TOP NEWS

May 30 (UPI) — An American academic facing up to 15 years in a Thai prison on allegations of insulting the monarchy has been permitted to leave the country, according to a nonprofit that advocates for Americans imprisoned abroad.

Global Reach told UPI in an emailed statement that Paul Chambers was permitted to leave Thailand on Thursday after resolving what it called “false” lese-majeste charges.

“I am relieved that this situation has been resolved,” Chambers said in a statement.

“I have always had great respect for the Thai royal family, and anyone who knows me understands that these charges were always based on false allegations by unnamed parties in the military.”

Chambers, a Thai studies scholar and lecturer at Thailand’s Naresuan University, was arrested and charged by Thai authorities in April following a complaint filed against him by the military over an October online post promoting a webinar that he was to participate in.

The English-language post was published on the website of Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. The academic webinar was on Thai studies, and Chambers, a leading expert on the Thai military and Southeast Asian politics, gave a talk about the Thai military.

Chambers was not involved in the post’s creation.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, Chambers was allowed to leave the country after the Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday that prosecutors decided not to continue the case against the American.

Prosecutors made the decision in early May, but the attorney general needed to affirm the decision.

Chambers was originally detained April 9, but was later permitted to leave police custody and was required to wear an ankle monitor and surrender his U.S. passport and work visa, Global Reach said.

Following his arrest, the U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it was monitoring Chambers’ situation while condemning the controversial lese-majeste law.

Kieran Ramsey, who worked with Chambers on behalf of Global Reach, praised the United States for its response to the case, saying, “This was one of the best responses I have ever seen from the U.S. government.”

According to Global Reach, Chambers will return to Oklahoma to see his family and will work from the United States.

More than 270 people have been detained, prosecuted and punished under the lese-majeste laws since 2020, according to an expert panel from United Nations that said such laws “have no place in a democratic country.”

The billionaire’s Mars mission claim comes despite SpaceX experiencing several failed test launches over recent months.

Elon Musk has said that he believes there is a 50 percent chance that his Mars spacecraft will make its first uncrewed voyage to the red planet at the end of 2026, just two days after the latest test-flight setback for his SpaceX firm.

Musk presented a detailed Starship development timeline in a video posted online by his Los Angeles area-based rocket company on Thursday.

The South African-born billionaire and SpaceX owner said his latest timeline for reaching Mars depended on whether the craft can complete several challenging technical feats during testing, specifically a post-launch refuelling manoeuvre in Earth’s orbit.

In a video on social media platform X, which he also owns, Musk said his Starbase industrial complex and rocket launch facility in Texas was the “gateway to Mars”.

“It is where we are going to develop the technology necessary to take humanity and civilisation and life as we know it to another planet for the first time in the four and a half billion year history of Earth,” he said.

The end of 2026 is when a slim window opens offering the closest trip between Earth and Mars, as the planets align around the sun once every two years. This shorter distance would take seven to nine months to transit by spacecraft.

The first flight to Mars would carry a simulated crew consisting of Tesla-built humanoid Optimus robots. Human crews would then follow in the second or third landings.

In the video, Musk said he believed there was a 50-50 chance SpaceX would meet the 2026 deadline for the first mission. He added that if Starship was not ready by that time, SpaceX would wait another two years before trying again.

Musk’s announcement comes just a day after he confirmed his departure from the administration of United States President Donald Trump, following a tumultuous few months in which his various businesses – including SpaceX and electric car maker Tesla – have come under growing strain.

Musk’s unofficial role leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has placed him in the crosshairs, as he has faced intense criticism for overseeing what has been decried as haphazard cuts to government programmes.

Faced with plunging stock prices and shareholder concern – most notably at Tesla – Musk said this week he would scale back his government role to focus on his private ventures.

Missed deadlines

In 2016, Musk said he wanted to send an uncrewed SpaceX vehicle to Mars as early as 2018, while he was targeting 2024 to launch the first crewed mission there.

But the mercurial entrepreneur’s ambitions for interplanetary exploration have been beset by repeated setbacks over recent years.

