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Iran’s football team still lacks US visas and is not competing on ‘equal terms’, Tehran’s envoy to Mexico says.

Iran’s football team still lacks US visas and is not competing in the World Cup on “equal terms” because of its difficulty in training ahead of the tournament, Tehran’s ambassador to Mexico said on Thursday.

Abolfazl Pasandideh visited the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana, where Iranians have relocated their training camp. They were originally planned to be based in Tucson in the US state of Arizona.

The ambassador told a news conference that “the country to the north” – meaning the United States – had not followed through on its responsibility of hosting the Iranian team.

“We don’t know whether or not they’re going to give the players their visas,” he added.

Iran will play their three World Cup group games in two West Coast US cities: Los Angeles and Seattle. The head of the Iranian Football Federation has said there was hope that the players would be granted multiple entry visas.

“We aren’t participating in the World Cup on equal terms,” Pasandideh said.

“We haven’t been able to train our team like they should,” he said, because of the US-Israel war on his country that began on February 28.

On Wednesday, Iranian diplomats visited the stadium where the team is training, a source from Club Tijuana that plays there told the news agency AFP. The diplomats also met with local security officials, the source said.

Iran are due to play in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, and on June 21, against Belgium. They then play in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.

India’s Muslims celebrated Eid al-Adha with mass prayers and gatherings nationwide. Celebrations remained largely peaceful under tight security amid growing anti-Muslim tensions over restrictions on public Eid prayers.

May 28 (UPI) — At least four people were hospitalized Thursday when a gas leak at a Dallas apartment building triggered a massive explosion and a five-alarm fire, city officials and witnesses said.

The building in the city’s Oak Cliff neighborhood located just south of downtown was in flames when firefighters arrived at 12:49 p.m. CDT, 2 minutes after receiving calls about a gas leak, Dallas Fire Rescue Assistant Chief James Russ told reporters.

The intensity of the fire quickly necessitated a second alarm, he said.

“Shortly after it continued to escalate and upgrade, and at this time we are at a five-alarm fire,” the assistant chief said in an update delivered shortly before 4 p.m. “The fire is contained but our members are still working on the scene to do primary searches.”

Russ and firefighters launched a drone to canvas the area to “see if we have any victims around. At this time, it’s unknown how many possible fatalities we may have.”

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the city is “going to do every single thing we have to do and that we need to do make sure that every affected family by this tragedy gets what they need.

“You have my commitment that we will do whatever we have to do to make sure that these folks are okay. But the most important thing right now is that we come together as a community and that we pray for everyone’s well-being.”

A family assistance center has been established at nearby high school, the mayor said.

Police urged residents to not go to near the fire scene as thick plumes of black smoke visible for miles rose above downtown Dallas.

Video from the scene showed a smoldering ruin where the apartment complex once stood.

Witnesses said they felt an explosion that shook the entire neighborhood.

“We live right here in the corner house, and we were inside, and then when we heard it, it was like a boom!” a nearby resident told KXAS-TV. “And at first I thought the tree fell on my house or something, or somebody hit my house because I live in the corner.

“So we came out here, and we’re just looking around, then we saw the smoke and the apartments have blew up.”

KXAS reported cited unnamed sources confirming that a contractor was working at the building and struck a gas line, triggering the explosion.

Some 11 residents remained unaccounted for in the hours after the explosion, the station reported.

May 28 (UPI) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will not run for president in 2028, planning instead to take a break from politics rather than jumping straight into another campaign when her term ends.

Whitmer, who is in her second and final term as Michigan governor, was widely expected to join the field as her profile nationally has grown since President Donald Trump‘s first term in office.

“There will be a robust group of people running for president,” Whitmer told WJBK-TV.

“I will not be one of them in 2028. I can tell you that,” the Democratic governor said.

Whitmer’s term ends at the end of this year, and she told the Detroit television station that there is time between now and the next presidential election to change her mind, but does not expect to do so.

“I want to have an impact,” Whitmer said in the WJBK interview, which was conducted at the Mackinac Policy Conference.

“I want to do good work, but I’m also looking forward to taking a little bit of a break and thinking about it, not jumping right into something,” she said.

Whitmer said she spoke with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo before making the decision.

A poll on Democrats who may run for president in 2028 published Thursday found Buttigieg leading a possible primary race, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

The Israeli army has already expanded its control of Gaza by 11 percent over the ‘Yellow Line’, beyond the terms of the ‘ceasefire’.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the Israeli army to expand its control of the Gaza Strip to 70 percent, according to remarks aired by Israeli media.

“At this point, we are fully in control of 60 percent of the territory of the Gaza Strip … and my directive is to get to … 70 percent,” Netanyahu said in footage recorded by Channel 12 and aired on Thursday.

When someone in the audience shouted that Israel should take the entire besieged enclave, the prime minister said “we are going in order”, according to The Times of Israel. “First 70 percent,” he said without disputing that a complete takeover could take place. “We’ll start with that.”

The Israeli army had in mid-March quietly sent maps to aid organisations showing it had already expanded its control to about 11 percent beyond the so-called “Yellow Line” demarcating areas of the enclave occupied by Israeli troops. That line was agreed in a United States-brokered “ceasefire” in October 2025. That meant it controlled 64 percent of the Palestinian territory, instead of 53 percent.

