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‘Rashford is invincible!’ – Manchester United star provides ‘crazy stuff’ in final third, according to Ten Hag

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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has showered praise on “unstoppable” striker Marcus Rashford for doing “crazy stuff” in the final third.

  • Rashford in blistering form of late
  • Ten Hag labelled forward “unstoppable”
  • Highlighted improved output in final third

WHAT HAPPENED? Rashford took his tally to 10 goals in 10 games since the international break with a fine solo effort to get the ball rolling just six minutes into United’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. Ten Hag’s side cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory in the end thanks to a first goal for Wout Weghorst and a fine strike from Bruno Fernandes either side of half-time, but there was only one player the Dutchman was singling out.

WHAT THEY SAID: “In this mood and with this spirit, he (Rashford) is unstoppable,” Ten Hag told reporters after the match. “He can be creative in the final third, to do something in the final third; some crazy stuff, fantasy and adventure.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Rashford’s efforts mean United remain the only English side in line to win all three domestic competitions, with the League Cup arguably being the best shot of the three to end their six-year wait for a trophy. Ten Hag wasn’t the only one waxing lyrical about Rashford’s recent displays, with former United and Forest midfielder Roy Keane claiming the 25-year-old is currently hitting his peak.

 

IN THREE PHOTOS:

Marcus Rashford goal Manchester United Forest 2022-23Getty ImagesMarcus RashfordGettyTen Hag 2022-23Getty

WHAT NEXT? There is no let-up in United’s hectic schedule, with an FA Cup fourth-round fixture against Reading up next on Saturday followed by the semi-final return leg on Wednesday, although the 3-0 advantage taken to Old Trafford may allow Ten Hag to rest some key players.

 

 

Pope Francis condemns Africa’s “colonialist mentality” ahead of his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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Pope Francis denounced the international community’s “colonialist mentality” toward Africa in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press at the Vatican, just a week before his scheduled trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

“A historical and geographical reality exists. In Italian, it is said that ‘Africa va fruttata,’ which means that Africa is meant to be exploited. And there is still a colonialist mentality,” Francis said on Tuesday.

He emphasised a problem with attitudes toward the African continent.

“A colonialist mentality persists,” Francis said.

“That is a problem of our attitude and their lack of courage in achieving total independence.”

Earlier in January Francis had sent his condolences to the victims of a bombing on a Pentecostal church in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Islamic militants claimed the attack, which killed at least 14 people and injured more than 60.

Francis is due to arrive in the capital of Congolese Kinshasa on Jan. 31 for a three-day visit.

When it was originally scheduled for July, the trip was supposed to include a stop in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

The Vatican scrapped that leg of the trip, amid a new wave of attacks in parts of North Kivu.

Violence has wracked eastern Congo for decades as more than 120 armed groups and self-defence militias fight for land and power.

“Africa is in turmoil” said Francis talking about the “internal wars” afflicting the continent.

“And is also suffering from the invasion of exploiters” he added.

In The AP Interview on Tuesday, Francis also addressed what he called a problem of “tribalism” in Africa.

“The tribalism is also very strong, for example to appoint a bishop in a diocese, one has to look carefully, that he belongs to the group – not to say tribe – that he belongs to the group,” he said adding that during a visit to Kenya, a crowd chanted repeatedly “no to tribalism.”

“It was a scream from the whole stadium. They themselves feel that difficulty, it is a people that is consolidating itself more and more in freedom.”

The fighting has exacerbated eastern Congo’s dire humanitarian crisis.

Almost 6 million people are internally displaced and hundreds of thousands are facing extreme food insecurity, according to the United Nations.

While he won’t be going to Goma, Francis will meet with some residents from the east and victims of the conflict in Kinshasa.

 

 

 

South Africa and the United States have joined forces to combat wildlife trafficking.

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On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced a joint initiative to combat wildlife trafficking and related criminal activities in the United States and South Africa during a tour of the Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa.

“First, we will increase information sharing among our financial intelligence units in order to better support key South African and US law enforcement agencies. Second, the task force will make sharing financial red flags and indicators related to wildlife trafficking cases a priority.”

