Fans who hear the whirring sound of a drone over a stadium might see it as a nuisance but law enforcement has long viewed those aircraft as a potential weapon of mass destruction.

With the World Cup about to kick off, security is heightened and there's a zero-tolerance policy for drones over or near stadiums during the 78 matches in 11 U.S. cities.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended World Cup ticket prices on Wednesday, saying "if we do something wrong, then probably everyone selling tickets in North America is doing something wrong."

Infantino spoke with reporters during a rare question-and-answer session on the eve of the opening match of an expanded 48-nation, 104-game World Cup tournament. He defended record ticket prices, said FIFA was powerless to get the U.S. government to admit a Somali referee, and praised his ability to get Iran's national soccer team into the United States.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday showed how he had learned to stop worrying about inflation and simply, in his own words, "love" it.

Asked about the new report that the consumer price index in May had jumped 4.2% over the last year, the president took a surprisingly optimistic tack with the challenging news. Trump didn't dismiss the affordability issue as a "hoax" that was started by Democrats, as he has done previously. Nor did he claim that he was bringing down the cost of living.

After years of preparation, a supersized World Cup has finally arrived.

This year's tournament — which is hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico — was expanded to 48 teams that will play in 16 stadiums in a record 104 matches over the 39-day tournament.

Amnesty International accused Israel on Wednesday of carrying out a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank with the intention to annex the Palestinian territory.

The accusation came in a new, 149-page report alleging that the forced displacement of West Bank Palestinians resulted from a concerted state policy, and not just the actions of violent settlers. While much of the displacement is driven by settlers who build outposts on Palestinian land, the report asserts that the process could not occur without the support of the government.

The United States launched a second round of airstrikes on Iran into Thursday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would "pay the price" for stalled negotiations, and Iran responded with strikes targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

The new U.S. assault came as efforts to negotiate an end the war again appeared stuck, with Iran insisting it would maintain its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted global energy supplies and sent oil prices higher. The American attack appeared more intense and wider than the day before, but Iran released little information on the extent of the damage.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran is taking "too long to negotiate a deal" and that "now they will have to pay the price."

Trump made the comment on his Truth Social platform.

A World Cup referee from Somalia who was denied entry to the United States was received by a crowd of supporters and officials Wednesday as he arrived in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu, where he said he plans to be at the next World Cup and urged Somali youths to be proud of their country.

Omar Artan was set to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup after making FIFA's final list for the tournament. He is one of Africa's top referees and was named the continent's best male referee in 2025.

Taiwan's military fired rockets in China's direction from "shoot-and-scoot" mobile launchers on Wednesday in a demonstration of how it might try to repel a Chinese attack.

While the U.S.-supplied system known as HIMARS has been tested before, the latest live-fire exercise was the first time its rockets were fired into the waters of the narrow Taiwan Strait that separates the self-governing island from China.

Consumer prices probably jumped in May for the third straight month, heightening concerns for the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve and underscoring the threat that rising costs pose for the Trump administration as midterm elections near.

Inflation is expected to reach 4.2% in May from a year earlier when the Labor Department reports last month's figures Wednesday, according to a survey of economists by data provider FactSet The annual increase would be up from the 3.8% reading in April. On a monthly basis, prices are forecast to have risen a hefty 0.5%, slightly below the 0.6% increase in April.