Blatter ‘happy’ to testify at Platini appeal

FIFA’s disgraced former president Sepp Blatter arrived at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday to testify at Michel Platini’s appeal against his six-year ban from football over ethics violations. “I was asked to be a witness today in the case concerning Mr. Platini and I accepted,” Blatter told reporters as exited his car outside the court in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He added that he is “happy to be witness in this matter.”
Blatter is a key figure in the saga that saw Platini, the suspended head of European governing body UEFA, ousted from football.
In December, FIFA judges banned both men for eight years over a now infamous 2 million Swiss franc ($2 million, 1.8 million euros) payment that Blatter sent to Platini in 2011.
Blatter and Platini have claimed the funds were part of a legitimate oral contract in connection with consulting work that Platini did for FIFA between 1999 and 2002.
FIFA’s judges deemed that explanation unconvincing, but an appeals body at world football’s governing body reduced their bans to six years in February, citing mitigating circumstances.
Platini’s appeal at CAS, the world’s top body for disputes in sport, marks his final chance to overturn his suspension.
UEFA has said it will not replace Platini until all his appeals have been exhausted.
If successful at CAS, Platini could immediately reclaim his UEFA post and preside over the Euro 2016 tournament which opens in June and is being hosted in his native France.
“It will be nice to see Michel Platini again,” Blatter said before entering the court at roughly 10:40 am (0840 GMT). “It has been a while since I’ve seen him.”
UEFA vice president Angel Maria Villar, who will testify on Platini’s behalf, also entered the courthouse, without speaking to journalists.
The head of the Euro 2016 organising committee, Jacques Lambert, was also on hand to support Platini’s case.

Zidane hopeful of having Ronaldo and Benzema fit for City

Real Madrid will be without Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema for Saturday’s trip to Real Sociedad in La Liga but coach Zinedine Zidane is hopeful of having both back to face Manchester City next week. Ronaldo has missed Madrid’s last two games, including the 0-0 draw away to City in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, while Benzema came off in that match and his club later confirmed he was suffering from a thigh injury.
Zidane admitted it was not worth risking either player against Real Sociedad but indicated both could feature in the semi-final second leg against City at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
“The most important thing for now is that they recover. We can’t take risks with Cristiano or Karim, or anybody. The idea is that they come back as soon as possible,” Zidane told a press conference on Friday ahead of Saturday’s game in San Sebastian.
“I can’t say how likely it is that they will play (against City). I hope both are back at 100 percent but I can’t say for certain.”
Ronaldo sat out last weekend’s 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano with a thigh strain but Zidane said it was a different problem that kept him from playing at the Etihad Stadium.
Meanwhile, Zidane had said Benzema would be out for “seven or eight days”, leaving the Frenchman with a race against the clock to recover for the City showdown.
Madrid come into the weekend one point behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of the table with three matches remaining.
Zidane’s side have won their last nine league games, but he is wary of the trip to Anoeta, where Barcelona lost recently.
“We know it will be a difficult match at a difficult venue, but as always we need to focus on ourselves,” he said.

Serena pulls out of Madrid Open with flu

World number one Serena Williams has pulled out of the Madrid Open, which begins this weekend, with flu, organisers announced on Friday.
“Unfortunately, I have to withdraw from Madrid because I’ve been battling the flu and I’m not at 100 percent. I look forward to returning soon,” said Williams in a statement released by organisers.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion, 34, is a two-time winner in Madrid having triumphed in the Spanish capital in 2012 and 2013.
Last year she reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual winner Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic.
In the absence of Williams, Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, who had been seeded two, will become the top seed.
Williams, who is the defending French Open champion, is now scheduled to open her clay-court season at the Italian Open in May.

Gunmen kill five in Burundi bar attack

Gunmen in trenchcoats burst into a bar firing at drinkers in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura killing five, police said Friday, the latest in a string of attacks in the troubled country. Four civilians and a soldier were killed and three others were wounded in the shooting late on Thursday.
“A group of four armed criminals wearing long coats entered … they started shooting at customers,” police spokesman Moise Nkurunziza said.
Hundreds have been killed and a quarter of a million people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial decision last April to run for a third term, a vote he won amid opposition boycotts in July.
The latest efforts to hold talks between rival factions are due to open on Monday in the Tanzanian town of Arusha.

