A new Justice Department criminal investigation has put E Jean Carroll back in the legal spotlight, with prosecutors examining whether the former columnist committed perjury during her civil court battles with President Donald Trump, according to media reports.
Trump Accuser Faces Perjury Probe in Alleged Assault Case
EU slaps Temu with €200m fine for selling illegal products
EU regulators have hit Chinese-owned online retailer Temu with a €200 million penalty, accusing the fast-growing marketplace of letting illegal and unsafe goods reach consumers — from hazardous baby toys to faulty device chargers.
NASA Unveils Roadmap for a Permanent Moon Base by 2032
Nasa is laying out an ambitious roadmap for its first Moon base, a project the agency says could put people living and working on the lunar surface within six years.
The proposed outpost would sit at the Moon’s south pole and expand over time, potentially spreading across hundreds of square miles as additional sites and equipment are added. Nasa plans to build up the settlement in phases, gradually increasing capability and permanence.
The agency says the base is aimed at accelerating new scientific discoveries while maturing the technologies required for deeper-space exploration, including future missions to Mars.
The announcement comes after the Artemis II crew carried out a record-breaking flyby of the Moon in April, a milestone Nasa described as a critical step on the path to returning astronauts to the surface.
From now through 2029, the first phase would rely on robotic missions to scout the south polar region, validate key systems and lay the groundwork for surface operations.
Those early efforts include deploying drones to help explore and map difficult terrain, alongside remote and crewed lunar vehicles designed to function in the Moon’s punishing conditions.
Nasa also expects the period to serve as a proving ground for commercial lunar landing services and the delivery of payloads essential to later stages of construction.
Under the blueprint, the second phase running from 2029 to 2032 would introduce early habitation and begin establishing semi-permanent infrastructure.
NASA outlined plans for a sustained presence on the Moon
That stage is expected to include trials of technologies that could eventually support nuclear power systems on the Moon.
It would also bring pressurised rover vehicles that allow astronauts to work in shirt sleeves for as long as 30 days while conducting experiments and other tasks.
The third and final phase, beginning in 2032, is intended to deliver a continual human presence with routine crew rotations.
Nasa said that long-term operations would require larger habitation modules with upgraded environmental control, power and life-support systems, as well as large-scale uncrewed cargo return capability from the lunar surface back to Earth.
Across all three phases, the plan depends on multiple launches and landings to deliver equipment, supplies and crews.
The south polar region was selected because Nasa considers it among the Moon’s most strategically and scientifically important locations and well suited to long-duration exploration.
Unlike many lunar areas that endure lengthy stretches of darkness followed by lengthy periods of daylight, the south pole offers extended sunlight with shorter intervals of shadow.
Nasa says those lighting patterns can support more consistent solar power generation and steadier temperatures for exploration hardware and surface work.
Introducing the proposal, Nasa chief Jared Isaacman said public interest in a Moon base reflected excitement about a return to the lunar surface and what he called a “grand return”.
He said: “It means people are looking up again, believing in big things again, and paying attention as America returns to the moon again, and this time to stay.”
Mr Isaacman added: “We are leveraging the Nasa playbook from the 1960s figuring out what works and what doesn’t in this epic science of survival. Because the moon base is as beautiful as it is hostile.”
He highlighted the extreme temperature swings astronauts and equipment must handle: in sunlight, he said, the Moon’s surface can rise above 121C, while in darkness it can drop well below minus 128C.
And in permanently shaded craters—areas that may not have seen sunlight for billions of years—temperatures can fall well below minus 240C.
NASA’s Artemis II mission flew around the Moon last month
Mr Isaacman said: “There is no atmosphere to moderate these extremes, no protection from radiation and solar particle events and the surface is exposed to meteorite impacts.”
He went on: “Recognising this reality, I’m often asked why we send our astronauts into such a harsh and dangerous and unforgiving environment of space or the lunar surface and at such great cost.
“We go for the technology we will pioneer to get there, the science and all that we will learn that will make life better here on earth, to advance humankind on this great adventure, to inspire the next generation to do it better than we can and to be very clear to master the skills for where we will inevitably go next.”
Vowing to “never give up the Moon again”, Mr Isaacman said: “For those waiting patiently, the grand return is close at hand, and we will not slow down.
“We are moving with the competence and the purpose to accomplish the missions that only NASA is capable of achieving, and we are really just getting started.”
