Lionel Messi has extended his MLS-record scoring streak with two more goals, which made the difference in a 2-1 victory for hosts Inter Miami over Nashville SC in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The 38-year-old’s brace on Saturday helped Inter Miami (11-3-5, 38 points) snap a club-record 15-game unbeaten streak across all competitions for Nashville (12-5-5, 41 points), which lost for the first time since April 19 at Seattle.
Messi scored two or more goals for the fifth consecutive time in an MLS match, which is a league record.
Inter Miami improved to 4-0-1 in its last five matches with Nashville while also winning their fifth consecutive MLS match overall. Miami has won three in a row since it was eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 at the FIFA Club World Cup on June 29.
Messi capitalised on a major mistake by Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis to strike for what turned out to be the match-winning goal in the 62nd minute. Willis chested a ball and tried to clear it out of his zone but kicked it right in Messi’s direction.
Messi intercepted it with his left foot, then worked the ball around Willis and fired it home to put Miami ahead for good.
The goal came 13 minutes after Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar tied the game at 1-1 with a perfectly timed header off a pinpoint cross from distance by Andy Najar. It was Mukhtar’s 10th goal of the season. Patrick Yazbek also had an assist.
Messi’s first goal came in the 17th minute on another spectacular free-kick score. Messi fired a ball precisely through a gap in the wall set up by Nashville’s defenders, and it found the mark just out of the reach of a diving Willis.
Messi with his 16 goals this season is tied for the most in the league with Nashville’s Sam Surridge, who was kept off the scoresheet on Saturday. Messi has 23 goal contributions in MLS games this season and has 22 goals across all competitions.
Each side returns to action on Wednesday as Inter Miami will play at Cincinnati and Nashville will host Columbus.
Messi scores his team’s match-winning second goal against Nashville in the 62nd minute [Chandan Khanna/AFP]
Demolition operations being conducted by Israel in Gaza’s southern Rafah Governorate have been stepped up sharply, an investigation by Al Jazeera’s Sanad investigations unit has found.
Israel’s defence ministry has announced a plan to relocate 600,000 people into what observers say would be “concentration camps” in the area in southern Gaza, with plans to expand this to the Strip’s entire population.
Sanad’s analysis of satellite imagery up to July 4, 2025, shows the number of demolished buildings in Rafah rising to about 28,600, up from 15,800 on April 4, 2025, according to data from the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).
This means that approximately 12,800 buildings were destroyed between early April and early July alone – a marked acceleration in demolitions that has coincided with Israel’s new push into Rafah launched in late March 2025.
‘Humanitarian city’
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, told reporters on Monday that an initial 600,000 Palestinians living in the coastal al-Mawasi area would be transferred to Rafah, the location for what he called a new “humanitarian city” for Palestinians, within 60 days of any agreed ceasefire deal.
According to Katz, the entire civilian population of Gaza – more than 2 million people – will eventually be relocated to this southern city.
A proposal seen by Reuters carrying the name of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) detailed plans for a “Humanitarian Transit Area” in which Gaza residents would “temporarily reside, deradicalise, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so”.
The minister said Israel hopes to encourage Palestinians to “voluntarily emigrate” from the Gaza Strip to other countries, adding that this plan “should be fulfilled”.
He also stressed that the plan would not be run by the Israeli army, but by international bodies, without specifying which organisations would be implementing it.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) – which has been banned by Israel – warned against the latest mass forced displacement plan.
“This would de facto create massive concentration camps at the border with Egypt for the Palestinians, displaced over and over across generations,” he said, adding that it would “deprive Palestinians of any prospects of a better future in their homeland”.
Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera that the plan was “for all facts and purposes a concentration camp” for Palestinians in southern Gaza, meaning that Israel is committing “what is an overt crime against humanity under international humanitarian law”.
(Al Jazeera)
“It should be taken very seriously,” he said, and questioned the feasibility of the task of “concentrating the Palestinian population in a locked city where they would be let in but not let out”.
