President Trump again insists the US has ‘total control’ of the strait, while Tehran is resolute that Washington must meet its demands.
Published On 13 Aug 202613 Aug 2026
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Last week’s joint intervention by the United States and Japan to support the Japanese yen has raised fresh questions about the future of international currency coordination, as the operation proceeded without broader participation from other Group of Seven (G7) economies.
Although the intervention temporarily strengthened the yen, analysts argue that the absence of coordinated action from Europe and other major economies reflects a broader decline in multilateral economic cooperation and a growing preference for bilateral deals under the Trump administration.
The intervention was jointly carried out by Washington and Tokyo after the yen weakened to multi decade lows against the U.S. dollar. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama later confirmed the operation and defended its objectives.
The yen has largely maintained its gains since the intervention, although investors remain uncertain whether further support will follow or whether the Bank of Japan will reinforce the move through additional interest rate increases.
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One key factor behind U.S. involvement appears to have been concerns over the U.S. Treasury market.
Japan remains the largest foreign holder of U.S. government bonds. A large unilateral intervention by Tokyo would likely have required selling significant amounts of U.S. Treasuries to obtain dollars for prolonged currency operations, potentially disrupting already volatile bond markets.
By participating directly, the United States reportedly helped provide dollar liquidity while selling euros rather than dollars, reducing pressure on Treasury markets and limiting broader financial instability.
Despite the shared interest among G7 economies in preventing excessive currency volatility, other members of the group did not participate.
Historically, major currency interventions have often involved coordinated action across the G7. Following Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami, G7 nations jointly intervened to weaken an excessively strong yen. Earlier coordinated efforts also included interventions supporting the euro in 2000 and global liquidity operations after the September 11 attacks.
In contrast, the latest operation remained strictly bilateral, even though the United States reportedly sold euros during the intervention without direct European participation.
The European Central Bank declined to comment publicly, while the International Monetary Fund has also remained largely silent.
The intervention reflects a broader shift in U.S. foreign economic policy under President Donald Trump, whose administration has increasingly favored bilateral negotiations over multilateral coordination.
Rather than pursuing comprehensive international agreements similar to the Plaza Accord or Louvre Accord, Washington has increasingly relied on country specific arrangements.
Japan has also deepened bilateral economic cooperation with the United States, including major investment commitments linked to previous tariff negotiations, reinforcing this new framework.
U.S. officials also pointed to wider regional concerns.
Treasury Secretary Bessent argued that continued yen weakness risked placing downward pressure on other Asian currencies, particularly South Korea’s won, as exporters sought to remain competitive with Japanese manufacturers.
China’s yuan remains another major regional factor, although Beijing falls outside the G7 framework. Broader discussions involving China are expected only at future G20 meetings.
For decades, the G7 served as the primary forum for coordinated responses to major currency instability.
From stabilizing the euro during its early years to responding collectively after major financial crises, coordinated interventions carried significant market credibility because they demonstrated unified political and monetary commitment.
The latest U.S. Japan intervention marks a departure from that tradition, suggesting that future currency management may increasingly rely on bilateral arrangements rather than collective action.
The U.S. Japan intervention highlights more than an attempt to stabilize the yen. It reflects a structural shift in global economic governance. The declining role of coordinated G7 action suggests that multilateral mechanisms are gradually giving way to transactional bilateral partnerships, particularly under the Trump administration.
While bilateral interventions may offer quicker and more flexible responses, they lack the collective market impact that historically made G7 operations highly effective. The absence of Europe and other major economies also raises questions about the future cohesion of the G7 as a forum for managing global financial stability.
For investors, this evolving landscape increases uncertainty. Without unified international coordination, currency markets may become more volatile as governments pursue national interests independently rather than through collective action. Whether future administrations restore broader multilateral cooperation or continue this bilateral approach will shape the next phase of global foreign exchange policy.
With information from Reuters.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Sophie Cunningham said she’s unconcerned that the rallies against transgender participation in women’s sports that have accompanied the Indiana’s Fever’s recent games are a distraction for the WNBA team.
Cunningham made the comments before the Fever’s game Friday night against the Portland Fire. Outside, a group rallied for the second consecutive game in support of Cunningham and her recent comments about transgender athletes.
“I think at the end of the day, I come in and I do my job,” Cunningham said. “I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I’m full of love. I’m bubbly. I love the people around me. I love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn’t even cross my mind. Doesn’t cross my teammates’ minds.
“And again, I’m here to play basketball, but I’m also here to be me, and I’m not gonna like shadow that or hide or, you know, dim my light just because maybe people don’t agree with that.”
Portland’s rally came after a similar rally for Cunningham earlier in the week before the Fever’s game at the Seattle Storm. Both rallies only attracted about two dozen participants and a bevy of onlookers.
“I have honestly had nothing to do with them,” Cunningham said. “I think it’s people just practicing their rights of freedom of speech and doing what other fans have been doing since the WNBA has started. And so props to them, props to everyone who is able to be competent and be bold and courageous enough to to speak their truths.”
People rally in Portland to support WNBA star Sophie Cunningham after her comments on transgender athletes in women’s sports.
(Craig Mitchelldyer / Associated Press)
Another rally was planned for Sunday in Minneapolis when the Fever play the Minnesota Lynx.
