China's President Xi Jinping warned against a return to the 'law of the jungle' and called for closer economic ties with Spain after talks with visiting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing

Lawsuits over climate change in California will be on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether they can be pursued.

San Francisco Judge Ethan Schulman Tuesday issued a stay of the litigation, finding it would “be in the interests of justice” to do so while the Supreme Court makes its decision in Boulder’s lawsuit against Suncor.

Dozens of lawsuits brought by government officials who hired private lawyers on contingency fees have been filed through the years, though only Hawaii’s and Colorado’s supreme courts have let them progress past Big Oil’s motions to dismiss. Most recently, the Maryland Supreme Court affirmed dismissals of cases by Annapolis and Baltimore, finding they “cannot be seriously contemplated.”

Though they make claims for public nuisance and violations of consumer protection laws, defendants and the Trump administration assert they are improper attempts to influence the international energy market. State judges in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, Maryland and New Jersey have agreed.

“Pausing wasteful and nonsensical claims that 50 US states and their subdivisions should set global climate policy through lawsuits is a victory for common sense and reliable energy,” said Theodore Boutrous, Jr. of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, who represents Chevron.

The cases consolidated in San Francisco include the State of California’s, San Mateo County’s, Marin County’s, Oakland’s, Imperial Beach’s, Santa Cruz’s, Richmond’s and San Francisco’s.

Jackpot-seeking lawyers crafted their complaints to claim companies like Exxon tricked the public into using fossil fuels. They were also designed to stay out of federal court, where the energy industry could have mounted an even stronger defense.

But state court judges have found the cases seek to regulate emissions standards – the job of federal regulators. In February, the Supreme Court granted Suncor’s petition to review the Boulder case, in which its motion to dismiss was denied.

Amicus briefs in the case have poured in, urging the justices to rule on key issues persisting in the more than 30 climate lawsuits. A ruling for the energy industry is likely to close the other lawsuits around the country.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall led a group of 26 states that said Boulder is trying to “assert a power with no analogue in our Nation’s history and no place in our federalism.”

Republicans in Congress also filed a brief, complaining the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling created a patchwork of state and local regulations for a market that is supposed to be overseen by federal authorities.

And the Trump administration, which has issued an executive order forbidding any new cases and is battling the attorneys general of Michigan and Hawaii in court, submitted its thoughts last year, saying Boulder is attempting to impose new rules that would go far beyond the borders of Colorado.

“If, as the Colorado Supreme Court held, those theories are consistent with federal law, then every locality in the country could sue essentially anyone in the world for contributing to global climate change,” that brief says.

Pope Leo XIV condemned "an endless cycle of destabilisation and death" on a visit Thursday to a "bloodstained" region of Cameroon that has been gripped by an English-speaking separatist conflict for nearly a decade.

"Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilisation and death," the pontiff said in a message of peace in the northwestern city of Bamenda, the epicentre of the insurgency.

Under military escort, the US-born pope arrived at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in a vehicle with bulletproof windows, blessing the joyful crowds which had gathered to greet him.

Singing, blowing horns and making music, people waved Vatican and Cameroonian flags while dressed in traditional outfits bearing the pope's image.

Cameroon's two anglophone regions have suffered almost a decade of armed violence following attempts to secede from the rest of the mostly French-speaking central African country.

Conflict erupted after President Paul Biya, who has ruled the central African country since 1982, violently put down peaceful demonstrations in 2016 by English speakers who felt marginalised.

Civilians have been targeted with killings and kidnappings. At least 6,000 people have been killed since 2016, according to the United Nations.

In a solemn speech, Leo, who arrived in Cameroon on Wednesday on the second leg of a landmark African tour, condemned those who manipulate religion and the name of God "for their own military, economic and political gain".

Separatists who have been imprisoned called via their lawyer, Joseph Awah Fru, for talks under the aegis of the Vatican "to discuss the root causes of the conflict with the participation of the UN".

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(The Center Square) – Action by North Carolina’s General Assembly has changed the timing for medical malpractice, and enough evidence to ask a jury to resolve contested facts favor Prisha Mosley, her lawyer tells The Center Square.

North Carolina’s Court of Appeals received the 73-page appeal brief on Monday. Friend of the court briefs are due this coming Monday, and defendants will have the opportunity to file responses within 30 to 60 days. Plaintiffs will get final say, and a three-judge panel will either make a decision or opt for a hearing.

