World

Aug. 8 (UPI) — Former President Jair Bolsonaro will not be allowed to see his sons on Brazilian Father’s Day this Sunday, the country’s top court ruled.

Due to his health, Bolsonaro has been under house arrest in Brasilia since March while serving a 27-year sentence for a coup attempt.

Last month he was placed under a stricter regimen after he breached conditions of his house arrest.

The former president is not allowed to receive visits for 30 days, except by his medical and legal teams.

Bolsonaro’s defense attorneys on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court for special permission, calling it a “strictly humanitarian and family-related” visit for Father’s Day, which Brazil celebrates on the second Sunday in August.

“This is a unique date on the Brazilian calendar, and its observance, even for a brief period and under whatever conditions Your Honor may deem appropriate, would preserve family ties and an important aspect of the relationship between father and children,” the former president’s defense attorneys wrote to the Supreme Court, Gazeta do Povo reported.

But Brazil’s top court on Saturday denied Bolsonaro’s request to host sons Jair Renan, Carlos and Flavio, G1 reported. His fourth son, former Rep. Eduardo Bolsonaro, is living in the United States and was not included in the request.

Last month, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes barred Bolsonaro from receiving any visits of a “political-electoral” nature until after Brazil’s general elections in October.

The restrictions came after Bolsonaro wrote a political letter in support of his son, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, despite his sentence barring him from participating in national politics.

The younger Bolsonaro, who disseminated the letter on social media, is running against President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

“They took away his freedom,” Flavio Bolsonaro wrote on X. “Now they want to take away even a father’s right to hug his children.”

Bolsonaro’s defense lawyers argued in court he was unaware that his son would divulge his writing on social media.

But the court disagreed.

“The letter — written and personally signed by Jair Messias Bolsonaro — was addressed ‘to the Brazilian people,’ demonstrating that it was not of a private nature but rather intended for political and electoral purposes, with dissemination to the general public, using Flavio Nantes Bolsonaro as an intermediary, or in his own words, as his ‘spokesperson,'” Moraes wrote in his decision, G1 reported.

“The text of the ‘Letter to the Brazilian People,’ therefore, clearly shows that Jair Messias Bolsonaro intended to communicate with his political supporters through his son’s social media accounts,” the justice added.

As a result of the restriction, he was also denied a visit by Argentinian President Javier Milei, who in July visited the country in support of Flavio Bolsonaro’s candidature.

Aug. 8 (UPI) — Overnight Russian attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed at least 4 people, one of which was a 3-year-old child, officials said Saturday.

Two of boy’s grandparents were also killed in the strike from Russian drones in the Brovary district of the Kyiv region, northeast of the capital city. Four others — the boy’s 15-year-old brother, his parents and a neighbor — were injured as they tried to help the three. They were all hospitalized.

In Kyiv, the city’s military administration said one other person was killed and four others wounded.

Ukraine‘s air force reported that it had downed or intercepted 135 of 151 drones launched by Russia overnight. The attack also involved six ballistic missiles and other guided missiles, CBS News reported.

“Last night, Russia killed three people in Pukhivka, Kyiv region, with drone strikes — a grandfather, a grandmother and their grandson. The boy was only 3 years old,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on X. “Four more people were hospitalized: the child’s parents, his 15-year-old brother and a neighbor who came to the family’s aid and was wounded in a double-tap strike. The victims suffered thermal burns and shrapnel wounds. My condolences. It was an ordinary residential building. The Russians could not have been unaware of this. There was also a strike involving six ballistic missiles against civilian infrastructure in Kyiv. As of now, one person has been reported dead. My condolences to the family and loved ones. The Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Poltava regions also came under attack.”

Zelensky went on to reiterate that Ukraine needs more support, including stronger sanctions on Russia and anti-ballistic missile weapons.

The Ukrainian president is on an official visit to Serbia, a close ally of Russia. It’s a first for Zelensky, and the two countries agreed to work toward closer economic ties. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said his country will support Ukraine’s territorial integrity with “no buts” during a joint press conference, The Kyiv Post reported. Serbia is trying to join the European Union.

Zelensky has been trying to get the United States to license its Patriot interceptor missiles, but President Donald Trump has hesitated.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Friday that imposes new sanctions on Russia and Iran. The bill was once championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. On Friday, the Senate voted 86 to 11 in favor of passing The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026.

A drone also entered Bulgarian airspace Saturday after crossing from Romania and exploded near an international gas pipeline, the BBC reported Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev said. He said there was a “significant” amount of explosives aboard the drone, but that there were no casualties or reports of damage. It’s not clear where the drone originated.

THE biggest Legoland in the world has just celebrated its first birthday – and its MUCH bigger than the one in the UK.

The park in Shanghai is a whopping 318,000 square metres and it’s home to largest Lego figurine in the world.

Legoland Shanghai Resort is the only one in the country and in its first year of opening, saw two million visitors through its doors.

Aimed at families with children between 2-12 years old, the park has immersive experiences, eight themed zones and a Lego-themed hotel.

Legoland Shanghai makes an impression before visitors even enter the park thanks to its enormous Lego figure called Dada.

The figure is 26 metres tall and holds the record for the largest ever built.

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It sets the tone for the theme park which has 75 attractions overall.

They are set in amongst the eight lands: Brick Street, Bricktopia, Legoland Creative World, Lego City, Lego Ninjago, Lego Friends, Lego Castle, and Lego Monkie Kid.

Rides vary but the biggest and longest rollercoaster at Legoland Shanghai is the Big Lego Coaster.

The ride actually passes through the hands of the Dada figurine and has a top speed of 52.8mph.

One unique experience the world-first water-town boat tour, which takes them on a cruise through a Chinese water town built entirely from Lego bricks.

Another first for the brand at this resort is Legoland Creative World – which allows visitors to see the largest Lego Minifigure in history.

There are also a number of live shows at Brick Street and Bricktopia.

Another attraction is a jet-ski based Water Race Challenge, there’s also boat building competitions and a ‘Beach Party’.

In the Lego Castle land, guests are transported into a magical land with wizards and dragons.

Fans of the UK’s Legoland in Windsor will be familiar with the driving school where kids can complete a circuit in their very own car and get their driving licence.

If any visitors need help, they can communicate with the world’s first AI Brick Girl Minifigure that helps visitors explore the Creative World.

And amongst all the rides and models, guests can also interact with robotic minifigures.

Guests can talk to them and according to Blooloop, they ‘respond to you in real time’.

That’s not the only part that has it’s very own AI robot – there are more at the 250-room hotel.

Called Little O, the fully interactive astronaut-themed robot talks to guests, welcomes them at check-in, shares facts and performs dances.

Inside the hotel are themed rooms like Monkie Kid and Ninjago with character meet-ups and even pyjama dance parties.

When it’s time to eat, the park has six restaurants, for example, Bricks Restaurant offers Lego-themed dining from Brick House Burgers with buns in the shape of Lego bricks, Brick fries and Apple Fries with ice cream.

Of course, there are souvenirs are everywhere, visitors can build their own Minifigures, engrave their own bricks and buy Lego sets.