In Seattle on Tuesday, two Cunningham supporters sat courtside at Climate Change Arena holding signs. A co-owner of the Storm, Celeste Keaton was later fined an undisclosed amount and suspended for five games by the WNBA for an exchange with the two supporters.
The Storm also apologized for the incident, but did not provide details about the exchange, releasing a statement that said: “We remain committed to creating a welcoming and respectful environment for anyone who attends a Storm game.”
The Seattle rally promoted statewide ballot initiative, IL26-638, that would bar transgender students from participating in girls’ athletics at Washington schools. It also praised Cunningham, who voiced support for barring transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports in recent interviews.
“I am here to be a cheerleader for Sophie Cunningham, who has so bravely put her head above the parapet to protect women and girls in our sports and in our locker rooms,” said Amy Souza, who was among those at the Portland rally. “I was an organizer of this event, I was a co-organizer of the Seattle event. I’m also here, standing in solidarity with those teen girls who, unfortunately, were harassed when they were just trying to be fans of the sport, fans of Sophie Cunningham.”
Cunningham was booed by the Moda Center crowd in Portland when she entered the game midway though the first quarter. Many waved small pink, blue and white transgender flags.
The Fever defeated the Fire 112-98 for their fifth straight win. Cunningham finished with 13 points and Caitlin Clark had her fourth career triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Coach Stephanie White said she was concerned that the controversy was distracting from the team’s play.
“You know there is a frustration, of course, because we want to we want to talk about basketball and we want to continue to work on our game and we want to continue to grow as a team.,” White said. “But I also understand this is part of our growth edge as a league, right?
“It’s part of our growth as a league, and we have to to be able to manage, we have to be able to insulate as much as we can, and then we have to be able to lead with conversation.”
Oman’s proposal is based on the Strait of Malacca in East Asia, a model whereby ships that use the strait provide voluntary fees.
Published On 28 Jul 202628 Jul 2026
Iran and Oman have exchanged proposals regarding the future management of the Strait of Hormuz, as points of contention continue to exist between the two nations whose territorial waters border the strategic waterway.
Oman presented a proposal to Iran for a joint regional mechanism to manage the Strait of Hormuz with “voluntary fees”, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Under the Omani proposal, which reportedly has regional backing, Iran would not exercise sole control of the strait, an unnamed Gulf source and Western diplomat told the news agency.
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Oman’s proposal is reportedly based on the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships that use the strait to voluntarily contribute to fund navigation, environmental protection, and search-and-rescue operations.
This proposal aims to contribute to ending the global disruption to trade caused by the strait’s closure in the US-Israeli war on Iran. Tehran, however, says the strait cannot go back to its pre-war status where shipping flowed freely,
In comments to Iranian state media on Tuesday, Kazem Gharibabadi, the country’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said Tehran rejects an Omani proposal for an equal division of transit routes between the two countries, as such a plan does not address Tehran’s security concerns.
Gharibabadi said that Tehran proposed to Oman that Iran would manage shipping through its side of the strait and Muscat would manage part but not all of the opposite lane.
He added that Tehran has “no plans to negotiate with the US”, but affirmed talks are proceeding “step by step” with Oman, warning that Tehran will consider “any action” to maintain control over the strait, including the resumption of war.
“The Omanis are now suggesting three lines for the maritime traffic: one that runs through Iran’s territorial waters, an international one, and one through Omani territorial waters,” said Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran. “Despite public statements, our sources tell us Iran is demonstrating some flexibility.”
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, also reporting from Tehran, said there remain many “points of contention” between Oman and Iran on Hormuz. These include the trajectory of the ships, the fees, the question of who will define the arrangements, and mine clearances – which will reportedly be Iran’s responsibility.
Paul Musgrave, a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said Oman’s proposal to Iran to get the Strait of Hormuz running again is positive, but it remains to be seen if hardliners in Iran will go for it.
Musgrave noted that under the Strait of Malacca model, voluntary contributions raise about $70m annually, far from the $1m per ship that’s reportedly been proposed by Tehran as a “service fee” in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers met via video call on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments in the conflict, including ways to improve cooperation on issues surrounding freedom and navigation through the waterway, a statement from the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.
The United States suspended a nearly two-week-long campaign of air strikes against Iran over the weekend after pressure from regional mediators to find a diplomatic solution and to return to the memorandum of understanding signed in June, which would allow shipping to resume in the Strait of Hormuz. The strait carried one-fifth of global energy supplies before the February 28 start of the US-Israel war on Iran.
SACRAMENTO — As the architect of a one-time tax on California billionaires, Dave Regan says he’s pushing the measure to raise $100 billion to protect low-income patients, workers and hospitals from President Trump’s cuts to healthcare.
The behind-the-scenes negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office in June to pull the measure off the ballot, however, revealed another possible goal, according to two sources familiar with the talks who requested anonymity to share details of the discussions with The Times.
Regan, the president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, asked for union contracts with two hospitals in San Diego and Fresno and a clinic in Imperial County, among a list of sweeping demands to grow his union, in exchange for rescinding the measure, the sources said.
The union leader denied that he asked for concessions for his union in exchange for removing the billionaire tax from the ballot, calling the allegations “categorically false.”
