THE first members of a far-right group that allegedly plotted to attack the German parliament and overthrow the government will go on trial in Stuttgart on Monday. Nine suspected participants in the coup plot will take the stand in the first set of proceedings to open in the sprawling court case, split among three courts in three cities. The suspects are accused of having participated in the “military arm” of the organisation led by the minor aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss. The alleged plot is the most high-profile recent case of far-right violence, which officials say has grown…
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SOUTH Africa’s scandal-hit ex-president Jacob Zuma has made a surprise comeback by running in May’s elections against his former party, the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Zuma, the fourth president of democratic South Africa between 2009 and 2018, was forced from office under a slew of graft allegations. He is still facing trial on corruption charges. In 2021, he was briefly jailed for contempt of court after refusing to appear before a corruption inquiry. Sentenced to 15 months, Zuma spent only two months behind bars. He was released initially for health reasons, after which President Cyril Ramaphosa commuted his sentence.…
THE European Union (EU) says it will restrict visa provisions for Ethiopian nationals because of the lack of cooperation from the government to take back citizens who overstay illegally. In a statement released on Monday, the EU council said it would no longer issue multiple entry visas to Ethiopians. It added that it would also stop waiving the visa fee for Ethiopian holders of diplomatic and service passports. The visa processing would extend from 15 days to 45 days, the EU said. Ethiopian authorities are yet to comment on the matter. The move comes after the EU concluded that “cooperation…
PARIS St-Germain have won their third consecutive Ligue 1 title after second-placed Monaco fell to a 3-2 defeat against Lyon. PSG are 12 points clear and cannot be caught with just three games remaining. Malick Fofana scored the winner for Lyon on Sunday, with the 19-year-old slotting home from close range late on. PSG had the chance to seal the title with victory on Saturday but could only manage a draw against relegation-threatened Le Havre. It is PSG’s 12th Ligue 1 title and their 10th in the past 11 years. Luis Enrique’s side will now turn their attentions to winning…
PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas says the US is the only country that can stop Israel from attacking Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million people are taking refuge. Mr Abbas, who runs parts of the occupied West Bank, said any attack could see Palestinians flee Gaza. Israel has consistently vowed to carry out an offensive in Rafah. US President Joe Biden “reiterated his clear position” on Rafah to Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a call on Sunday. The US has repeatedly said it cannot support a large-scale Israeli military operation in Rafah without seeing a credible plan…
THE Duke of Sussex will return to the UK in just over a week for a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. Prince Harry will attend the thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on 8 May. The prince will give a reading during the service, while actor Damian Lewis will recite a poem. Prince Harry was last seen in the UK in February for a brief visit to see King Charles after his cancer diagnosis. It is the first major event he will have attended in the UK for some time. The prince launched the Invictus…
BURKINA Faso has rejected “baseless accusations” that soldiers massacred 223 people in attacks in February. A Human Rights Watch report alleged the army killed 179 people in Soro village and 44 others in Nondin, at least 56 of who were children, on 25 February. The NGO said this was “among the worst army abuse” incidents in the country in nearly a decade. Burkinabè authorities said they had opened a legal inquiry to “establish the facts” and condemned HRW’s report. “The government of Burkina Faso strongly rejects and condemns such baseless accusations,” communications minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in a…
SOUTH Africa’s former President Thabo Mbeki has vowed to remove “rotten apples” and “thieves” from the governing African National Congress (ANC) party. The 81-year-old was on the campaign trail for the ANC for the first time ahead of elections in May. He made the pledge in front of cheering crowds in Soweto as the party that has governed since the end of white-minority rule in 1994 faces allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Last week, protesters from Soweto took to a major highway to show their anger about a lack of basic services in the township outside Johannesburg that witnessed widespread…
THE office of the First Lady in Nigeria, created by many governors, has become a hotly coveted title among some state governors who have more than one wife, as the rivalry between their wives spills into the public space In a not-too-subtle competition for influence, Titilola and Ngozi, the two wives of the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, locked horns, each claiming to be the First Lady of the state. Titilola, reputed to be the governor’s first wife, proudly bears the traditional title of Yeye Soludero of Ila Orangun in Osun State. She was honoured with the NET Ambassador award…
BAYER Leverkusen and Nigeria striker, Victor Boniface, said Xabi Alonso had a particular advantage over other coaches on the training pitch. “Imagine you’re training and your coach is doing better than you,” Boniface told AFP in an interview. “Then you want to step up your game. “For him to be involved in training gives us a boost,” Boniface said of Alonso, who “has won everything that can be won in football.” “Sometimes he tells me of players he played with, with similar abilities to me. He tries to improve me in my weakest areas.” Leverkusen host third-placed Stuttgart on Saturday…
