Aston Villa crushed Nottingham Forest at home, securing a spot in the UEFA Europa League final final to face Fiorentina. In the second leg of the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League semi-final on May 7, Villa opened Villa Park against Nottingham Forest, who had won the first leg 1-0.

In the first half, Villa created opportunities but Nottingham's goalkeeper Stefan Ortega made crucial saves. Villa broke through in the 36th minute when Emiliano Buendía drove down the left flank and squared the ball for Ollie Watkins, who finished cleanly to make it 1-0. Watkins had another chance in the 38th minute but Ortega turned away his shot.

The second half saw Villa take control completely. In the 56th minute, VAR confirmed a penalty after Nikola Milenković pulled down Pau Torres in the box, and Buendía converted to make it 2-0. In the 70th minute, Nottingham threatened when Chris Wood broke through but Aston Villa's goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez made a crucial save.

Villa sealed the tie with two more goals. In the 77th minute, John McGinn fired in from close range to make it 3-0. McGinn struck again in the 80th minute with his left foot to complete a 4-0 victory and a 4-1 aggregate triumph.

This is Villa's first European cup final appearance and only their second in club history, with their previous European Cup triumph coming in the 1981-82 season, 44 years ago.

In the other semi-final, Fiorentina defeated Braga 3-1 at home to win 4-3 on aggregate and reach their first European cup final in club history.

The final between Fiorentina and Aston Villa will be held at Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on May 20.

On May 7, while Muang Kanchanaburi police were operating a crime prevention checkpoint near the Mae Nam Khwae Vocational College on Saengchooto Road in Tambon Thamakham, a gray Toyota sedan passed through with 56-year-old Somsakdi behind the wheel. Officers noticed he showed clear signs of intoxication and conducted a search, discovering a small brown glass bottle containing 28 methamphetamine pills hidden inside the vehicle.

Somsakdi confessed that the methamphetamine was his, purchased at 50 baht per pill. He was driving to visit his wife, who is imprisoned at Kanchanaburi Provincial Prison on drug charges. Before leaving home, he had consumed two pills before being arrested at the checkpoint.

Police transferred Somsakdi to investigators at Muang Kanchanaburi Station for further legal proceedings.

'Tae' announces Bangkok governor bid, highlighting 'half-price massage' policy and establishing 'matchmaking office' to address single working-age people, while increasing cosmetic surgery hospitals to help Bangkok residents achieve good appearance at affordable prices. On May 7, Mongkolkitti Suksintharanont and his team visited Building 6 at Rangsit University in Pathum Thani after students scheduled to create content and conduct interviews about his vision for preparing to run for Bangkok governor. Mongkolkitti stated that his bid for Bangkok governor represents an independent group not affiliated with any political party, with an administrative team already established featuring multiple deputy governors currently being selected. His policies will focus on beauty, health, and the service economy to improve quality of life for Bangkok residents. Regarding PM 2.5 dust pollution: vehicle standards must be checked for both old and new cars and automobile manufacturing plants, with non-compliant vehicles ordered off the road, while limiting vehicle entry to Bangkok by dividing operating hours into three 8-hour shifts to reduce traffic congestion. Addressing the single population issue: Currently, working-age people in Bangkok aged 25-34 have a single status rate as high as 50-60%, affecting birth rates and long-term population structure. He proposes establishing a 'matchmaking office' as a new Bangkok agency distributed across districts with staff to facilitate pairing and create opportunities for people to find partners within 30 days. Cosmetic surgery hospitals: Another important initiative is making Bangkok residents beautiful by converting 12-13 hospitals. If Bangkok resident illness decreases, these will become specialized cosmetic surgery hospitals with additional specialist surgeons as civil servants, and may partner with private sector to provide surgical services such as nose jobs, chest surgery, skin treatments, body care, and cosmetic repairs to help Bangkok residents achieve good appearance at affordable prices. Half-price massage project: This concept involves allocating a portion of Bangkok's budget to subsidize massage expenses for Bangkok residents in a cost-sharing model where the city covers half—for example, if a service costs 600 baht, Bangkok pays 300 baht, similar to the government's past 'half-price for all' program model.

A durian farmer is devastated after wild squirrels invaded and damaged premium-grade Monthong durians prepared for export, with only 10 days left before the scheduled harvest. A reporter visited a durian orchard in Moo 8, Ang Khiri Subdistrict, Makham District, Chachoengsao Province after learning of the attack on the premium export-grade Monthong durians.

Thongkham Singkhon, a 69-year-old durian farm owner, revealed that she has been cultivating Monthong durian trees for over 7 years. This year's crop produced excellent quality fruit ideal for premium export, with nearly the entire harvest meeting export standards. However, the harvest was scheduled to begin in just 10 days when disaster struck.

The farm suffered an unexpected crisis after being attacked by a troop of wild squirrels, resulting in complete damage to the durian crop. The squirrels employed a "drilling" technique to check the flesh before tasting the fully ripened durians, immediately degrading the quality. A single tree was punctured by the squirrels in over 10 places, resulting in approximately 70 kilograms of losses.