Dr Lori Glaze of Nasa’s exploration systems development mission directorate, said: “The incredible success of the Artemis II mission has taken Nasa from proving what is possible to making the extraordinary routine.
“Just last month, humanity returned to deep space.
“Artemis II is not only a historic journey, it was a comprehensive test of Nasa’s capabilities as we push farther from Earth.”
Carlos Garcia-Galan, Moon base programme executive, said: “We envision the Moon base to be hundreds of square miles with different assets all building up to the objective of permanent lunar presence on the moon.”
Speaking later during a Q&A, Mr Isaacman said the goal was ultimately to establish “a lot of outposts” across the lunar surface, adding that caves had also been examined as potential shelter from the hostile environment.
On the scale of the proposal, he added: “There’s certainly going to be a whole lot of inspiration that’s coming out of this for the next generation, but number one, we want to be in an environment where we can learn the skills, so that astronauts can go and plant the stars and stripes on Mars someday.”
Wiil Soomaali ah oo lagu dilay goob lagu tukanayay Saalada Ciida ee dalka Mareykanka
May 28(Jowhar)-Khaalid Mohamed ayaa shalay lagu toogtay goobti salaada ciida lagu tukanayay ee Centerbury Park ee magaalada Shakopee ee gobalkan Minnesota.
Former Red Army Faction militant sentenced to prison for armed robbery
After evading authorities for more than 30 years, Daniela Klette has been handed a 13-year prison sentence by a German court for a string of armed robberies committed over nearly two decades.
The court found Klette, 67, guilty over a series of robberies carried out between 1999 and 2016. Police have identified her as a former member of the Red Army Faction, the far-left militant organisation that dominated headlines in West Germany during the Cold War era.
Klette was arrested in 2024, ending decades in hiding, after an investigative journalist used facial recognition software to locate her living in Berlin under an assumed name.
The Red Army Faction emerged from the leftist protest movements of the 1960s and went on to orchestrate kidnappings and murders, with violence peaking in the late 1970s before gradually petering out.
Police vehicles leaves the premises of the provisional courthouse of the Regional Court of Verden
Prosecutors said Klette belonged to what they described as the group’s “third generation.” The organisation is sometimes referred to as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, after its founders, and pursued the overthrow of what it regarded as a fascist capitalist state. Authorities say the group killed about 34 people between 1970 and 1991.
Although the Red Army Faction issued a final statement in 1998 announcing an end to its “urban guerrilla warfare,” investigators have long maintained that individual members continued to evade capture for years afterward.
Police are still searching for two men suspected of acting as Klette’s accomplices: Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, both described as former Red Army Faction members.
FIFA Served Subpoena in Investigation Into World Cup Ticketing Practices
FIFA is facing a subpoena from New York and New Jersey after state investigators moved to scrutinize how tickets for the 2026 World Cup have been priced — and whether fans are being accurately told where they will sit.
In a joint release, New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said prices for the 2026 World Cup matches “far exceeded the prices for any previous World Cup tournament.”
FIFA has pointed to its first-time use of “dynamic pricing,” a model that changes ticket costs in response to demand, as part of its approach to sales.
But a wave of fan complaints — including allegations that purchasers paid for seats in one part of a stadium only to be issued less desirable locations — has drawn the attention of state officials.
Asked to account for why prices rose after the initial on-sale date in October, FIFA president Gianni Infantino (above) defended the organisation on several fronts, stressing the reality of limited inventory for a tournament that attracts global demand.
The attorneys general said they are seeking details on the overall event pricing structure, location-based pricing, seat placement and related information tied to the eight World Cup matches scheduled for MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
MetLife Stadium is also set to stage some of the tournament’s biggest dates, including the quarter-finals, semi-final and the 19 July final.
“New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets,” James said in a release.
FULL LIST OF WORLD CUP FIXTURES
“No one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats, and fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchased will be the ones they receive.”
Officials said the investigation is aimed at easing anxieties among supporters who have already bought tickets — or who still hope to — but believe they may have been misled about what they would ultimately receive.
“FIFA has turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity and impossibly high prices — all at the expense of consumers and hard-working New Jerseyans,” Davenport said in the statement.
James said watchdogs have urged government leaders to help navigate disputes from fans who say they selected seats in one “category” — one of four available at MetLife Stadium — only to find themselves assigned seating further from the pitch.
