Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has outlined a mea culpa for the disastrous organization of the Champions League final, paving the way for reparations for fans and sanctions against police officers, while maintaining his controversial version on the number of counterfeit bills.

Ukraine: Russia tightens its grip on Severodonetsk on the 99th day of war
The Russian army was tightening its grip on the strategic city of Severodonetsk in Donbass on Thursday on the 99th day of a war that could last “many months,” Washington warns. After the failure of their flash offensive to bring down the Kiev regime, Russian forces are focusing on conquering the Donbass region, where a war of is now being waged after nearly three months of conflict. And the steamroller tactic applied by Moscow to slowly snack on Donbass seems to be paying off. In Severodonetsk, the administrative capital of the Lugansk region, “80% of the city is occupied” by Russian forces and street fighting is raging, said the governor of the Lugansk region, Sergiy Gaidai, during the night of Wednesday and Thursday.

Roland-Garros: a favorite and some firsts
World No. 8 Casper Ruud became the very first Norwegian to qualify for the final four in the Grand Slams by beating young Danish talent Holger Rune 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in an all-Scandinavian quarterfinal at Roland-Garros on Wednesday evening. Before this 2022 edition of Roland-Garros, Ruud had never made it past the round of 16 in the Grand Slams. “I have been very nervous all day,” said the 23-year-old Norwegian, who “was able to sleep a bit after breakfast.” He will face Croatia's Marin Cilic, who is now world No. 23, who defeated world No. 7 Andrey Rublev in five sets 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10/2). On the women's side, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek came up with a 33rd win to beat Jessica Pegula (11th), 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals where she will face Russia's Kasatkina (20th), who dominated her compatriot Veronika Kudermetova (29th), 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).

IN SHORT
Actor Johnny Depp won his lawsuit against his former wife Amber Heard, even though jurors concluded that the two stars had defamed each other. The jury awarded the actor 15 million dollars in damages, but also two million dollars in financial compensation to his former wife.
WHO assumes that the situation is worsening in North Korea, faced with a Covid-19 wave, and deplores the lack of information and cooperation from the Pyongyang authorities, who in turn assure that the number of “fever” cases is falling.
The New Zealand Rugby Federation (NZR) approved a 200 million New Zealand dollars (122 million euros) deal with the Californian investment fund Silver Lake on Thursday, ending a two-year battle over the commercial rights of the famous All Blacks.
In soccer, the Ukrainian team gave its war-torn country a breath of hope by beating Scotland (3-1) on Wednesday in the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup play-off. The Yellows and Blues are only 90 minutes away, or longer if there's overtime or even penalty kicks, from Qatar, but getting there will have to beat Wales in Cardiff on Sunday.