LOS ANGELES: The United States launched their home World Cup in emphatic fashion Friday, thrashing Paraguay 4-1 with a perfectly scripted opening performance to delight a star-studded home crowd in Los Angeles. Folarin Balogun scored twice while relentless US pressure led to an early Paraguay own goal from Damian Bobadilla before substitute Gio Reyna added a late fourth to cap a dream start for Mauricio Pochettino&#39;s side at the SoFi Stadium in Group D. The US entered the tournament amid a swirl of uncertainty after a series of defeats and unconvincing performances in pre-World Cup friendlies. But any doubts about their ability to progress past the first round were obliterated in a dazzling first-half display which saw them roar into a 3-0 lead to all but seal victory in the opening 45 minutes. &quot;Just a great start from the guys,&quot; US star Christian Pulisic said afterwards. &quot;The guys came out with so much energy, just a great performance and a deserved win. &quot;It&#39;s just the start of a long journey. We&#39;ve got a lot more to do. It&#39;s really, really great start and we should be proud but we&#39;ve got to keep pushing and be ready for the next game.&quot; Pop star Katy Perry got the party started with a rousing performance just before kick-off while Hollywood royalty including Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and Halle Berry were amongst a 70,492 crowd. The US men rose to the occasion with a performance of flair and precision that will ignite dreams of a deep run in the tournament by the co-hosts, with group games against Australia and Turkey to come. Wave after wave of US pressure led to Bobadilla&#39;s opening goal after just seven minutes before Balogun -- who grew up in London and represented England youth teams before pledging allegiance to the United States bagged his brace. The only blemish on the US performance was the conceding of a Paraguay goal from Brazil-born Mauricio in the 73rd minute after hesitancy in the hosts&#39; defence. Canada grab first pointIn Friday&#39;s other game, co-hosts Canada earned the first World Cup point in its history when Cyle Larin grabbed a second-half equaliser in Toronto to make it 1-1 after Bosnia-Herzegovina had taken the lead with a close-range header from Jovo Lukic. &quot;It was special for me. I was ready to come and help the team. I thought the goals would come. I score when Canada needs me, and always have done,&quot; Larin said. Canadian film stars Ryan Reynolds and Mike Myers were in the packed crowd to watch the first-ever World Cup match on Canadian soil. But former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau skipped the game in favour of the USA opener in Los Angeles -- where his girlfriend Katy Perry was performing. Partey blocked by Canada&nbsp;Off the pitch, Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, who is facing trial in Britain on rape charges, has been denied a visa to enter Canada. FIFA said Partey &quot;will be unable to travel from Ghana&#39;s team base camp in Boston, USA, to Canada for their first match against Panama on Wednesday, 17 June, as his visa application has been refused by the Canadian government.&quot; The 32-year-old will be eligible to play in Ghana&#39;s subsequent Group L games against England and Croatia, both taking place in the United States. Trump&#39;s immigration policies have created problems for nationals from certain countries. Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the United States despite having a valid visa. And US authorities have refused visas to some members of the Iran team&#39;s support staff as well as Senegalese and Ivory Coast fans. Friday&#39;s games in Los Angeles and Toronto were the precursor to a packed slate of World Cup fixtures on Saturday, with eight teams in action. Five-time world champions Brazil will launch their bid for a sixth title with a testing game against Morocco in East Rutherford in Group C while Scotland make their long-awaited return to World Cup football against Haiti. Australia will take on Turkey in Vancouver while Qatar play Switzerland in Santa Clara, California. The World Cup, expanded to 48 teams, will culminate in the final in New Jersey on July 19.

US midfielder #07 Giovanni Reyna celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's fourth goal during the 2026 World Cup Group D football match between USA and Paraguay at the Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood on June 12, 2026. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon

Football

The United States opened their home World Cup campaign in dominant style with a 4–1 victory over Paraguay, while co-host Canada earned their first-ever World Cup point in a 1–1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