FIFA also contributed to confusion over seat location, James said, by introducing a premium ticket option, described as a “Front Category,” only after initial tickets had already been sold.
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WHO: Current Ebola outbreak shows significantly lower death rate
Amid mounting concern in central Africa, the latest World Health Organization update indicates the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is proving far less deadly so far than many previous epidemics in the country.
Since the outbreak was declared in the DRC in mid-May, the World Health Organization has recorded more than 1,000 suspected and confirmed Ebola cases in the central African nation.
In an update posted on X today — dated 24 May — the WHO said 10 deaths have been confirmed as caused by Ebola, with another 223 deaths suspected to be due to the virus.
The same update reported that one person has also been confirmed to have died of Ebola in neighbouring Uganda, where a further six infections have been confirmed.
Even with those figures, the UN health agency cautioned that the real extent of transmission is likely greater, warning the virus may have been circulating unnoticed for some time.
Without providing further detail, the WHO update said the case fatality rate among suspected cases currently stands at 24.6%, while the fatality rate among confirmed cases is 9.8%.
Those rates are notably below outcomes seen in the 16 prior Ebola outbreaks recorded in the DRC since the virus was first identified there in 1976.
Historically, most DRC outbreaks have involved the Zaire strain of Ebola, a variant that typically kills 60-90% of patients and is also the only strain for which vaccines are available.
Health officials have said the current outbreak is being driven by the less common Bundibugyo strain, for which no approved vaccines or treatments exist.
In the DRC’s two previous outbreaks linked to that strain — in 2007 and 2012 — case fatality rates were estimated at roughly 30% to 50%.
But Abdi Rahman Mahamud, the WHO emergency alert and response director, stressed last week that fatality rates can shift as an outbreak unfolds, often falling when infections are identified sooner and treatment begins earlier.
“Early referral and early care saves lives,” he told reporters.
Ciarán Donnelly, Senior Vice President for crisis response at the International Rescue Committee, said the organisation was deeply worried by the situation, describing it as “hard to overstate the sense of alarm we’re feeling” around the outbreak.
Appearing on RTÉ’s Drivetime, he pointed to three specific concerns.
First, he said the virus appears to have spread extensively while remaining undetected for “at least two months,” with some reports suggesting it may have gone unnoticed for “up to four months” — a delay that leaves responders struggling to catch up.
Second, Donnelly highlighted that eastern DRC is heavily affected by conflict, with territory divided among different armed groups and the government, complicating public-health operations and making it more difficult to contain transmission.
Third, he said the region’s health system — and wider humanitarian capacity — has been severely weakened by the impact of global funding cuts for humanitarian assistance over the past year.
“So right at the very moment in which the health system and humanitarian actors need to be scaling up we are actually at our lowest levels of funding for several years.”
Uganda shuts DR Congo border: health ministry
Uganda has closed its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in an effort to limit the spread of Ebola from its neighbour, the health ministry said.
Uganda has recorded seven cases of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola since the outbreak was identified in the DRC on 15 May.
“Uganda is temporarily closing the border with the DRC with immediate effect,” health ministry permanent secretary Diana Atwine told reporters.
“The only exceptions are for authorised Ebola response teams, humanitarian operations, food and cargo transportation, and security under strict health screening and monitoring protocols,” she said.
Ms Atwine also announced that anyone arriving from the DRC will be subject to a 21-day quarantine overseen by the Ministry of Health and district surveillance teams, alongside regular health checks for pupils at schools located near the border.
Israel waxay sheegtay inay dishay taliyihii Xamaas ee dhawaan loo magacaabay Gaza
May 28(Jowhar)- Israel waxay sheegtay inay dishay taliyihii garabka hubaysan ee Xamaas ee dhawaan laga aasaasay Gaza, tallaabadaas oo timid maalmo uun ka dib markii ciidamada Israel ay sheegeen inay tirtireen taliyihii ka horreeyay, iyadoo cadaadiska dagaalku uu ka sii kordhayo Gaza ilaa Lubnaan iyo Daanta Galbeed.
Israel Designates Much of Southern Lebanon as New Combat Zones
Israel has sharply escalated warnings to Lebanon, declaring every area south of the Zahrani River — a waterway running roughly 40km from the border — a “combat zone” and urging residents to leave ahead of strikes targeting Hezbollah.