“We are trying to solve a problem,” Regan said. “The problem is to prevent a catastrophe in California’s healthcare system. We put forward a proposal. Nobody else has offered a solution, and none of what you are referencing happened.”
The talks failed to result in a deal and the measure will appear as Proposition 40 on the November ballot, leaving California voters to decide pivotal tax policy that has roiled the Democratic Party and opponents worry could ultimately reduce revenue for the state budget.
The terms Regan allegedly laid out raise the question of whether he intended for the billionaire tax to go on the ballot, or if it was designed as a leverage play to expand his union, which represents more than 120,000 workers and is among the largest healthcare unions in the nation.
Regan, who has been elected to five consecutive terms as union president since 2011, has a record of launching ballot initiatives at the state and local level to use as leverage for union expansion and to thwart his political opponents.
His foes say that this year he went too far.
“It’s no secret in Sacramento that the ballot initiative has been used this way by UHW as a weapon,” said Francisco Silva, president of the California Primary Care Assn., which represents community clinics. “They’ve been very vocal about it and we think it’s a bigger risk to the safety net than any benefit that it brings.”
Known as a stubborn negotiator and a brash personality, Regan has filed multiple ballot initiatives against the healthcare industry.
His opponents say his strategy centers on launching initiatives that would hurt employers, which forces them to come to the table to negotiate. Regan’s union then requests union contracts or other concessions that could pave the way for a collective bargaining agreement. If employers resist, the initiative advances to the ballot. Voters consistently reject his measures, but companies still spend millions of dollars campaigning against them.
Over the years, Regan has proposed multiple measures that would have limited charges and executive salaries at hospitals and dropped the initiatives after landing temporary deals with the California Hospital Assn. that could help his union’s organizing efforts.
This year, UHW agreed to call off an initiative to again cap compensation for hospital leaders, and the hospital association rescinded its dueling proposal to require the union to seek approval from its members to spend more than $1 million on a statewide ballot measure campaign.
Regan led and lost measures against the dialysis industry in 2018, 2020 and 2022 as he struggled to force dialysis companies to recognize his union and negotiate a contract.
Silva accused Regan of using the same playbook in negotiations around another measure on the November ballot, Proposition 44, which would restrict spending at nonprofit community health clinics.
Regan drafted Proposition 44 to require that community clinics spend 90% of revenue on patient services, which he said ensures that money is aligned with the mission of the health centers. But Silva said the measure dramatically reduces funding for other essential services in the community care model, such as community outreach, education, overhead costs, technology and medical equipment investments, and programs that bring people living on the streets into the healthcare system.
About 70% of the patients community clinics serve are insured through Medi-Cal, and the rest are either on Medicare or uninsured, with a small portion on private insurance, Silva said. The measure would result in layoffs and clinics being forced to close, and ultimately reduce access to care for low-income Californians, he said.
“One of the things that stands out that really highlights the abuse of the ballot initiative process in this instance is that the substance of what’s on the ballot has nothing to do with what he wants to negotiate with us,” Silva said. “The request was to guarantee 25,000 workers, or else.”
Regan also denied that he asked the clinics to support his unionization efforts in exchange for dropping Proposition 44.
“We wanted to construct a relationship with the clinic association that prioritized appropriate funding of the community clinics in California, including restoring the healthcare cuts that were introduced by the ‘One Big [Beautiful] Bill,’” Regan said. “It was a strategic relationship where we’re working in a mutually cooperative way to properly fund the healthcare system to respect workers, and they were not interested in that.”
Regan’s opponents say his strategy runs afoul of the purpose of direct democracy and pushes the bounds of legality.
During negotiations on the billionaire tax, essentially put the onus on Newsom to force unrelated private hospitals and clinics to unionize their employees, the sources said.
Despite a desire to call off the tax measure, Newsom’s office couldn’t provide guarantees to satisfy Regan’s demands, according to those sources.
California legislators changed state law in 2014 to provide more flexibility around initiative negotiations and to allow proponents to pull measures off the ballot after they gather enough signatures and qualify for the election, said Mary-Beth Moylan, an associate professor of law at McGeorge School of Law.
State law also prohibits a proponent of an initiative from bargaining for money or a thing of value in exchange for abandoning their measure, which hasn’t been tested in court, she said.
“I think the intention behind the law allowing the ballot measures to be negotiated off was that the negotiation would be for the Legislature to do the thing that you’re bringing about in the measure,” Moylan said. “It is not to use it as leverage for obtaining something else.”
Regan’s wealth measure retroactively applies a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires who were residing in California as of Jan. 1, 2026.
He and advocates of his proposal cast it as a solution to the healthcare cuts from the Trump administration. It comes as the progressive message on wealth inequality has gained support in California and beyond.
“What’s remarkable about the situation is that everyone — the governor, the Legislature, the healthcare industry — everyone agrees that the ‘One Big Beautiful’ bill is going to result in 3.5 million people losing healthcare coverage, 150,000 frontline healthcare workers losing their jobs, community clinics and hospitals closing, and all of us who buy or receive our healthcare through job-based insurance are spending more on premiums, deductibles, and copays because the legislation defunded healthcare and in return gave yet another round of huge tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans,” Regan said. “That’s why we have put Proposition 40 forward.”
