dream

June 25 (UPI) — The Trump administration on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging Minnesota laws that provide some undocumented immigrants with higher-education tuition benefits not offered to U.S. citizens.

The lawsuit is the third time the Justice Department has challenged states’ laws this month amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

The filing challenges the Minnesota Dream Act, which was signed into state law in May 2013 to make illegible some undocumented immigrants in the state for in-state tuition rates, privately funded financial aid and state financial aid.

Federal prosecutors allege the Dream Act discriminates against U.S. citizens from other states who must pay higher out-of-state tuition rates while violating federal law that states “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a state … for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit.”

“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.

“The Department of Justice just won on this exact issue in Texas, and we look forward to taking this fight to Minnesota in order to protect the rights of American citizens first.”

Earlier this month, federal prosecutors filed lawsuit challenging a similar law in Texas. Instead of a legal fight as is anticipated in Minnesota, Texas’ Republican-led government joined the Trump administration seeking the enjoin the Texas Dream Act of 2001.

And the court sided with them, handing the Trump administration a win in its fight against immigration.

“Ending this discriminatory and unAmerican provision is a major victory for Texas,” the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, said in a June 4 statement.

On Tuesday, however, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and several civil rights and pro-democracy organizations filed a motion to intervene in the Texas case on behalf of students and related groups, arguing the order “creates sweeping uncertainty for impacted students and colleges and universities.”

“The Texas Legislature passed the Texas Dream Act with overwhelming bipartisan support because Dreamers represent the best of us in our classrooms, board rooms and communities,” David Donatti, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.

“While the attorney general normally would defend state laws, the decision not to means that somebody must. We are proud to advocate for our Dreamers alongside Texas schools and students.”

The Justice Department last week also filed a lawsuit against a similar law in Kentucky.

The lawsuits follow President Donald Trump signing several immigration-related executive orders including “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens,” which directed the attorney general to identify laws “favoring aliens over any groups of American citizens,” including “State laws that provide in-State higher education tuition to alines but not to out-of-State American citizens.”

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia provide in-state tuition to their undocumented students, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal. Eighteen states and D.C. also provide access to state financial aid.

Despite Israel’s considerable military power in the Middle East, it can never achieve regional hegemony—a position that requires unquestionable dominance over all competitors and acceptance of its authority by neighboring countries. Since its establishment in 1948, Israel, relying on its military superiority and broad Western support, particularly from the United States, has managed to establish significant influence in the region. However, Israel’s ambitions to become the dominant power in the Middle East face structural, political, and social obstacles that go beyond its military capabilities. Israel’s recent attacks on Iran in June 2025, under the operation “Lion Rising,” are an example of the country’s aggressive efforts to weaken its rivals and demonstrate its authority. However, these actions have only led to greater regional instability and strengthened resistance against Israel. As Stephen Walt, a professor of international relations at Harvard, argues, true hegemony requires political acceptance and regional legitimacy—something Israel, due to its policies, is unable to achieve.

Limitations of Military Power

With a military budget of $27.5 billion in 2023 and access to advanced technologies, Israel possesses one of the region’s most powerful militaries. Its attacks on Lebanon, Syria, and recently Iran, which targeted both military and civilian infrastructure, demonstrate its ability to strike heavy blows against its competitors. However, military power alone is not sufficient for hegemony. A regional hegemon must be able to fully suppress its rivals or compel them to accept its authority—a challenge Israel has failed at. For example, despite weakening Hezbollah and other resistance groups after attacks in 2023 and 2024, these groups continue to act as a resilient force against Israel. The June 2025 attacks on Iran, while causing significant damage, have not been able to fully halt Iran’s nuclear program. Reports suggest that the Fordow facility remains operational, and Iran is able to accelerate its pursuit of nuclear capabilities. These failures highlight that Israel’s military power, while destructive, cannot lead to lasting dominance, as regional resistance against it persists.

Lack of Regional Legitimacy

Hegemony requires acceptance and legitimacy among regional countries, something Israel lacks due to its aggressive and occupation-driven policies. The occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the siege and bombing of Gaza, and the repression of Palestinians, condemned by human rights organizations as gross violations of human rights, have painted Israel as a repressive force. These policies have not only angered Palestinians but have also prevented regional countries, including powerful players like Turkey and Qatar, from accepting Israel as the dominant power. Even countries that have established diplomatic relations with Israel, such as the UAE and Bahrain, maintain these relations largely for strategic reasons and under Western pressure, not out of acceptance of Israel’s hegemony. Furthermore, recent attacks on Iran, conducted amidst nuclear negotiations, have exacerbated regional anger and strengthened Iran’s position as a force of resistance against Israeli aggression. This lack of legitimacy is a significant barrier to Israel’s hegemonic ambitions.

Geopolitical Complexity of the Middle East

The Middle East is a region of multiple actors and conflicting interests, making it practically impossible for any country, including Israel, to achieve hegemony. Iran, despite economic and military pressures, still maintains significant influence in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen, although its proxy networks have been weakened. Turkey, with its own regional ambitions, and Saudi Arabia, with its vast financial resources, are also powerful competitors unwilling to accept Israeli dominance. Even the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, which was seen as a blow to Iran, failed to shift the balance of power in Israel’s favor, as new actors like Sunni groups backed by Turkey entered the fray. Hegemony requires military superiority over a mix of rivals, but Israel has not been able to establish full dominance even over a single actor like Iran, which, despite recent attacks, still has the ability to respond. These geopolitical complexities, combined with persistent regional resistance, prevent Israel from achieving hegemonic status.

Dependence on the West and Strategic Fragility

Despite its military power, Israel is heavily dependent on the support of the United States and Europe. Annual U.S. military aid of $3.8 billion and political backing in institutions like the United Nations form the backbone of Israel’s power. However, this dependence creates a strategic vulnerability. If Western support decreases—either due to changes in U.S. domestic policies or global pressure for Israel to be held accountable for human rights violations—Israel will lose its ability to maintain its current position. True hegemony requires strategic self-sufficiency, which Israel lacks. Moreover, aggressive actions like the “Lion Rising” operation increase the risk of drawing the U.S. into a broader conflict, which could reduce Western support. This fragility shows that Israel, rather than a hegemon, functions more as a player dependent on foreign powers.

Global Consequences of Israel’s Actions

Israel’s efforts to weaken its rivals, such as the recent attacks on Iran, have not led to hegemony but have instead exacerbated regional and global instability. These attacks, carried out amid nuclear negotiations between Iran and global powers, disrupted diplomatic efforts and increased the risk of a broader conflict. These actions could disrupt the global energy supply chain, as Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz plays a critical role in oil and gas markets. Additionally, the anger generated by Israel’s aggressive policies has sparked widespread protests in the Muslim world, raising the risk of political and security instability on a global scale. These consequences, rooted in Israel’s actions, show that the pursuit of hegemony not only remains unattainable but leads to further instability.

The Need for Peace, Not Domination

Israel cannot become the hegemon of the Middle East because true hegemony requires a combination of military power, political legitimacy, and regional acceptance—elements Israel lacks. Israel’s long-term security lies not in military domination but in achieving a lasting political agreement with its neighbors, including the Palestinians. Israel’s aggressive policies, from occupying Palestinian territories to attacking Iran, have only strengthened regional resistance and pushed the country further from its hegemonic goal. The world must recognize this reality and, instead of blindly supporting Israel’s actions, focus on diplomacy and dialogue to establish lasting peace in the Middle East. Only through this approach can the endless cycle of tension and conflict be broken.

LONDON — The world may be rethinking the American dream.

For centuries, people in other countries saw the United States as place of welcome and opportunity. Now, President Trump’s drive for mass deportations of migrants is riling the streets of Los Angeles, college campuses, even churches — and fueling a global rethinking about the virtues and promise of coming to America.

“The message coming from Washington is that you are not welcome in the United States,” said Edwin van Rest, CEO of Studyportals, which tracks real-time searches by international students considering studying in other countries. Student interest in studying in America has dropped to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, it found. ”The fact is, there are great opportunities elsewhere.”

There has long been a romanticized notion about immigration and America. The reality has always been different, with race and ethnicity playing undeniable roles in the tension over who can be an American. The U.S. still beckons to the “huddled masses” from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The strong economy has helped draw millions more every year, with the inflow driving the U.S. population over 340 million.

Early clues across industries — like tourism, trade, entertainment and education — suggest the American dream is fading for foreigners who have historically flooded to the U.S.

Polling by Pew Research Center from January through April found that opinions of the U.S. have worsened over the past year in 15 of the 24 countries it surveyed.

Trump and many of his supporters maintain that migrants in the country illegally threaten American safety, jobs and culture. But people in the country legally also have been caught in Trump’s dragnet. And that makes prospective visitors to the U.S., even as tourists, leery.

Trump’s global tariff war and his campaign against international students who have expressed pro-Palestinian sympathies stick especially stubbornly in the minds of people across American borders who for decades clamored to participate in the land of free speech and opportunity.