Josh Payne, of Birmingham from the Campbell, Miller, Payne firm headquartered in Dallas, told The Center Square on Wednesday lawmakers opened one door – medical malpractice – for appeal with last year’s change in a statute of limitations. For the other pivot point of the case – fraud and negligence – Superior Court Judge Robert C. Ervin didn’t write an opinion, leaving Payne to deliver on appeal plenty of facts as evidence that “a disputed question for a jury to resolve” would not be in doubt.

“The judge is not there to determine judgment,” Payne said of the August ruling. “He’s there to determine if we presented enough evidence that shows at least a disputed question for a jury to resolve – a disputed fact which calls for a jury trial.

“We go point by point by point and explain we have presented enough evidence. There’s plenty to pick through.”

Compensatory and punitive damages to the maximum extent allowable are sought in the prayer for relief. The complaint also requests treble damages and attorney's fees, meaning the defendants pay three times the amount of actual damages sustained by the plaintiff.

In other words, the eight defendants could collectively be facing more than the $2 million awarded earlier this year in a similar health care lawsuit in New York's Westchester County.

Mosley moved to North Carolina in third grade, at about age 7. Big Rapids, Mich., is now home for the 28-year-old and her son, he with the bassinet gifted by Mosley’s good friends Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan.

As a teen, Mosley and her parents were part of the growing trend to transition from female to male. She started testosterone at 17, had surgery at 18, and like many in the five to 10 years later range, had regret.

“That’s how long it takes to see the catastrophic results,” Mosley told The Center Square in a November interview.

Payne doesn’t say Ervin was wrong on his first point. Prevent Sexual Exploitation/Women and Minors, known also as House Bill 805, defines male and female in part, codifying second-term Republican President Donald Trump’s executive order, and increased the statute of limitations to 10 years for those seeking justice for harm from gender transition.

“The General Assembly in North Carolina, they passed a law after the judge initially ruled in the case that her medical practice claim was untimely,” Payne said. “The General Assembly came in passing a law extending time to sue and made it retroactive. By its terms, it applies. The judge declined to follow that law. He said he had a discretion not to follow it because the case had been going on for some time.

“We are arguing in the appeal brief, no, he doesn’t have discretion to ignore the law. The Legislature makes the law and the courts apply the law. That’s our primary argument.”

The veto override of first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein was on July 29. The statute of limitations section of the law became effective immediately.

Irvin, in his Aug. 25 ruling, wrote in part, “North Carolina’s appellate courts have affirmed a trial court’s exercise of its discretion in cases where proposed amendments would have injected a new legal theory into a case after a vast amount of discovery had been conducted or when the amendment would significantly alter the legal issues presented in the case.”

The second area concerns the defendants' claims of fraud and misleading conduct.

“We presented sufficient evidence with which a jury could find the defendants liable in the case,” Payne said. “The judge disagreed, and dismissed those claims, but he didn’t write an opinion explaining why. We don’t have anything to go off.

“We have very specific pieces of evidence we point to, testimony from Prisha, from defendants themselves, and it’s also parts of the medical records in the case.”

Mosley filed the lawsuit in Gaston County in July 2023. It states that at age 17, testosterone injections were started, and a double mastectomy was performed. Among the eight defendants are a plastic surgeon, two licensed counselors, and a physician.

Among the points, Payne said the mastectomy was called a breast reduction in the paperwork signed by a counselor – a point he says is misleading. On another point, Brie Klein-Fowler, according to her deposition, admitted to being aware of the concept of detransitioning including mention of a specific study.

“But she intentionally withheld that information from Prisha before the surgery,” Payne said. “We believe that’s fraudulent misconduct. It’s evidence that a reasonable jury could conclude that’s fraudulent conduct.”

The list goes on.

Irvin, in his summary judgment dismissal with prejudice, wrote in part, “The court concludes with respect to all of the motions listed above that there are no genuine issues of material fact in this case and that all of the defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”

Monday’s appeal conclusion in the case known as Mosley v. Emerson says, “The judgment below should be reversed in its entirety. Every claim was timely. Every claim dismissed at summary judgment was supported by law and evidence. And every claim dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) was properly pleaded. And the General Assembly’s commands in House Bill 805 must be obeyed.”

