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Firefighters worked to free riders stranded 30.4 metres in the air after a rollercoaster malfunctioned and their car became stuck at Pleasure Pier amusement park in Galveston, Texas. No injuries were immediately reported.

Belgian defender Thomas Meunier caused debate recently after saying that France has the footballing talent to put out three teams capable of winning the World Cup.

Could Les Bleus, who are co-favourites with Spain in this summer’s World Cup, really lift the title with their second- or third-string team? Maybe not, but their talent is certainly Mariana Trench-deep.

Consider this: According to transfermarkt.com, a lineup of French players that didn’t make the 26-man cut would rank in value among the top five teams – ahead of Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands and reigning champions Argentina.

Lucas Chevalier 30 million euros ($35m); Pierre Kalulu 32 million, Jeremy Jacquet 55 million, Leny Yoro 50 million, Adrien Truffert 25 million; Boubacar Kamara 40 million, Eduardo Camavinga 50 million; Dilani Bakwa 28 million, Senny Mayulu 40 million or Khephren Thuram 40 million, Mousa Diaby 28 million; Junior Kroupi 40 million. = 418 million [38 million average]

So, how did Les Bleus get to this point?

It started with frustration after French teams consistently fell short on the biggest stage from the 1930s to the 1970s. The solution, national team manager Georges Boulogne said in the early 1970s, would be for the French Football Federation to create training academies known as Centres de Formation.

“France had not won any trophies, and it was decided they needed to create a new structure,” INF (Institut National du Football) Clairefontaine administrator Franck Bentolila told Al Jazeera.

The government backed the programme, viewing it as promoting French ideals through sports, as well as a recipe for winning trophies.

A total of 16 centres were set up, the first opening in 1974 with the main site in Vichy. It recruited widely, drawing young players from the entire country, plus overseas departments. The centres laid a foundation, preparing players for professional careers and the national team.

The record was initially mixed. In the 1980s, France won the European Championship and Olympic Games titles (both in 1984) and reached two World Cup semifinals, but then failed to qualify for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

But by 1998, everything fell into place, with the so-called “Black-Blanc-Beur” squad winning the World Cup at home. The multiethnic group represented the changing nature of French society, as well as validating the federation’s development programme. Bentolila said coach Aime Jacquet dedicated the victory to “all the amateur clubs and academies – it’s also your trophy”.

“The [1980s] period with [Michel] Platini, [Alain] Giresse, [Jean] Tigana, had a lot of talent, but we don’t win a World Cup,” Bernard Lama, a goalkeeper who captained the national team in the 1990s, told Al Jazeera.

“The difference with our generation, all the guys were from academies. And we were hungry to win a title. And, also, we had one exceptional talent with Zinedine Zidane.”

France went on to lift the 2018 World Cup and were runners-up in 2006 and 2022.

‘We have players who can make a difference’

Lama traces France’s success to the combination of the centres, with the contribution of immigration.

“You have people coming from overseas – Africa, French Guyana, Martinique – they give us two things, music and sports,” Lama said.

“And, now, there is a sub-generation coming from overseas, and they are French. [Ousmane] Dembele, [Desire] Doue, they are French, they are not naturalised, they grew up in France, the majority around Paris.

“And they are hungry, you understand, for a lot of reasons. But, also, it’s not only a question of work; the first thing is they have talent.”

Lama sees a danger in football, more broadly, of players becoming overly drilled and “robotic”, but France has many exceptions who can give them an edge.

“We are lucky to still have these players who are capable of making the difference,” Lama said. “Maybe that is why we are so good, we have players like [Kylian] Mbappe, Dembele, Doue. They hate to lose and, physically and technically, they can make the difference, individually.

“And that is the force of the national team, and also PSG, our capacity to score. Today, we have maybe four or five guys – [Maghnes] Akliouche, [Rayan] Cherki, a different kind of talent. When you have that explosion of talent, it gives the coach more solutions, offensive solutions.”

Most national team members, no matter their background, have gone through the academies, but their development starts long before that.

“It’s cultural,” Bentolila said. “In America, when you are young, you have a basketball in your hands, or a football in your hands. In France, you have a football at your feet when you are a baby – and free access to facilities.”

That part of the formula sounds similar to many countries. Is there a secret to French development, or are they just doing it better than most?

“The secrets,” said longtime coach and scout Stephane Nado, “are a combination of hard work, structure and organisation.”