As for tickets, Legoland Shanghai offers day passes from ¥300 (£33.33) and has offers like half-price one-day child ticket from ¥175 (£19.44).

Aug. 7 (Asia Today) — Four Republican members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee have asked South Korea’s media regulator for a briefing on how it plans to enforce the country’s revised Information and Communications Network Act, arguing the law could infringe on the constitutional rights of U.S. companies and users and be used to suppress politically disfavored views.

The lawmakers said the revised law, which took effect July 7, could expose U.S. companies such as YouTube and their users to penalties without sufficiently clear standards for determining what constitutes false information.

The request follows a House Judiciary Committee subpoena issued to Coupang in February and a July report in which the Republican-led committee accused the South Korean government of discriminating against U.S.-owned businesses.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Reps. Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, Darrell Issa of California and Michael Baumgartner of Washington sent a letter to the Korea Media and Communications Commission seeking details about its enforcement plans. Jordan made the letter public on X.

The lawmakers described the revised law as a significant threat to online speech and expression. They argued that the commission could take action against American companies and users for exercising rights protected under the U.S. Constitution.

Their concerns center on the scope of the law and the standards that will be used to enforce it.

The legislation passed South Korea’s National Assembly on Dec. 24 and took effect July 7. Under the revised law, certain media outlets and content publishers with at least 100,000 subscribers can face punitive damages for knowingly distributing false or manipulated information. Repeat violations covered by separate provisions can result in administrative penalties of up to 1 billion won, or about $705,000.

The Korea Media and Communications Commission has said the law is intended to protect people from harm caused by illegal, false and manipulated information.

The Republican lawmakers, however, argued that the law does not provide sufficiently clear standards for determining false information or explain in enough detail how those standards will be enforced.

They warned that vague provisions could be used against “politically disfavored opinions” and could have a chilling effect on online expression.

“No foreign government should be able to pressure American companies to censor constitutionally protected speech,” Fitzgerald said, describing South Korea’s law as “vague, expansive, and ripe for abuse.”

The Judiciary Committee also argued that the law could affect U.S.-based platform operators such as Google’s YouTube and their users.

The lawmakers said South Korea is following the path of the European Union’s Digital Services Act. The House Judiciary Committee has previously issued reports arguing that European digital regulation can restrict free expression by Americans and hinder innovation by U.S. companies.

The committee has been examining whether foreign digital regulations pressure U.S. technology companies to moderate speech or create barriers to American innovation.

The U.S. State Department has also raised concerns since the legislation passed the National Assembly in December, warning that the measure could create unnecessary barriers to digital services.

The latest congressional action comes as scrutiny of South Korean regulation of U.S.-owned businesses has intensified.

Jordan and Fitzgerald issued a subpoena Feb. 5 to Harold Rogers, Coupang’s chief administrative officer and general counsel, seeking communications between the company and the South Korean government as well as testimony before the committee.

The committee said it was investigating whether South Korean laws, regulations and judicial orders discriminate against U.S. companies or infringe on Americans’ due process rights.

Republican committee members cited a Nov. 13, 2025, joint fact sheet issued after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

They said the agreement committed South Korea to ensuring U.S. companies are not treated discriminatorily or subjected to unnecessary barriers in digital services, including regulations governing online platforms.

The lawmakers have argued that South Korea’s investigation of Coupang and the possibility of criminal penalties against American executives could conflict with that commitment.

According to the Judiciary Committee, South Korean authorities assigned about 400 investigators from 11 agencies to the Coupang customer information case.

The committee said the investigation involved about 150 face-to-face meetings, 200 interviews and more than 1,100 requests for documents and other materials.

It also said a former employee had retained limited, non-sensitive information involving about 3,000 customers and that the information was later recovered. The committee said Coupang had also agreed to compensate users.

In a footnote to its subpoena letter, the committee cited a report that Coupang had announced a compensation package valued at $1.18 billion.

The Judiciary Committee followed the February subpoena with an interim report July 1 accusing the South Korean government of discriminatory treatment of Coupang and other American-owned companies and of violating commitments made between the two countries.

Fitzgerald said Congress would continue examining what he characterized as efforts by foreign governments to export censorship and interfere with Americans’ First Amendment rights.

— 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=20260807010002272

Aug. 7 (UPI) — Argentinian professional soccer player Matías Pourrain has been detained by U.S. immigration officials in Florida while traveling with his American team, club officials said Friday.

Pourrain, a 34-year-old midfielder for Club de Lyon FC of the National Independent Soccer Association, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at Fort Lauderdale Airport on Thursday while preparing to board a domestic flight to Los Angeles, the team said in a social media post.

“Matías was not attempting to enter or leave the United States. He was simply traveling from one U.S. city to another,” the statement read.

Pourrain “is not a criminal,” the team said in pleading for help to secure his release.

“Today, he remains in ICE custody while his attorney is working to secure his release and ensure that all of his rights are respected,” Club de Lyon FC said.

“Right now, we urgently need one thing from everyone who knows Matías, has crossed paths with him, or simply believes his story deserves to be heard.”

The player has been living in the United States for seven years and, according to his team’s statement, has a pending asylum case, a Florida state ID, and no criminal record.

His brother, Juan Pourrain, told Argentinian broadcaster Todo Noticias that while Matias was indeed in the United States on asylum status, “he also had Social Security, a work permit, all his papers were in order.

“But he was waiting for his appointment. It seems that now they are arresting those who have pending appointments.”

Before coming to the United States, the footballer played for Real Pilar, San Martín de Burzaco and Mercedes in Buenos Aires. He was a member of the latter squad when it won promotion to Primera C in 2019 and eliminated top-flight Vélez Sarsfield from the Copa Argentina, Infobae reported.

Aug. 7 (UPI) — The Trump administration on Friday sanctioned a multinational network of crypto exchanges that authorities say Iran has been using to launder billions of dollars to fund its military.

The sanctions target United Arab Emirates-based Shelbit Exchange, which authorities say has been laundering money by running it through a large gambling website on behalf of the Iranian government.

The move comes as retaliation for Iranian attacks again commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz this week, State Department officials said.

Treasury officials said Iran uses a sprawling network of corporate entities to obscure the origin of the funds and launder money to benefit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“The Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a statement, referencing the government’s operations to target Iran’s funding network.

The executive who runs the operations, Iran-born expatriate Siavash Kayvanpour, has also been sanctioned.

Kayvanpour’s network of crypto exchanges allegedly includes operations in the Republic of Georgia and Poland, as well as other outfits in the UAE.

The U.S. is also sanctioning Aban Tether, an Iran-based crypto exchange, for processing Iranian assets through Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex.

“We will continue to increase the economic pressure,” Bessent said in a statement. “Whether in dollars, rials, or crypto, Treasury will hunt down and dismantle the illicit financial networks that keep the regime afloat.”

On Friday, the Senate also passed a bill sanctioning Iran, targeting its energy and weapons manufacturing industries.

Setting sail from Southampton, the 98-night Fred. Olsen cruise makes more than 25 stops across the continents via vibrant cities, pristine beaches and lush rainforests

Summer holiday season often means time spent soaking up the sun in the usual haunts year after year – but holidaymakers looking to embark on a getaway with more of a wow factor can take a trip around the world from the UK in 2027. Fred. Olsen’s longest cruise available to book sets sail from Southampton this January for a “once-in-a-lifetime” voyage.

