Newshour

All 55 European footballing nations have voted to boycott the men's and women's World Cup if Fifa goes ahead with plans to sell stakes in the tournaments to private investors. We speak to the vice president of Uefa, which governs European football.

Also on the programme: a cross-party group of British MPs slams the Ministry of Defence for a data leak which could have imperilled thousands of Afghans; and who should take over as the next boss of the United Nations?

(Photo: Fifa President Gianni Infantino attends a Fifa reception at Trump Tower in New York City on July 17, 2026. Credit: Reuters)

The US military says it has completed a "heavy wave" of strikes against Iran in retaliation for Tuesday's attempted ballistic missile attacks on American forces. Also on the programme, a  teenager who travelled from Norway to the UK to carry out a "hit" for a Swedish organised crime group has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder; and, why K-Pop sensation BTS are boycotting the next year's Grammys.
(Photo: A woman walks next to anti-US graffiti on a street in Tehran, Iran, 20 July 2026. Abedin Taherkenareh EPA/Shutterstock.)

FIFA promises national football associations $40m each if they back contentious new plans to sell stakes in major competitions. We hear from a former vice-president of FIFA, who is not impressed.
Also in the programme: the former White House medical advisor Anthony Fauci is warned by Republican senators that he could face charges of contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about the Covid pandemic; a BBC investigation into alleged criminal sexual behaviour by the film star Jared Leto; and the British chemist who's helped find a new way to fight the growing global threat of fungal infections.
(IMAGE: FIFA President Gianni Infantino inside the stadium before the World Cup final, July 19, 2026 / CREDIT: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Mark J Rebilas/File Photo)

Along with the US, the Saudis have carried out missile strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq, in a potential escalation of the Middle East conflict. One of the Iran-aligned groups, the Popular Mobilisation Forces, said at least 20 of its members were killed in the overnight attacks.
Also in the programme: the number of settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank was the highest on record last month, according to the UN; and the health-conscious ravers swapping nightclubs for saunas.
(Photo: Damage at a site belonging to Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) following joint airstrikes by the US and Saudi Arabia, in Bartella, Nineveh province, Iraq, July 29, 2026. Credit: Reuters/Khalid Al-Mousily)

It remains one of the defining meetings of President Trump's second term - that now infamous Oval Office exchange - when President Trump and his Vice President JD Vance met Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in February 2025. They clashed over the Ukraine conflict with President Trump accusing President Zelensky of 'gambling with World War Three.' The pair met today and President Zelensky said it was a 'good' meeting.
Also in the programme: Dozens are still unaccounted for after a powerful earthquake hits Japan. Firefighters are working around the clock to contain wildfires in France; and is clicking your fingers in cricket cheating? A video goes viral.
(Photo: The presidents meet in the Oval Office. Credit: Zelensky/Telegram)