Animals at Guadalajara Zoo in Mexico are making their own predictions for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Elephants, gorillas, a puma and giraffes picked winners from a selection of upcoming matches, continuing a World Cup tradition made famous by Paul the Octopus, who correctly predicted 12 of 14 results at the 2010 tournament.
Published On 6 Jun 20266 Jun 2026
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Nearly 2,000 food and beverage workers at SoFi Stadium voted overwhelmingly Friday to authorize a strike just a week before the venue will stage the first World Cup game on U.S. soil in more than three decades.
Negotiations on a labor contract between Unite Here Local 11, the union representing the cooks, dishwashers, concession workers and bartenders at SoFi and, Legends Global, the stadium’s food-service operator, are expected to continue Monday despite the vote. But Kurt Petersen, the union’s co-president, said if an agreement isn’t reached workers will walk off the job and the 70,000 fans arriving for the June 12 match between the U.S. and Paraguay will be greeted by hundreds of picketers.
Union members have been working without a contract for a year and Petersen said Unite Here is demanding salary increases, protection against subcontracting and job loss through automation, and are protesting the collection of sensitive private information such as nationality and home addresses that FIFA, organizer of the World Cup, said it needs to accreditate workers.
Workers are also demanding the right to walk off the job if federal immigration enforcement enters the stadium and creates a reasonable fear for their safety. Ninety-six percent of the vote was in favor of strike authorization.
Legends Global, the stadium’s food-service operator, responded to the vote with a statement.
“Legends Global has presented progressive wage proposals to Unite Here Local 11 throughout our negotiations and remains confident an agreement is within reach,” it read. “While we expect a contract will be finalized in time, a contingency staffing plan is in place to ensure seamless operations and no disruption to fans. We remain committed to delivering an outstanding hospitality experience at the FIFA World Cup matches.”
That contingency plan would involve hiring replacement workers who would have to undergo the same detailed accreditation procedures demanded by FIFA, plus job training. SoFi Stadium is scheduled to play host to eight World Cup matches, including two of the U.S. team’s three group-stage games. The first of those is on June 12 when the U.S. faces Paraguay in its World Cup opener.
Petersen said the union is looking for “substantial increases” in hourly pay, to more than $30 an hour. Legends’ most recent proposal calls for wage freezes for some workers and a 25-cent hourly increase for cooks and dishwashers, the union said.
But perhaps the biggest sticking point is FIFA’s demand for workers’ sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers and fingerprints, to process background checks. Under California privacy laws, workers have the right to know exactly what personal information their employer collects, how it will be used, and who it will be shared with. Local 11 said its members fears such information, if collected, could be made available to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
According to Petersen, when workers were originally hired by Legends they submitted the documentation necessary for employment, and under the current collective bargaining agreement the company does not have the right to request it again for FIFA.
FIFA has refused to comment on the contract talks, saying they are “between Legends Global and Unite Here Local 11.” But its insistence on collecting personal information is something Legends cannot address during contract talks, which makes a resolution impossible.
FIFA said it was partnering with the governments of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the three countries in which the 39-day tournament will be played, “to enhance safety and security of all workers, staff, team members, vendors, journalists, volunteers, and spectators by mitigating potential insider threats. … Such name checks do not constitute pre-employment checks.”
All data collected during the name-check process, FIFA said, will be processed “in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy laws, and will be deleted by FIFA as soon as it is no longer needed for purposes of adjudicating requests for credentialed access to FIFA-controlled spaces.
Football came to Armstrong, via a television set, in suburbia.
His family moved from the Southeast part of Washington DC when Armstrong was young and later settled in a largely white neighbourhood in Maryland, where he befriended a soccer coach’s son. One afternoon, the coach called Armstrong over to the television.
He was pointing to a Brazilian in a New York Cosmos jersey.
“It was Pele,” says Armstrong.
“His movement reminded me of a lot of the point guards that played basketball, but he was doing it with a ball at his feet.
“He was one of the few black players on the team, so that connected me.”
While Pele was popularising a game he’d learned barefoot on the streets of Brazil, much of the American grassroots version was being built on privilege.
Unlike the developing youth academies of Europe and South America, where clubs like Ajax and Barcelona were putting money into young talent, development in the US has long run on a pay-to-play model.
Families must meet significant costs or seek sponsorship to give their children a shot at advancing – creating a system that has seldom favoured those from less affluent households.
“It’s kind of antithetical to what this game’s all about,” says Frank Dell’Apa, who has spent 40 years as the Boston Globe’s football columnist, covering the game since the days of the original North American Soccer League (NASL).
“This is the simplest game with the easiest access. Everybody plays it around the world with no money, no soccer balls, no shoes. And here, we had just the opposite thing going on.”
Armstrong knows just how easily his story could have been different.
“If my folks didn’t move into the suburbs, then hands down I’m not playing soccer,” he says.
Socioeconomics was not the only hurdle.
The NASL going under in 1985 during Armstrong’s time as a college player limited professional pathways for him and his peers before their careers had even begun.
“For me, personally, that was crushing,” Armstrong says.
He turned to the Major Indoor Soccer League to play professionally, where his performances earned him a US men’s national team debut in 1987, followed by a spot at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
“I remember being on the field, hearing the national anthem and just thinking ‘this is where I’m supposed to be’,” he says.
That same year, world football’s governing body Fifa had selected the USA to host the 1994 World Cup finals – the first time the tournament had gone to a country outside Europe or Latin America.
They would be under the global spotlight.
“The US was not a factor in world soccer at all,” says Dell’Apa.
“I remember Des playing a lot of games on artificial turf. It was hard for those guys. They had to fight to get into line-ups, to get a playing field, to get a stadium.”
With no elite outdoor professional league in the country, the player pool was a fragmented mix largely consisting of college, semi-pro and indoor players like Armstrong.
The federation looked to work around this by securing a core group of them on full-time contracts, essentially turning the national team into the country’s professional set-up. It was an unorthodox approach, not unlike something from the Eastern Bloc playbook.
They appointed a German-Hungarian head coach named Bob Gansler. Armstrong was now among a group of young players who were handed a near impossible task: qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Harry Kane’s final task of the finest season of a magnificent career is to attend to unfinished business as England’s World Cup captain.