The World Cruise with Japan & Hawaii is a 98-night holiday calling at over 25 ports across the continents, from Singapore to Spain to South Africa and beyond. Setting off from the port of Southampton on January 21 and not returning until April 29, this incredible trip gives passengers the chance to skip the UK winter altogether in favour of soaking up the history, culture and scenery of more than 15 countries.

Unsurprisingly, a coveted spot aboard this adults-only cruise doesn’t come cheap, with the cheapest cabins priced from £13,999 per person. However, for those lucky enough to have the cash to spare, it’s worth bearing in mind that this works out at as little as £143 per night, with travel, accommodation and full board dining all included, plus an offer of £200 credit per cabin to spend on board.

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The first stops on the World Cruise with Japan & Hawaii are the bustling Portuguese capital of Lisbon and the breathtaking scenery of Madeira, before the soft white sands and crystal waters of the Caribbean beckon with visits to Barbados and Grenada. Any of these destinations would make a top-drawer holiday on their own – but on this cruise, they’re just the start of the three-month adventure.

The Borealis ship will then spend four days exploring the islands of Hawaii. With the volcanic landscapes, pristine beaches and lush rainforests providing an awe-inspiring backdrop to this section of the trip, passengers will also have the chance to embrace the spirit of Aloha at a traditional Luau, enjoying hula, music and local cuisine.

Book the World Cruise with Japan & Hawaii

From £13,999pp

Fred. Olsen

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This cruise sets sail from Southampton in 2027 for a 98-night journey visiting more than 25 ports across the world.

The highlights of this cruise holiday include overnight stays in Tokyo and Osaka offering up the opportunity to experience Japan’s unique history and culture. Passengers will have the chance to immerse themselves in Japanese traditions, from tasting sake and sushi to meeting Geisha and experiencing an authentic tea ceremony.

Fred. Olsen writes of this leg of the trip: “Timed for fewer crowds and the chance to witness the beauty of the late plum blossom season (Ume), your journey through Japan allows you to explore ancient castles and temples, take in breathtaking views of Mount Fuji, ride the bullet train in Osaka and enjoy our maiden call into Shimizu.”

After stops in bustling Hong Kong and Singapore, passengers can relax on the beautiful beaches of Phuket and Mauritius before discovering Cape Town’s famous Table Mountain. Holidaymakers can also take the chance to experience whale watching in the Canary Islands due to their year-round warm waters, completing their epic journey around the world.

Here’s the full list of destinations in order of stops on the World Cruise with Japan & Hawaii:

• Lisbon, Portugal
• Funchal, Portugal
• Bridgetown, Barbados
• St George’s, Grenada
• Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
• Colon, Panama
• Puntarenas, Costa Rica
• Huatulco, Mexico
• Hilo, Hawaii
• Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Nawiliwili, Hawaii
• Tokyo, Japan
• Shimizu, Japan
• Nagoya, Japan
• Osaka, Japan
• Hong Kong, China
• Hiep Phuoc for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Singapore
• Phuket, Thailand
• Port Louis, Mauritius
• Richards Bay, South Africa
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Jamestown, St Helena
• Praia, Cape Verde
• Las Palmas, Canary Islands
• La Coruna, Spain

Fred. Olsen writes of the epic cruise: “This journey offers once-in-a-lifetime moments, from whale watching in the Caribbean, Mexico and Hawaii to witnessing Hong Kong’s iconic skyline illuminated by the Symphony of Lights.

“You’ll have the chance to visit Pearl Harbor, wander through Singapore’s futuristic Gardens by the Bay and experience the untamed beauty of South Africa, where you can seek out the ‘Big Five’ and admire the dramatic backdrop of Table Mountain.”

As well as travel and accommodation, the price of a cruise also includes full board dining, from five-course à la carte dinners to afternoon tea, and selected drinks with lunch and dinner. And there’s no shortage of things to do on the ship, with the fare also including access to the swimming pools, fitness centre and classes, expert talks and lectures and a variety of other activities, as well as evening shows with live music and dancing.

For those seeking something more budget-friendly, the longest cruise on offer from fellow cruise line Ambassador is the Caribbean Sunsets and South American Secrets holiday. Sailing from London Tilbury in January 2027, this cruise currently has 30% off all cabins with prices now starting from £3,233 per person, and visits 12 countries over 45 nights, including Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Belize.

Meanwhile, TUI’s Marella Cruises is also offering last-minute summer cruise deals with flights included in their price. Among the cheapest options are the Highlights of the Mediterranean cruise, which is on offer for £944pp reduced from £1,623, and the Grecian Discovery holiday, now priced from £949pp down from £1,598.

Back with Fred. Olsen, the cruise line has earned a rating of 4.6 out of five stars on Trustpilot based on nearly 15,000 reviews, ranking it among the top-rated cruise companies operating in the UK. One passenger wrote: “We have just booked a second world cruise for 2028. We loved our previous cruises , one world, one Mediterranean on Borealis.”

They continued: “It’s a lovely ship which feels like home to us now because of the wonderful staff who can’t do enough for you. The food is great and we enjoyed so many of the facilities, shows, quizzes, the lectures, the classical recitals and the choir. Looking forward to 2028 and hope to see some of the friends we have made on past cruises.”

Another reviewer praised: “Everything was perfect! The cabin, the staff, the food were all impeccable. We’re already planning on taking their world cruise and have already booked another cruise with them in two months.”

And a third customer echoed: “Fantastic trip to and from the Antarctic on the Borealis. Excellent ship, brilliant crew and marvellous itinerary. Already really looking forward to next year’s world cruise.”

Some felt that the facilities on board had room for improvement, with one person feeding back: “The wine that was included in our freedom fare was OK but maybe a couple of choices of each varietal would have been nice.”

While a different person fed back: “Just love Fred. Olsen ships, the staff are brilliant. Food good but could be better vegetarian options.”

Aug. 7 (UPI) — Rail passengers in England were facing a second day of delays and disruption Friday, a day after a 90-second power outage at a signaling control center in Manchester brought trains across the northwest, the Midlands, and as far away as Wales, to a standstill.

National Rail said trains were moving again but warned of ongoing disruption to services on the West Coast main line as well as East Midlands Railway, Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales through Friday afternoon, mainly due to trains and crews being out of position.

“This means that some trains are still expected to be affected this morning. Trains across the Greater Manchester area and northwest of England may still be canceled in full or revised to only run for part of their normal journey until service is able to fully recover,” said track operator Network Rail.

The company told passengers to check if any specific service was operating before heading to the station.

Northern Rail advised passengers to not to attempt to travel before 10 a.m. local time while TPE told its passengers to expect disruption until midday with delays and cancellations likely.

The network was thrown into chaos Thursday afternoon after power briefly went out at the Manchester Rail Operating Center and an emergency back-up supply failed to come online in time to prevent the entire signalling system going down.

