President Cyril Ramaphosa has put the National Assembly on notice: if lawmakers push ahead with an impeachment process over his conduct in the Phala Phala saga, he says he will be “compelled” to ask the Western Cape High Court for an interdict to stop it. The warning revives a controversy that has dogged Ramaphosa since 2022, when an independent panel concluded he might have committed serious misconduct linked to the theft of large sums of cash that had been hidden in a sofa at his private farm. Ramaphosa has repeatedly…

President Félix Tshisekedi has ignited a political backlash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after saying he would consider a third term if citizens called for it, a statement that opposition leaders swiftly denounced. The constitution restricts presidents to two terms, and Tshisekedi said any modification would be decided by referendum. His critics counter that Article 220 expressly forbids changing presidential term limits, accusing him of laying the groundwork to prolong his time in office. The dispute…

Phil Hogan’s campaign to lead the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation is running into stiff resistance at a pivotal moment. Ireland’s former EU commissioner is still regarded in Brussels as the standout contender to become the first European to serve as director-general of the Rome-based agency in half a century. But efforts to unite the bloc behind one name have been slowed by determined rival candidacies from Italy and Spain. If no common nominee emerges, Europe again risks splitting its vote when 193 UN member states…

Former President of Senegal, Macky Sall, has asserted that achieving lasting global peace hinges on addressing the persistent issues of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. As he positions himself as a contender to replace UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Sall's insights come just ahead of a public inquiry at the United Nations headquarters in New York this week. Introduced in 2016, the public Q&A format aims to foster transparency during the selection process. Nonetheless, the final authority to appoint the…

Shane Lowry lit up Augusta National with a stunning hole-in-one at the Masters, a moment he later described as "wild" as it thrust him firmly into the hunt going into the final round. The Offaly golfer has built an enviable catalogue of aces over the years, and this latest effort gave him another slice of history: it was his second at Augusta National, making him the first player ever to achieve that feat. Lowry’s tee shot at the 190-yard sixth vaulted him from six under to eight under par, and he closed with a 69 to sit on…

A sudden policy shift from Washington is sending ripples through global energy markets, as the Trump administration moves to counter surging oil prices amid escalating conflict with Iran. The United States on Friday issued a 30-day waiver allowing the purchase of Iranian oil at sea, a step officials say is aimed at easing supply pressures driven by nearly three weeks of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the measure could release roughly 140 million barrels of oil into global…

By STEVE DOUGLAS Wednesday March 18, 2026 What once sounded fanciful now feels within reach: Arsenal’s push for a quadruple of major trophies is very much alive this season. The players scarcely have a moment to dwell on it. Arsenal booked a place in the Champions League quarterfinals by defeating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on Tuesday, clinching a 3-1 aggregate win. Mikel Arteta’s side also sits nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, meets Manchester City in Sunday’s English League Cup final, and has already…

Premier League title race tightens as Arsenal’s lead shrinks and Manchester City surge gathers pace From a nine-point cushion to a four-point edge in less than a week, Arsenal’s authority atop the Premier League has been trimmed and tested — and the momentum feels as if it has tilted toward Manchester City. Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Brentford on Thursday did not dislodge Mikel Arteta’s side from first place, and, crucially, the league leaders still control their fate. Yet the psychology of a title chase can shift quickly. City,…

An immigration judge has rejected the Trump administration’s bid to deport Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national whose high-profile arrest became a flashpoint in the crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism, her lawyers said. In a Jan. 29 decision, Immigration Judge Roopal Patel in Boston concluded the Department of Homeland Security failed to meet its burden to prove Ozturk was removable and terminated proceedings, according to a filing her attorneys made with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he will seek a third term, asserting Somalia’s provisional constitution permits him to run again because his two previous mandates were not consecutive, a move that deepens political tensions over contentious constitutional changes. Mohamud, first elected in 2012 and returned to office in 2022 after five years out of power, framed his bid as consistent with the law’s limit on back-to-back presidencies. “The constitution does not prohibit me from running again,” he…