Due to the Israeli army occupation, Palestinians cannot access about two-thirds of Gaza. A further seizure of the territory would force two million of them, already living in disastrous conditions, into an even smaller territory after enduring two years of genocidal war.

Despite the nominal truce reached last year, Israeli bombing in Gaza continues with near-daily attacks. An Al Jazeera tally from October to April counted at least 2,400 Israeli violations. Earlier on Thursday, health authorities said an Israeli air raid killed at least 10 people, including four children, and wounded 20 others.

According to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) latest report, the humanitarian situation for civilians in Gaza remains critical, with displaced families living in overcrowded tents, schools or damaged structures. Clean water is scarce, and poor waste collection is increasing health risks, including the spread of rats and insects. Many neighbourhoods across Gaza are also still dangerous, with frequent air strikes, shelling and shootings happening in or near residential areas, the report said.

Last week, the high representative overseeing the US-founded Board of Peace for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, warned that the deteriorating status quo in the enclave risks becoming “permanent”.  Speaking to the UN Security Council, he urged the international body to use “every means at its disposal” to press Hamas to disarm and to push Israel to uphold its commitment under the October ceasefire, pointing to its continued killings and restrictions on humanitarian flow.

The war that Israel launched following the October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups has killed more than 72,775 Palestinians. The Israeli military continues to maintain a strict security regime, and many hundreds more have been killed in the past seven months. Conflict monitors warn that since the US-Israel war on Iran started in February, Israeli bombardment of Gaza has accelerated.

May 28 (UPI) — Nicaragua’s government said it will return mining company BHMB Mining to its original owners after the operation was confiscated in September 2025 and later transferred to Chinese firms.

The announcement came from Nicaragua’s Attorney General’s Office and follows what local media and analysts described as efforts by President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo’s government to avoid additional sanctions from the Trump administration.

According to the government, officials reached an agreement with BHMB Inc., a U.S.-British company incorporated in Florida, allowing operations to resume at the BHMB Palacaguina processing plant in northern Nicaragua.

“As a result of a process of dialogue and coordination carried out in an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect, an understanding has been reached aimed at the orderly and secure normalization and operational reactivation of the BHMB Palacaguina plant,” the government said in a statement.

The government added that the specific terms and conditions of the agreement remain confidential.

Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa previously reported that authorities seized the facilities in September 2025. The company operated a gold processing plant in northern Nicaragua valued at more than $80 million under a 10-year operating permit.

The owners said that after the expropriation, Nicaraguan authorities transferred the plant to Chinese companies Zhong Fu Development and Santa Rita Mining.

Environmental and Indigenous rights advocate Amaru Ruiz wrote on X that “the Ortega-Murillo regime announces an agreement with BHMB Mining Nicaragua to free itself from the complaint filed before ICSID over the expropriation suffered by the company.”

Ruiz later told Nicaraguan outlet 100% Noticias that the decision represented an unusual reversal by the government. He said the administration “feared losing the case before ICSID” because of growing international pressure and the possibility of economic sanctions.

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, is a World Bank institution that resolves legal disputes between sovereign states and foreign investors.

On April 16, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to Nicaragua’s gold sector.

According to the Treasury Department, the sanctions responded to what it described as the Ortega-Murillo government’s use of the gold industry as a major source of financing for repression and corrupt enrichment of the ruling family.

Nicaraguan journalist Miguel Mendoza said the government’s decision to return the plant to BHMB appeared aimed at avoiding political and economic pressure from the U.S. Congress.

U.S. lawmakers are scheduled to hold a hearing June 4 titled “Confronting the Ortega-Murillo Totalitarian Regime,” focused on democratic backsliding in Nicaragua and rising tensions with Washington.

Mendoza added that BHMB shareholder Baruch Rapoport maintains relationships with figures in the Trump administration, including diplomat Richard Grenell, who served as Trump’s special envoy for Venezuela.

According to Mendoza, those ties may have contributed to recent U.S. sanctions against seven Nicaraguan mining companies, targeting one of the government’s most profitable sectors.

Perplexity unlawfully copied thousands of CNN stories, videos and images to power its products, CNN said in its lawsuit.

United States news channel CNN has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity in New York federal court, alleging the AI search engine provider is unlawfully distributing its copyrighted content, marking the latest legal tussle between the AI firm and a news publisher.

The complaint, filed on Thursday, said that Perplexity unlawfully copied thousands of CNN stories, videos and images to power its products and distribute “identical or substantially similar” competing content.

“You can’t copyright facts,” Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer said in response to the lawsuit.

CNN is asking for an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order blocking Perplexity from violating its intellectual property rights.

“CNN’s lawsuit stands for the proposition that Perplexity, a company valued at tens of billions of dollars, should not be able to steal from entities that create the original content Perplexity exploits,” the Warner Bros-owned news company said in a statement.

“By exploiting CNN’s reporting in this manner, Perplexity violates the protections afforded by copyright law and undermines the economic incentives that make original newsgathering possible,” CNN said in the complaint.

Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022, news publishers and writers have worried about their content being repurposed to appear in the results of a chatbot query, triggering battles over copyright, compensation and ownership.