The sweeping alert, the first of its kind since an 17 April ceasefire, came as Israel’s military carried out broad raids in Lebanon’s south and east, and as Hezbollah said its fighters were battling Israeli forces beyond an Israeli-declared “yellow line” in the south.
The developments unfolded as many Lebanese attempted to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
“We advise the residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of the Zahrani River, as all areas south of the river are considered combat zones,” the Israeli military said on social media, adding it would act “with great force” against Hezbollah.
Israel has said this week it will step up its campaign in Lebanon and that it is expanding its ground operations there.
Talks are expected on Friday between Lebanese and Israeli military delegations at the Pentagon, with another round of direct negotiations anticipated next week aimed at ending the hostilities.
Before the Zahrani warning, the Israeli military had also issued evacuation notices for the southern city of Nabatieh, along with large parts of the coastal city of Tyre and nearby districts.
The aftermath of an Israeli attack on Tyre, Lebanon
An AFP correspondent said residents from the threatened areas of Tyre gathered in parts of the city not covered by the warning. Authorities, however, cautioned that shelters were full and urged people to travel to Beirut instead.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) later reported strikes on Tyre and its surroundings, while Israel’s army said it was hitting “Hezbollah command centres”.
NNA also reported a wave of strikes on Nabatieh city that caused “huge destruction” in residential neighbourhoods.
Lebanon’s army said today that an Israeli strike in south Lebanon killed one of its soldiers.
Israel’s army chief Lieutenant Colonel Eyal Zamir said: “we are intensifying our operations in order to strike ever more severe blows to the Hezbollah organisation”.
‘Yellow line’
NNA reported additional Israeli strikes in other parts of the south and in the eastern Bekaa valley, as Israel’s military said it was targeting “Hezbollah infrastructure sites”.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said its fighters “clashed with the enemy forces at point-blank range” in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, just beyond the Israeli-declared “yellow line” in south Lebanon where Israeli troops have been operating.
An Israeli military official said yesterday that soldiers had begun operating outside the “yellow line”, which extends around 10km into Lebanese territory.
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Hezbollah also said it carried out three drone attacks on Israeli positions near the two countries’ shared border in northern Israel.
Israel’s military said several explosive drones fell inside its territory, and that no injuries were reported.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the overall death toll since the war began on 2 March has reached 3,269 — up by 56 from a day earlier after heavy Israeli strikes.
The NNA, citing the mayor, said 15 people were killed in yesterday’s strike.
West Bekaa
After Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Israel has repeatedly hit Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley and issued evacuation warnings.
In recent days, strikes have intensified, concentrating on the West Bekaa town of Mashghara.
The area connects south Lebanon with Hezbollah strongholds in the northern Bekaa and serves as a key supply route for the group.
Lebanese military expert Hassan Jouni said the West Bekaa “is a necessary corridor for Hezbollah members if they want to move between the Bekaa and the south” and warned it could become a focal point for additional Israeli attacks.
He said Israel’s operations could soon widen to “target the north Bekaa intensively or even Beirut’s southern suburbs”, areas that have been relatively spared since the ceasefire.
A military delegation of six Lebanese officers, led by the army’s director of operations Georges Rizkallah, will take part in Friday’s Pentagon talks.
A military source told AFP the delegation will “emphasise the need for a ceasefire, and will present the army’s plan for a state weapons monopoly and the extension of state authority across the country”.
Latest Middle East stories
Taoiseach Says Adding Services to OTB Scheme Is “Not Feasible” to Implement
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has ruled out widening the Occupied Territories Bill to cover services, saying such a move is “not implementable” and could expose Ireland to significant economic fallout.
The Cabinet approved the text of the legislation this morning. The bill is designed to prohibit the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, with the Government aiming for enactment within weeks.
Before the Cabinet meeting, Mr Martin warned that extending the measure beyond goods could rebound on Ireland.
He said it could do so “more than anybody else in terms of potential impacts on US multinationals based here back in America.
“We need to be realistic and need to be honest with people in respect of what we can achieve via this legislation,” he said.
The Taoiseach framed the bill as part of a broader sequence of actions taken by the Irish Government, calling it “further initiative in a long line of decisions the Irish Government has taken, from the recognition of a Palestinian state to intervention in the South African legal case on genocide to the ICJ, respect UN resolutions and so forth”.