“We will convene relevant government authorities, regulators, law enforcement, and the private sector to improve controls to combat money laundering and the illicit proceeds of drug and wildlife trafficking,” she added.

Yellen’s announcement of a joint wildlife trafficking task force at a reserve that is home to lions, leopards, elephants and critically endangered black rhinos could help a key South African industry. South Africa has an abundance of game parks and a thriving wildlife tourism industry but struggles with the effects of poaching and illegal animal trafficking.

The White House strategy for Africa also outlines concern over China’s involvement in sub-Saharan Africa, where it has for years entrenched itself in the region’s natural resources market. China is now South Africa’s biggest trade partner.

Yellen started her 10-day trip in Senegal before travelling to Zambia and then arriving in South Africa.

On Thursday, she is expected to meet South Africa’s finance minister and then meet business leaders and the country’s central bank governor.

 

 

Kinshasa is getting ready to welcome Pope Francis.

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VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - JANUARY 06: Pope Francis attends a Mass for the feast of the Epiphany at St. Peter's Basilica on January 06, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

In Kinshasa, the bustling capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the faithful are flocking to impromptu market stalls in churchyards to buy t-shirts and wax tissues emblazoned with the image of Pope Francis ahead of the pontiff’s visit.

Papal mementos have become popular in the city ahead of the Argentine pope’s four-day visit to the deeply religious central African country, which begins on January 31.

Many in the Democratic Republic of the Congo see the papal visit as an opportunity to defuse tensions in the east, where M23 rebels have captured large swaths of territory and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Berthe Baleweya, who came to Kinshasa’s Notre-Dame du Congo cathedral to buy a Francis-themed wax cloth, told AFP that wearing the pope’s image would be inappropriate.

Emmanuelle Wemu, who runs a Catholic aid group, has already bought and tailored her wax print decorated with the pope’s face.

“I expect a message of peace from him, in this moment when the DRC is in turmoil,” she said.

Over one million worshippers are expected to turn out for an open-air mass in Kinshasa’s Ndolo airport on February 1, a sizeable portion in the megacity of over 15 million.

The DRC is a traditionally Catholic nation of over 90 million people, deeply impoverished despite vast mineral wealth.

Conflict in the east

Pope Francis was scheduled to arrive in the DRC last July, but the trip was postponed over health concerns.

Many also speculated that escalating conflict in eastern Congo — where the pope had been due to visit — prompted a rethink.

The M23 rebel group, which is allegedly backed by Rwanda, has waged an offensive against the Congolese military and recently come within several miles of Goma, a commercial hub of over a million people and capital of North Kivu province.

Pope Francis is no longer due to go to eastern Congo, according to his new programme, but he will meet victims of the conflict while in Kinshasa.

Some are disappointed. Gelo Mandela, a youth coordinator in the diocese of Goma, said young people were despairing that the city was no longer on the itinerary. “We were prepared,” he said.

Aid worker Emmanuelle Wemu said she hoped the pope’s visit would bring reconciliation with Rwanda.

Diplomatic relations between the DRC and its smaller neighbour have plunged to rock-bottom since the eruption of the M23 crisis in late 2021. Rwanda denies backing the rebels.

Pope Francis’ security in Kinshasa also remains a concern, notably because of the threat of militias from the east.

The Allied Democratic Forces, which the Islamic State group claims at its affiliate, bombed a Pentecostal church in eastern Congo on January 15, killing 14 people.

The ADF has to date only operated in eastern DRC, over 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) from the capital.

Million-strong mass

A three-day period of prayers — known as a triduum — is planned at the Notre-Dame du Congo cathedral in the run-up to Francis’ arrival.

A vigil will also take place at Ndolo military airport on the night of January 31, ahead of the papal mass there the following morning, according to Father Camille Esika, a cathedral priest.

Between one and 1.5 million people are expected to celebrate mass at the eight-hectare (20-acre) site. Preparatory works are ongoing.

“That day, rain or no rain, there will be an event,” said Jesus-Noel Sheke, the project’s technical coordinator.

Across Kinshasa, banners and signs welcoming the pope already hang from buildings. His visit marks the first papal trip to the country since Pope John Paul II’s in 1985.