Kane is England’s ‘Mr Irreplaceable’ – as proved when Thomas Tuchel’s side were ominously toothless when drawing with Uruguay then losing to Japan in March friendlies at Wembley.
The 32-year-old’s fitness will be Tuchel’s biggest concern as they prepare to start their World Cup campaign against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June, not simply because of his status as England’s all-time record scorer with 78 goals in 112 games, but also because they have no-one remotely in Kane’s class.
If Kane stays fit, and in the remarkable form that brought him 64 goals in 56 games for Bayern Munich this season, England’s hopes will soar.
If not, the reverse applies.
As former England striker Chris Sutton told BBC Sport: “Harry Kane is so important that if he announced his international retirement this afternoon, everyone would instantly view England’s World Cup chances in a different, more pessimistic light.”
Silverware has come late in Kane’s career after barren years at Tottenham Hotspur, when even his stunning goalscoring numbers could not bring glory.
He is now making up for lost time by winning a second successive Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, then scoring a hat-trick as they beat Stuttgart 3-0 in the German Cup final.
And Kane now has his sights set on delivering the biggest prize of all as he leads England on their latest quest to end the search for men’s success stretching back to the 1966 World Cup win.
England’s countdown to their opening World Cup game continues when they play New Zealand in a friendly at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday (21:00 BST).
Kane has suffered the disappointment of losing successive European Championship finals with England to Italy and Spain, as well as a World Cup semi-final defeat by Croatia in 2018 and a quarter-final loss to France in Qatar.
Now Kane’s stellar form and fitness suggest the time might be right for England and their talisman to overcome the barrier that has brought 60 years of pain.
Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
It seems odd that the biggest news of the week was the fact that tickets for a movie went on sale, but apparently Christopher Nolan’s upcoming “The Odyssey” is no typical movie. Having already made tickets available for some shows a full year in advance, Universal put more of them on sale for the July 17 opening weekend of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s ancient epic. There were reports of long online wait times, crashing ticketing systems and the kind of problems more often associated with pop stars than movie nerds.
“The Odyssey” will be playing in a variety of formats, with the Imax 70mm screenings among the most coveted. More venues than usual have also been announced as playing the film in 70mm, including the Village Theatre in Westwood. (A handy visual guide to the different fomats is on the film’s website.) While there is a hint of the ridiculous to some of this mania — popcorn buckets in the shape of Imax cameras and movie tickets going on the resale market for hundreds of dollars — there is no denying how exciting it is to see this kind of anticipation building around any movie.
Ewen Bremner, left, Ewan McGregor, Johnny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle in the movie “Trainspotting.”
(Liam Longman / Sony Pictures Classics)
When it first came out in 1996, “Trainspotting” was an instant cultural phenomenon, capturing the vibes of the “Cool Britannia” moment with its sparkling soundtrack, inventive, high-energy style and cast that included up-and-coming talents such as Ewan McGregor and Kelly Macdonald. It was only the second feature directed by Danny Boyle, who would go on to be an Oscar winner, mount an Olympics opening ceremony and remain a reliably exciting filmmaker all the way to his recent “28 Years Later.”
“Trainspotting” is now back in theaters in a 4K restoration for its 30th anniversary, having lost none of its brash vigor. In his original review, Kenneth Turan said of the film, “Exuberant and pitiless, profane yet eloquent, flush with the ability to create laughter out of unspeakable situations, ‘Trainspotting’ is a drop-dead look at a dead-end lifestyle that has all the strength of its considerable contradictions.”
Kathy Najimy, left, Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker in the 1993 comedy “Hocus Pocus.”
(Disney)
Directed by Kenny Ortega, “Hocus Pocus” is one of those movies that has seen its fanbase grow steadily over the years — it is now much more beloved than it ever was on initial release. (It even inspired a 2022 sequel.) Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimi play the Sanderson sisters, 17th century witches who find themselves inadvertently brought to modern day by a group of teenagers messing around with casting spells.
The film will play Saturday at the Gardena Cinema, featuring a live commentary from cast members Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Larry Bagby, Tobias Jelinek and Vinessa Shaw followed by a Q&A. This is a rare appearance by Katz in particular, who has retired from acting. Fans of the movie should make the effort to attend.
The Gardena, the last family-owned single-screen theater in Los Angeles, suffered a blow last weekend when a burst pipe flooded the venue. Though they are operational, a campaign has been started to help them recoup repair costs.
John Turturro in the 1991 movie “Barton Fink.”
(20th Century Fox)
Ranking the films of Joel and Ethan Coen has become a cottage industry of its own. Personally, I go back-and-forth on where to place 1991’s “Barton Fink,” which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, as well as prizes for director and actor. The movie is by turns funny, disturbing and inscrutable (all good things), with John Turturro in the title role as an intellectual New York playwright who goes to Hollywood to write screenplays — and slowly goes insane.
The movie will play Friday in 35mm at Vidiots with an introduction from Noah Segan, who directed Turturro in one of the breakout titles from this year’s Sundance, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.” Hopefully, this will turn into a year in which Turturro gets some long-deserved accolades.
Elliott Gould on the set of 1978’s “The Silent Partner.”
(Anwar Hussein / Getty Images)
There is something particularly charged about watching a Christmas movie at other times of year — an odd sense of dislocation and maybe even something a little naughty, a circuit-scrambling frisson. So it is particularly notable that as part of their salute to the independent studio Carolco Pictures (behind such films as “Basic Instinct,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Reservoir Dogs”), the Vista will be showing 1978’s “The Silent Partner.”
Just the kind of tight and gripping thriller that people pine for all year round, “The Silent Partner” has a screenplay by Curtis Hanson, who would go on to make “L.A. Confidential.” Elliott Gould plays a Toronto bank teller who tries to rip off the thief (Christopher Plummer) who robs his branch wearing a Santa costume as a disguise. Soon they are both scheming against each other.
In his original review of the film, Kevin Thomas called it “tense and ingenious.” In a reconsideration of the film some months later, Charles Champlin called it “a stylish crime-suspense story, a cat-and-mouse game between Christopher Plummer as a clever, sadistic bank robber and Elliott Gould as a bored bank teller who sees a way out of his boredom and into riches.”
