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May 30 (UPI) — A United Airlines flight traveling from Chicago to Minneapolis had to be diverted after an unruly passenger attempted to breach the cockpit.

The Minnesota-bound flight instead safely landed at Dane County Regional Airport near Madison, Wisc., “to address a security concern with an unruly passenger,” the airline told The Guardian and NBC News.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police responded to reports about the passenger, who was detained at the airport after the flight landed.

“I do not believe they ever cuffed him, but they were able to finally get control of him after multiple attempts to try to breach the cockpit,” a crew member told air traffic controllers.

“I believe at this point he is seated in a seat and flanked with law enforcement officers on either side,” the crew member said.

The Dane County sheriff’s office told USA Today that the 75-year-old passenger who attempted to breach the cockpit several times appeared to be having a mental health crisis and seemed to be confused.

None of the 147 passengers and six crew members aboard the Boeing 747 was hurt in the incident.

Police said that the man’s family was traveling to Madison from Minneapolis to meet him and that no criminal charges are expected to be filed against him.

May 30 (UPI) — A meteor exploded just off the coast of Massachusetts, causing a loud boom, Saturday afternoon.

Locals reported on social media that they heard a loud blast at about 2 p.m. EDT, and meteorologists have said it was likely a meteor.

Officials at the National Weather Service told WBUR that it was up to NASA to confirm that it was a meteor, but it may require finding pieces of debris to confirm it, 1 Degree Outside meteorologist Danielle Noyes told the station.

The U.S. Geological Survey did not detect an earthquake, Noyes added.

Meteorologist Nick Stewart posted on X, showing images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “The flash density product really shows this anomalous ‘flash,’ which is pretty distinctive of a bolide/meteor reentry. East of Boston. This is the likely source of the loud boom/explosion.”

A NOAA data map shows the flash over the bay.

WBZTV in Boston posted on its Instagram account that meteors cause a sonic boom because, “They enter Earth’s atmosphere at anywhere from 25,000 to 160,000 miles per hour, and larger space rocks can travel deep enough to create pressure waves.”

The station’s meteorologist Eric Fisher posted about the blast on his Instagram account. “CONFIRMED: Meteor exploding on entry caused that big boom across the Boston area Saturday afternoon!”

Local residents told Boston 25 News what the blast was like.

“Yes, I did, thought it may have been an explosion from the power plant next door. It vibrated my apartment. Though it lasted about 3 to 4 seconds … longer than most explosions. Did not sound like thunder,” one viewer said.

Another said there were two explosions.

“I was outside in Framingham with my dog. Heard and felt two huge blasts. Felt the shockwave. Definitely not thunder. Was from the east/southeast from where I was standing. Scared the crap out of us,” another viewer told the TV station.

Iran has reasserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz, warning that foreign commercial and military vessels will be targeted, if they do not comply with regulations governing passage through the strategic waterway.

The announcement on Saturday came after the United States signalled that President Donald Trump was close to a decision on a potential deal with Iran, but Tehran denied an agreement had been reached.

“The management of the Strait of Hormuz is exercised with full authority by the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the operational headquarters of Iran’s armed forces, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement reported by Iranian media on Saturday.

“All ships, commercial vessels, and tankers are only required to travel through the designated routes and obtain permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] Navy. Any violation of these regulations will seriously jeopardise the security of their traffic,” it added.

Iran also issued a warning to foreign military forces operating in the area, saying any attempt to interfere with maritime management or shipping movements would trigger a response.

On Friday, Trump met with advisers in the White House Situation Room and said a “final determination” on a possible deal with Iran would soon be made. But no statement followed the meeting.

US sources had told the AFP news agency the deal was waiting on Trump’s sign-off, but he made no decision after Friday’s meeting.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Friday that while messages continue to be exchanged “no final agreement has been reached” on a deal with the US.

US ‘more than capable’ of restarting war

While attending a defence summit in Singapore on Saturday, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that Washington was “more than capable” of restarting the war if a satisfactory deal is not reached.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) posted on social media that American forces “remain present and vigilant across the region”.

The efforts to reach a deal were thrown into question this week by US strikes on the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, countered by retaliatory Iranian fire.

Iran’s IRNA state news agency said air defences shot down a drone “belonging to the US-Zionist aggressor enemy” on Saturday, citing a statement from the army.

Trump said his priorities in any deal include Iran agreeing to never develop nuclear weapons, and the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

“President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines,” a White House official told AFP, adding: “Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”

Trump ‘betraying diplomacy’

Also on Saturday, Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser ⁠to Iran’s Supreme ⁠Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said in a social media post that Trump was “betraying diplomacy for ⁠the third time” by ⁠continuing the US naval blockade in the strait, and making what he described ‌as “excessive demands ‌in ‌negotiations”.

In a social media post on Friday, Trump said Tehran would remove mines from the strait and end its closure of the waterway with “no tolls”, while the US would lift its blockade.

Both countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran’s enriched uranium, he said, adding that “no money will be exchanged, until further notice”.

Iran’s Fars news agency, however, cited sources as saying Tehran was demanding “the immediate release of $12bn” in frozen assets before moving to the next phase of negotiations.

On the toll-free reopening of Hormuz, the sources said “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement”, while Trump’s comment on destroying Iran’s nuclear material “is fundamentally baseless”.

Iran’s ISNA news agency cited legislator Alireza Salimi as saying a plan “to implement Iran’s management and sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz will soon be approved by parliament”.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the US blockade remains in place, and its ships “are receiving warnings from CENTCOM to stop and not cross the blockade line”.

May 29 (Asia Today) — Hyundai Motor Group released a new campaign linking advanced robotics and soccer, highlighting its physical artificial intelligence technology ahead of the World Cup.

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it released its “School of Football” campaign video, which shows Atlas, a humanoid robot developed by Boston Dynamics, learning and improving through soccer movements.

The campaign is part of Hyundai Motor’s World Cup campaign, “Next Starts Now,” which is rooted in the company’s vision of “Progress for Humanity.”

The video series consists of five parts, including a launch film featuring Atlas and training scenes showing the robot practicing various soccer movements.

The launch film follows Atlas as it becomes interested in soccer after observing the emotions, energy and dynamic movements of players.

The training videos show Atlas gradually learning basic soccer skills such as footwork, passing and shooting, as well as more advanced techniques including crossed-leg shots and crosses.

