Somali World Cup referee denied entry into U.S. was talking to “some very bad people,” White House official says

2026-06-15T07:00:00-0400 / CBS News

By
Camilo Montoya-Galvez Immigration Correspondent
Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the Immigration Correspondent at CBS News, where his reporting is featured across multiple programs and platforms, including national broadcast shows, CBS News 24/7, CBSNews.com and the organization’s social media accounts.

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Updated on: June 15, 2026 / 7:15 AM EDT / CBS News

Dallas — The Trump administration’s top official for the World Cup told CBS News a Somali referee who was denied entry into the U.S. and blocked from officiating at the tournament was talking to “some very bad people,” saying the controversial move was justified.

Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House’s World Cup task force and the son of former Trump attorney and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said he stood by the U.S. government’s decision to reject and deport Omar Artan, one of only 52 referees selected by FIFA to officiate this year’s World Cup hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

“In the case of the referee there, he was talking to some very bad people right as he was coming to the United States,” Giuliani said in an interview Sunday. “There’s some classified information we can’t discuss now. At some point, that may be released.”

Pressed for more details on the extent and nature of the alleged communication, Giuliani said he could not discuss who Omar was allegedly contacting. He said the alleged communication occurred “immediately before (Artan) was coming to the United States.”

An administration official last week said Customs and Border Protection officials identified “derogatory information” when they vetted Artan at Miami International Airport. The official said that information included “association with suspected members of terror organizations.” The administration has yet to release evidence to support that finding.

Artan said he had completed all the required paperwork to obtain a visa to enter the U.S.

Just days after he was denied entry to the U.S., UEFA, the governing body of soccer in Europe, selected Artan to officiate the European Super Cup final between France’s PSG and England’s Aston Villa. FIFA previously said it undertook a 3-year campaign to vet and select Artan and the other World Cup referees.

Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan greets fans after he was denied entry into the United States, where he had traveled to take part in the World Cup. Abuukar Mohamed Muhidin/Anadolu via Getty Images

A “few” players referred for secondary inspection

Asked about reports of some World Cup players, including from Iraq’s team, being questioned and temporarily held by U.S. immigration officials, Giuliani confirmed “a few” players have been referred for secondary inspection at American airports.

“There are some people who have charges against them … the players in particular, if it wasn’t for the World Cup, they may not necessarily be allowed to enter into the United States,” Giuliani said.

Giuliani said that, so far, all players have been able to enter the U.S., even if they’ve been questioned for “a couple of hours.” He said he “feels confident” all players will be able to enter the country to compete, citing reports he’s reviewed.

“The president has wanted to make sure that this World Cup is, that the competitive balance is there for this World Cup. So we’ve done everything we can to make sure players can get in,” he added.

Giuliani did confirm some Iranian team officials have not been allowed to enter the U.S. Those entry denials, which came amid months of military conflict between the two countries, forced the Iranian national team to move its training camp to Mexico instead of Arizona, where they were originally scheduled to stay.

Asked why some Iranian team officials were denied entry, Giuliani suggested they have connections to the regime in Tehran, citing comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that anyone with “direct ties” to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would not be permitted into the U.S.

Giuliani stressed that all of Iran’s players and coaches had been approved to come into the U.S., though under strict conditions.

“The team will be allowed to come in match day minus one, so the day before the match. They’ll be asked to leave the day the match wraps up, so the evening of the match,” he said. “And they’ll be able to do that again in Los Angeles, and they’ll be able to do it again in Seattle. And that if they qualify for the next round, for the round of 32, they’ll be able to do that again.”

Other immigration concerns

Giuliani confirmed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be helping with security at World Cup events, defending their presence amid concerns from some fans. He noted agents from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations branch often participate in efforts to secure events, and highlighted their role in curtailing human trafficking.

“If you were to take ICE HSI, let’s say, out of the equation, you’d be doing a couple of things,” he said. “First and foremost, you’d be taking subject matter experts that understand how to secure major events, and then you’d be removing them from the equation.”

Asked if he has gotten assurances that ICE agents assigned to World Cup security will not engage in immigration enforcement, Giuliani said, “What I can tell you is people who have come to the country here legally – we have created many legal pathways for this tournament to do that – have nothing to worry about.”

Pressed on whether people in the U.S. illegally should attend matches, Giuliani deferred to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

Some fans have also reported issues getting visas to attend World Cup matches. The citizens of four qualifying countries — Haiti, Iran, Ivory Coast and Senegal — face categorical or partial restrictions on entering the U.S. under President Trump’s so-called “travel ban.”