Brooke Adams and Sam Shepard in the 1978 movie “Days of Heaven.”
(Criterion Collection)
Terrence Malick’s 1978 “Days of Heaven” is still strikingly singular: a love story told with a stirring visual style. The film’s beauty — aside from its impossibly good-looking lead actors, Richard Gere and Brooke Adams — in part comes from gifted Spanish cinematographer Néstor Almendros, who made his American debut after a career in Europe that saw him working with filmmakers such as Eric Rohmer and François Truffaut. Almendros would win an Academy Award for the film.
The New Beverly will show “Days of Heaven” in 35mm Tuesday through Thursday as a double bill with Truffaut’s 1970 “The Wild Child,” shot by Almendros in black-and-white. Writing about “Days” in 1978, The Times’ Charles Champlin called it “an extraordinary and original visual experience and a movie which is thrilling in its uncompromised purity.”
Ha Jung-woo, left, and Kim Min-hee in the 2016 movie “The Handmaiden.”
(TIFF)
Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook was just president of the Cannes jury and has become a much-beloved figure on the international circuit for his wicked sense of humor and sharp sense of style. Nowhere is that on better display than his 2016 film “The Handmaiden,” which is somehow at once a period drama, a con-man thriller and an erotic lesbian romance. Vidiots will be showing the movie Sunday.
As Justin Chang wrote when the film was released, “Without sacrificing his taste for psychosexual perversity or his flair for violent grace notes, Park has given us a teasingly witty and elegant puzzle-box of a thriller whose pleasures are rooted not in visceral shock but in narrative surprise, and which wisely opts to seduce rather than pulverize its audience.”
In an interview at the time, Park said the film’s unpredictability was part of the project’s appeal. “That’s the exact kind of fun to be had with this film and the reason why I chose to make this film. Everything becomes a game of perception. Rather than to say it’s a difficult thing to navigate, it is fun to deal with. Not only for me as a filmmaker but for the audience to see that and engage in that game.”
This week, our colleagues at De Los launched a podcast hosted by Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito. The interview-style video podcast will feature conversations with the people shaping Latino culture in the United States.
The first episode features singer and actor Leslie Grace, who talks about her experiences working on the film “In the Heights” as well as being the star of the canceled “Batgirl.”
Wavebridge CEO Oh Jong-wook (L), KB Securities CEO Kang Jin-doo (C) and Canton Foundation Chairman Viv Diwakar pose after signing a memorandum of understanding at KB Securities headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday. Photo by KB Securities
SEOUL, June 5 (UPI) — South Korea’s KB Securities said Friday it teamed with global blockchain network operator Canton Foundation and domestic digital asset company Wavebridge.
The Seoul-based brokerage said the three firms would explore ways to take advantage of the Canton Network, a blockchain platform built for regulated financial markets, to support distributed ledger-based capital market transactions.
Over the longer term, they also hope to collaborate on adopting distributed ledger-based financial products in South Korea.
KB Securities said that its ultimate goal is to enable the issuance and cross-border distribution of financial products backed by Korean assets.
Enabled by smart contracts, Canton Network allows participants to exchange data and value for the trading of real-world assets.
Several major global financial organizations participate in the Canton ecosystem, including Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, HSBC and Nasdaq, according to KB Securities.
“The transition to a distributed ledger-based capital market is an essential step for future finance. This transformation is already moving from concept to execution globally,” KB Securities CEO Kang Jin-doo said in a statement.
Canton Foundation leader Viv Diwakar welcomed the three-way partnership.
“Korea’s capital markets have the institutional depth and regulatory foundation to move decisively in the shift to distributed ledger infrastructure,” he said.
“This partnership with KB Securities and Wavebridge is an important first step in building that future, and Canton Foundation is committed to supporting Korea’s leadership in this space.”
KB Securities is not publicly listed. The share price of its parent company, KB Financial Group, rose 4.51% on Friday, while the benchmark KOSPI plunged 5.54%.
Republic of Ireland striker Amber Barrett said the side “are going to give everything we have” in Tuesday’s match against France when they have the chance to secure automatic qualification for the World Cup.
Barrett came off the bench in the 76th minute and scored the winner against the Netherlands in the closing stages of the match in Cork in front of a crowd of more than 12,000.
Now, Carla Ward’s side have the opportunity to secure a spot in back-to-back World Cups when they travel to Grenoble to face France, who are top of the group.
Even if they draw or lose, they will have the fallback of a seeded play-off spot, but Barrett insists they are going out to get the job done on Tuesday.
“We do not have anything to lose,” Barrett told RTE after the game.
“When we started the group, what everyone was looking at was not finishing fourth. We avoided that tonight and we have nothing to lose on Tuesday, we are going to give everything we have.
“Whatever happens, we still have the play-offs in October and December.”
Laurent Bonadei’s side were the 2-1 victors against the Republic of Ireland at Tallaght Stadium in March.
Barrett added that despite the side coming into the “cup final” unbeaten in three matches, they will not underestimate the French.
“Before, if you were 2-2 against the Netherlands, you would probably be rubbing your hands together and saying’ we will take this’, but Carla [Ward] said from the start of the week, let everyone know we will be going to win the game.
“Tuesday is a cup final. Against the Netherlands, we were for it and we were trying to win that game, there was no doubt about it.
“It is a massive game on Tuesday, we will enjoy tonight but we are not taking for granted the French, they are an unbelievable side. Recover, get ready and let’s go again.”
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo hit the training pitch as he readies for his sixth World Cup appearance. Portugal will play Chile in a friendly, before heading to the US for their first World Cup match on June 18. Punters say Portugal is a dark-horse contender to take the title.
Published On 6 Jun 20266 Jun 2026
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With a year to go until the World Cup starts in Brazil, this was a concerning scoreline that gives Wiegman plenty to ponder.
Facing world champions Spain away is arguably the toughest test in football, but to lose so comfortably was not an easy watch.
Former England midfielder Fran Kirby said Wiegman’s players looked “deflated” at full-time and she “hurt just watching it”.
