speakers and award-winning musicians, including Self Esteem, Jessie Ware, Katy B, Joy Crookes, UB40, Fontaines DC, the Charlatans and Hot Chip.
Billy Bragg said that the “politics of division” could be countered when people came together, and he expected the turnout to exceed that of the “unite the kingdom” rally.
In case you missed it, the context of today’s march was discussed in our First edition newsletter
Met will have ‘significant policing presence’ as part of plan for weekend protests
The Metropolitan police have said there will be a “significant policing presence” in Westminster on Saturday with a number of large protests expected.
In addition to the marches organised by the Together Alliance and the Palestine Coalition, a number of protests against the Iranian regime – both static assemblies and marches – are due to take place in the Westminster area on both Saturday and Sunday.
The force said they have used conditions under the public order act to ensure only rally areas that have been agreed in advance are used and to set fixed routes that must be followed and to determine required end times.
Dispersal zones will be in place if people gather in places away from the agreed form up locations that cause disruption or harassment and intimidation.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jon Savell, who is in charge of the policing operation this weekend, said: “This is going to be a busy weekend for our officers but we have detailed plans in place to ensure all groups protesting this weekend can do so lawfully and without causing serious disruption to other Londoners, businesses or visitors.”
“I am mindful that it is less than a week since the appalling arson attack in Golders Green which will only have compounded already heightened fears in the Jewish community.
“We take these fears seriously and have carefully considered them in our planning, balancing them as we are required to do against the rights of others to lawful protest.”
Hundreds of thousands expected to gather in London for march against far right
Good morning. Hundreds of thousands of people are to turn out in central London to support what is expected to be the biggest multicultural march in UK history on Saturday.
Scotland Yard said there will be a significant police presence in the capital on Saturday as two large marches will converge in Westminster.
One march, followed by speeches and musical performances, is organised by the Together Alliance and is said to have the support of celebrities including comedian Sir Lenny Henry and singer Paloma Faith, although neither are expected to be present.
Participants will march from Park Lane at 1pm, finishing on Whitehall, while a music event will also take place in Trafalgar Square featuring artists including former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
A separate march organised by the Palestine Coalition will form up at the southern end of Exhibition Road from midday, marching towards Hyde Park Corner where the demonstrators will turn onto Piccadilly, joining the route of the Together Alliance before the groups form up for a rally on Whitehall.
A video message from London mayor Sadiq Khan will be played to those gathered at the Whitehall stage and the leader of the Green party Zack Polanski is expected to make a speech.
The musician, Billy Bragg told the Guardian on Friday participants hoped to “send out a message to our fellow citizens that we are willing to take a stand against [the politics of hate] being imported into the UK”.
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Arrest over push of woman into bus's path in 2017
A 44-year-old man is in custody over the incident where a woman appeared to be shoved into the path of a bus.
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World Cup 2026: Fifa urged to remove official over hand gesture; teams hit back at Ceferin; Iran arrive in US – live | World Cup 2026
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More now on the hand gesture story mentioned earlier. Fifa’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for a video assistant referee to be removed for appearing to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.
“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network, a longtime partner of Fifa and Uefa, the European football governing body, to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement. “Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” Fare said in a statement, describing the gesture as “neo-Nazi.”
Kick-off times are more friendly for the UK viewer today. Spain v Cape Verdi at 5pm and Belgium v Egypt at 8pm. But we need to think globally so that’s 3pm for Cape Verdi viewers cheering on their team while in Egypt it’ll be 10pm for those tuning in to see if Mo Salah can inspire his team to victory over the Belgians.
The biggest test for the UK viewer today is Iran v New Zealand at 2am BST. In Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch that’ll be 1pm while in Tehran, Mashhad and Karaj it’s a less palatable 4.30am.
Thanks Sarah. As for World Cup songs, this one from the German 1990 squad always sticks in my mind. While England took the genre to a new level with New Order and John Barnes’ rap, the Germans very much went down the traditional route. A singer that looks like a cross between Chris de Burgh and Thomas Muller, Karl-Heinz Riedle on maracas, one or two playing air saxophone. Pleasingly dreadful.
