[🇺🇸] USA News/Views

[Saif]

FIFA president Infantino defends giving peace prize to Trump

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino defended his controversial decision to award a peace prize to United States president Donald Trump as he dismissed calls for a World Cup boycott.

www.thedailystar.net

FIFA president Infantino defends giving peace prize to Trump

(L/R) FIFA President Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump participate in the draw for the 2026 FIFA Football World Cup taking place in the US, Canada and Mexico, at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, DC, on December 5, 2025. Photo: AFP

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino defended his controversial decision to award a peace prize to United States president Donald Trump as he dismissed calls for a World Cup boycott.


Infantino was widely criticised for giving Trump the honour on behalf of his governing body at the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington DC in December.

The move drew further scrutiny after US forces seized Venezuelan president Miguel Maduro, while Trump caused more controversy with his desire to acquire Greenland for national security reasons.

However, Infantino insisted Trump was deserving of FIFA's inaugural peace prize, telling Sky News on Monday: "Objectively, he deserves it.

"Whatever we can do to help peace in the world, we should be doing it, and for this reason, for some time we were thinking we should do something to reward people who do something."

Infantino rejected suggestions there might be a boycott of this year's World Cup -- to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19 -- due to policies adopted at home and abroad by the Trump administration.

There has been unrest in a number of US cities, most notably Minneapolis, over the Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement.

But FIFA president Infantino said there were never calls for businesses to boycott a country, "so why football?"

The 55-year-old added: "In our divided world, in our aggressive world, we need occasions where people can come, can meet around the passion (for football)."

Infantino also said FIFA and UEFA -- European football's governing body -- would "have to" look at allowing Russia back into international action.

Russia has been banned since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but the International Olympic Committee has now recommended sports federations allow Russian teams to compete at youth level.

"We have to (look at readmitting Russia). Definitely," Infantino said.

"This ban has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred.

"Having girls and boys from Russia being able to play football games in other parts of Europe would help."​

 

[Saif]

US households become increasingly strained in diverging economy

In the greater Washington area, some 36 percent of households experienced food insecurity in the past year

www.thedailystar.net

US households become increasingly strained in diverging economy

AFP, Hyattsville

A customer shops at a Safeway store on June 11, 2024 in San Francisco, California. Photo: AFP/FILE

Around the crack of dawn, a line begins forming at a strip mall in Hyattsville, Maryland, as residents ranging from students to delivery workers and federal contractors wait to sign up for food assistance.

"Right now, it's a lot -- paying rent, buying food," said Shirleyann Desormeaux, a chef supporting four children in her household.

Even with two incomes, "it's still not enough," the 58-year-old added.

She said she was keen to work, but has experienced having her hours cut as businesses struggle too.

Desormeaux was among 100 or so people turning up in near-freezing temperatures in Hyattsville, a suburb of the US capital Washington, to seek groceries for their families, as anxiety about living costs rises in the world's biggest economy.

Although US economic growth has been solid, with President Donald Trump's administration touting Wall Street records and tax relief, analysts warn that a "K-shaped economy" has taken hold.

This is a situation where wealthier households benefit from rising asset values, but median- and lower-income families increasingly struggle.

Nearly 60 percent of consumer spending in the third quarter last year came from the top 20 percent of income earners, according to Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics.

In the greater Washington area, some 36 percent of households experienced food insecurity in the past year, according to the Capital Area Food Bank.

"We're seeing more individuals in what we would traditionally consider higher-income quartiles," said Radha Muthiah, the food bank's CEO.

That means a family of four making $90,000 to $120,000 a year could find themselves in need of "extra assistance in putting food on the table," she told AFP.

A key reason is "prolonged, sustained levels of inflation" after the Covid-19 pandemic, with wage growth not keeping pace, Muthiah said.

"People are suffering," Desormeaux said.

Salih Taylor, a federal worker, said he had not considered visiting a food drive until speaking with his church's pastor.

"I used to be like, 'I've got food, I don't need it,'" the 49-year-old told AFP. But he conceded: "It helps out a lot."