Rule 12(b)(6) is civil procedure allowing dismissal of a lawsuit early in the process, considered a test of legal sufficiency assuming all accusations are true.

Defendants are Dr. Eric Emerson; Piedmont Plastic Surgery and Dermatology; Klein-Fowler; Family Solutions; Shana Gordon; Tree of Life Counseling; Dr. Martha Fairbanks Perry; and Moses Cone Memorial Hospital, doing business as Cone Health.

Plaintiff listing on the litigation is Charlie Mosley, also known as Prisha Mosley, also known as Abigail Mosley.

In addition to her own relief, Mosley’s hope is the potential delivery of a second landmark win nationwide for detransitioner lawsuits. The first has already come in New York in the $2 million Fox Varian verdict.

In January, the 22-year-old won a lawsuit against medical providers that performed a double mastectomy when Varian was 16 years old in New York’s Westchester County. A jury said the standard of care was violated when the medical providers did not get informed consent and skipped psychological evaluations.

Varian’s mother, in testimony, said she gave consent based on being told her daughter would commit suicide without it.

“The system that should have been designed to protect me instead threw me to the wolves,” Mosley said in a statement released Monday by Independent Women. “My case means more to me now than ever because I’m fighting for justice not only for myself, but for thousands of other detransitioners who did not get what we were entitled to: informed consent and dignity.”

Prominent economists called Thursday for governments to introduce windfall profit taxes on energy companies who are set to reap financial benefits from the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The war has triggered a surge in prices of oil and gas which will boost the bottom lines of energy firms but is putting the pinch on consumers.

"ICRICT is calling on governments to immediately impose a windfall profits tax on the oil, gas and fertiliser sectors as both economically sound and morally imperative," said the group of economists led by Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz said in statement sent to AFP.

The surge in energy prices "disproportionately hurts ordinary workers, farmers, and fossil fuel importing nations, while a small group of large corporations and state producers accumulate windfall profits at their expense," they said.

In addition to higher fuel prices the costs of a number of other critical inputs such as fertiliser have also jumped, raising the risk of a surge in inflation throughout economies.

The economists said a windfall tax on energy and fertiliser firms would target profits made due to the impact of the conflict, not those due to innovation or entrepreneurship.

"Taxing these windfall profits will not worsen inflation; it will recapture unearned gains from corporations and resource owners and can be used to protect vulnerable populations," they wrote.

They noted that a number of countries had introduced windfall profit taxes on the energy and agribusiness sectors following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The European Commission said last week it would look into a windfall profits tax on energy companies after five member countries including Germany, Italy and Spain called for one to ease the burden of high fuel prices on consumers.

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Prince Harry's wife Meghan Markle claimed Thursday she has been "bullied and attacked" on social media every day for a decade and was "the most trolled person in the entire world".

The 44-year-old former American actress made the comments during the couple's four-day tour of Australia, as they both addressed a roundtable discussion with young people associated with an Australian mental health organisation.

"Every day for 10 years, I've been bullied and attacked," Meghan told the youngsters on the third day of the visit in the southern city of Melbourne, adding "but I'm still here".

She urged those in attendance to remember that social media was a "billion dollar industry that is completely anchored and predicated on cruelty to get clicks".

"That's not going to change. So you have to be stronger than that," Meghan said.

Meanwhile at a separate event, Harry,  41, revealed he had felt "lost, betrayed, or completely powerless" during his life, as he opened up about the impact of losing his mother, Princess Diana, as a boy.

In a discussion after delivering a speech at a leadership summit, King Charles III's youngest son said following Diana's death when he was 12 that he felt like he wanted to cast off his role as a senior royal.

"It killed my mum and I was very much against it, and I stuck my head in the sand for years and years," he said.

"Eventually I realised: well, hang on, if there was somebody else in this position, how would they be making the most of this platform and this ability and the resources that come with it to make a difference in the world?

"And also, what would my mum want me to do? And that really changed my own perspective."

Harry and his wife stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and later relocated to North America amid a bitter royal family rift. 

They are raising their two young children in California, as Harry now seeks to repair relations with his father -- who remains the head of state in Australia.

- 'VIP experience' -

During the couple's Australia tour, Meghan has also filmed a programme for MasterChef Australia due to air on Sunday.