Nado said: “The player is the centre, the heart, of the project. The player will receive education. And we will not take them away from their family. It is important for them to keep their roots, important psychologically. This is why France is one of the best in the world at developing players for export.”

Training at Clairefontaine blends street game skills with organisation, including “lots of 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2”, Bentolila said. “You have to fight. You’re good at dribbling and first touch, now you organise possession, 5 vs 2. As soon as you get the ball, you have to have good control. We do that a lot.”

Clairefontaine is now focusing on younger age groups, ceding responsibility for older players to clubs. And development is expanding beyond the centres and established club academies, Bentolila said.

“Paris and Sao Paulo are the best areas in the world for talent,” Bentolila said. “Why? Private academies. It is an amazing situation. Kids, eight- and nine-year-olds, playing every day. Amateur coaches offer not a meal, but a snack at 4 o’clock. Then, they do homework and training sessions. When they are 12 years old, they play like Mbappe.

“In Paris, you have amateur clubs nobody knows, and they can beat [the youth teams of] Barcelona and professional clubs. They are better than PSG, Paris FC. So many players – they play anywhere, any time, eight years old against 10 years old. They are like soldiers, they fight every day, and they are good because they play under pressure.”

In the 1980s, Les Bleus were dubbed “The Brazilians of Europe”. It’s taken a while, but France appears to have lived up to the moniker. And they’ve gone about it their own way.

“Brazilian coaches [used to] tell me, ‘In our country, we are poor, but we can succeed in football or music. So, we start the day with football,’” Bentolila said.

“In France, we go to school, first, and, after, practise football. We do it every day and, like Brazil, we play a lot, and play well.”

A digital register of land ownership in the West Bank is seen as an escalation of Israel’s occupation.

Occupied East Jerusalem, Palestine – A controversial Israeli plan to digitally register property ownership in the occupied West Bank is a “dangerous colonial occupation step that represents a direct assault on the historical and legal rights of the Palestinian people to their land and property”, the Palestinian Land Authority has said.

The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate and the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CRRC) have urged Palestinians in the West Bank not to engage with any Israeli “entities, committees, platforms, or procedures” of lands and property.

Israel reportedly launched the online “Land Registry and Settlement of Rights” platform on which it plans to “update” property ownership in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday this week.

The Jerusalem Governorate and the CRRC have called on the international community, the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and all international human rights and legal institutions to “take their urgent responsibilities to stop these illegal procedures and hold the occupying state accountable for its continuous violations against the Palestinian people, their land, and their resources”, they said.

Moayad Shaaban, head of the CRRC, which is part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the move reveals “the occupation’s transition from traditional policies of field control to digital and administrative colonial engineering aimed at imposing permanent legal realities on the occupied Palestinian territory”.

‘Annexation’ by land registry

In May 2025, the Israeli Security Cabinet launched a new, aggressive land settlement process throughout the West Bank, with the aim of “completing the legal and administrative annexation of the occupied territories through fully registering the lands under Israeli authority”, the Jerusalem Governorate said.

Then, in July 2025, Israel’s parliament approved a symbolic measure calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank. The move was first tabled in 2024 by Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who himself lives in an illegal Israeli settlement.

On February 15, 2026, the permanent acquisition and registration of approximately 58 percent of Area C – the part of the West Bank over which Israel exerts total control – began.

Under that decision, Palestinian land registration in the Israeli “Tabu” – the land registry extract – began for the first time since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967. It is a final measure that will be difficult to challenge in Israeli courts, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported in February.

With the onset of land settlement, the Israeli Land Registry unit will take over the regulation and registration of land ownership in Area C. It also has the power to issue sales permits and to collect fees. Israel aims to complete the full settlement of 15 percent of the West Bank by the end of 2030.

Some 700,000 Israeli settlers already live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as illegal settlement has expanded under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rights groups say settlement approvals, along with rising settler violence against Palestinian communities, have accelerated since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

South Korean stocks rebounded to a fresh all-time high Friday, driven by strong gains in stocks related to artificial intelligence (AI) and renewed optimism about a potential ceasefire in the Middle East. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 290.86 points, or 3.55 percent, to close at 8,476.15, after hitting a new intraday high of 8,615.09.

Trade volume was heavy at 701.5 million shares worth 73.7 trillion won (US$48.9 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 686 to 205.

Foreign and individual investors unloaded local shares worth a net 1.04 trillion won and 1.4 trillion won, respectively, while institutions scooped up a net 2.37 trillion won.