South Africa court rules Zuma should face almost 800 graft charges

South African President Jacob Zuma should face almost 800 corruption charges that were dropped in 2009, a judge said Friday, piling further pressure on the embattled leader. The charges, relating to a multi-billion dollar arms deal, were dropped by the chief state prosecutor in a move that cleared the way for Zuma to be elected president.
“The decision… to discontinue the charges against Mr Zuma is irrational and should be reviewed,” Pretoria High Court judge Aubrey Ledwaba said.
“Mr Zuma should face the charges as applied.”
The prosecutor had justified dropping the charges by saying that tapped phone calls between senior officials in then-president Thabo Mbeki’s administration showed political interference in the case.
The recordings, which became known as the “spy tapes”, were kept secret but finally released in 2014 to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), after a five-year legal battle.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said Friday’s court ruling was a major blow for the president, who has faced months of criticism over various corruption scandals and the country’s dire economic outlook.
“Today is a great victory for the rule of law. Ultimately Jacob Zuma must face prosecution,” Maimane said after attending the court hearing.
“We are deeply, deeply delighted. We believe it’s a significant judgement.
“Jacob Zuma must have… his day in court.”
The DA called for the National Prosecuting Authority to immediate revive the 783 charges of corruption dating back to 1999.
But the legal wrangling is set to continue, with the ruling likely to go to appeal.
– A weakened president? –
The president last month lost another major legal case when the country’s highest court found he violated the constitution over the use of public funds to upgrade his private residence.
The so-called “security upgrades”, which cost taxpayers $24 million, included a swimming pool, chicken run, cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre.
The DA and other opposition parties attempted to impeach him in parliament, but the ruling African National Congress (ANC) used its majority to easily defeat the motion.
Zuma has also been beset by allegations that a wealthy Indian migrant family had such influence over him that it could decide ministerial appointments.
Pressure on the president to be ousted or to resign has grown with several veteran leaders of the party that brought Nelson Mandela to power in 1994 calling for him to step down.
Zuma, 74, will have completed two terms in 2019 and is not eligible to run for president again, but the ANC — which is packed with his loyalists — could replace him ahead of the next election.
Last week, a commission he set up cleared all government officials of corruption over the 1999 arms deal.
Zuma himself was accused of having accepted bribes from international arms manufacturers.
His advisor, Schabir Shaik, was jailed for 15 years on related charges in 2005, with the judge saying there was “overwhelming” evidence of a corrupt relationship between the two.
Shaik was released on medical parole in 2009, the year Zuma was elected president.
Zuma’s competency was also questioned when he sacked two finance ministers within days in December, triggering a collapse in the rand and a major withdrawal of foreign investors.

Rapper Drake releases long-awaited album ‘Views’

Drake, one of the most successful rappers of the moment, on Friday released his long-awaited new album, “Views” — an ode to his hometown Toronto. “Views” — his fourth studio album, and the first since “Nothing Was the Same” in 2013 — is a 20-track opus that clocks in at nearly 90 minutes.
It was released exclusively at midnight on Apple Music and iTunes — further evidence of the power of the streaming market.
“The album is based around the change of the seasons in our city,” the 29-year-old Canadian rapper said in an interview late Thursday with Apple’s Internet radio station Beats 1. Fans got an early listen of the music before the midnight release.
“Winter to summer and then back to winter again. It’s just to show you the two extreme moods that we have. We’re very grateful for our summers but we also make our winters work … And they’re harsh.”
“It creates a different type of atmosphere, a different sound, a different type of person even. And I thought it was really important to make the album here during the winter,” he said.
Drake invited a few top names to collaborate with him: Rihanna — who previously paired with the rapper on “What’s My Name?” and “Work” — sings on “Too Good” and Kanye West produced “U With Me?”
“Views” also includes a few recently released songs including “Pop Style” — a track which initially featured West and Jay Z, but which Drake changed in the final edit to cut them — and the smash hit “Hotline Bling” as a bonus track.
“I’m really proud of the songwriting on this,” Drake said.
The album cover is a picture of the landmark CN Tower in Canada’s largest city — with the rapper Photoshopped into it so he appears to be perched on top of it.
– Power of streaming –
Drake first started discussing the album in 2014, and gave it a temporary title, “Views from the 6” — a reference to the fact that in 1998, Toronto incorporated six separate municipalities into one mega-city.
But in 2015, he instead released two separate mixtapes.
“If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,” which Drake considered a mixtape and he initially released on Apple’s iTunes, was the sixth top selling “album” in the United States last year and was nominated for the Grammy for Best Rap Album.
The success of the mixtape propelled Drake to be one of the most sought-after performers last year and he headlined major festivals including Coachella in California.
Drake is set to tour in the United States and Canada this summer.
The release of “Views” comes less than a week after Beyonce dropped her surprise new album, “Lemonade” — also exclusively on a streaming platform, her husband Jay Z’s Tidal.
In 2015, recorded music revenue expanded by 3.2 percent worldwide to $15 billion, fueled by an extraordinary growth in subscriptions to streaming services, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
The growth was the first uptick in the music industry at a more than marginal level since 1998, when sales grew 4.8 percent year-on-year.
Apple Music now has 13 million users, Apple boss Tim Cook said this week.