CNN’s lawsuit is one of dozens of high-stakes US cases brought by copyright owners, including news outlets, authors and publishers, against tech companies over alleged misuse of their work to train large language models. Anthropic was the first AI company to settle one of these cases last year, agreeing to pay $1.5bn to resolve a class action lawsuit from a group of authors.

The CNN suit is the latest in a series of legal challenges brought against Perplexity, which uses AI to scour websites and answer users’ queries, alleging the company has infringed copyrights and unlawfully scraped data to train its technology.

Perplexity is also facing lawsuits from The New York Times, Reddit and Dow Jones, among others.

Several news firms have now signed licensing deals and partnerships with Big Tech and generative AI companies to ensure that their models have access to verified sources of news, while also compensating publishers and linking back to original articles.

May 28 (UPI) — The story of the Cateura Recycled Instruments Orchestra, a Paraguayan music project born in a vulnerable community surrounding the Cateura landfill in Asunción, will reach U.S. stages this Saturday with the world premiere of Basura, a musical produced by Gloria Estefan at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

The production, inspired by the internationally recognized group led by Favio Chávez, tells how children and young people from low-income backgrounds learned music using instruments they built themselves from recycled materials recovered from the landfill.

“Taking the story of real people and of a country like Paraguay here in the United States are stories that are still waiting to be discovered, so it remains an important undertaking,” Chávez said in a recent interview with Paraguayan news outlet NPY.

“We have to understand that this musical is also a major risk for these producers,” Chávez said.

The musical will feature original music by Gloria Estefan and her daughter, Emily Estefan, as well as elements connected to Paraguayan culture, including phrases in the Guaraní language, one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages in South America, and compositions in 6/8 rhythm, characteristic of Paraguayan polka.

“These people are placing Paraguay on one of the best and most important artistic stages in the world,” Chávez said.

The production is based on the story of the Cateura Orchestra, founded by Chávez in 2006 in an area marked by some of the country’s highest levels of poverty.

The community is home to nearly 150,000 people, and residents face extreme vulnerability, periodic flooding caused by overflows of the Paraguay River and a lack of basic services and adequate infrastructure.

The project uses recycled instruments that imitate violins, violas, cellos, double basses, guitars, saxophones, trumpets and percussion instruments, all made from waste recovered from the landfill.

“The world sends us trash, we send back music,” became one of the project’s emblematic phrases.

In addition to teaching music, the initiative seeks to provide educational and social opportunities to vulnerable youths.

According to Chávez, the program also includes scholarships and academic support so members can continue their studies and gain access to better job opportunities.

“We do not stop at simply bringing the kids onto a stage to receive applause, but we also support them so they study something,” he explained. “Most of them maybe music, but if not music, then another career that allows them to have a better future.”

The Cateura Orchestra gained international recognition following the 2015 documentary “Landfill Harmonic” and shared stages or collaborations with artists including Metallica, Megadeth, Stevie Wonder and Damon Albarn, leader of Gorillaz and Blur.

Metallica invited the Paraguayan group to open part of its South American tour in 2014, while members of Megadeth participated in project activities and presentations connected to the documentary.

Basura will run from May 30 through July 12 in Atlanta. The production is directed by Michael Greif, known for productions such as Rent and Dear Evan Hansen, with a script by Karen Zacarías and musical supervision by Alex Lacamoire, a Grammy and Tony Award winner for Hamilton.

Gloria Estefan said in previous interviews that she was deeply moved after watching Landfill Harmonic and decided to become personally involved in the project because of its message of resilience and social transformation through music.

A top US official says Oman should know that Washington ‘will aggressively target’ actors that facilitate tolls in waterway.

The United States has warned that it would “aggressively” impose sanctions on Oman if it helps Iran establish a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz, intensifying President Donald Trump’s threats against the Gulf ally.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that Washington will “not tolerate” either country imposing fees on commercial ships in the strategic waterway.

“Oman, in particular, should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved — directly or indirectly — in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized,” Bessent said in a social media post.

“All nations should reject outright any efforts by Iran to disrupt the free flow of commerce. Tehran’s days of terrorizing the region and the world are over.”

The statement comes less than 24 hours after President Trump threatened to bomb Oman, a key US ally known for its neutrality and mediation efforts in regional crises, including the war between the US and Iran.

While Iran has suggested that the governments in Tehran and Muscat could jointly manage the Hormuz Strait, Oman has not said that it is seeking control over the waterway, parts of which flow through its territory.

It is not clear what is driving Washington’s recent posture toward Oman. It is highly unusual for the US to threaten sanctions and military action against a close security and economic partner.

Since the US and Israel started bombing Iran without direct provocation on February 28, Iran has closed the strait and claimed sovereignty over it.

Around 20 percent of the world’s oil flowed through Hormuz before the conflict, so the Iranian blockade has put a major strain on energy supplies, sending prices soaring.

The US and Iran have been indirectly negotiating to reach an agreement for a comprehensive end to the war, and control over the Hormuz Strait has emerged as a major point of disagreement.

Trump has stressed that the strait must be a free passageway.

When asked whether he would accept joint Iranian-Omani control over the strait in the short term, the US president told reporters on Wednesday: “Nobody is going to control it. It’s international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.”