The center was part of a major upgrade begun in 2014 phasing out track-side signal boxes in favor of state-of-the-art facilities from which train movements are controlled remotely.

Issuing an apology to passengers, Network Rail northwest director Chris Wright said that engineers had worked all night to bring signaling systems back online and get the railway moving again, saying most services were now operating.

“Of course we will be conducting a really thorough investigation to understand what went wrong and how we learn from this in the future. We need to learn from this. We must do better,” said Wright.

The incident sparked criticism that the failure was due to inadequate state funding of the railways and large-scale layoffs at Network Rail, which is responsible for the track, signaling and other infrastructure, at the start of 2026.

Figures for main-line services from the government’s Office of Road and Rail for the January to March quarter show nearly 81,000 train services, 3.2%, were either pulled or partially canceled and there were “severely disrupted days” when at least 5% of services were cancelled.

However, more than 86% of trains arrived at stations on their routes ahead of schedule, or within three minutes of the time stated on the timetable.

Six South Korean activists who visited Ukraine in May to discuss the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) have been booked by police on charges of violating passport laws.

Jang Se-yul, who leads the Seoul-based North Korean defector group Gyeoreol Unification Solidarity, told Yonhap News Agency on Friday that Seoul’s foreign ministry reported the group to police on suspicion of violating the Passport Act.

The activists traveled to Ukraine from May 7-11 in an effort to prevent the forced repatriation of two North Korean POWs captured while fighting for Russia in the Kursk region in early 2025. The two have reportedly expressed their desire to go to South Korea.

During their visit, the activists met with officials at the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War under Ukraine’s defense ministry, calling for support for the POWs’ wishes and warning of the risks the soldiers would face if repatriated to North Korea.

Jang claimed that the foreign ministry had required recommendation letters from the unification minister and that they were unable to do so before departing for Ukraine due to a tight schedule.

Ukraine has been on South Korea’s travel ban list since February 2022.

The foreign ministry said South Koreans are advised to leave travel-banned countries unless they have obtained exceptional permission to use their passports, adding that those who fail to comply may face criminal charges.

It declined to comment further on the matter, citing the ongoing investigation.

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

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its debut with a small-scale meet-and-greet for fans in Seoul, bringing all four members together for a rare domestic fan appearance, industry sources said Friday.

The quartet is scheduled to attend the event Saturday, the date of its debut in 2016, at the National Museum of Korea with 40 selected fans, according to the sources.

YG Entertainment, the group’s agency, said details of the event would be provided individually to those selected to attend.

Earlier this week, BLACKPINK unveiled the “BLACKPINK Heritage Collection,” a collaboration with Mu:ds, the museum’s merchandise brand in commemoration of the band’s 10th anniversary.

The group also worked with the museum in February for a project that included cultural-heritage programs and activities linked to the group’s music to mark its comeback.

It will be the first time that all four have appeared together for fans in South Korea since July last year, when the group held a stop of its “Deadline” world tour in Goyang in the northwestern suburbs of Seoul.

Since debuting under YG Entertainment in 2016, BLACKPINK has become one of the most influential acts in global pop, turning each release into a chart-topping hit, and extending its reach into fashion, luxury branding and advertising.

Its 2022 album “Born Pink” made history as the first by a female K-pop act to top the U.S. Billboard 200, while also reaching number one on the British Official Albums Top 100.

In February, the group returned with its third EP, “Deadline,” its first group project in more than three years, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.

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

Aug. 7 (UPI) — An American was evacuated from Antarctica to a New Zealand hospital last week for medical treatment, officials said Friday.

The rare mid-winter operation was conducted July 31 by the Australian Antarctic Division, the Australian government agency responsible for running the Australian Antarctic Program, with aviation partner Skytraders, an Australian specialist aviation operator, AAD said in a statement.

The extent of the medical emergency was not immediately clear. UPI has contacted the U.S. Antarctic Program, which requested the evacuation, for comment.

Skytraders told UPI in an emailed statement that it deployed an Airbus A319 Long Range aircraft from Hobart, Tasmania, after receiving an urgent request for assistance.

The plane, known as Snowbird 1, departed Hobart at 2:44 a.m. AEST on July 31 during what Skytraders called “a narrow weather window” during the Antarctic winter, and landed in the dark at McMurdo Station five-and-a-half hours later.

Skytraders said its flight crew and operational support and medical teams worked in temperatures as low as -45.4 degrees Fahrenheit to transfer the patient to the plane, which departed before conditions deteriorated further.

The aircraft landed in Christchurch, New Zealand, on the afternoon of July 31, it said. AAD said the American was “now receiving medical treatment.”

“Every Antarctic mission demands absolute precision, but winter operations raise the complexity significantly. The conditions we encountered were right on the edge of even the most specialized aircraft capability,” Capt. Al Wallach, Snowbird 1’s pilot for the mission, said in a statement.

“Our focus throughout the mission was the safety of the patient and our crew. Our thoughts remain with the patient and we wish them a full recovery.”

It may be summertime, but Karol G is unapologetically leaning into her sadness.

On Friday, the Colombian pop star released her sixth studio album “No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto,” a 14-track project that details the depths of heartache one can only access when finally tuning out the world.

Tinged with dream-pop accents and acoustic instrumentation — though still fringed with her signature reggaeton-pop flair — it is a dramatic departure from her previous album, “Tropicoqueta,” a lofty, genre-rich album that envisioned a Latina-led utopia as a tropic floral paradise.

Now, with “No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto” — which in English translates to “I Don’t Regret Feeling So Much” — Karol G swaps her vibrant, tropical facade for a soft blue vulnerability. Her special new brand of perreo melancolía features guest vocals by Drake (who sings in Spanish), Bruno Mars, Greg Gonzalez (of Cigarettes After Sex), as well as Spanish stars Judeline and Rusowsky.

The melodrama begins early on with the opening track, “Te Llevas To” — a moody EDM elegy that explores the loss of one’s self after a relationship ends. In an interview with Elle magazine, the hit maker shared that she spent a lot of time alone when creating this project, following her split from Colombian singer-songwriter Feid late last year — long before headlines caught wind of their breakup in January.

“Everything started when I went to Hawaii [last November]. I did a lot of hiking alone. I would climb the mountains alone. I would stand there gazing at the sky. I learned a lot about enjoying my solitude in this industry — we are really, really lonely. Compared to the rest of the world, you’re very isolated,” said Karol G in the Elle interview.

Rumblings of the new project first surfaced in April when Karol G performed at the 2026 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as its first Latina headliner. There, she debuted “Después de Ti,” a shoegaze ballad joined by Greg Gonzalez, frontman of the indie-pop band Cigarettes After Sex; the song expressed profound grief after Karol experienced a loved one’s death.

“I cry a lot. I’m super sentimental and I’ve hated myself a lot for that,” Karol G revealed to Elle in her July cover story. “But at the same time, I’d rather suffer because I lived too much — because I loved too much, because I had too much fun — than to not have had those experiences, you know? I’m inviting everyone to be a little more dramatic, a little more extra.”