Newsom contends that Regan’s solution won’t work.
Instead of paying more California taxes, billionaires would simply pick up and move to another state with a lower tax rate before the start of the year, the governor warned. The state budget is dependent on income taxes the rich pay on stock market and similar profits.
A report from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University estimated that the tax would generate only $40 billion, not the $100 billion proponents claim, largely because of an expected exodus of billionaires. Overall, the tax would result in an estimated loss for the state of $24.7 billion, with the permanent decline in future income tax revenue due to billionaire migration eclipsing any gains from the one-time levy, according to the report.
Regan rejected the findings of the report and cast doubt on the amount of taxes that billionaires actually pay in California.
Newsom sought to negotiate with Regan to remove the billionaire tax from the ballot before the beginning of the year. At the time, Regan said he wanted an extra $20 billion for healthcare in 2027-28, which is beyond Newsom’s time in office and not something the outgoing governor could promise, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations.
Regan said he never asked for $20 billion in funding for healthcare to remove the billionaire tax from the ballot. He said he was open to hearing alternative solutions that never came.
“But did we ever make a proposal, or did we ever receive a proposal for something different?” Regan said. “The answer is no.”
In the spring, Newsom began working to form a coalition against the initiative that includes Planned Parenthood, doctors and firefighters while billionaires launched a series of counterproposals.
In an unusual split within labor, major unions such as the California Teachers Assn. and the State Building and Construction Trades Council oppose the measure. Teamsters California and AFSCME California joined Regan. The SEIU California State Council and California Federation of Labor Unions have yet to take positions.
Under California law, proponents had until June 25 to rescind measures that earned enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Negotiations picked up again to remove the measure from the ballot shortly before the deadline. Two sources said Regan’s demands changed and allegedly had nothing to do with raising money to offset federal healthcare cuts.
Sources said Regan said he wanted union contracts with two private hospitals and a health clinic, an organizing neutrality agreement with healthcare clinics statewide, recognition of his union from dialysis clinics and for billionaires to remove measures they launched in response to his tax.
Newsom’s office said they couldn’t force private companies to do anything. The governor’s aides offered an alternative plan to dedicate around $7 billion over several years to healthcare funding in California, which didn’t move Regan.
“There were no negotiations,” Regan said about the billionaire tax.
Days before the deadline to pull the wealth tax measure from the ballot, UHW announced an offer to reduce the billionaire tax from 5% to 2% of net worth that the union said Newsom rejected. Sources said the compromise was first offered in a press release and did not reflect any serious negotiation.
Regan set a goal to add 25,000 new members by this year and has so far added around 8,000, according to the union’s website.
In exchange for removing the billionaire tax from the ballot, sources said one of Regan’s demands was for Newsom’s office to get involved with battles for union contracts at hospitals in Fresno and San Diego and a clinic in the Imperial Valley.
The union is tied up in labor disputes over recent attempts to unionize facilities in two of those places — Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and Innercare, a community clinic in El Centro.
The dialysis industry became a ballot target for Regan three election cycles in a row as he attempted to unionize its workers.
The battle is on pause after dialysis companies agreed to not oppose a $25 minimum wage increase for healthcare workers and UHW agreed to not target the industry in legislation or ballot measures through the end of this year, but the fight turned DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care into major political donors in state campaigns.
California’s billionaire class is also increasing its presence in state politics.
Billionaires pushed two measures on the November ballot that seek to neutralize the billionaire tax and block new taxes on personal property and assets and require audits of new programs funded with special taxes.
The billionaire tax has also become a national rallying cry for the political left, drawing the high-profile support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others who are fed up with wealth inequality. Opponents of Proposition 40 have questioned whether any of the solutions Regan proposed would have been enough for him to remove the measure from the ballot and avoid the wrath of progressives who backed the tax.
Sacramento political observers say the unintended consequences of Regan’s tax measure are already reshaping California politics.
“When he did the billionaire tax, all these people who never engaged in politics finally woke up,” said Jim DeBoo, a Democratic consultant and former chief of staff to Newsom. “And they aren’t going away.”
The measure is causing a rift within the SEIU California State Council, an umbrella organization that represents more than 700,000 workers from all SEIU unions including UHW.
The billionaire tax only benefits healthcare. SEIU, which also represents workers in the public sector, nursing homes, child care and other service industries, has become a target of California’s wealthiest new political players despite most of its union members gaining nothing from the measure.
Billionaires and their companies, including Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, venture capitalist Tim Draper, Google and Meta have spent nearly $30 million on a successful campaign to oppose SEIU-backed progressive candidates or boost moderate Democrats in legislative races. The same donors spent only $50,000 on independent expenditures in legislative races in the entire 2024 election cycle.
Shaudi Fulp, a political strategist working with Larsen and Draper, said a new governor and lawmakers present an opportunity to build fresh governing coalitions around issues that matter most to Californians.
“California is entering a unique moment of transition,” Fulp said.
The billionaires’ strategy is whittling away at SEIU’s influence in the state Legislature, where the state council has historically used its endorsements and army of volunteers to boost progressive candidates aligned with their cause. Moderates backed by billionaires beat nearly every SEIU-endorsed candidate in more than a dozen races in the June primary, with record spending knocking union candidates out of the top two in places such as Bakersfield and Orange County.