Most recently, on Tuesday, Musk was due to deliver a live webcast from the company’s Starbase in Texas following a ninth test flight of Starship that evening.

But the speech was cancelled without notice after Starship spun out of control and disintegrated about 30 minutes after launch, roughly halfway through its flight path, failing to achieve some of its most important test goals.

The mega-rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere earlier than planned on Wednesday after a fuel leak triggered uncontrollable spinning in space, according to the Reuters news agency.

Posting on X after the failed flight, Musk said the test produced a lot of “good data to review” as he promised a faster launch “cadence” for the next several attempts.

There was also a failed launch in January – when the craft blew up moments after liftoff, raining debris over parts of the Caribbean and forcing commercial jetliners to change course – as well as in March.

Musk, who has spent billions of dollars on Starship’s development, says the initiative is part of SpaceX’s plan to colonise Mars.

The firm is also working with US government agency NASA to return humans to the Moon in 2027 onboard Starship, more than half a century since astronauts last walked on the lunar surface in 1972.

These efforts are a stepping stone towards launching NASA astronauts to Mars sometime in the 2030s.

May 29 (UPI) — The Trump administration announced plans Thursday to overhaul the Department of State, saying the federal agency has grown too big and costly while producing too few results.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he has submitted the reorganization plan to Congress — a report that includes feedback from lawmakers, government bureaus and employees.

He first announced plans for the reorganization in April, calling his department “bloated, bureaucratic and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition.”

The report submitted to Congress, obtained by Politico, would reduce the State Department’s domestic workforce by 3,448 jobs, including recent reductions in positions and voluntary exits under the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program.

It also calls for the elimination of most offices under the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, which champions American values abroad, including the rule of law and individual rights.

Positions to be created under the plan align with the Trump administration’s conservative reshaping of the federal government, including a deputy assistant secretary of state for Democracy and Western values, as well as a so-called Natural Rights Office that will “ground the department’s values-based diplomacy in traditional Western conceptions of core freedoms,” according to an international state Department notification to lawmakers states cited by Politico.

“Over the past quarter century, the domestic operations of the State Department have grown exponentially, resulting in more bureaucracy, higher costs and fewer results for the American people,” Rubio said Wednesday.

“The reorganization plan will result in a more agile Department, better equipped to promote America’s interests and keep Americans safe across the world.”

It was unclear how Congress would react to the proposal, but House and Senate Democrats on the foreign relations committees quickly rejected the plan as being detrimental to U.S. interests abroad.

They said it “hands over” Afghan allies who worked with the U.S. military to the Taliban, guts programs to protect people who protect democracy, fires thousands of employees without cause and moves foreign assistance programs to entities with no experience with managing them.

“We welcome reforms where needed but they must be done with a scalpel, not a chainsaw,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.

“Taken together, these moves significantly undercut America’s role in the world and open the door for adversaries to threaten our safety and prosperity,” she said.

The overhaul comes as the Trump administration seeks to reshape and downsize the federal government in an effort to consolidate more power under President Donald Trump.

They’ve long been hedging their bets.
But Southeast Asian nations are caught in the dispute between the United States and China.
The trade-dependent countries are under threat from Trump’s tariffs, too.
They face a delicate balancing act between economic survival and strategic neutrality.
The message was clear at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – ASEAN’s recent summit in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Member countries are recalibrating their economic partnerships to insulate their economies.
That includes a push to deepen trade ties with China and Gulf countries.

Why is the price of Japanese rice rocketing?

Plus, should older people work longer?

May 29 (UPI) — Police have charged a 53-year-old man for driving his vehicle into a crowd of people who had gathered for a parade to celebrate Liverpool FC’s title victory in the English Premier League soccer tournament.

At least 79 people were injured in the incident Monday when the man, Paul Doyle, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, drove a Ford Galaxy into the celebrants in the city center, video verified by the BBC shows. Some fans tried to divert the car before it hit more parade-goers.

Seven of the people who were injured remain hospitalized.

