NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Citizens of a select group of countries who have purchased tickets to this summer’s World Cup matches in the U.S. will no longer be required to provide thousands of dollars in visa bonds to enter the country and attend the tournament.On Wednesday, the State Department confirmed the Trump administration is waiving a prior mandate requiring visitors from Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia to post visa bonds of up to $15,000 to enter the U.S.The department imposed the bond requirement last year for countries it said had high rates of visa overstays and other security concerns as part of a broader immigration crackdown. Travelers from at least 50 countries are subject to the bond requirement, but the five aforementioned nations’ teams have qualified for this year’s World Cup. World Cup team players, coaches and some staff already had been exempt from the bond requirement as part of the administration’s orders to prioritize the processing of visas for the tournament.STATE DEPT TO START ROLLING OUT FIFA PASS FOR FOREIGN SOCCER FANS LOOKING TO ATTEND WORLD CUP IN US”The United States is excited to organize the biggest and best FIFA World Cup…

Caitlin Clark was assessed with her first technical foul of the season on Wednesday night after a heated exchange with a referee.During the Indiana Fever’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks, with 20 seconds remaining in the first half, Clark was called for an offensive foul, giving Los Angeles possession.Clark later walked over to referee Jason Alabanza and appeared to engage in a verbal spat. Alabanza gave Clark a technical before Indiana headed to the visiting locker room for halftime.Still, the Fever went on to win 87-78.Clark now has nine technicals in her WNBA career, with six in her rookie season and two in an injury-plagued 2025.Clark appears to have had a combative dynamic with referees since the beginning of her professional career. In the Fever’s season-opening loss to the Dallas Wings, Clark appeared to suggest certain fouls were not called on her throughout the game.CAITLIN CLARK’S COACH SUGGESTS STAR OFFERED TO PAY FINE FOR TECHNICAL FOUL OVER YELLING AT WNBA OFFICIALS “I think especially if they’re going to call it the way they’re going to call it this year, I think I honestly could have probably got a couple more calls on a few of them, but that’s okay,”…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Donald Trump was greeted with pomp and circumstance by the Chinese as he met China’s President Xi Jinping ahead of a high-stakes bilateral meeting between the two nations. After arriving in his armored vehicle Thursday morning local time, Trump met with Xi in front of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in front of crowds of military personnel, dignitaries, music and children. After shaking hands with the Chinese president, the pair introduced each other to their dignitaries and later stood beneath a ceremonial red-and-yellow canopy for a photo-op as the star-spangled banner and China’s national anthem played in the background. TRUMP LANDS IN BEIJING FOR HIGH-STAKES XI SUMMIT AS TAIWAN TENSIONS, TRADE DISPUTES TEST US STRENGTH”That was an honor like few I have ever seen before,” Trump said after they made their way into the Great Hall. “I think I was particularly impressed by those children. They were happy, they were beautiful. The military is obvious — it couldn’t be better — but those children were amazing, and they represent so much. And I know, I know, they represent so much to you.” The ceremony marked the formal start of Trump’s high-stakes…

The world’s largest sporting event, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is just a few weeks away, returning to North America and the United States for the first time since 1994. FIFA announced their first ever halftime show for the World Cup Final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. In a post on X, featuring Elmo, Coldplay announced that the halftime show would be curated by lead singer Chris Martin and feature BTS, Madonna and Shakira. Shakira is set to release the official song of the World Cup, “Dai Dai,” later Thursday. The show will also “raise funds for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund,” dedicated to “improving access to quality education and football for children around the world.”FOX broadcasts the entire tournament, with opening matches kicking off on June 11 in Mexico. El Tri hosts South Africa in Mexico City, while South Korea takes on Croatia in Guadalajara. Then the next day, the other two hosts play their first group stage matches. Canada plays Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto in Group B. Then the US Men’s National Team, coming off a rocky past few months of friendlies, plays its first match against Paraguay in Los Angeles. They then head to Seattle to…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Donald Trump opened his high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping by predicting a “fantastic future together” — striking an unusually warm tone as his administration pursues new trade and investment deals with Beijing.”In fact, the longest relationship of our two countries that any president and president has had,” Trump said at the start of the bilateral meeting Thursday local time. “We’ve had a fantastic relationship. We’ve gotten along.””And whenever we had a problem, we worked that out very quickly,” he continued. “We’re going to have a fantastic future together.”Trump also praised Xi directly, calling him “a great leader” and emphasizing the personal relationship between the two leaders as a foundation for future cooperation. TRUMP HEADS TO BEIJING FOR HIGH-STAKES XI TALKS AS TAIWAN TENSIONS, TRADE DISPUTES TEST US STRENGTHXi, in his own opening remarks, emphasized cooperation and shared interests between the two countries.”As leaders of major countries, this year is the 250th anniversary of American independence,” Xi said, according to a translator. “Congratulations to you and to the American people. I always believe that our two countries have more common interests than differences.” “Success in one is an opportunity for the…