“The chances of something truly horrific happening are almost certainly tiny,” Duncan Greaves, 62, of Queensland, Australia, advised a Reddit user asking whether to risk a vacation to the land of barbeques, big sky country and July 4 fireworks. “Basically it’s like the Dirty Harry quote: ‘Do you feel lucky?’”

Trump has married two immigrants

For much of its history, America had encouraged immigration as the country sought intellectual and economic fuel to spur its growth.

But from the beginning, the United States has wrestled with the question of who is allowed to be an American. The new country was built on land brutally swiped from Native Americans. It was later populated by millions of enslaved Africans.

The American Civil War ignited in part over the same subject. The federal Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers for a decade. During World War II, the U.S. government incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in 10 concentration camps. About two-thirds were U.S. citizens.

Still, the United States has always been a nation of immigrants, steered by the “American Creed” developed by Thomas Jefferson, which posits that the tenets of equality, hard work and freedom are inherently American.

Everyone, after all, comes from somewhere — a fact underscored on-camera in the Oval Office this month when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gave the president the framed birth certificate of Trump’s grandfather, also named Friedrich, who emigrated from Germany in 1885. He was one of millions of Germans who fled war and economic strife to move to the United States in the late 19th Century.

There’s a story there, too, that suggests the Trump family knows both the triumphs of immigration and the struggle and shame of being expelled.

After marrying and making a fortune in America, the elder Trump attained U.S. citizenship and tried return to Germany. He was expelled for failing to complete his military service — and wrote about the experience.

“Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family,” Friedrich Trump wrote to Luitpold, prince regent of Bavaria in 1905, according to a translation in Harper’s magazine. “What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur.”

Trump himself has married two immigrant women: the late Ivana Zelníčková Trump, of what’s now the Czech Republic, and his current wife, Melania Knauss Trump of Slovenia.

Coming to America

It’s hard to overstate the degree to which immigration has changed the face and culture of America — and divided it.

Immigration in 2024 drove U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents, the U.S. Census Bureau said in December. Almost 2.8 million more people immigrated to the United States last year than in 2023, partly because of a new method of counting that adds people who were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Net international migration accounted for 84% of the nation’s 3.3 million-person increase in the most recent data reported.

Immigration accounted for all of the growth in 16 states that otherwise would have lost population, according to the Brookings Institution.

But where some Americans see immigration largely as an influx of workers and brain power, Trump sees an “invasion,” a longstanding view.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has initiated an far-reaching campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him over his invocation of special powers to deport people, cancel visas and deposit deportees in third countries.

In his second term, unlike his first, he’s not retreating from some unpopular positions on immigration. Instead, the subject has emerged as Trump’s strongest issue in public polling, reflecting both his grip on the Republican base and a broader shift in public sentiment.

A June survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than his approval rating on the economy and trade. The poll was conducted at the beginning of the Los Angeles protests and did not include questions about Trump’s military deployment to the city.

‘Shaken their confidence’

The U.S. is still viewed as an economic powerhouse, though people in more countries consider China to be the world’s top economy, according to the Pew poll, and it’s unclear whether Trump’s policies could cause a meaningful drain of international students and others who feel under siege in the United States.

Netherlands-based Studyportals, which analyzes the searches for international schools by millions of students worldwide, reported that weekly pageviews for degrees in the U.S, collapsed by half between Jan. 5 and the end of April. It predicted that if the trend continues, the demand for programs in the U.S. could plummet further, with U.S. programs losing ground to countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.

“International students and their families seek predictability and security when choosing which country to trust with their future,” said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, which represents international educators. “The U.S. government’s recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States.”

Kellman writes for the Associated Press.

BBC

‘Relationship breakdown’

‘Drive up transparency’

British pensioners tell how they feel ‘lucky to be alive’ after escaping horrific blaze at their hotel during a holiday in Turkey. They didn’t think they would make it back to the UK in one piece

Daniel and Christine Steel, who are both nearly 70, had been enjoying a break at a five-star resort in Turkey when a terrifying fire broke out.

The pensioners were among six people taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and Daniel said at one point during the nightmare, he phoned his daughter because he didn’t think they’d be coming home alive.

Daniel from Bradford told his local paper the Telegraph & Argus: “We feel lucky to be alive. We were woken up after hearing screams of ‘fire, fire’ and ‘help, help!’ Our room became dense with smoke – we couldn’t breathe.

READ MORE: ‘I was urged to go to hospital by workmates – it was the start of a nightmare’

“We were on the top floor and had to make a decision about what to do. Put it this way, if it wasn’t for the balcony, we wouldn’t be here now telling you this story. Below us was a 250ft drop and it was pitch black – all the electricity went off because of the fire.”

The couple climbed over the balcony rails onto a roof and held onto the rails for ‘dear life’. But pensioner Daniel pulled a nerve in his leg and is still in a lot of pain.

“Most of the hotel was evacuated but we came across some other guests who found themselves in the same position as us,” he continued. “At that point, there were 11 of us screaming for help. We were eventually rescued by firefighters after what felt like a lifetime.”

After leaving hospital, they were moved to alternative accommodation before later returning to the hotel to collect their belongings.

But Daniel said all their holiday things were ruined. And although the couple are glad to be back home, Christine is still struggling to forget about their hellish experience.

She added: “We keep reliving what happened – and thinking what might have happened if we hadn’t had a balcony. It was certainly a holiday from hell – but we’re grateful to be alive.”

READ MORE: £13 pop-up stool that folds into small bag is a must-have for Glastonbury goers

Golden hour in Italy’s Dolomites

After a gruelling journey from the UK, arriving at Alpe di Siusi during golden hour felt like stepping into a dream. Farmers turned hay in some of Europe’s highest alpine meadows, framed by jagged Dolomite peaks glowing in soft evening light. We can recommend staying at the Hotel Schmung, a family-run gem with delicious northern Italian food and direct access to scenic hikes. Rifugios provide great lunch stops along the trails. The peaceful setting, breathtaking views and freedom to explore on foot without needing a car make this a perfect base for the Dolomites.
Louise

Panoramic meals in eastern France

The Vosges mountains in Alsace offer relatively gentle walking with fantastic way-marking (shown on IGN maps, the French equivalent of the Ordnance Survey Explorer maps). Panoramic views punctuate the walking through a mixture of pine woods and open pastures. Most Brits seem to keep to the valleys and the beautiful villages and towns but among my highlights of the area is the opportunity to compare the fare at the various fermes auberges that are scattered over the hills. Sharing a table with French and German visitors and locals, the short menus offer food that has to be mainly grown by the farmer/owner. Glasborn-Linge in Soultzeren has a four-course hearty lunch at just €27.
Tony Eginton

Donkey trails up Corsica’s highest peak

A spectacular train ride from Corsica’s seaport of Bastia to the small mountain town of Ponte Leccia provides access to the island’s highest peak, 2,706-metre (8,878ft) Mount Cinto. It can be approached from the dramatic Asco Gorge. For hikers, a network of donkey trails reveals arresting views, river pools and lost worlds, such as the abandoned village of Sepula. There are a couple of remote campsites off the gorge. There’s a ski resort halfway up Mount Cinto where the more challenging cross-island GR20 mountain hiking path can be joined. Late spring is the most enchanting time to visit.
Didier

A perfect chalet in heavenly Montenegro

We spent a heavenly week in Gornja Brezna, Montenegro, a peaceful village 1,000 metres above sea level, surrounded by mountains and with a turquoise river canyon (the Piva) to explore. Days were warm and nights cool. We pootled about on rusty bikes, got coffee at the Etno village restaurant, befriended local dogs, went on herb walks and ran about naked in the birch woods, as well as making bigger excursions to Durmitor national park. We stayed at Nikola’s beautiful Brezan Lug chalet, in its own private woodland, with hot tub, barbecue, fire pit and all mod cons.
Beth

High campiing in northern Albania

My partner and I had a magical time in the northern Albanian mountains. From Shkodër, we made our way to the Valbona valley national park via a two-night stay on (and boat across) Lake Koman. Once in Valbona, we camped with permission on the grounds of Hotel Rilindja, where the owner offered a wealth of hiking tips. From our base, we embarked on a series of spectacular hikes, including a three-day circular to Çerem. The first two days we saw no one apart from shepherds (and a few vipers, which were given a wide berth) before hitting a slightly more travelled section, where we encountered a handful of fellow hikers. The views were breathtaking; the hospitality, affordable and welcoming; and the experience, incomparable.
Alex

Mountain cabins on Sweden’s King’s trail

The mountains and glaciers surrounding the mountain hut at Nallo in north-west Sweden were so spectacular last year that I’m returning to stay for longer in July. It’s roughly seven miles off the popular Kungsleden trail (King’s trail) that winds its way through Lapland. There’s no mobile phone reception, or food, so bring your own supplies. These can be bought at the trailheads, three days’ walk away, or at other mountain huts along the way. What you find at Nallo is a welcoming cabin with a host (£32 for a bunk bed), cozy bunk beds and peace.
Catherine