The index restarted its record-breaking run after losing 0.53 percent the previous day. The KOSPI had risen for four consecutive sessions starting May 21, breaching the 8,000-point level for the first time Tuesday.

Overnight news reports that the United States and Iran had reached an agreement to extend the current ceasefire for 60 days and resume talks on Tehran’s nuclear program pushed up the index.

AI shares were boosted by the latest reports that Nvidia Corp. founder Jensen Huang plans to visit South Korea next week.

“Backed by gains in major stocks, the KOSPI rallied on news of Jensen Huang’s planned visit,” said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities. “Stocks related to Huang’s Korean visit closed in positive territory.”

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 5.84 percent to 317,000 won, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix advanced 1.92 percent to 2.33 million won.

LG Electronics shot up 29.93 percent to 293,000 won, and internet giant Naver surged 14.15 percent to 234,000 won. The two companies were reportedly on the top of Jensen Huang’s Korean schedule.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 6.79 percent to 723,000 won, and its auto parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis moved up 11.95 percent to 768,000 won.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution advanced 3.62 percent to 458,000 won, and pharmaceutical giant Celltrion gained 1.53 percent to 192,900 won.

However, major bank share Hana Financial Group retreated 0.17 percent to 115,100 won, and food giant Nongshim was down 0.77 percent to 385,000 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,507.9 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 5.1 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 3.5 basis points to 3.731 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds dropped 6.8 basis points to 3.924 percent.

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May 29 (UPI) — A Russian drone carrying explosives struck the roof of an apartment building in NATO ally Romania overnight, risking a dangerous escalation in Moscow’s four-year-old war in Ukraine.

The drone had entered Romanian airspace during a Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine and struck the building in the eastern city of Galati, located near the Romania-Ukraine border, Romania’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday.

Two people were “slightly injured,” according to Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two victims were transported to the Galati County Emergency Clinical Hospital, officials said.

The drone sparked a fire on the 10th floor of the building, according to the Department for Emergency Situations, which said online that 70 people were evacuated from the building.

Video of the scene shared by Galati County emergency services officials shows firefighters responding and debris littering the residential street.

“This represents a serious and irresponsible escalation by the Russian Federation,” Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said online.

According to the Defense Ministry, radars had detected drones flying near Romanian airspace, prompting two F-16 fighter jets and an IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter to deploy at 1:19 a.m., with authorization to engage targets.

The aircraft followed the drone in Romanian airspace, but the decision was made to not engage over heightened risk to the safety of the civilian population, Romanian President Nicusor Dan said in a statement.

Dan said he convened a meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense for 11 a.m. Friday to discuss what he called “the most serious incident to have affected national territory” since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, igniting the war.

“The unprecedented nature of the event requires a firm, coordinated and commensurate response — at the national, allied and international levels,” he said.

He said he holds the Kremlin wholly responsible.

“What happened today in Galati is the direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression unleashed against Ukraine, of the irresponsible and indiscriminate manner in which Moscow operates these weapons systems in the immediate vicinity of NATO borders, as well as of its systematic disregard for international law,” he said.

“There is no ambiguity regarding the perpetrator and the cause of this aggression.”

All NATO and European Union allies have been informed of the incident, and the U.N. Security Council has been informed, he said, adding that Romania has formally requested that allies deploy additional anti-drone capabilities to NATO’s eastern flank.

Romania also summoned the Russian ambassador to officially communicate “the effects that this lack of responsibility on the part of the Russian Federation will have on the diplomatic relations between our countries and the next steps at the European level regarding packages of sanctions,” Toiu said.

Numerous heads of state and ministers of foreign affairs condemned the attack, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who said he spoke with Dan and assured him that the alliance “stands ready to defend every inch of allied territory.”

“Russia’s reckless behavior is a danger to us all,” he said in a statement. “They continue to target civilians and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. And last night showed yet again that the implications of their illegal war of aggression don’t stop at the border.”

Russian drones have repeatedly entered NATO airspace amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Friday’s incident appeared to be the most severe involving Romania.

Previous World Cup appearances: 11
Best performance: Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)
First appearance: 1934 (Italy)
Top goal scorer: Johnny Rep (7)
Most appearances: Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie (17)
Player to watch: Tijjani Reijnders
FIFA world ranking: 7

The Netherlands have never fulfilled their potential at the World Cup – they lost all three finals they reached (1974, 1978, 2010). The 1988 Euro winning cohort did not even come close to replicating their European success on the global stage.