Ali Bagheri, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Thursday that Tehran will not allow Hormuz to be a source of insecurity for the country.

“The powers that have used this passage against Iran’s security must be held accountable,” he was quoted as saying by Iran’s public television.

Bagheri added that Iran seeks to “establish a just order that negates hegemony and domination and strengthens trust and cooperation” in the region.

World number one Jannick Sinner beaten by 56th-ranked Argentinian opponent Juan Manuel Cerundolo at Roland Garros.

Jannik ‌Sinner’s bid for a maiden French Open title and career Grand ⁠Slam went up ⁠in smoke as he experienced physical issues in his second-round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo and fell to a 3-6 2-6 7-5 ⁠6-1 6-1 defeat.

Sinner arrived in Paris as the favourite for the title, having lifted claycourt titles in Monte Carlo, Madrid and ⁠Rome, with his main rival and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz ruled out with injury and Novak Djokovic searching for his best form.

But Cerundolo tore up the script in a dramatic clash on a scorching Thursday where he held his nerve even as last year’s runner-up ‌Sinner crumbled while on the verge of a big win, sending shockwaves through Roland Garros.

As the temperature climbed over the 30 degrees Celsius (86F) mark for the first time in the afternoon, Sinner had already breezed through the first set on the back of a solitary break, and the 24-year-old Italian looked to be in cruise mode.

Cerundolo offered resistance towards the end ⁠of the second set, but the 56th-ranked Argentinian was ⁠left with a mountain to climb after Sinner unleashed a huge forehand winner to double his lead in the match for the loss of only five games.

The four-time Grand Slam champion cooled ⁠off with an ice towel in the break and turned up the intensity on his unseeded opponent in the ⁠third set to go 5-1 ahead, before he ⁠began to struggle and halted play when serving at 5-4.

Sinner returned from an off-court medical timeout five minutes later and was immediately broken for 5-5, and dropped the next two games to hand ‌the set to his opponent, who sensed the chance to pull off a major upset.

Still not at his best, Sinner surrendered the fourth set ‌tamely ‌and was broken early in the decider, as Cerundolo took full advantage to leave the Grand Slam without its title favourite.

May 28 (UPI) — A former CIA agent is accused of stealing nearly $40 million worth of gold bars and about $2 million in cash from the agency, and lying to the agency about his education, military history and pilot license.

David J. Rush of Virginia, who is described in a criminal complaint as a former senior executive with a top secret clearance, was arrested last week and charged with theft of public funds, The Washington Post, USA Today and NBC News. He also claimed about $77,000 of paid military leave for which he wasn’t entitled.

The FBI searched Rush’s home last week and found 303 gold bars that weighed 2.2 pounds each and are estimated to be worth about $40 million, according to an affidavit written by Special Agent Matthew Johnson, USA Today reported.

The FBI seized the gold from the home along with about $2 million in cash and 35 luxury watches, many of which were Rolexes.

From November 2025 and March 2026, Rush requested and received “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses,” the affidavit said. When the government visited the storage facility where it was supposed to be stored, most of it was missing. The documents don’t list the reason he needed so much money and gold.

Rush had been in the Navy and was honorably discharged in 2015. But he allegedly told the agency that he was in the reserves for 10 years and took 744 hours of military leave during that time adding up to about $77,000, the affidavit said.

The affidavit alleges that Rush claimed to have a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and a master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. An FBI investigation found no record of him attending either school. He also claimed to have been a Navy pilot, but the investigation found no record of that, and the Federal Aviation Administration has no pilot’s license registered to Rush.

Rush is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing, and a detention hearing is set for June 5.

May 28 (UPI) — At least 16 students were killed and 74 were injured after fire tore through a girls’ boarding school in Kenya in the early hours of Thursday.

The blaze broke out as students were sleeping, engulfing the dorm block at the school in Gilgil, 77 miles northwest of the capital Nairobi, police and the Kenya Red Cross said.

A rescue and recovery operation was still underway amid efforts to account for all the students who were in the accommodation building — thought to be about 220.

“It is a sad and distressing situation. As we speak, our officers are combing the area because some students fled in shock and fear during the night,” said police commander Masoud Mwinyi.

Mwinyi said the police department had launched an investigation and that criminal investigators and forensics officers had been dispatched to the scene.

A parent told Kenya’s NTV News that most of the students in the hospital had been injured as they tried to escape by jumping from the upper level of the dorm block because one of the doors was closed.

President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto extended their condolences to the victims’ families and friends, as well as teachers and staff at the school.

“Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters in the tragic fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil. No words can truly ease the pain of losing young lives filled with promise, hope, and dreams for the future. As a nation, we mourn with the parents, guardians, teachers and fellow students who are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” Ruto wrote on X.

Education Secretary Julius Ogamba ordered the immediate closure of the school but urged the public and media to refrain from speculating on the cause of the fire until the investigation was complete.

Ogamba said the Education Ministry was in the midst of a health and safety code audit of schools that had already seen the shuttering of almost 350 boarding schools that did not meet government standards.

The crackdown was launched 18 months ago in the wake of the deaths of 21 people in a blaze in a dorm of the Hillside Endarasha Academy, a boarding school in Nyeri, 100 miles north of Nairobi, in September 2024.