US toddler shoots mother dead

A toddler riding in the back of a car accidentally shot dead his mother with a gun that slid out from under the driver’s seat, US police said Wednesday.
The 26-year-old victim, Patrice Price, was pronounced dead at the scene following Tuesday’s incident in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the local sheriff’s office said.
The child, aged two and a half and identified by local media as a boy, fired the 40-caliber gun through the driver’s seat where his mother was at the wheel.
Local broadcaster WISN quoted the victim’s father as saying that she was a mother of three.
“This little girl right here meant everything in the world to me,” Andre Price told the station. “And I lost the other half of my heart.”
The weapon apparently belonged to the victim’s security guard boyfriend, with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper reporting that she was driving his car because hers had been stolen days earlier.
The sheriff’s office said that deputies found a security officer’s gun belt belonging to the boyfriend on the floor of the front passenger seat.
The firearm was recovered on the floor behind the driver’s seat. An investigation is under way.
Also in the vehicle was another of Price’s children, aged one, and the woman’s mother. Neither of the children was in a car seat.
Price’s mother told relatives that her daughter turned to her after a loud pop rang out and said: “Momma, don’t let me die,” WISN reported.
Following the shooting, fellow motorists stopped and pushed the car out of traffic before police arrived and performed CPR on Price while awaiting the arrival of emergency medical personnel.
Tuesday’s shooting comes on the heels of a similar accident, though not fatal, in Florida last month.
In that instance, a four-year-old boy accidentally shot his mother in the back while she was at the wheel, leaving the passionately pro-gun woman badly wounded.
Jamie Gilt, who had boasted online about her toddler’s shooting prowess, was cruising down a major thoroughfare with her son in the back when he shot her on March 8. The bullet went through the seat cushion.
The mother and boy were on their way to pick up a horse, said police, who rushed to Gilt’s aid after an officer checked to see why the vehicle had stopped.
The weapon was a .45-caliber handgun the boy found on the floor of the pickup truck Gilt was driving. Police said she legally owned the weapon.
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, a group aimed at reducing US gun violence, there have been at least 77 shootings this year during which a child or adolescent aged 17 or under unintentionally fired a gun and killed or injured someone.
Firearms claim the lives of some 30,000 people in the United States each year.

Investigators find defects in crashed Bristow Helicopter flight recorders

Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has released a preliminary report on a Bristow helicopter that crashed in February, finding defects in the helicopter’s two recording systems.
One of the faulty systems, Faerito image recorder, “is understood to be the first accident damaged recorder of this type”.Spokesperson for the AIB, Tunji Oketunbi, yesterday told The Guardian that the faulty recorder, however, had nothing to do with safety and operations of the ill-fated flight.
Oketunbi said investigators had retrieved all necessary information from the recorders and they would help in further investigations.While the actual cause of the accident is yet to be known, the investigators will carry out evaluation on the aircraft approved maintenance programme; determination of the helicopter maintenance history and detailed reconstruction of flight based on recorded data.
Others on the checklists are analysis of the helicopter performance in relation to cyclic, collective and yaw stabilization control; investigative testing of all Stabilization Augmentation System (SAS), Trim
Actuators; interview of relevant personnel of the operator and further physical observation and electrical continuity and insulation resistance checks on the cable looms of both auto-pilot, cyclic, collective and yaw control channels among others.
The helicopter, according to the investigators, was fitted with a Multi Purpose Flight Recorder (MPFR), which represents the Cockpit Voice Recorder/Flight Data Recorder (CVR/FDR).
However, a separate Faerito Avionics Recorder (Cockpit Image Recorder (CIR) was also installed in the helicopter to augment the CVR and FDR. The recorders were retrieved when the aircraft was recovered from the ocean in good condition and sent to Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB), United Kingdom (UK) and were successfully downloaded and are now being analyzed.
It would be recalled that the Sikorsky S-76C++ Helicopter, with registration number 5N BQJ, belonging to Bristow Helicopters Nigeria Limited crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on February 3, 2016. Emergency responders rescued onboard nine passengers and two crew members alive and without major injuries.
Preliminary findings confirmed that: “the flight crew were certified and qualified to conduct the flight in accordance with applicable Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs).“The Captain and Co-pilot had 2497:45 and 852:00 hours on aircraft type, respectively.
The helicopter was maintained in accordance with approved maintenance schedule. “The helicopter was manufactured in 2007 with total Airframe Hours of 6,837:85 5. The flight departed from the ERHA FPSO (Floating Production Storage Off-loading) Oil Platform.’’

Syria ceasefire should be ‘revitalised’ before peace talks resume

The UN’s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said Thursday that he planned to hold another round of peace talks next month but called for a ceasefire to be “revitalised” before setting a date. He made the comments after briefing the United Nations Security Council on progress at the talks, which he said had made gains despite escalating violence on the ground that continued to threaten a fragile truce.
He highlighted that all parties at the Geneva-based talks now recognised the need for a new transitional government in Syria that should be tasked with drafting a new constitution, even if huge divides remain on the nature of that government.
As the latest round of negotiations went on recess, de Mistura said he wanted to open a fresh set “during the course of May”, to build on momentum earned so far.
He added however that he was holding off on fixing a date in hopes that world powers would use their leverage to strengthen the ceasefire, which needed to be “urgently revitalised.”
“How can you have substantial talks when you have only news about bombing and shelling?” de Mistura said.
The UN envoy specifically cited the United States, which supports some rebel groups, and regime-ally Russia as countries that needed to intervene, calling on Washington and Moscow to organise a high-level Syria meeting before negotiations resume.
The talks are focused on creating a transitional government capable of leading Syria out of a brutal civil war that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
De Mistura insisted progress had been made on that key issue.
“No one is doubting anymore that there is an urgent need for a true and credible political transition,” he told reporters.
“There is a clear understanding that a political transition should be overseen by a new, I repeat new, credible and inclusive transitional government, which will be replacing the present governance arrangement,” he further said.
But the UN mediator declined to discuss the most daunting obstacle at the talks, which is the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has insisted that Assad cannot be part of a transitional government and must agree to leave power as part of any peace deal.
Government negotiations have said Assad’s fate is not on the agenda at the negotiations.
The HNC, backed by Saudi Arabia and the West, officially withdrew from this round last week to protest escalating violence, but left technical experts in Geneva who continued to meet with UN mediators.