Food prices in December were 3.1 percent higher than a year ago, although Trump has said there is "virtually no inflation."

While Taylor makes around $4,200 a month, his salary quickly goes towards his mortgage, utilities and food.

Now, he occasionally collects free groceries, including for his mother.

"I'm scraping," he chuckled dryly, saying his family has cut back on eating out and going on longer drives.

Pastor Oliver Carter of No Limits Outreach Ministries, which runs the distribution point in Hyattsville, said he sees rising demand and more immigrants seeking aid since food stamps were slashed for many asylum seekers.

"Now, they're left to fend for themselves," he said.

Federal funding cuts under the Trump administration also meant less support for food drives.

"It's really a struggle now to continue doing what we do," he said.

Beyond the US capital area, a New York Times/Siena poll in January flagged a widespread belief that a middle-class lifestyle is out of reach for most people.

For Delaware resident Tricia Jones, who has lived in a hotel room with her husband and toddler for months, this sentiment strikes home.

Jones, 46, temporarily lost her income source after spinal surgery last year. Her family was soon unable to afford rent, and she turned to GoFundMe at one point to raise funds.

While Jones and her husband are both employed now, she said: "The pay doesn't keep up with the cost of living."

"We don't get any assistance with childcare," she added. "I couldn't even get assistance with a hotel voucher, because they told me that I work."

Meanwhile, the cost of groceries has climbed. A loaf of bread easily costs $6 and the price of milk has recently risen from $3.79 to $5.79, she said.

With a salary of around $1,300, "there's no way I can pay $1,800 a month for rent on top of all my utilities and childcare," she said.

"There's no way to stretch it."​

 

[Saif]

Trump tries to name airport, rail station after himself

US president Donald Trump offered to unfreeze federal infrastructure funding if the top Senate Democrat would help rename a major airport and train station after him, US media reported Thursday.

www.newagebd.net

Trump tries to name airport, rail station after himself
Agence France-Presse . Washington 07 February, 2026, 00:59

US president Donald Trump.

US president Donald Trump offered to unfreeze federal infrastructure funding if the top Senate Democrat would help rename a major airport and train station after him, US media reported Thursday.

Trump, a real estate mogul who plastered his name on buildings around the world, has sought to leave his mark on the country in an unprecedented image and building campaign.

In December, Trump’s handpicked board of the Kennedy Centre, an arts complex and memorial to late president John F Kennedy, voted to rename itself the ‘Trump-Kennedy Centre.’

Meanwhile he has pushed for the construction of an ‘Independence Arch’ similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and launched the construction of a new White House ballroom, tearing down the storied building’s East Wing to make way.

But New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles International Airport are also in Trump’s sights, CNN and NBC reported.

Citing unnamed sources, the outlets reported Trump offered a quid-pro-quo for the held-up funding, meant for a New York infrastructure project, if New York senator Chuck Schumer agreed to help get the train station and airport named after him.

Schumer rebuffed the offer, the broadcasters reported. CNN reported the offer was made last month.

New York and New Jersey are currently suing for the $16 billion in blocked federal funds, meant to be used for a tunnel connecting them.

Trump’s moves to insert his name and likeness across the government is unprecedented. Buildings and infrastructure are typically named after presidents once they leave office or die, to avoid overt politicisation.

The Treasury has confirmed reports that drafts have been drawn up for a commemorative $1 coin featuring Trump’s image, even though there are laws against displaying the image of a sitting or living president on money.

New York Representative Jerry Nadler called the attempt to rename Dulles airport and Penn Station an ‘extortion racket.’

Trump also unveiled a government website to offer low-cost prescription drugs Thursday called TrumpRx.​

 

[Saif]

Trump threatens to order poll reforms, bypassing Congress

US president Donald Trump on Friday threatened to try to bypass Congress and force new voting laws ahead of the November midterm elections, where his Republican Party fears losing control of the legislature.

www.newagebd.net

Trump threatens to order poll reforms, bypassing Congress
Agence France-Presse . Washington 15 February, 2026, 01:15

US president Donald Trump.

