Five people were killed early Tuesday morning after a hillside collapse in the Shahri Buzurg district of Badakhshan, local sources confirmed.

The incident took place in the Pastaw area of Awez village, where the victims were engaged in small-scale gold extraction inside underground tunnels.

Mir Ahmad, Commander of the 4th Border Battalion, Shahr-e-Bozorg District, Badakhshan said the miners were residents of Yaftal district and were working in informal mining activities when the collapse occurred.

Preliminary findings suggest that unstable soil conditions combined with a lack of safety equipment were the main causes of the deadly incident.

A delegation from the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran is expected to miss a key pre-World Cup FIFA gathering in Vancouver after turning back at Toronto Pearson International Airport, citing what Iranian media described as poor treatment by Canadian immigration officials.

According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, the delegation included federation president Mehdi Taj, secretary general Hedayat Mombeni and deputy secretary general Hamed Momeni. The group had travelled with valid visas to attend the FIFA Congress in Vancouver but returned to Turkey on the next available flight.

Tasnim reported that Iranian officials objected to what they called the “unacceptable behaviour” of immigration staff, adding that the dispute involved comments regarding Iran’s armed forces.

The Canada government said it could not comment on individual cases due to privacy laws but reiterated that members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are inadmissible to Canada. Taj is reported to be a former member of the IRGC.

Canada formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation in 2024, a move that has complicated travel for current and former members of the group.

The incident comes as preparations intensify for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which begins on 11 June 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Iran has already qualified for the tournament, but travel, visa and security issues remain under scrutiny.

Reports said the Iranian delegation also missed the recent Asian Football Confederation Congress, also held in Vancouver.

According to Tasnim, FIFA has contacted the Iranian delegation to express regret over the incident and indicated that FIFA president Gianni Infantino may arrange a meeting with them at the organisation’s headquarters.

FIFA has not publicly commented on the matter.

The FIFA Congress, usually a routine annual meeting, carries added importance this year as organisers finalise operational and logistical plans for the first-ever 48-team World Cup.

The United States’ war in Iran has ​cost $25 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday, providing the first official estimate of the military’s ‌price tag for the conflict, Reuters reported.

With just six months before midterm elections in which President Donald Trump’s Republicans may face an uphill battle to keep their House majority, Democrats are riding high in public opinion polls as they attempt to link the unpopular Iran war with affordability.

Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the ​comptroller, told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee that most of that money was for munitions.

Hurst did not detail ​what that cost estimate included and whether it took into account the projected costs of rebuilding and repairing ⁠base infrastructure in the Middle East damaged in the conflict.

Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, responded to ​Hurst: “I’m glad you answered that question. Because we’ve been asking for a hell of a long time, and no one’s given us the ​number.”

The $25 billion cost is equal to the entire budget of NASA for this year.

But it is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $25 billion amount given that a source had told Reuters last month that President Donald Trump’s administration estimated that the first six days of the war had cost the United States at ​least $11.3 billion.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the cost was justified given the U.S. goal of ensuring Iran will ​not have a nuclear weapon.

“What would you pay to ensure Iran does not get a nuclear bomb? What would you pay?” Hegseth asked.

Hegseth sought to defend ‌the ⁠Iran war more broadly in fiery remarks, saying it was not a quagmire and attacking Democratic lawmakers as “feckless” for criticizing the unpopular conflict.

“You call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that statement,” Hegseth said in response to Garamendi, and slammed “reckless, feckless, and defeatist” Congressional Democrats.

The United States started carrying out strikes against Iran on February 28 and the two sides are currently maintaining a fragile ​ceasefire. The Pentagon has poured tens of ​thousands of additional forces into ⁠the Middle East, including keeping three aircraft carriers in the region, read the report.

Thirteen U.S. troops have been killed in the conflict and hundreds wounded.

Few issues resonate with U.S. voters more deeply than price increases, and the latest ​inflationary upswing is unsettling Republican insiders worried about their party’s prospects before November elections that will determine control ​of the House ⁠and possibly the Senate.

Disruptions in shipments of oil and natural gas since the war started have caused a run-up in U.S. gasoline prices and agricultural products such as fertilizers, on top of the long list of other high consumer prices.

The average U.S. gasoline price on Tuesday rose to its highest ⁠level in ​nearly four years, according to data from the American Automobile Association.

Trump’s popularity has taken ​a beating since the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran.

Just 34% of Americans approve of the U.S. conflict with Iran, down from 36% in mid-April and 38% ​in mid-March, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found.