Zuckerberg tightens grip as Facebook profit soars

Facebook on Wednesday fielded a plan to tighten Mark Zuckerberg’s grip on the helm as the booming social network reported stellar profit. Profit in the first quarter tripled from a year ago to $1.5 billion as revenue jumped to $5.4 billion from $3.5 billion in the same period a year earlier.
“We had a great start to the year,” said Facebook co-founder and chief executive Zuckerberg.
The key metric of monthly active users rose to 1.65 billion, up 15 percent from a year ago. And those using Facebook daily rose 16 percent to 1.09 billion, with strong gains in numbers of people using mobile devices.
The report shows Facebook is using its dominant position in social media to boost advertising revenues as it connects more people with new services such as live video.
Facebook also announced that its board of directors approved a plan to create a non-voting class of stock intended to raise capital while leaving Zuckerberg in control of the company’s vision and direction.
Shareholders will get to vote on the proposal at an annual stockholders meeting on June 20, according to Facebook.
The move aims to allow Zuckerberg to remain in charge even as he gives away the bulk of his holdings to charity as he announced last year with his wife.
“We are focused on the long-term, and that is the main reason for today’s proposal,” Zuckerberg said during an earnings call.
“Facebook has been built by a series of bold moves. And when I look out at the future, I see more bold moves ahead of us than behind us…I am committed to seeing this mission through.”
Zuckerberg noted that Facebook has always been a founder-led company, and that has allowed it to focus on long-term goals without succumbing to takeover offers or critics.
Facebook, like Google, went public in a way that kept control in the hands of founders instead of putting it in the grasp of shareholders.
“Today’s board proposal will allow us to do what we do well, and fund the Chan (Zuckerberg) Initiative,” he said.
The initiative takes aim at global challenges such as curing diseases, improving education, and protecting the environment from climate change, according to Zuckerberg.
“If you want to increase your control, now is the time to do it so people won’t fight you,” analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said of the share structuring move.
“If you buy into Facebook, you are buying into Zuckerberg and his team; and they are executing very well right now.”
Facebook shares were up more than nine percent to $118.81 in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings report.
– New revenue streams –
Revenue that the California-based social network took in from advertising alone soared 57 percent in the quarter.
“Facebook just keeps getting stronger and stronger every quarter. Its share of digital advertising is continuing to grow, and it is steadily adding new revenue streams,” said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson.
“Two years after Facebook rolled out premium ads in the news feed, we see advertisers moving past the experimentation stage and beginning to craft advertising specifically for Facebook — rather than simply repurposing TV spots.”
The market tracker forecast that Facebook would capture $10.2 billion in display ad revenue in the United States this year to claim 31.2 percent of the money spent.
Mobile was expected to account for the bulk of Facebook’s digital ad revenue in the US this year, with Instagram and video formats aimed at smartphones or tablets driving growth.
Facebook has been cautiously optimistic about the potential for money-making advertising on its popular services such as Instagram, Messenger and Live real-time video streaming.
“As we expected, Facebook is putting a lot of emphasis on Messenger this year, and the announcements at f8 earlier this month show that it is on a path toward monetizing that service,” Williamson said, referring to the social network’s annual developers conference.
“Instagram remains popular with advertisers, and the ad rollout appears to be going smoothly among Instagram users.”
Facebook has moved beyond its role in social networking to ramp up its messaging platform, and has also moved into virtual reality with its Oculus headsets for which orders have begun.
“They are focused on business, and their side projects aren’t big enough to drag on profits,” analyst Enderle said of Facebook.
“A nicely run company with no big surprises.”
Zuckerberg’s long-range vision could help Facebook handle the danger faced by young Internet users leaving the social network for a hip new online scene, taking others with them, according to the analyst.

Ivorians say goodbye to Papa Wemba with all-night tribute

Mourning Ivorian fans were performing an all-night musical tribute to honour legendary Congolese rumba star Papa Wemba, who died after collapsing on stage during a festival in Abidjan this week. Ivorian Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan and Papa Wemba’s widow were among the high-profile mourners who began the evening’s ceremonies by paying their respects in front of the artist’s white coffin at a funeral parlour in Abidjan.
The singer’s body is to be repatriated to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday.
Crowds at the funeral home, many of them from the Congolese community in Ivory Coast, broke into applause as one of Papa Wemba’s tunes filled the room.
His widow Marie Rose, better known as Maman Amazon, was supported by several family members.
“An artist never dies. In death, an artist becomes even greater. Papa Wemba is dead, and now even greater than before,” said Ivorian minister of culture Maurice Bandaman in front of a poster reading “Papa Wemba, legend.”
The flamboyant star died at the age of 66 after collapsing on stage at a music festival in Abidjan on Sunday, but the cause of his death is not yet known.
A pioneer of the fusion of Cuban and electronic rock in the 1970s, Papa Wemba found world renown as African music grew in popularity in Europe and the United States over the following decades.
The Congolese minister of culture had earlier urged mourners in the country not to allow their tributes to take on a “political” aspect.
“We want this period of mourning to be strictly a cultural event, not a political one,” Banza Mukalay said.
The political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been strained for months, as suspicions grow that President Joseph Kabila will seek to extend his 15-year rule by postponing elections set for November.