I am off to grab some food and so I leave you in the hands of Dave Tindall who will take you through the next few hours of news. I’ll be back later on.
From requests of your favourite football songs to another on if you live in a World Cup host city. We want to hear from you if you have football teams in town from the atmosphere to how it is affecting business. Use the form on this page to get in touch:
We have another shout for the best/worst football song and I can’t decide which side of the forward slash this one belongs on. Graeme Neill said:
Timely given yesterday evening’s match. Japan’s Cornelius and his utterly bonkers Ball in Kick Off is worth a listen:
France will kick-off their tournament against Senegal on Tuesday and to say they have attacking quality is an understatement. The team boasts players like the captain, Kylian Mbappé, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Cherki but they all have a role to play, according to Adrien Rabiot. Read more:

Jacob Steinberg
The cat is well truly out of the bag. Nobody expected the conversation to be quite so revealing when Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers sat on the Lions’ Den sofa last week. Content controlled by the Football Association was an unlikely place for Bellingham to drop a few truth bombs, but the England midfielder was not minded to hold back when it was time to discuss his experience at Euro 2024.
“It didn’t feel like there was any kind of hierarchy,” the 22-year-old said. “I think at the Euros we got some things a little bit wrong off the pitch. I don’t feel like the group connected as well as it could have – for a number of reasons.”
Read more:
Fifa urged to remove official over hand gesture
Fifa have been urged to remove a video review official who appeared to make a white supremacy hand gesture during Germany’s 7-1 win over Curaçao.
The governing body’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup called for Shaun Evans from Australia to be removed from the tournament.
The gesture was also spotted by several fans who posted about it on social media.
“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network said.
Fifa are yet to comment on the situation.
There have been some sights at the World Cup but Scotland fans taking over Fenway Park is one that has been one of the most surreal. The Boston Red Sox lost 6-4 to the Texas Rangers but Scotland fans stayed long after the game was over singing “super John McGinn” and during the match there was a rendition of “yes sir, I can boogie”.
Anil Patel has emailed:
This absolute banger wasn’t attached to any particular team but is one of the best themes out there.
This is a great shout and a fun fact for you about it, it was initially written to be a baseball anthem. Some baseball news coming your way soon…
If anyone is unsure of the song I referenced, here it is:
Football songs can be iconic or occasionally cringey, that one with Dizzee Rascal and James Cordon comes to mind for the latter for me. What are your best/worst anthems for a major tournament? Get in touch and let me know.
England may have banished some penalty shootout demons in the last few major tournaments but the question of who would step up to take one is one that will always be asked. One such player who said he would take on is Eberechi Eze, despite missing one in the Champions League final. Have a read of what he said:
There will be many questions raised at this World Cup. Who will win the trophy? Who will claim the Golden Boot? What will the next standout moment be? But there is another question that has been answered in the following piece: Where have the WAGs gone?

Matt Hughes
Fox will not face any punishment from Fifa for breaking the governing body’s advertising rules during the opening game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa last week.
The US broadcaster broke Fifa’s strict guidelines for showing commercials during hydration breaks on the first occasion they were in operation by returning to the live action 10 seconds after play had resumed during the second half at Mexico City Stadium.
Fifa’s tournament regulations, which were given to all rights holders two months ago, state that while broadcasters can show ads during hydration breaks they must return to the match 30 seconds before play resumes.
Read more:
Sometimes a team needs a player to have some standout performances to jump start a tournament and Jordan Henderson believes that player for England will be Jude Bellingham. Henderson said:
I’m sure he will have a big impact for us in this tournament. I can remember five years ago I gave him his first cap, it was away at Middlesbrough. How much he’s grown, as a player and as a person since then, is incredible really. I had a good idea when I first saw him playing and training, and the way he was.
