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FIFA president Gianni Infantino has left the Women’s World Cup after less than a week – skipping four matchdays so far, Sky News has uncovered.

The early departure from the tournament – missing the last four days of matches – stands in stark contrast to the men’s World Cup in Qatar where he made a virtue of attending some of all 64 matches.

Mr Infantino himself had called for the Women’s World Cup to be shown the same respect as the men’s tournament when criticising broadcasters for not offering enough for television rights.

Sky News has tracked the movements of a private jet known to have been used by Mr Infantino, showing that it left Tahiti on 17 July, was in New Zealand for around eight days, before returning to Tahiti three days ago, on 25 July.

FIFA would not say when Mr Infantino is due back at the tournament which ends on 20 August.

The distances involved in Australia and New Zealand made it impossible for him to attend every match at FIFA’s biggest-ever women’s showpiece.

But Mr Infantino has not been to any matches in Australia – or even visited the country since it was awarded the hosting rights with New Zealand in 2020.

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He was largely based in Qatar for more than a year building up to the men’s World Cup, which FIFA said was “in order to deliver his presidential duties and be closer to the FIFA World Cup”.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, second from right, applauds before the Women's World Cup Group A soccer match between the Philippines and Switzerland in Dunedin, New Zealand, Friday, July 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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Gianni Infantino, second from right, at the Philippines v Switzerland match in Dunedin, New Zealand, last Friday. Pic: AP

More of a distance has been kept by him from the Women’s World Cup build-up and event itself.

He only attended matches on the first five days of the tournament in New Zealand – starting with the opening game on 20 July and most recently at Eden Park in Auckland on Monday to see Italy beat Argentina and meet the family who bought the 1.5 millionth ticket.

Just last week in Auckland, Mr Infantino urged more fans to buy tickets, saying: “It’s never too late to do the right thing, come to watch the matches.”

During the 2022 men’s World Cup, Mr Infantino called it a “privilege and pleasure to attend all the 32 matches that have been played so far”.

He has repeatedly said this would be the “best-attended” Women’s World Cup but his own attendance record has fallen short despite making a virtue out of football’s need to treat the men’s and women’s World Cup equally – calling the 2023 event a “celebration of equality”.

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Women’s World Cup viewing rights threatened

“It’s time to respect women,” he has repeatedly posted on Instagram in recent months, calling it a “slap in the face” broadcasters wouldn’t pay anything close to the fees for men’s World Cups.

“We just want that the (women’s) game is respected and that the right money is paid for that,” he said in May.

Mr Infantino’s Instagram account has continued to post official images from matches – obscuring the fact he left New Zealand on Tuesday.

Only after Sky News asked FIFA about Mr Infantino not being seen this week at the Women’s World Cup was a video posted showing him in Tahiti playing football with mostly men on an apparent visit to a member association while the flagship women’s football event continues without his presence.

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He had written on Instagram that “this year is the year of women and the future belongs to women”.

He has seen only 12 of the 32 teams live so far at the first Women’s World Cup since the expansion from 24 finalists.

Mr Infantino has overseen a rise in the prize money and participation fund for the Women’s World Cup

For the first time there is guaranteed squad pay now – from $30,000 (£23,200) for players who exit in the group stage to $270,000 (£208,800) for each of the champions.

That is a significant boost for players. FIFA’s last published research showed the average global salary for female professional players is only $14,000 (£10,800) and many countries still lack professional women’s leagues.

FIFA told Sky Sports News Mr Infantino will return to the World Cup for group-stage games in Australia but has not responded to questions from Sky News about whether he is with any members of his family in Tahiti.

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Gaza food situation ‘worst it’s ever been’, charity says – as tank attack reportedly kills 12 at camp

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Gaza food situation 'worst it's ever been', charity says - as tank attack reportedly kills 12 at camp

An aid worker in Gaza has told Sky News the food situation in the enclave is “absolutely desperate” and “the worst it’s ever been”.

Her comments to chief presenter Mark Austin come amid fresh outcry over aid restrictions, with the UK joining 24 other countries to urge an immediate end to the war.

It also comes as at least 12 more Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded when tanks shelled a tent encampment in western Gaza City, according to health authorities.

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Medics, speaking early on Tuesday, said two shells were fired at tents housing displaced people from tanks positioned north of the Shati camp.

Israel hasn’t yet commented on the reports.

Rachael Cummings, humanitarian director for Save The Children, spoke to Sky News from Deir al Balah, a city where tens of thousands of people have sought refuge during repeated waves of mass displacement.

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She said: “One of my colleagues said to me yesterday, ‘We are all walking together towards death’. And this is the situation now for people in Gaza.

“There is no food for their children, it’s absolutely desperate here.”

Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, July 20, 2025. REUTERS
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Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen. Pic: Reuters

“The markets are empty,” she said. “People may even have cash in their pockets yet they cannot buy bread [or] vegetables.

“My team have said to me, ‘There’s nothing in my house to feed my children, my children are crying all day, every day.”

Israel launched a ground assault on southern and eastern Deir al Balah for the first time on Monday after having issued an evacuation order.

Local medics said at least three people were killed when houses and mosques were hit by tank shelling.

Sources told Reuters news agency that Israel believes some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in October 2023 could be in the area.

Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah.
Pic: Reuters
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Smoke rises during strikes amid the Israeli operation in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters

Ms Cummings’s remarks came as the UK and 24 other nations issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire.

The statement criticised aid distribution in Gaza, which is being managed by a US and Israel-backed organisation, Gaza Health Foundation (GHF).

Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed while trying to get food in recent weeks, both from GHF and UN convoys.