California cops in spotlight over racist messages

Police in Los Angeles and San Francisco have come under fire after authorities uncovered racist and homophobic text messages and emails in which minorities were referred to as “barbarians” and “wild animals.”
Three officers in San Francisco have already left the police department after the messages were discovered and a fourth is facing disciplinary measures, officials said.
On Tuesday, authorities released details of text messages exchanged between the three former officers in which they used the N-word to refer to black people, and described Arabs as “rag heads.”
The messages could affect at least 207 criminal cases, including three for murder, San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi told reporters.
He said the slurs were discovered as part of a separate probe over rape accusations against Jason Lai, one of the former officers.
In one of the text messages Lai compares black people to “barbarians” and a “pack of wild animals on the loose.”
“It is chilling how casually former officer Lai dehumanizes the citizens he was sworn to serve,” Adachi said. “He wished violence upon the very people he was being paid to protect and none of his colleagues turned him in.”
In Los Angeles, the county sheriff’s chief of staff, Tom Angel, has also come under the spotlight for emails he forwarded in 2012 and 2013 mocking Muslims, blacks, Latinos and women.
Angel at the time was a top police official in the city of Burbank, near Los Angeles.
According to the Los Angeles Times, which obtained a copy of the emails, one message forwarded by Angel on January 7, 2012, lists a series of terrorist attacks attributed to “devout Muslim male extremists” and says “Muslims, gotta love em can’t punish em …….?”
Officials at the sheriff’s office in Burbank could not be reached for comment but Angel told the Times he did not mean to embarrass or demean anyone and that it was unfortunate his work emails had not been kept private.
“Anybody in the workplace unfortunately forwards emails from time to time that they probably shouldn’t have forwarded,” Angel told the Times. “I apologize if I offended anybody, but the intent was not for the public to have seen these jokes.”

Leicester holds its breath for footballing miracle

A collective euphoria has gripped Leicester’s humdrum streets as the often-overlooked English city stands at the cusp of achieving global sporting immortality by winning football’s most coveted league title. Many in the medium-sized Midlands city will not talk about the possibility of one of sporting history’s most unlikely triumphs for fear of jinxing their heroes.
“If you look at all the fans, the people, the city, it’s an incredible, incredible time,” said Ian Smith, while readjusting his Leicester City scarf.
“It means the world to them. A once in a lifetime experience.”
But the impossible dream will become a reality if the Foxes win at Manchester United on Sunday.
The club, who started the season as one of the relegation favourites and 5000/1 shots to finish top, would still have two more matches to seal arguably the most unlikely league title in English football history if they were to lose at Old Trafford.
Sitting between the powerhouses of Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester, Leicester has a population of around 330,000.
Locals pride themselves on their hospitality, welcoming strangers with open arms and using the affectionate greeting “m’duck”.
For a city instilled with restraint and discretion, the current emotional eruption is unprecedented.
“It’s an unbelievable buzz everywhere, there are… blue items just everywhere,” said Anna Hulewicz-Brown, adding that the city was almost unrecognisable from the one where she had spent her whole life.
– On the global map –
The temperature will ramp up a notch on Friday when the city’s landmarks, houses and shops will be illuminated and draped in blue until the end of the season.
Fans nervous about Sunday’s big match will be able to calm their nerves in the city’s pubs with a “Vardy bomb”, a cocktail invented in honour of star striker Jamie Vardy.
Others are seeking divine intervention, with a city-centre street preacher now using football to begin his sermon while singing the praises of “Saint Vardy”.
Even fans of the town’s successful rugby club Leicester Tigers are on board, having Vardy’s name emblazoned on the back of their shirts.
“Every time I go out in the street, everybody wants to talk about football,” said mayor Peter Soulsby, who has been swamped with international media requests to explain the miracle.
“It’s a wonderful thing for the city, with Richard III being reinterred last year and Leicester winning the Premier League,… we couldn’t hope for anything better,” added die-hard fan Sandra Baum.
The last Plantagenet king was buried at the city’s cathedral last year following the sensational discovery of his remains underneath a council car park, 500 years after his death.
The story shone a rare spotlight on the city, but fans say the city’s footballing fairy tale eclipses everything.
“It puts Leicester City on the map,” said Prami Singh, a regular at the team’s King Power Stadium.
His friend Asif Sheikh lauded the city’s cosmopolitanism and the authentic atmosphere inside the stadium.
“Manchester United, Chelsea fans are from different cities, but the fans here are all born and bred here,” he said.
– No ‘big-time Charlies’ –
Fruit and vegetable seller Scott Lee, 43, epitomises the city’s familiarity, working on the stall that used to be run by the family of Gary Lineker.
The former England international is revered in Leicester and his family name still appears above the stall.
The ardent fan, now a presenter, promised last December that he would host BBC’s flagship football show in his underpants if the team won the title.
Lee revealed that the current players can wander around town free from hassle, and said the absence of “big time Charlies” in the squad was a key part of their success.
“Manchester United spent 270 million ($395 million, 350 million euros) and have got nothing. We’ve got a team like Leicester, they play together and are friends.
“(Japanese striker) Shinji Okazaki was around town last week. I talked to him, didn’t understand him, but a lovely man. You wouldn’t see that at Chelsea.”
He is in no doubt that the country is behind them, and that they will have the world’s support when they tackle Europe’s elite in next season’s Champions League.
“The world likes it, it’s the underdog story. We’ll beat them, we’ve got a team, not just individual players,” he said.