The SEIU California State Council declined to comment for this story.
The battle over the billionaire tax is also expected to become the most expensive ballot measure campaign of the election cycle, if not ever. The opposition is poised to exponentially outspend UHW.
“Look, the only thing that stands down a bully is when you punch him in the face,” said Brandon Castillo, a political consultant who has represented healthcare providers against UHW on more than a dozen initiatives. “You can’t sit back and continue to take punches or nothing will change.”
Staff writer Nicole Nixon contributed to this report.
JACKSON, Miss. — The former mayor of Mississippi’s capital city and the former City Council president have pleaded guilty in a bribery scheme one week before they were set to face trial.
Former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy. Their pleas came after Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens pleaded guilty last week and resigned. All three are Democrats.
Two other people — Angelique Lee, the Democratic former vice president of the Jackson City Council, and Sherik Marve Smith, a businessman and relative of Owens — had already pleaded guilty to bribery charges.
A November 2024 indictment accused Owens of taking at least $115,000 from two FBI agents posing as real estate developers and facilitating more than $80,000 in bribe payments to Banks, Lumumba and Lee in exchange for their help greenlighting a development project.
Lumumba, Banks and Owens could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. Their sentencing hearings are set for Oct. 15.
Lumumba, who previously called the charges a political prosecution, lost his reelection bid last year. His lawyers did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment.
Banks’ lawyer declined to comment.
Bates writes for the Associated Press.
MEXICO CITY — Mexico once again enjoyed a night of celebration with its fans, this time after defeating an old nemesis — the knockout stage of the World Cup.
El Tri won its first knockout match at a World Cup since 1986, beating Ecuador 2-0 on Tuesday night at the majestic Azteca Stadium packed with 80,824 fans.
From 1994 to 2018, Mexico failed to win a World Cup knockout game and, in 2022, failed to advance past the group stage — its worst showing at a World Cup since 1978.
“Bringing joy to the fans is the best thing that can happen to us,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said after the win. “Our duty is to give it our all on the field. Our duty is to defend our crest and represent our country with dignity.”
Thanks to an expanded 48-team World Cup format with a knockout round of 32 teams and a formidable home-field advantage, Mexico achieved a goal that had seemed impossible.
Mexico players celebrate after the World Cup round of 32 win over Ecuador in Mexico City on Tuesday.
(Fernando Llano / Associated Press)
Ecuador, which finished second in the South American World Cup qualifiers, put up a strong fight, bombarding the Mexican team with crosses, albeit without much organization.
Fans roared their approval for the Mexican national team, which took a lap of honor after the match, as the crowd sang “El Rey” and other songs to express their love for their team.
Julián Quiñones scored the first goal for Mexico in the 22nd minute on a counterattack, while Raúl Jiménez added the second in the 31st minute, in a match where El Tri had numerous scoring opportunities against an Ecuador side that did not appear to be well-organized defensively despite having advanced after defeating Germany in the group stage. The victory over Germany helped Ecuador become one of the third-place finishers to advance to the knockout round.
Mexico will play one more match in Mexico City, facing the winner of the England versus the Democratic Republic of Congo match to be played Wednesday in Atlanta. Mexico’s round of 16 game is scheduled for Sunday. The team is one step away from matching its best World Cup performance — a run to the quarterfinals it achieved in 1970 and 1986 when Mexico hosted both tournaments.
El Tri is now 4-0 in World Cup matches and has yet to concede a goal, both firsts for the Mexican national team.
Tuesday night’s showdown with Ecuador was delayed by an hour because of lightning.
The Ecuadorian team complained before the match that their fans had not received the tickets required by FIFA and that Mexican fans made noise all night outside the Ecuadorian team’s hotel — a common practice in Latin America designed to prevent the opponent from getting a good night’s sleep the night before a decisive match. Finally, Ecuador’s coach, Argentine Sebastián Beccacece, complained about the logistics of the trip to Mexico, claiming it involved long journeys that were an undue burden for his team.
Frustration flared up throughout the match, with both teams briefly crowding the sideline after a hard foul.
When Ecuador could not earn shots on target and time was running out during the second half, Piero Hincapié ran toward forward Santi Giménez and covered his mouth while speaking.
The referee saw the exchange and stopped play, calling for video review. Once he confirmed Hincapié’s action, the referee issued a red card and the Ecuador player became the second player this World Cup for violating FIFA’s restriction against players covering their mouths during heated exchanges. Since Ecuador lost, Hincapié will serve his red-card suspension during the team’s next international match.
FIFA established the new rule to prevent players from trying hide use of offensive language.
Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón was the first player to get a red card for the infraction against Turkey earlier in the World Cup.
Other players have covered their mouths while speaking to opponents during the World Cup, but a red card is only issued if the conversation occurs during a confrontation or heated exchange.
The US has conducted new strikes on Iran, following a drone attack on a Panama-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it hit multiple targets across Iran in direct response to “continued aggression” against commercial shipping.
In retaliation, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it has launched missiles and drones at US infrastructure in Kuwait and Bahrain, in a statement shared to state media.