“They will learn from it, and they have to rise up to put in a good performance against Ukraine,” Kirby told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Just the top team from their group automatically qualifies for the World Cup and even if England beat Ukraine on Tuesday they will likely miss out, with this defeat by Spain the only blotch on their otherwise solid campaign.
So what damage did the 4-0 defeat have on England?
“Of course, it’s not a great scoreline. It’s hard, it’s disappointing, and I think there was a difference – a big difference – between ourselves and Spain,” added Wiegman.
“We review this, recover, stick together, play a good game and then move forward.
“We know if we qualify [automatically] that there’s a different preparation than if we don’t qualify. Let’s first see what happens on Tuesday.”
England midfielder Keira Walsh, who captained the side in the absence of injured centre-back Leah Williamson, conceded they “just weren’t good enough”.
“Spain played incredibly well but I think there are a lot of things we could have done better. It felt like they had bodies everywhere,” said Walsh.
“It was very difficult to get out of our own box. I don’t have solutions right now. Obviously we’ll look back but right now the emotions are very high.
“It was a disappointing game. We’ve still got a small chance to qualify automatically. It’s out of our hands. We can hope Iceland do us a favour.”
Iran players get visas 10 days before their opening World Cup match against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
Iran’s World Cup football players have been granted visas to enter the United States, according to a White House official, just 10 days before their first match in Los Angeles amid a conflict between the two countries.
Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said late on Thursday the squad had still not received their US visas, but these were granted overnight, the White House official said.
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US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack confirmed the visas in a message on X on Friday. “Proud of our outstanding team at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara for their work processing visas for Iran’s national football team on their road to the @FIFAWorldCup in the United States,” he said, commenting on a news report that Iran’s World Cup players have been granted the visas to enter the United States.
The US had not yet issued visas to some members of the Iran team’s technical and administrative staff, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Friday.
Iran’s federation has not yet made a statement on the news.
“Visas for some members of the national team’s technical and executive staff have not yet been issued, and the US embassy has so far refused to issue them,” Fars said, without citing a source.
The US-Israel war on Iran has turned the World Cup – the biggest global sporting event – into a geopolitical contest, with both sides appearing to use the tournament for political posturing.
It is the first World Cup, since its inception in 1930, in which a host nation is set to receive a country it is at war with.
Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team’s base from Arizona to Tijuana in Mexico due to the visa issues and a growing feeling in Iran that the squad’s presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum.
They are scheduled to land in Tijuana early on Sunday.
Iran are due to play their first Group G match on June 15 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, where they will also face Belgium before taking on Egypt in Seattle.
The US has never formally said it does not want the Iranian team to stay on its territory, Ambassador Pasandideh said.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the US would not allow Iran to include in its World Cup delegation individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful branch of the Iranian armed forces.
Mehdi Taj, president of Iran’s football federation, was denied entry for the tournament draw in Washington in December. He is a former commander in the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran’s desire to compete in the World Cup underscored its efforts to reach a resolution in the war with Washington, Pasandideh said.
“Iran’s participation in the World Cup – even on the soil of what is seen as its enemy – shows that Iran seeks peace,” Pasandideh said, speaking through a Spanish interpreter at the Iranian embassy in Mexico City.
Progress in peace talks between Iran and the US has been slow, with both sides seemingly inching towards an interim agreement even as they continue to carry out military strikes.
The draw meant Wales wasted a chance to seize control of Group B1.
Czech Republic, their rivals for top spot, also dropped points in surprising fashion as they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Albania in a game which kicked off half an hour before Wales’ fixture in Podgorica.
Had Wales won, they would have needed only a draw in Tuesday’s final group game against the Czechs in Cardiff to secure first place, and therefore a more favourable play-off draw in the play-offs later this year.
Instead, Wilkinson’s side must beat the Czechs – who they drew with in the opening game of the campaign – to come out on top.
“We are exactly where we started [the day],” she added.
“We have to grab these opportunities. I’m sure the Czech Republic coach is as frustrated as I am.
“I am confident it will be a close game on Tuesday. We have to show up.”
The story of the night might have been different had goal-line technology been in place at Montenegro’s Gradski Stadion.
Wales appeared convinced Hughes’ second-half effort had gone over the line before Montenegro defender Sladjana Bulatovic hooked the ball clear.
“I am frustrated there is no VAR, but this is the game – we can’t affect that,” Wilkinson said.
“I’ll fight for it behind the scenes, but on the night we needed to put the ball away.”
It wasn’t too good to be true, but it was too good to remain true.
World Cup fans still reeling from FIFA’s pricey water policy change have a new gripe: Soccer’s governing body is demanding payment from about 60 people who secured tickets for free because of a glitch on the FIFA website during checkout.
FIFA confirmed the mistake with a swift response, issuing a statement that said pay up or stay home:
“The tickets requested by these fans remain reserved, and the affected fans have been invited to complete payment of the correct amount. FIFA regrets the error and any inconvenience caused.”
What, did anyone think a governing body denying fans free water in the summer heat would allow 60 souls into stadiums without paying admission? Even when FIFA admitted its mistake?
One week before matches begin in 16 North American venues, including SoFi Stadium that will be referred to during the tournament as Los Angeles Stadium, FIFA reversed its policy that allowed refillable plastic bottles when temperatures were high enough to justify it.
Now, no plastic water bottles are allowed except the ones sold in the stadium. Last summer during the Club World Cup, bottled water at FIFA venues fetched $4 to $6.
Coca-Cola products will be sold at all World Cup venues, including Dasani water. In a statement to the Athletic on Thursday night, FIFA skirted questions about whether it was influenced by commercial priorities.
“The decision to prohibit capped water bottles is based on a number of factors related to safety and security, including mitigating risks to players and spectators, ensuring a safe and efficient ingress experience for all attendees, and the presence of additional heat mitigation and alternative hydration strategies at FIFA World Cup 2026 stadiums,” the statement read.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow questioned FIFA’s motive.
“Why do you need to buy a water bottle when you can just carry your water in? It is cheaper that way and it is good for the environment,” Chow told CTV News. “It is outrageous. They are just trying to make more money. They are already making billions of dollars. Stop it.”