Niguez stunner hands Atletico slender lead over Bayern

A sensational solo effort from Saul Niguez handed Atletico Madrid a precious 1-0 advantage over Bayern Munich from the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday.
The Spanish under-21 international skipped past four Bayern players before firing into the far corner to give Atletico the perfect start after 11 minutes.
Bayern dominated for long spells thereafter, but the closest they came to a vital away goal was a thunderous long-range effort from David Alaba that came back off the crossbar.
Atletico will travel to Bavaria for the return next Tuesday looking to complete the job to reach their second final in three years and exact revenge for their defeat to Bayern in the 1974 final.
Bayern lost the first legs of their semi-finals in Spain in the previous two seasons to Real Madrid and Barcelona on their way out of the competition.
And they couldn’t have made a worse start once more in the Spanish capital as, roared on by a vociferous support, Atletico flew out of the blocks early on.
Niguez had already had a long-range effort saved by Manuel Neuer before he opened the scoring in stunning style.
The 21-year-old picked the ball up near halfway and skipped past four half-hearted Bayern challenges before curling a left-footed shot in off the inside of the far post.
Atletico nearly gifted Bayern an equaliser immediately as Jose Maria Gimenez’s miscued clearance pinballed around the area before the Uruguayan atoned for his initial error by clearing off the line.
Bayern were dominant in possession, but struggled to create clear-cut chances against an Atletico side that now hasn’t conceded at home in their last seven Champions League knockout ties.
Alaba shot wide from distance, while Douglas Costa’s free-kick nearly caught out Jan Oblak at his near post.
Yet, it was Atletico who squandered a big chance to make it 2-0 before the break when Antoine Griezmann’s shot from a narrow angle was turned behind by Neuer.
Bayern were completely dominant after the break as Atletico tired and dropped deeper towards their own goal.
Alaba smashed a wonder strike off the underside of the bar from fully 35 yards before Javi Martinez’s powerful header from Costa’s corner was gratefully grasped by Oblak low to his right.
Guardiola had controversially left Thomas Mueller on the bench despite his 31 goals in all competitions this season.
The future Manchester City boss eventually called upon the German World Cup winner and Franck Ribery in search of a vital away goal.
Costa came close again seconds after Mueller’s arrival as his attempted lob over Oblak dipped just over the bar.
Oblak was called into action again to parry an Arturo Vidal piledriver from distance.
Yet, once more Atletico had the best chance to put the tie beyond the German champions in the final stages as Fernando Torres hit the post from Griezmann’s fine through ball and Neuer saved Koke’s follow-up effort.
Oblak made simple saves from Mehdi Benatia and Vidal in stoppage time as Atletico held out to record their 33rd clean sheet of the season.

27 Yemeni soldiers killed in Mukalla offensive

At least 27 Yemeni soldiers were killed in a government offensive — backed by Saudi-led forces, which drove Al-Qaeda militants out of a key southeastern city, military officials and medics said Wednesday.
Life, meanwhile, was returning to normal in the port city, residents said.
More than 60 other soldiers were wounded in the operations that began at the weekend and saw government forces recapture Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt, the officials said.
The city had been held by Al-Qaeda militants for over a year.
Recapturing Mukalla was part of a wider counter-offensive against the Sunni extremists launched by pro-government forces last month after a year in which they had focused their firepower on Shiite Huthi rebels who control the capital.
Government troops were backed by special forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as coalition air strikes, the Arab coalition said, claiming 800 militants were killed in the offensive.
Life began to return to normal Wednesday in Mukalla, a city of some 200,000 people, as shops and government offices reopened, residents said.
Staff at Mukalla airport and its port also returned to work for the first time since April last year, when militants of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) took over, officials in the city said.
During its year-long rule, AQAP imposed its strict interpretation of sharia law forbidding consumption of the mild narcotic qat, a mainstay of Yemeni social life, and demolishing the tombs of revered Sufi mystics.
On Tuesday, a US drone rocketed the car of an Al-Qaeda chief in Zinjibar, in neighbouring Abyan province, Ali al-Shanna, killing his driver but he was not in the vehicle, security sources said.
Washington has been waging a drone war against AQAP since November 2002, when it killed the suspected mastermind of an October 2000 bombing of a US destroyer that killed 17 sailors in the southern port of Aden.

