WORLD

Barack Obama considered a same-sex romance and regularly snorted cocaine, an explosive new biography has claimed. The unauthorised biography by Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David Garrow, entitled Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, details a life of debauchery with drugs and sex long before the politician set his sights on office. Former girlfriend Genevieve Cook fell for a then 22-year-old ...

Boko Haram leader Shekau ‘injured in air strike’ AFP Aminu ABUBAKAR AFPMay 3, 2017 Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram's shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau has been injured in an air strike, reports saidView photos Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram’s shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau has been injured in an air strike, reports said (AFP Photo/HO, HO, HO) More Kano (Nigeria) ...

The Duke of Edinburgh is retiring from royal duties this autumn, Buckingham Palace has announced. The decision was made by Prince Philip himself and is supported by the Queen, a palace spokesman said. He will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August but will not accept new invitations. The prince – who turns 96 next month – is patron, ...

French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron was more impressive than rival Marine Le Pen in Wednesday evening’s final TV debate, a viewers’ poll says. The candidates traded insults for more than two hours, arguing over terrorism, the economy, and Europe. The French broadcaster BFMTV found voters had a more favourable view of Mr Macron than Ms Le Pen in most categories. ...

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has missed his third cabinet meeting in a row amid ongoing questions about the state of his health. He has not been seen in public for more than a week. His wife Aisha Buhari tweeted on Tuesday that her husband was not as sick as is being perceived. In March, Mr Buhari returned from seven weeks ...

The UK won’t pay a 100bn-euro (£84bn) “divorce bill” to leave the EU, Brexit Secretary David Davis has said, as the two sides clashed over the issue. He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain the UK would pay what was legally due, in line with its rights and obligations, but “not just what the EU wants”. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier ...

Suspected militants have killed three police officers and wounded five others in an attack in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, the interior ministry says. The assailants, riding in two vehicles, opened fire on a security convoy on the main ring road in the Nasr City area. No group has yet said it was behind the attack, which occurred on Monday night. ...

The US Department of Justice has reportedly decided not to charge two white officers who shot and killed a black man in Louisiana last summer. Video footage appearing to show the officers holding down Alton Sterling as they fired their weapons sparked days of protests in Baton Rouge. News of the decision leaked to US media on Tuesday before the ...

A group of prominent Nigerians has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, 74, to take medical leave, amid growing concern about his health. There was an “apparent deterioration” in his health following his failure to attend the last two cabinet meetings, the group said. Mr Buhari took about seven weeks of medical leave in January, and flew to the UK for ...

The US military says its controversial Thaad missile defence system is now operational in South Korea. The system can intercept North Korean missiles although full operational capability is still some months away. Tensions have been rising around the Korean peninsula, with repeated threats from North Korea and the presence of a group of US warships and a submarine. North Korea ...