Hyundai Motor said it plans to release a making-of film June 4 featuring interviews with Boston Dynamics officials who led Atlas’ training during preparations for the campaign.

“The campaign is meaningful because it presents the future of robotics through soccer in an engaging and human-centered way as part of Hyundai Motor’s World Cup campaign,” said Jee Sung-won, executive vice president and head of Hyundai Motor’s brand marketing division. “We plan to continue creating diverse brand experiences using mobility and robotics.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008721

May 30 (UPI) — President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Saturday that he may take the stage for a rally at the “Freedom 250” event series set for June 25 to July 10 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Trump posted at noon Saturday that “Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance[s]” so he may step in.

“I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate “Artists,” and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!”

He went on to say he would do an “America is Back” rally on “Wednesday,” though he didn’t clarify which day. It appears he means June 25, which is when Martina McBride was scheduled to perform, though she and Brett Michaels both backed out on Friday.

“Two years ago, the United States was DEAD. Now we have the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World. I don’t want so-called ‘Artists’ that get paid far too much money, who aren’t happy. I only want to be surrounded by Happy People, Smart People, Successful People, and People that know how to WIN. So, by copy of this TRUTH, I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location. Only Great Patriots invited — It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

The concerts were scheduled for each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night of the 16-day festival, also billed as “The Great American State Fair.”

As of now, only two artists appear to still be on the bill: Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida.

Along with McBride and Michaels, Young MC, Morris Day of Morris Day and The Time, and The Commodores were among the other artists to drop out of the event.

On Sunday, voters in the South American country of Colombia are facing a choice.

Four years ago, they elected the first left-wing president in the country’s modern history, Gustavo Petro. Now, they must decide whether to continue with Petro’s leftist push — or restore the political right to power.

Fourteen candidates will be on the ballot for the first round of voting in Colombia’s presidential election.  The packed field includes contenders from the left, right and centre, who are slated to face off over issues like security and the cost of living.

But Petro will not be among them: Presidents in Colombia are limited to a single four-year term.

The right wing is expected to have the advantage, particularly if the race proceeds to a second round. Petro is struggling with low poll numbers, and voters have expressed frustration with crime and violence, driven in part by the country’s six-decade-long internal conflict.

But leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda has surprised observers, consistently placing at the top of the polls ahead of the first round.

When is the election, who are the candidates, and which issues are top of mind for voters? We look at those questions and more in this brief explainer.

When is the election?

The first round of voting is set to take place on May 31, 2026.

Will there be a second round of voting?

A candidate would need to win more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round to avoid a run-off.

If no single candidate meets that threshold, a run-off will be held between the top two finishers on June 21.

Why is this election important?

In recent years, across Latin America, long-entrenched left-wing governments have met defeat at the ballot box.

Last year alone, right-wing candidates have been elected to replace left-wing presidents in Bolivia, Chile and Honduras.

But Colombia does not have a long history of left-wing presidents. Petro was the first. That makes this race one to watch, according to Gimena Sanchez, a Colombia expert at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a human rights nonprofit.

“This is the first election to be held after the first-ever leftist administration in Colombia’s 200-year history,” Sanchez explained.

Colombia now stands at a fork in the road. One of the dominant issues in the election is how to resolve the country’s internal conflict, which forced more than 235,619 individuals from their homes in 2025.

Another 87,069 people were caught up in mass displacement events due to the fighting, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Petro has embraced negotiation as a tool to end the conflict, which has seen government forces, criminal networks, left-wing rebels and right-wing paramilitaries all battling one another.

But the political right has advocated a return to the more militarised approach backed by the United States, according to Sanchez.

“The leading candidates fall into two camps: continuity with the leftist government of Petro and an approach to security that focuses on negotiations with armed groups, and right-wing candidates who very much want to go back to a hardline security model that Colombia had in the past,” Sanchez said.

“You have polar opposite visions for the country.”

Who is the main candidate on the left?

Senator Ivan Cepeda has emerged as the primary candidate of the political left, running as the head of the governing coalition, known as Historic Pact.

Cepeda has largely pledged continuity with Petro’s platform, including social and economic policies meant to reduce inequality.

He has also embraced Petro’s “Total Peace” approach, which aims to resolve the country’s internal fighting by negotiating with armed groups and criminal networks, as opposed to solely relying on military force.

Confronting state-backed violence has become a hallmark of Cepeda’s life and career.

His father, who was also a senator, is believed to have been assassinated by a government-backed paramilitary. For years, Cepeda was also embroiled in a legal battle for accusing former President Alvaro Uribe of connections to right-wing paramilitaries.

Who are the main candidates on the right?

While Cepeda has become the standard-bearer for the left, the political right has had to contend with a more fractured field of candidates.

Running on the far right is Abelardo de la Espriella, a lawyer for the Defenders of the Homeland Party who has generated comparisons with Salvadoran President Salvador Bukele and Argentina’s Javier Milei.

Like those leaders, de la Espriella has offered a hardline vision for his country’s security. If elected, he says he would end negotiations with armed groups, bomb rebel camps, and resume the aerial fumigation of coca ⁠crops, which produce the raw material for cocaine.

Senator Paloma Valencia, a candidate with the Democratic Centre Party, is running as a more moderate alternative to de la Espriella. She too has promised a stricter approach to crime. Her platform involves expanding the police and armed forces, while cutting taxes and promoting pro-business policies in the economic realm.

Their election-season competition has become a source of acrimony for Valencia and de la Espriella, who have accused each other of paving the way for a leftist election victory.

“There is a more familiar, establishment right, represented by Valencia, and a far right in the form of de la Espriella, who pitches himself as an outsider,” said Sanchez.

Valencia, for her part, has criticised de la Espriella as two-faced, defending criminals in his legal practice but advocating for tighter security on the campaign trail.

De la Espriella, meanwhile, has dismissed Valencia as a member of the country’s political establishment and chided her in a social media post, stating that the presidential election is “not for little games”.

What are the polls saying?

Polls generally show Cepeda ahead of his rivals, with de la Espriella in second place and Valencia in third.

A May 24 poll from the National Consulting Centre (CNC) and the publication Cambio suggested that Cepeda had drawn 33.4 percent of voter support, the most of any candidate.

But de la Espriella was on the upswing with 30.9 percent. Valencia, meanwhile, trailed with 12.6 percent.