USA launch World Cup with Paraguay rout, Canada snatch draw

TOKYO: Honda announced Thursday its first operational loss since 1957 after a major overhaul of its electric vehicle strategy in the United States. Japan&#39;s number two automaker after Toyota said that its operating loss last year of 414.3 billion yen ($2.6 billion) came after huge accounting charges in its EV operations. Honda also reported a net loss of 423.9 billion yen, which according to Bloomberg News was the first since it began disclosing consolidated results in 1977. Honda announced in March that it was cancelling the launch and development of certain EV models in the United States, resulting in impairment and other charges of 2.5 trillion yen ($16 billion). Honda blamed a &quot;government policy shift&quot; by US President Donald Trump&#39;s administration, including import tariffs and the scrapping of tax incentives for EV buyers. It also said that there was a &quot;decline in competitiveness&quot; of Honda products in China and other Asian countries. Other Japanese automakers are also suffering, squeezed by US tariffs, the Middle East war and fierce competition from Chinese rivals. Toyota, the world&#39;s largest carmaker by unit sales, forecast last week a 22% drop in net income this fiscal year, albeit from $25 billion last. Nissan which is closing factories and cutting thousands of jobs on Wednesday reported a net loss of $3.4 billion for last year, but forecast a return to profit. &quot;The major difference with Nissan is that while Nissan&#39;s product strength and brand power are significantly weak and recovery is not foreseeable, Honda&#39;s loss is a one-time, massive loss due to a change in strategy,&quot; said Tatsuo Yoshida, analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. &quot;Its ICE (internal combustion engine) and HEV (hybrid electric) products are strong, and its brand power is high. Profitability in motorcycles and finance is good,&quot; Yoshida said before the announcement of Honda&#39;s earnings. Japan agreed to invest $550 billion in the United States by 2029 in return for slashing threatened tariffs of 25% to 15%. The promises remain valid even after the US Supreme Court struck down US President Donald Trump&#39;s global tariffs in February and he imposed a new blanket 10% duty.

Business

Honda posted its first operating loss since 1957 after a major $16 billion write-down tied to its US EV strategy overhaul, citing policy changes under President Donald Trump and intensifying competition in China.

Honda posts operating loss, first since 1957

DOHA: Some personnel have been asked to depart the United States&#39; Al Udeid military base in Qatar, two diplomatic sources told AFP on Wednesday, with the Gulf state saying &quot;regional tensions&quot; were behind the move.&nbsp;The decision comes after Washington&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-keeps-iran-air-strikes-on-table-white-house-says" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">threatened</a>&nbsp;to respond to an Iranian government crackdown on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-warns-of-very-strong-action-if-iran-hangs-protesters" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">protests</a>&nbsp;while Tehran has said it would strike US military and shipping assets in the event of a new attack.&nbsp;The measure was taken &quot;in response to the current regional tensions&quot;, Qatar&#39;s International Media Office said in a statement.&nbsp;&quot;Qatar continues to implement all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety including actions related to the protection of critical infrastructure and military facilities,&quot; it added.&nbsp;A diplomatic source told AFP earlier that a number of personnel were asked to leave the base by Wednesday evening.&nbsp;A second source confirmed the information, also on condition of anonymity.&nbsp;The US embassy in Qatar declined to comment on personnel movement at Al Udeid.&nbsp;In June, Iran targeted the United States&#39; Al Udeid military base in Qatar in response to earlier American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.&nbsp;Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran&#39;s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned US President Donald Trump on Wednesday that the strike on the base had demonstrated &quot;Iran&#39;s will and capability to respond to any attack&quot;.&nbsp;Doha was able to leverage the unprecedented attack on its soil to help deliver a speedy truce between Washington and Tehran.&nbsp;Washington has repeatedly said the United States is considering air strikes on Iran to stop a crackdown on protesters.&nbsp;Trump on Tuesday said in a CBS News interview that the United States would act if Iran began hanging protesters.&nbsp;Iranian authorities called the American warnings a &quot;pretext for military intervention&quot;.&nbsp;Mass protests in Iran since Thursday have posed one of the biggest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah.&nbsp;Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said it had confirmed 734 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely far higher.&nbsp;&quot;The real number of those killed is likely in the thousands,&quot; IHR&#39;s director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said.

Middle East

Americas

Qatar said some US personnel were asked to leave Al Udeid base due to regional tensions, amid US threats over Iran’s protest crackdown and Tehran’s warnings, following earlier Iranian strikes and unrest killing hundreds nationwide.

Articles tagged with "united states"

USA launch World Cup with Paraguay rout, Canada snatch draw

Honda posts operating loss, first since 1957

Qatar says some personnel departing US base over 'regional tensions': AFP sources

USA launch World Cup with Paraguay rout, Canada snatch draw