Justin-Marie Bayala, a teacher who attended a recent mass at the Notre-Dame du Congo, like many, evoked high hopes.

“We dare to believe that he will bring us lasting peace,” Bayala said.

 

 

Ex-President Mohamed Abdel Aziz appears in court as a corruption trial begins in Mauritania.

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The trial of former Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz began on Wednesday in Nouakchott, providing an unusual image of a former head of state being placed in a cage-like box to answer for illegal enrichment.

The man who led this largely desert country of 4.5 million people twice the size of France from 2008 to 2019 stood up and waved when his name was called, then sat down behind the gates in the front row of ten defendants present.

Former presidents, prime ministers, ministers and businessmen, they are charged with “illicit enrichment”, “abuse of office”, “influence peddling” or “money laundering” for an unknown period of time. Mr. Aziz, 66 years old, denies the facts and cries of a plot to remove him from politics.

In a white boubou, a surgical mask concealing part of his bald head and his thin moustache, Mr. Aziz has silently followed the president’s interminable efforts to stop the confusion of the setting up and to find a space on the concrete benches for the hundred or so lawyers present in the immense modern courtroom with the air of a bunker plunged into the darkness.

These delays do not detract from the extraordinary nature of the moment, including beyond this pivotal country between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, which was once shaken by coups d’état and jihadist activities, but returned to stability under Mr. Aziz when trouble was brewing in the region.

“It is a first in the history of Mauritania and perhaps even in that of the Arab world that a former president explains his enrichment,” Brahim Ebetty, one of several lawyers representing the state, told AFP.

Mr. Aziz is one of the few former heads of state to be held accountable for how he enriched himself while in power. His peers on trial in national or international courts are mostly on trial for blood crimes.

– Give the money back –

“All the people in the box have used the name of the state, the office of the state, especially Mr. Aziz” to enrich themselves, said President Ebetty.

Several Mauritanians interviewed by AFP hope that the trial will set an example in a country ranked 140th out of 180 by the anti-corruption organization Transparency International.

Perhaps unique, the moment may never be documented in pictures. The judiciary has banned all cameras in the room, including cell phones. They tediously filtered the entrances and outraged the lawyers by having them subjected to a search.

The authorities had hundreds of police officers surround the compound, with no clear indication of the threat to be averted, whether it was protests by Mr. Aziz’s supporters or otherwise.

Dozens of people gathered outside the Palace before the trial, some to support Mr. Aziz, others to demand on placards that he “(return) the money.

The ability of Mr. Aziz, known to be pugnacious, calculating and unpredictable, to cause harm is a subject of speculation, even though he is often portrayed as politically isolated now.

He has been in constant denial since the screws began to tighten on him in 2019. That was a few months after he had given way after elections to one of his most loyal companions, his former chief of staff Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, the first transition not imposed by force in a country prone to coups since independence.

– Revisionism –

Aziz himself was brought to power by a putsch in 2008 and then elected president in 2009 and re-elected in 2014. This trial is the story of his disgrace and ruined friendship with the one he had designated as his successor, Mr. Ghazouani.

Mr. Aziz’s daughter, Asma, described him to AFP as “tired.” She said she was alerted Tuesday night by the former president’s cardiologist because he had fallen ill after being detained. One of his lawyers, Me Antoine Vey, was alarmed by an “arbitrary” arrest and by conditions that augured that his client would not have a fair trial.

“The case has been built on a work that just looks like political revisionism,” he told AFP. He was planning to ask for a postponement of the trial and was preparing to refer the case to UN bodies if this request was rejected. Mr. Aziz’s successor has always denied interfering in the case.

None of the parties interviewed could say how long the trial would last.

 

 

Minority appointment: The first act of new NDC executives has heightened tensions – Ahiagbah

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Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has made his first assessment of the new National Democratic Congress (NDC) executives led by National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia.

His assessment of the new NDC executives was based on their decision to change the Minority Leader in Parliament.

The new amendments have splintered the minority caucus.

In his opinion, the schism within the minority caucus and the NDC in general that has resulted from the replacement of Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader and others raises concerns about the quality of the NDC executives.

