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Play video content Donald Trump would rather dodge bullets than a bad angle ... 'cause apparently, a few extra pounds is where he draws the line! Hot on the heels of yet another assassination attempt
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A memorial for Celeste Rivas Hernandez continues to grow outside of her parents' home in Lake Elsinore, CA... and the scene is absolutely heartbreaking. Photos taken on Thursday show a "Justice for Celeste Rivas" sign
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Play video content Dwayne Johnson's day out supporting his pal Emily Blunt at the Hollywood Walk of Fame turned into a full-on walk of shame after he got pulled over right afterward. Law enforcement sources
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Michael Jackson You Got to Be Startin' Bidding ... Sparkling Items Up for Auction!!! Published April 30, 2026 2:54 PM PDT Michael Jackson's personal items up for sale ... but fans are going to have
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Taylor Frankie Paul In Court For Custody Battle ... Watch The Live Stream Published April 30, 2026 2:20 PM PDT Play video content Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen are duking it out in court
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks during the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver Thursday. (Reuters) FIFA President Gianni Infantino reiterated that Iran will play their World Cup games in the United States as scheduled Thursday as he kicked off the global football body’s summit in Vancouver. Iran’s participation at this year’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States has been shrouded in uncertainty since the eruption of war in the Middle East in February following strikes by the United States and Israel. Infantino, who has repeatedly stated that Iran will be at the World Cup, underscored that stance at the start of his address to delegates in Vancouver. “Let me start by the outset, confirming straightaway that of course Iran will be participating at the FIFA World Cup 2026,” Infantino said. “And of course, Iran will play (in) the United States of America.” Iranian officials had floated the idea of shifting their group games from the United States to Mexico, but that proposal had already been nixed by Infantino. In a further twist last week, Italy-born US special envoy Paolo Zampolli was reported to have floated the idea of Italy taking Iran’s World Cup place. The US government later distanced themselves from that proposal, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Iran’s footballers would be welcome. But the tension surrounding Iran’s World Cup participation rumbled into the build-up to Thursday’s FIFA Congress. Iran was the only absentee from the 211-member congress as Thursday’s meeting got under way after a clash with Canadian border officials earlier this week. Related Story
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The President of the Palestine Football Association Jibril Rajoub is seen after speaking during the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada on April 30, 2026. (Photo by Don MacKinnon / AFP) Palestinian football federation President Jibril Rajoub refused to stand alongside Israel FA Vice-President Basim Sheikh Suliman in a heated moment at the FIFA Congress on Thursday.Both men were called to the stand by FIFA President Gianni Infantino but Rajoub declined to be brought closer to Arab-Israeli Suliman. Infantino put his hand on Rajoub's arm and invited him with a gesture to come closer to Suliman, but in vain.Asked what Rajoub said when he refused, Palestinian FA Vice-President Susan Shalabi, who was in the room, told Reuters: "I cannot shake the hand of someone the Israelis have brought to whitewash their fascism and genocide. We are suffering."Israel has denied committing genocide in Gaza. Infantino then took the stand and said: "We will work together, President Rajoub, Vice-President Suliman. Let's work together to give hope to the children. These are complex matters."Speaking after the Congress ended, Shalabi said Infantino's attempt to have Suliman and Rajoub shake hands showed little consideration for the Palestinian FA chief's speech, in which he made yet another plea for Israeli clubs not to base teams in the West Bank settlements. "To be put in a position where to have a handshake after everything that was said, this negates the whole purpose of the speech that the general (Rajoub) was giving," she said."He spent like 15 minutes trying to explain to everyone how the rules matter, how this could easily become a precedent where the rights of member associations are violated with impudence, and then we'll just wrap this under the carpet. It was absurd."Rajoub said: "From my side, I still respect and follow the legal procedure but I think it’s time to understand that Israel should be sanctioned. The double standard policy should stop. I refused to shake hands. Sport is sport... for me that should be respected, but if the other side is representing a criminal like Bibi (Benjamin Netanyahu) and speaking on behalf of Bibi as if Bibi is Mother Teresa, how can I shake hands or have a photo with such a man?"I think Gianni has the right to try to bridge gaps and bring people together but I think maybe he does not understand or does not know the deep suffering of the Palestinian people."Last week, the PFA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against FIFA's decision not to sanction Israel over clubs based in West Bank settlements. The PFA has long argued that clubs based in settlements in the West Bank - territory Palestinians seek as part of a future state - should not compete in leagues run by the Israel Football Association.FIFA said last month it would take no action against the IFA or Israeli clubs, citing the unresolved legal status of the West Bank under public international law. As they were leaving the Vancouver Convention Centre, Rajoub and Shalabi were targeted by protesters who were demanding that FIFA should ban Iran from the World Cup on the grounds that the team, they say, represent the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."Does that convince you that you have to support IRGC... because you're having a problem with Israel," one protester asked Rajoub."We're not supporting anyone, we just want the support of the international community," Rajoub said. Related Story