The same surveys, however, suggest that Cepeda would struggle to win a run-off against either of the two right-wing candidates, with de la Espriella eking out about three points in a head-to-head contest, and Valencia coming within a percentage point of victory.

Undecided voters could play a key role in deciding the outcome, though. An analysis cited by the Spanish paper El Pais estimates that undecided voters could account for as much as 28 percent of the electorate.

Which issues are front and centre?

Concerns over crime, security and economic issues like unemployment and affordability have dominated the election.

In a poll from the firm Invamer, the highest proportion of voters — 37 percent — identified security as the top issue facing the country.

Basic needs and unemployment ranked second and third, with 17 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Eleven percent of voters, meanwhile, named corruption as a leading concern.

The threat of violence has lingered over the presidential campaign over the past year.

Two political staffers with de la Espriella’s campaign were killed by gunmen on motorbikes earlier this month. And in June 2025, presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot while leaving a campaign rally. The 39-year-old died two months later from his injuries.

Political violence is a serious concern in Colombia, and all of the frontrunners in the race travel with heavy security.

Five of seven men who entered cave seeking gold are now out after being trapped for 10 days.

Rescuers have pulled four more men from a flooded cave in central Laos, bringing to five the number freed from a group of villagers who became trapped while searching for gold. Two others remain missing.

The four were brought out on Saturday, a day after the first man was rescued, ending a period of about 10 days during which the group was cut off underground.

The Thailand Rescue Diver Facebook page said that “rescue officials were able to bring out four more people trapped” at about 3:10pm (08:10 GMT).

Rescuers said the water inside the cave had finally dropped low enough for the men to walk and swim out alongside the divers who had reached them.

The operation has drawn diving teams from several countries, but the danger is far from over, with two members of the group still unaccounted for deep inside the flooded passages.

Lao and Thai rescue groups posted images of the men being carried out on stretchers, caked in mud, wearing oxygen masks and wrapped in foil blankets.

Footage shared online showed some of them collapsing as they emerged, before being embraced by rescuers.

The five had been located alive on Wednesday, huddled on a rocky ledge in a chamber about 300 metres (980 feet) from the entrance. Unable to bring them out straight away, rescuers passed in water, soft food and blankets to keep them going.

“The first one is out. Safe and sound!!!” Manat Artmongkron, a technician with a Thai rescue group, wrote on Facebook after the first evacuation on Friday.

Divers described treacherous conditions in the narrow, flooded tunnels, where visibility was almost nil. One stretch was a 25-metre passage too tight to turn around in.

The group had entered the cave around May 19 or 20, to look for gold and other minerals, according to local officials, before heavy rain triggered flash flooding that sealed off their way out.

An eighth villager who escaped in time alerted the authorities to those left behind.

Rescue teams said they were now preparing to push deeper into the cave – about 20 to 25 metres beyond where the survivors were found – to look for the two missing men, though that section remained heavily flooded.

Local officials said residents of the remote, mountainous province of Xaisomboun often forage for a living and enter such caves in search of gold, despite repeated warnings about the risks.

May 29 (Asia Today) — South Korea and the United States will hold their first meeting in Seoul next week to discuss security issues agreed to at last year’s bilateral summit, including South Korea’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Friday the two sides will hold a launch meeting June 2-3 in Seoul for follow-up consultations on the security provisions of the joint fact sheet issued after the summit.

The meeting will come eight months after the two leaders announced agreements in the security section of the joint fact sheet in October.

The two sides are expected to discuss specific measures related to South Korea’s construction of nuclear-powered submarines, as well as expanded authority over uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing.

With U.S. midterm elections scheduled for November, negotiations in individual areas are expected to gain momentum.

South Korea will send an interagency delegation led by First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo. Officials from the presidential National Security Office, Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, Ministry of Climate and Energy, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and Nuclear Safety and Security Commission will also attend.

The U.S. delegation will be led by Allison Hooker, under secretary of state for political affairs. Officials from the White House National Security Council, State Department, Energy Department and War Department are expected to travel to Seoul for the talks.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008720

May 29 (UPI) — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi testified to some errors to the House Oversight Committee Friday over her handling of the release of the Epstein files, but said she is “proud” of the Department of Justice’s record and “commitment to transparency” while she was its head

“There were redaction errors,” Bondi said in her opening statement as reported by NPR, NBC News and Politico. The opening statement was obtained in advance by several news organizations. “But since day one of this process, this Department has been committed to accountability and transparency,” Bondi said.

The testimony was closed to the public and wasn’t recorded on video. A transcript of the proceeding will be released to the public. Bondi wasn’t under oath.

“Our diligent and good-faith effort to collect materials ensured that all potentially responsive documents that could be reasonably located would see the light of day,” Bondi said. “I have spent my entire career fighting for victims, and I will continue to do so. I am deeply sorry for what any victim has been through, especially as a result of that monster.”

“Our stance has always been that the Department stands ready to review any potential evidence of criminal activity related to Epstein and his associates and would pursue appropriate investigative or prosecutorial action wherever the facts and law warrant,” Bondi said.

The committee subpoenaed Bondi in March after months of documents releases. Her critics say she released files haphazardly and her team was sloppy in its redactions. The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the Department of Justice to redact only the name and identifiers of victims, but many of the files redacted the names of alleged perpetrators.

Convicted sex offender and billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.

Bondi said she delegated oversight of the release process to Todd Blanche, who was then her deputy and is now acting attorney general since April 2 when President Donald Trump fired her.

“We haven’t seen the full release of the files, so that’s already a violation of the law,” Dani Bensky, referencing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, told NPR before the testimony. Bensky, who alleged that Epstein sexually abused her when she was a young ballet dancer, said Bondi’s release of the files without proper redactions, “sends such a chilling effect to the rest of the survivor community.”

“It should be transcribed, it should be filmed and it should be publicly released as quickly as possible,” Bensky said. She added that transcription only isn’t good enough because, “context is lost.”

The survivors have repeated “same talking points over and over” to the DOJ, Bensky said. “And it’s just not getting any better.”

A group of survivors came to Washington for the testimony Friday. They asked the committee to record the testimony on video and release it to the public.

Sharlene Rochard, an Epstein victim, confronted Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., on Friday morning while he spoke to survivors before the meeting. She asked him to promise that people brought in as part of the congressional investigation testify under oath, Politico reported.