Chow’s ire likely grew upon learning that the group-stage matches the 60 people who now must pay for tickets FIFA mistakenly provided them are all in Toronto.
Complaints have mushroomed for months about World Cup ticket price fluctuations caused by sophisticated algorithms that can dramatically increase costs based on demand. Prices adjust in real time, increasing when interest surges.
The attorneys general of New Jersey and New York a week ago launched an investigation into World Cup ticket sales following reports that fans were misled about the locations of seats they purchased.
The attorneys general sent subpoenas to FIFA, requesting details about ticketing practices for eight World Cup matches hosted in New Jersey, including the World Cup final.
FIFA has about $6.14 billion in total assets and $3 billion in cash reserves.
The organization has defended its steep ticket prices, saying they reflect standard practices for major global sporting and entertainment events.
Longtime soccer journalist Simon Kuper explained to The Times’ Kevin Baxter that FIFA can maximize profits because it has no competition.
“If you think of McDonald’s or Nike, they’re trying to please consumers because they know the consumers can go someplace else,” Kuper said. “There’s only one World Cup, so FIFA is a monopoly purveyor. It’s more like one man running the cash box.”
Parking will be another opportunity to generate revenue. A spot nearly two miles from SoFi Stadium will cost $300 for the U.S. opener against Paraguay next week.
BUENOS AIRES, June 5 (UPI) — Argentine retirees have become one of the groups hardest hit by President Javier Milei’s fiscal austerity measures, which have pushed a growing number of older adults back into the workforce to supplement incomes that no longer cover the cost of living.
Over the past two years, the number of employed Argentines age 65 and older increased 12.7%, sociologist Candelaria Rueda, a researcher at the Argentina Grande Institute, told UPI.
The trend has had a particularly strong impact on women. Labor force participation among people older than 65 increased 14.5% for women, nearly four percentage points higher than the 10.8% increase recorded among men, according to a report by the think tank based on official data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census, known as INDEC.
One of those women is Patricia Guscione, 63. She worked as a teacher for decades and retired in 2021 at age 60, the legal retirement age for women in Argentina.
But rising living costs gradually eroded the value of her pension, leaving her unable to cover household expenses. When a call for retired teachers was issued in 2024, she applied. Today, she is back teaching in public schools.
“I lived on my pension for three years, but the reality is that it lost so much value that there came a point when I could no longer make it to the end of the month. I still have two teenage children who depend on me,” she told UPI.
Rueda said inflation remains a defining factor in Argentina’s economy and “causes incomes to lose value at an unusually rapid pace.”
“In addition, there has been a clear political decision to deregulate prices, which has led private health insurance premiums to rise 400% over the past two years,” she said.
At the center of the issue is Argentina’s minimum pension, the basic benefit received by more than half of the country’s retirees. It currently totals 450,300 Argentine pesos per month, or about $320. That includes a government assistance bonus that has remained frozen since early 2024.
Because the supplement has not been adjusted, the purchasing power of the minimum pension has fallen by nearly 10% compared with late 2023.
At the same time, food prices have continued to rise sharply, further reducing retirees’ spending power. Economic pressures have also intensified following cuts to free prescription drug coverage provided through the Comprehensive Medical Care Program, known as PAMI, Argentina’s main public healthcare system for retirees and pensioners.
Mario Perelli, 70, spent most of his career as an accountant, but now drives for ride-shareing platforms to supplement his income.
“I had never seen an economic situation like the one we are living through now. It keeps getting harder. I thought I had completed my working years and that retirement would allow me to enjoy life, travel and rest. Instead, I ended up driving for an app because I need to help support my household,” he said.
Juan Gómez, 76, faces a similar reality. After years working at an accounting firm, he now work for Uber and drives a taxi.
“I lived through different economic periods, and there were difficult moments under other governments, but this is terrible. I see it in retail stores, butcher shops, auto parts stores and oil-change businesses. There are hardly any customers. I hope things can be resolved and that we can move forward,” he said.
Gala Díaz Langou, executive director of the International Panel on Social Progress, linked the crisis to public spending cuts implemented by the current administration.
“In 2024, which was the year of the deepest adjustment, 19% of fiscal spending cuts were applied to the pension system,” she told UPI.
She also pointed to the continued freeze on the bonus supplement for lower pensions and the end of a program that allowed workers who had not completed the legally required 30 years of contributions to qualify for retirement benefits.
The trend of older adults extending their working lives is not limited to Argentina. It has become a regional phenomenon as Latin America faces a rapid demographic transition, lower levels of economic development and weaker social protection systems.
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, employment among older adults is increasing across much of the region because pensions are insufficient to cover basic living expenses.
“As a result, employment among retirees functions as a refuge from the shortcomings of the system rather than a choice. When someone who contributed for decades ends up cleaning houses at age 82 or selling goods on the street, what that reflects is a protection system that failed to sustain the old age it helped create,” the commission said.
Carlos Román, executive director of SeniorLab UC, an aging innovation laboratory at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, told UPI that 1 in 4 older adults in Latin America was part of the labor force in 2024.
He said the trend is particularly visible in Chile among older age groups, where a significant share of people who have already reached retirement age continue working.
For Román, the phenomenon raises two key questions: Under what conditions do older adults work and what drives them to remain economically active?
Regarding working conditions, he warned that labor informality rises sharply with age.
“Labor informality does not decline over time. It accelerates, rising from 27.7% among people ages 60 to 64 to nearly 48% in the next age group and exceeding 60% among those older than 70,” he said.
He added that the impact is uneven across social groups.
“Among the poorest women ages 65 to 69, nearly 9 out of 10 work without a contract or pension coverage. About half of older adults working informally are self-employed workers without access to social protection,” he said.
While some older adults continue working because they are living longer and want to remain active, Román said “the evidence shows that, in most cases, the primary reason is economic necessity.”
He contended that the trend reflects a deeper structural problem that goes beyond national circumstances.
“Aging arrived in Latin America before the region built the economic model and social protection system capable of supporting it,” he said. “Economists often summarize this reality with a phrase that has become common in regional discussions: We will grow old before we grow rich.”