The country’s boarding schools have a poor safety record with a series of deadly blazes blamed on overcrowding and breaches of basic safety measures such as keeping exits clear and windows and exits unlocked.

Some have been deliberately set, with the finger pointed at students disaffected by tough discipline regimes and living conditions.

Responding to a parliamentary committee’s request in 2021 for school arson data, the Ministry of Education reported 126 arson attacks in the first 11 months of 2020 alone.

May 28 (UPI) — South Korea overtook the United States in 2025 to become the world’s second-largest exporter of cosmetics, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) earlier this month.

The ministry noted that the East Asian country’s cosmetics exports amounted to $11.4 billion in 2025, up 11.8% from a year before, trailing only runaway leader France with $24.3 billion.

The United States ranked third with $10.8 billion, followed by Germany with $9.9 billion, Spain with $9.2 billion, Italy with $9 billion, China with $7.3 billion, and Japan with $3.9 billion.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s 2025 cosmetics imports declined 2.3% year-on-year to $1.29 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $10.1 billion. It marked the first time Asia’s fourth-largest economy topped $10 billion in the annual cosmetics trade surplus.

By destination, the United States has emerged as the largest overseas market for Korean cosmetics last year as exports jumped 15% year-over-year to $2.2 billion. In contrast, shipments to China plunged 19% to $2 billion.

Demand for Korean cosmetics, widely known as K-beauty products, also increased sharply in Europe and the Middle East. Exports to Poland, in particular, more than doubled from a year earlier to $282 million.

To further beef up the competitiveness of the K-beauty industry, the MFDS pledged to pursue a range of policy initiatives, including expanded regulatory support programs.

“As countries such as the United States and China have recently introduced cosmetic safety assessment systems, we are preparing to implement our own safety evaluation framework in phases,” the MFDS said in a statement.

“To help domestic companies comply smoothly with the new system, the government plans to establish guidelines, provide consulting services, and train professional evaluators,” it added.

New players fueling K-beauty boom

In the past, South Korea’s cosmetics giants relied heavily on China as their primary offshore market. Traditional behemoths, including AmorePacific and LG Household and Health Care, resorted to such a business model for years.

However, a new wave of entrepreneurs has come to the fore with a different approach, reducing dependence on China while tapping aggressively into the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Leading the shift is APR, which was founded in 2014 and built its growth around online sales channels and beauty devices aimed at international customers.

Last year, APR almost tripled its operating profit to $240 million, which is almost equivalent to that of AmorePacific and well above $113 million of LG Household & Health Care.

APR continued its strong momentum this year as its first-quarter operating profit stood at $101 million, up 173.7% from a year ago, based on robust performance in such major markets as the United States and Japan.

According to U.S. business tracker Navigo Marketing, APR came in third place in Amazon’s beauty category last year with a 7.1% market share. The firm doubled it to 14.1% in the first quarter to claim the top position.

APR has also strengthened its offline presence by entering more than 1,500 Target stores across the United States last month. It plans to expand further into about 3,000 Walmart stores in June.

Meanwhile, first-quarter operating incomes of AmorePacific and LG Household and Health Care fell short of APR with $84 million and $72 million, respectively.

The strong earnings have prompted investors to pile into APR shares on the Seoul bourse.

As a result, APR’s market capitalization jumped 73.59% this year to reach $10 billion as of Thursday. Those of AmorePacific and LG Household & Health Care were $4.49 billion and $2.52 billion, respectively.

“Considering the expansion of offline channels in the United States and accelerating sales growth in Europe, APR’s stock is likely to maintain a medium- to long-term upward trajectory,” Yuanta Securities Korea analyst Lee Seung-eun said in a report.

HMC Investment Securities analyst Ha Hee-ji shared a similar view.

“APR’s growing brand recognition in the United States appears to be spreading across global markets, thus creating a virtuous cycle,” Ha said. “Business-to-business sales in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East are also showing steep growth trends.”

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will face a prosecution investigation over allegations that he leaked classified information related to North Korea‘s nuclear facilities.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office said Thursday that it received the case from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on May 21 and assigned it. Chung is accused of violating laws governing the disclosure of official secrets.

During a parliamentary committee session on March 6, Chung said North Korea is operating another uranium enrichment facility in the northwestern region of Kusong, along with previously reported ones in Yongbyon and Kangson.

The government has previously officially identified Yongbyon and Kangson as the main locations hosting the North’s uranium enrichment facilities, with Kusong being identified as a site for the first time.

At the time, the United States was reportedly said to have conveyed its concerns through South Korean diplomatic, security and intelligence agencies.

The unification ministry responded that Chung’s remarks were based on comments by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and reports and analyses released by research institutions, as well as media outlets.

The ministry said Thursday the prosecution’s assignment of the case was merely a procedural step following the complaint and should not be interpreted as the formal launch of an investigation.

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The central bank on Thursday raised its economic growth forecast for South Korea to 2.6 percent for 2026 amid solid exports driven by a semiconductor super cycle.

The revision by the Bank of Korea (BOK) represents a 0.6 percentage-point increase from its previous forecast of 2 percent issued in February.