“If you lie to Congress, it’s a felony,” Comer replied. “We’re bringing people in that have never been brought in before.”

Liz Stein, also an Epstein survivor, asked Comer to find out about the department’s redaction process, specifically about why victims’ identities were exposed and why Epstein’s friends’ names were sometimes redacted.

“Those are questions we’re going to ask, and we’re doing this. We want justice for the survivors,” Comer said. He added that if Epstein’s victims were not satisfied by Bondi’s responses, the committee would work to get answers for them.

Some politicians are continuing to push for more transparency.

“We’re demanding that it be both videotaped under oath and released to the public,” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the committee, told NPR.

The committee has questioned several important people about Epstein, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Clintons’ testimonies were filmed, and the videos were released to the public.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said earlier Friday that it was “highly disappointing” that Bondi would not appear for an official deposition.

“She deserves the same treatment as the Clintons and as everybody else,” Mace said. “I’ll be there, though, with bells on,” Mace said, “and I’ll be asking her the tough questions.”

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for human rights, will be alongside Bondi as her lawyer at the hearing, which has raised some eyebrows.

But legal scholars say it’s not unusual.

Barbara McQuade, former federal prosecutor and professor at the University of Michigan Law School, told NPR that when a government official testifies on issues of that office, “an attorney for the government often appears on behalf of the United States to assert privileges.”

Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., another member of the Oversight Committee, told Politico earlier that “the lack of videotape … contributes to the feeling that Americans have that there’s been a cover-up here.”

“I think she recognizes that she doesn’t have good answers to the questions that we’re going to ask, and a videotape makes it more real and brings more attention to it,” Walkinshaw said.

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., told Politico he wanted to ask Bondi what specific directives she received from Trump or others on the handling of the Epstein case.

“I spoke with some of the survivors in Florida,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., told Politico. “They were curious why [Bondi has] been hiding so much and what she has to hide herself. Why wouldn’t she be more forthcoming about the files? … Who got to her? What do they have on her? Those are the kinds of questions that the survivors are curious about.”

“So am I, and so are the American people,” he added.

Egypt races to salvage Gaza ceasefire as Israeli attacks and displacement threats push deal to the brink of collapse.

Egypt has launched an urgent diplomatic intervention to rescue a fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement that is on the brink of collapse.

The government warned Israel against expanding its occupation in Gaza, which would undermine efforts to end the war amid of wave of deadly air strikes.

According to an Egyptian intelligence official who spoke to Al Jazeera, Egypt has also invited a senior Hamas delegation, led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, for urgent talks to salvage the peace process.

The source described contacts between the parties as intense, saying Cairo was racing to arrange negotiations before the end of the week in order to prevent all-out war in Gaza.

The diplomatic moves come in the wake of renewed Israeli military attacks on Gaza and statements from top Israeli officials that threaten to unravel months of diplomacy.

At least 141 Palestinians have been killed in the last two weeks in an intensification of Israeli attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a directive ordering the military to expand the area under its control from 53% to 70%.

This fundamentally violates the US-brokered comprehensive peace plan signed in October 2025 under the Trump administration, mediators say.

Compounding the crisis, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also triggered regional outrage by publicly reviving a blueprint for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians out of the enclave.

Speaking during an announcement confirming the assassination of Hamas’s newly appointed military chief, Mohammed Odeh, Katz asserted that the forced displacement scheme would be implemented “at the right time and in the right manner”.

Cairo sent a warning to the Israeli government, rejecting any measures designed to push Gaza’s residents towards voluntary emigration or direct Palestinians towards the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

Egypt has been coordinating with mediators in Qatar and Turkiye, as well as US officials, to return the process to a negotiating track, including revisions to the addendum of the original Gaza peace plan, designed to reduce violence.

The source said Egypt and its fellow mediators were aware that Netanyahu’s recent statements on expanding Israel’s occupation of Gaza, as well as attacks that killed Hamas military figures Izz al-Din al-Haddad and Mohammed Odeh, were driven by electoral calculations and compounded by difficulties Netanyahu faces in Lebanon.

Egypt has contacted United States officials to ask President Donald Trump to urgently restrain Netanyahu, given the recent Israeli escalations in Gaza, the source said.

A senior Hamas official abroad told Al Jazeera that Hamas had received Egyptian communications aimed at containing the escalation and preventing talks from collapsing, suggesting a meeting in Cairo was expected within days.

Hamas said the ceasefire was on the brink of collapse due to repeated Israeli violations, and called on the US and guarantor countries to take “serious and urgent” steps to compel Israel to honour its commitments.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October to end two years of fighting, which had seen more than 72,000 Palestinians killed and the vast majority of Gaza’s population made homeless.

Despite a ceasefire still being in place, at least 929 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October.

May 29 (Asia Today) — SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said generalist talent will become more important in the artificial intelligence era as workers need to develop abilities that remain uniquely human.

Chey, who also serves as chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said South Korea should accelerate the expansion of AI infrastructure based on speed, scale and safety.

SK Group said Friday that Chey appeared Thursday on KBS1’s “Documentary Insight – Talent War 2: Chey Tae-won’s Answer,” where he discussed what people should learn and what abilities they should develop as AI advances faster than humans.

“I wanted to share the perspective I have gained by speaking directly with many people in the AI industry and working with them in business,” Chey said.

Chey said the world is now moving through the era of “reasoning AI,” in which AI responds to human questions, and will enter the era of “agentic AI,” in which AI can make decisions and act on its own.

“In this period, the gap in ability between people who actively use AI and those who do not could become much wider than it is now,” Chey said. “The same polarization could deepen among individuals, companies and countries depending on how quickly and effectively they use AI.”

Over the longer term, however, Chey said the rise of artificial general intelligence could narrow gaps in knowledge and productivity among people.

He said that if two people now have ability levels of 10 and 100, their gap is 10 times. But in an AGI era, if everyone receives a baseline AI-powered ability of 1,000, those levels could become 1,010 and 1,100, sharply reducing the relative gap.

“In the future, what matters more than what job a person has will be how that person can use and connect humans and AI together,” Chey said.

He said generalists who can move across different fields and design new systems and societies where humans and AI coexist will become more important than specialists who deeply understand only one field.

Chey also said AI could perform a large share of work tasks, making it possible for people to take on multiple roles and jobs at the same time. He said the conventional “9 to 6” work structure and fixed ideas about occupations could gradually change.