“I hope that all of those who were injured or witnessed this terrible incident are able — and given time — to heal and recover,” Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Jenny Sims said at a news conference, local media reported.

Doyle was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving offenses and driving while “unfit through drugs,” police reported. He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday. Police said the incident was not terrorism related and is believed to be an isolated event.

Local media reported that the driver of the vehicle followed an ambulance into the area that was supposed to have been restricted to traffic for the parade, local media reported.

Doyle’s LinkedIn profile says that he is the head of cyber initiatives at a data center and served in the Royal Marines from 1990 to 1994. Local media reported that Doyle is a married father of three.

“Neighbors described him as ” such a normal Liverpool dad” and a “genuinely pleasant family man,” The Times of London reported. “When police arrived at his house late on Monday night, the neighbors said they had assumed there had been a burglary.”

Police said officers are continuing to investigate the incident.

It is the latest move by the Trump administration in a campaign against US universities and international students: a decision to revoke the visas of Chinese students, who number in the hundreds of thousands in the United States.

The US secretary of state has also announced the suspension of interviews for new student visa applicants – and an increase in the vetting of their social media postings.

With China being the second-biggest source of international students in the US after India, the reduction in revenues for American schools and universities is expected to be heavy.

US President Donald Trump has already cut funding to Harvard University.

How are academia and research likely to be affected in the US – and around the world?

Presenter:

James Bays

Guests:

Clay Harmon – Executive director of the Association of International Enrollment Management

Alexandra Miller – Immigration lawyer and senior adviser to Vecina, a non-profit group advocating for immigrant justice

Josef Gregory Mahoney – Professor of politics and international relations, East China Normal University

May 29 (UPI) — The final round of the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee gets underway at 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday with nine contestants vying for the title.

The event pits 243 spelling champions from every state and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands to determine which one earns the Scripps Cup during the spelling competition’s 100th year.

Contestants from Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait and Nigeria also compete for the title.

National Spelling Bee contestants must not be older than age 15 or have progressed beyond the eighth grade. They advance to the National Spelling Bee by competing in regional competitions.

This year’s nine finalists are between the ages of 11 and 14.

Last year’s runner-up, Faizan Zaki, 13, from Allen, Texas, is among the nine finalists. He lost in a tie-breaking spell-off to last year’s winner, Bruhat Soma.

The winner receives a custom trophy, $52,500 in cash prizes, a commemorative medal and a one-year subscription to reference works from Merriam-Webster and the Encyclopedia Britannica.

All finalists receive at least $2,000, with the second-place finisher winning $25,000.

More than one person can tie for the championship. When two or more contestants tie for the title, each receives the $50,000 grand prize from the National Spelling Bee.

The finals will be aired live on ion, which is available via streaming and many television cable and satellite subscription services.

This year’s National Spelling Bee began on Tuesday, when 60 contestants were eliminated during a preliminary spelling and vocabulary round.

Another 84 spellers were eliminated later on Tuesday after completing a written spelling and vocabulary test.

Three quarterfinal rounds held narrowed the field to 57 semifinalists on Wednesday, and four semifinal rounds produced the nine contestants who qualified for Thursday night’s final round.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee has been held annually since 1925, when nine students competed for the title.

It was suspended from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The competition has created a historical archive to celebrate the spelling competition’s centennial year.

This year’s competition is its 97th and is being held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., which has hosted the event since 2011.

May 29 (UPI) — The United States ambassador’s residence in Damascus, Syria, re-opened Thursday after being closed for 13 years, presaging a warming of relations between the two countries.

Tom Barrack, the current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, has also been appointed special envoy to Syria, and raised a U.S. flag outside the residence to inaugurate it, according to the Syrian run news agency SANA.

“Tom understands there is great potential in working with Syria to stop Radicalism, improve Relations, and secure Peace in the Middle East,” a statement from the State Department on X said. “Together, we will make America and the world, SAFE AGAIN!”

Barrack met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to witness the signing of an agreement with Middle Eastern countries aimed at developing a $7 billion, 5,000 megawatt energy project that would revitalize Syria’s aging and worn electricity grid and use it as the backbone of the new power project.