Across the solar system in Switzerland

This exhilarating four-mile stroll across our solar system starts, appropriately, at an enormous sundial next to the Observatoire François-Xavier Bagnoud at Tignousa in the Val d’Anniviers. As you walk away from the sundial, the planets are revealed sequentially in large metal sculptures, informative panels and a hand-cranked audio track. Each one appears at its proportionate distance and size from the sun, so Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter are soon ticked off on a shallow climb. Twenty minutes later, a striking silver-ringed Saturn overlooks magnificent views of the valley and down to the Rhône a kilometre below. Uranus presages a refreshing paddle in a mountain stream, good preparation for a steeper, but manageable, 30-minute scramble to Neptune and lunch at 2,300 metres, distracted by panoramic views of the Swiss Alps from the deck of the 19th-century Hotel Weisshorn.
Bryan Conway

Rare flowers high in Italy’s Apennines

I hiked through the Maiella national park in Abruzzo, just two hours east of Rome, where marsican brown bears, Abruzzo chamois and wolves roam while griffon vultures soar above. The drought-tolerant vegetation and steep-sided valleys conceal caves that were once inhabited by hermits – it was amazing to imagine what it must have been like living there. Flowering plants galore, with rarities such as the Apennine edelweiss, Apennine gentian, Alpine aster and dryas (a glacial relic) on the high peaks. Exploring ancient pathways and clambering up rocky slopes rewarded me with far-reaching views over the Adriatic Sea.
Monique Gadella

Risqué mountain, Germany

Rather than ascend the expensive and crowded Zugspitze (Germany’s highest mountain at 2,962 metres), during a summer visit to Garmisch-Partenkirchen we instead opted for a cable car up the magnificently named Mount Wank (1,780 metres). We were rewarded with lush mountain meadows, superb views of the valley below and peace and quiet. A cold beer on the sun terrace at the Sonnenalm restaurant is a must. If you have the energy, you can walk the well-marked trail back to the town or head down on the Wankbahn.
Travis Roberts

Winning tip: Going with the flow in Spain’s Sierra Nevada

Walking the acequias of the Alpujarras in the southern Sierra Nevada, following 1,200-year-old irrigation systems built by the Moors while the snow-capped peaks above soar to almost 3,500 metres. Acequia Baja from the forest track above Capileira, curves round into the Poqueira valley, into a basin below the three highest peaks in mainland Spain while booted eagles ride the thermals. There are views across the Mediterranean to the Rif mountains in Morocco in clear conditions, framed by the deep valleys funnelling year-round snowmelt waters down steep gorges, yet the walk along the acequia is quite easy-going given the altitude.
Jeremy

Famed for its pastel pink sand and crystal-clear waters, it’s hard to believe that the world’s best beach is only four hours from the UK – and you can grab return flights in July for just £80

You don’t need to jet over to the other side of the world to find sugar-like sand and crystal-clear waters. In fact, the best beach is much closer to the UK than you’d think.

Earlier this year, review site Tripadvisor revealed its Travellers Choice Awards after analysing more than eight million listings over a 12-month period. It found that nothing could quite compare to the idyllic Elafonissi Beach, located on the Greek island of Crete.

Famed for its pastel pink sand (believed to be caused by tiny fragments of seashells) and cobalt waters, Elafonissi Beach outranked dream Caribbean destinations such as Eagle Beach in Aruba and Playa Varadero in Cuba. The stunning beach, which is part of a protected nature reserve, looks like something straight out of a postcard – and makes for the perfect Instagram snap.

Whether you want to spend the day basking under the sun with a good book, or prefer to cool yourself in the shallow lagoon – this beach really does offer something for everyone. Surrounded by a lush forest of cedar trees, the coastline is also a great spot for hikers and nature lovers alike.

READ MORE: Underrated Canary Island where tourists never go with 3,000 hours of sunshine

“This place is not overrated!” hailed one traveller who visited the beach back in April. “It’s a short walk to get to this superb beach [from the car park] and it’s quite special because of its many lagoons. A real little jewel! The water is super transparent and turquoise.”

Another person agreed, branding the beach ‘wonderful’. It’s the best beach I have seen,” they wrote. “[The] water is very clean and fantastic for children. I want to come back there every year.” A third added: “I’m in love with this place – it’s one of my favourites. I recommend it to all the people who want to visit… the water was amazing.”

Of course, even the world’s best beach can’t impress everybody – and Elafonisi has garnered some negative attention, mainly around its €5 car park. “Can’t get anywhere near the beach!” moaned one traveller, who dubbed the high parking fee a ‘tourist scam’.

Another agreed, scathing: “When we went to Elafonisi the water was not crystal clear (it was actually impossible to see the ground), and the sand was not pink. There was a crazy [amount of] people and when we came there all the sun beds and parasols had been occupied.”

Kristen Dalton of Tripadvisor hailed its Travellers’ Choice Awards for reflecting the voices of ‘millions of global travellers’ and helping guide people to plan their ‘best trip yet’. “In my family, beaches aren’t just for sunbathing – we like to get out and explore!” she added.

“The diversity of this year’s winners really showcases everything that a beach trip can have to offer. Whether it’s strolling the beautiful pink sand beaches of our world winner, Elafonissi beach, in Greece, experiencing breath-taking vistas in Indonesia, whale watching in Hawaii or diving in magical bioluminescent waters in Thailand – there really is something for everyone.”

If you’re keen to check the beach out this year, you can fly to Crete directly from most major UK airports – including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, and Bournemouth. If you’re flexible with dates, you can grab return fares for as little as £80 in July.

Accommodation on the island is equally affordable, with plenty of hostels and no-thrill hotels to meet the tightest of budgets. For example, a week’s stay (Monday, July 7-14) at Studio Peacock will only set you back £215. This is based on two adults sharing a double bed in a one-bedroom apartment.

However, if you’re after something a little more luxurious, you have to check out Naiades Boutique Hotel. Located right on the beachfront, this adults-only resort is the epitome of chic and comes with free breakfast every morning. A Deluxe Suite with your own outdoor jacuzzi costs £1,563 on the exact same dates.

*Prices based on Skyscanner and Booking.com listings at the time of writing.

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Palestine are denied by late Oman penalty in a 1-1 draw that ends their dreams of a first FIFA World Cup appearance.

Palestine’s historic Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was ended by a late Oman penalty in a 1-1 draw in their final group game.

Needing a win to reach the fourth round of the AFC qualifiers, Palestine led deep into five minutes of injury time through Oday Kharoub’s goal early in the second half.

The scoreline would have been enough to propel Palestine past Oman into the fourth and final qualifying spot in Group B of the third round of the AFC qualifiers – a stage they had also reached for the first time.

However, a tug of the shirt on a runner chasing a free kick from the deep was spotted by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), and Palestine’s dream of a first appearance at a football World Cup ended with Essam Al-Subhi’s spot kick in the 97th minute of the match.

Kharoub’s headed goal came after a fine first half for Palestine, in which Michel Termanini struck the bar with a header.

Wessam Ali had a second for Palestine ruled out for a marginal offside, only moments after Oman’s Harib Al-Saadi saw red for a second yellow following a foul on Hamed Hamdan in the 73rd minute.

The decisive moment came, though, when Muhsen Al-Ghassani ran clear in the box in an attempt to reach a looped ball in the area. Ahmed Taha’s grab at the runner was deemed illegal and the eliminating kick was awarded against Palestine.

Palestine’s AFC Asian Cup nearly the spark for World Cup dream

The run to the third round of the AFC World Cup qualifiers for the first time followed Palestine’s remarkable feat of reaching the knockout stages of the last AFC Asian Cup for the first time.

A first appearance at football’s global showpiece was only one more round away until the late drama at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan, where Palestine were forced to stage their home matches due to Israel’s war on Gaza.

The full-time whistle, and with it, anticipated scenes of wild celebration was cruelly only seconds away for Palestine.

Instead, the tension that was palpably building ahead of the referee calling an end to the match turned to scenes of despair as tears rolled down the cheeks of the Palestine players, many of whom collapsed to the floor in disbelief.

Oman now join Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Indonesia, who lost 6-0 to Japan earlier in the day, in the fourth round of qualifiers, from which two teams will join the already six qualified nations from the third round of qualifiers.

One final chance will be available for the third-placed team from the fourth round of qualifiers, as that nation will progress to the FIFA Intercontinental Playoffs in a last-chance saloon to line up at next year’s finals.

Australia became the final team to confirm their automatic qualification from the third round of qualifiers when they saw off Saudi Arabia’s challenge for second spot in Group C with a 2-1 win in Jeddah.

Alongside Australia – Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Jordan, finished as the top two finishers in their group to book their places at the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The latter two qualified for a World Cup for the first time.

Khan Younis, Gaza – In the ruins of his home in Khan Younis, 75-year-old Shaker Safi gently thumbs through fading photographs of his son Mohammed’s sporting career.