US president Donald Trump on Friday threatened to try to bypass Congress and force new voting laws ahead of the November midterm elections, where his Republican Party fears losing control of the legislature.

Trump said he would soon issue an executive order attempting to impose the rules if Congress does not pass a law requiring photo identification to vote and other nationwide reforms.

Any attempt would likely be met by a legal challenge that could ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

‘There will be Voter ID for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

‘If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order,’ he wrote.

While many jurisdictions across the United States require photo ID to cast ballots, not all do, with Trump and many Republicans arguing without evidence that those areas have permitted significant voter fraud.

The Trump-backed ‘SAVE America’ election reform act passed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives this week.

However, it is expected to fail in the Senate, where the Republican majority is too slim to pass the law without Democratic support.

In addition to requiring a photo ID to cast a ballot, the bill would also require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

There is no evidence of meaningful fraud in US elections and critics say that the bill’s measures would instead push millions of people away from casting ballots, because they don’t have a passport or a paper copy of their birth certificate.

An analysis by the Brennan Centre found more than 21 million Americans lack easy access to such documents.

This would ‘disenfranchise Americans of all ages,’ the centre found—especially young people and ethnic minorities.

Trump’s push for federal election reforms has also run up against constitutional concerns.

Under the US Constitution, states retain broad control over the administration of elections.

It was unclear how Trump could legally force a national mandate on voter ID.

However the 79-year-old Republican has repeatedly overturned norms in the White House.

In his post Friday, he repeated his widely debunked claim that more election security is needed because of mass fraud.

For years, Trump has propagated the falsehood to justify his unprecedented—and ultimately unsuccessful—attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Polls show that Trump’s Republican Party faces a serious threat of losing its narrow control of Congress in the Midterms, particularly the lower chamber. If Democrats win, they have signalled they will block Trump’s agenda and could move to impeach him.​

 

[Saif]

US cattle farmers caught between high costs and weary consumers

In rural Virginia, dozens of young cows belonging to Chris Stem graze by a frozen pond. He is living his childhood dream of being a farmer — but reality is starting to bite...

www.newagebd.net

US cattle farmers caught between high costs and weary consumers
Agence France-Presse . Ashland 15 February, 2026, 23:32

Chris Stem, 40, a cattle farmer on Oakland looks at beef for sale in a general store he owns in Ashland, Virginia on February 12, 2026. | AFP Photo

In rural Virginia, dozens of young cows belonging to Chris Stem graze by a frozen pond. He is living his childhood dream of being a farmer — but reality is starting to bite.

Despite soaring beef prices as the US cattle population hit a 75-year low, farmers like Stem are feeling the squeeze from steeper business costs, budget-conscious consumers and president Donald Trump’s trade policy.

‘The cost of doing business is almost outpricing (our ability) to continue to raise cattle,’ Stem told AFP.

‘From cutting hay to feeding the cattle to maintaining equipment, maintaining staff, feed, everything has gone up,’ he said. ‘When does that stabilize and stop?’

Trump’s latest move to boost Argentine beef imports is adding to concerns, vexing a key support base of the Republican president as midterm elections approach.

Stem, 40, has a herd of around 250 cattle in Ashland, Virginia.

Most are sold at larger markets where they are purchased and fed to slaughter weight, while around 15 per cent is processed nearby and sold at Stem’s butcher shop.

For him, higher beef prices have been a double-edged sword.

His revenue from selling cattle has risen, but so have operational costs.

And there are limits to how much he can hike consumer prices at his shop to make up the margins.

‘They will only spend but so much on a cut of beef, especially when you have imported meats that you can purchase for 50 per cent to 60 per cent less at a larger store,’ Stem said.

Already, ribeye that sold for $14.99 a pound in 2019 now sells for $32.99, he said. His customer sales have dropped by 30 per cent.

To afford the property, he has diversified operations at Oakdale into winemaking and hosting events like weddings.