Chey presented four core “muscles” that individuals should build in the AI era: a thinking muscle to ask fundamental questions, an adaptation muscle to respond to rapid change, an empathy muscle that reflects uniquely human compassion and “body skills” that create value through physical activity such as music, art and sports.

“The ability to quickly acquire knowledge and do well on tests will be replaced in large part by AI,” Chey said. “It is important to build the areas that only humans can do.”

Chey also presented a national strategy, saying South Korea needs “3S” — speed, scale and safety — to become a competitive “AI nation.”

He said South Korea should speed up technological development, expand large-scale AI infrastructure and investment and build an institutional foundation that allows citizens to use AI safely.

“AI talent does not simply mean engineering talent,” Chey said. “Education and social systems must also change quickly so future generations can naturally use AI and coexist with it.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008715

Trump envoy Tom Barrack to exit formal Syria post but retain key role managing US policy in Syria and Iraq.

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack will step down from his post following the expiration of his formal mandate, but he is set to maintain a central diplomatic role managing policy for Syria and Iraq, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced.

Barrack, a billionaire real estate investor and longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, has served as the administration’s primary envoy to Syria since May 2025, while concurrently serving as the US ambassador to Turkiye.

“Ambassador Tom Barrack has played an invaluable role as our Special Envoy to Syria,” Rubio wrote in a statement posted on the social media platform X. “While that title is expiring, he will continue to play a leading role for the Trump Administration in Syria and Iraq, where his expertise, relationships, and understanding of the America First agenda will continue to deliver wins on behalf of our great country.”

“Barrack’s special envoy title has expired, but his role has not, and he remains Washington’s lead on Syria, Iraq, and Turkiye,” Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the think tank International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.

“The expiry changes little in practice, because he was already coordinating those three files together before it lapsed. By keeping him in place without naming a successor, Washington signals it wants continuity and his existing access rather than a reset on Syria.”

During his yearlong tenure as Syria envoy, Barrack oversaw Washington’s pivot towards the post-Assad administration of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. He heavily influenced US policy by pushing for the easing of heavy economic sanctions on Damascus and coordinating counter-Islamic State operations alongside regional allies, including Turkiye and Gulf Arab states.

The private equity mogul raised substantial capital from Emirati sovereign funds. While acquitted in 2022 of federal charges that he acted as an unregistered agent for Abu Dhabi, his connections routinely led to questions about Gulf financial influence over US policy.

Barrack’s tenure in Syria also drew significant scrutiny. His mediation of a ceasefire and integration pact between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) drew sharp criticism from the Kurdish leadership, who accused Washington of abandoning its longtime allies to favour central state authority.

He also prompted intense backlash in Lebanon after warning journalists at a chaotic news conference to act “civilised” rather than “animalistic”.

His public assertions that “benevolent monarchy” and authoritarian governance are better suited for the Middle East than democracy caused controversy, while opposition leaders in Turkiye, where he remains ambassador, routinely criticised him for behaving like a “colonial governor”.

State Department officials have not yet announced a successor for the Syria envoy position.

Trump weighs next steps on Iran deal as Tehran insists negotiations are continuing and no final agreement exists.

Prospects for a US-Iran agreement to end the conflict remained uncertain on Friday, with President Donald Trump saying he would make a “final determination” on a deal, while Iranian officials stressed that no understanding had yet been reached.

Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran would judge any agreement by actions rather than words, adding that no steps would be taken unless Washington acted first.

Meanwhile, fighting continued elsewhere in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had advanced beyond Lebanon’s Litani River, as Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Friday left dozens more civilians reportedly killed or wounded.

Here is what we know:

In Iran

• Iran says talks continue, but no deal yet: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said exchanges with the United States are continuing but stressed that no final agreement has been reached. He rejected Trump’s demands-based approach and described the US naval blockade as illegal, adding that Tehran would judge any easing of restrictions by actions rather than words.
  

War diplomacy

• CENTCOM highlights ongoing regional patrols: US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces remain “present and vigilant” across the region, sharing an image of an F-16 fighter jet conducting a patrol over the Middle East.
• US pushes allies to boost defence spending: Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump plans a $1.5 trillion investment in defence and described it as part of a historic expansion of America’s military-industrial base. Hegseth urged allies to spend at least 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, warning that countries that fail to do so could face changes in their relationship with Washington. He also reiterated that the US remains committed to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
• Washington praises Israel-Lebanon security talks: The US Department of Defense described military-to-military talks between Israeli and Lebanese delegations in Washington as “productive”, saying they focused on regional security and stability. The Pentagon also reaffirmed support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In the US

• Uncertainty remains after White House talks: Reporting from the White House, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said there was still no clarity after Trump’s Situation Room meeting on whether a final agreement with Iran had been reached. Fisher said any easing of restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz could signal progress, but officials are still waiting for concrete details from the White House.

In Israel

• Air raid sirens sound in northern Israel: The Israeli military said it intercepted several projectiles launched from Lebanon, while another landed near Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. The military reported no casualties and did not specify whether the projectiles were rockets or drones.

In Lebanon

• Netanyahu says Israeli troops have crossed the Litani River: Israel’s Netanyahu said Israeli forces have advanced north of the Litani River near Nabatieh, signalling an expansion of operations in southern Lebanon. The move comes amid ongoing Israel-Lebanon talks and could be followed by further strikes on Beirut and the western Bekaa Valley.

May 29 (Asia Today) — LG Energy Solution sees the electric vehicle slowdown as an opportunity to expand its energy storage system business as artificial intelligence data centers drive surging electricity demand, a company executive said Friday.

Kim Hyun-tae, executive director of product planning and strategy for LG Energy Solution’s energy storage system business division, said the EV “chasm” has created risks but also opened a path for the company to shift more aggressively into ESS.

“In the carbon-neutral era, we must move beyond simply increasing renewable energy and improve both grid stability and energy efficiency,” Kim said.

Kim made the remarks at the second Asia Today Environment Forum held at The Plaza Seoul, where he gave a presentation titled “LG Energy Solution’s vision for power grid stabilization and decarbonization.”

He outlined LG Energy Solution’s strategy for shifting toward ESS and responding to electricity infrastructure needs in the AI era.