The new energy project could supply Syria with 50% of its electricity needs, according to a statement from Qatari-based UCC Holding, which is among the partners in the project.

In a further sign of warming relations between the United States and the Middle East, President Donald Trump met earlier this month with al-Sharaa in Riyadh, a move that prompted the United States to begin walking back sanctions imposed on Syria during the repressive regime of Bahsar al-Assad.

During the reopening of the ambassador’s residence Thursday, Barrack called lifting the sanctions a “bold move,” and said it comes with “no conditions, no requirements.”

Barrack credited Trump for “your bold vision, empowering a historically rich region, long oppressed, to reclaim its destiny through self-determination.”

Protesters held a silent vigil outside Harvard University’s commencement ceremony, demanding an end to US support for Israel’s war on Gaza. The demonstration came amid rising political pressure, as the Trump administration targets pro-Palestinian activism with deportation threats.

May 29 (UPI) — Hungry Gazans broke into an aid warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, which caused two reported deaths, according to officials with the U.N. World Food Program.

“Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution,” the WFP said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

“Humanitarian needs have spiraled out of control after 80 days of complete blockade of all food assistance and other aid into Gaza,” the WFP said.

The agency said “alarming and deteriorating conditions” in Gaza and a limited availability of humanitarian aid to “hungry people in desperate need of assistance” have increased risks associated with aid distribution.

“Gaza needs an immediate scale-up of food assistance,” the WFP said. “This is the only way to reassure people that they will not starve.”

The WFP said initial reports indicate two died and several more were injured, but those reports were not confirmed as of Wednesday night.

Another 121 trucks owned by the United Nations and international organizations carrying flour, food and other aid entered Gaza on Wednesday, the BBC reported.

Wednesday’s warehouse incident occurred after Gazans overwhelmed two aid distribution sites in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported three Gazans were killed, 46 injured and seven others were missing after Israel Defense Forces fired warning shots into the air as crowds of hungry Gazans swarmed over one of the aid distribution sites, NBC News reported.

The U.N. Human Rights Office said 47 people were injured during Tuesday’s aid-distribution chaos and gunfire from Israel Defense Forces caused most of the injuries.

IDF and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation officials initially denied the reports and said no one was injured or killed during the first three days of food and aid distribution.

IDF soldiers fired into the air and did not shoot towards people, an IDF spokesperson told the BBC. The IDF is investigating the incident.

They said the GHF and IDF are preventing Hamas militants from stealing the aid from four distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, which Hamas has denied, the BBC reported.

The U.S.-supported GHF is in charge of distributing aid within Gaza after Israel ended an 11-week blockade of all aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip after a recent cease-fire deal collapsed.

At least four distribution points in southern Gaza are being used to deliver aid to Gazans, and more distribution sites are to be added, NBC News reported.

In 2017, the US dropped the “mother of all bombs” in a remote village in Afghanistan’s Achin district. Al Jazeera made the journey to see what’s left: homes destroyed, health problems mounting, and no accountability in sight.

May 29 (UPI) — A federal judge blocked the Trump administration Thursday from its attempt to deny Harvard University’s ability to admit international students.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said in a hearing she plans to issue a preliminary injunction requested by Harvard and then extended a temporary restraining order that stops the administration from any attempt to follow through on its threat.

Twenty-seven percent of Harvard’s student body consists of foreign students, and it filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last week after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered the termination of the school’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVP certification.

Noem said in a press release last week, “This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.”

Her order also stated that foreign students at Harvard would need to transfer or lose their legal status.

The Harvard International Office’s Director of Immigration Services Maureen Martin filed a supplemental declaration in addition to the lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, and among the concerns listed in the suit, she wrote: “As a result of the revocation notice, students and faculty alike have expressed profound fear, concern, and confusion. Faculty members and administrators have been inundated with questions from current international students and scholars about their status and options.”