The sheer scale of the destruction, and some exceptions
For now, Rafah, which was once home to an estimated 275,000 people, lies largely in ruins. The scale of Israeli destruction since April this year is particularly apparent when examining specific neighbourhoods of Rafah.
Al-Zohour neighbourhood
Al-Jnaina neighbourhood
Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood
Since Israel breached the last ceasefire agreement with Hamas on March 19, its forces have directly targeted several institutions.
Sanad has identified six educational facilities that have been destroyed, including some located in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, west of Rafah City.
However, satellite data shows that several key facilities have been spared; 40 educational institutions – 39 schools and one university – are intact. Eight medical centres also remain standing.
Sanad has concluded that this noticeable pattern of selective destruction strongly suggests that the preservation of these facilities in Rafah is unlikely to be a coincidence.
Rather, it indicates that Israel aims to use these sites in the next phase of its proposed plan to displace the entire population of Gaza to Rafah.
The spared educational and medical buildings already serve as critical humanitarian shelters for tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
The war’s initial wave of displacement from northern to southern Gaza resulted in an overwhelming influx of people into the 154 UN facilities across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip, including schools, warehouses and health centres.
According to UNRWA’s Situation Report in January 2024, these facilities were by then sheltering approximately 1.4 million displaced people, an average of 9,000 people per facility, while an additional 500,000 people were receiving support from other services.
The report also notes that in some shelters, the number exceeds 12,000, four times their intended capacity.
According to UNRWA’s latest report on July 5 this year, 1.9 million people remain displaced in Gaza.
Satellite imagery analysis of the Rafah area from May 2024 to May 2025 reveals that Israeli forces carried out a two-phase operation in Rafah, including in areas which had been designated for humanitarian aid distribution.
Phase One began with the launch of a military offensive in May 2024, during which most buildings in targeted zones in most of eastern Rafah and parts of western Rafah were demolished.
Phase Two, which began in April this year, involves the continued demolition of remaining residential buildings. This phase also included land levelling and the construction of access roads to facilitate the operation of these aid centres.
British Israeli analyst Daniel Levy told Al Jazeera that Israel intends to use Rafah “as a staging post to ethnically cleanse, physically remove, as many Palestinians as possible from the landscape”.
The distribution of aid, which is now under the monopoly of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is run by private US contractors guarded by Israeli troops, is also “a premeditated part of a plan of social-demographic engineering to move Palestinians – to relocate, displace and kettle them,” Levy said.
Ceasefire talks
Katz’s announcement came a day after Netanyahu arrived in the US to meet US President Donald Trump, as the latter pushes for a deal to end the war in Gaza and bring back the remaining Hamas-held captives.
Netanyahu stressed his opposition to any deal that would ultimately leave Hamas in power in Gaza. “Twenty living hostages remain and 30 who are fallen. I am determined, we are determined, to bring back all of them,” he told reporters before boarding his plane. He added, however: “We are determined to ensure that Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel.”
“That means one thing: eliminating Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. Hamas will not be there,” he said.
An Israeli negotiating team was in Doha this week for indirect talks with Hamas. Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the latest ceasefire proposal, which provides for the release, in five separate stages, of 10 living and 18 dead captives, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire, an influx of humanitarian aid to the Strip and the release of many Palestinian detainees currently held in Israeli prisons.
Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the GHF distribution centre, in Rafah on June 5, 2025 [Reuters]
Hamas gave what it called a “positive” response to the proposal, stressing its reservations about the temporary nature of the proposed truce and making some demands.
Netanyahu’s office called Hamas’s stipulations, concerning aid mechanisms and Israel’s military withdrawal, “unacceptable”.
Ethnic cleansing: the ‘end game’
A sticking point remains Israel’s control of the Morag Corridor, just north of Rafah, which would allow Israel to control and isolate Rafah, facilitating the implementation of the mass expulsion plan.