LIVERPOOL forward Mohamed Salah said if he speaks “there will be fire” after he argued with manager Jurgen Klopp on the touchline during the 2-2 Premier League draw at West Ham. Salah seemed to clash with Klopp as he prepared to come on as a 79th-minute substitute. Klopp said he would not disclose what the argument was about, but former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch said on TNT Sports that “it doesn’t look good for the club”. “Salah is a player who has started the majority of games for Liverpool and he will be fuming to be on the bench,” Crouch…
PRO-PALESTINIAN demonstrations continue in universities across the United States, as they also spread to schools in Europe and Australia. In the second week of protests calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, thousands of students are calling on dozens of universities to divest from Israel. Some universities have been forced to cancel their graduation ceremonies, while others have seen entire buildings occupied by protesting students. One of the latest to join the movement is The City University of New York (CUNY), where hundreds of students have set up an encampment on…
HAMAS has published a video showing the first proof of life of two more hostages being held in Gaza. In undated footage filmed under duress, Omri Miran says he has been held for 202 days and Keith Siegel mentions this week’s Passover holiday, indicating the clips were filmed recently. Both were captured when Hamas launched its deadly attacks on 7 October. Responding to the video, their families said they would keep fighting for the men’s return. They also urged the Israeli government to secure a new hostage release deal. The new video comes as Hamas said it was studying Israel’s…
ELECTRICITY supplies have been restored to Sierra Leone following weeks of power cuts, after it paid off part of the $48m (£38m) bill it owed to a Turkish company. The $18m payment came as the country’s energy minister resigned, saying he took full responsibility for the crisis. Most electricity supplies to the capital, Freetown, come from a Turkish ship anchored off the country’s coast. Last week, Karpowership said it had severely cut supplies to the city – from 60 megawatts to 6 megawatts – because of the unpaid bills, but the disruption has been going on for far longer. Residents…
A DAUGHTER of deposed Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum on Friday accused his predecessor of being the “mastermind” behind the military coup that toppled her father nine months ago. Bazoum and his wife have been under arrest in the presidential palace in Niamey since army officers seized power on July 26. He had been elected two years earlier, succeeding President Mahamadou Issoufou, in Niger’s first-ever peaceful transition since independence. “The hardest thing to accept was to discover that Mahamadou Issoufou was the mastermind who orchestrated everything out of egocentrism and to protect his interests,” Bazoum’s daughter Hinda Bazoum wrote in an…
SUPER Eagles duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi have won promotion back to the Premier League with Leicester City without kicking the ball on Friday. Their promotion was confirmed after Leeds United were thumped by Queens Park Rangers. The 4-0 defeat at Loftus Road means Daniel Farke’s side stay four points behind Championship leaders Leicester with only one game left. The Foxes remain on track to amass 100 points on their way back to the top flight following their relegation last season. Leicester can now claim the Championship title on Monday with victory at Preston if third-placed Ipswich fail…
PREMIER League chief executive Richard Masters on Friday revealed the case against Manchester City for alleged financial breaches will be resolved in the “near future”. City are bidding to win a fourth successive Premier League title this season, which would be their second triumph in the competition since being hit with 115 charges of breaching financial rules in February 2023. The allegations relate to City’s conduct in nine seasons starting in 2009 until 2018, when the Premier League opened an investigation into the club. Asked on Friday whether another City title success while the charges remain unresolved would damage the…
A PREMATURE Palestinian baby, who was saved from her mother’s womb after she was killed in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip, has died after days in an incubator. Sabreen al-Rouh Jouda died in a Gaza hospital on Thursday after her health deteriorated and medical teams were unable to save her, said her uncle, Rami al-Sheikh Jouda. Dr Mohammad Salama, head of the emergency neonatal unit at Emirati Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, who was caring for the baby girl, also confirmed her death on Friday. “I and other doctors tried to save her, but she…
IRAQI social media influencer Om Fahad has been shot dead outside her home in Baghdad, according to local media reports. The attack happened in the capital’s eastern Zayne neighbourhood on Friday. Iraq’s interior ministry confirmed in a statement that a “woman known on social networking sites” had been killed by “unknown assailants”. It added that a “specialised work team” had been set up to investigate the circumstances of her death. Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was reportedly shot in her car by a lone person with a gun riding a motorbike. An Iraqi security source told the AFP…
THE United States will withdraw some troops from Chad, the Pentagon has said, days after Washington agreed to move forces out of neighboring Niger. The US has approximately 100 troops stationed in Chad as part of its strategy to combat extremism in West Africa. “USAFRICOM is currently planning to reposition some US military forces from Chad, a portion of which were already scheduled to depart,” Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told a news conference on Thursday, referring to the US Africa Command. “This is a temporary step as part of an ongoing review of our security cooperation, which…