CNN reported that Burroughs told the lawyers for both Harvard and the Trump administration to agree upon how to keep the student visa program in place, to which she added, “It doesn’t need to be draconian, but I want to make sure it’s worded in such a way that nothing changes.”

The Trump administration has also focused on Harvard’s finances in addition to the effort to block the enrollment of foreign students, as it announced Tuesday it plans to cancel all its contracts with Harvard University.

By contrast, about six out of 10 LGBTQ adults said gay and lesbian people are generally accepted in the US. 

A new poll by the Pew Research Centre has found that transgender people experience less social acceptance in the United States than those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to LGBTQ adults.

About six out of 10 LGBTQ adult participants in the poll said there is “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of social acceptance in the US for gay and lesbian people, according to “The Experiences of LGBTQ Americans Today” report released on Thursday.

Only about one in 10 said the same for non-binary and transgender people — and about half said there was “not much” or no acceptance at all for transgender people.

The survey of 3,959 LGBTQ adults was conducted in January, after US President Donald Trump’s election, but just before his return to office when he set into motion a series of policies that question transgender people’s existence and their place in society.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order calling on the government to recognise people as male or female based on the “biological truth” of their future cells at conception, rejecting evidence and scientific arguments that gender is a spectrum.

Since then, Trump has barred transgender women and girls from taking part in female sports competitions, pushed transgender service members from the military and tried to block federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under age 19.

A poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in May found that about half of US adults approve of the way Trump is handling transgender issues.

Transgender people are less likely than gay or lesbian adults to say they are accepted by all their family members, according to the Pew poll. The majority of LGBTQ people said their siblings and friends accepted them, though the rates were slightly higher among gay or lesbian people.

About half of gay and lesbian people said their parents did, compared with about one-third of transgender people. Only about one in 10 transgender people reported feeling accepted by their extended family, compared with about three in 10 for gay or lesbian people.

According to the Pew poll, about two-thirds of LGBTQ adults said the landmark US Supreme Court ruling that legalised same-sex marriage nationally on June 26, 2015, increased acceptance of same-sex couples “a lot more” or “somewhat more”.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming weeks on whether Tennessee can enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in what is seen as a major case for the transgender community.

May 29 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury Department Thursday sanctioned a Philippines-based computer infrastructure company and its administrator for allegedly providing services for sites involved in cryptocurrency scams.

Treasury said Funnull Technology and administrator Liu Lizhi provides infrastructure for hundreds of thousands websites allegedly involved in the scams known as “pig butchering.”

“Today’s action underscores our focus on disrupting the criminal enterprises, like Funnull, that enable these cyber scams and deprive Americans of their hard-earned savings,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said in a statement.

The sanctions were imposed in close cooperation with the FBI.

The Treasury described the “pig butchering” scams as Southeast Asian organized crime using victims of labor trafficking to scam millions of unsuspecting people worldwide.

“The scammers leverage fictitious identities, the guise of potential relationships, and elaborate storylines to deceive victims into believing they are in trusted relationships. The scammers then steal victims’ assets by convincing them to invest in virtual currency through a fake website designed to look like a legitimate investment platform that reflects significant, but fabricated, returns on the investment,” the Treasury said.

When victims stop paying more into the scam, the Treasury said the scammer “will abruptly cease communication, taking the victim’s entire investment with them.”

Funnull’s role, according to the Treasury, is to buy IP addresses in bulk from major cloud services companies and then sell them to cybercriminals to host the scam web platforms.

Treasury said Funnell is linked to the majority of virtual currency investment scam websites reported to the FBI.

U.S. victims, Treasury said, have lost over $200 million with an average loss per person of $150,000.

The Treasury alleged that in 2024 Funnell bought a repository of code used by web developers and “maliciously altered the code to redirect visitors of legitimate websites to scam websites and online gambling sites, some of which are linked to Chinese criminal money laundering operations.”

According to Treasury the Lizhi, a Chinese national, is an administrator of Funnell involved in tasks allegedly including “assigning domain names to cybercriminals, including domains associated with virtual currency investment fraud, phishing scams, and online gambling sites.”