It is the largest upside revision since May 2021, when the BOK raised its growth projection by 1 percentage point from 3 percent to 4 percent.

For 2027, the central bank estimated its growth outlook at 2.1 percent.

The South Korean economy grew 1.7 percent in the first quarter, marking the sharpest quarterly growth in 5 1/2 years.

The revised outlook broadly aligned with forecasts from other institutions.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected growth of 1.9 percent this year, while the Asian Development Bank (ADB) projected 1.9 percent growth.

The Korea Development Institute (KDI) earlier improved its growth forecast to 2.5 percent for 2026 from 1.9 percent.

The BOK also revised up its inflation prediction to 2.7 percent from 2.2 percent, citing higher international oil prices in the aftermath of the U.S.-Iran war.

For 2027, consumer prices are estimated to rise 2.3 percent, according to the BOK.

“The Korean economy is projected to expand by 2.6 percent this year, well above the February forecast of 2 percent, driven by robust semiconductor exports, while government measures, including the supplementary budget, partially offset the Middle East-driven supply shock,” the BOK said in a release.

BOK Gov. Shin Hyun-song said in a press conference that strong exports will likely contribute 0.7 percentage point to the country’s growth this year, alongside the 0.2 percentage point gains generated by the government’s fiscal support and the 0.1 percentage-point increase brought on by the local stock market rally. On the other hand, the ongoing U.S.-Iran war will drag down the economy by 0.4 percentage point, he added.

“Based on our analysis, we concluded that if the situation in the Middle East is resolved early, this year’s growth rate could exceed 2.6 percent,” he said. “We do not think the growth is a short-lived trend.”

The central bank presented an optimistic scenario in which semiconductor-driven exports gain further momentum, raising its growth forecast by 0.5 percentage point for 2026 and 0.3 percentage point for 2027.

Under a pessimistic scenario, however, a possible slowdown in artificial intelligence investments would lower economic growth by 0.3 percentage point this year and 0.2 percentage point next year, the central bank said.

In line with the upbeat outlook, the BOK kept the key interest rate unchanged at 2.5 percent but signaled a possible rate hike in the second half.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

May 28 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury announced late Wednesday that it has sanctioned an Iranian entity, newly created to oversee and manage the Strait of Hormuz, as the Trump administration seeks to force Tehran to relinquish control over the vital energy trade route.

The strait has been an issue of contention between the United States and Iran, which are locked in negotiations to end the war.

Iran restricted navigation of the strait after the United States and Israel attacked the country in late February, igniting the war. Washington responded by imposing a military blockade of Iran’s ports, cutting it off from maritime trade.

Since imposing the restrictions, Iran has been adamant about maintaining control of the route, through which about one-fifth of the world’s energy trade flows. The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened that there will be free navigation of the strait again, one way or another.

Earlier this month, Iran launched the Persian Gulf Strait Authority to manage the strait.

The Treasury sanctioned the PGSA on Wednesday, accusing it of being an attempt by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to monetize the international waterway.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the mechanism in a statement as the Iranian military’s “latest attempt to extort global maritime trade.”

Bessent said the Wednesday blacklisting was part of Economic Fury, the Treasury’s rebranding of President Donald Trump‘s maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and other trade measures from his first administration seeking to coerce a new nuclear weapons deal from Iran.

The United States has been tightening its financial vise on Iran since 2018 when Trump first imposed sanctions on Tehran after unilaterally withdrawing the United States from a multinational Obama-era nuclear accord aimed at preventing Iran from securing a nuclear weapon.

Trump reimposed the campaign following his return to the White House in early 2025. It was renamed following the start of the military operation Epic Fury that began Feb. 28.

Treasury officials said Wednesday that through the maximum pressure campaign, the Trump administration has denied Iran access to tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue.

The sanctions generally prohibit those named from accessing the U.S. financial system and bar U.S. persons and companies from doing business with them. They also expose foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for those sanctioned to potential secondary sanctions.

Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, had over the weekend called on Bessent to sanction the PGSA, stating the United States “must ensure every actor enabling the terrorist Iranian regime is held accountable.”

“I support the use of existing authorities to impose sanctions on the PGSA, its officers and any foreign entity that pays, processes or facilitates tolls to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said in a statement.

Iran has rejected the notion that it is running a toll. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said that Iran charges fees to cover costs associated with navigational services and environmental protection measures.

Cricket greats, writers and broadcasters hail 15-year-old Rajasthan Royal opener after his 29-ball 97 in IPL playoffs.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been termed a ⁠⁠generational talent after the Rajasthan Royals teenager smashed 97 off 29 balls to power his side to victory in their Indian ⁠⁠Premier League eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The 15-year-old also broke Chris Gayle’s record for most sixes in an IPL season on Wednesday, taking his tally to 65 in the ⁠⁠match and surpassing the former West Indies captain’s 59 set in 2012.

Sooryavanshi’s performance helped Rajasthan secure a 47-run win that kept their hopes of reaching the final alive.

Rajasthan will play Gujarat Titans ‌‌in ‌‌the second qualifier on Friday, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s final against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Hyderabad assistant coach James Franklin said the teen batter’s potential was frightening.

“I don’t think anyone’s ‌‌ever seen a talent like this. It’s freakish what he’s doing at the moment,” he told reporters. “To think that he’s potentially got 25 years left in his career, it’s quite scary.