‘Panama Papers’ to go public May 9

The “Panama Papers” trove of leaked documents revealing the vast extent of global tax evasion will be made available to the public on May 9, the organization behind the leak said Wednesday. The searchable database will include information about more than 200,000 secret companies, trusts and foundations based in 21 tax havens “from Hong Kong to Nevada in the United States,” said the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Since early April, the ICIJ-coordinated limited release through roughly 100 media outlets of the “Panama Papers” have become a worldwide scandal, spurring numerous investigations and the resignation of Iceland’s prime minister and a Spanish minister.
About 11.5 million leaked documents of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, reveal the large-scale use of offshore entities to conceal assets from tax authorities.
In its statement, the ICIJ said that the public release next month “is the next step in our ongoing year-long investigation” and that it will continue to publish more stories in the coming weeks and months.

Klopp seeks brave Liverpool against Villarreal

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp called for bravery from his players if they are to overcome Villarreal to reach the Europa League final and maintain their hopes of Champions League football next season. Klopp’s men produced a sensational second-half comeback from 3-1 down to beat his old side Borussia Dortmund 4-3 at Anfield to reach the last four.
However, the German warned against complacency as, despite their lack of European pedigree compared to the English giants, Villarreal are enjoying a great season.
They sit fourth in La Liga behind perennial powerhouses Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
“We have to play brave football,” Klopp told UEFA.com.
“We are now in the semi-finals. We got there because we deserved it, and now we have to show we are strong enough to go through.
“They are having a wonderful season, they are a wonderful club in a small city.
“It is clear there are a lot of smart people behind their success.”
Klopp will be without a number of players crucial to Liverpool’s upturn in fortunes over recent weeks.
French defender Mamadou Sakho didn’t travel to Spain on Wednesday as he awaits the result of a UEFA investigation into an alleged failed doping test.
Emre Can, Divock Origi and captain Jordan Henderson are also sidelined by injury.
The build-up to the game has been overshadowed by the ruling that the 96 Liverpool fans that died at the Hillsborough tragedy 27 years ago were unlawfully killed in the biggest inquest in English legal history.
Villarreal have announced they will mark the decision with a tribute to the victims before the game.
However, once the action gets underway, the Yellow Submarine are intent on causing an upset to reach their first ever Cup final.
“Maybe Liverpool could be considered favourites because of their history as a club,” said Villarreal coach Marcelino.
“But we don’t consider ourselves in any way inferior to them and we think we can beat a team as legendary as Liverpool.”
It is 10 years since Villarreal came excruciatingly close to reaching the Champions League final against English opposition as Jens Lehmann saved Juan Roman Riquelme’s last-minute penalty to send Arsenal to the final 1-0 on aggregate.
However, Marcelino believes having almost sealed their place in next season’s Champions League already through La Liga, his players have no pressure on them to reach the final.
“The context is similar (to 10 years ago), but we are convinced that we can eliminate Liverpool,” he added.
“It is a privilege to play this semi-final. There was much more pressure in the previous ties and now we have a great chance to make history in this club.”
– Good memories –
Sevilla continue their quest to win a third consecutive Europa League in the other semi-final when they travel to face Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg in Ukraine.
The match will be played in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv as Shakhtar have defied their exile from war-torn Donetsk to reach the last four.
“We fully respect them and we know the difficulties they will pose,” said Sevilla midfielder Vicente Iborra.
“They are an experienced team with a mixture of Ukrainians and Brazilians, they are quick and have the quality to surprise us.”
Sevilla have good memories of facing Shakhtar as an amazing stoppage-time equaliser from goalkeeper Andres Palop sent their last-16 tie into extra time before the Spaniards went on to win the competition in 2007.
“Hopefully, the luck that helped Sevilla in 2007 will be on our side this time,” said Shakhtar boss Mircea Lucescu.
Europa League semi-final, first leg fixtures on Thursday (1905 GMT)
At Lviv, Ukraine
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v Sevilla (ESP)
At Vila-real, Spain
Villarreal (ESP) v Liverpool (ENG)

Obama to visit water crisis-hit Flint

President Barack Obama will next week travel to Flint, Michigan, where a crisis over tainted water has become a focus of the 2016 election campaign, the White House said Wednesday.
Responding to a letter from eight-year-old Flint resident Mari Copeny, Obama said he would visit the majority African American northern city on May 4.
“I want to make sure people like you and your family are receiving the help you need and deserve,” Obama wrote.
Republican and Democratic presidential candidates have used the Flint crisis to trade barbs about the size, role and failings of local and federal governments.
More than 8,000 children are believed to have drunk water that contained harmful levels of lead.
The tainted water stemmed from a decision to shift Flint’s water source from the Detroit River to the Flint River as part of cost-cutting measures ordered by state Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican who has consistently resisted calls to quit.
Experts believe the chemical-laced Flint River water corroded lead pipes, allowing large amounts of the chemical element to leach into the city’s water.
The state attorney general has filed criminal charges against a city official and two state regulators for allegedly falsifying tests and tampering with evidence.
In the heart of America’s rustbelt, Flint is at the crossroads of many of the issues that have dominated the 2016 election cycle — foreign trade, environmental standards, the economy and the gap between rich and poor.
Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders even held a presidential debate in Flint ahead of the Michigan primary in March.
Sanders’ strident message on the need to address income inequality narrowly won the day in the Democratic primary.
But the state is set to be a battle ground in the general election.
Donald Trump’s populist message targeting disaffected white voters propelled him to win Michigan’s Republican primary.
Obama is likely to use the trip to show Flint residents that the federal government is listening to them, and implicitly or explicitly, that the fault lies elsewhere.
A presidential visit will also energize his supporters ahead of the November 8.