Medals, trophies, team huddles, and group photos of young athletes coached by Mohammed now serve as a haunting memorial to a dream destroyed by war.

On November 15, 2023, Mohammed Safi – a football coach and physical education teacher – was killed in an Israeli air strike.

He had spent years building a legacy of hope through sport, training at schools and community clubs, and transforming underdog teams into local champions.

A graduate in physical education from Al-Aqsa University, Mohammed was the head coach of Al-Amal Football Club in southern Gaza and was widely admired for his work nurturing young talent aged between six and 16.

“My son dreamt of representing Palestine internationally,” Shaker says, surrounded by remnants of his son’s accolades. “He believed sport could lift youth from despair. But war reached him before he could reach the world.”

Now displaced, Mohammed’s wife Nermeen and their four children – 16-year-old Shaker Jr, Amir, 14, Alma, 11, and Taif, 7 – live with the painful void created by his death.

The children cling to their father’s last football and coaching notes as keepsakes.

Nermeen, an art teacher, gently wipes away Taif’s tears when she asks, “Why did they take Daddy from us?”

“He was a man of dreams, not politics,” Nermeen says. “He wanted to become an international referee. He wanted his master’s degree. Instead, he was killed for being a symbol of life and youth.”

Mohammed Safi is one of hundreds of athletes and sports professionals who have been killed or displaced since the war began.

According to the Palestinian Olympic Committee, 582 athletes have been killed since October 7, 2023, many of them national team players, coaches, and administrators.

Sports replaced by survival

For those who remain alive in Gaza, survival has replaced sporting ambition.

Yousef Abu Shawarib is a 20-year-old goalkeeper for Rafah’s premier league football club.

In May 2024, he and his family fled their home and took shelter at Khan Younis Stadium – the same field where he once played official matches.

Today, the stadium is a shelter for displaced families, its synthetic turf now lined with tents instead of players.

“This is where my coach used to brief me before games,” Yousef says, standing near what used to be the bench area, now a water distribution point. “Now I wait here for water, not for kickoff.”

His routine today involves light, irregular training inside his tent, hoping to preserve a fraction of his fitness. But his dreams of studying sports sciences in Germany and playing professionally are gone.

“Now, I only hope we have something to eat tomorrow,” he tells Al Jazeera. “The war didn’t just destroy fields – it destroyed our futures.”

When he looks at the charred stadium, he doesn’t see a temporary displacement.

“This was not collateral damage. It was systematic. It’s like they want to erase everything about us – even our games.”

Hope beneath the rubble

Still, like the patches of grass that survived the blasts, some hope remains.

Shadi Abu Armanah, head coach of Palestine’s amputee football team, had devised a six-month plan to resume training.

His 25 players and five coaching staff had been building momentum before the war on Gaza. The team had competed internationally, including in a 2019 tournament in France. Before hostilities began, they were preparing for another event in November 2023 and an event in West Asia set for October 2025.

“Now, we can’t even gather,” Shadi says. “Every facility we used has been destroyed. The players have lost their homes. Most have lost loved ones. There’s nowhere safe to train – no gear, no field, nothing.”

Supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the team had once symbolised resilience. Training sessions were more than drills – they were lifelines. “For amputees, sport was a second chance,” Shadi says. “Now they are just trying to survive.”

Shadi himself is displaced. His home, too, was bombed. “The clubs I worked for are gone. The players are either dead or scattered. If the war ends today, we’ll still need years to bring back even a fraction of what was lost.”

He adds, “I coached across many clubs and divisions. Almost all their facilities have been reduced to rubble. It’s not just a pause – it’s erasure.”

A systematic erasure

The scope of devastation extends beyond personal loss.

According to Asaad al-Majdalawi, vice president of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Gaza’s entire sporting infrastructure is on the brink of collapse. At least 270 sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed: 189 completely flattened and 81 partially damaged, with initial estimates of material losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Every major component of Gaza’s sports system has been hit,” al-Majdalawi told Al Jazeera. “The Olympic Committee offices, sports federations, clubs, school and university sports programmes – even private sports facilities have been targeted. It’s a comprehensive assault.”

Among the fallen are high-profile athletes like Nagham Abu Samra, Palestine’s international karate champion; Majed Abu Maraheel, the first Palestinian to carry the Olympic flag at the 1996 Atlanta Games; Olympic football coach Hani al-Masdar; and national athletics coach Bilal Abu Sam’an. Hundreds of others remain injured or missing, complicating accurate assessments.

“This is not just loss – it’s extermination,” al-Majdalawi says. “Each athlete was a community pillar. They weren’t numbers. They were symbols of hope, unity, and perseverance. Losing them has deeply wounded the Palestinian society.”

He warns that beyond the immediate human toll, the interruption of sports activities for a year and a half will result in physical, psychological, and professional regression for remaining athletes. “You lose more than muscle and skill – you lose purpose.”

A global silence

Al-Majdalawi believes the international response has been alarmingly inadequate. When Gaza’s sports community reaches out to global federations, Olympic bodies, and ministers of youth and sport, they’re met with silence.

“In private, many international officials sympathise,” he says. “But at the decision-making level, Israel seems to operate above the law. There’s no accountability. It’s like sport doesn’t matter when it’s Palestinian. The global and international sports institutions appear complicit through their silence, ignoring all international laws, human rights, and the governing rules of the international sports system,” he says.

He believes that if the war ended today, it would still take five to 10 years to rebuild what has been lost. Even that gloomy timeline is based on the assumption that the blockade ends and international funding becomes available.

“We have been building this sports sector since 1994,” al-Majdalawi says. “It took us decades to accumulate knowledge, experience, and professionalism. Now, it’s all been levelled in months.”

As the war continues, the fate of Gaza’s sports sector hangs by a thread. Yet amid the ruins, fathers like Shaker Safi, athletes like Yousef, and coaches like Shadi hold on to one unyielding belief: that sport will once again be a source of hope, identity, and life for Palestinians.

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.

Amid the relentless clatter of machinery, Ravi Kumar Gupta feeds a roaring steel furnace with scrap, blown metal and molten iron. He carefully adds chemicals tailored to the type of steel being produced, adjusting fuel and airflow with precision to keep the furnace running smoothly.

As his shift ends about 4pm, he stops briefly at a roadside tea shop just outside the gates of the steel factory in Maharashtra state’s Tarapur Industrial Area. His safety helmet is still on, but his feet, instead of being shielded by boots, are in worn-out slippers – scant protection against the molten metal he works with. His eyes are bloodshot with exhaustion, and his green, full-sleeved shirt and faded, torn blue jeans are stained with grease and sweat.

Four years after migrating from Barabanki, a district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Ravi earns $175 per month – $25 less than India’s monthly per capita income. And the paycheques are often delayed, arriving only between the 10th and 12th of each month.

Middlemen, who are either locals or longterm migrants posing as locals, supply labour to factories in Maharashtra, India’s industrial heartland. In return, the middlemen skim between $11 and $17 from each worker’s wages. In addition, $7 is deducted monthly from their pay for canteen food, which consists of limited portions of rice, dal and vegetables for lunch, as well as evening tea.

Asked why he continues to work at the steel factory, Ravi responds with resignation in his voice: “What else can I do?”

Giving up his job isn’t an option. His family – two young daughters in school, his wife and mother who work on their small plot of farmland, and his ailing father who is unable to work – depend on the $100 a month that he is able to send home. Climate change, he says, has “ruined farming”, the family’s traditional occupation.

“The rains don’t come when they should. The land no longer feeds us. And where are the jobs in our village? There’s nothing left. So, like the others, I left,” he says, his thick, calloused hands wrapped around a cup of tea.

Ravi is a cog in the wheel of the soaring dreams of the world’s fifth-largest economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has boldly spoken of making India a $5 trillion economy, up from $3.5 trillion in 2023.

But as Modi’s government woos global investors and assures them that it is easy today to do business in India, Ravi is among millions of workers whose stories of withheld wages, endless toil and coercion – telltale signs of forced labour, according to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) – provide a haunting snapshot of the ugly underbelly of the country’s economy.

Farm to furnace

The Factories Act of 1948, which governs working conditions in steel mills like the one where Ravi works, mandates annual paid leave for workers who have been employed for 240 days or more in a year. However, workers like Ravi do not receive paid leave. Any day taken off is unpaid, regardless of the reason.

Like many others, Ravi is required to work all seven days a week, totalling 30 days a month, despite the fact that Sundays were officially declared a weekly holiday for all labourers in India as far back as 1890.

Workers in many Indian factories do not receive a salary slip detailing their earnings and deductions. This lack of transparency leaves them in the dark about how much money has been deducted – or why.

Worse still, if a worker is absent for three or four consecutive days, their entry card is deactivated. Upon returning, they are treated as a new employee. This reclassification affects their eligibility for important benefits such as the provident fund and end-of-service gratuity.

In many cases, workers are forced to rejoin under these unfair terms simply because their pending wages – either direct from the company or via the middlemen – have not been paid. Walking away would mean forfeiting their hard-earned money.