“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the joint statement said.

The 25 countries also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of hostages captured by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attacks.

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Foreign Secretary David Lammy has promised £40m for humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

He told MPs: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to show that there must be a viable pathway to a Palestinian state involving the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, in the security and governance of the area.

“Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza, nor use it as a launchpad for terrorism.”

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Addressing the foreign secretaries’ joint written statement, charity worker Liz Allcock – who works for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in Gaza – told Sky News: “While we welcome this, there have been statements in the past 21 months and nothing has changed.

“In fact, things have only got worse. And every time we think it can’t get worse, it does.”

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“Without a reversal of the siege, the lack of supplies, the constant bombardment, the forced displacement, the killing, the militarisation of aid, we are going to collapse as a humanitarian response,” she said.

“And this would do a grave injustice to the 2.2 million people we’re trying to serve.

“An immediate and permanent ceasefire, and avenues for accountability in line with international law, is the minimum people here deserve.”

The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.

More than 59,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

In recent weeks hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed while waiting for food and aid.

The Israeli military has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.

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Trade war: Is August escalation on – or will Trump chicken out?

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Trade war: Is  August escalation on - or will Trump chicken out?

Donald Trump is clearly seething over the term ‘TACO’ (Trump always chickens out) – a phrase that has characterised financial market trading over the past few months.

It suggests that for all the president’s bluster and threats during his on-off trade war to date, he rarely follows through.

When asked by a reporter about TACO in late May, as his “liberation day” escalation remained on pause, he declared it a “nasty” question and said he wanted negotiations.

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Mr Trump wants a deal but to effectively bully America’s trading partners into agreeing better terms.

It’s a playbook that has defined his time in the White House and, as things stand, more than 20 nations and territories, including Japan and South Korea, face heightened tariffs of up to 40% on their exports to the US from 1 August.

Financial markets don’t really believe it. Stock markets, for example, are still hovering near or at record levels in both the US and in Europe. The FTSE 100 closed above 9,000 points for the first time on Monday evening. TACO is ingrained in those values.

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But are markets in for a shock, especially when it comes to the fight with America’s single largest trading partner, the European Union? It was created, Mr Trump has previously claimed, to “screw” the United States.

It’s fair to say there was great optimism in the EU earlier this month that a deal, similar to that agreed between the US and UK, was looming to avert the worst of a threatened 30% baseline tariff from 1 August.

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Explained: The US-UK trade deal

But the mood music in Brussels changed at the back end of last week and now EU diplomats are even briefing that a broader range of retaliation measures is being considered beyond additional tariffs on US goods.

The seriousness of this fight should not be underestimated.

EU figures show trade in goods and services between the bloc and the US account for almost a third of all global trade, at a value in 2024 alone of €1.68trn (£1.45trn).

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EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic has warned that a 30% tariff would “practically prohibit” the bloc’s transatlantic trade, according to remarks via diplomats reported by the Reuters news agency.

We’re told that, even if time runs out, a truce could theoretically be agreed soon after 1 August.

Much will depend on the EU’s response.

Does it go down the route taken by the UK and not retaliate, pending the conclusion of talks?

There is growing pressure on Brussels to call Mr Trump’s bluff.

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Trump tariff threats all ‘bluster’

The EU has a package of tariffs on €21bn of US goods ready to go from 6 August. An additional package is yet to be finalised.

France is demanding US services are hit too, with even Germany now saying such an escalation should be considered.

The so-called “anti-coercion” instrument, as it’s known, would also potentially allow the bloc to limit US companies’ access to financial service markets in the EU.

So what happens after 1 August could be even more explosive.

But there is every reason to believe that a tit-for-tat escalation is unlikely, at least for long.

The very reason Donald Trump rowed back on his “liberation day” tariffs in April, allowing 90 days for talks, was likely the dire financial market reaction that followed news of the widespread duties.

You have a president demanding interest rate cuts (at a time when inflation is on the rise due to the impact of tariffs) in a bid to boost flagging economic growth.

Mr Trump says his trade war is all about boosting US manufacturing jobs but, at the end of the day, no powerbase of voters is going to accept a threat to the value of their investments for long.

No big US company will stand by and see its sales suffer.

TACO? It’s a solid bet.

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Plane crashes into college campus in Bangladesh – at least 19 people dead

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Plane crashes into college campus in Bangladesh - at least 19 people dead

At least 19 people have died after a Bangladesh air force plane crashed into a college campus, the military said.

The aircraft crashed into the campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara, in the northern area of the capital Dhaka, where students were taking tests or attending regular classes.

The pilot was one of the people killed, and, according to the military, 164 were injured in the incident.

The Bangladesh military’s public relations department added that the aircraft was an F-7 BGI, and had taken off at 1.06pm local time before crashing shortly after.

Video shows fire and smoke rising from the crash site, with hundreds looking on.

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The wreckage of an air force training aircraft after it crashed into Milestone College campus, in Dhaka.
Pic: Reuters
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Pics: Reuters

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

Bengali-language daily newspaper Prothom Alo said that most of the injured were students with burn injuries.

Firefighters and volunteers work after an air force training aircraft crashed into Milestone College campus, in Dhaka.
Pic: Reuters
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Pics: Reuters

Citing the duty officer at the fire service control room, Prothom Alo also reported that the plane had crashed on the roof of the college canteen.

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Rafiqa Taha, a 16-year-old student at the school who was not present at the time of the crash, told the Associated Press that the school has around 2,000 students.

“I was terrified watching videos on TV,” she added. “My God! It’s my school.”

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