May 29 (UPI) — A South African mother who sold her 6-year-old daughter was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday.

Racquel “Kelly” Smith was sentenced to life in prison for trafficking her daughter, Joshlin, and 10 years in prison for kidnapping her.

Smith’s boyfriend Jacquen Appollis, and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were also handed the same sentences.

“There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming and deserving of a lesser sentence than the harshest I can impose,” Judge Nathan Erasmus said in court.

Joshlin vanished Feb. 19, 2024, from the town of Middelpos in South Africa’s Western Cape. She has still not been found.

Witnesses testified in court that Smith sold her daughter for $1,100 to a traditional healer called a Sangoma who sought out the girl due to her eyes and skin.

“We will not rest until we find [out] what happened to Joshlin. We are continuing day and night looking for her,” Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile told local news outlets.

Judge Erasmus said the case left the Middelpos community “fractured.”

According to the BBC, Smith and the other defendants showed no emotion when their sentences were read out at trial in the Saldanha community center.

More than 30 witnesses testified in the eight-week trial.

Lourentia Lombaard, a neighbor and friend of Smith’s, testified that Smith admitted to her that she sold Joshlin.

A local pastor testified he heard Smith talk of selling her children in 2023 for $1,100 each, but she said she was willing to accept $275 each.

What: UEFA Champions League final
When: Saturday, May 31, 9pm (19:00 GMT)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
Who: Paris Saint-Germain (France) vs Inter Milan (Italy)

How to follow our coverage: We’ll have all the build-up from 5pm (15:00 GMT) on Al Jazeera Sport.

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League season concludes at the dazzling Allianz Arena in Munich as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) meet three-time champions Inter Milan in the final of Europe’s premier club competition.

PSG will be appearing in just their second Champions League final, having lost their first to German side Bayern Munich in 2020.

For PSG manager, Luis Enrique, it is just the latest chapter in his record of climbing to new highs – first from release by Real Madrid, as a youngster, and then by winning the 2015 title treble at Barcelona as a coach, the club where he also made his name as a player.

Road to the final

PSG, backed by owners Qatar Sports Investments, booked their place in the Champions League final earlier in May. The Paris-based side beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Parc des Princes, winning their semifinal tie with a 3-1 aggregate scoreline.

Inter Milan beat Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate, with the second leg in Italy going to extra time despite the Spanish club leading in injury time in normal time.

How did PSG and Inter fare in their league seasons?

Inter Milan finished second in Serie A in a dramatic final round showdown with Napoli, who began the final day with a one point advantage.

Once Napoli won their final game against Cagliari to seal the league title, Inter’s title charge was over, despite a hard-fought 2-0 win against Como.

PSG were dominant in the 2024-25 Ligue 1 season, wrapping up the domestic title by an incredible 19 points – and that was despite slacking off towards the end of the season with three straight winless matches to end their campaign.

Their last outing, however, was the French Cup final, which resulted in a 3-0 win against Reims last Saturday.

Which French forward will prevail?

PSG’s gifted French forward, Ousmane Dembele, overcame a slow start to the season to reel off one of the greatest offensive performances in Europe this season.

In 50 appearances this season, the 27-year-old Dembele scored 32 goals – and he was huge part of an incredible 30-match unbeaten league run by PSG.

Inter Milan’s French international Marcus Thuram has netted 18 goals in 52 appearances this season.

Son of Lilian Thuram, a legendary French World Cup winner, Marcus was born in Italy, where his father was representing Parma at the time.

The 27-year-old has scored twice for France in 29 appearances for his country, and has proved a fine foil for Inter’s top scorer this season, Lautaro Martinez.

Where will the final be played

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League final will take place at the Munich Football Arena.

The 75,000 seat venue, better known as Allianz Arena, is the home of current German Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich.

It’s the first time a German venue has held the Champions League final since 2012.

Have PSG ever played Inter?

This will be the first time that Inter and PSG meet in a competitive fixture.