I think everybody forgets how young he is. We do rondos and it’s the youngest in, and there’s people that I think should be going in before him, but he’s always one of the first in the middle to go in. It just reminds us how young he is. I honestly couldn’t speak highly enough of him.
Read more:
The travel at this tournament has grabbed more than a few headlines so far and there is another one pertaining to Australia. The Socceroos beat Turkey 2-0 in their opening game with their second against one of the co-hosts, the US, on Friday. Their focus will be on that game but recovery is also high on their list. Read more here:
There have already been so many historic moments at this tournament, including Scotland’s first World Cup win in 36 years. Mo Salah is hoping to replicate the moment and end Egypt’s long wait of 92 years for a victory at the tournament. The team have their first game against Belgium today to try and make history:
Spain, who start their campaign today against Cabo Verde, are among the favourites to win the World Cup after their European Championship success in 2024. Here’s a piece on how the team are embracing the tag and how they are using one trophy-winning tournament to potentially lift another:
Uruguay will take on Saudia Arabia later today but their travel was delayed amid challenges across the tournament.
The team’s initial flight from Mexico was cancelled with their replacment delayed. The Uruguay captain, José María Giménez, described the situation as “difficult”.
Read more:
There are more games to be played today with another four in store. The details for those kick-off times and match-ups are below but do get in touch to let me know what your World Cup routine is. Are you having to get up early to watch the games? Or are you in a time zone where you can get home from work and watch back-to-back football until it’s time for bed? Email me and let me know, here are today’s fixtures:
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Spain v Cabo Verde (5pm BST, 12pm ET, 9am PT)
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Belgium v Egypt (8pm BST, 3pm ET, 12pm PT)
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Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (11pm BST, 6pm ET, 3pm PT)
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Iran v New Zealand (2am BST, 9pm ET, 6pm PT)
So what happened in the matches yesterday? Four took place with the biggest win coming in Germany’s 7-1 dismantling of Curaçao. The island nation will be disappointed with the result but they also made history as they scored their first-ever World Cup goal. That came from Livano Comenencia, who plays his club football for Zürich. Have a read of that report and others for all the latest action on pitch:
Čeferin criticised for ‘uninteresting’ comment
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin was criticised by multiple nations from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean after reportedly saying the expanded World Cup creates “uninteresting” matches.
According to Zurnal 24, the boss said at a conference last Monday: “We have a huge number of matches that are completely uninteresting.”
The associations of Cape Verde, Congo, Curaçao, Haiti, Jordan and Uzbekistan released a joint statement, which was in solidarity with the federations of Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
It said: “Football does not belong to a select group of nations. Its strength comes from its universality,” the statement said. “For many countries, participation in the FIFA World Cup is not only a sporting achievement. It is a moment that inspires a generation, accelerates football development and creates memories that last a lifetime.”

Ben Fisher
The Iran striker Mehdi Taremi has said the controversy and disruption surrounding their involvement at the World Cup undermines Fifa’s message of peace and conceded he felt the tension before arriving in Los Angeles on the eve of their opener, hours before a peace deal was announced. For the first time since the competition’s inception, a host nation has received a country with which it is at war.
On Sunday Iran flew to LA from Tijuana, Mexico, where they were relocated amid an ongoing row over visas, but are expected to face opposition from Iranians, many of whom believe the national team do not represent the country. Iran has been beset by problems in the buildup to the tournament, with several officials denied entry to the US.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to today’s World Cup news blog where we bring you the latest updates from the global event being hosted across the US, Canada and Mexico.
Any breaking news, team updates or reflections on what has happened so far will be all here for you to feast on, no matter what you are doing with your Monday.
Please do get in touch too, we always like to hear from readers. Potentially on the best underdog story at the World Cup or any quirky predictions you may have for the tournament.
Amongst several stories surrounding the competition today is Iran’s arrival in the US. The team landed on Sunday before they take on New Zealand.
More details on that story will be with you shortly, as well as the reports from the games that took place yesterday to catch up on all the latest action.
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Man who suffered 'racially-motivated' attack says he regrets moving to NI
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