He said the region’s long-term challenge is to ensure that longer life expectancy does not translate into more years of economic insecurity and precarious living conditions.
1 of 3 | Deer rest near the Royal Lodge, the former official country residence of Britain’s former Prince Andrew and his family, in Windsor, Britain, on Oct. 29. File Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA
June 5 (UPI) — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was taking in undisclosed rental income by subletting cottages on royal property, the National Audit Office reported Friday.
Mountbatten-Windsor sublet three cottages on the Royal Lodge estate while the king paid rent for royal palaces for him and his daughters. The report by the National Audit Office, a public spending oversight organization, is the first on royal residences in 20 years.
Mountbatten-Windsor did not pay rent at the Royal Lodge because he paid $10 million, or about $8.67 million, for repairs in 2005. He also paid about $1.35 million when he took over the least in 2003.
The report said Mountbatten-Windsor was allowed to sublet property at the Royal Lodge due to a provision in the lease. Other royal properties allow sublets to generate income with the permission of the Crown Estate.
His daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, have properties in Kensington Palace and St. James’s Palace, respectively. Neither pays rent for their properties, as it is paid by the king’s “privy purse,” the monarchy’s personal money. Their palaces are maintained with public money.
Mountbatten-Windsor’s home at Royal Lodge spanned 30 rooms. He lived there until February when he was stripped of his title and removed over his connection with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“In the case of the Royal Lodge, three cottages on the estate were sublet with income generated payable to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” the National Audit Office report said. “We do not know what rent was charged.”
Mispriced tickets were sold through the official World Cup site ahead of next week’s showpiece event for FIFA.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
FIFA has cancelled World Cup tickets issued to about 60 fans who mistakenly got them for free because of a website error.
The tickets were “allocated at no charge (0 USD) due to a prior payment issue during the checkout process,” FIFA said in a statement on Thursday.
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“FIFA regrets the error and any inconvenience caused,” football’s ruling body said. “The tickets requested by these fans remain reserved, and the affected fans have been invited to complete payment of the correct amount.”
It is the latest glitch in an often controversial World Cup ticketing programme that the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey are investigating for possible violations of consumer protection laws.
The mispriced tickets were sold through the official World Cup site on May 21, FIFA said in an email message to buyers.
That date was more than three months after FIFA president Gianni Infantino said all 104 World Cup games had sold out.
Tickets are still being sold by FIFA for games at the World Cup, which opens next Thursday in Mexico City. It is unclear if seats for games in less demand will drop in price under FIFA’s surge pricing model, which has been controversial for fans.
FIFA is also operating its own resale platform — and taking 15 percent commission from both buyers and sellers — in order to cut out ticket dealers from the market. However, sales platforms such as SeatGeek were offering widespread availability on Friday for many games.
Tickets for the 2026 World Cup are wildly more expensive than any previous edition, which FIFA has justified as helping earn billions of dollars it will give to member federations for developing the game globally.
FIFA took control of pricing and selling tickets as part of bringing World Cup operations in-house. The longtime model at previous editions was working with host nations’ local organising committees.
When the football federations of the United States, Canada and Mexico won hosting rights in 2018, they promised to sell hundreds of thousands of tickets at $21 each for group-stage games. FIFA was selling official front-row tickets for the final for $32,970.
Realising his vision for photo, though, was not so straight-forward.
Yarrow had to navigate the packed schedule of Norway captain and Premier League champion Martin Odegaard – who was in Budapest with Arsenal for the Champions League final on the day of the squad shoot.
After the parade had left north London, Odegaard joined Yarrow for a solo shoot, and the cloudy conditions matched those of the original shoot – meaning his figure could be added in without too much fuss.
But it was crucial to Yarrow that Odegaard and his title rival Haaland did not steal the show.
“The one thing that was important about that picture is if, in the Norwegian squad, you’ve got someone that’s worth £200m and then you’ve got Watford’s goalkeeper [Egil Selvik] that’s worth £250,000, the third-in-line goalie – that they both occupy the same amount of the frame,” Yarrow told BBC Sport.
“That’s very important for me.
“That is was not seen to be Haaland and Odegaard and 24 others – it was important to foster a sense of team.”
Yarrow was a guest of Norway as the side beat Sweden 3-1 in a warm-up friendly on Monday, with goals by Jorgen Strand Larsen and Antonio Nusa.
He was struck by the breadth of talent in the Norway team.
“People think it’s a team of two people and it’s so not,” said Yarrow, who was born in Glasgow.
“It’s a seriously good football team, from their wingers to their backs, and I think they’ll go quite far in the tournament.
“But, like Scotland – they’ve got to win their first game.”
England players are set to use high-tech palm-cooling devices in the United States to help combat the heat during the World Cup.
The expected hot and humid conditions during the tournament will be a crucial factor with studies showing that at least a third of the games during the World Cup will be played in temperatures higher than 26C.
On Tuesday, temperatures reached 32C during England’s opening training session in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The use of palm-cooling equipment is becoming popular among professional athletes, with Manchester United known to use the technology.
Research shows that cooling the palms can significantly lower core body temperature which can prove vital for in-game recovery and ultimately enhance performance.
It is understood England will use them in training sessions and during the planned water breaks during World Cup matches.
When asked about the importance of acclimatising, Jordan Henderson said that this first week was being used to “build capacity to the conditions”, adding “the warm-up games will be good for that”.
The Brentford midfielder praised the “team behind the team” for the “top level research” that has been done on “cool down and recovery”.
“Hopefully that can give us a little edge when we get into the tournament,” he added.
England play friendly matches against New Zealand on Saturday, 6 June (21:00 BST) and Costa Rica on Wednesday, 10 June (21:00).
Thomas Tuchel’s side start their World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday, 17 June (21:00) before playing Ghana on 23 June (21:00) and Panama on 27 June (22:00).
June 5 (UPI) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him face-to-face to try to bring the four-year-long war between their two countries to an end.
In an open letter to Putin late Thursday, Zelensky said Ukraine wanted to end the conflict through “direct engagement,” adding that it was incumbent on the sides to act, rather than waiting for Washington to take the lead — but other agreed participants such as the United States and European nations “could join the bilateral track” once it was established.