In his remarks on Monday, Katz said Israel would use a potential 60-day ceasefire to establish the new “humanitarian zone” south of the corridor, and that the army would hold nearly 70 percent of Gaza’s territory.
Gideon Levy, Israeli columnist for Haaretz, told Al Jazeera negotiations were unlikely to result in more than a temporary ceasefire, whith the release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners, as “Netanyahu doesn’t want an end to the war.”
While Trump could pressure his ally into a permanent deal, the US president does not seem inclined to pull his weight, observers say.
“The end game is an ethnic cleansing,” Levy said. “Will it be implemented? I have my doubts.
TV’s Dr Hilary Jones is highlighting a little known fact about NHS Patient Choice which can help others find appointments for surgeries and treatments for free and without a long waiting list
Dr Hilary Jones travelled hundreds of miles to avoid a long NHS waiting list(Image: Simon Stacpoole/PinPep / SWNS)
ITV star Dr Hilary Jones has been recovering in hospital after travelling 180 miles to seek treatment – in order to avoid a huge waiting list. The 72-year-old TV doctor is encouraging others to also travel hundreds of miles, if necessary, in order to avoid being left in agony while waiting for a local facility to have time to offer treatment.
Dr Hilary, who has discussed his need to undergo a hip replacement in the past, hopes to spread the news that private medical facilities can be accessed by NHS patients free of charge in order to receive treatment sooner. And by utilising this less known service, there could be a knock on effect that NHS hospitals will become under less strain.
The star – who is known for appearing on shows including ITV’s Lorraine and Good Morning Britain – is bringing a spotlight to NHS Patient Choice which he used to find a hospital that had next to no waiting list to seek treatment there. Patient Choice is an NHS service that gives people the option to search for private facilities, hospitals and other providers that they can have access to.
Private hospitals can even be accessed as long as they provide the same service that the NHS would offer – with patients granted access without being billed for it.
Dr Hilary is a spokesperson for Practice Plus Group and he was able to use a new hospital in Birmingham in order to get treated faster. Discussing his use of the hospital, the TV star said, per the Express: “It was 180 miles from my home to Birmingham, but as it’s a new hospital and it’s a private hospital that treats NHS patients, they could get me in very quickly just with a referral from my GP.
The TV star avoided a long waiting list to receive a hip replacement(Image: Simon Stacpoole/PinPep / SWNS)
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat for faster, quality care and highly recommend it. Patient Choice gives people real power – they just need to know it’s there. The NHS App is going to be developed further to make this easier, and you can speak to your GP about your choices. You can choose to be referred to a private hospital at the outset, or you can switch hospitals like I did if you’re facing delays locally.
“It’s free for the patient and costs the NHS no more than if that same patient had their op at an NHS hospital. For people like me, who are lucky enough to be mobile despite needing an operation, it makes complete sense to find a hospital that can do your operation sooner so you can get on the road to recovery sooner.
“People don’t want to be on a waiting list. They want to get on with their lives. Every single person that looked after me was amazing and couldn’t have done any more. I am delighted with the result so far.”
Dr Hilary has shared how other people can also get treated faster by utilising the NHS Patient Choice service(Image: Simon Stacpoole/PinPep / SWNS)
His decision to use the facility comes after Practice Plus Group commissioned a survey by OnePoll to question 1,000 adults suffering from chronic aches and pains, including those who were looking for surgical solutions.
The research revealed that a majority would opt to travel an average of 60 miles for treatment if it could be received within three to four weeks, or 49 miles if the waiting time was between six and eight weeks. And 10% of those surveyed said they would be happy to travel more than 200 miles if an NHS surgery could be scheduled within a month.
Last year, Dr Hilary shared details of his surgery and also highlighted that members of the public had a way to gain treatment faster. He said in a statement shared via the Practice Plus Group website: “I know from my own hip replacement surgery that these ‘routine’ and ‘non-urgent’ operations are truly life-changing. Living with pain and not being able to do the things you love is exhausting and debilitating.