The farm owner expressed her frustration, stating that while she successfully protected the durians from recent storms through careful effort, she never anticipated damage from wild squirrels. The loss of tens of thousands of baht may not seem significant to outsiders, but for an elderly farmer, that amount represents substantial loss.

English Premier League football heads into the climactic final weeks of the season with fixtures running from Saturday, May 9 through Thursday, May 14, 2025, delivering non-stop action from the long weekend into midweek matches. The schedule showcases direct clashes between top teams and high-stakes relegation battles where every point is crucial, with complete coverage on Monomax and select matches on MONO29.

The headline match kicks off Saturday, May 9 at 6:30 PM with Monomax broadcasting the heavyweight showdown between Liverpool at home and visiting Chelsea—a title race battle with direct implications for European qualification. Liverpool will look to dominate with attacking pressure while Chelsea need points to maintain their position. At 9:00 PM, three matches take place simultaneously, starting with Brighton vs. Wolverhampton, an attacking duel between two aggressive sides. Fulham face Bournemouth in a mid-table battle where both teams pursue vital points for safety, broadcast on both Monomax and MONO29. Sunderland face the challenge of Manchester United, the Red Devils pushing to secure crucial points in the final stretch.

Manchester City host Brentford at 11:30 PM Saturday night in a critical fixture for the Sky Blues who cannot afford to drop points. On Sunday, May 10 at 8:00 PM, Monomax shows three simultaneous matches: Burnley vs. Aston Villa in a key fight for standings position; Crystal Palace vs. Everton, with both teams needing points to guarantee survival; and Nottingham Forest vs. Newcastle United, with the visitors seeking three points. At 10:30 PM, West Ham host Arsenal in the London derby—an intense battle crucial for both the prestige and points needed to lead the table, broadcast on both Monomax and MONO29.

Tuesday, May 12 at 2:00 AM (early Monday morning), Monomax shows the thrilling late-night clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United, a match critical for both sides. The week concludes Thursday, May 14 at 2:00 AM (early Wednesday morning) with Manchester City playing back-to-back fixtures, hosting Crystal Palace in another destiny-defining match where the Sky Blues must secure victory to keep their championship hopes alive until the season's final day, broadcast on Monomax.

Football fans should not miss complete live coverage of all matches with official licensing on Monomax through the SPORTS STANDARD and SPORTS PREMIUM packages at special Early Bird rates at https://monomax.me/earlybird from today through May 24, 2025 only.

'Top Jhan' Phongsakorn Jongjai Rak, one of Thailand's top cue masters, created a sensation in Thai snooker by unleashing a spectacular and perfect 147-point maximum break for the first time in his life, earning 584,000 baht in prize bonuses. He then comfortably defeated 'Phone Konhuwan' Yanawat Phueak Ghlom 4-1 frames to advance to the semi-finals against Jack Saraburi. Meanwhile, 'F1' Terpchaiyan Unnhoo, the world's 18th-ranked snooker player, smoothly dominated 'Bank Chanyont Sakolnakorn' Porpiya Kaosamphan 4-2 frames to break through the qualifying round of the Thailand Ranking Circuit 2026 snooker competition in Phitsanulok.

The I-EA-T Phitsanulok Cup Thailand Ranking Circuit 2026 finals, the third event, took place at Rattana Grand Convention Center, Phitsanulok, on May 7, 2026. It was the fourth day of competition featuring the final eight players competing in a best-of-seven frames format. The day's highlight was a clash between 'Top Jhan' Phongsakorn Jongjai Rak, one of Thailand's premier cue masters, and 'Phone Konhuwan' Yanawat Phueak Ghlom, a rising star and former Thai youth champion.

In the opening frame, Phone broke with mixed red and white balls, allowing Top to pocket the red in the top right corner and clear the black, then execute a perfect red-black sequence. Top continued through all 15 reds and blacks, followed by yellows through to black, achieving an outstanding perfect break of 147 points—the first of his snooker career. He received prize money totaling 564,000 baht, divided as follows: Niche Cues 200,000 baht, Asia Cues 147,000 baht, 4x4 Pong 147,000 baht, plus 50,000 baht from 'Tong' Sittichoke Thammaraksaa and 20,000 baht for the highest break from the Thai Billiards Association.

In the second frame, Phone Konhuwan fought back with a break of 62 points to level at 1-1 frames. Over the next three frames, Top Jhan remained dominant, closing out the match 4-1 frames with a scoreline of 147-0, 37-61, 67-6, 63-25, 69-29 to advance to the semi-finals against Jack Saraburi.

In another match, 'F1' Terpchaiyan Unnhoo, the world's 18th-ranked snooker player and reigning champion of the second venue, dominated 'Bank Chanyont Sakolnakorn' Porpiya Kaosamphan, scoring a century break of 128 points to win 4-2 frames with scores of 61-50, 128-7, 4-66, 28-75, 75-73, 71-36. F1 advanced to the semi-finals to face 'Tim Kan' Chatchapong Nasa, who narrowly edged out 'Gig Phitsanulok' Santiphap Im Bunsue 4-3 frames with a scoreline of 63-45, 70-40, 0-86, 97-32, 7-85, 25-73, 63-45.