Giuliani said there are waivers for Ivory Coast and Senegal fans to enter the country. But he defended the categorical bans faced by people from Haiti and Iran, citing a high visa overstay rate among Haitians and the dire political situation in their homeland.

“With conflict in Iran right now, we can’t risk national security in having their fans,” Giuliani said.

Asked about concerns that Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown is casting a shadow over the World Cup, Giuliani downplayed them, saying people were seeking to weaponize the tournament.

He cited the over 6 million match tickets sold; 5 million entry approvals for 19 countries in the World Cup that also enjoy visa-free travel to the U.S.; and efforts to expedite the visa process at American consulates in Argentina and Brazil.

“There are people that ultimately want to take a global event that has incredible cache, that has billions of people watching it, and utilize it for their political narratives,” he said. “They just happen to be false.”

The next mayor of DC will have to navigate its most famous resident: President Donald Trump

2026-06-15T09:00:08.173Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/15/politics/dc-mayoral-primary-trump

• Washington, DC, voters head to the polls Tuesday for a mayoral primary dominated by a debate over how Democrats want leadership to respond to the Trump administration.
• Leading candidates Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie both pledge to protect home rule amid federal interference threats.
• Trump suggested last week that he might move to bring the district back under federal control if Lewis George, a democratic socialist, wins.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

Janeese Lewis George, a Washington, DC, councilmember and leading candidate for mayor, was knocking on doors when her team got word that President Donald Trump said he wouldn’t “put up with it” if the democratic socialist wins her Tuesday primary.

“Maybe we’ll take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Thursday.

Her team paused its canvassing, huddled together and within a few hours released a response.

“Threatening home rule because you don’t like how residents are voting is an attack on democracy itself,” Lewis George said in a videohttps://www.facebook.com/reel/879043807922875, referencing DC’s right to self-governance. “The people of DC elect their mayor, and they want someone who’s going to stand up to Donald Trump.”

The comments from the president underscored a debate at the center of the DC mayor’s race over what kind of leader Democrats in the district want standing between them and an administration threatening their autonomy.

It’s a question that’s dominated Democratic primaries across the country this election cycle, endangering incumbents who some voters say aren’t doing enough to push back on the Trump administration. But the deliberations over how to fight a president whose party controls both chambers of Congress have uniquely high stakes in DC, where thousands of National Guard troops still patrol the streets and the threat of federal interference is ever present.

Both Lewis George and her main primary opponent, the more moderate former DC councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, have vowed to take on the president, build bridges with members of Congress and fight to protect home rule.

McDuffie, who spent 13 years on the DC council before resigning earlier this year, said he has the experience to “wage a smart fight” against the president. He argued the president’s comments about Lewis George show he would use her as an effective foil if she’s elected.

“If you believe Donald Trump is a threat to DC’s local autonomy, then the last thing we should do is elect someone whose agenda would make it easier for him to justify federal intervention,” McDuffie told CNN. “My message is simple: don’t give Donald Trump what he wants.”

Lewis George, meanwhile, has been more critical of outgoing Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser, the longtime incumbent who has sought to find a middle ground between working with the administration and asserting DC’s rights. She’s also won the support of groups like Free DC, which formed last year to advocate for DC home rule and statehood.

Lewis George, who was elected to the DC Council in 2020, has pushed back on the suggestion that her election would give the president cover to interfere in the district’s affairs.

“Kenyan McDuffie has not figured out what the rest of us have. You don’t stop Donald Trump by fearing him,” Lewis George said in a statement to CNN. “I’m a daughter of the District, and I’ve been fighting for DC statehood my entire life. I’m not going to take a lecture from Kenyan McDuffie on Home Rule.”

When asked for more information about Trump’s threat to exert federal control over DC, the White House referred CNN to the president’s Oval Office remarks.

Phil Mendelson, the chairman of the DC council, said that while candidates talk about fighting Trump on the campaign trail, “being in office is different.”

“I would describe it, in a word or two, as a balancing act,” he said. “That’s what Mayor Bowser has been attempting for the last couple of years. I think in the eyes of the residents she has not done a good enough job at that.”

DC has only been able to elect its own government since the passage of the Home Rule Act of 1973. But even that autonomy is limited. DC’s delegate to Congress is a non-voting member. Congress can overturn DC laws, a power it has exercised rarely over the last 50 years. It can also pass legislation to repeal the Home Rule Act, though there appears to be little appetite to do so. A GOP-backed measure to overturn home rule — named the BOWSER Act — failed to gain any traction.

Last August, the president sent National Guard troops to DC and declared a crime emergency in the district, allowing the federal government to take control of the city’s police department for 30 days.