The teams last played in a preseason friendly on August 1, 2023 at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. Inter won the contest 2-1 with Stefano Sensi scoring the game-winner in the 83rd minute.

Why did star player Hakimi leave Inter for PSG?

Current PSG defender Achraf Hakimi last played for Inter Milan in the 2020-21 season.

The Spanish-born speedy right-back, widely regarded as one of the best full-backs in the world, was a casualty of Inter’s huge cost-cutting drive caused, in large part, by the financial debts attributed to the COVID-19 shutdown period.

Hakimi appeared in 37 matches for the Italian giants, scoring seven goals and racking up eight assists as Inter won their first domestic league title since 2010.

Team News: PSG

Out: None
Doubtful: None

Enrique has a fully fit squad to choose from, no doubt boosted by the fact that PSG wrapped up the French top flight with six games to spare – thereafter managing the players’ workloads in the run-up to the final.

Team News: Inter Milan

Out: None
Doubtful: Bisseck (knee), Pavard (ankle), Zielinski (muscular)

Inter pushed champions Napoli to the wire in Serie A – which concluded last Friday – so will inevitably feel heavier in the legs.

Inter fullback Benjamin Pavard and striker Lautaro Martinez are both expected to be fully fit, with the latter having returned to the bench in recent matches.

“My wish is to have everyone available on Saturday evening,” Inzaghi said. “We’re going to approach the final in the best possible way.”

Possible lineups:

PSG: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Kvaratskhelia, Dembele, Barcola

Inter Milan: Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Thuram

Form guide

PSG (all competitions, most recent first):

W-W-W-W-L

Inter Milan (all competitions, most recent first):

W-D-W-W-W

What the managers had to say

Luis Enrique, PSG manager: “It’s Inter Milan’s second final in three years. They’re ready. They’ve not made too many changes to their side. It’s a team that dominates from set pieces. It’s up to us to go into the final in the right frame of mind.

“We’ve grown a lot this season and the players have progressed a lot. I think the strength of the team is the most important thing. You learn something every day after many years of experience as a coach, and I’m improving all the time with this group.”

Simone Inzaghi, Inter Milan manager: “The players did something extraordinary. We played four amazing games against two world-class teams like Bayern and Barcelona. It was great to celebrate this achievement [reaching the final] here with our fans.”

What is the prize money

• Winner: €20m ($22.5m)
• Runners-up: €15.5m ($17.5m)

May 29 (UPI) — Smokey Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, filed a defamation suit against a group of women who have accused him of sexual assault.

The cross-complaint suit claims the sexual assault allegations by four former housekeepers, filed on May 6, were “fabricated” in order to support an “extortionate scheme.”

The suit contends that the Robinsons did not harm or abuse the former housekeepers and seeks to force the women who filed their suit using “Jane Doe” names to be publicly identified.

It also alleges they first demanded $100 million before filing the suit.

“When the Robinsons resisted the extortionate demands, plaintiffs filed this lawsuit,” attorney Christopher Frost wrote.

The suit further alleges that John Harris, an attorney for the housekeepers, and his firm Harris and Hayden, defamed Robinson by referring to the singer as a “serial and sick rapist” who must be stopped.

Harris and Hayden said in a Wednesday statement they will file a motion to strike down Robinson’s suit based on California’s law on “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPP.

The law was designed to prevent harassing lawsuits filed by wealthy celebrities and corporations intended to silence free speech and intimidate accusers.

To succeed in legally striking down a SLAPP lawsuit, defendants must show they are being sued for “any act … in furtherance of the person’s right of petition or free speech under the United States Constitution or the California Constitution in connection with a public issue.“

“The cross-complaint … is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson’s sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal maneuver designed to re-victimize, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward,” lawyers for the women accusing Robinson said in a statement to USA Today.

The women accusing Robinson alleged in their suit that Robinson committed sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, and gender violence for years.

On May 15, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Robinson is under criminal investigation for sexual assault.

Robinson has denied the allegations.

May 29 (UPI) — Israel unveiled plans Thursday for the most significant expansion of its presence in the occupied West Bank in years after approving 22 new Jewish settlements.