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People arriving with empty LPG cylinders for refilling, in a village on the outskirts of Uttar Pradesh's Jewar district. (AFP) India raised yesterday the prices of commercial liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel for international airlines, according to a state-run energy firm, as supply pressures from the Iran war mount.The South Asian nation is heavily dependent on imported energy, including for roughly 60% of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the fuel used for cooking by a vast section of its population, the largest in the world.As imports have been disrupted since the Middle East war began in late February, New Delhi has moved to ensure households and essential sectors remain adequately supplied, leaving many restaurants, manufacturers and power plants in the lurch.The government has maintained India faces no overall fuel shortage."Prices of bulk and commercial LPG cylinders have been revised," the state-run Indian Oil Corp Limited (IOCL), the country's leading energy marketing company, said.IOCL's price chart shows an increase of 993 rupees ($10.50) in the price of a 19-kilogramme LPG cylinder meant for commercial use.That amounts to a nearly 48-percent rise in the capital New Delhi. Local levies mean rates vary across cities.The sharp hike will hit restaurants particularly hard, with many already scaling back operations during the Middle East war.The oil company said that the price of jet fuel for international airline operations has also "been adjusted upward".Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has gone up by around five % in Delhi, according to IOCL's catalogue. Related Story
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Viktor Orban’s crushing election defeat has thrown the Hungarian nationalist’s political future into doubt and shattered his reputation as an all-powerful leader. While senior members of Orban’s Fidesz party seem to have closed ranks behind him, rare public dissent from the party has seeped out, and analysts say it will be difficult to recover from the landslide loss that ended his 16-year rule. Last week, Orban -- who aimed to make the central European country of 9.5mn people a model of “illiberal democracy” -- announced he would not take up his parliamentary seat, saying he was needed for the “reorganisation of the national camp”. This marks the first time the 62-year-old -- who has cultivated close ties with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- will be absent from parliament since Hungary’s democratisation in 1990. Orban was routed in the April 12 elections by newcomer Peter Magyar, whose party won with 55%, securing a two-thirds majority in parliament, on the promise of “regime change”. Orban’s Fidesz-KDNP alliance lost more than half its parliamentary seats, getting 39% of the vote. Following the loss, Orban on Tuesday offered to resign as Fidesz leader, but the party’s national board reportedly rejected his resignation. He is expected to run unopposed for the post at a Fidesz congress on June 13, as analysts say his grip on the party remains firm as ever. “He turned Fidesz into his personal party, where the primary unifying force is admiration, respect, loyalty or a mixture of these towards him,” Szabolcs Dull, who runs the political podcast Otpontban, told AFP. But the election results have prompted some rare criticism from within Fidesz. Outgoing lawmaker Orsolya Ferencz, 55, insisted the party needed to learn from the loss, which she compared to a “divine judgment”. “The responsibility of certain politicians, business circles, think tanks and the media must be examined,” she told AFP, but declined to be more specific. “The lack of morality, often manifesting as the pursuit of financial (gain) or power at all costs, adverse selection, and the trampling of professionalism, is unacceptable.” But Ferencz stressed it was up to Orban to decide what kind of role he seeks in “rebuilding” their political community, lauding him for his “historic accomplishments”. Orban managed to bounce back once before: Ousted in 2002 after his first term as premier, he returned eight years later. “He has a unique capacity for adaptability, and resilience in Hungarian politics,” said Zoltan Novak, project director at the Centre for Fair Political Analysis. “But now his presence jeopardises renewal, because he represents the 16-year period that voters have overwhelmingly rejected,” he added. Incoming premier Magyar, 45, has pledged to enshrine a two-term limit in the constitution for prime ministers, theoretically preventing Orban’s return to power. Some Fidesz voters have felt deceived -- with Orban’s allies insisting even on election night that polls predicted their win. A fresh survey from pollster Median found Fidesz had lost about a third of its support base post-election. It also indicated that almost half the population -- even 18% of Fidesz voters -- believe Orban’s coalition lost because of corruption. Magyar put the issue at the forefront of his campaign, blaming underfunded public services on allegedly corrupt oligarchs. The pro-EU conservative has pledged a sweeping crackdown on corruption, urging authorities to stop Fidesz cronies from moving their capital abroad to the “United States, Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates” until then. But Orban, in his sole post-election interview, denied graft was ever a problem under his governance, putting the blame on business associates “flexing” their wealth. He is “unable” to admit this, because “corruption and avoiding responsibility” were the main features of Orban’s system, according to Rafael Labanino, a political scientist from Germany’s Nuertingen-Geislingen University. Labanino said he expects Orban’s position will deteriorate further as the generous state funding pro-Fidesz media enjoyed over the past 16 years will “dry up”.