“He’s only going to get better, stronger and more mature with how he bats. So, it’s just devastating at the moment.”

“There’s a very small margin where you could bowl to him,” Franklin said. “He’s an amazing talent that he can start playing around with it [bowling variations] and then start ‌‌to cause the bowlers to have to go to other places, which tend to then go back into his strength.”

The season’s leading run-scorer struck 12 sixes ⁠⁠in his innings, including three in a row ⁠⁠off Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins, but fell short of Gayle’s mark for the fastest IPL century off 30 balls.

Sooryavanshi miscued an upper cut to deep third, leaving him visibly dejected after the dismissal as Smaran Ravichandran completed the catch.

“I thought about it [the hundred] after ⁠⁠I got out. At that time I was just focusing ⁠⁠on contributing as much as I can,” Sooryavanshi said after being named player of the match.

“Hundreds will come, but the goal is to ensure how we win trophies.”

Sooryavanshi, who last year hit the first ball he faced in his IPL career for a six at age 14 and later became the youngest player to score a T20 hundred, has amassed 680 runs this season at a strike rate of 242.85.

Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar analysed Sooryavanshi’s batting on social media, saying the baby-faced attacking batter’s technique allows him to play with freedom.

“That innings was nothing short of spectacular!” Tendulkar wrote.

The young player was hailed as the best T20 opener by former England captain Michael Vaughan, who urged India to select him in the national side.

“He is the best T20 opener in the world. India have to pick him,” Vaughan wrote on X.

Cricket author and broadcaster Bharat Sundaresan said that despite the change in bat sizes and record-breaking T20 scores, Sooryavanshi’s achievement was “era-defining”.

“Eight sixes in the first four overs of an innings? What are we watching? This is beyond incredible,” he wrote.

West Indies bowling great Ian Bishop, who is now a cricket commentator, said the quality of Sooryavanshi’s strokes was “rare”.

Former India batter Mohammed Kaif joined in heaping praise on Sooryavanshi, calling him a “wonder boy” in a tweet.

May 28 (UPI) — The U.S. military attacked Iran, Tehran confirmed early Thursday, as Iran announced retaliatory strikes of its own.

Iran targeted a U.S. air base at about 4:50 a.m. local time in response to the U.S. military striking presumed Iranian military assets near Bandar Abbas Airport in southern Iran.

“This response is a serious warning so that the enemy knows aggression will not go unanswered, and that in the event of a repeat, our response will be more decisive and the responsibility and consequences will lie with the aggressor,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

The air base targeted and whether it sustained damage were not known. The U.S. military has yet to comment.

The announcement came as the Kuwait Army said its air defenses were confronting “hostile missile and drone attacks.” While the United States maintains a significant military presence in Kuwait, it was not immediately clear whether those attacks were related to the U.S.-Iran exchange.

Explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas, Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported earlier Thursday.

Citing an unidentified military source, the news agency said the U.S. attack followed the Iranian Navy firing shots toward a U.S. oil tanker that had turned off its radar system and intended to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

The oil tanker reportedly ended its attempt to transit the vital energy maritime trade route.

Iran has been enforcing has been restricting access through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war, permitting only certain vessels through. The United States responded with a military blockade of Iran’s ports, cutting it off from sea-based trade.

The two sides have been in talks since a fragile cease-fire was agreed to last month, with Thursday’s U.S. strikes on Iran the second time it has attacked the country so far this week.

On Monday, the U.S. military attacked southern Iran, describing the strikes as “self-defensive” in nature.

The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that it intends to secure free navigation of the Strait of Hormuz, one way or another, though it would prefer to do so through diplomacy.

Iran’s control of Hormuz is reportedly one of its conditions in negotiations on ending the war. In response to reports carried by Iranian state media that Iran and Oman, which border either side of the Strait of Hormuz, are in talks over control of the choke point, President Donald Trump said the transit route will be open to all countries and under no government’s control.

“It’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it. That’s part of the negotiation that we’re having,” he told reporters during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

“And Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that. They’ll be fine.”

The first flight carrying around 300 Ghanaians evacuated from South Africa following anti-immigrant tensions and reported attacks on foreign nationals has arrived in Accra. Authorities welcomed returnees with reintegration support and transport assistance.

Bolivia’s president has warned protesters “time is running out” amid a weeks-long standoff over the country’s economic and political crisis. President Rodrigo Paz has secured powers to declare a State of Emergency, but protesters remain unmoved.

May 27 (Asia Today) — OpenAI said Wednesday it will expand artificial intelligence-based cyber defense cooperation with the South Korean government, public agencies and companies in key industries.

The company announced its Korea Cyber Action Plan during a press conference at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seoul’s Seocho District. The plan is designed to give government agencies, public institutions and companies broader access to OpenAI’s advanced AI cyber models.

Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s chief strategy officer, said AI has entered a third stage as an “intelligence utility,” becoming core infrastructure for the economy and society after earlier phases focused on capability breakthroughs and broader access.

Kwon said South Korea is well positioned to adopt AI because it is a digital-first society that quickly embraces new technologies and has a “full-stack economy” with global semiconductor companies including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

“Advanced cyber AI capabilities should not remain in the hands of only a few,” Kwon said. “Korea’s key defenders should be able to use them to strengthen collective security and public safety.”