But while previous golden generations repeatedly fell short, this more unheralded side should not be discounted too hastily.

The Dutch were unbeaten across their eight qualifiers, although Poland held them to draws.

With commanding defenders, a midfield of genuine class, and enough attacking options to cause problems for any defence, this Netherlands side have a outside chance of lifting the trophy for the first time.

Reijnders: the midfield heartbeat

Man City’s Tijjani Reijnders has steadily established himself as one of the finest midfielders in Europe over the last few seasons season and arrives at this tournament in fine fettle.

After two outstanding years at AC Milan, where he was named Serie A Best Midfielder of the season, he joined City in 2025 and has adapted well to life under Pep Guardiola, even if he is not always in the starting XI.

While he has grabbed five goals and two assists across 28 Premier League appearances this season, these relatively modest headline numbers do not tell the full story of his influence – especially at the international level.

Reijnders is the Netherlands’s all-action man – he gets forward and links defence and attack, breaks up opponents’ attacks, and is a classy, assured presence on the ball.

Generally, when he plays well, so do the Netherlands.

A solid core

Liverpool legend Virgil van Dijk may not quite be the force he was a few years ago, but he remains a world-class, richly experienced centre back.

He leads a talented defence that also features the likes of Micky van de Ven, Jurrien Timber and Jan Paul van Hecke.

Ahead of them, Ryan Gravenberch, outstanding for Liverpool over the last couple of seasons, shields the defence and is also capable of mounting dangerous forays forward.

His teammate Cody Gakpo offers a significant threat out wide and in front of goal, and has been one of Liverpool’s better performers in a poor season for the 2024/25 Premier League champions.

Injury worries

The Netherlands received a huge blow in April when playmaker Xavi Simons ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Tottenham. Arguably the most important creative Dutch player, he will be on the sidelines for months and has no chance of making the tournament.

Memphis Depay, now his nation’s all-time leading scorer with 55 goals in 108 caps, usually provides the focal point up front, although his inconsistency has been a source of frustration for clubs and country alike.

He was named in the squad, despite ⁠only two substitute appearances for his Brazilian club Corinthians over the past two months, as he has struggled to recover from a hamstring injury.

“I selected Memphis because of who he still is. I don’t see anyone else in that position who can do it. I ⁠believe he can be an asset, but he does have ⁠to get through the coming period well,” coach Ronald Koeman said.

Arsenal defender Timber is also a concern as a groin injury has kept him on the sidelines since March, and he will certainly need time to get match-sharp.

“We have Ian Maatsen ‌and Lutsharel Geertruida on the standby list for Timber. The situation with him is that he was supposed to train with Arsenal today, to assess for the weekend. ‌They ‌have the Champions League final on Saturday. It remains to be seen whether he will be fit for that match,” Koeman said.

Koeman’s second chance

This is Koeman’s second stint in charge of the national team, having previously managed them from 2018 to 2020.

After the Dutch failed to reach Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, Koeman secured qualification for Euro 2020, but left before the tournament to manage Barcelona.

After struggling in his recent club roles, Koeman returns to take the reins again. He was a popular figure with the players during his last stint and commands respect as a legend of Dutch football, and he will face a tough task to balance his world-class talent with a squad that is patchy in places.

He will be hoping at least to not have to deal with the fractious egos and strong personalities that undermined very strong Dutch sides in the past. This current squad does not outwardly appear to be as combustible as previous iterations.

How does their group look?

Group F should offer the Netherlands a relatively comfortable route to the last 32.

The toughest game is likely to be the opener against Japan, themselves a talented side considered to be dark horses, who recently defeated England at Wembley in a friendly.

Sweden had a terrible qualifying campaign but qualified through the playoffs via the Nations League, and nevertheless have plenty of dangerous players, such as Victor Gyokeres and Anthony Elanga.

The final group game against Tunisia should be more straightforward, as the North Africans lack real star quality – although they tend to be obdurate opponents that are hard to break down in major tournaments.

Netherlands’ group stage matches

⚽ June 14: Netherlands vs Japan (Dallas, United States), 4pm ET (20:00 GMT)
⚽ June 20: Netherlands vs Sweden (Houston, United States) 1pm ET (17:00 GMT)
⚽ June 24: Tunisia vs Netherlands (Kansas City, United States), 7pm ET (23:00 GMT)

Al Jazeera’s prediction

Last 16.