Kim said South Korea’s battery industry had built large-scale production bases in the United States, viewing it as a core automotive market. But the market contracted after the second Trump administration took office and reduced electric vehicle subsidies while changing related policies.

“We secured new business plans by proactively converting U.S. plants from EV-centered production to ESS production,” Kim said.

LG Energy Solution produces ESS products in South Korea, Europe and the United States, Kim said. Its ESS production capacity in North America is now about 50 gigawatt-hours, and the company plans to expand that to more than 80 gigawatt-hours by next year.

“The United States has the highest ESS demand after China,” Kim said. “An ESS boom is taking place in the United States because investment subsidies of at least 30% and as much as 60% are provided when ESS and renewable energy facilities are built.”

Kim said the spread of AI data centers is also driving ESS demand.

“AI data centers are called a hippopotamus that eats water and electricity because they consume enormous amounts of power,” Kim said. “Nvidia’s next-generation Rubin graphics processing unit is expected to consume about four times more power than the Blackwell chip currently being sold, so securing stable power is essential.”

Kim said global Big Tech companies are focused on “time to power,” or how quickly new power capacity can be secured.

“Because connecting to existing power grids takes a long time, demand is growing for quickly building onsite and off-grid power sources that combine solar power, ESS and small gas turbines,” he said.

Kim also proposed an ESS-based distributed power grid model as an alternative to delays in building new transmission networks.

“Large-scale electricity demand sites are increasing, such as the Yongin semiconductor cluster, but building new transmission networks or high-voltage direct current systems usually takes six to seven years,” Kim said.

“For example, a realistic alternative could be storing electricity generated from renewable energy in the Honam region in ESS and then using existing transmission networks to distribute it to demand centers,” he said.

In the medium and long term, Kim said sodium-ion batteries, sometimes called “salt batteries,” could become a game changer in the ESS market.

“When renewable energy’s share expands to about 50%, large-scale ESS will be needed to offset intermittency, but costs are currently high,” Kim said. “LG Energy Solution plans to test sodium-ion batteries that can replace lithium in the United States in 2027 and pursue large-scale commercialization in 2029.”

Kim also said the global ESS market is being reshaped around domestic protectionism.

“The United States is encouraging the use of U.S.-made products through subsidy policies based on the Inflation Reduction Act, and Europe is also pursuing the introduction of the Industrial Accelerator Act, which is being called a European version of the IRA,” Kim said. “In a blocked supply chain environment, policy consideration is also needed to protect domestic industries and strengthen supply chain competitiveness.”

Kim said LG Energy Solution is building a decarbonization system that includes its supply chain and recycling operations as it works toward achieving RE100 by 2030 and carbon neutrality across its value chain by 2050.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008771

May 29 (Asia Today) — Samsung Electronics said Friday it shipped samples of its seventh-generation high-bandwidth memory chip, HBM4E, for the first time, demonstrating its competitiveness in advanced semiconductor technology.

The shipment came three months after Samsung began mass shipments of HBM4 in February, raising expectations that the company could expand its share of the HBM market.

Samsung said it supplied 12-layer HBM4E samples to global customers. The company did not identify the customers, but industry officials said the samples were likely supplied to Nvidia, a major buyer of AI chips.

Samsung said the HBM4E shipment goes beyond an expansion of its product lineup and could strengthen the company’s supply capacity and technological edge in the global AI infrastructure market, which is expected to grow rapidly for years.

Samsung said HBM4E operates at 14 gigabits per second to 16 gigabits per second per pin, more than 20% faster than the previous generation. It provides bandwidth of 3.6 terabytes per second in a single stack, improving computing speed for large language models and next-generation AI systems.

The 12-layer HBM4E offers 48 gigabytes of capacity, more than 30% higher than the previous generation. Samsung said it plans to expand the lineup to 32 gigabytes, or eight layers, and 64 gigabytes, or 16 layers, to meet different customer service environments.

The new HBM4E uses Samsung’s 1c DRAM, a sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class DRAM process, and its own 4-nanometer foundry logic die. Samsung said the combination improves process stability, yield and mass production capability.

The company also said low-power design and packaging optimization improved energy efficiency by 16% and thermal resistance characteristics by more than 14% compared with the previous generation.

Samsung’s position in the HBM market is expected to strengthen because the company appears to have moved ahead of competitors in shipping samples. Earlier sample shipments could help Samsung secure customer volume in the next-generation AI memory market.

Samsung ranked second in the global HBM market with a 22% share in the fourth quarter of last year, behind SK hynix, which held 57%, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung’s share was down sharply from 40% a year earlier, but analysts say its HBM4 mass shipment this year could help it recover.

Global customers have given positive reviews of Samsung’s HBM4 in speed, power efficiency and overall performance, industry officials said. Samsung’s HBM4 received the highest rating in a system-in-package test in December after demonstrating an industry-leading speed of 11.7 gigabits per second.

Analysts say HBM4E could move into mass production quickly because Samsung is already mass-producing HBM4 using the same combination of 1c DRAM and a 4-nanometer base die.

Market watchers also remain optimistic about Samsung’s HBM business.

“The memory market in 2027 is expected to face a deeper supply shortage, and price increases are also likely to gain momentum,” said Kim Dong-won, an analyst at KB Securities. “HBM prices are expected to rise more than 50% from a year earlier as negotiations reflect the narrowing margin gap with general-purpose DRAM.”

Hwang Sang-joon, executive vice president and head of memory development at Samsung Electronics, said the company completed the HBM4E sample supply without disruption after successfully starting HBM4 mass shipments.

“This has clearly imprinted Samsung Electronics’ unmatched technology leadership in the market,” Hwang said. “We will continue to strongly lead growth in the global AI memory market based on overwhelming technology leadership and preemptive investment in production infrastructure.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008844

May 29 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday said President Donald Trump‘s name must be removed from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in a ruling that also blocked plans to shutter the facility for two years for renovations.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper for the District of Columbia handed down the decisions halting Trump’s plans to impose sweeping changes at the historic venue.

The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees voted in December to add Trump’s name to the building. The decision came less than a year after Trump dismissed the entire board and named new board members, who in turn elected him chairman.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper wrote.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, sued in response to the name change. Meanwhile, a coalition launched a separate lawsuit in March asking the court to stop the administration from shuttering the facility for two years and carrying out its quarter-billion-dollar reconstruction project.

