Iran will be at the World Cup and will play in the US, FIFA boss says
Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, speaks during the 76th FIFA Congress on April 30, 2026, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Photo by Rich Lam – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Iran will be participating in the 2026 World Cup and will play in the United States, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in remarks Thursday.
“Of course Iran will play in the United States of America,” he said. “And the reason for that is very simple, dear friends, it’s because we have to unite.”
He added, “We have to bring people together. It is my responsibility, it is our responsibility. Football unites the world, FIFA unites the world, you unite the world, we unite the world.”
Iran said last month it would not participate in the global sporting event amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. A ceasefire has been in place since April 7.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 74th annual National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton on February 5, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is joined by bipartisan Congressional members, business, and religious leaders to pray for the nation. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump last month told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that he would be willing to unfreeze $16 billion in funding for a major infrastructure project in New York if Schumer would agree to rename New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles Airport after him, two sources familiar with the conversation told ABC News.
The Hudson Tunnel Project — which would connect New York City and New Jersey — had already started. The project includes building nine miles of new passenger rail track and rehabilitating the North River Tunnel, according to the commission responsible for it.
Officials in New York and New Jersey said if the money isn’t freed-up by Friday, the project would stop, leaving approximately 1,000 construction jobs in jeopardy.
Sources told ABC that Schumer rejected Trump’s offer.
The White House and Schumer’s office have not yet commented on the story, which was first reported by Punchbowl News.
The Gateway Development Commission said on Monday it had filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, saying the government was contractually obligated to provide the grants and loans for the project.
The funding for the project, which the commission described as an “urgent investment in America’s passenger rail network,” was finalized in July 2024.
“This lawsuit would be unnecessary if President Trump did the right thing for New York and New Jersey and lifted his arbitrary freeze,” Schumer said in a statement released on Monday. “Gateway is the most important infrastructure project in the country, and tens of thousands of union workers depend on it moving forward.”
The Trump Administration announced it was halting further funding for the project amid the federal government’s lengthy shutdown in October.
After Trump and Schumer met at the White House in January, the president said on social media the Schumer was “holding up” the project, but did not offer further detail.
Outside of politics, the president and his family have allowed their name to be appended to many products and buildings, including some where the Trump name has been used under licensing or royalty agreements. But by applying his name to programs, buildings and other entities that are fully or partially funded by the government, Trump has set himself apart from recent White House occupants.
A group of senators introduced legislation in early January intended to prohibit the naming of federal buildings after sitting presidents.
The sponsors said Trump’s renaming of the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Institute for Peace amounted to violations of “the federal laws that created these institutions.”
“For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant and it is illegal,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement. “We must put an end to this narcissism — and that’s what this bill does.”
House Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty sued Trump in December in an effort to force the removal of his name from the Kennedy Center.
When asked for comment on the lawsuit at the time, White House spokesperson Liz Huston instead told ABC News in a statement that the Kennedy Center’s board, members of which were appointed by Trump, voted to rename it after Trump “stepped up and saved the old Kennedy Center …”
(NEW YORK) — The first of two storms has passed through the Great Lakes and is now moving through the northern tier of the Northeast, bringing widespread strong winds and snow from the eastern Great Lakes to northern New England.
On Friday, wind gusts greater than 70 mph were reported in Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana. Wind alerts remain in place from northeast Ohio and central Pennsylvania up to Upstate New York and the higher elevations of Massachusetts through Saturday morning and afternoon for wind gusts between 45 and 60 mph.
Saturday morning, snow continues across Upstate New York and into northern New England. An additional widespread 1 to 3 inches of snow can be expected from northwest New York to Maine, with some localized areas possibly getting over 3 inches of snow.
Heavier snow and severe weather The next storm will be a stronger, cross-country storm that has been impacting the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies since Friday and will sweep into the northern Rockies and Plains Saturday and the Midwest later Saturday into Sunday.
Winter storm warnings stretch from the Idaho Panhandle to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with some flight agencies cancelling flights ahead of this major winter storm.
Blizzard Warnings have also been issued for parts of South Dakota and southwest Minnesota for snowfall of more than a foot and strong winds up to 60 mph possible, with the National Weather Service warning that travel will likely become impossible late Saturday and Sunday.
By Sunday morning, snow stretches from South Dakota and Nebraska into the Great Lakes.
On the southern side of the powerful system, a line of severe storms will develop from Michigan down to Texas Sunday afternoon into the night.
An “Enhanced” risk (Level 3/5) has already been issued for parts of the Midwest on Sunday, from Indianapolis to just north of Memphis. Widespread damaging wind gusts will be the main threat although a few tornadoes will be possible along with large hail.
