US President Donald Trump, who promised to end America’s foreign military campaigns, has paid a visit to US troops stationed in Qatar. Trump praised the US’s deadly arsenal, hit out at his predecessor and made fun of France.
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has called Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian’s £20m investment in the club a “game-changing endorsement”.
Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams, has bought an 8-10% stake in the women’s team, and stated an ambition to make it the “next global women’s sports brand”.
He is due to be at Wembley, with Williams, for Sunday’s FA Cup final, where Chelsea are aiming for a domestic Treble.
Bompastor said Ohanian’s investment will take Chelsea Women to another level, and the news would be an “extra motivation” for players and staff ahead of Sunday’s game against Manchester United.
“This investment is a game-changing endorsement for women’s game but also for young girls,” she said.
“It just shows we are in a really great place but we still want to be an even better team, better club, and we want to be one of the best teams in the world.
“That means results on the pitch but also we want to be a model outside the pitch, we want to make sure that when young girls look at our team they just dream of being one of our players of the future.”
Bompastor said she thought the financial backing, which brings with it a seat on the board of Chelsea Women, would be a “big help” in terms of them achieving an elusive Champions League title.
Chelsea have been dominant domestically, but they were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals, beaten 8-2 on aggregate by holders Barcelona.
“We want to make sure we are in a position to compete for the Champions League,” added Bompastor.
“This year we couldn’t and we were not successful and I take the responsibility for that. Hopefully next year we will be in a better position. Having this exciting news and this great investment in the women’s team will help for sure.”
Last year a decision was taken to separate Chelsea’s men’s and women’s teams, as part of a strategic plan to help the club adhere to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
Bompastor said the decision to make the women’s team a separate entity was the “right decision”, as it meant Ohanian’s investment would solely benefit the women’s side.
“The club made some decisions in the past weeks and I think they made the right decisions, to allow this team to have investors to come in and bring the team even to another level.
“This will only go to the women’s team and will help the women’s team invest in terms of infrastructure, facilities, in terms of staff and players.”
Asked whether there was an extra buzz among the players following the news, Bompastor said: “I didn’t talk about it with the players but sure all of them are on social media.
“The game [on Sunday] is something we want to stay focused on, that’s really important.
American R&B singer Chris Brown, the former boyfriend of superstar Rihanna, was arrested Thursday in the UK on suspicion of a serious 2023 assault at a London nightclub, reports said.
Police detained Brown, 36, in the early hours of Thursday at a hotel in the northwestern city of Manchester, The Daily Telegraph and The Sun reported.
London’s Metropolitan Police said a 36-year-old man was in custody on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, without naming him.
Officers arrested the Grammy winner at Manchester’s five-star Lowry Hotel for having allegedly attacked music producer Abe Diaw with a bottle at Tape nightclub in London’s exclusive Mayfair district in February 2023, The Sun daily reported.
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The star reportedly flew into Manchester airport by private jet on Wednesday afternoon.
He is due to perform a number of dates in Britain next month.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told AFP: “A 36-year-old man was arrested at a hotel in Manchester shortly after 2:00 am (0100 GMT) on Thursday, 15 May on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.
“He has been taken into custody where he remains.”
Brown rose to fame at a young age with his rich R&B voice and later rap, but his reputation was later tarnished by allegations of domestic violence and other abuse.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is carrying out a criminal investigation into UnitedHealth Group for possible Medicare fraud.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) first broke the story on Wednesday.
UnitedHealth said it had not been notified by the DOJ about the “supposed criminal investigation reported”, and the company stood by “the integrity of our Medicare Advantage program”.
The DOJ’s healthcare-fraud unit is overseeing the criminal investigation, which focuses on the company’s Medicare Advantage business practices, WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
While the exact nature of the potential criminal allegations against UnitedHealth is unclear, it has been an active probe since at least last summer, the newspaper said.
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment to the WSJ about the fresh criminal probe. The department did not immediately respond to requests for comments from the Reuters news agency.