VIENNA — Austrian Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets scrambled two days in a row to intercept U.S. military aircraft, the government said. The interceptions took place on May 10 and 11 and were related to modified PC-12 turboprop aircraft that the U.S. military uses primarily for signals intelligence and scouting operations. The U.S. designation for the aircraft is U-28. Contrary to initial reporting in German-language media, no aircraft seems to have illegally violated Austrian airspace. The U.S. Air Force had filed for an overflight permit for two aircraft on May 10, but didn’t use it. When later that day two different USAF aircraft approached Austrian airspace unannounced, jets were scrambled to meet them – but they turned back before crossing the border, Austrian military spokesperson Michael Bauer said in a statement on X on Wednesday. The U.S. refiled the overflight permit for the following day and used it then. The Austrian air force sent fighter jets to confirm that the aircraft overflying the airspace matched what had been approved. “Some things you have to see for yourself,” Bauer said in a reply on XAustrian jets were scrambled in a “priority A intercept” on May 11, Bauer said on Tuesday, marking the…

The College Football Playoff was supposed to provide some certainty in a sport that, for too long, based its rewards on unreliable polls. And to the extent that there’s no debate over the team crowned as national champions, it’s worked.But if there’s one thing fans have learned over the last few years, it’s that little in modern college football is certain. And after one round of expansion, from four teams to 12, there’s now more discussion and debate over the next round of growth.Some, including many fans, are happy leaving the field at 12. The SEC, arguably the most powerful conference, wants to move to 16, while maximizing the number of at-large teams. That would, in their view, allow for more teams to reach the field based on strength of schedule instead of conference affiliation. Strength of schedule=more SEC teams, the thinking goes.Then there’s the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and independent Notre Dame.INSIDE THE FIGHT: NIL ARMS RACE FUELING NEW PUSH FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EXPANSION This week, several reports confirmed that the majority of power conferences and the Irish want a 24-team playoff field. While that number has been met with justified skepticism from most fans, there’s apparently…

U.S. shipbuilder Davie Defense Inc. announced on Wednesday that it has finalized its contract with the U.S. Coast Guard to build and deliver five Arctic Security Cutters.The contract, first announced mid-February, will bring the total amount of cutters being manufactured to 11 to meet President Donald Trump’s executive orders to expand the icebreaker fleet, Military Times previously reported. Davie Defense, the U.S. arm of the UK-owned maritime group Inocea is set to construct three of the ships at the company’s Gulf Copper facilities in Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas. The other two will be built at the company’s affiliate shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. During an April 28 House subcommittee hearing on the Coast Guard’s fiscal 2027 budget, Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., questioned the use of Finland’s shipyard in building the latest cutters and whether it was a contradiction to the April 2025 Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act aimed at revitalizing U.S. maritime industry.Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard, responded that the contract was well within the signed 2024 ICE Pact — a trilateral agreement between the United States, Canada and Finland to combine collective knowledge, resources and expertise to produce…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A prominent Washington tech entrepreneur is joining the growing exodus of business leaders fleeing the Evergreen State, citing a “dramatic” shift in the state’s tax climate following the passage of a controversial new “millionaire tax.”Jesse Proudman, the founder and CTO of the privacy-focused generative AI platform Venice.ai, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the state he once called a “startup sanctuary” has become increasingly hostile to the very people who fuel its economy.”I started three companies here in the state. I have been an entrepreneur my whole life here,” Proudman said. “The business climate when I started my first company was very entrepreneurial-friendly, and the startup community was looked upon as a contributing member of the city. Over the last number of years, that has changed dramatically.”Proudman, who previously founded the private cloud company Blue Box and the crypto-investing platform Makara, is now serving as a spokesperson for Let’s Go Washington. The political committee is currently spearheading a massive signature-gathering effort to repeal the tax measure before it can take root.STARBUCKS CUTS JOBS IN SEATTLE AS FORMER CEO HOWARD SCHULTZ BLASTS ‘SOCIALIST’ MAYOR The tax, pushed through by the Democratic-controlled legislature…

The remains of the second U.S. Army soldier who was reported missing in Southern Morocco last week have been recovered, the Army said in a statement Wednesday.The Army identified the remains of Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington, 19, of Tavares, Florida. Collington served as an air and missile defense crewmember and was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, according to an Army release.The recovery ends an 11-day search effort for Collington and 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., of Richmond, Virginia, after the soldiers entered the ocean on May 2 near the Cap Draa Training Area during a joint military exercise.According to reports, one of the soldiers fell into the water during a hike along the oceanside cliffs after training that day had concluded. The other soldier purportedly jumped in to help, and initial rescue efforts for both failed. On May 9, Key Jr. was recovered in the water approximately one mile from where both soldiers reportedly entered the ocean. The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces moved his remains by helicopter to Moulay El Hassan Military Hospital in Guelmim, Morocco, and the Army said plans are in motion to repatriate…