BBC News Briefing

29 July, 2026

Sofia has long brown hair and brown eyes and is wearing a green top.

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. Fifa's World Cup sell-off proposal has sparked controversy - but might just be approved. In France, an army of volunteers are protecting their homes from raging wildfires. And finally, see how an amateur cricket game became embroiled in a cheating allegation.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Infantino's high-stakes World Cup gamble

Fifa president Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump are both dressed in suits. They are walking side by side on a football field, holding a golden World Cup trophy between the two of them.

Under Swiss law, Fifa is a non-profit organisation, meaning its ultimate goal is the long-term wellbeing of football. Credit: Getty

Fifa's proposal to sell off stakes in its football competitions - including the World Cup - to private investors has highlighted the ties boss Gianni Infantino has been building with US President Donald Trump. The investment fund Fifa is dealing with, Thrive Capital, is led by Josh Kushner, the brother-in-law of Trump's daughter Ivanka. Fifa says Greg Maffei, the former president of Formula 1 owner Liberty Media who has donated to Trump's political campaigns in the past, is acting as a "key commercial advisor". This is the boldest move Infantino has made in the decade since he became Fifa president - and he has enough support to suggest the plan is more likely to go ahead than not, writes BBC Sport senior journalist Daniel Austin.

Read Daniel's analysis

GET UP TO SPEED

Anthony Fauci sits in front of a microphone. He rests his chin on his hands. He has short white hair and blue eyes and is weating a blue suit.

Fauci refuses to answer questions at Covid hearing

The former top US health official invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Senate hearing discussing the origins of Covid-19.

What happened >

An image of Langlois and Marchand standing side by side with lush greenery behind them. He has grey hair and is wearing a black short-sleeved button-up shirt with his arm around Dominique, who is wearing a cap, a backpack and a bright purple collared t-shirt.

Two murder convictions in death of Canadian couple

Two US citizens have been found guilty of murdering the entrepreneur and his partner in the island of Dominica.

More details >

BTS withdraw from 2027 Grammys

The Korean pop group's decision follows the introduction of an Asian pop prize that some fans criticised as pigeonholing artists.

What to know >

Glen Hansard has short curly reddish/brown/grey hair and a greyr beard and is singing with two hands on the microphone and his eyes closed

Oscar-winning songwriter Glen Hansard killed in crash

The 56-year-old won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Falling Slowly in 2008, which he wrote for the film Once.

Read more >

NEWS FROM THE UK

Essex beach: The seven-year-old boy who was airlifted to hospital after he and five relatives got into difficulty in the water last week has died.

Teenage hitman: A 19-year-old who travelled from Norway to carry out a "hit" for an Iran-backed group has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

Extreme heat: Drought has been declared across more than half of England, with pictures showing the impact of the hot, dry weather.
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AT THE SCENE

Gironde, France

Battling to contain fires in searing heat

A cloud of smoke rises from behind the roof of a house surrounded by greenery.

Smoke seen from a home in Le Temple last Friday. Credit: Pierre Alexandre

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Fire crews have arrived in the south-west of France from all corners of the country to tame the wildfires that have been raging in the Gironde region for a week. As temperatures peak at around 40C (104F), fires restarting on their own are a constant threat.

James Waterhouse, correspondent

Such is the vast scale of the infernos ravaging France's Gironde region, it is not always obvious what direction the smoke is coming from. It simply descends as you travel west from Bordeaux along empty roads and through deserted villages. Controlling these wildfires is like witnessing a lethal game of "cat and mouse" or "Whack-a-Mole". An operation of containment rather than cure.

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Behind the professionals are an army of volunteers. They drive towards the danger to either deliver water or spray it themselves. "If it's too late, at least we tried," says a defiant Hugo, 26, as he refills his water tank. "Fifty thousand hectares has already been destroyed, what will we tell our children?"

Keep reading

Crete wildfire: Two Greek firefighters have died after they became trapped by a blaze that swept through the island's Rethymno area.

Two men and a woman stand in a line wearing matching tracksuit tops. They are dark blue, with lighter blue across the chest and down the arms. The man furthest from the camera wears sunglasses and a blue cap, the man in the centre is smiling and has a thick brown moustache and is wearing sunglasses and a white visor, and the woman closest to the camera has a long, brown ponytail.

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SOMETHING DIFFERENT

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