Steeper beef prices have become a symbol of high living costs in the world’s biggest economy, which has fueled voter frustration. Last fall, Trump demanded that ranchers slash their prices.

Trump has since exempted Brazilian beef from sharp tariffs, and moved this month to expand imports of trimmings from Argentina to cool ground beef prices.

Yet, officials predict costs will keep creeping up.

Beef and veal prices were up 15 per cent year-on-year in January while ground beef prices, which hit a new high in December, have continued climbing.

Costs will likely stay elevated as consumer demand remains robust, while it takes years to rebuild American herds depleted by drought and import restrictions over a parasite.

Meanwhile, American farmers and ranchers fear Trump’s policies will undercut their production and profits.

‘We do need to feed the people of the United States,’ said Stem. ‘But we’re opening a door that’s going to, I think, significantly harm farmers.’

‘I’m a supporter of the Republican administration,’ he added. ‘I’m not a supporter of the of the unknowns that we get right now.’

The Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America warned recently: ‘Our industry is in a state of crisis and needs protection against price-depressing imports.’

Iowa farmer Lance Lillibridge told AFP that cattle producers have been ‘living off very skinny margins’ for years.

‘People are getting tired of working this hard for nothing,’ he added. ‘Right now, our cattle prices are exactly where they should be.’

But households are feeling the pinch.

Endawnson Nungo, 56, a South Carolinian in the railroad industry, told AFP ‘we’ve cut back a lot’ due to beef prices.

At a butcher shop in Washington, scientist Caleb Svezia, 28, said he started noticing higher meat prices around six months ago.

He has cut back on snacks when grocery shopping, to save up for better quality meats.​

Jamie Stachowski, who runs Stachowski’s Market, said customers have pulled back. Like Stem, he has had to raise prices, lifting them by 30 per cent over the past year.

In turn, his sales dropped by 15 per cent.

Some consumers also pivoted from prime cuts to secondary ones — or buy other meats altogether.

‘The beef industry is billions and billions of dollars,’ he said. ‘Yet everybody just makes pennies on the pound.’

 

[Saif]

Patriot missile involved in Bahrain blast likely US-operated: analysis

Incident highlights risks of using advanced weapons against cheaper drones

www.thedailystar.net

Patriot missile involved in Bahrain blast likely US-operated: analysis

22 March 2026, 16:51 PM
UPDATED 22 March 2026, 17:21 PM

File photo: Reuters
​

• Bahrain acknowledges Patriot missile involved in explosion​
• Analysis suggests missile likely launched from US-operated battery​
• Incident highlights risks of using advanced weapons against cheaper drones​

An American-operated Patriot air defense battery likely fired the interceptor missile involved in a pre-dawn explosion that injured dozens of civilians and tore through homes in US-ally Bahrain 10 days into the war on Iran, according to an analysis by academic researchers examined by Reuters.

Both Bahrain and Washington have blamed an Iranian drone attack for the March 9 blast, which the Gulf kingdom said injured 32 people including children, some seriously. Commenting on the day of the attack, US Central Command said on X that an Iranian drone struck a residential neighborhood in Bahrain.

In response to questions from Reuters, Bahrain on Saturday acknowledged for the first time that a Patriot missile was involved in the explosion over the Mahazza neighborhood on Sitra island, offshore from the capital Manama and also home to an oil refinery.

In a statement, a Bahraini government spokesperson said the missile successfully intercepted an Iranian drone mid-air, saving lives.

“The damage and injuries sustained were not a result of a direct impact to the ground of either the Patriot interceptor or the Iranian drone,” the spokesperson said.

Neither Bahrain nor Washington has provided evidence that an Iranian drone was involved in the Mahazza incident.

The use of costly, advanced weaponry to defend against attacks by far cheaper drones has been a defining feature of the war. The incident points to the risks and limitations of this strategy: The blast from the powerful Patriot, whether or not it intercepted a drone, contributed to widespread damage and casualties, while Bahrain’s air defenses were unable to prevent strikes that night on the nearby oil refinery, which declared force majeure hours later.