In a tweet, Mr Ahiagbah said “We told you not to compare the 2 National execs NPP &NDC. You see, the first act of NDC’s executives in charge has set their party on edge. How’d you rate the quality of this decision to change Haruna and co without engagement? The 2 can’t be same. NPP is better.”

As of last night, Seventy-Seven NDC Members of Parliament had signed a petition to support the appointment of Dr Cassiel Ato Forson as the new Minority Leader.

The seventy-seven opposition lawmakers believed that the decision by the leadership of the NDC was a step in the right direction.

This come comes just a few hours after over 50 other NDC MPs also signed a petition to reject the changes to the Minority leadership made by the party.

The MPs who are against the changes believe that the decision is unpopular for which they want it reversed.

The MPs have called an emergency meeting in Parliament which the National Chairman Asiedu Nketia and the General Secretary Fifi Kwetey will be attending, Komla further reported.

Some of the NDC MPs including Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed expressed shock at the decision by the NDC to change the party’s leadership in Parliament.

The decision was made known on Tuesday, January 24 with the Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, replacing Tamale South legislator Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader. Ellembelle’s Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah also replaces James Klutse Avedzi as Deputy Minority Leader.

Speaking on TV3‘s News 360 on Tuesday, January 24 after news on the decision broke, the Tamale Central MP said there was no consultation whatsoever with the caucus before the release.

“Every single Member of Parliament is surprised,” he said, “And I can tell you that even those who have been proposed to take leadership, some of them are surprised that such a proposal is made without even consulting them.”

He condemned the mode of communication, saying as an MP he got wind of the decision on social media like many other NDC MPs.

“That is not how things are done,” he fumed.

“The NDC is a democratic party. We have touted ourselves as the pacesetters of this democracy. The NDC gave birth to the 1992 Constitution for which reason we have all collectively agreed to chart the path of democracy.”

He, therefore, indicated that NDC should be the last to disregard democratic tenets and by making such a decision without consulting the group – or caucus – it affects, to him, smacks of disrespect.

The former Nanton MP said his experience of having been in the Sixth Parliament and even the Eighth Parliament tells him that there is active consultation between the party’s leadership and the caucus prior to such decisions.

“How do you choose leaders for a group without consulting that group?” he wondered.

“Who told you that the group will be comfortable with the people you have chosen? Now if the group were not comfortable with the people you have chosen, then that will be the beginning of a failure of that particular leadership.”

Also, Member of Parliament for Agotime Ziope,  Charles Agbeve demanded explanations into the decision.

Mr Agbeve said the NDC lawmakers were surprised following the announcement of the changes because consultations were not done on this matter.

He told TV3’s Komla Kluste in an interview that “I am flabbergastered, the news hit me because it is one of the last news I am expecting at this time, and so I am surprised.

“It took me a long time to really appreciate the news because normally, the national executives will engage the leadership of Parliament and if leadership thinks the engagements, they can’t get to a consultation, they meet the whole caucus and so, I can count countless engagements between the caucus and the national executives on all issues.

“There are issues when they come up, leadership thinks let us take some advice from the national executives and then they give the direction. So one would have thought that if there is going to be a shake-up like this, there would have been some engagements and that engagement would have watered down the shock and surprise.

“You will know there is going to be some changes here and there and then people will make inputs and suggestions but this was not done and I will like to know what went into this thinking, I will want some explanations, that will give all of us reasons to support it. ”

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia said the decision was taken based on the current trend of debate on national issues.

“The debates and the other discussions will focus on the economy so you need to put your best man in the economy forward, that is what we have done,” he told Accra-based Joy FM.

“We also looked at energy. These petroleum and electricity challenges and so we needed to settle on Kofi-Armah Buah, our former Energy Minister to be the Deputy Minority Leader and then the other area is infrastructure, Kwame Agbodza being our man in infrastructure should play a key role. So that generally is what informed the changes.”

Meanwhile, Ato Forson has said he has the ability to carry out the new task assigned him by the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He says he is not new in Parliament.