Trump said the decision to close the facility came after a yearlong review in consultation with contractors, musical experts, arts institutions, and advisers and consultants. He had initially considered a partial project that would permit shows to continue, but decided the best option for the venue was a temporary closure.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex officio member of the board who sued to have access about the details of renovations, said she believes Trump wants to shutter the Kennedy Center in response to dozens of individuals and cultural organizations who have canceled appearances there in response to Trump trying to rename the center after himself. Beatty said the documents she received about the renovations were “inadequate.”

She said “the documents prove that there is absolutely no basis to shutter this precious living memorial and beloved institution,” she said in a statement. “It certainly looks like President Trump is shutting down the center because he is embarrassed that ticket sales are down and artists are fleeing since his illegal renaming.”

Beatty’s lawyers said she was concerned Trump might use his hand-selected board to push through wholesale changes at the Kennedy Center to design a facility more to his liking. In October, Trump had the East Wing of the White House demolished to make room for a $250 million ballroom.

In a post on Truth Social in March, Trump shared renderings of what he expected the center to look like after the renovations. He said he’s not planning to rip out the facade.

A Washington Post analysis of the renderings show very few changes to the exterior of the building, including altered cornices, updated roof and some windows, painted columns, new signage and landscaping changes.

May 29 (UPI) — Ukraine on Friday evening said that it expects Russia to launch ‘big attacks’ against it sometime on Friday or Saturday, and warned its citizens to take cover.

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelynsky told CBS News on Friday evening that it expects Russia to launch new attacks at the country in the next 24 to 48 hours, and advised his citizens to take cover.

“Our people have to be very, very careful, cautious and children – they have to use bomb shelters,” he told the news organization.

“Today, at night or tomorrow night, high percent – of course, nobody knows 100% – but there is high percent,” he said.

Russia on Friday evening already launched missiles toward Ukraine, with explosions reported in Kyiv and nearby regions, among other parts of the country, The Kyiv Post reported.

“We have intel that Russia is preparing a new massive attack,” Zelensky said in the post.

“Please pay attention to air raid alerts and stay safe,” he said.

The warnings follow an alleged drone hitting the roof of an apartment building in Romania, which was reportedly aimed at nearby location in Ukraine, which is neighbors the country.

US President Donald Trump has announced he plans to withdraw his leadership from the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, after a federal judge ruled he could no longer have his name on the building.

On Friday, in a 580-word post, Trump blasted Judge Christopher Cooper as reckless. He also painted the performing arts centre as a dilapidated structure only he could restore.

“Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of,” Trump wrote, referring to himself in third person.

But Trump’s interventions at the Kennedy Center, a national performing arts centre in Washington, DC, have been controversial from the start.

Construction on the building began in 1964, shortly after President John F Kennedy was assassinated.

That year, his successor, Lyndon B Johnson, signed into law an act of Congress that established the site as a “living memorial” to the slain leader.

But since starting his second term, Trump has sought to reshape Washington, DC, in his own image, undertaking construction projects and erecting banners with his photograph.

Within weeks of his inauguration, in February 2025, he fired Democratic members of the Kennedy Center’s bipartisan board and replaced them with his picks.

He also terminated the leadership of the centre’s longtime president, Deborah Rutter. The board quickly elected Trump as chair instead.

But some of the biggest backlash came in December, when the board went a step further and voted to rename the building “The Donald J Trump and the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts”.

Within a day, construction crews were seen outside the arts centre, adding Trump’s name to the outside of the edifice.

Critics immediately denounced the effort as a violation of the 1964 law, not to mention a sign of disrespect towards the late Kennedy.

Amid public pressure and a string of cancellations from performers, Trump announced in February he would shutter the arts centre for two years, starting in July. He cited renovations as his rationale for the sudden closure.

US Representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center trustee, sued to stop the closure from happening. She also sought the removal of Trump’s name.

Inside the court’s ruling

In Friday’s ruling, Judge Cooper — an appointee of former President Barack Obama — sided with Beatty’s requests.

He ordered that Trump’s name must be removed from the theatre’s facade, as well as any other signage or official materials, within 14 days, citing the 1964 law.

“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” Cooper wrote.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

Cooper also overturned the Trump-led board’s decision to strip trustees like Beatty of the right to vote on Kennedy Center matters. Beatty is one of several bipartisan trustees who have a seat on the board by virtue of an act of Congress.

“If trustees presumptively possess the right to vote, what, if anything, authorizes the Board to unilaterally strip certain trustees of voting rights?” Cooper asked in his decision, striking down the Trump-era policy.

“Absent Congressional authorization, the Board may not deprive a duly-appointed Kennedy Center trustee of her right to vote on Board matters on which all other trustees are entitled to vote.”

In the last part of his 94-page decision, Cooper turned his attention to the Kennedy Center’s imminent closure.

He pointed to statements and plans from Trump administration officials touting the use of the performing arts facility before the July closure date, saying they undermined the assertion that the building was somehow hazardous.

“Former Kennedy Center President [Richard] Grenell emphasized that the Center would be one of the ‘premiere spots’ for America’s 250th celebration — quite a concerning idea if the Center is as dangerous as the Defendants now represent,” Cooper wrote, alluding to events scheduled for the coming weeks.

He later added, “Up until February 1, the Center was planning to proceed apace with some form of phased construction and cited no safety concerns about that plan.”

While closing the Kennedy Center is within the board’s powers, Cooper concluded that the board had likely violated its duty to administer the centre “as a prudent person would” under the law.

He therefore issued a temporary injunction against the centre’s closure. “The trustees might have assessed the propriety of closure in a number of prudent ways. This was not one,” he wrote.

Reactions to the ruling

The ruling prompted an incensed rebuttal from Trump on his Truth Social platform. The president pledged to transfer oversight of the facility to Congress, under whose mandate the centre already operates.

“We are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it,” Trump wrote.

He also blasted Cooper as a partisan actor who had treated him “unfairly”, echoing similar criticisms he had levied against other judges.

“Judge Cooper should be ashamed of himself! I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight,” Trump said.

“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND.’”

Beatty, meanwhile, applauded the ruling as a victory against unchecked power, unfettered by the law.

“The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump,” she wrote.

“He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity. I am proud to have fought for the rule of law and to protect this sacred institution.”