“Korea is a very important country for OpenAI,” he said. “We hope to become an important partner in Korea’s AI transformation and in strengthening national resilience.”

The Korea Cyber Action Plan is part of Daybreak, OpenAI’s global cybersecurity initiative that aims to build security into systems from the earliest stages of development. OpenAI says Daybreak is designed to help cyber defenders identify threats, generate patches and verify fixes across code and systems.

A key part of the plan is expanding Trusted Access for Cyber, a program that gives verified defensive users access to specialized cyber AI models. OpenAI said in April it was scaling the program to thousands of verified individual defenders and hundreds of teams responsible for protecting critical software.

Kwon said access for the South Korean government to the government version of the program is in its final stage. He said OpenAI is also discussing adoption of the private-sector program with several Korean companies.

Asked about potential misuse of cyber models and data leakage risks, Kwon said OpenAI is controlling risk by granting access only to “trusted defenders” who go through strict verification.

He also said OpenAI supports data residency in South Korea, allowing data to be processed on domestic servers. Public agencies and companies may also choose an option in which data is not stored at all, he said.

Kwon said OpenAI has begun talks with the Korea AI Safety Institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT. He said the company will draw on its experience working with AI safety institutes in the United States and Britain to help South Korea build its own model evaluation capabilities.

Before Wednesday’s announcement, OpenAI had been deepening cooperation with South Korea’s public sector. On May 18, Sasha Baker, OpenAI’s head of national security policy, visited South Korea and demonstrated the company’s latest cyber-focused models to major agencies including the science ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Financial Services Commission and the National AI Strategy Committee.

On Tuesday, Kwon met with Ryu Je-myung, second vice minister of science and ICT, to discuss AI security cooperation. OpenAI also signed memorandums of understanding with Korea Water Resources Corp. and Korea Technology Finance Corp.

Kwon emphasized the company’s expectations for the Korean market.

“Korea is a country with very favorable conditions to turn AI into national competitiveness,” he said. “Based on ChatGPT, Korea is already one of the top 10 markets globally, and the speed of AI adoption is very fast.”

OpenAI said use of Codex in South Korea is also growing quickly. Weekly active users of ChatGPT Codex in the country have increased tenfold since the beginning of the year, placing South Korea among the top five countries by usage.

More than half of the requests come from non-development work such as document writing, analysis, research and operations, showing the potential for wider enterprise use, the company said.

Kwon said changes in OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft have made it possible to provide OpenAI API services through a wider range of cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services, and that enterprise growth is expected to accelerate.

On pricing for enterprise services, Kwon said consumer subscriptions and corporate services are different, and that business customers already use contract-based pricing. Over the long term, he said OpenAI aims to provide stronger AI performance at the same cost or lower unit prices so more users can benefit.

— 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=20260527010008011

May 27 (UPI) — The United States and Kenya are in talks to create a quarantine facility in Kenya for Americans exposed to Ebola, unnamed officials told multiple media outlets Wednesday.

The U.S. Public Health Service would staff the planned field hospital and isolate and monitor Americans exposed to or at risk of the ongoing outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan.

The Kenyan government has not yet approved the plan, The Star, Kenya, reported.

The plan is to have the facility built with 50 beds within a week, with the potential to expand to 250 beds later, The Washington Post reported.

The staff at the Public Health Service has begun training at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to staff the Kenya facility, two people familiar with the response told The Post. But one person said they were concerned that the training was only three days.

The plan could keep U.S. citizens from re-entering the United States, a former official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has worked on the Ebola response told CBS News.

“It would be unbelievably unethical and irresponsible to maroon Americans, given Kenya doesn’t have a proper Level 4 containment facility or much experience” in dealing with Ebola.

Nahid Bhadelia, director of Boston University’s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases who has cared for Ebola patients in multiple outbreaks, told The Post that creating a makeshift quarantine hospital overseas brings risks.

“My biggest concern would be that you cannot re-create the same quality of care or training among healthcare staff at an ad hoc center that you would at any of the well-trained and established hospitals that the U.S. has set up since 2014 to take care of these types of patients,” Bhadelia said. “I’m also concerned what this does is effectively discourage Americans and American organizations from working in the area if they know it will be difficult for them to come back in case of an emergency.”

Bhadelia added that if quarantined people contract the disease, staff “would need to be able to provide ICU-level care.”

Meanwhile, the American Foreign Service Association is calling on the State Department to send affected Foreign Services workers and their families home, saying they can be repatriated and monitored at the same U.S. facilities where Americans exposed during previous outbreaks were admitted.

“Those facilities still exist, and the government has the ability to transport people safely and without endangering other travelers,” the AFSA said in a statement.

“Foreign Service employees are there because the U.S. government sent them. They are entitled to the same standard of care that has always applied, including the right to come home.”

More than 220 people have died in the DRC in the latest outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. The World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern. WHO and partner agencies have reported more than 900 suspected cases in Congo and Uganda as of Tuesday.

The WHO reported Wednesday that fighting in Congo is also making it difficult for aid workers to respond to the outbreak.