Chicago could go from thunderstorms on Sunday night to snow and whiteout conditions on Monday.
On Monday, the major storm will continue to move east. There will still be snow and wind across the Great Lakes and rounds of heavy rain and strong winds moving into the Northeast.
More severe weather will continue across the East Coast on Monday late afternoon into the evening from the Florida Panhandle up to Pennsylvania.
An “Enhanced” risk (level 3 of 5) has been issued for parts of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. This includes Columbia, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C; Baltimore, Maryland; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The main threat will be damaging winds, some large hail and a few tornadoes.
By the time this storm passes through, a widespread 3 to 6 inches of snow will be likely from Montana to the northern fringes of Upstate New York. The heaviest snow is expected from northeast South Dakota to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where 10 to 20 inches of snow will be possible, as well as gusty winds that could cause blowing snow and reduced visibility.
Enhanced surveillance video released by Cornell University, May 3, 2026, shows university President Michael Kotlikoff backing out of an on-campus parking space after a group confronted him about free speech. (Cornell University)
(NEW YORK) — Cornell University’s president claimed he was the victim of “harassment and intimidation” following a parking lot confrontation with a group of people who said he tried to back his car into them.
The incident unfolded on Thursday, April 30, after Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff introduced an Israel-Palestinian debate series that was hosted by the Cornell Political Union and co-sponsored by the Cornell Progressives, Cornellians for Israel, and Students for Justice in Palestine.
Kotlikoff said the behavior he experienced while allegedly being followed to his car in an on-campus lot by six or seven people, some of them students, “is harassment and intimidation, with the direct motive of silencing speech.”
“It has no place in an academic community, no place in a democracy, and can have no place at Cornell,” Kolikoff said in his statement released to the Ithaca, New York, university’s community on Friday.
Following the debate, videos posted online showed several people following Kolikoff to his car while questioning him about freedom of speech. The videos showed Kolikoff’s black Cadillac backing up out of a parking space as students appeared to be standing behind his vehicle.
One person, according to a video, complained that Kotikoff’s car bumped into him and ran over his foot before the school president drove off.
Aiden Vallecillo, a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell, told ABC affiliate station WSYR in Syracuse that he and other students followed Kolikoff from the debate to his car, peacefully questioning him.
Vallecillo claimed that Kotikoff escalated the situation when he got behind the wheel of his vehicle.
“As we were still trying to talk to him, he just immediately started reversing into us,” alleged Vallecillo, who claimed that Kotikoff’s car backed over his foot.
Sophia Arnold, president of the Students for a Democratic Cornell, said she witnessed the incident and expressed dismay over Kotikoff’s alleged behavior.
“I don’t even have the words for it. I was pretty shocked and offended,” Arnold told WSYR. “A random pedestrian pulling out of a supermarket parking lot would probably have shown more care.”
On Sunday, the university released enhanced surveillance video of the incident, which the school said occurred in a parking lot near Day Hall. The footage showed a group of people standing behind Kotikoff’s car as it backed out of a parking space, stopping when it appeared to bump a person filming with his cellphone, and then continued to back up and drive off.
In an earlier statement, Kyle Kimball, vice president for University Relations, said the security footage “shows students following President Kotlikoff to his car and surrounding the car to prevent him from leaving after the Cornell Political Union event.”
It was unclear on Sunday if the incident was reported to the campus police or was being formally investigated. In response to a request for comment on Sunday, a university spokesperson directed ABC News to the statement Kolitkoff released to the Cornell community on Friday.
In that statement, Kolitkoff, who was appointed as the school’s president in March 2025, said he was “accosted by a group of several individuals in the hall, among them students and non-students” as he left the event.
“These individuals are known to Cornell for their past conduct, including a long history of ongoing verbal and online abuse toward numerous members of Cornell’s administration and staff, as well as disruptive protest resulting, in the case of two individuals, in bans from campus,” Kolitkoff said.
He alleged that they followed him across campus from the event space “while loudly shouting questions” and using their phones to record the incident.
“After answering a few questions, I let them know that I was not planning to engage further, and asked them to stop recording,” Kolitkoff said.
Kolitkoff claimed the students continued to follow him, and said at least one told him, “No, we are not going to stop.”
He said when he got to his car, the group surrounded his vehicle, “banging on the windows” and blocking him from leaving.
“I waited until I saw space behind the car and then, using my car’s rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, was able to slowly maneuver my car from the parking space and exit the parking lot,” Kolitkoff said.