In addition to all this, Ravi confirms that neither he nor his colleagues, both in his company and in nearby factories within the industrial area, have received any written contracts outlining their job roles or employment benefits.

According to a 2025 study (PDF) published in the Indian Journal of Legal Review, many workers face exploitation through unfair contracts, wage theft and forced labour due to the absence of written agreements. These practices particularly affect more vulnerable groups like migrants, women and low-skilled workers, who often have limited access to legal recourse. Al Jazeera contacted the Maharashtra Labour Commissioner on May 20 seeking a response to concerns around forced labour in industries where workers like Ravi are employed, but has not received a reply.

There is also the absence of adequate safety gear: Ravi works near the furnace, where temperatures cross 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). But workers aren’t provided with protective glass. “Neither the middlemen nor the employer gives us even the most basic safety gear,” he says.

Yet, helplessness wins.

“We know how dangerous it is. We know what we need to stay safe,” he says. “But what choice do we have?

“When you’re desperate, you have no choice but to adapt to these harsh, uncertain conditions,” he said.

‘If I get thrown out, what then?’

In the port town of Kakinada, along India’s Bay of Bengal coast – about 1,400km (870 miles) from where Ravi works – 47-year-old Sumitha Salomi earns even less than him.

A shrimp peeler, Sumitha has no formal job contract with the factory where she works. Like many others, she has been hired through a contractor – a woman from her own village. The factory, a heavily fortified facility that exports peeled vannamei shrimp to the United States, employs migrant workers from the neighbouring state of Odisha and other regions. The premises are tightly guarded, and access is strictly controlled.

But in the villages where the factory’s workers live, a common story emerges: None of them have written contracts. No one has social security or health benefits. The only work gear they have are gloves and caps – not for their safety, but to maintain hygiene standards for the exported shrimp.

India exported shrimp worth $2.7bn to the US in the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to official figures.

Sumitha explains that her pay depends on the weight of the shrimp she peels. “The only break we get is about 30 minutes for lunch. For women, even when we’re in severe menstrual pain, there’s no rest, no relief. We just keep working,” she says.

She earns about $4.50 a day. She knows the precarity of her job. Her wages are handed to her in cash, without any payslip, leaving her with no way to contest what she receives.

As a divorced mother, Sumitha carries the burden of multiple responsibilities. She’s still repaying loans she took for her elder daughter’s marriage, while also trying to keep her younger daughter in school. On top of that, she cares for her elderly widowed mother who needs cancer medication that costs about $10 a month.

But she does not question the factory bosses about her working conditions or the absence of a written contract. “I have a job – contract or no contract. That’s what matters,” she says, her voice stoic.

“There are no other jobs here in this village. If I start asking questions and get thrown out, what then?”

Unlike seasoned veteran Sumitha, 23-year-old Minnu Samay is still grappling with the harsh realities of her job in the seafood industry.

Minnu, a migrant worker from the eastern state of Odisha, is employed at a shrimp processing factory located within the high-security Krishnapatnam Port area in Nellore, about 500km (310 mile) south of Kakinada.

Migrant workers like Minnu are allowed to leave the factory just once a week for about three hours, mainly to buy essentials in Muthukur, a village 10km (6 miles) from the factory. As she hurries through the narrow market lanes, picking up sanitary pads and snacks during this brief window of freedom, she tells her story.

“I was 19 when I left home. Poverty forced me. My parents were deep in debt after marrying off my two sisters. It was hard to survive,” Minnu says. “So when we met an agent in our town, he arranged this job here.”

Slowly, she has learned while on the job, cutting and peeling shrimp. Minnu earns approximately $110 per month.

“We know we’re being exploited, our freedom is restricted, we have no health insurance or proper rights, and we’re constantly under surveillance,” she says. “But like many of my coworkers, we don’t have other options. We just adjust and keep going.”

Most overtime work is not paid, she said. “We’re watched by cameras every moment, trapped in what feels like an open prison,” she says.

On May 20, Al Jazeera sent queries to the Andhra Pradesh Labour Department, and on May 22, to the Indian Ministry of Labour, seeking responses to concerns over widespread forced labour in industries where workers like Sumitha and Minnu are employed. Kakinada and Nellore are in Andhra Pradesh state. Neither the Andhra Pradesh Labour Department nor the federal Indian Ministry of Labour has responded.

Labour rights experts say that these stories lay bare the urgent need for enforceable contracts, the abolition of exploitative hiring practices and initiatives to educate workers about their rights – vital measures to combat forced labour in India’s unorganised and semi-organised sectors.

On March 24, India’s federal Labour Minister Shobha Karandlaje told parliament that approximately 307 million unorganised workers (PDF), including migrant workers, were registered under an Indian government scheme.

But researchers say that the true scale of India’s unorganised workforce is likely even larger.

‘Concealed’ forced labour

Benoy Peter, executive director of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID), a civil society organisation based in the southern Indian state of Kerala, cited a document (PDF) from India’s National Sample Survey Organization, which said that the country’s total workforce is approximately 470 million in strength. Of this, about 80 million workers are in the organised sector, while the remaining 390 million – more than the entire population of the United States – are in the unorganised sector.

The UN International Labour Organization’s India Employment Report 2024 (PDF) supports Benoy’s observation, stating that low-quality jobs in the informal sector and informal employment are the dominant forms of work in India. The ILO report said that 90 percent of India’s workforce is “informally employed”.

And many of these workers are victims of forced or bonded labour. India ratified the ILO’s Forced Labour Convention 29 in 1954 and abolished bonded labour in 1975. Yet, according to the Walk Free Foundation, India has the highest estimated number of people living in modern slavery worldwide, with 11.05 million individuals (eight in every 1,000) affected.

The real numbers, again, are likely worse.

In 2016, the then Indian Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya informed Parliament that the country had an estimated 18.4 million bonded labourers, and that the government was working to release and rehabilitate them by 2030.

But in December 2021, when Indian parliamentarian Mohammad Jawed inquired (PDF) about this target in parliament, the government stated that only approximately 12,000 bonded labourers had been rescued and rehabilitated between 2016 and 2021.

The textile sector is among the worst offenders.

According to a parliamentary document from March this year, the southern Tamil Nadu state led textile and apparel exports, including handicrafts, with a value of $7.1bn. Gujarat, Modi’s home state, followed in second place, exporting $5.7bn worth of these goods.

Thivya Rakini, president of the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union (TTCU), says that in a decade of visiting factories to work with garment workers, she has, in almost all instances, seen at least one – and often multiple – indicators of forced labour as defined by the ILO. Those indicators include intimidation, excessive overtime, withheld wages, sexual harassment, and physical violence, such as slapping or beating workers for failing to meet production targets.

India’s textiles industry has around 45 million workers, including 3.5 million handloom workers across the country.

“Forced labour in the textile industry is widespread and often concealed,” Thivya says. “It’s not a random occurrence. It stems directly from the business model of fashion brands. When brands pay suppliers low prices, demand large volumes on tight deadlines, and fail to ensure freedom of association or basic grievance mechanisms for workers, they create an environment ripe for forced labour.”

Women make up 60-80 percent of the garment workforce, she says.  “Many lack formal contracts, earn less than men for the same work, and face frequent violence and harassment,” she said. Many are from marginalised groups – Dalits, migrants or single mothers – making them even more vulnerable in a patriarchal society.

Other sectors are plagued by forced labour too. Transparentem, an independent, nonprofit organisation focused on uncovering and addressing human rights and environmental abuses in global supply chains, investigated 90 cotton farms in the central state of Madhya Pradesh from June 2022 to March 2023 and released its final report (PDF) in January 2025, uncovering child labour, forced labour and unsafe conditions: Children were handling pesticides without protection.

‘No choice but to tolerate exploitation’

Between 2019 and 2020, the Indian government consolidated 29 federal labour laws into four comprehensive codes. The stated aim of these reforms was to improve the ease of doing business while ensuring worker welfare. As part of this effort, the total number of compliance provisions was significantly reduced – from more than 1,200 to 479.

However, while many states have drafted rules needed to implement these codes, there has still not been a nationwide rollout of these laws.

Supporters of the new labour codes argue that they modernise outdated laws and provide greater legal clarity. Critics, however, particularly trade unions, warn that the reforms favour employers and dilute worker protections. One of the codes, for instance, makes it harder to register a workers union.

A union must now have a minimum of 10 percent of the workers or 100 workers, whichever is less, in an establishment to be members of a union, a significant rise from the earlier requirement of just seven workers under the Trade Unions Act, 1926.

Santosh Poonia from India Labour Line – a helpline initiative that supports workers, especially in the unorganised sector, by offering legal aid, mediation and counselling services – tells Al Jazeera that if workers are barred from forming unions, that would weaken their collective bargaining rights.

“Without these rights, they will have no choice but to tolerate exploitative working conditions,” he says.

To Sanjay Ghose, a senior labour law lawyer practising at the Indian Supreme Court, the problem runs deeper than the new consolidated codes.