Last week, UnitedHealth said in a regular filing that it had been “involved or is currently involved in various governmental investigations, audits and reviews”, without disclosing further details.
The new investigation follows broader scrutiny into the Medicare Advantage programme, in which Medicare-approved plans from a private company supplement regular Medicare for Americans age 65 and older by covering more services that the government-only plans do not, such as dental and vision services.
In February, the WSJ reported a civil fraud investigation into UnitedHealth’s Medicare practices. The company had then said that it was unaware of any new probe.
In the same month, US Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa launched an inquiry into UnitedHealth’s Medicare billing practices, requesting detailed records of the company’s compliance programme and other related documents.
The DOJ earlier this month filed a lawsuit accusing three of the largest US health insurers of paying hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks to brokers in exchange for steering patients into the insurers’ Medicare Advantage plans.
Nearly half of the 65 million people covered by Medicare, the US programme for people aged 65 and older or with disabilities, are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers.
The insurers are paid a set rate for each patient, but can be paid more if patients have multiple health conditions. Standard Medicare coverage is managed by the government.
The health insurer has been under pressure for months. On Tuesday, UnitedHealth Group’s CEO, Andrew Witty, stepped down unexpectedly, and the company simultaneously suspended its 2025 financial forecast due to rising medical costs, triggering an 18 percent drop in shares to a four-year low.
Stephen Hemsley, who led the company for more than a decade until 2017, is taking back the reins following setbacks including the December murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of its insurance unit, which catapulted UnitedHealth into the public consciousness.
On Thursday, after the news of the probe broke, UnitedHealth Group shares plunged 18 percent to hit a five-year low.
“The stock is already in the doghouse with investors, and additional uncertainty will only pile on,” James Harlow, senior vice president at Novare Capital Management, which owns shares in UnitedHealth, told the news agency Reuters.
If losses hold, UnitedHealth will be the worst-performing stock on the S&P 500 index in two of the last three days.
A Wisconsin judge has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing her of helping an undocumented immigrant in her courtroom avoid arrest by immigration enforcement agents.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was charged last month with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts.
Dugan’s lawyer, Steven Biskupic, entered a not guilty plea on her behalf during a brief arraignment in a federal court on Thursday, with a trial date set for July 22.
Immigration authorities allege she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a man in the US without documentation, and his lawyer out of her courtroom and through a backdoor as immigration agents sought to arrest him.
The case is the latest to underscore tensions between local officials and a Trump administration pursuing an aggressive crackdown on immigration that civil liberties groups say has tested the limits of executive power.
Dugan left the courtroom on Thursday without comment. A crowd of protesters outside of the court chanted “due process rights” and “keep your hands off our judges” and held signs reading “only fascists arrest judges — drop the charges” and “Department of Justice overreach”.
Immigration raids on sensitive places such as courts have long been a matter of dispute, with immigration rights advocates saying that such raids discourage people in the US without documentation from accessing legal assistance or cooperating in legal matters.
An FBI affidavit says that when an aide informed Dugan that immigration agents appeared to be in the hallway outside her courtroom, she called the situation “absurd” and later confronted them about their warrant.
The Trump administration has consistently stated that it will seek to penalise local officials who do not help facilitate its enforcement push, even saying that legal action could be taken against such officials.
Tommy Paul says he has been “grinding” to reclaim his repossessed truck after reaching the semi-finals of the Italian Open.
The American 11th seed beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to secure a place in the last four in Rome for the second consecutive year.
The 27-year-old prevailed despite telling reporters he had endured a “stressful week” off the court.
“On court everything has been going pretty well,” said Paul. “Off court, a little bit of a stressful week.
“I got my truck repossessed. I missed a couple of payments and they took my truck from my house this week. I’ve been grinding to get my truck back. If you know me, that’s my baby.
“I’m excited to get it back. I had to win a couple of matches so I could pay that off.”
Paul said he had to pay $1,000 (£752) to secure the vehicle’s return.
The former Australian Open semi-finalist is already guaranteed prize money of about £245,000 this fortnight.