When asked for comment, the Pentagon referred Reuters to Central Command, which did not immediately reply to questions.

In response to questions sent to the White House, a senior US official said the United States was “crushing” Iran’s ability to shoot or produce drones and missiles. “We will continue to address these threats to our country and our allies,” the official said, adding that the US military “never targets civilians.” The official did not answer specific questions about the Patriot attack.

On February 28, the first day of US strikes on Iran, an Iranian girls school took a direct hit. Investigators at the US Defense Department believe US forces were likely responsible, Reuters first reported, possibly because of outdated targeting data, two US sources previously told the news agency.

Video of the aftermath of the Mahazza blast in Bahrain verified by Reuters shows rubble around houses, a thick layer of dust in the streets, an injured man and screaming residents.

Both Bahrain and the United States operate US Patriot air defense batteries in the kingdom, a close US ally located on the Persian Gulf that hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet along with the regional US naval command.

On the night of the explosion in Mahazza, the refinery on Sitra came under Iranian attack, according to Bahraini national oil company Bapco. Videos show smoke rising from the facility on the morning of March 9.

Reuters could not establish whether the cause of the explosion during a night of Iranian attacks on Sitra would have been immediately apparent to US and Bahraini forces. Bahrain in its statement did not say why it had not mentioned the involvement of a Patriot at the time. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the incident.

Produced by Raytheon, part of RTX Corp. RTX, the Patriot is the US Army’s primary high-to-medium-range aircraft-and-missile interceptor system and forms the backbone of US and allied air defenses. Raytheon didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incident.

Bahrain’s government declined to say whether the missile that detonated on March 9, was fired by its own forces or by the United States.

But research associates Sam Lair and Michael Duitsman and Professor Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey concluded with moderate-to-high confidence that the suspect missile was likely launched from a US Patriot battery located about 4 miles (7 km) to the southwest of the Mahazza neighborhood.

The conclusions of the three American munitions and open-source intelligence researchers, reported here for the first time, were based on their review of open-source visuals and commercial satellite imagery.

Reuters showed the Middlebury analysis to two target-analysis experts and one Patriot system missile researcher, who found no reason to dispute its conclusion.

One of them, Wes Bryant, a former senior targeting advisor and policy analyst at the Pentagon, said Lair, Duitsman and Lewis’ conclusions were “pretty undeniable.”

A small Gulf state, Bahrain plays a critical role in the security of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that carries about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas and has been almost entirely closed by Iran, causing unprecedented disruption to world oil supplies.

Key to the Middlebury analysis was a video shot from an apartment building and shared on social media. The video shows the suspect Patriot roaring across the night sky at low altitude on a northeastern trajectory. It then angled downward and out of sight. A flash of light in the distance appeared to mark its detonation 1.3 seconds later.

Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley specialising in digital forensics, reviewed the video for Reuters to determine if it was generated by artificial intelligence. He found “no obvious evidence that the video is fake.”

Lair, Duitsman and Lewis geolocated the video to a neighborhood in Riffa, Bahrain’s second-largest city. Reuters confirmed the geolocation. The earliest post of the video Reuters could find online was at around 2 a.m. local time on March 9.

“The Riffa site’s location and orientation are consistent with the trajectory” of the suspect Patriot, the analysis said.

Multiple videos posted to social media the morning of March 9 show damage to residences in Block 602 of the Mahazza neighborhood. The researchers first geolocated the visuals using landmarks that appeared to match commercial satellite imagery of the area and visible street addresses. Reuters independently verified the geolocation.

The researchers then traced the trajectory of the suspect missile from Block 602 straight back to what they assessed -- based on commercial satellite imagery -- was the US Patriot battery based less than half a mile from where the video of the missile in flight was recorded in Riffa.

A battery consists of a radar unit, a command hub and up to eight launchers that are integrated to detect, track and intercept aircraft and missiles.