Following the exchange of fire, the US and Iran accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Centcom said in a statement, “Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit MT Kiku,” a Panama-flagged tanker.
In response, it said, US fighter jets conducted strikes on 10 Iranian military targets at multiple locations in and near the Strait of Hormuz. These included military equipment, communication systems, air defense sites and drone storage facilities.
In the IRGC’s statement, it said the US had attacked five coastal posts in Iran under what it called “the pretext of the IRGC Navy confronting the offending ship”.
In retaliation, the IRGC said it had launched ballistic missiles and drones at “eight key pieces of infrastructure” at the Ali al-Salem base in Kuwait and the Fifth Naval Fleet in Port Salman, Bahrain, “destroying them”.
A US official has told Reuters that there were no reported US casualties or major impacts or damage to US facilities in the Middle East.
The IRGC said that under the Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier this month, Iran has arrangements for controlling passage and navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and from now on, violating ships will be dealt with more forcefully than in the past.
“Any potential enemy aggression, under any pretext, even if the aggressions are against minor targets, as happened last night and tonight, will have a crushing response,” read the statement.
It also accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreed to in the memorandum of understanding between the two nations, warning that it “will lead to a complete halt to the process”.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has also condemned what it described as the “brutal attacks” a violation of the ceasefire, adding it showed that the US “does not place the slightest value and credibility on its commitments, and breaking promises is part of its nature.”
Shortly after the latest US strikes on Iran were announced, Trump said on Truth Social that it was “very possible” that Tehran would “never learn”.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” he wrote on Saturday evening.
The post went on: “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
In the hours following the US strikes, Kuwait and Bahrain both reported that their air defence systems had been activated.
“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently confronting hostile missile and drone attacks,” the Kuwaiti Armed Forces said in a statement shared to X, asking the public to adhere to security instructions.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior has urged citizens to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place”.
Centcom said that commercial vessels are continuing to operate in the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest strikes come less than a day after the US launched retaliatory strikes on Iran that it said were in response to a drone attack on Singapore-flagged cargo ship, MV Ever Lovely, on 25 June.
Centcom described the American strikes as “a powerful response” to the attack on the cargo ship, adding that the “unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire”.
Tehran said the cargo ship was attacked because it was using an unauthorised route to transit through the Gulf waterway, and said that the retaliatory strikes qualified as a ceasefire violation by the US.
In a statement released on Saturday morning, Iran’s foreign ministry said it had carried out more strikes against targets linked to American forces in response, and blamed the “treaty-breaking US regime” for the situation.
The US and Iran agreed on 17 June to end hostilities under a 14-point memorandum of understanding, which had also called for Iran to use its “best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days”.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for oil and gas shipments, and was effectively closed by Tehran after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February.
The shutdown of the critical channel caused a spike in global oil prices and prevented shipments of other crucial commodities such as fertiliser.
NEW YORK — A chief of staff to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with accepting more than $100,000 in bribes to steer a lucrative migrant shelter contract to a Queens hotel, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Frank Carone’s arrest Wednesday was the latest in a string of corruption allegations that have rocked the one-term mayor and his inner circle. And it came the same day federal authorities executed search warrants related to a separate bribery investigation involving high-ranking police officials under Adams, the latest sign that prosecutors are continuing to hone in on the previous administration.
In the indictment, returned June 12, prosecutors accused Carone of leveraging his position as Adams’ chief of staff to commit multiple acts of bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. His brother, Anthony Carone, as well as the Queens hotel owner, Yan Po Zhu, and Crystal Chen, an employee of the hotel, were also charged.
They were expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors said Carone accepted a series of bribes from Zhu and Chen in order to steer a multimillion dollar shelter contract to their hotel, which city officials had said was smaller than two other proposed hotels and could house fewer migrants. The contract was awarded amid an influx of migrants to New York that overwhelmed the city’s homeless shelters.
Frank Carone’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, called the new indictment “not worth the paper upon which it is printed.”
“Today’s indictment is a sad day for our criminal justice system,” Aidala said in a statement. “It epitomizes the government first finding a target and then spending three years and enormous taxpayer resources to find a crime.”
Carone, a longtime Brooklyn power broker, is widely credited as one of the architects of Adams’ political rise. Among the wider public, he is perhaps most notorious for his role in an episode that led to a Brooklyn pastor being stripped of his duties partly for allowing pop star Sabrina Carpenter to film scenes for a provocative music video at his Roman Catholic church.
The church was later subpoenaed by federal investigators seeking information about business dealings between Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, who approved the video, and Carone.
Adams himself was indicted on bribery charges in 2024 for allegedly accepting illegal campaign contributions from Turkish officials and others in exchange for political favors. The case was tossed by the Justice Department, which said it was distracting Adams from assisting in President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Adams has denied wrongdoing but abandoned his campaign for a second term last year.
The former mayor was not accused of wrongdoing in Carone’s indictment.
A lawyer for Zhu, Stephen Scaring, said the hotel owner “will be entering a plea of not guilty and is anxious to establish his innocence.”
Chen’s lawyer declined to comment. Messages were left for Anthony Carone’s lawyer.
In total, Frank Carone was paid around $120,000 by Zhu and Che for the emergency shelter contract, prosecutors said. The money was passed through a law firm owned by his brother, Anthony Carone, according to the indictment.