She will also take part in a "girls' weekend like no other" at Sydney's InterContinental Coogee Beach hotel, according to organisers.

The event features yoga, sound healing and dinners as well as disco dancing at a ticket price of Aus$2,699 per person, about $1,900.

Those willing to pay even more get access to the "VIP experience" -- which includes a group table photo with Meghan and a goodie bag.

The pair is also due to visit the capital Canberra, national broadcaster ABC said.

They have been warmly greeted during their stops so far, but the visit has drawn criticism, with Victoria state opposition leader Jess Wilson condemning the use of taxpayers' money to provide protection for the pair.

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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday hinted at possible measures limiting children's access to social media, as he met senior tech figures and warned: "Things can't go on like this."

"They must change because right now social media is putting our children at risk," Starmer told the group who included Wifredo Fernandez of X, Alistair Law of TikTok, Markus Reinisch of Meta, and Ronan Harris of Snap.

"In a world in which children are protected, even if that means access is restricted, that is preferable to a world where harm is the price of participation," he added.

Starmer summoned the social media bosses to the Downing Street meeting, also attended by Technology Minister Liz Kendall, amid growing calls for a ban on under-16s using the platforms.

He told the industry leaders he looked forward to working with them on new safeguarding measures, but insisted there had to be change.

"I do think this can be done. I think the question is not whether it is done, the question is how it is done," he said.

The government is considering restrictions on popular social media apps with ministers under pressure to introduce an Australia-style ban.

- 'Take responsibility' -

Australia in December became the first nation to prohibit people under the age of 16 from using immensely popular and profitable social media platforms.

Greece has since said it will ban social media for under 15s and the European Union has said an expert group will start work this week on recommendations for pan-EU action.

Starmer has not ruled out a ban, but previously said he was waiting for the outcome of a public consultation, due to close on May 26.

He said last month he was "very keen" to tackle addictive features following a landmark US ruling that found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman.

"Today is about making sure social media companies step up and take responsibility," Starmer said ahead of the meeting.

"The consequences of failing to act are stark. We owe it to parents, and to the next generation, to put children's safety first -– because they won't forgive us if we don't," he added.

The two chambers of Britain's parliament are currently in a stand-off over whether the government should follow Australia.

The unelected upper House of Lords voted in favour of prohibiting social media for under-16s for a second time last month, piling pressure on the government to follow suit.

But the House of Commons, where Starmer's Labour party enjoys a huge majority, has twice rejected the proposal.

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A South African court sentenced radical left-wing opposition leader Julius Malema to five years in jail on Thursday for firing an assault rifle at a rally eight years ago.

Hundreds of red-clad supporters of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party leader gathered outside the court for the sentencing in the politically charged case.

Large groups of EFF supporters also gathered in other cities, including Johannesburg, to watch the sentencing broadcast live from the court in the city of KuGompo, formerly called East London.

Magistrate Twanet Olivier said Malema, 45, had deliberately violated firearm laws by shooting a gun in the air at an EFF rally in 2018 in a planned event.

"It wasn't... an impulsive act," the magistrate said. "It was the event of the evening."

"The decision to break the law has been made and it was made with the approval of the accused person, and the leadership," she said.

Malema's defence said the shots were only intended to be celebratory.

The state had been seeking the maximum 15-year jail term for Malema, who was found guilty in October. His defence team said they would appeal the conviction and the sentence.

- Criticism -

The EFF -- a small but vocal party inspired by Marxism -- says the case is an attempt to silence its outspoken leader, who is known for fiery speeches.

With this sentence, Malema stands to lose his seat in parliament.

Party supporters have threatened protests should their leader be jailed. 

The magistrate stressed it "is not a political party who has been convicted here... it is a person, an individual."

The case against the EFF leader was brought by the small, conservative group AfriForum.

Malema has long been criticised by AfriForum, notably for his use at rallies of an anti-apartheid chant, "Kill the Boer" -- a word for the country's white Afrikaner population.

The far-right group says it is hate speech and incites anti-white violence. This has been rejected by the courts.

While the chant is controversial in South Africa, courts have ruled it does not constitute hate speech and should be considered in the context of the struggle against white-minority rule, which ended in 1994.

The Afrikaner lobby group has brought its long-standing complaints against Malema to the attention of US President Donald Trump.

