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- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
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- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
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- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
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- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
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- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
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- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
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- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
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Star French rapper faces trial for alleged rape
French rapper Naps must face trial for rape, an investigating magistrate has ruled, after allegedly assaulting a woman in her sleep in 2021.
The rapper from the Mediterranean city Marseille, whose best-known track "La kiffance" has racked up over 186 million views on YouTube, contests all of the charges "as firmly as possible", his lawyer Nabil Boudi told AFP on Wednesday.
Boudi added that he had appealed the order for a trial in Paris, which prosecutors said was filed on May 15.
A young woman filed a criminal complaint in October 2021 against Naps, saying she and friends shared a table with the rapper on a night out at a bar in the capital, prosecutors said.
The group moved on to a hotel room where the singer's friends gradually left.
"The young women had fallen asleep when one of them says she was woken up by a sexual act she did not consent to," prosecutors added.
Naps was charged later that month and placed under judicial observation.
Prosecutors took until February this year to request a trial, which has now been granted.
Naps' first album "Ma ville et ma vie" ("My city and my life") was released in 2015, but he shot to fame in 2021 with the release of "La kiffance", a track from "Les mains faites pour l'or" ("Hands made for gold").
He has collaborated with other major French artists including global star Maitre Gims.
X.Matos--PC