“Fast access to surgery, if this is what you need, will help you re-gain your mobility, your fitness and quality of life. It’s no surprise therefore that going private has become more and more common since the pandemic and is no longer considered just for the rich. But many people are unaware they can also go to a private hospital as an NHS patient, free of charge, and often sooner than waiting for NHS hospitals.”
He continued: “Under the NHS constitution you have a legal right to choose which hospital to have your NHS treatment in, and this often includes private hospitals. If your GP, physio or other healthcare professional says they’re going to refer you to a consultant at a hospital in Birmingham, ask for a list of options so you can compare waiting lists and locations.
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“You also have a right to switch from one hospital waiting list to another if you’ve been waiting for more than 18 weeks for surgery and can travel out of your area. My advice is always to discuss your options with your GP to help you get back to your best as soon as possible.”
EastEnders star Bobby Brazier has opened up for the first time about his family’s estrangement to brother Freddy
Bobby has spoken about his brother(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Percival)
Bobby Brazier has shocked his fans as he said “there’s things I don’t like” about his troubled brother Freddy. The EastEnders star has been opening up for the first time about the family rift involving his brother.
Freddy has been spending more time with late mother Jade Goody’s mum Jackiey Budden – much to the upset of his dad Bobby Brazier. Breaking his silence about the feud, Bobby has now hinted that he and his young sibling don’t always see eye to eye. Bobby said he believes that when Freddy ‘grows up’ their relationship will improve.
Bobby Brazier has spoken about the reported feud(Image: jeffbrazier/Instagram)
READ MORE: Bobby Brazier fumes brother Freddy ‘needs to grow up’ amid family rift
Bobby told The Sun on Sunday: “‘Freddy’s very sensitive and wants to please. And when he grows up a little bit that will serve him well.
“There are things I don’t like about him and there are things about me he doesn’t like. Freddy will be OK, I don’t know if he looks up to me, but I look up to him in many ways, but he’s a good boy.”
Freddy said he was going to go to rehab for ‘addiction’ but these plans then fell through after he took himself on a lads’ holiday instead.
It has been reported that the brother’s father Jeff Brazier has set up a court date to stop Freddy seeing his maternal grandmother Jackiey Budden due to concerns over his wellbeing.
Freddy said at the time: “I’ve decided that I will be cutting down and I want to go to Rehab In Marbs as I feel if I’m in England I won’t take getting clean seriously.
“I’ve been smoking from the age of 12 and it’s time to stop. It was a bad coping mechanism that turned into an addiction, something I relied on and something that made me feel sane and some what OK.
“I’ve found a boxing club and a rehabilitation centre. I’ve found someone I want to get to know and I’m happy. I got a good bunch of friends and I [want to] get out and enjoy myself.
“I want to be clean so I can live happily and have healthy relationships with people and be there for all of my family rather then feeling like I’m in the middle and have to choose a side.”
He added: “I haven’t been able to feel loved properly as I have never loved myself and it starts now. I want to play football and take up boxing I want to be happy and be in a healthy relationship and have a healthy relationship with my Nana and my father.”
However, these plans then fell through as he told followers he thought he didn’t need rehab. In another social media post, Freddy wrote: “You know what I don’t need rehab! I just need a holiday with a good group of boys or a retreat.”
Freddy and Bobby lost their mother Jade Goody as she died from cervical cancer in 2009 and they have since been raised by their dad Jeff.
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Ireland and Leinster tight-head prop Tom Clarkson will join the British and Irish Lions squad to provide additional front row cover before the first Test against Australia on Saturday.
The 25-year-old was given his Ireland debut by Andy Farrell, the Lions head coach, in November and has gone on to win eight caps.
England hooker Jamie George was called up by the Lions on Saturday, with Luke Cowan-Dickie a doubt for the first Test in Brisbane after suffering a suspected concussion in Saturday’s big win against the AUNZ Invitational XV.
Ireland’s leading tight-head props Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham are already in Australia, with Clarkson linking up after starting Ireland’s 106-7 win over Portugal on Saturday to bring the Irish contingent in the squad up to 18 players.