Bowser was critical of the federal takeover and worked to prevent an extension of the 30-day emergency that allowed it to happen. But she faced widespread backlash over what some viewed as her efforts to appease the administration, including crediting a reduction in crime to the surge in federal law enforcement.

Bowser’s cooperation marked a reversal from Trump’s first term, when the mayor was a leading figure in the Democratic resistance. This time around, she met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club before he retook office, and in March 2025 announced the removal of Black Lives Matter Plaza, a two-block landmark near the White House that she once championed, after the president and congressional Republicans in Congress threatened to cut more than $1 billion from the city’s budget. “We have bigger fish to fry,” she told CNN at the time.

A Washington Post/Schar School poll released earlier this month found that 50% of DC registered voters wanted Bowser to do more to oppose Trump, compared to 34% who said she was handling the city’s relationship with the president just right. Seventy-nine percent of voters disapproved of the federal takeover of DC’s police department.

A spokesperson for the mayor declined an interview request from CNN.

‘Pandering’ promises to fight Trump?

Whoever wins Tuesday’s primary will be heavily favored to win the November general election. The next mayor will have to strike their own balance between working with and fighting against the Trump administration during the president’s final two years in office – and there’s not yet a clear answer as to which candidate DC residents prefer.

The Post/Schar School poll found that under the city’s new ranked choice voting system, 32% of registered Democratic primary voters said they would rank Lewis George first, 25% said their first choice is McDuffie, and another 26% said they were undecided. Democratic voters were split on who they trusted more to handle DC’s relationship with the Trump administration, with 35% saying McDuffie and 32% saying Lewis George, within the margin of error.

Critics of Bowser’s approach argue she has at times complied in advance with the federal government.

“History teaches us that that positioning of, ‘Oh, let’s not make trouble,’ is actually very dangerous … and we’ve seen that from our current mayor a lot,” said Alex Dodds, the campaign director for Free DC. “We were really looking for a mayoral champion who would assert those rights.”

But others stress that any DC mayor must work with the federal government. Bill Lightfoot, a former DC councilman who ran the mayoral campaigns of both Bowser and former DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, said candidates’ promises to fight Trump were “pandering.”

“The candidates are just blowing smoke. They’re telling the people what the people want to hear,” Lightfoot said. “As a practical matter, they have no power, no resources, to oppose the president.”

He said he expected that whoever wins the mayoral race will request a meeting with the president, just as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani did last year. “And then they’re going to play nice,” Lightfoot said.

While the Trump factor has dominated much of the race, Democratic candidates have still had to make their case to voters on affordability issues and public safety.

Lewis George’s campaign has drawn comparisons to that of Mamdani, another democratic socialist who defeated an establishment-backed moderate in 2025.

“What Mayor Mamdani and other rising leaders have been saying, and I agree with this, is that people need to see that government can work for them – not just the wealthy and well-connected,” she said in a statement to CNN.

McDuffie has sought to paint Lewis George as a less experienced candidate with an unrealistic platform. He’s also accused her of being soft on crime over her opposition to enforcing youth curfews to curb instances of large gatherings of teenagers behaving disruptively in public spaces. Lewis George argues curfews are dangerous due to concerns over how federal officers would enforce them.

Lewis George has attacked McDuffie over his donors and said he didn’t do enough to fight for lower utility costs, a claim he called a “lie.”

Sam Epps, the president of Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, which has backed Lewis George, said the candidate’s focus on cost-of-living concerns is part of why they’re supporting her.

“It costs our members more money to pay for rent, to put gas in their car, to buy groceries, and Janeese Lewis George is the one who we believe — and we are supporting full throttle — that she will help tackle these affordability issues,” Epps said.

For others, the race has come down to experience.

Ashley Ruff, a DC native and advisory neighborhood council commissioner in Southeast DC, said she’s supporting McDuffie because he has a longer record of fighting Trump during his tenure on the DC council. She said she wanted to vote for a candidate who she felt had shown they heard her.

“I want to go for somebody that, you’re going to hear my voice, you’re going to come and help me clean up my neighborhood, but also you’re not going to push the people out of my neighborhood because you’re going to try to make things better,” she said. “Things don’t just happen overnight.”