Greece’s debt crisis returns

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras unexpectedly on Wednesday demanded a European summit to bridge sudden rifts that emerged in negotiations over Greece’s massive bailout, its third in six years. After nearly a year of relative calm, Tsipras is angered by a fresh set of reforms demanded by Greece’s creditors that he says breaks the terms of its 86-billion-euro ($90 billion) bailout, agreed in July 2015.
But Athens needs to complete the so-called first review of its bailout soon to unlock funds so that it can meet a huge European Central Bank payment this July — a virtual repeat of last summer’s drama.
Here are key facts about the roller-coaster bailout crisis.
– GOOD START –
Until this week’s sudden setback, negotiations between Greece and its creditors progressed far more amiably than what seemed possible after six months of bitter talks that led up to the bailout deal of July 13, 2015.
Greece verged dangerously near a humiliating eviction from the euro single currency, but in the end eurozone leaders agreed to again save Athens.
Since then, Greece has received 26 billion euros from the bailout after delivering on reforms largely to the satisfaction of its creditors.
– EXTRA MEASURES –
The new stumbling block arose from a row over economic data between the two main overseers of the bailout: the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, and the International Monetary of Fund.
The squabble delayed the completion of the bailout’s first review, which was originally planned for last autumn and remains unfinished.
Once the review is passed, Greece unlocks about 5.4 billion euros ($6 billion) in more loans — and crucially, wins negotiations on debt relief.
To complete the review, Greek reforms must be forecast to deliver a government budget surplus in 2018 of 3.5 percent of the economy’s annual output, not counting the cost of borrowing.
The EU believes the reform commitments on the table pretty much deliver on that promise, but the IMF says they fall far short and is demanding Athens deliver more reforms, especially on pensions.
To resolve the fight, the two institutions agreed to demand so-called contingency measures from Greece to bridge the difference.
These are pre-agreed reforms that will only kick-in if the IMF’s more bleak assessment should prove the right one.
Athens was caught by surprise with the demand and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras asked EU President Donald Tusk for a eurozone summit to resolve the issue, though his request is for now denied.
– DEBT RELIEF –
In one of the few concessions handed to Greece last summer, eurozone leaders agreed to discuss ways of easing Greece’s debt burden “if necessary” once key reform pledges were met.
Debt relief is also a key demand of the IMF.
Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem on Friday said the contingency reforms were a condition to trigger debt relief negotiations.
Greece’s debt stood at 177 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015 — almost twice the country’s entire economic output in one year.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde called the issue “crucially important”.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble, the eurozone’s most influential official, has publically repeated that no debt relief for Athens is necessary.
Luckily for Athens, however, Schaueble also wants the IMF to remain on board in the bailout, as Berlin does not trust the commission to manage the programme alone.
– DEADLINES –
As ever with the Greek debt crisis, debt deadlines are key to developments.
The crisis last summer reached its climax when Athens defaulted on the IMF, the first developed country in history to do so.
This year all eyes are on July 20, when Greece must repay about 2.3 billion euros to the European Central Bank.
But Klaus Regling, the head of the European Stability Mechanism that manages Greece’s bailout payments, warned on Friday that the “liquidity situation is becoming tight” in Athens.

Sweden sees migrant influx slowing to 60,000 this year

Sweden said Wednesday it expected around 60,000 asylum seekers in 2016, far fewer than the 100,000 forecast in February, as border controls across Europe make it harder for migrants to reach the Scandinavian country. “We see every day how people are making their way from Turkey to Greece or across the sea to Italy, but they’re not making it to Sweden right now,” the Migration Agency’s operative chief Mikael Ribbenvik said in a statement.
Last year, Sweden received 163,000 asylum applications, making it one of the EU states with the highest proportion of asylum seekers per capita.
The agency said it was now expecting anywhere between 40,000 and 100,000 migrants to arrive this year, but was working with a “planning scenario” of 60,000.
In February, its 2016 forecast was for between 70,000 and 140,000, with a planning scenario of 100,000.
The influx to Sweden has plummeted since January 4, when Stockholm introduced systematic photo identification checks on train, bus and ferry passengers entering via Denmark.
At a peak in October, Sweden received around 10,000 asylum requests a week, compared to around 500 now.
“What’s making it so hard for asylum seekers to travel through Europe is primarily that the western Balkan route is completely closed, and the EU’s new agreement with Turkey,” Ribbenvik said, referring to a deal to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey.
He said the forecast of 60,000 was based on the probability that Europe would open up “somewhat” in the second half of 2016, “and that asylum seekers will probably choose other routes than the western Balkan route.”
The agency noted that while the acute strain on Sweden’s capacities — primarily overcrowded asylum housing centres — had subsided since last autumn, “municipalities, authorities and the rest of society face immense challenges ahead” to cope with asylum seekers allowed to stay in Sweden as well as those whose applications are rejected and may be appealed.