While the Dutch boast undoubted talent, it does not elite enough or cohere enough into a team that is bigger than the sum of its parts.

Netherlands World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton), Robin Roefs (Sunderland), Mark Flekken (Bayer Leverkusen).

Defenders: Jurrien Timber (Arsenal), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Nathan Ake (Manchester City), Jorrel ‌Hato (Chelsea), Denzel Dumfries (Inter), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton).

Midfielders: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus), Marten de Roon (Atalanta), Quinten Timber (Marseille), ‌Guus ‌Til (PSV Eindhoven), Mats Wieffer (Brighton).

Forwards: Brian Brobbey (Sunderland), Memphis Depay (Corinthians), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Noa Lang (Galatasaray), Donyell Malen (Roma), Crysencio Summerville (West Ham), Wout Weghorst (Ajax).

At least six people are feared dead after an under-construction bridge collapsed in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Local officials say the collapse was triggered by heavy rain, trapping workers under the rubble. The incident comes days after severe storms killed more than 100 people across the state.

Many South Koreans headed to the polls Friday in early voting for next week’s local elections and parliamentary by-elections, widely seen as a referendum on President Lee Jae Myung’s first year in office.

Eligible voters can cast ballots at 3,571 polling stations nationwide from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Saturday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

As of 11 a.m., turnout for the local elections came to 3.81 percent, according to the NEC. The rate was higher than the 3.59 percent recorded at the same time on the first day of early voting for the 2022 local elections.

More than 44.6 million people are eligible to vote in this year’s local elections.

Up for grabs are 16 mayoral and gubernatorial posts, along with 227 heads of local governments and some 4,000 members of local councils.

Eyes are also on the parliamentary by-elections that will fill 14 vacant Assembly seats, with political heavyweights, such as Han Dong-hoon, former leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), vying for seats.

In a poll released by the NEC last Thursday, 73.6 percent of respondents said they will definitely vote in the upcoming elections. Of them, 39.4 percent said they intended to cast ballots during the early voting period.

The upcoming elections are widely viewed as the first major nationwide vote for the Lee administration since it took office last June after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted over his failed martial law bid.

Both the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the PPP have been rallying voters to hit the polls this week, with the former urging the public to make a stern judgment on what it calls the “remnants” of Yoon’s insurrectionist forces.

Recent polls, however, indicate that races are tightening in more regions than earlier expected, despite the DP’s hopes for a landslide victory.

While the DP, which controls a majority in the National Assembly, seeks to extend the momentum for the Lee administration to push forward with its key policies, the PPP hopes to gain the footing needed to rebuild the conservative bloc amid deepening internal rifts in the aftermath of the martial law declaration.

Both parties view the capital area, where half of the country’s population resides, as a key battleground.

The Seoul mayoral election has shaped up to be a fierce two-horse race between incumbent Oh Se-hoon of the PPP and ruling party candidate Chong Won-o.

A Hankook Research poll released Monday showed Chong leading with 42 percent against Oh’s 36 percent.

Also closely watched is the parliamentary by-election in the Buk-A constituency in the southeastern city of Busan, where Ha Jung-woo, former presidential secretary for artificial intelligence policy and future planning, is competing against independent Han Dong-hoon and former PPP lawmaker Park Min-shik

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The incident is the latest setback for Jeff Bezos’s space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has exploded on the launchpad during a test in the US state of Florida.

The incident on Thursday evening is the latest setback for Jeff Bezos’s space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Footage of the incident shows smoke emerging from underneath the rocket before it erupts into a massive fireball that billows skyward, sending a towering plume of flames and smoke into the air.

Emergency crews remained at the scene more than an hour later, but officials said there was no threat from fumes or other potential hazards.

No injuries have been reported.

“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin said in a brief statement posted on X, adding that “all personnel have been accounted for”.

A hot-fire test is where a rocket engine is fired up while anchored to the ground.

In a separate X post, Bezos said it was “too early to know the root cause” of the incident.

“Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it,” Bezos added.

US House Representative Mike Haridopolos, whose Florida district includes the launch site at Cape Canaveral, said in a statement on X that he has been in contact with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman regarding the explosion.

“I am grateful there were no reported injuries and thankful for the first responders, engineers, and launch crews who acted quickly,” Haridopolos said.