The scheme gives legal recognition to the 22 settlements, which already exist but are unofficial, said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Katz said the step would “prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel,” but the Palestinian Authority and at least one anti-war group in Israel condemned the move.

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh called the Israeli government’s approval of the new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, a “dangerous escalation” that was an affront to international legitimacy and international law, including at least one U.N. Security Council Resolution.

He also called on Washington to intervene to halt “Israeli tampering” with what he said had implications for the entire region.

The Peace Now protest movement said the move would “dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further.”

Israel’s some 160 settlements on disputed land it has occupied for almost six decades since the 1967 Six-Day War with its Arab neighbors are illegal under international law. But Israel argues it has a legal claim on the grounds that the West Bank is fundamental to its security and for religious and historic reasons dating back to the Balfour Declaration and beyond.

Calling the settlement approvals “a historic decision,” Smotrich dismissed criticism of the move, saying Israel was not seizing foreign lands but reclaiming “the inheritance of our fathers.”

“This is a great day for settlement and an important day for the State of Israel. Through hard work and tenacious leadership, we have succeeded in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision,” he wrote in a post on X.

“Settlement in the land of our ancestors is the protective wall of the State of Israel — today we have taken a huge step to strengthen it. The next step – sovereignty!” said Smotrich.

Katz and Smotrich’s statements came hours after the governments of Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain issued a joint communique reaffirming their commitment to the implementation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Only a “viable, contiguous Palestinian State, with internationally recognized borders, comprised of Gaza and the West Bank and with East Jerusalem as its capital, can fully satisfy the legitimate national aspirations and the needs of peace and security” of both peoples, read the dispatch issued after the representatives of the four nations met Wednesday.

Israel announces 22 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, fuelling fears of further annexation and erasure.

The Israeli government says it will establish 22 illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of some so-called “outposts” already built without government authorisation, in a move decried by Palestinian officials and rights groups.

Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the decision on Thursday, with Katz saying that it “strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria,” using an Israeli term for the occupied West Bank.

He added it was also “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel”.

Smotrich, himself a settler on illegally occupied Palestinian-owned land and an advocate for Israeli annexation of the West Bank, hailed the “historic decision”.

In a statement, the Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the move as a “once-in-a-generation decision”, emphasising its strategic value in fortifying Israel’s hold along the eastern border with Jordan.

Israel has already built more than 100 illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small outposts to larger communities with modern infrastructure.

The West Bank is home to more than three million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority governing in limited areas.

The Palestinians see the territory as an integral part of a future state, along with occupied East Jerusalem and Gaza.

Palestinians slam ‘dangerous escalation’

Palestinian officials and rights groups slammed the Israeli government’s decision, warning that the expansion of illegal settlements would further harm the prospects for a future Palestinian state.

Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the decision, calling it a “dangerous escalation” and a “challenge to international legitimacy”.

He accused Israel of fuelling instability in the region and warned the move breaches international law. “This decision violates all international resolutions, especially UN Security Council Resolution 2334,” he said, adding that all settlement activity remains illegal and illegitimate.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri condemned called on the United States and the European Union to take action.

“The announcement of the building of 22 new settlements in the West Bank is part of the war led by Netanyahu against the Palestinian people,” Abu Zuhri told the news agency Reuters.

The Israeli NGO Peace Now said the move “will dramatically reshape the West Bank and further entrench the occupation”.

“The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise: the annexation of the occupied territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal,” it said in a statement.

“This is the largest batch of illegal Israeli settlements to be approved in one decision,” reported Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim from the occupied West Bank.

“Israeli settlements are strangling Palestinian communities inside the West Bank,” said Ibrahim. “These new settlements fill the gaps, making a future Palestinian state almost impossible on the ground. Israel is using this moment – while global attention is fixed on Gaza – to cement its occupation.”

The settlement announcement comes just weeks ahead of a high-level international conference, jointly led by France and Saudi Arabia at the United Nations, aiming to revive the long-dormant process to agree a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.