Trump showed clips of Malema chanting the slogan at talks at the White House with President Cyril Ramaphosa in May last year.

"But why wouldn't you arrest that man?" Trump asked Ramaphosa, referring to Malema.

The EFF won under 10 percent of votes in the 2024 general elections, and has 39 seats in parliament.

Malema's sentencing was welcomed by the centre-right Democratic Alliance, the second largest political party in the country after Ramaphosa's African National Congress.

"Gun violence is out of control in South Africa, so any crime involving illegal gunfire is extremely serious. It's important to punish illegal firearm crimes harshly," party leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said in a statement.

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Mariam Zein cradled her 11-week-old son on a mattress on the floor where she and her family have sheltered near Beirut since the Israel-Hezbollah war upended her young family's life.

"I was really excited when I was in my ninth month of pregnancy... I never thought he'd be born and there'd be war," said Zein, 26, clutching baby Hussein.

"I haven't been able to enjoy my son -- my first child... to see him getting bigger in his own bed, in his own home."

"I was very sad, and I'm still sad," she told AFP, nappies and baby formula wedged near a photocopier, clothes hanging on an improvised line.

Zein fled with her husband, their baby and other relatives when war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, drawing Lebanon into the Middle East conflict.

She does not know if her home in south Lebanon is still standing.

Israel has kept up strikes despite a fragile US-Iran ceasefire, a landmark meeting this week between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington, and reports that leaders from both countries would talk for the first time in decades.

Lebanese authorities say the war has killed more than 2,100 people and displaced more than one million others.

Some 140,000 people are in overcrowded shelters like the centre in Beirut's suburbs housing Zein's family and around 500 other people, among them five pregnant women and others with young babies.

Zein said she stopped breastfeeding because there was no privacy, and now struggles to buy baby formula, while Hussein is outgrowing his clothes.

"Whatever happens I just want my son near me," she said.

- Pregnancy -

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an estimated 620,000 women and girls are displaced, including some 13,500 pregnant women, of whom "1,500 are expected to give birth within the next 30 days". 

The agency and other organisations have sought to support women as the authorities struggled to cope.

In a small tent containing a portable ultrasound, obstetrician and gynaecologist Theresia Nassar has checked on women including Zein as part of a mobile health clinic run by charity Caritas Lebanon with support from UNFPA.

Displaced pregnant women risk missing important tests and scans, she said, and they are trying to fill the gaps.

"We're not just worried about physical health but also their mental health," she said.

"They don't know if they can go home, they don't have their medication, they're not being properly followed."

Elsewhere, at a school-turned-shelter in central Beirut, heavily pregnant Ghada Issa, 36, is due to deliver a baby girl in a few weeks.

But "this place, this environment, is not for pregnant women", said Issa, who was displaced from south Lebanon with her husband, their daughter Siham, five, and son Ali, four.

They live in a cramped tent, and she said even the basics are a problem, like having to make frequent trips to crowded, far-away communal toilets.

- Twins -

Her husband set up an improvised bed so she doesn't have to sleep on the floor.

Underneath are precious donated items like tiny socks and little blankets. A worker from charity Amel Association International brought then a "baby kit" including nappies and baby powder.

Without donations and other support, "there wouldn't be anything" for the baby, Issa said, as people playing football yelled, children squealed and washing hung on improvised lines.

The shelter's administration said some 20 pregnant women and two who had recently given birth were among more than 2,600 people staying there.

"I haven't got my head around the idea of having a baby here," Issa said.

"I'm still hoping that one day they'll tell me, let's go to the village, and I'll have the baby at home."

In a university classroom in south Lebanon's city of Sidon, Ghada Fadel, 36, cares for her tiny twin sons. Mohammed and Mehdi are just over one month old, and in blue jumpsuits and matching beanies.

The family has been there since she was eight months' pregnant, after fleeing their border village.

"After we left the house, they (Israel) bombed it. The house is gone" along with everything they had prepared for the twins, Fadel said.

"I was hoping to give birth and come home," she said sadly.

"Every mum hopes to take her kids home... no matter the circumstances."

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French conservative billionaire Vincent Bollore came under attack from dozens of authors on Thursday at one of his flagship publishing brands, as he continues to reshape the country's media landscape.