“I am not new in this house,” he said at his maiden press conference as the new Minority Leader which was also attended by the newly-appointed Minority Chief Whip Kwame Agbodza.

He added “I have known most of my colleagues for a while. I can assure you that we will succeed.”

In an earlier press statement, Dr Ato Forson assured his side of the House of working with high dedication and integrity.

He said he would represent the collective goals of the Minority.

The Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam lawmaker commended Mr Iddrisu for “his admirable stewardship when he was granted the opportunity by our party’s leadership.”

“As leader,” he added, “it will be my duty to represent our collective goals with unwavering dedication and high integrity.”

He further indicated that “I am honoured and humbled to have been chosen to lead our illustrious and gallant caucus in Parliament. I thank the leadership of our party who have placed their trust and confidence in me.

“I am also deeply grateful to colleagues, the rank and file of our party and the Ghanaian people for their profound support and solidarity.”

 

 

Encourage smart children to pursue TVET – NYA urges parents

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Mr Nelson Owusu Ansah, the Deputy Director of the National Youth Authority (NYA), has urged parents to allow their children, no matter their performance, to pursue courses in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) if they desire, to create jobs for themselves.

He bemoaned the deep-seated misconception that TVET was the preserve of the academically weak students and that the country’s accelerated development agenda for job creation anchored on TVET.

“We must do away with the negative stereotypes of TVET as the preserve of dull students. It holds the key to the development of the country,” he said.

“We are determined to disabuse the minds of parents and students to overcome the prejudice and misconceptions they have about TVET to move the nation forward.”

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, Mr Ansah advised the youth not to look down on TVET, since it had the potential to equip them with skills to become self-employed after school.

Countries with embedded systems of TVET such as Australia and Germany had been successful in maintaining low youth unemployment rates, he noted, and that Ghana would reap the benefits soon as it had begun to pursue that path.

“Skills are important means to increase incomes and sustain livelihoods for the poor. Our economy is largely informal, therefore, it is crucial that skill training is improved to create jobs and shore up revenue.”

Assuring the youth of support, Mr Ansah re-echoed government’s commitment to injecting more resources into TVET as part of efforts to reduce youth unemployment through training.

The move is expected to build a solid foundation for robust technological training and boost enrolment of technical students across the country to sustain the government’s industrial revolution agenda.

Hence the Ghana TVET Service has been introduced to give a new face to technical education to reignite the passion of young men and women in the sector,.

He said the government had also established the first-ever second-cycle TVET applied technology high schools across the country to offer career-based education and industry participation to make it demand driven.

“The programmes will be benchmarked against international best practices and standards. Most importantly, the applied technology high school will build strategic alliances with community, industry, development partners and the government to ensure it is responsive to national needs and expectations of socio-economic transformation.”

Already the Government had designated all new TVET institutions in the country for the programme, Mr Ansah said.

 

 

 

Africa Street MBA programme launched in Accra

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Africa Street MBA programme launched in Accra

The business terrain can be challenging. It is in this regard that DONE BY US, a management consultancy and investment firm, has launched the Africa Street MBA program.

The program, which is in partnership with the KGL Foundation, seeks to provide integrated, regional support for start-ups and small businesses in the country.

In an address, the founder of DONE BY US, Mr. King Wellington, said the Africa Street MBA program will help reduce the high start-up failure rate in the country by providing a platform to impact young people with world-class business knowledge based on top MBA curriculum and entrepreneurial course content.

The program is targeted at women and deprived young people from poor backgrounds with low education but with bright business ideas or existing businesses.

In a speech read on her behalf, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Mrs. Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, also said that to achieve rapid economic development, the private sector could not be sidelined but rather made robust to support economic growth.

She said the MSME sector provided over 85 percent of manufacturing employment and assured that with the support of the government and other stakeholders, GEA would continue to strengthen MSMEs and ensure that there is improved access to credit facilities to expand their operations, contributing greatly to economic growth, to which end the Africa Street MBA program was a step in the right direction.

Nii Ankonu Annorbah-Sarpei, Programs Manager of the KGL Foundation, reiterated the foundation’s commitment to the socio-economic development of young people and Ghanaians in general. He said the KGL Foundation believed in youth development and empowerment, for which reason they are working in collaboration with DONE BY US to spearhead the vision of the Africa Street MBA program.