The city’s Social Services Department had initially rejected the hotel’s application to house migrants due to growing resistance to the high number of shelters already operating in the neighborhood, the indictment said.
Carone then interceded on the hotel’s behalf, prosecutors allege. In one text exchange in September 2022, Zhu wrote: “Thank you my big guy,” according to the indictment.
The Carones and Zhu socialized frequently and attended gatherings at Zhu’s Long Island home, the indictment said.
In a separate statement, Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams, said Frank Carone “dedicated decades of his life to public service, the legal profession, and helping countless individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations throughout New York.”
Carone played a key role in Adams’ campaign for mayor in 2021 and served as Adams’ chief of staff in 2022. In 2023, he formed a political consulting firm. He also was a one-time lawyer for the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
Separately Wednesday, federal agents searched the homes of current and former New York Police Department leaders as part of a bribery investigation that grew out of an inquiry into Jeffrey Maddrey, the chief of department under Adams, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the searches.
As part of that inquiry, the FBI and the NYPD executed warrants on the home of NYPD Chief of Manhattan South James McCarthy and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, according to the person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Maddrey’s home was also searched by federal agents, the person said.
The searches were not related to the arrest of Frank Carone, according to another person familiar with the matter who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case. There is no public indication of any arrests as part of those searches.
Once the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the department, Maddrey resigned in late 2024 over allegations that he demanded sex from a subordinate in exchange for opportunities to earn extra pay.
An inquiry to his attorney was not immediately returned. Attorney information for Sheppard and McCarthy was not immediately available.
Collins, Offenhartz, Sisak and Richer write for the Associated Press. Collins reported from Hartford, Conn., and Richer reported from Washington.
By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters
Published On 12 Jun 202612 Jun 2026
Three people have been killed in the border region between Russia and Ukraine, according to officials, as the two sides launched attacks on each other in the latest exchange of fire.
In Russia, two civilians were killed and two wounded in the region of Bryansk after Kyiv struck the settlement of Suzemka with artillery, Acting Governor Egor Kovalchuk said in a post on Telegram on Friday.
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A drone also hit an apartment building in Russia’s central region of Tatarstan, injuring three people, while industrial facilities were hit, regional head Rustam Minnikhanov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Production work was not suspended, however, he added, but did not identify any plants. The region is home to key oil processing and petrochemical facilities, among others.
Russia’s city of Togliatti, home to the country’s biggest carmaker Avtovaz, also came under a drone attack overnight, Samara region Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said on Telegram.
“Attention! Drone attack regime for Togliatti,” he wrote. Togliatti is a city on the Volga River some 800 km (500 miles) southeast of Moscow.
These strikes are what Ukraine refers to as a “logistics lockdown”, said Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine, reported from Kyiv. She explained that they are mid-range strikes anywhere over 30 kilometres (17 miles) from the front line, using long-range drones and sometimes heavy weaponry to target things like oil refineries, bridges, logistics, and roads as a means of halting Russia’s front-line operations.
At the same time, she said, Ukraine also launches what it calls “long-range sanctions” against Russian targets – a “tongue-in-cheek term … that we’ve seen escalating over the past several months, where Ukraine is targeting Russia’s oil refineries and oil industry,” MacAlpine explained.
In Ukraine, a drone attack in the border region of Sumy caused casualties.
A 44-year-old woman working as a rail station operator died on her way to a shelter during the strike, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways, Oleksandr Pertsovkyi.
Another woman, a station attendant, was wounded in the attack, Pertsovkyi added.
Three people were wounded in separate attacks on Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region.
“We’ve seen continual threats by Russia before massive attacks, and we have certainly seen the results of those actions here in cities like Kyiv, where ballistics continue to be the Achilles heel for Ukraine”, MacAlpine said.
In recent months, Kyiv has carried out an increasing number of attacks on Russia and Russian-occupied territories.
On Thursday, fuel stations on the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula ran out of petrol after a Ukrainian campaign against the peninsula’s supply lines escalated.
A witness in Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest city, told the Reuters news agency there was no fuel at most local petrol stations, with supplies struggling to keep up with a rationing regime imposed in recent weeks.
Another witness, in the resort town of Yevpatoriya, said there was a long queue outside the only petrol station open there.
Ukraine has been intensifying drone attacks on supply lines to the peninsula, which Russia seized from Kyiv in 2014. Local authorities have imposed fuel rationing regimes, with some foodstuffs also running short.
Besides Russian-held Crimea, only two regions in Siberia have officially confirmed the shortages.
Most other regions have said the situation is under control, and that some disruptions were caused by panic buying. Moscow has denied there were any problems with fuel supplies.
The USD-bolívar exchange rate has nearly doubled in 2026. (EFE)
Caracas, June 9, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela has registered the lowest month-to-month inflation figure since October 2024.
According to the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV), consumer prices went up by 6.3 percent in May. Inflation has fallen for four consecutive months after hitting 32.6 percent in January, following the US military attack and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro.
Overall, prices have more than doubled in the first five months of 2026, and accumulated 12-month inflation currently stands at 525 percent.