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US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to reporters after passage of a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, Thursday at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. (AFP) The US Congress Thursday approved funding for most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ending a record-breaking partial government shutdown that has disrupted critical agencies for more than two months. The House approved the measure, already passed by the Senate, sending it to President Donald Trump for signature. It will fund key DHS agencies through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. It does not include new money for immigration and border enforcement, leaving unresolved the political dispute that triggered the shutdown. The House cleared the bill by voice vote just hours before a critical deadline, after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned that emergency funds used to cover salaries would soon run dry. The department has been partially shuttered since February 14, making it the longest funding lapse of its kind, at 75 days. The legislation restores normal funding to agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol — at the centre of a bitter partisan fight — are excluded from the deal. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson “extended the DHS shutdown for over a month for no reason at all. This is the same bill the Senate unanimously passed five weeks ago,” said Patty Murray, the top Democrat on government funding in the upper chamber. “After Republicans spent months blocking disaster relief and funding for the TSA, Coast Guard, and our cyber defence agency, it is a very good thing that this bill is finally on track to be signed into law to fund these agencies.” The standoff began when Democrats refused to support funding for immigration enforcement without new restrictions on tactics such as raids in sensitive locations and the use of masks by officers. Republicans rejected those demands, instead pushing for full funding of the agencies without new conditions. The result is a two-track approach to financing DHS. Lawmakers have reopened most of the department for now, while Republicans move separately to secure tens of billions of dollars for ICE and Border Patrol through the “budget reconciliation” process, which would allow them to bypass Democrats. Johnson had resisted bringing the Senate compromise to a vote for weeks, calling it inadequate and insisting that immigration enforcement must be fully funded. But mounting pressure from the White House, moderate Republicans and officials warning of looming payroll shortfalls forced leadership to act. The prolonged impasse exposed deep divisions within the Republican Party, with hardliners opposing the partial funding bill and centrists warning of political fallout from continuing the shutdown. Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy wrote to Johnson on Monday urging him to put the Senate-passed bill on the floor. “Thank you to (Trump) for agreeing and demanding action,” he posted on social media. “Not another day should go by with our safety and security at risk.” The shutdown has taken a toll on federal workers and operations. Thousands of DHS employees worked without pay for weeks, while more than 1,000 Transportation Security Administration staff reportedly quit. Preparations for major events, including World Cup matches scheduled in US cities this summer, were also under threat. Despite the resolution, the underlying political conflict remains unresolved. Republicans are pushing to approve up to $70bn in funding for immigration enforcement agencies for the remainder of Trump’s term, while Democrats continue to demand tighter oversight and limits on enforcement practices. The episode underscores the sharp partisan divide over immigration policy just months ahead of midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, and highlights the challenges facing House Republicans as they navigate internal divisions while advancing the president’s agenda. With lawmakers now leaving Washington for a recess, attention is set to shift to the next phase of the funding fight — and whether Congress can resolve the dispute over immigration enforcement without another shutdown looming later this year.