“We see that the United States is fully focused on the issue of Iran, and it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the center of its attention. Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us — and you. This must be done honestly, with dignity, and with guarantees that the war will not be reignited. I am proposing a meeting,” wrote Zelensky.
Russia was on the back foot, on the front and from daily Ukrainian drone and missile strikes, and Putin was running out of time and resources while fuel shortages and constantly rising prices from his endless war were testing the patience of the Russian people, Zelensky said.
“Life without war is infinitely better. And we want to achieve that. I am convinced that the majority of Russians would respond positively to this as well — and you know it. Do not be afraid to take the path out of this war,” he added.
Zelensky rejected suggestions made by Russian officials that he was welcome in Moscow any time, saying any meeting should be held in a country with a track record of mediating in conflicts such as Switzerland, Turkey or nations in the Arab world.
In a wind-ranging 1,800-word missive, the bulk of which was a critique of Putin’s 26-year rule, Zelensky said he wanted to set a clear date for the meeting and that there should be a cease-fire for the duration of the negotiations.
Putin, responding before he had seen the letter, said he was “certainly prepared and willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine,” provided there were compromises, but rejected the idea of a cease-fire.
That was in line with his long-standing position that Russia would only sign up to a fully-formed peace agreement and that it would not stop the fighting until such time as it came into force.
At the same time, Putin reiterated doubts regarding Zelensky’s legitimacy, due to the fact he remains in office two years after his presidential term expired in May 2024.
Elections cannot be held in Ukraine due to martial law, which was declared on the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed the possibility of a Zelensky-Putin summit but didn’t address Zelensky’s claim he was too busy with Iran.
“I’m glad they’re maybe talking about meeting. I think we had a lot to do with it. I think it would be great if they met. They should get it done,” said Trump.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) will visit North Korea next week, state media from both countries reported Friday. This photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Xi shaking hands during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in September 2025. File Photo by KNCA/EPA
SEOUL, June 5 (UPI) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week, state media in both countries reported Friday, marking his first trip to the isolated state since 2019.
Xi will make the visit on June 8-9 at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported. North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency also reported the upcoming trip, but neither outlet provided further details.
The trip will be Xi’s second to North Korea. He last made a two-day state visit in June 2019.
It comes amid a stretch of renewed high-level engagement between the longtime allies. Kim traveled to Beijing in September for a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, where he held summit talks with Xi.
China has long been North Korea’s largest trading partner, and international observers say it continues to help Pyongyang skirt punishing economic sanctions. Ties had appeared to cool in recent years, however, as North Korea deepened military cooperation with Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
In exchange for providing troops and munitions to Russia, North Korea is believed to be receiving economic support and advanced military technology for its weapons programs, reducing its dependence on China and giving Kim greater leverage in dealings with Beijing.
The announcement of Xi’s visit comes one day after North Korea unveiled a new uranium enrichment facility used to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons, with Kim calling for an “exponential” increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal.
The visit also comes amid growing uncertainty over Beijing’s approach to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
After Xi met with U.S. President Donald Trump last month, the White House said the two leaders had reaffirmed their shared commitment to the denuclearization of North Korea. China’s Foreign Ministry, however, said only that the leaders had “exchanged views” on the Korean Peninsula.
Some analysts have suggested that China increasingly views North Korea’s nuclear capabilities as a “geopolitical asset” that helps constrain Washington as competition between the two powers intensifies.
The visit will be closely watched in Seoul, where President Lee Jae Myung has sought to ease tensions with Pyongyang since taking office last year.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Thursday proposed a four-way dialogue involving the two Koreas, the United States and China aimed at establishing a peace regime on the peninsula.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that it hopes Xi’s visit will “play a constructive role in addressing issues related to the Korean Peninsula,” according to Yonhap News Agency.
Palestinian journalist and mother Aya Shamaa wrote about how an Israeli strike killed her children, newborn Ryan and seven-year-old Yaman. Like countless mothers in Gaza, she saw her children as gleams of hope amid a fragile ceasefire. Narrated by Al Jazeera’s Al Anoud Al Aqeedi.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
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When Iran qualified for the FIFA World Cup last March, the men’s national team didn’t expect their participation to hinge on visas being granted by hosts, the United States, only at the last moment – if at all.
Nor did Iranian fans eager to support Team Melli expect to be banned from entry by the US. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last June halting visa issuance to a handful of countries, including Iran, which the US designated a “state sponsor of terrorism”.
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Perhaps most unanticipated for Iranians was that the host nation of the largest sporting event in the world would launch a war on their country just months before the tournament began.
For Amir Ghalenoei’s side, the joint US-Israel war was more than a wrench thrown into World Cup preparation plans; it was tangible and personal, as thousands across the country were killed by missile attacks.
It was the US bombing Azadi Stadium, home to several local matches and where the national team trained. It was the men’s team holding tiny backpacks in remembrance of the students massacred in a US strike on a school in Minab the day the war began.
After months of politically charged rigmarole between the US and Iran – which led to them switching basecamps to Mexico instead – the men’s national football team will find themselves playing in the shadow of war. That too, if the US grants them visas in time.
For Iranian football fans, travelling to the US was “almost impossible” even without the visa challenges or the war. There are no direct means of transport between the countries, which do not have formal diplomatic relations.
“Aside from the visa issue, you have to take two- or three-way routes from Tehran to get to the US,” said Ali, a fan who did not want to share his full name for safety reasons.
“Returning from the US to Iran is a big challenge in itself, with the possibility of being arrested by the [Iranian] government,” he added. The war has increased scrutiny of antinational sentiment within Iran, resulting in executions of people arrested on accusations of spying for Israel or the US.
Political repercussions extend to the sport sphere, too. Iran’s top footballer Sardar Azmoun was expelled from the national team in March for a perceived act of disloyalty to the government, when he posted a picture on social media of a meeting with Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Relations between the UAE and Iran have been tense during the war, with Iran hitting the Emirates repeatedly and accusing it of allowing the US to use its territory for attacks on Iran.
The US war on Iran, now nearing its 100th day, has also deterred fans globally from attending the World Cup.