Using commercial satellite imagery, the researchers determined that five launchers were visible at the Riffa site two days before the March 9 incident.

The battery has been there since at least 2009, according to satellite imagery. The Bahraini Defense Force did not start operating its own Patriot systems until 2024, according to a Lockheed Martin press release.

The Riffa site has features that are both distinctive to US Patriot batteries in the region and different from those of known Bahrain-operated batteries, the researchers said, including protective walls, unpaved roads and a lack of permanent buildings. Based on these elements, the researchers concluded that the battery is likely operated by the United States, which uses Patriots to defend its naval sites in Bahrain.

The researchers were unable to say with confidence what caused the Patriot to explode. But they added that based on the available evidence, including the pattern and spread of damage on the ground, it appeared to have detonated mid-flight.

They concluded that it was possible the Patriot was aimed at a low-flying drone and that the combined explosion of the missile and drone ignited the blast, the analysis said.

“If this was the case, this was an irresponsible intercept attempt as it endangered the lives and the homes of allied civilians in a residential area,” the analysis said.

This scenario matches what Bahrain’s government spokesperson said happened: that the Patriot intercepted an Iranian drone and both detonated in the air.

However, the analysis said, the direction of the damage and the lack of available evidence of a drone over the neighborhood suggested another scenario, that “the explosion was the result of the detonation of the warhead and unexpended propellant of a Patriot interceptor.”

Despite the claim by Bahrain, the researchers said it was less likely the missile made contact with a drone. Reuters could not independently verify the presence or not of an Iranian drone during the incident.

The analysis said that videos taken after the attack and photographs released by Bahraini authorities show that the blast damage was concentrated along four streets of Mahazza.

A Bahrain television news broadcast on March 9 and a government press release showed an extensively damaged home about 400 feet (120 meters) from the center of the main blast area, with interior photos showing holes in a wall created by shrapnel, the analysis said.

Robert Maher, an audio specialist who reviewed the video at the request of Reuters, said his analysis supports the approximate location of the explosion over the damaged homes.

In the video, a flash is seen about eight seconds in, but an explosion is never heard before the clip ends 19 seconds later. That’s because light travels faster than sound. Based on how long the sound would take to reach the person who shot the video, the explosion had to be more than four miles away. The damaged homes were about 4.6 miles (7.4 km) away, which fits with the timing.

When all the damage is considered together, the Middlebury analysis noted, it matches what one would expect if a Patriot missile exploded in the air over a road intersection in the neighborhood. Pieces of the missile then flew about 120 meters farther and hit another house, the analysis said.

Maher said that in the audio from the video he heard no drones or other missiles, although their sounds would have been faint or inaudible if they were more than four miles away from where the video was taken.

“I don’t see anything that is inconsistent with my observations from the audio,” Maher said after reviewing the Middlebury analysis.

Defense and industry officials say Patriot misfires are rare, but they do happen, including an errant missile in 2007 that hit a farm in Qatar.

In an X post on March 9, US Central Command denounced Iranian and Russian news reports that said the incident in Mahazza was the result of a failed Patriot, calling it a “LIE.” It said an Iranian drone struck a residential neighborhood.

Reuters and the Middlebury researchers were unable to obtain or review any visual evidence of missile or drone fragments. Reuters attempted to contact witnesses in Bahrain, but several people declined to speak, citing fear of reprisals. Human Rights Watch has documented arrests of people in Bahrain during the war for posting videos on social media of attacks.

In the video of the suspect missile in flight, the Patriot appears to pass a much steeper smoke trail that the researchers said likely belonged to a first interceptor fired moments earlier.

Patriots are often fired in pairs to increase the chances that one hits the target. Neither the researchers or Reuters could establish what happened to the first missile.

The low trajectory of the second missile and its deviation from the route of the earlier launch could be signs of a possible problem, the researchers said. But they could not rule out the possibility that it was shot in that direction on purpose.Bahrain’s spokesperson said any suggestion of malfunction or misfiring of the Patriots in Bahrain “was factually incorrect.”​