以军频繁对加沙城内的居民楼、临时帐篷区及特定军事目标发动空袭，造成平民伤亡和流离失所。 （路透社）

（加沙城综合电）加沙民防部门和医院说，以色列星期天对加沙地带发动袭击，造成至少六人死亡。

法新社报道，尽管由美国斡旋达成的以哈停火协议已进入第二阶段，加沙地带的暴力冲突仍在持续，以色列与哈马斯相互指责对方违反停火协议。

加沙民防部门说，以军星期天（6月14日）空袭加沙北部的贾巴利亚难民营，造成四人死亡、多人受伤。另有两人在南部汗尤尼斯地区被以军枪击身亡。

加沙希法医院说，接收了四具遇难者遗体，并收治五名伤者。

以色列军方没有对这两起事件发表评论。一名以色列军方发言人则告诉法新社，对贾巴利亚发动的袭击“打击了哈马斯恐怖分子”。

延伸阅读

加沙民防局：以军空袭加沙致八人死 内坦亚胡指示以军扩大加沙控制范围

以色列国防部长卡茨星期一表明，以军将“无限期”留在黎巴嫩、叙利亚和加沙地带的“安全缓冲区”。

加沙卫生部称，自去年10月10日停火生效以来，至少有936名加沙人在袭击中丧命。

At G-7, allies plan for a world less reliant on the U.S.

2026-06-15T09:00:00.000Z / The Washington Post

After a decade of trying to manage Donald Trump, the shape will shift this week as Europe’s leaders balance cooperation with a growing resistance to U.S. pressure.

June 15, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. EDT Today at 5:00 a.m. EDT

From left, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Group of Seven summit in 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Ellen Francis

ÉVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — When President Donald Trump arrives on the shores of Lake Geneva for this week’s Group of Seven summit, he will find America’s closest allies in a new posture: increasingly willing to tell him no.

加沙卫生官：以军袭击致六人死亡

2026年6月15日 19:43 / 联合早报

以军频繁对加沙城内的居民楼、临时帐篷区及特定军事目标发动空袭，造成平民伤亡和流离失所。 （路透社）

（加沙城综合电）加沙民防部门和医院说，以色列星期天对加沙地带发动袭击，造成至少六人死亡。

法新社报道，尽管由美国斡旋达成的以哈停火协议已进入第二阶段，加沙地带的暴力冲突仍在持续，以色列与哈马斯相互指责对方违反停火协议。

加沙民防部门说，以军星期天（6月14日）空袭加沙北部的贾巴利亚难民营，造成四人死亡、多人受伤。另有两人在南部汗尤尼斯地区被以军枪击身亡。

加沙希法医院说，接收了四具遇难者遗体，并收治五名伤者。

以色列军方没有对这两起事件发表评论。一名以色列军方发言人则告诉法新社，对贾巴利亚发动的袭击“打击了哈马斯恐怖分子”。

以色列国防部长卡茨星期一表明，以军将“无限期”留在黎巴嫩、叙利亚和加沙地带的“安全缓冲区”。

加沙卫生部称，自去年10月10日停火生效以来，至少有936名加沙人在袭击中丧命。

男子醉酒后，躺在路中央，最终被逮捕。 （取自脸书）

男子疑喝醉后，于上星期天（6月14日）凌晨时分在海军部西路拦截一辆罗厘，对着司机比手画脚，事后还躺在路中央。最终因在公共场所醉酒被捕，也因涉嫌恶作剧接受警方调查。