Despite the widespread use of the US dollar in cost structures, prices have likewise gone up by 12.5 percent over the last year when measured in USD, meaning a loss of purchasing power even for those with incomes pegged to the official exchange rate.
Venezuela’s inflation remains heavily correlated with currency instability. Despite the Central Bank devaluing the USD-bolívar exchange rate by more than 30 percent since March and providing significantly increased volumes offoreign currency to the private sector, a 30-40 percent gap remains between the official and parallel market rates.
Since January, the BCV has directed over US $5.5 billion in foreign currency via bank-run exchange tables, at more than double the rate of 2025, according to figures from Banca y Negocios. However, the chasmbetween official and parallel rates has persisted.
Many economists have identified the stabilization of the foreign exchange market as a necessary step for macroeconomic recovery, but critics have pointed to a lack of regulation and accountability in forex allocation as fueling currency speculation.
Caracas’ monetary and fiscal policy is presently subject to US control. Since January, the Trump administration has mandated that Venezuelan export revenues, principally oil sales, be deposited in US Treasury accounts. Washington returns an undisclosed portion of the proceeds at a time of its choosing.
The White House has likewise imposed that disbursed funds be channeled directly to the private sector via foreign exchange auctions, as well as outside auditing of Central Bank accounts by consulting giant Deloitte. Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated in January that the Venezuelan government headed by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez would need to submit a “budget request” before accessing its own resources.
For its part, the Rodríguez administration has fast-tracked a series of pro-business reforms tailored to attract foreign investment, including in the oil, mining, and electricity sectors.
As part of efforts to court US investors, Economic Vice President Calixto Ortega reportedly took part in a closed-door meeting with US officials and corporate representatives hosted by the Atlantic Council, a hawkish Washington-based think tank funded by the US government, its allies, and major corporations.
The opening to foreign investment has seen Western business executives flock to Caracas in recent weeks, often escorted by White House officials, to explore opportunities. Pro-Trump tech billionaires such as Fred Ehrsam have made repeated visits, while Peter Thiel’s Erebor Bank struck a corresponding banking agreement with Venezuela’s largest public bank.
Javier Kulesz, a strategist from investment bank Jefferies, relayed optimism after a visit to the South American country and forecast an imminent “stream of announcements” related to the country’s debt restructuring and investments in key economic sectors.
Edited by Lucas Koerner in Caracas.
As if anyone needed a reminder, the Rams know how to go all-in.
On Monday, the already Super Bowl-ready Rams pulled off another massive deal, acquiring defensive end Myles Garrett — the league’s defensive player of the year — in a trade with the Cleveland Browns for edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round draft pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-rounder.
Garrett, 30, is a nine-year veteran, five-time All-Pro and two-time defensive player of the year. Last season, he amassed a league-high 23 sacks, increasing his career total to 125.5.
Garrett is scheduled to earn $31.5 million this season, according to Overthecap.com.
Verse, 25, was the 19th player chosen in the 2024 draft. He was the NFL defensive rookie of the year and last season had 7½ sacks for a Rams team that advanced to the NFC championship before losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks.
Verse is scheduled to carry a salary-cap number of $4.1 million this season, according to Overthecap, but is presumably in line for a massive contract extension.
Rams linebacker Jared Verse (8) celebrates after a defensive stand against the Colts in September.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Garrett trade is the second major offseason deal for the Rams. In March, they traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, and then signed him to an extension that makes him the highest paid player at his position in NFL history.
The Rams are a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI, which will be played at SoFi Stadium.
The move bolsters an already formidable Rams pass rushing unit that has played a integral part in the Rams being among the favorites to win the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in February. During the 2021 season, the Rams traded for pass rusher Von Miller en route to winning the Super Bowl at home.
This is a developing story. The Times will have more soon on the Rams acquiring Garrett.
“House of the Dragon” Season 3 will see Rhaenyra Targaryen take back King’s Landing — but the war is far from over.
HBO on Friday released the final trailer for the upcoming season of its epic fantasy, which teases brutal battles, many dragons and the Targaryen queen returning to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms to claim the Iron Throne.
“I see you have been merciful,” Alicent Hightower (played by Olivia Cooke) says to her childhood friend (Emma D’Arcy) in the clip. “But the crown is a weight that crushes. You’ll do things that spell death for all involved.”
And if the trailer is any indication, there will be a lot of bloodshed in Season 3.
The second season of “House of the Dragon” left off with Rhaenyra and Alicent plotting for the former to take King’s Landing with minimal resistance in exchange for the latter’s freedom. Unfortunately, Alicent’s promised tribute — her son King Aegon II — has fled his castle so things won’t go exactly as planned.
After a slowburn of a second season, a higher octane Season 3 will kick off with the highly anticipated Battle of the Gullet, a fight at sea that is regarded as one of the bloodiest and most violent clashes in the history of Westeros. “House of the Dragon” showrunner Ryan Condal recently told Entertainment Weekly that the premiere is “arguably the craziest episode of television ever made.”
The new trailer shows that everyone will be reeling in the aftermath. According to the footage, what awaits Rhaenyra during her reign are fearful subjects, conniving enemies, sleepless nights and plenty of anguish.
“In a war, all suffer,” Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) says in the trailer.
“House of the Dragon” Season 3 will premiere June 21.