Britain is investigating a sanctioned tanker that is suspected of being part of the Russian "shadow fleet," shipping oil in violation of international sanctions over Moscow's war on Ukraine.

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A massive UFC event is taking over the White House’s South Lawn. The event celebrates President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Fights are scheduled for Sunday night, with additional activities planned throughout the weekend.

Two people have been detained in connection with the theft of equipment from the England national team's vehicles during their move from a pre-training base in Florida to Kansas City, where they have their permanent World Cup base camp.

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On Friday, FIFA blamed the empty seats during the World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara on fans who watched from the concourses. Levi's Stadium staged the Super Bowl only four months ago.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that a “swift and lethal kinetic” U.S. strike has killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, whom he called “the infamous leader” of the Tren de Aragua gang.

Tren de Aragua has been labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization. Guerrero Flores was charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including lending support to terrorists in crimes that stretched more than a decade, authorities announced in December.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the strike occurred earlier in the week on a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said at the time that the gang is responsible for countless acts of violence, extortion and drug trafficking in North America, South America and Europe. Trump nominated Clayton on Thursday to be director of national intelligence.

The U.S. State Department had offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to Guerrero Flores’ arrest.

In a post on his social media site, Trump wrote, “Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else and, under my leadership, we will find these vicious murderers and drug lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong.” Trump’s post referred to Guerrero Flores by his alias, “Niño Guerrero.”

The post also included unclassified video, shot from above, of a small building with a green roof exploding.

Hegseth said, “The operation underscores the shared U.S. and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere.”

Venezuela’s government released a statement confirmed its participation in the operation and revealed it took place in the southeastern state of Bolivar.

“During the operation, clashes occurred with members of criminal groups, resulting in the death of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias ‘Niño Guerrero,’ the leader of one of these criminal organizations,” according to the statement.

The mineral-rich state, which borders Brazil and Guyana, is home to large illegal mining operations long controlled by gangs and other actors who mine with the consent — and to the benefit — of officials and the military.

Trump has taken a series of extraordinary actions against the gang, including a series of strikes on small boats his administration has accused of smuggling drugs to America. At least 207 people have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

Trump and administration officials have consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some U.S. cities. The president spent months repeating the claim — contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment — that Tren de Aragua had operated under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s control. The U.S. whisked Maduro out of Venezuela to face U.S. drug charges in January.

Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago at an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals in Venezuela’s central state of Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent years as millions of Venezuelans migrated to other Latin American countries or the U.S. in search of better living conditions.

Guerrero Flores returned to the prison in Aragua for murder and other convictions in 2013, when Venezuela’s crisis began as corruption, mismanagement and a drop in crude prices wrecked the oil-dependent economy. Guerrero Flores and a few other inmates saw a profitable opportunity as the government neglected prisons.

They assumed control and administration of the prison, establishing a system that controlled the entire inmate population through force and extortion. Over time, they transformed the facility into a sort of city that included a zoo, baseball field, casino and restaurants. Guerrero Flores had his own lavish suite.

The size of the gang is unclear. Countries with large populations of Venezuelan migrants, including Peru and Colombia, have accused the group of being behind a spree of violence in the region. Still, unlike other criminal organizations from Colombia, Central America and Brazil, Tren de Aragua has no large-scale involvement in smuggling cocaine across international borders, according to InSight Crime, a think tank that tracks crime across Latin America.

In Venezuela, gang leaders have long been known to participate in various illegal activities, including gold mining and drug trafficking.

The legal mining of gold and other minerals is a component of the Trump administration’s phased plan to turn the crisis-wrecked country around. In March, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum told reporters during a visit to Venezuela that the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez was giving security assurances to mining companies interested in investing in the South American country.

Trump campaigned for a second term promising to crack down on immigration and crime. While polls show his favorability ratings have sagged on his handling of the economy, immigration remains Trump’s strongest issue, according to the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The post Trump says U.S. strike killed leader of Tren de Aragua gang with help from Venezuela appeared first on MS NOW.

Leo's Iberia charter, due to take him back to Rome after a weeklong visit to Spain, was grounded by a technical problem Friday, prompting Spain's king to offer his private jet instead.

(Image credit: Vatican Media via AP)

President Trump said Friday that a U.S. strike has killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, whom he called "the infamous leader" of the Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela.

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Known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and a love for puns, Gene Shalit joined Today in 1970 and became arts editor in 1973. He was a middle-of-the-road critic, known for his wit and intelligence.

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Workers began removing President Trump's name from the facade of the Kennedy Center early Saturday, hours after a court-ordered Friday deadline to remove references to Trump from the building.

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A look at everyday moments across countries, cultures and communities worldwide. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Workers on Saturday began removing President Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the Kennedy Center, after a federal judge struck down a last-ditch attempt by the board to keep Trump’s name on the building.

Scaffolding was erected Friday around a section of the building that includes Trump’s name, but shortly after midnight, the Kennedy Center asked a judge to extend the deadline until noon Eastern Time on Saturday because of thunderstorms that had swept through the Washington area, causing a delay.

In the filing, the Kennedy Center offered assurance that the “removal work is presently ongoing” and would “conclude in the early hours of the morning.”

A few hours later, workers began covering the scaffolding with tarps before they eventually started taking down Trump’s name. They packed up and left the site around 3:30 a.m., though the tarps remained, leaving it impossible to determine if all the letters had been removed.

Dozens of people spent hours Friday on the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center taking pictures and cheering occasionally as they broke into chants of “take it down.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who sued to have Trump’s name removed from the building, was spotted at one point on the plaza.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper denied the Trump administration’s request to issue a stay on his May 29 ruling while an appeal plays out. Cooper wrote that the center had already taken steps to comply with that ruling by removing Trump’s name from some of its branding ahead of the Friday, June 12 deadline.

“These efforts undermine the notion that Defendants face irreparable harm in complying with the order in full,” Cooper wrote.

The judge had previously ruled that the Kennedy Center board of trustees — whose members were handpicked by Trump and who subsequently named him chair of the board — cannot unilaterally change the center’s name.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper wrote.

The Trump administration also filed an appeal with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. The court did not take action.

Trump had railed against Cooper’s decision, calling the judge “crooked” and threatening to remove his involvement in the organization.

In the days that followed, the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel issued notices to staff to refer to the organization by its original name. Trump’s name was dropped from the Kennedy Center website and in its communications to members.

A June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

The post Workers begin removing Trump’s name from Kennedy Center after last-minute bid to fight ruling appeared first on MS NOW.

The World Cup is drawing attention to soccer's growing popularity in Canada. Soccer has surpassed hockey and all other sports in youth participation, according to a recent report by Jumpstart, a Canadian charity. Canada coach Jesse Marsch said Thursday he has "felt a real momentum behind this team and behind this moment."

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President Trump's board at the Kennedy Center is mounting a last-minute effort to keep his name on the facade of the performing arts facility before a court-ordered deadline to remove it by Friday.

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South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol and his former defense minister were sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday in a case alleging Yoon ordered drone flights over Pyongyang in 2024 to heighten tensions with North Korea and justify declaring martial law at home.

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June 5 — 11, 2026

Around the world, soccer fans are gathering in homes, stadium plazas, and public viewing venues to watch the World Cup and share in the excitement of the tournament.