Clarkson has benefited from Furlong’s injury troubles this season at both club and international level.
His Leinster and Ireland team-mate Jamie Osborne, who is comfortable at centre and full-back, has arrived in Brisbane after being called up earlier in the week as training cover for Blair Kinghorn.
A major soap star had been looking forward to putting themselves through challenges as a contestant on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins – only to be forced out of the competition before it even began
A major star has been forced to quit Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins(Image: PA)
Famous stars have been known to suffer injury while competing on Channel 4’s brutal reality show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and forced to drop out of the contest. But now one star may have achieved a first for the long-running reality show – by being forced out of the show before they even made it to filming.
Soap icon Patsy Kensit was due to take part in the upcoming new season of the show. However, it appears her training in advance of the physical duration show left her too injured to take part.
Patsy, 57 – famous for playing Sadie King in Emmerdale and Emma Harding in EastEnders – had been taking her involvement in the show seriously and hitting the gym hard in order to get herself prepared for the trials that she would face on the show. Who Dares Wins sees contestants endure physical and psychological tests that the armed forced would experience in order to prove their mettle and determination.
But now it has been revealed that Patsy was sent home when she turned up to take part in the new filming as she had injured herself ahead of the cameras starting to roll. A source has explained that showmakers ordered the actress to return home to avoid any risk of further injury.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: “Patsy had been running at pace on a treadmill while wearing a weighted backpack filled with books and weights as part of her intense training regime. The added weight caused her to lose balance and fall backwards off the machine, bruising her arm and shoulder in the process.”
Patsy Kensit broke her arm – forcing her out of the show(Image: Getty Images)
The source added: “She even flew out to Morocco, where the filming was taking place, but production soon spotted the injury and she was sent home.”
The Mirror has contacted representatives of Channel 4 for comment, while a spokesperson for Patsy said: “The production company Minow who make Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins, were amazing the way they looked after Patsy. Their duty of care was second to none and very impressive. Patsy is on the mend and will of course make a full recovery.”
Earlier this month, Patsy was spotted with her arm in a sling while she attended a gala performance of the Faulty Towers theatre show in London’s West End.
Asked about her injury at the time, the star revealed: “I broke my shoulder in 3 places 3 weeks ago!!! I’m healing and a slight boogie with my besties I’m staying with this week will be a tonic for sure …”
The soap icon has been managing to enjoy herself despite her injury(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
While the star has been enjoying nights out despite her injury, there is one event she has made clear she won’t attend – the Oasis reunion tour dates.
Patsy was married to singer Liam Gallagher, 52, from 1997 until 2000 and they share 25-year-old son Lennon Gallagher together. Appearing on Good Morning Britain recently, Patsty revealed she was pleased to see her ex back on tour as Oasis and that her son would have the chance to see his dad perform with the iconic band – who famously split in 2009.
She told the ITV show: “My 24-year-old son, he’ll be there and he’ll have a lovely time. Great for him to see all of that and I’m happy for his dad, I think it’s a wonderful thing. But I won’t be attending.”
Oasis kicked off their Live ’25 Tour in Cardiff, Wales, earlier this month and this weekend they have been thrilling fans in their native Manchester. Liam and older brother Noel Gallagher, 58, have been singing to 80,000 strong crowds at Heaton Park where they belted out 23 of thier biggest hits.
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The brothers – who shocked fans last year by announcing they had buried the hatchet to reform their group and hit the road again – will be on tour until late November. They have 41 dates set over the coming months – with the climax of the tour set to take place on 23 November in Brazil.
The tour has won rave reveiws from fans and critics alike. The Mirror’s Daniel Bird said: “Walking out at Heaton Park, you could never have imagined that there was once a feud between the two siblings. Putting on a united front, the two legends walked out to their 2000 track, F***in’ In The Bushes, to a crowd of 80,000 people, with the atmosphere instantly becoming electric.”