Divers in Laos have rescued the first of five villagers trapped in a flooded cave for more than a week. The men entered the cave to look for gold before flash floods blocked their escape. Two other villagers are still missing.

May 29 (UPI) — A federal judge declared a New Hampshire law that would have required new voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship because it is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliott wrote in the ruling, issued on Thursday, that New Hampshire House Bill 1569 would have made it harder for people to register to vote and cast ballots by removing methods for them to do so.

The law would have required all new voters to provide a document proving citizenship, rather than attesting to their citizenship under penalty of perjury on an affidavit.

New Hampshire state law already states that the form filled out and signed when registering qualifies as an affidavit, whether it is filed 30 days before an election or on election day, per state law, Elliott wrote.

“For many years, New Hampshire voters have been required to prove their citizenship,” Elliott wrote in the ruling.

“After this order goes into effect, New Hampshire voters will still be required to prove their citizenship,” she wrote. “Instead, this case questions, in part, whether it is constitutional to remove one of the methods previously available for proving citizenship — an affidavit swearing to the voter’s citizenship under penalties of voter fraud.”

HB 1569, which was passed and signed into law in 2004, was challenged by the ACLU of New Hampshire, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Coalition for Open Democracy, the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire, the Forward Foundation, New Hampshire Youth Movement and several individual voters.

“New Hampshire’s elections have always been safe, secure and accurate — and this law could have unconstitutionally and needlessly prevented thousands of eligible voters from casting a ballot,” Henry Klementowicz, deputy legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, said in a press release.

“Making it harder to vote is a clear attack on one of our most fundamental of rights and this law is consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs,” Klementowicz said.

The charges stem from the January 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent charged with shooting a Venezuelan man during a controversial immigration raid in Minnesota has been arrested in Texas, according to United States authorities.

Agent Christian Castro, 52, was taken into custody on Friday after investigators from Minnesota tracked him down in the southern state, where he was arrested with assistance from the Texas Rangers and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) inspector general’s office. He faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

The charges stem from the non-fatal shooting on January 14 of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale immigration enforcement campaign that drew widespread criticism for its aggressive tactics.

Prosecutors allege Castro fired through the front door of a residence, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg.

“Mr Castro was charged earlier this month with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime for an incident on January 14, 2026, when he discharged his weapon through the front door of a home knowing there were people who had just run inside,” the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

“The bullet travelled through the door and struck one victim in the leg before making its final impact in the wall of a child’s room.”

Minnesota officials welcomed Castro’s arrest, saying federal agents should be held to the same legal standards as everyone else.

“In Minnesota, we believe in equal justice under the law. That means nobody is above the law, including agents of the federal government,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. “I am pleased to hear Christian Castro has been taken into custody and will stand trial for the crimes he allegedly committed in Minnesota.”

Operation Metro Surge faces increasing legal scrutiny

The case became a flashpoint after federal authorities initially claimed Sosa-Celis and another man had assaulted ICE officers.

Those allegations later unravelled when video and other evidence emerged that contradicted agents’ accounts, prompting prosecutors to drop charges against Sosa-Celis and his housemate, Alfredo Aljorna.

The DHS later acknowledged that officers involved in the incident had provided false information about the shooting.

The outgoing director of ICE, Todd Lyons, also indicated a federal investigation was under way. “Lying under oath is a serious federal offense,” he said.

But through a spokesperson, ICE rejected Minnesota’s effort to prosecute the agent involved, calling the case “unlawful” and “a political stunt”.

Castro is the second federal officer charged this year in connection with Operation Metro Surge, an unusual step that reflects growing scrutiny of federal agents’ conduct during the immigration crackdown.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is also pursuing investigations into other incidents linked to the operation.

Operation Metro Surge began in Minnesota in December 2025. By the time Sosa-Celis was shot on January 14, hundreds of federal agents had been deployed across the Minneapolis-St Paul area in what officials described as the largest DHS operation in US history.

The crackdown ultimately prompted intense controversy, particularly after the fatal shootings of two US citizens: Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on January 24.

Against that backdrop, the investigation into the Sosa-Celis shooting further intensified scrutiny of federal agents’ tactics and conduct during the operation.

May 29 (Asia Today) — Leaders of South Korea’s rival political parties urged voters to cast ballots Friday, the first day of early voting for the June 3 local elections, but their strategies showed different approaches.

Chung Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party, and Han Byung-do, the party’s floor leader, both voted on the first day of early voting. People Power Party leader Chang Dong-hyeok and floor leader Song Eon-seok divided their roles, with Chang choosing to vote on Election Day and Song planning to vote early.

Chung began his schedule Friday by casting an early ballot at the Seongsan 2-dong Community Service Center in Mapo District, Seoul. After voting, he attended a meeting of the party’s central election committee in Seoul and urged voters to participate.

“Voting is stronger than bullets,” Chung said. “Power does not come from the barrel of a gun. It comes from the polling place.”

Han also visited an early voting station before heading to campaign events in Namwon, North Jeolla Province.

“Early voting will be held for two days starting today,” Han said. “Please exercise your precious vote for the future of South Korea.”

The major opposition People Power Party took a different approach. Chang plans to vote on Election Day, while Song is scheduled to cast an early ballot Saturday.

The move is seen as a strategy to appeal both to the party’s hard-line conservative base and more moderate conservative voters. Chang and Song have also divided campaign duties during the election period, focusing on separate schedules.

Chang campaigned Friday in Sejong and western Gyeonggi Province.

“The atmosphere is changing as we lead this election, but if we lose by even one vote, there is no future for South Korea,” Chang said. “Everything depends on your one vote. Please do not leave yourself with regret by failing to go to the polling place.”

Song said he plans to vote early Saturday in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, his electoral district.

At a news conference at the National Assembly earlier Friday, Song acknowledged that some political figures have argued against early voting.

“It is true that there are some movements in political circles saying people should not vote early, but I will not say that is our party,” Song said. “There is a big difference between holding voting over three days and holding it for only one day.”

“In reality, the number of votes cast during the two days of early voting and on Election Day is close to half and half,” he said. “I think voters should vote over the three days, including early voting, according to their circumstances and schedules.”

Park Sung-hoon, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, said both early voting and Election Day voting are important exercises of political rights.

“To strategically encourage both early voting and Election Day voting, we decided that the floor leader would vote early and the party leader would participate in Election Day voting, taking his schedule into account,” Park said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260529010008858