Although her classic bichota essence — a term Karol G frequently uses to describe herself, as a female counterpart to the Puerto Rican bichote, or “big shot” — is still heavily present in the new LP. Earlier this summer, Karol teased the song “Matadora” during the opening night of her international stadium tour in Chicago; produced by reggaeton pioneer Tainy, the sultry track is hallmarked by a muffled jazz trumpet and suggestive verses for an unknown paramour.

Her longtime collaborator, Colombian record producer Ovy On The Drums, also returns to incorporate elements of Karol’s the Grammy-winning 2023 album, “Mañana Será Bonito,” which followed her public breakup with ex-fiancé Anuel AA and grew into a massive commercial hit. With Ovy, Karol revived the shadowy timbre of her joint Shakira track “TQG” into the new “Bebiendo Lágrimas,” a reggaeton song that adamantly rejects the notion of love.

Mexican American producer Edgar Barrera — who previously worked with Karol on her merengue smash “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido,” as well as “Mi Ex Tenía Razón” and “Gucci los Paños” — reprises his role as a música mexicana connoisseur, aiding in Karol’s synth-doused Tejana-style cumbia, “Alguien Que Te Amaba.” (The track was also written with legendary songwriter Pete Astudillo, who co-wrote many of Selena Quintanilla‘s greatest hits.)

In the anguished “Con Quien Andara,” the singer pays tribute to the Spanish singer-songwriter Jeanette and her hazy, sentimental pop ballad from 1976 titled “Porque Te Vas?” And if that’s not enough of a nostalgia bomb, there’s the dream-pop reggaeton track “Bby Wow,” which features Judeline and Rusowsky and was inspired by the popular 2003 dancehall track, “Coolie Dance Rhythm” by Cordel “Scatta” Burrell. (Millennials may also recall echoes of this sample in popular tracks like Nina Sky and Jabba’s 2004 “Move Ya Body.”)

A word of advice for the Karol G fans — tropicoquetas and bichotas alike — this is an intimate record that’s best heard alone for the first time. So light up that candle, lock the doors and bring the tissues if you have to — just don’t be ashamed to feel all the feels, or shake your booty if the mood strikes.

Aug. 6 (UPI) — Brazil and China have launched a pilot program that will allow Chinese tourists and consumers to pay with the UnionPay app at Brazilian businesses that accept Pix.

The initiative expands financial cooperation between the two countries as Brazil’s payment system remains part of the backdrop of the trade dispute between Brazil and the United States.

UnionPay International and the Chinese Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro announced the project and said users of the UnionPay app and participating Chinese banks will be able to make payments by scanning QR codes at businesses connected to Pix.

According to the consulate, the initiative will facilitate travel, trade and bilateral exchanges through “safer, faster and more convenient” payments.

During this initial phase, announced Tuesday, Chinese users can use their regular app to pay directly in Brazil. In a later phase, the service will gradually expand to other digital wallets associated with UnionPay, the People’s Daily reported.

The measure also comes as Chinese tourism to Brazil continues to grow.

The country welcomed 94,400 Chinese tourists between January and November 2025, a 34% increase from a year earlier, according to the Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion, or Embratur. That established China as one of Brazil’s tourism markets with the greatest growth potential.

Embratur expects that flow to reach a record in 2026, officially designated as the “Brazil-China Year of Culture.” The agency attributed the trend to its strategy of strengthening Brazil’s presence in Asia.

Its president, Marcelo Freixo, described China as “a key market with enormous expansion potential, as it is the world’s largest source of outbound tourists,” according to El Diario del Viaje.

The integration of UnionPay and Pix is part of broader financial cooperation between the two governments. According to Brasil 247, the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Brazil signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic financial cooperation in May 2025.

In June this year, the two institutions held another meeting of their working group to examine mechanisms that facilitate payments and financial transactions linked to trade between the countries.

Experts cited by the People’s Daily said the connection between UnionPay and Pix could make it easier for Chinese tourists to shop in Brazil and serve as a model for expanding this type of payment to other Latin American countries.

Pix’s international expansion also comes as the system remains at the center of the commercial debate between Brazil and the United States.

An investigation conducted by Washington under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 concluded that Pix’s regulatory framework gave preferential treatment to the system operated by the Central Bank of Brazil over other electronic payment companies.

The investigation contedned that the Central Bank acts as both the market regulator and the operator of Pix and questioned the requirement that financial institutions prominently display the system in their apps without charging users any fees.

The United States said those conditions affect U.S. payment companies, such as Visa and Mastercard.

The investigation was one of the factors later considered by Washington when it announced additional tariffs on Brazilian products, according to BBC News.

Brazil rejected those conclusions. The government said Pix is a public infrastructure designed to increase competition and expand financial inclusion, while the Brazilian Federation of Banks said the system reduces payment costs and encourages innovation.

Launched by the Central Bank of Brazil in 2020, Pix currently has 176 million users and processes more than 7 billion transactions each month, according to Central Bank data.

Meanwhile, Brasil 247 reported that transactions made in Brazil during the first half of 2026 using UnionPay cards issued in China increased by more than 30% compared with the same period a year earlier, reflecting growing economic exchanges between the two countries.

Aug. 6 (UPI) — The Leipzig/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany, resumed flights on Thursday after a drone fitted with an explosive device was discovered there a day before.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Wednesday that the discovery of an explosive device points to a “new threat scenario” facing Germany.

“Drone sightings, drone threats including in a hybrid context, are something we know from the past,” Dobrindt said. “That a drone armed with explosives is at an airport is a new threat scenario. We are dealing with a competition here which may also include foreign powers.”

The drone was discovered near a Ukrainian cargo plane, causing several flights to divert to other airports. In a separate incident, a DHL cargo plane collided with a drone during, causing it to abort its landing.

There were no injuries reported from either incident. The plane that collided with a drone suffered mild damage to its nose.

Germany is the largest national supporter of Ukraine‘s military operations.

“Any speculation on these matters may not be heading in the right direction; could simply be completely wrong,” Dobrindt said. “The priority right now is to investigate in all directions.”

After the explosive device was discovered on the drone, its detonator was safely removed by a bomb disposal robot.

German newspaper Bild reports that a technical malfunction may have been the only thing that stopped the explosive device from detonating.

FOR thousands of Disney fans, a holiday to Walt Disney World is the trip of a lifetime. But for some lucky British students this summer, it’s everyday life.

Instead of pulling pints at the local pub or taking on a typical summer job, they’re working behind the scenes as Disney cast members while living just minutes from the magic.

Students can apply for the placements through UK partner Yummy Jobs, spending their summer working across Walt Disney World while living at Flamingo Crossings Village.

This is Disney’s purpose-built accommodation for students, complete with swimming pools, a gym and free transport to the parks.

Alongside earning money and gaining international work experience, participants receive complimentary admission to all of Disney’s theme parks and water parks.

This means that days off can be spent riding attractions, watching fireworks and making the most of life in Orlando.

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For 20-year-old Niamh from Liverpool, the placement has been unlike anything she’d done before.

The Newcastle University student, who is studying Physiological Sciences and hopes to pursue a career in medicine, heard about the opportunity through a friend and applied through Yummy Jobs.

She said: “I’d never done anything like this before but it looked like an amazing opportunity.”