More than 100 authors at the Grasset imprint, home to some of the biggest names in French literature, said they would leave the publishing house after the surprise departure of its long-time CEO.

Olivier Nora, who had headed Grasset for 26 years, left on Tuesday with no explanation, though reports claimed he had been sacked by Bollore following a disagreement about a book. 

The turmoil at Grasset mirrors the uproar seen at other Bollore-owned TV, radio and newspaper companies that have come under the control of the 74-year-old businessman, who is close to far-right figures.  

"We couldn't just do nothing," novelist Colombe Schneck told AFP about the open letter signed by 115 Grasset authors promising not to work with the publishing house in the future.

"Olivier Nora's departure was the spark."

She said everyone was aware of what Bollore had done with his other media properties including Fayard which, like Grasset, is part of the Hachette publishing group acquired by Bollore in 2023.

Fayard has become home to a roster of far-right authors from presidential candidates Eric Zemmour and Jordan Bardella to anti-immigration businessman Philippe de Villiers.

"Vincent Bollore is like Attila: he arrives, he destroys as he pleases, he corrupts because there are people who stay and have no choice," Grasset author Claude Askolovitch said on France Inter radio on Thursday.

Hachette did not comment when contacted by AFP.

Bollore's aggressive expansion into the French media in recent years has been cheered by conservatives as rebalancing what they see as long-standing left-wing bias.

The devout Catholic, who made his money in logistics, has been compared by commentators to Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch, with the Bollore-owned CNews news channel bearing similarities to US network Fox News. 

Nora's departure at Grasset has been widely linked to the acquisition of the next book by conservative French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal following his release from prison in Algeria late last year. 

"Grasset was our publishing house, a special one, because it peacefully brought together women and men writers who agreed on very little," the open letter from the departing authors stated.

"Olivier Nora was both its bulwark and its binding force, through his moral elegance, his availability, and his commitment."  

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Football fans have expressed outrage at the exorbitant price of transit fares to get to World Cup matches, following reports that US transport authorities have jacked up prices just for this summer's tournament.

New Jersey Transit is planning to charge fans more than $100 for tickets from Penn Station in Manhattan to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey during the World Cup, according to a report in The Athletic.

A return ticket for the journey normally costs $12.90.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority confirmed this month that return tickets from Boston to Gillette Stadium would cost $80 -- up from the usual event-day price of $20.

"It's a disgrace. In recent tournaments, transportation was either included in the ticket price or offered at a heavily discounted rate for ticket holders," Guillaume Aupretre, a spokesman for France's main supporters' group, told AFP.

"They keep piling on the extra costs without giving any thought to the fans," he said, accusing FIFA of shutting out "the most loyal supporters in favor of the wealthy."

France will play all three of its Group I matches in Boston and New Jersey.

- 'Awfully high' -

"Another day, another rip off at this World Cup. What on earth is going on?" said Free Lions, a group for travelling England fans, posted on social media.

England also has group matches scheduled at the Boston and New Jersey stadiums.

FIFA, world football's governing body, did not respond to AFP's request for comment. It is already facing severe criticism over the sky-high cost of many match ticket prices.

A top US lawmaker has called on FIFA to pay for World Cup public transportation costs.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said FIFA -- which stands to earn $11 billion from the tournament -- should foot the bill for transport costs to World Cup venues.

"The least FIFA can do is ensure New York residents can go to the stadium without being gouged at the turnstile. I am demanding FIFA step up and cover transportation costs for host cities and states," he wrote on social media Tuesday.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul also took aim at the reported price hike.

"Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me," Hochul wrote on X. 

NJ Transit did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by AFP.

The Athletic quoted a spokesperson for the agency as saying that no firm decision had been taken on World Cup ticket pricing, calling reports "unconfirmed speculation."

According to the US media outlet, operating the public transit network during the eight matches scheduled to take place in New Jersey is expected to cost $48 million, mainly for security. 

Some $100 million in US federal funding has been allocated to host cities for transit network costs, including $8.7 million for Boston and Massachusetts, and $10.4 million for the New York-New Jersey area, according to local media reports.

Los Angeles' transit agency has received $9.6 million. Last month, it pledged not to increase standard fares for trips to the SoFi Stadium -- which are typically $3.50 for a round-trip from downtown Los Angeles -- during World Cup match days.

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