男子深夜在路上拦截一辆罗厘。（取自脸书）

这起闹剧发生在上星期天凌晨3时15分，地点是海军部西路的路段。

根据脸书群组SGRV上传的一段视频，一名身穿深色上衣的男子出现在马路中央，阻止一辆罗厘前行，当时他站在司机车门旁比手画脚，还疑似尝试打开司机车门。

据观察，事发时正值深夜，因此鲜少有车辆经过。

视频画面一转，拦车男已经躺在三条车道的正中央，期间还不断喃喃自语，摇头晃脑，处于完全无法自理的状态。

根据公众拍下的视频，当时有一辆汽车和电单车停在男子旁边，附近有一名脚踏车骑士停下围观。

警方受询时证实接获报案，一名26岁男子因在公共场所醉酒被捕，也因涉嫌恶作剧接受调查。民防部队也说，接获一起求助通报，但无需任何援助。

隧道最右边的车道有四辆车撞在一起。 （取自脸书）

KPE隧道六车连环撞，一人送院，警方介入调查。

这起车祸发生于上星期六（6月13日）晚上10时10分左右，地点是加冷—巴耶利峇快速公路（KPE）往淡滨尼快速公路（TPE）方向，巴耶利峇出口后的隧道。

根据脸书用户Jeremy See发布的车祸视频，共有六辆车卷入这起连环车祸，当中包括一辆法拉利跑车。

画面显示，隧道最右边的车道共有四辆车撞在一起，车头全都受损。在它们的前方，还停着另外两辆车。民防人员在场施援，还有伤者躺在担架上。

新加坡警察部队受询时证实接获通报，指上述地点发生一起涉及六辆汽车的交通事故。一名47岁女乘客在意识清醒的情况下被送往医院。

新加坡民防部队指出，接获通报后将一人送往盛港综合医院。另有三人被评估受轻伤，但拒绝送院。

警方调查仍在进行中。

英国禁止16岁以下人群使用社媒

2026年6月15日 15:44 / 联合早报

英国首相斯塔默星期一（6月15日）表明，新的社媒监管措施落实起来并不容易，但政府有能力对抗大型科技公司的力量。 （彭博社）

英国首相斯塔默宣布禁止16岁以下人群使用社交媒体，并对游戏直播平台实施限制。

路透社报道，斯塔默星期一（6月15日）宣布这项新举措。他表明，会对社媒监管进行全面改革，从而更好地保护儿童上网时的身心健康。

“在我看来，颁布全面禁令是正确选择。”

他坦承这种监管落实起来并不容易，但承诺政府有能力对抗大型科技公司的力量。

英国近年来对科技公司的监管日益严格，不仅敦促或强制实施年龄验证、调整算法，最近还采取措施防止儿童传播手机拍摄的裸照。

尽管如此，在听取家长意见和参考澳大利亚的经验后，斯塔默毅然决定采取更进一步的举措，实施更严格限制。

如今人们对社交媒体影响儿童健康和安全的担忧日益加剧，许多国家正寻求对社交媒体的使用进行监管。澳洲去年已出台禁令，禁止16岁以下人群使用社媒，成为首个推出此类政策的国家。

警员带着卖家的两个包裹出现在他的单位。 （STOMP）

送货员被指没有按时送包裹，竟还向警方举报包裹内涉藏“丧尸烟弹”，惊动警方上门检查。

在Carousell售卖泰国佛牌的卖家日前向STOMP申诉，上个月21日通过Lalamove的快递服务，寄送两个价值都超过200元的包裹给顾客。顾客选择当天急件快递服务，岂料包裹并没有在预期的一小时内送达。

“顾客投诉后，我查看应用程序，发现送货员距离送货地址非常远。”

卖家尝试透过平台联系送货员，岂料电话号码却已“停用”。随后，他联系平台的客服，但系统信息要求他填写索赔表格。

卖家严厉指责送货员，甚至说将报警，并向平台投诉。不久后，送货员就用另一个电话号码回电，而卖家则要求送货员归还包裹。

岂料，送货员归还包裹时，并没有立即交还给卖家，大约45分钟后，等来却是两名警员。原来送货员举报称包裹内藏有“丧尸烟弹”，警员要求店主当场打开两个包裹检查。

卖家配合调查后，包裹内并没有任何违禁品或非法物品。“显然是因为他（送货员）不满我要求退回包裹，因而借此恶整我。”

卖家报警 平台对送货员采取行动

卖家无奈地说，事件不但浪费时间，还影响顾客的购物体验，事后已向警方报案，也向平台正式投诉。

警方受询时证实接获相关报案。

Lalamove发言人回复《新明日报》询问时说，平台已知悉事件，事发后一直与用户保持联系，并已向对方更新所采取的行动，包括尝试联络涉事送货员等情况。

发言人说，根据目前掌握的信息，并依据平台政策，已对这名送货员账号采取适当行动。

发言人强调，公司非常重视所有反馈及配送相关问题。“由于此事已交由警方处理，如有需要，我们将全力配合相关执法单位调查。

知情外交官：美伊本周在多哈举行非正式会谈

2026年6月15日 15:57 / 联合早报

目前尚不清楚美伊双方将派谁出席6月19日的签字仪式。美国副总统万斯（图）受访时说，白宫仍在确定参会人员，但他确定计划出席。 （法新社）

知情外交官透露，美国和伊朗本周将在多哈举行非正式会谈，为正式签署旨在结束这场中东战争的协议做准备。

这名要求匿名的外交官星期一（6月15日）告诉法新社：“在瑞士正式签署协议并开始技术性会谈之前，双方本周将在多哈分别举行预备会谈。”

这名外交官还说，卡塔尔调解员在德黑兰进行“17个小时的密集谈判”后已离开，谈判于星期天（14日）开始，最终达成协议。

星期一较早时，斡旋方巴基斯坦总理谢里夫在社媒发文说，正式签字仪式将于星期五（19日）在瑞士举行。他说，调解方将在本周促成一系列会谈。这些准备性磋商将为技术性谈判和正式签字仪式奠定基础。

目前尚不清楚美伊双方将派谁出席19日的签字仪式。美国副总统万斯接受福克斯新闻采访时说，白宫仍在确定参会人员。“我确定计划出席，总统本人也可能出席。”