Like everyone on the programme, Niamh couldn’t choose exactly where she’d work.

She said: “The company assigns you to what they think suits you best, and the location depends on what’s needed when you arrive.

“One of the biggest surprises has been living at Flamingo Crossings. The facilities are amazing. People of all ages live here and everyone’s on different programmes.”

Despite working in the parks, Niamh still has plenty of time to enjoy them herself and has figured out the best hidden gems.

She added: “You get roughly two days off a week and sometimes have mornings or evenings free too, so it’s not too bad.”

“I’ve started to figure out which rides to rope drop in each park. Joining the queue for the big rides just before park closing is a great tip, and watching the fireworks from Tomorrowland Speedway is amazing.”

21-year-old Hannah, from Cowdenbeath in Scotland, is back in Orlando after completing a similar summer programme at Universal Studios last year.

Now entering her final year studying Law at the University of Stirling, she discovered the Disney opportunity through TikTok.

She said: “I wanted the experience of working in a world-leading holiday destination and for a company that treats employees so well.”

Hannah works in merchandise, a role that gives her the flexibility to swap shifts and even work in different Disney locations, giving her an insider’s view of more than one park.

She’s also been impressed with the accommodation too.

Hannah explained: “I’m in a four-bedroom apartment where I have my own room and share a bathroom with one other girl.

“There’s a gym, two swimming pools and projector areas showing films and sporting events. We’re close to shops and restaurants, and we get free buses to work and to the Disney parks whenever we want.”

Hannah has also bought a Universal annual pass, meaning her days off are often spent exploring Orlando’s biggest attractions.

“I love spending time in the parks, grabbing a coffee, relaxing by the pool or visiting the malls and outlet stores. My friends and I also went to the natural springs and even took a trip to Miami.”

Working behind the scenes has also given her a new appreciation of what it takes to create the Disney magic.

“It’s given me a whole new appreciation for how much work goes into creating the guest experience.”

Having spent family holidays in Florida as a child, she says returning as a Disney cast member feels surreal.

Hannah explained: “Being able to live and work here now feels incredibly nostalgic and honestly still feels a bit like a dream.”

For many students, the programme is about far more than a summer job.

Alongside gaining valuable experience for careers ranging from medicine to law, they’re making international friendships, exploring Florida and experiencing the magic of Disney from the other side of the castle.

Rhea Seehorn possesses what Vince Gilligan calls “Jumbotron face.” As the creator of “Pluribus” and (with Peter Gould) “Better Call Saul,” Gilligan has relied on Seehorn’s ability to broadcast what her characters are thinking and feeling without saying much of anything. Gilligan loves silences and uses them in long stretches, allowing — or, perhaps more accurately, demanding — his audience to figure out what’s happening on their own.

And in Seehorn he found someone who, with a mere sidelong glance or knitted brow, can let you in on Gilligan’s secrets.

But Seehorn carries this ability wherever she goes, she tells me. People take a look at her and make assumptions. She’s 5 foot 4, lean and seems athletic, though she says she’s “the least athletic person that anybody knows.” That hasn’t stopped her from being cast as a golf instructor in the upcoming second season of the Owen Wilson comedy series “Stick” and a track and field coach in a movie she’s shooting right now called “Running.”

“I do not run,” she told the movie’s director, Gavin O’Connor. “I can tell people to run, but you don’t want to see me running.”

It’s not just work, though, where these deductions are made. Up until a few years ago, when people started recognizing her for playing poker-faced attorney Kim Wexler on “Better Call Saul,” Seehorn would be standing in a store and customers figured she worked there. Shopping at the Gap, she’d be asked if a T-shirt comes in medium. In Target, she’d be queried about where to find the Christmas decorations. Even on set, a background person would approach her, wondering if there’s any more plain bagels at craft service.

Why do you think this happens? I ask her. Because, even with her fame and her Golden Globe win for playing Carol, a sad woman forced to save the world from happiness and the hive mind in “Pluribus,” Seehorn, 54, says this still takes place on a regular basis.

“I’ve asked my friends, and apparently my daydreaming or thinking face looks focused,” she says. “I guess my interior monologue is highly interpretable to people, and if you’re standing in a store and you see somebody really thinking and thinking, they’re like, ‘She must be restocking the shelves.’ When in reality, I’m probably thinking about what I said wrong to somebody at a party in the ’80s.”

Rhea Seehorn as Carol Sturka in “Pluribus.”

(Apple TV)

Seehorn bursts out laughing, which she does often and with great gusto throughout our conversation. We’re at The Times, nine years after her last visit to our offices, which I know because she shows me a photo on her camera roll of her youngest stepson, McLain, taken when we were downtown and he was 9, young enough to still be thrilled about being in a “newspaper building.”

This prompts another take-your-kids-to-work memory.

“I brought him and Gray [the other stepson she shares with her partner of 12 years, real estate agent Graham Larson] to the set of ‘Better Call Saul’ when they were 7 and 9, and the thing they were most excited about was signing an NDA,” Seehorn says. “Everybody in the production office made a huge deal of it, pretending like they were spies, because I knew they’d think that was cool.”

Seehorn played Kim opposite Bob Odenkirk on “Better Call Saul” for six seasons, creating a character that evolved from a minor role to what Gilligan calls the “backbone of the series.” Dazzled by her versatility, Gilligan wrote “Pluribus” for Seehorn. But he didn’t want to tell her about it until he had a script and not just an outline. He asked “Saul” executive producer Melissa Bernstein to act as a spy and tell him if Seehorn was close to taking another job. One day, during the show’s final season, Bernstein told him he’d better pounce.

“I didn’t want to miss my opportunity,” Gilligan says over the phone. “That would have been a bummer. Rhea is the manager that makes the show work.”

(Ian Spanier / For The Times)

Where Kim Wexler was a composed and poised overachiever, suppressing her emotions when things (as they often did) spiraled out of control, “Pluribus’” Carol Sturka lets it all hang out. She’s volatile and angry, drinking heavily to obliterate her regret and rage. The characters share a fierce drive to fight for what they believe is right, which, for Carol, means maintaining her autonomy and resisting the good-vibes group contentment of the Others. A hero has never been more reluctant than this curmudgeon.

Seehorn is the ultimate professional: pleasant, quick to credit her colleagues, a team player. So Carol’s bitter fury feels distinct from her friendly personality as well as anything we’ve ever seen her do onscreen. But it’s not entirely foreign. Talking about the “Pluribus” season finale, she said that while she’s never murdered anyone, she has felt out-of-control rage.

When did this happen?

“I’m not going to tell you that!” she answers, laughing.

I’m just trying to picture it, I tell her.

“I know, because a lot of people are like, ‘I’ve never seen you mad,’” Seehorn says. “I suppress. I suppress too much. That’s something I work on with my therapist. I used to scream and yell as a teenager. That’s how I fought. And I just decided in college one day — I think I had an out-of-body experience — that I don’t want to be this person. And it probably moved the needle too far the other way. Now, when I’m angry, often I withdraw and get very quiet. I say everything is fine and then I’m never speaking to you again.”

That could have made playing a highly reactive character like Carol therapeutic. Instead, it did a number on Seehorn’s body.