“The real issue is the failure to implement these laws effectively, which leaves workers vulnerable,” he says.

Ghose warns that India’s stagnating job creation could compound the exploitation and forced labour among workers.

India’s top engineering schools, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), have long prided themselves on how the world’s biggest banks, tech giants and other multinationals queue up at their gates each year to lure their graduates with massive pay packages.

Yet, the percentage of graduates from the IITs who secure jobs as they leave school has dropped sharply, by 10 percentage points, since 2021, when the Indian economy took a major hit from COVID-19 – a hit it hasn’t fully recovered from.

“Even graduates with high ranks from premier institutions like the IITs are struggling to secure job placements,” Ghose says. “With limited options available, job seekers are forced to accept whatever work they can find. This leads to exploitation, unfair working conditions, and, in some cases, forced labour.”

Pramod Kumar, a former United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) senior adviser, adds that weakened private investment and foreign direct investment (FDI) have made national growth largely dependent on government spending. Consequently, job opportunities are primarily limited to the informal sector, where unfair working conditions are prevalent, leading to exploitation and forced labour.

Private sector investment in India dropped to a three-year low of 11.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal year 2024, down from the pre-COVID average of 11.8 percent (fiscal years 2016-2020), according to ratings firm India Ratings & Research. Additionally, FDI in India declined by 5.6 percent year-on-year to $10.9bn in the October-December quarter of the last fiscal year, driven by global economic uncertainties.

Against that economic backdrop, Poonia, from the India Labour Line, says he can’t see how the government plans to meet its ambitious target of rescuing 18 million bonded labourers in India. He said he expects the opposite.

“The situation is going to worsen when the ease of doing business is prioritised over human rights and workers’ rights.”

Victoria Finnigan, 25, has instructed lawyers to investigate the cause of the E.coli infection after her daughter Freya Finnigan-Haynes was left needing emergency surgery

A mother has shared her harrowing tale of a dream holiday to Egypt that turned into “one of the worst experiences of her life” when her two-year-old daughter contracted deadly E.coli..

Victoria Finnigan, 25, has asked lawyers to investigate whether she has a claim after her little girl, Freya Finnigan-Haynes, required emergency surgery following their luxury trip to Hurghada. The toddler was diagnosed with a severe bacterial infection that resulted in both her kidneys failing after she fell seriously ill during the £2,000 holiday last November.

Victoria and her partner Thomas Sloan, 24, had taken Freya away for some winter sun, but all three fell ill with gastric symptoms following their holiday in Egypt.

Upon their return to the UK, Thomas recovered within a few weeks, however, Victoria and Freya were diagnosed with E.coli..

Freya’s condition worsened over the next two days, with her hands, feet and lips turning blue, leading to her being rushed to hospital by ambulance. Both of Freya’s kidneys failed and she was moved to another hospital for surgery to insert dialysis tubes.

READ MORE: Livid parents call for adults-only holidays ban as ‘no kids is discrimination’

She underwent dialysis for three weeks and received four blood transfusions, remaining in hospital over the Christmas period. Freya now has to take folic acid daily and will need annual check-ups until she turns 18.

Victoria, a home carer, and Thomas, a car body repairer, have since hired lawyers to investigate their illnesses. “We’d been looking forward to our holiday for a long time and couldn’t wait to get out there and enjoy some winter sun,” Victoria, from Twickenham, London, said.

“Instead, it turned into one of the worst experiences of our lives. It was awful when Thomas and I fell ill, but I hoped that Freya had escaped it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. To see my darling girl so unwell was incredibly traumatic, and to be told that she was suffering kidney failure devastated me.

“All I wanted to do was make her better. Sadly, she’ll have to have regular check-ups for a long time. We know we can’t change what happened but the least we deserve are some answers, especially for Freya.”

The family’s dream trip turned sour when Victoria and Thomas were struck down with sickness and diarrhoea shortly after their holiday began between November 29 to December 9 last year. Their daughter Freya started showing similar symptoms on the flight back home a week later.

While Victoria and Thomas got better within weeks of returning to the UK, Freya’s condition led to hospitalisation due to kidney failure, and she remained in care until New Year’s Eve.

Jatinder Paul, an international serious injury solicitor at Irwin Mitchell representing the family, commented on the ordeal: “The first-hand accounts we’ve heard from Victoria and Thomas are deeply concerning. The impact of gastric illness should never be underestimated. That Freya went on to develop kidney failure and had to undergo dialysis as a result, demonstrates the severity of what can happen.

“Understandably, Victoria and Thomas have a number of concerns over how their holiday was ruined by illness. We’re now investigating those concerns and are determined to provide the family with the answers they deserve.”

Post Office scandal victims are favourites to win tomorrow’s final – as we catch up with all of the finalists

Post Office scandal choir Hear Our Voice look set to take their fight all the way to the King by winning tomorrow night’s Britain Got Talent final. The group – made up of victims of the sub postmasters scandal, which saw hundreds of lives ruined by the Horizon IT fiasco – are favourites to be crowned victorious.

If they are, they will get an audience with King Charles at the Royal Variety Show. Member Tim Bretnall says it would “take their story to the highest level.” “The absolute best bit of this journey has been the audiences reactions and support, and to be able to feel that for Royalty would be unbeatable,” he said.

READ MORE: Britain’s Got Talent’s Bruno Tonioli issues five-word comment on stand-in judge KSI

“Winning the show would be huge, we’ve all spent so long fighting what’s felt like an uphill battle, and it’s still going on now, but knowing that the public are firmly behind us would mean the absolute world to us.

“It would give our cause a real seal of approval and hopefully a platform to continue to fight for the justice that people deserve, what’s already changed my life is the joy that being in choir has brought.”

The 40-strong choir was set up a year ago, to provide a happy outlet for their shared pain. Founder Mark Wildblood said it’s become “therapy” for them.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were accused or convicted of theft and fraud due to the faulty Horizon system, developed by Fujitsu and installed by the Post Office.

It incorrectly financial shortfalls, leading to one of the biggest ever miscarriages of justice. Prosecutions started more than 25 years ago but victims are still fighting for compensation and for those responsible to be held to account.

Their story inspired last year’s ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The award-winning show, which starred Toby Jones as campaigning sub-postmaster Sir Alan Bates, led to the quashing of convictions.

One whose conviction for was overturned is Tim, 42, who ran a post office in Roch, Pembrokeshire.

Speaking ahead of today’s final, he says logistics has been the hardest part of the week, not nerves.

“That’s the hardest bit of the choir because we are all from all over the country,” he explained. “Strangely nerves haven’t really come into it, it feels so good to be standing alongside all my friends doing this, we love the opportunity it’s given us.”

Promising an emotional performance, Tim teased what fans can expect. “It’s another song that really speak to us all, how we feel now we’ve come together, it really shows how courage is our talent,” he said. “We’ve been working on this song for months, we hope it will really give a feeling of how together we’ve all been brought by doing this.”

With a £250,000 prize fund also up for grabs, Tim has big plans for the money.

“If we were lucky enough to win we’d split the money evenly between all the members of the choir – after putting a little into saving for my children I plan to give the majority of my share to the 2 postmasters charities – Lost Chances and Horizon Shortfall Fund,” said Tim.

Hear Our Voice are one of 10 finalists performing night. We caught up with the rest of the hopefuls ahead of the finale.

Guitarist Olly Pearson, 11, says her’s overcome a few hiccups ahead of the final.

“I did have a problem with my guitar set up which I had to spend a lot of time working on with my grandad to stop one note ‘choking out’, he explained. But it’s all sorted now!”

Olly wants to treat his grandad if he wins. “First thing I would do is buy my Grandad his dream guitar a USA Fender Strat to say thank you for teaching me!” he promised.

Magician Harry Moulding, 24, is going all out to try win with a never before seen trick.

“All I can say is that it’s going to be the biggest thing that I’ve ever tried to do,” he teased. “I don’t think any magician has ever done this before. And I’m pretty sure that no magician has ever done it on Britain’s Got Talent or on live TV. So just expect for this to be the biggest one yet.”

Swiss dance troup The Blackouts are promising another spectacular light and dance show with a heartwarming message.

“Our final show is called Thank You Britain,” explains Elias. “It’s our way of expressing just how much this experience — and the kindness of the British public — has meant to us. You’ve welcomed us with open arms, and this is our love letter back to you. Expect emotion, energy, surprises and a lot of light — not just in the technical sense, but in the way we hope it makes people feel.”

Glaswegian singer Vinnie McKee, 29, is channeling his nerves and emotions into his performance – which he says will be a tearjerker.

“I’m extremely nervous but more excited than ever before!” he admits. “You will need to have tissues at the ready as I’m doing my own version of an emotional classic that’s never been performed like this before.”

Mum-of-one Stacey Leadbeatter, 29, has big plans for what she’ll do with the prize money if she wins – hoping it will help her grow her family.

“If I was to be lucky enough to win, I promised that I would take my little girl to Disneyland!” she begins. “I’ve promised her that one day I’d do that and this would help! I’d also use the money to help with funding to extend my family by looking into getting IVF and also it would help a great deal towards wedding costs and also releasing my own music.”

