Graham Platner considering best path forward' in Maine Senate race after denying sexual assault claim
www.nbcnews.com

... Jenny Racicot, who once dated Platner, said he showed up at her home in 2021 and forced himself on her. Platner said the allegation is "categorically false."

Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner is denying a new allegation of sexual assault, an explosive development injecting tumult into a race that is central to the Democratic Party's path to winning back the Senate.

Despite the denial, Platner said in a video that he is taking "time to reflect on the best path forward" with his candidacy, while several prominent supporters revoked their endorsements. ...

Folarin Balogun
en.wikipedia.org

... Balogun was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Yoruba Nigerian parents.[7][8]

His parents were living in London, and visited New York when his mother was seven months pregnant with him. Airline staff did not allow her to board the family's return flight to London due to safety concerns over the advanced state of her pregnancy, and Balogun was subsequently born in New York.[9]

He returned to the United Kingdom with his parents when he was two months old and grew up in London.[10][11][12] ...

FACT FOCUS: Experts say Trump's claims linking Democrats to communism are inaccurate
apnews.com

... President Donald Trump has been warning recently that communism will pose a threat to the U.S. if Democrats win in the upcoming midterm elections.

"It's the biggest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, September 11th," he said on Wednesday, segueing into a political message as he visited the newly constructed Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota.

Last week, he referred to Democrats as "hard core, godless Communists" at the Faith & Freedom Coalition's 2026 policy conference.

Trump's latest round of attacks has followed primary victories by democratic socialist candidates. They are reminiscent of similar narratives he has employed throughout his political career.

But experts say his claims, echoed by Vice President J.D. Vance and other Republican leaders, are off base.

Here's a closer look at the facts.

TRUMP: "It's becoming a communist party. These are not social Dumocrats, these are hardcore, godless Communists."

THE FACTS: No candidate openly belonging to the U.S. Communist Party has ever been elected to state or federal office, according to experts. Although there are fringes of the Democratic Party that have expressed support for communist ideas, experts say that they still advocate for a market-based economy and that it is inaccurate to paint the entire party with such a broad brush. Trump recently began referring to Democrats pejoratively as "Dumocrats." ...

A Yearslong Effort to Woo Trump Culminates With the World Cup (June 6, 2026)
www.nytimes.com

... Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, has unabashedly courted the president's favor. Soccer officials privately ask, who really benefits?

For the past year, FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, has leased an office on the 17th floor of New York's Trump Tower that has sat all but empty. The rent goes to President Trump's family business, but soccer officials say the space sits largely idle.

Paying rent to the Trumps was the choice of Gianni Infantino, FIFA's president, who has made being close to Mr. Trump a top priority. He has lavished the president with praise, trophies and a medal. He has made pilgrimages to Mar-a-Lago, the Trump National Doral golf club and even the "Melania" documentary premiere. ...

Belgium fumes after FIFA clears Balogun following Trump call
www.msn.com

... Belgium has reacted with a mixture of anger and defiance to an unusual move from football's governing body FIFA to overturn a suspension of star US striker Folarin Balogun, making him eligible to play in Monday's match.

"They can take away all the red cards in the world," said Georges-Louis Bouchez, leader of the MR, one of five parties in the country's coalition government, in a post on X, "the Belgians are the bravest and they will win." ...

"Astonishing how a red card suddenly becomes unjust' when Trump gets involved," wrote Yvan Verougstraete, leader of Les Engags, another coalition party, in a separate online post. Verougstraete also reposted an AI-generated video that showed Balogun brandishing a picture of Trump in response to a referee showing him a red card. Foreign minister Maxime Prevot told Politico the decision "raises many questions."

The decision has also sparked uproar among footballing authorities outside of the US. UEFA, the powerful European football organizer, called the reversal "incomprehensible and unjustifiable" and accused FIFA of crossing "a red line". ...

FIFA ignores demands for reasons it reversed Balogun's red card
www.msn.com

... Almost everyone has offered an opinion about whether or not US striker Folarin Balogun deserved a red card, apart from the only people who matter: FIFA.

On Sunday, FIFA overturned a one-match suspension of Balogun, allowing him to play against Belgium in the seismic last-16 clash on Monday evening in Seattle. It has yet to explain why it reversed the red card, a decision that isn't only unprecedented during a World Cup, but also against its own rules.

"If you're going to run a rules-based organization rather than something authoritarian," said Alastair Campbell, a partner at Level Law, "you need to explain your decision making." ...

Over the following days, US Soccer and President Donald Trump both lobbied FIFA President Gianni Infantino to reverse the decision.

FIFA, which has long touted its supposed political neutrality, has faced intense pressure over the past few days. Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump confirmed calling Infantino following the referee's decision to suspend Balogun and said he thought Balogun didn't commit a foul. ...

Can Gianni Infantino keep winning over Trump without losing the world?
www.politico.com

... That success is beginning to weaken Infantino, as the third-term FIFA president faces newfound internal opposition for his over-the-top courtship of Trump. Our interviews with six international soccer officials across three continents reveal widespread frustration with Infantino's decision to side with Trump...

"The extent of this cozy relationship that we've seen and and the public character that has been assumed between Mr. Infantino and Mr. Trump is different even from what we saw in the past," said Miguel Maduro, former chairman of FIFA's governance and review committee. "It's not that things like that didn't happen in the past, but it didn't happen so obviously and so emphatically as they do now."

Our reporting found that Infantino did not inform his 37-member FIFA Council before creating the FIFA Peace Prize this year, three people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. Over the past year, at least three of FIFA's eight vice presidents have publicly or privately expressed their concerns about the lengths Infantino is willing to go to please Trump. ...

Strait of Hormuz tanker trafficking rebounding a day after unexplained U-turns
nationalpost.com

... Of observable vessels, six navigated a route cleaving close to Oman's coast while four others sailed northward toward the Iranian route and exited the waterway ...

There was no immediate explanation for the ships that turned back on Friday and Saturday, though Iran has repeatedly said that vessels should only transit the strait through the route designated and authorized by the Islamic Republic. Naval liaison groups have yet to comment on the abrupt U-turns, although the Joint Maritime Intelligence Center repeated on Sunday that Iranian forces continue to harass shipping. ...