(Ian Spanier / For The Times)

“Unlike Carol, I cry often when I’m extremely angry and in the middle of trying to tell someone how upset I am,” Seehorn says. “Like the anger disturbs my body so much that it makes me cry. No matter how much I tried to unplug from Carol, my body didn’t understand that I was pretending.”

We start talking about relationships and unhealthy withdrawal and letting things fester to the point that when the emotions come out, it feels abrupt and the other person has no idea what’s going on. And out of nowhere, Seehorn gives me a taste of Carol, growling the words, “Can you just get it?” with such ferocity that I’m almost physically blown back in my chair.

“God, you scared me with that,” I tell her.

“Thank you,” Seehorn says, beaming.

Because she’s a (generally) well-adjusted human being, Seehorn has developed ways of dealing with the terror and flop sweat that comes with playing the lead on an expensive, highly touted TV series, one that earned 18 Emmy nominations, including one for her lead turn. She converted the garage at her home into what sounds like a veritable wonderland. In one corner, there’s a tiny gym. There’s a place to record voice-over work, not a proper booth, which she’d like someday, but close. There’s a space to be quiet and read scripts. There’s an area where she can paint, sculpt, do jigsaw puzzles, Lego sets, embroider — all the things that ease her anxiety but also help her work through creative blocks.

“If I have too much of a vice grip on a scene and I can’t figure it out, I’ll do a jigsaw puzzle or draw while running the lines,” Seehorn says.

She loves creating things, but she also loves projects that involve following instructions. That soothes her. In the middle of enthusing about a cross-stitch embroidery project, she says, “Don’t roll your eyes at me!” Which I most definitely was not doing. That was my daydreaming, thinking face.

(Ian Spanier / For The Times)

Sometimes these projects make their way inside the house, where Seehorn might turn on the television and watch what she calls “murder TV,” sitting under a big, curved metal dome lamp that feels like an interrogation spotlight. There, her brain still working on what she was doing in her office, she’ll lose herself on multiple fronts as she wrestles with a scene.

Seehorn loves watching shows like “Dateline” because they provide a sense of order in a chaotic world. Bad guy. Bad guy gets caught. Bad guy goes to jail. All is well. But it goes beyond that. As an actor, she loves watching people trying to lie — and failing. She can’t believe how bad people are at not telling the truth.

“Every single time, I’m like, ‘Dude’s lying,’” Seehorn says. “Women too, where I’m watching an interrogation scene and thinking, ‘There’s a zero percent chance you did not know someone was going to break in and shoot your husband.’ It’s funny because as actors, whenever we’re playing criminals that are lying to the police, we’re really good at it.”

Does that mean Seehorn is an adept liar? Yes and no. You’ve seen her act. She can make you believe anything. But when she does lie, she is compelled to confess, even when the fib is innocuous.

“I’ll be in a conversation where there’s a bunch of cool people talking about a movie they saw, and I’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, that was great!’” Seehorn says. “And then I’ll leave and then I’ll come back and say, ‘I didn’t actually see it. I’m sorry.’ And they’re like, ‘Who’s that weird girl?’ I’m good at lying, but bad at holding the guilt.”

So when you’re telling me you don’t know any details about the second season of “Pluribus,” are you misleading me? I ask.

“I know nothing!” Seehorn says. The atomic bomb in the crate that a helicopter carefully deposits in Carol’s driveway in the last scene? “As soon as they said, ‘Cut,’ I went up to Vince and asked, ‘Now can you tell me what we’re doing?’ And he said, ‘I have no idea.’”

“And all these months later, I know no more than that,” she continues.

But if you did…

“You’d be getting a phone call from me about an hour after we say goodbye, confessing all,” Seehorn answers, smiling.

The phone still hasn’t rung.

(Ian Spanier / For The Times)

The Argentine Football Association, external has announced 15 July will be ‘National Football Teams Day’ to mark Argentina’s 2026 World Cup semi-final victory over England on that date.

Bidding for their first World Cup final since 1966, England took the lead in a tense affair in Atlanta through a 55th-minute Anthony Gordon finish.

But with Thomas Tuchel’s side sitting deep, Argentina struck in the 85th and 92nd minutes to break English hearts and claim a 2-1 win.

The victory came 40 years after Argentina’s previous big World Cup win over England in the controversial quarter-final victory at the 1986 tournament.

After Argentina’s latest win the political tensions surrounding the fixture were fuelled as some of their players celebrated while holding a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates as “The Falklands are Argentine”.

The Falklands, a British Overseas Territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina.

Argentina, ruled at the time by a military junta led by General Leopoldo Galtieri, invaded the islands, situated 300 miles off Argentina’s east coast, in 1982.

The conflict, which lasted for 74 days between April and June 1982, led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died.

In a 2013 referendum, 99.8% of Falkland Islanders voted to remain a UK territory.

Argentina went on to lose 1-0 to Spain in the 2026 final, while England beat France 6-4 to claim third place.

Aug. 6 (UPI) — China has issued retaliatory sanctions against seven U.S. companies and organizations it accused of aiding U.S. punitive measures targeting Beijing, the latest tit-for-tat move between the world’s two largest economic powers, issued weeks before Chinese leader Xi Jinping‘s September visit to Washington.

Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce issued the sanctions in separate orders Wednesday, effectively imposing a China-wide ban on commercial and institutional dealings with the seven entities.

Applied DNA Sciences Inc. Stratum Reservoir LLC, Altana Technologies Inc., Responsible Business Alliance, Verite Group Inc, and Human Rights in China were blacklisted for assisting and supporting “the United States’ illegal sanctions concerning Xinjiang,” the ministry said in a statement.

Compliance Testing LLC was hit for assisting and supporting U.S. Federal Communications Commission actions “harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” the ministry said in a second statement.

China imposed the ban against the five U.S. companies and one nongovernmental organization less than a week after the United States added 43 companies to its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, effectively banning the import of their products on thee presumption they were made using the forced labor of Uyghurs in northwestern Xinjiang region.

The U.S. State Department declared China’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority group a genocide in 2021, alleging that Beijing has arbitrarily imprisoned at least 1 million of them. China has been credibly accused of subjecting Uyghurs to forced sterilization, forced labor and forced detention, as well as imposing draconian restrictions on their freedom of religion, expression and movement. Several other governments, as well as legal and civil independent bodies, have also accused China of genocide.

China vehemently rejects the accusations, claiming the camps are for eduction and training.

A Commerce Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday that “China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes” the sanctioning of the 43 companies.

The statement announcing the retaliatory measures said the U.S. move seriously violated international law, the basic norms governing international relations and an infringed upon its sovereignty, security and development interests.

It was unclear exactly how the five companies and one nongovernmental organization were involved, but China’s ministry said “their conduct is egregious.”

Human Rights in China, an NGO founded in 1989, condemned being sanctioned by China, calling it “a blatant act of retaliation against entities working to ensure that international trade and commerce are not tainted by forced labor and other serious human rights abuses.”

“It is another attempt by the Chinese government to intimidate and silence organizations that advocate for universal human rights and corporate accountability,” it said in a statement.