After the Cabinet meeting, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee said she welcomed Government approval of the text of the Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill.
The coalition wants the legislation on the statute book before the summer recess in July.
Ms McEntee told ministerial colleagues that Ireland has long argued for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
In an interview on RTÉ’s News at One, she said the legislation “won’t change the decisions or the actions by the Israeli government”, but argued that every effort should be made to pursue the wider aim of “a peaceful solution, a two-state solution”.
She also pressed for stronger EU-wide measures: “… In tandem to this legislation I will continue to advocate for Europe to act collectively to respond to not just the increase in settler violence and expansion but the other actions that are taken in Lebanon, be it in Gaza or indeed the reintroduction of the death penalty.”
“If you look at goods or trade more generally in the occupied territories, if you were to ban that across the EU you’re obviously talking about a much bigger percentage, so we are very clear the actions that we are taking here it is in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Watch: Helen McEntee says she hopes the OTB legislation will be enacted by summer recess
As drafted for Cabinet, the bill would make the importation of goods originating in the settlements an offence under section 14 of the Customs Act 2015.
The Government says the approach aligns with an International Court of Justice opinion issued in 2024.
That opinion urged states to take steps to prevent trade that assists in maintaining the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Read more:
Ireland calls for EU ban on trade with occupied territories
Latest Middle East stories
However, coalition members on the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee are seeking an explanation for why the Occupied Territories Bill stops short of banning trade in services.
Last year, the committee recommended prohibiting both goods and services.
Fianna Fáil TD and former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said he has asked Ms McEntee to appear before the committee to set out why the Government is not following what was recommended.
“If we marched up the hill on this, we need to see compelling evidence to now beat a retreat”, said he said.
Mr Ó Fearghaíl said he and other TDs understood that proceeding with a goods-only ban did not reflect public opinion on the issue.
Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan said he was disappointed the legislation did not include a ban on trade in services, saying a personal visit to the frontline in the Middle East — and the devastation he witnessed — had shaped his view.
Mr Brennan said he could accept it if the Government had received legal advice limiting what could be done, but added that committee members should also have access to that guidance.
“We need to see the devil in the detail,” he said.
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‘Moment for courage and principled leadership’
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) called on the Government to ensure the bill applies to both goods and services.
Chief Commissioner Liam Herrick said the International Court of Justice had “made clear that states must avoid economic or trade dealings that support or entrench Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
“That obligation does not distinguish between goods and services, and neither should this legislation.
“If Ireland is to give real meaning to its commitment to international law and human rights, the bill must include services as well as goods. This is a moment for courage and principled leadership.
Senator Frances Black, who first introduced the legislation, said the Government had announced “a partial ban” on trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
Senator Black said the Government’s version “omits the majority of Irish trade” in services such as tech, and “undermines the scope of the legislation”.
She said she will work with opposition parties to table amendments to include services when the bill comes before the Dáil in the coming weeks.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik welcomed the decision to proceed with the Occupied Territories Bill, but said she was disappointed that trade in services was excluded.
The Dublin Bay South TD warned that, without services, the plan risked being more symbolic than meaningful or impactful.
Speaking to reporters, Ms Bacik said she plans to raise the issue in the Dáil.
Government ‘speaking out of both sides of its mouth’ on Israel sanctions – Boyd Barrett
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman also argued that services must be covered.
He told reporters the Government was making “a political call” to weaken the bill by leaving services out.
“Maybe we’re kind of coming to the actual nub of the issue now, that it is not a legal issue,” he said.
“This is a political call, and the political call is we can annoy the Trump administration a little bit by including goods, but not that next little bit by including services.
“I don’t accept that argument.”
Mr O’Gorman said the bill “must be passed, including services as well”, and argued there was no legal barrier to doing so.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the Government’s approach would gut the original bill by excluding services, adding that services accounted for 70% of trade with Israel.
He also said the proposed ban on goods might not cover all goods.
Mr Martin said Deputy Boyd Barrett was seeking an Israeli boycott. He said the Deputy was campaigning and attacking the Government rather than explaining what was being proposed.
The Taoiseach also said a full Israeli boycott would affect thousands of workers in Ireland. Mr Martin defended the Government’s stance, saying Ireland was one of the few EU states that had stood up on the issue.
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