Gymnast Binita Chetry, nine, is the youngest finalist of the series – and while she may be small, she’s certainly mighty.

“It’s great because I look small but my performance is as impactful as someone bigger than me,” she said. “I feel the advantage of being the youngest contestant is I get all the love and care of others and that makes me happy. “I want to inspire all the young girls that no matter how young you are if you have a passion for something you can do anything.”

Italian dance troupe Ping Pong Pang are promising an “original, wild, and full of rhythm” show, which they hope takes them all the way to the Royal Variety Performance.

Patrizio Ratto said: “As always, we’ll mix dance, energy, and our unique style with rackets and ping pong balls. Performing for royalty is something beyond imagination. We would live it with deep respect, emotion, and all the wonder we carry in our hearts. We’d just have to polish our rackets a bit first!

Drag opera singer Jasmine Rice, 37, is promising another show stopping performance – and outfit – but says she’s struggled with hay fever in the lead up to the final.

“Aside from the usual pre-show butterflies, this British hay fever has me in a chokehold!” said the New York native, who overcame the secret heartbreak of losing her grandmother to progress to the final. “I landed here and thought my nose was auditioning for a solo of its own. But with that all aside I know now it’s just me, my voice, and that big, fabulous stage.”

Comedian Joseph Charm, 32, says he wants to win the show for his family. The dad-of-two, whose mum got involved by hitting the golden buzzer, shared: “Winning the show would be incredible but nothing will ever trump giving my mum that special moment, that will live with me forever.”

On the prize fund, he said: “That’s a lot of money… it would finally allow me to pay for one month of nursery.”

Watch the BGT final tomorrow on ITV from 7pm.

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LEVI COLWILL netted a rare and lucrative goal which propelled Chelsea’s billion-pound boys’ club into the Champions League after a two-year absence. 

And for Nottingham Forest, it was a case of what Colwill giveth, Colwill taketh away. 

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It was the Chelsea defender’s own goal, while on loan at Huddersfield Town, which earned Forest promotion to the top flight in the Championship Play-Off Final of 2022. 

But early in the second half, the England man scored only the fifth goal of his career to settle this final-day shoot-out for a place at European football’s top table. 

And Chelsea now head to Poland for Wednesday’s Europa Conference League Final against Real Betis, knowing they are assured of a place back in the elite. 

This result ensured that Enzo Maresca will survive as head coach at Stamford Bridge and will allow Todd Boehly & Co to argue that their policy of bulk-buying young players on long contracts is beginning to bear fruit. 

After a tense match of few chances, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men ended up in seventh place, which earns them a place in the Conference League next term. 

This season had promised far more from Forest, who were up in the top three of the Premier League for the majority of the campaign. 

But they have taken just one point from their final four home matches, which ultimately killed off their ambitions of playing in a higher echelon of European competition. 

For Chelsea, this was only a second Premier League away game since December.

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They were playing without a recognised centre-forward in their starting line-up – Pedro Neto operating as a ‘false nine’ in the absence of the suspended Nicolas Jackson.

While Forest had looked nailed-on for the Champions League for much of the season, a return to European football had already been secured after a 30-year hiatus.

And a banner reading ‘Destination: Europe’ was unfurled on the Trent End. 

Before kick-off, Gary Neville – banned from the City Ground for criticising Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis – was being widely accused of indulging in one-in-a-bed romps. 

But on the pitch, it was deathly dull early on – neither side bearing any attacking teeth, with Forest wasteful from set-pieces. 

It took almost half an hour for a serious scoring opportunity to arise – Noni Madueke feeding Cole Palmer down the right and the England man centring for Neto to volley over.

Almost immediately, Elliott Anderson responded for Forest with a dipping long-ranger which fell wide of the far post. 

Largely, though, it was anxious and fractious stop-start stuff – Chelsea’s players doing an awful lot of falling over, with ref Anthony Taylor rarely responsive. 

There were penalty shouts from the Forest fans when Anthony Elanga went down after a tangle with Palmer but Taylor and his VAR were not interested. 

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Just before half-time, Ola Aina swung in a cross from the right, Chris Wood arrived before keeper Robert Sanchez but the Kiwi striker volleyed over. 

At the start of the second half, Chelsea were showing more intent and within four minutes of the restart, they were ahead. 

A corner was partially cleared but a Marc Cucurella ball over the top caught Forest flat-footed and Neto rolled across goal for Colwill to tap in at the back stick and celebrate in front of the travelling Blues fans. 

Soon, Madueke’s shot was scooped clear by Matz Sels as Chelsea went in for a quick kill. 

Nuno sent on former Chelsea man Callum Hudson-Odoi and then Ryan Yates, after Nicolas Dominguez was forced to hobble after a heavy challenge from Madueke. 

But Forest struggled to turn a spell of territorial advantage into goalscoring opportunities, although Wood had a close-range effort deflected over in injury time.

And Chelsea were able to secure qualification for the Champions League in relatively comfortable style. 

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..

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Shoppers are currently racing to Amazon to buy a window-cleaning gadget that’s 43% less than usual.

The retailer has slashed the cost of the Kärcher Window Vac WV 2 Plus from £79.99 to £45.99.

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Kärcher Window Vac WV 2 Plus, £45.99 (was £79.99)

Summer is fast approaching. Rejoice!

But if the sunshine is showing up all those pesky smears and strains in your windows? Head to Amazon.

The retail giant has slashed a huge range of window vacs by Kärcher, the leading brand on the market.

Amazon often slashes prices on household appliances, making it a great place to shop for labour-saving gadgets like electric spin scrubbers and fence paint sprayers.

This clever little window vacuum is designed to make cleaning windows, mirrors, tiles and shower screens an absolute breeze.

It’s lightweight, quiet, and easy to handle, so you can get the job done without breaking a sweat.

Karcher says its leave surfaces streak- and drip-free, giving you sparkling results every time (though some Amazon shoppers say a lint-free rag might be needed to finish the job).

The VW 2 Plus comes with two suction nozzles, one wide and one narrow, so you can clean big areas and smaller, hard-to-reach places.

The vacuum also sucks up dirty water without leaving any residue behind and lets you empty it hygienically without touching the mess.

The set includes everything you need to get started: a spray bottle, a microfibre cloth, two nozzles, and 20 ml of Kärcher window cleaner concentrate.

Amazon shoppers have given the Kärcher WV 2 Plus N an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 from over 9,000 reviews.

“It’s literally a game-changer when it comes to quick cleaning,” one shopper wrote.

Another said: “Outstanding results! I was inspired to clean every window inside and out, the shower and mirrors.”

A third reviewer called it “the best way to clean windows you will find,” while another said “it performs like a dream”.

If you want to save time and effort, this could be the tool for you.

The next big Amazon sale will come in July, when Prime Day is making a confirmed return – it’s not impossible that prices might drop further on the Kärcher range.

But the question is: can your streaky windows wait until then?

Kärcher Window Vac WV 2 Plus, £45.99 (was £79.99)

Head to The Sun’s cleaning hacks hub for more tips to get your home sparkling this summer.

Holidaymakers have been left bitterly disappointed after P&O Cruises pulled the plug on a 35-night Caribbean cruise aboard the Ventura – just weeks after another cruise was scrapped.

The long-haul voyage, which was due to set sail on January 4, 2027, has been cancelled due to what the cruise line is calling “operational reasons.”

It follows the recent axing of a 14-night trip on sister ship Iona, which had been scheduled to depart on August 30, 2026.

In an earlier cancellation, the BBC reported on how cruise passengers hit out at P&O Cruises after two voyages scheduled for October 2025 aboard the Iona were scrapped to make way for a refit.

The cruises, both due to depart from Southampton, were pulled from the calendar, with the company citing the need for maintenance work.

Guests were offered full refunds along with on-board spending credit as an incentive to re-book another trip.

READ MORE: Cruise guests make ‘key etiquette mistake’ and it annoys other passengersREAD MORE: Luxury Brit cruise liner sent to brutal war – with astonishing comparison to Titanic

But many said the gesture didn’t go far enough – especially when they discovered that like-for-like holidays on different dates came with a hefty price hike.

In an email sent to passengers affect by the recent Ventura cancellation, P&O said:

“Due to operational reasons, we’re sorry to inform you that your cruise, departing 4 January 2027, is no longer going ahead.

“We understand this news is disappointing and would like to apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.

“To avoid you missing out on your holiday, however, we’ve automatically transferred you to an alternative cruise, G701, on board Iona.”

Frustrated passengers have since taken to Facebook to vent their anger and sadness over the abrupt change, with many saying they were looking forward to the now-cancelled voyage.

A spokesperson for P&O Cruises told the Echo:

“On occasion, it is necessary to change an itinerary from the one previously published and we are very sorry that Ventura’s 35-night Caribbean itinerary departing January 04 2027, has been cancelled.