“While we were surprised to find HRIC included alongside organizations we were previously unfamiliar with, we regard this designation as a badge of honor.”

The ministry blacklisted Compliance Testing after the FCC on July 28 banned foreign-made humanoid robots and power inverters, a move that some said specifically targeted China. It also came amid reports that the Trump administration was drafting a ban on Chinese data center components.

Compliance Testing’s alleged involvement was not clear, but China’s Commerce Ministry alleged that it was involved in the FCC’s measures “seriously infringing upon the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.”

In response to reports concerning the drafting of the new Chinese electronics ban, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, “China opposes the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to go after Chinese businesses.”

“Protectionism will not make the U.S. more competitive. The U.S. move seriously disrupts normal trade and economic exchanges between Chinese and U.S. businesses and consumers or anyone else for that matter,” he said in a statement. “China will continue firmly protecting our businesses’ legitimate and lawful rights and interests.”

The countermeasures come weeks before Xi is expected to visit Washington on Sept. 24 for talks with Trump on artificial intelligence, technological competition and global economic relations.

Aug. 5 (UPI) — Iran and Oman are in the final stages of a joint agreement to manage commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, agreeing on a route for ships Wednesday, the Iranian foreign ministry said.

However, Iran will not open the strait to traffic until the United States ends its blockade, the ministry said, CBS reported.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state-run media that there is agreement between Iran and Oman on proposed inbound and outbound shipping routes in the strait, CNN reported.

Iran and Oman are on opposite sides of the strait, a major commercial waterway used for much of the world’s oil and gas supplies. They’ve been in negotiations over it for about three weeks. Before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February, the strait was an open international waterway, but Iran closed it in response to the attacks.

“The geographic coordinates of the route envisioned by both sides have been agreed upon,” said Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Iran Foreign Ministry, told the country’s state news agency, as reported by The New York Times. “If certain third parties do not obstruct the process, a joint statement by the two countries,containing the principal considerations and points of agreement, is currently in the final stages of review and drafting.”

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters there has been a lot of progress on reopening the strait and that it will reopen “soon,” perhaps even as soon as Wednesday or Thursday. However, Gharibabadi denied again that Iran is negotiating in any way over the waterway with the United States, CNN said.

Aug. 5 (UPI) — Hungary is facing an energy crisis as the Danube River, which cools the nation’s largest power plant, dries to record lows.

Water levels of the 1,800-mile river, which flows through 10 countries in Europe, has fallen amid a three-month drought across the continent.

The Danube is an integral component in the running of Paks, Hungary’s only nuclear power plant, as it flows into the reactor and cools it down.

Three of the plant’s four reactors were not in operation on Wednesday, while the fourth is operating at 50% power, CBS News reported.

The plant is responsible for generating half the electricity needed by the country’s 10 million people.

“Several factors will determine whether Hungary’s most important power plant can avoid a complete shutdown in the coming days,” said Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar, CBS News reported.

“There are a few critical days left — today and tomorrow are certainly that,” Magyar added, according to the outlet. “I ask everyone to continue the national unity that has developed in the country. Let’s do what our country demands.”

But the drying of the Danube has brought a silver lining for some. Residents and researchers have marveled at several discoveries that have emerged as water levels drop.

In Serbia, researchers have found some 200 boats that had been hidden deep in the Danube, including World War II-era Nazi warships, Smithsonian magazine reported.

A ship that likely sank in 1937 was exposed in Croatia.

And in Bulgaria, residents discovered the remains of a woolly mammoth.

Aug. 5 (UPI) — Officers arrested a woman accused of stabbing four men in London’s Covent Garden neighborhood, the Metropolitan Police said Wednesday.

All four victims — aged 34, 39, 42 and 52 — were transported to the hospital. Two have been released, while the other two were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart said officers responded to the area — a dining and entertainment district — “within minutes” of receiving reports of the attacks.

“While still at an early stage of the investigation, we would like to reassure the community that we currently believe this to be an isolated, mental-health related incident,” he said in a statement on X.

“A visible police presence will remain in the area while evidence is gathered at the scene and we thank the pubic for their understanding.”

People who worked in the area told The Guardian the suspect was known in the area and often displayed erratic behavior. Witnesses said it appeared she chose the victims at random and used scissors in the attack.

Arjan Gjorga, who works at a restaurant near the incident, told The Guardian he witnessed the attack.

“I see her all the time, she’s a homeless person. She walks around up and down asking for help, she visits the church at the top of the street,” he said.

Police cordoned off part of the area, including St Mungo’s homeless shelter. A representative for the facility told the BBC they couldn’t “confirm whether anyone from St Mungo’s is involved at this stage.”

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault.

SEOUL, Aug. 5 (UPI) — Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned Wednesday that Pyongyang could adopt “additional military options” against Japan, accusing Tokyo of becoming a “war state” through its expanding military capabilities.

Kim made the remarks in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

“Japan, a war criminal state, is accelerating its transformation into a war state,” she wrote, claiming that Tokyo was exploiting growing geopolitical tensions to boost its offensive military capacity.

She cited Japan’s recent test-firing of U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles from a destroyer in the Pacific Ocean and its March deployment of long-range surface-to-ship missiles and high-speed gliding projectiles at bases in Kumamoto and Shizuoka prefectures as examples of Tokyo’s changing military posture.

Kim also pointed to Japan’s participation in U.S.-led military exercises in the Philippines in May, where it launched offensive missiles outside its territory for the first time since World War II.

Kim claimed that Japan’s growing arsenal of long-range weapons was transforming its Self-Defense Forces into an offensive military.

“The mass possession of different kinds of long-range strike means with an unexpectedness of preemptive attack and a drastic increase in the radius of their operation … make Japan reorganize its overall armed forces as a formation of preemptive attack and overseas aggression,” she wrote.

Kim also accused the United States of driving Japan’s military expansion, saying Tokyo and Seoul were acting as Washington’s “shock brigade” in the region.

“Japan’s military expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, which is being turned into the world’s biggest hotspot due to the U.S. exclusive and aggressive foreign policy … seriously threatens international peace and stability,” she wrote.

North Korea has repeatedly criticized the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hawkish conservative who took office in February, over efforts to strengthen Japan’s military and broaden its regional security role.

Tokyo has bolstered its defense posture since adopting a new National Security Strategy in late 2022 that calls for acquiring “counterstrike capabilities,” including long-range missiles intended to strike enemy launch sites if Japan comes under attack.

In a commentary published in KCNA on Tuesday, North Korea condemned a recent U.S.-led multinational naval exercise in Hawaii and criticized military cooperation among Washington and its regional allies, including the Pentagon’s recent move to upgrade U.S. Forces Japan into a joint force headquarters with expanded operational responsibilities.

Kim said North Korea should make Japan “regret” its growing military ambitions.

“One effective way is to make Japan feel that its security has been exposed to greater danger due to its greediness,” she wrote. “We will never remain a passive onlooker to the military evolution of Japan which may pose a grave threat to the security of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

“I make it clear upon authorization that the armed forces of the DPRK and the military leadership will set up additional military options which are obviously due to Japan’s transformation,” she added.