“Football is called the Beautiful Game for a reason, for its ability to unite people,” South African football fan Byron Pillay told Al Jazeera.
“But it’s hard to believe in that magic with the politics and war rhetoric off the field of play, specially when one of the tournament hosts is central to that.”
Compatriot Riaz Hamed echoed those reservations. “With the stance of America in particular, regarding the treatment of fans and immigrants in the country, I don’t believe it to be entirely safe to attend.”
Fears have been stoked by reports from organisations such as Human Rights Watch, which said an asylum seeker who attended the Club World Cup final last year in New Jersey with his children was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department and deported to his country of origin.
Khayran Noor, an international sports lawyer based in Kenya, emphasised that sport cannot be separated from wider geopolitical dimensions.
“If participation can be shaped by geopolitical realities outside the game itself, does that ultimately undermine the inclusive ideals these tournaments claim to represent?” Noor said in an interview with Al Jazeera.
“Football is global, but global mobility is not; the World Cup sits directly at the intersection of that contradiction.”
Mounting visa rejections have also spooked fans from attempting to attend the World Cup.
The US has launched a FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System (PASS), which expedites visa interviews for fans who have bought tickets through FIFA. But it does not guarantee a visa.
Last month, a group of nearly 150 Ghana football fans saw their visa applications rejected.
Godwin Nii Armah, 32, scrapped his travel plans for the World Cup for personal reasons, but knew he might have shared the same fate as those compatriots. He also admitted that travelling to Toronto, Boston and Philadelphia to support the Black Stars would have been a costly logistical headache in addition to international flights and visa fees.
Ghana nationals have to pay a $185 fee with their US visa application and 100 Canadian dollars ($71) for the Canadian visa. Add the two, and the amount is comparable to the monthly per capita income in Ghana.
Noor questioned whether future FIFA host agreements should include obligations relating to accessibility and mobility before hosting rights are awarded.
“If teams and fans from particular parts of the world face structural barriers before they can even attend, then the broader spirit of inclusion that these tournaments seek to embody risks being undermined.”
She acknowledged that while states understandably retain sovereign responsibilities regarding border control and national security, global sporting events often require exceptional frameworks.
Fans from 27 of the 48 nations headed to the World Cup need a US visa to apply, costing anywhere between $185 to $435 – amounts that represent wages that an average person in many countries in the Global South would earn over several months.
Canada is marginally more visa-friendly, while Mexico remains the most accessible World Cup host nation.
That was why South Africa chose to send a small supporters group to Pachuca, Mexico, where South Africa have set up basecamp and play two group stage matches.
Sahil Ebrahim is among the “lucky few” in that delegation. After decades of supporting Bafana Bafana from a TV screen in Cape Town, Ebrahim attended the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Now the 40-year-old is on his way to his second World Cup, where he will witness the tournament opener live in Mexico City, when South Africa play the hosts on June 11.
Contrary to the South African football team, who faced a 24-hour delay in their departure over a visa bungle by the federation, Ebrahim said the Department of Sport did an “excellent job” expediting their visas with the Mexican embassy.
The process, however, paled in comparison with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where Hayya cards centrally aligned all visa, ticket and transport details for each fan, Ebrahim acknowledged.
While South Africa’s friendly against Jamaica on Friday, June 5, is closed to the public, Ebrahim and the supporters’ group will watch an exhibition game on Sunday where the Bafana legends of 2010 will take on their Mexican counterparts. South Africa had hosted the World Cup in 2010, a first for an African nation.
“Ultimately, major sporting events succeed not only because people watch them, but because people participate in them,” Noor said.
“The question is not who can watch the World Cup – the question is who can truly participate in it.”
Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang speaks to reporters after arriving at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul on Friday. Photo by Yonhap
Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang said Friday that he views robotics as the next major growth sector in South Korea, adding that the domestic market is well-positioned for growth.
Huang, a central figure in the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, made the remarks after arriving at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul aboard his private jet for a four-day visit.
“(South) Korea has many sectors to invest in. Robotics is going to be the next major sector,” Huang told reporters, adding that the Korean “market is doing very well.”
Asked whether he had brought any gifts for South Korea, Huang responded with a smile.
“Did I bring any gifts for Korea? I brought a lot of business for Korea,” he said. “I have some surprises.”
The trip comes less than a year after Huang’s previous trip to South Korea in October, which coincided with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.
During that visit, Huang drew widespread attention when he joined Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung for a late-night meal of Korean fried chicken and beer, commonly known as “chimaek.”
One of the most anticipated events during Huang’s visit is an informal dinner with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin. Hyundai Motor Group’s chief who had earlier been expected to join the group has since confirmed he will be unable to attend.
Together, the companies represented at the gathering span nearly every layer of the AI value chain, including semiconductors, data centers, AI models, software and robotics.
Huang is also set to hold talks with executives from the gaming industry, AI and robotics startups, university researchers and students, according to industry sources.
“Because Korea is a manufacturing center of the world, we can apply the robotics technology, the physical AI technology that we invent here for the industry,” he said.
He further said Nvidia will partner with domestic manufacturing firms in robotics and AI.
“The manufacturing of semiconductors will become increasingly robotics and increasingly AI driven in the future, and so we have a great opportunity to partner with the semiconductor companies here as well,” he added.
Later in the day, Huang visited an internet cafe in Seoul and met with esports players, including gaming superstar Faker.
“This is the birthplace of esports,” Huang said, emphasizing that Korean gamers have long been among the world’s most competitive players who are using Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs).
Nvidia’s GeForce graphics cards are designed to deliver the high frame rates demanded by professional gamers.
Huang is also expected to meet Krafton Executive Director Chang Byung-gyu and other senior executives from the gaming company, though the exact schedule has yet to be confirmed.
The two companies are expected to discuss potential cooperation involving Nvidia’s RTX Spark platform for premium Windows laptops, as well as physical AI technologies.
Earlier this year, Krafton established a robotics subsidiary called Ludo Robotics.
During his stay, Huang is also expected to meet Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon to discuss cooperation in AI, including the supply of GPUs.
Details regarding the timing, venue and agenda of the meeting are still being finalized.
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