“Where possible, we are pleased to offer affected guests to transfer to Iona’s similar Caribbean sailing across the same dates.

“Ventura will now offer three new itineraries, which go on sale on June 04, 2025.”

The Middle East—a cradle of history, culture, and geopolitical contradictions—has repeatedly witnessed alluring promises of peace that ultimately sank into the whirlpool of its complex realities. The doctrine of “peace through strength,” which became a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy in the region during Donald Trump’s second presidential term, relies on displays of military might, economic sanctions, and aggressive diplomacy. It claims to tame rogue actors and bring stability to a turbulent region. However, the history of the Middle East, from the failure of “maximum pressure” policies to the inability of the Abraham Accords to resolve the Palestinian conflict, demonstrates that such an approach not only fails to deliver lasting peace but often fuels instability and heightens tensions.

The strategy of “peace through strength” is based on the assumption that military posturing and economic pressure can alter the behavior of regional players or compel them to cooperate. This approach was tested during Trump’s first term through the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, beginning with the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018. The goal was to force Iran into negotiations by imposing crippling sanctions, but the outcome was quite the opposite. A 2024 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirms that Iran has enriched uranium to 60%, just a step away from weapons-grade. This advancement not only signals the failure of the pressure campaign to contain Iran’s nuclear program but also escalated regional tensions. Moreover, the 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani—intended as a show of strength—did not weaken Iran but rather empowered its proxy forces, including Hezbollah and Iraqi militias. A 2024 UN Security Council report confirms that these groups expanded their operations following Soleimani’s death.

The Abraham Accords, hailed in 2020 as a major achievement of power-driven diplomacy, are another illustration of the limitations of this approach. These agreements, which normalized relations between Israel and countries like the UAE and Bahrain, were largely facilitated through U.S. economic and military incentives. However, they ignored the core issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leading to increased violence in the West Bank and Gaza. UN reports from 2025 indicate that violence surged in these areas post-Accords, as Palestinians felt sidelined. This underscores that peace achieved by privileging some parties while excluding others is neither durable nor just—it fosters mistrust and unrest. An analysis by the Middle East Institute (March 2025) likewise emphasizes that the marginalization of the Palestinian issue has rendered the Abraham Accords fragile and incapable of withstanding regional shocks.

The Middle East is a region where history, identity, and national interests are so deeply intertwined that power-centric solutions often prove ineffective. Regional rivalries—such as the Iran-Saudi conflict or the Israeli-Palestinian struggle—are rooted in complex historical and identity-based issues that cannot be resolved through military or economic coercion. Unconditional U.S. support for Israel, a hallmark of Trump 2.0’s power-based approach, has eroded public trust across the Arab world. Pew Research Center polls in 2024 show that 72% of respondents in Arab countries perceive U.S. policies as biased and destabilizing. This distrust has only deepened with recent developments, such as Trump’s controversial proposal to relocate Gaza’s population to Egypt and Jordan and transform Gaza into the “Middle East Riviera.” The plan, strongly opposed by Egypt, Jordan, and Palestinian officials, has been condemned not only as impractical and illegal but also as an attempt to redefine the Palestinian issue as a humanitarian crisis rather than a political one.

Trump 2.0’s aggressive policies—including increased U.S. military presence in the region and threats of strikes against Iran—have exacerbated rather than reduced tensions. An April 2025 analysis by the Middle East Institute notes that Trump’s abrupt announcement of “direct” talks with Iran, while simultaneously threatening military action, sowed confusion and distrust among regional allies, including Israel. This oscillation between threats and diplomacy reflects the absence of a coherent strategic framework in Trump’s foreign policy. Additionally, U.S. military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and support for Israeli operations in Gaza—disregarding their human and political consequences—have further fueled instability. A February 2025 Newsweek analysis warns that such actions have increased the risk of direct conflict between Israel and Iran.

One of the most significant flaws of the “peace through strength” doctrine is its failure to build trust among regional actors. Lasting peace requires frameworks that account for the concerns of all parties involved, but a power-based approach often strengthens one side at the expense of another. The Abraham Accords, by excluding Palestinians, contributed to growing distrust among Arab societies. In contrast, more successful examples—such as the 1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel—demonstrate the importance of inclusive diplomacy. That agreement, reached through U.S. mediation and extensive negotiations, resulted in a durable peace because it addressed the concerns of both parties. Similarly, the 2015 JCPOA negotiations, which involved global powers and Iran, effectively curbed Iran’s nuclear program until the U.S. withdrawal in 2018. IAEA reports confirm that Iran complied with the deal until that point. This success highlights the superiority of multilateral diplomacy over unilateral pressure.

The “peace through strength” doctrine has not only failed to resolve Middle Eastern conflicts but has also contributed to economic and political instability. While broad sanctions against Iran pressured its economy, they also strengthened nationalist narratives in Tehran. A 2024 World Bank report shows that Iran has mitigated some of the sanctions’ impact by expanding trade with China and Russia. Furthermore, Trump’s aggressive economic policies—including broad tariffs on regional countries, such as a 17% tariff on Israeli goods—have created economic volatility and eroded allies’ trust. A 2025 Brookings Institution analysis notes that Chinese investments in regional infrastructure have grown significantly since 2018, signaling a decline in U.S. influence in favor of rivals like China and Russia.

The continuation of power-based policies risks further escalation. Statements by U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce—that “Iran’s threat to expel IAEA inspectors contradicts its claim of a peaceful nuclear program”—and the response by Iran’s atomic agency spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi—that “no limitations exist on enrichment under the safeguards framework”—highlight the current stalemate. These disagreements underscore the need for diplomatic dialogue, not threats and pressure.

The doctrine of “peace through strength,” by ignoring the complexities of the Middle East, has repeatedly failed. Experiences such as maximum pressure on Iran, the Abraham Accords, and unrealistic proposals like relocating Gaza’s population reveal that military and economic might without inclusive diplomacy leads to instability. The Middle East needs frameworks that consider all sides and focus on building trust. Successful cases like Camp David and the JCPOA show that while multilateral diplomacy is difficult, it can yield lasting results. For the United States, shifting from imposing power to facilitating dialogue would not only reduce tensions but also restore its role as a credible mediator.

DREAM TEAM managers are putting their faith in Erling Haaland (£7.8m) ahead of Gameweek 36.

Not only is Manchester City’s No9 the second-most popular recruit this week, he’s currently the most selected captain.

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Mohamed Salah (£6.8m) has been the most popular skipper almost every week since he established a healthy lead at the top of the rankings but many gaffers are reverting to Haaland because Pep Guardiola’s side are one of just four teams with two fixtures to fulfil this Gameweek.

There’s the small matter of the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace this Saturday before a Premier League meeting with Bournemouth at the Etihad on Tuesday night.

The Norwegian poacher returned from injury against Southampton last weekend and mustered just two points but his overall record of 30 goals and 352 points remains highly impressive.

Rotation is the lingering spectre that haunts almost every Man City asset and Haaland may be particularly susceptible having just returned from a spell on the sidelines, with Omar Marmoush (£4.8m) a more than competent understudy.

But it goes without saying that Haaland is capable of earning enough points to justify the captain’s armband in just 15 minutes if everything clicks, such is his goalscoring pedigree.

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There’s no shortage of options for Dream Team bosses who want to take on Haaland in Gameweek 36.

Bruno Fernandes (£7m) has been a near-permanent inclusion among the captaincy candidates in the second half of the campaign and with good reason.

Manchester United’s captain averages eight points-per-game having notched 19 goals and 19 assists in all competitions this term.

Ruben Amorim has said that his team selection to face Chelsea this evening will not be overly disrupted by preparations for Wednesday night’s Europa League final.

If we are to take the Red Devils’ boss on his word then Fernandes is surely in line to start against both the Blues and Spurs this coming Gameweek.

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Elsewhere, Eberechi Eze (£5.1m) is a tempting option as someone who would provide a key point of difference.

Crystal Palace’s No10 is the most-popular transfer target ahead of today’s 6pm deadline but not currently among the most selected captains.

Eze excelled in Gameweek 35 with an 18-point haul at Tottenham’s expense and is therefore well placed to provide healthy returns again with Man City and Wolves in his sights.

However, it’s hard to predict Palace’s starting line-up on Tuesday night as they don’t have much to play for in the league.

If the Eagles triumph at Wembley then Eze and friends may still be partying by the time they’re due to host Vitor Pereira’s side.

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Lastly, we’ll include Ollie Watkins (£4.4m) and Morgan Rogers (£4.3m) in the captaincy candidates.

Aston Villa only have one fixture this coming Gameweek but it might be a profitable one.

The Villains are due to host Spurs this evening and there’s every chance Ange Postecoglou will name a weakened XI to prioritise the Europa League final.

The North Londoners haven’t got the tightest defence at the best of times – they’ve shipped 82 goals in all competitions this season! – and so Villa’s most prominent attackers could thrive against a second-string outfit with other things on their mind.

Make sure to select your captain (and vice captain) before 6pm today!

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