Blue Origin is preparing the New Glenn rocket to launch 48 Amazon Leo satellites into low-Earth orbit, part of efforts to build a broadband constellation to rival Musk’s Starlink network.

Musk responded on X to a video of the New Glenn explosion, saying: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.”

Last month, the New Glenn rocket failed a mission to deliver a communications satellite into the correct orbit, prompting an investigation.

A large fire destroyed an apartment complex in Dallas after crews responded to reports of a gas leak. Authorities say at least three people, including a child, were killed. Other residents are unaccounted for.

May 28 (UPI) — A 52-year-old California woman convicted of hosting drunken house parties for young teenagers has drawn a 35-year prison sentence, prosecutors said Thursday.

Shannon O’Connor of Los Gatos, Calif., dubbed the “Party Mom,” was handed the maximum sentence on child abuse convictions during a hearing at Santa Clara County Court in San Jose.

Prosecutors said O’Connor procured vodka, whiskey and condoms for the 14- and 15-year-olds who attended parties at her home over a two-year period and encouraged them to drink to the point of passing out.

They alleged she warned the victims not to tell their parents about the parties or she could go to jail, and at one handed an teenager a condom and pushed him into a room with an intoxicated minor.

A jury convicted O’Connor in March and this week the court heard victims’ impact statements, including from one young woman who testified that she became suicidal from the experience.

In another instance during a party attended by five 14-year-olds, prosecutors say O’Connor watched and laughed as a drunk teen sexually accosted a young girl in bed.

In yet another case, she encouraged a sexual act after which the young female victim said to O’Connor, “Why did you leave me in there with him? Like, you knew like what he was going to do to me.”

“Many people call this defendant the ‘Los Gatos Party Mom.’ This isn’t some fun parent giving sips of wine spritzers to kids,” Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.

“She facilitated dangerous and drunken sex acts with these children. She risked their lives and damaged their psyches. She is not a party mom. Shannon O’Connor is a convicted felon. Shannon O’Connor is a registered sex offender.”

Rosen said O’Connor would summon teens to party at her home in the middle of the night and in one instance let a minor drive her SUV while another teen was knocked unconscious after falling off the back.

May 28 (Asia Today) — Korea Water Resources Corporation, also known as K-water, is accelerating the use of four-legged artificial intelligence robots to inspect large-scale water treatment plants.

The state-run water agency is adopting robots to improve facility inspections and safety management in hazardous areas and during nighttime patrols at water treatment plants.

Under K-water’s plan to introduce inspection robots at metropolitan water treatment plants, four-legged robots will be deployed this year and next year at four facilities in Seongnam, Hwaseong, Gosan and Gongju.

The agency plans to use data and results from those sites to expand the system to 40 additional water treatment plants by 2030.

K-water plans to deploy robots at 10 plants in 2027, 11 in 2028, nine in 2029 and 10 in 2030. The plan would establish a robot operating system at 44 metropolitan water treatment plants, with 44 robots in total.

A task force will soon begin work to operate the four pilot sites selected for this year.

The total budget for the project is 26 billion won, or about $17.3 million. It includes 7.8 billion won, or about $5.2 million, in state funding and 18.2 billion won, or about $12.1 million, from K-water’s own budget.

The robots will be used for equipment inspections, patrols, construction supervision and accident response. K-water is also considering the phased introduction of water quality analysis assistance robots, grass-cutting robots and unmanned guide robots.

The agency eventually plans to replace some of the robots with humanoid robots.

The use of AI and robots at water treatment plants is part of K-water’s strategy to create fully autonomous facilities. The agency aims to upgrade AI functions now used to assist workers and achieve fully autonomous water treatment plant operations within four years.

After that, K-water plans to package AI-based plant operation technology with robot-based management systems for use in overseas water management markets.

Once the robot operating system is established, K-water expects robots to handle 61% of condition inspection work among inspection and maintenance tasks. Condition inspections include checking whether equipment has visible abnormalities.

The agency estimates the system could save about 2.25 billion won, or about $1.5 million, annually.

K-water also plans to develop its own independent control system to avoid dependence on specific vendors for data accumulated during robot operations and additional operating costs.

“Bidding for the four pilot sites is expected to begin as early as next month, along with software service procurement,” a K-water official said. “Contracts are expected around August, and actual installation is expected to begin at the end of the year.”

The official said K-water will also consider gradually expanding the system beyond water treatment plants to other water supply facilities, dams and sewage systems.

— 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=20260528010008434

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.