 

 

 

Even those proposed to lead the NDC in Parliament are astonished – Murtala mocks

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Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Member of Parliament for Tamale Central Constituency, has expressed surprise at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) decision to alter the party’s leadership in Parliament.

The decision was announced on Tuesday, January 24, with Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency, replacing Tamale South legislator Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah of Ellembelle replaces James Klutse Avedzi as Deputy Minority Leader.

Speaking on TV3’s News 360 on Tuesday, January 24, after the decision was announced, the Tamale Central MP stated that there was no consultation with the caucus prior to the release.

“Every single Member of Parliament is surprised,” he said, “And I can tell you that even those who have been proposed to take leadership, some of them are surprised that such a proposal is made without even consulting them.”

He condemned the mode of communication, saying as an MP he got wind of the decision on social media like many other NDC MPs.

“That is not how things are done,” he fumed.

“The NDC is a democratic party. We have touted ourselves as the pacesetters of this democracy. The NDC gave birth to the 1992 Constitution for which reason we have all collectively agreed to chart the path of democracy.”

He, therefore, indicated that NDC should be the last to disregard democratic tenets and by making such a decision without consulting the group – or caucus – it affects, to him, smacks of disrespect.

The former Nanton MP said his experience of having been in the Sixth Parliament and even the Eighth Parliament tells him that there is active consultation between the party’s leadership and the caucus prior to such decisions.

“How do you choose leaders for a group without consulting that group?” he wondered.

“Who told you that the group will be comfortable with the people you have chosen? Now if the group were not comfortable with the people you have chosen, then that will be the beginning of a failure of that particular leadership.”

Meanwhile, National Chairman of the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia said the decision was taken based on the current trend of debate on national issues.

“The debates and the other discussions will focus on the economy so you need to put your best man in the economy forward, that is what we have done,” he told Accra-based Joy FM.

“We also looked at energy. These petroleum and electricity challenges and so we needed to settle on Kofi-Armah Buah, our former Energy Minister to be the Deputy Minority Leader and then the other area is infrastructure, Kwame Agbodza being our man in infrastructure should play a key role. So that generally is what informed the changes.”

 

US and German armies are reportedly sending tanks to Ukraine.

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The US and Germany apparently intend to send tanks to Ukraine after months of delaying the move, which Kiev hopes will shift the combat dynamic.

The administration of US Vice President Joe Biden is anticipated to reveal plans to supply at least 30 M1 Abrams tanks.

Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, apparently also planned to send at least 14 Leopard 2 tanks. On Wednesday morning, he is scheduled to address the parliament.

The revelation, according to the Russian envoy to the US, is “yet another brazen provocation.”

The alleged move by Germany would “bring nothing beneficial” and “leave a permanent impact,” according to the Kremlin official.

Ukrainian officials say they are urgently in need of heavier weapons, and say sufficient battle tanks could help Kyiv’s forces seize back territory from the Russians.

But until now, the US and Germany have resisted internal and external pressure to send their tanks to Ukraine.

Washington has cited the extensive training and maintenance required for the high-tech Abrams.

Germans have endured months of painful political debate amid concerns that sending tanks would escalate the conflict and make Nato a direct party to the war with Russia.

US media is reporting that an announcement regarding Abrams shipments to Ukraine could come as soon as Wednesday, with unnamed officials cited as saying at least 30 could be sent.

However the timing remains unclear, and it could take many months for the US combat vehicles to reach the battlefront.

German officials had reportedly been insisting they would only agree to the transfer of Leopard 2s to Ukraine if the US also sent M1 Abrams.

“If the Germans continue to say we will only send or release Leopards on the conditions that Americans send Abrams, we should send Abrams,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons, a Biden ally, told Politico on Tuesday.

Britain has already said it will send Challenger Two tanks to Ukraine.

Poland – one of 16 European and Nato countries that has German-made Leopard 2 tanks – has been pushing to send the vehicles to Ukraine, but under export rules needs Berlin’s permission.

 

 

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