BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich can clinch the Bundesliga title this weekend, completing what would be a perfect week after reaching the Champions League semifinals at Real Madrid’s expense.
Union Berlin coach Marie-Louise Eta is set to make it a historic week as the first female coach in the division when she makes her debut in charge against visiting Wolfsburg.
It’s only a matter of time before free-scoring Bayern seals its 13th German league title in 14 years but board member for sport Max Eberl wants it wrapped up as soon as possible to concentrate on other objectives.
The Bavarian powerhouse leads second-placed Borussia Dortmund by 12 points with five Bundesliga rounds remaining and can secure the title on Sunday at home to Stuttgart if Dortmund drops more points at Hoffenheim the day before.
“It would certainly round off this week nicely,” Eberl said after Bayern’s Champions League quarterfinal win on Wednesday.
Bayern then faces Bayer Leverkusen away for their German Cup semifinal on April 22.
“If we can take that on with the championship title settled, that’s now the big goal for the next four days,” Eberl said.
Bayern smashed the Bundesliga goals record last weekend and is targeting a repeat of its 2013 treble of trophies.
Third-placed Stuttgart is fighting for Champions League qualification and will not make it easy for Bayern even if Dortmund does drop points the day before.
Dortmund lost to Leverkusen last weekend and will aim to bounce back at Hoffenheim, which was on course for Champions League qualification but has fallen away with just one win in seven games.
The relegation battle is heating up with St. Pauli hosting Cologne on Friday, and Werder Bremen entertaining Hamburger SV for the northern derby on Saturday.
Second-to last Wolfsburg travels to Union on Saturday, when Eta will make her debut as interim coach after Union fired Steffan Baumgart last weekend. Union has pushed back against sexist comments on social media.
Yan Diomande scored again for Leipzig last weekend and the 19-year-old Ivory Coast forward is driving the team’s push for Champions League qualification. Fourth-placed Leipzig visits Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Stuttgart’s Deniz Undav is playing for his World Cup place with Germany. Undav missed a penalty last weekend but he’ll have no better place to stand out than at Bayern on Sunday.
Bayern’s Jamal Musiala is getting back to his best as he continues his recovery from a broken leg at the Club World Cup last year. Musiala set up Luis Díaz with his heel for Bayern’s breakthrough against Madrid on Wednesday.
Bayern youngster Lennart Karl is out with a hamstring issue and the club announced on Wednesday that Tom Bischof is out with a left calf injury.
A Dortmund fan at last week’s home loss to Leverkusen died after being taken to hospital, the Ruhr Nachrichten reported. A Frankfurt fan died in similar circumstances the weekend before.
Freiburg’s Daniel-Kofi Kyereh played for the club’s second team last weekend, his first competitive game in more than three years after his second cruciate ligament knee injury in February 2023. The 30-year-old Kyereh’s contract with Freiburg is up at the end of the season but there are reportedly talks over an extension. Kyereh made 18 appearances for Ghana, the last at the 2022 World Cup.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
dBayern's Michael Olise celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's fourth goal uring the Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Bayern's Michael Olise celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring his side's fourth goal uring the Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament opened debate Thursday on a landmark bill to reserve one-third of legislative seats for women, which could set off a sweeping redrawing of voting boundaries that could sharpen political tensions nationwide.
If passed, the bill would fast-track a 2023 law mandating 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures. It would be one of the most consequential shifts in political representation since India’s independence and potentially widen female participation in a system where women remain underrepresented.
The quota, however, is linked to a controversial separate bill to change voting boundaries, a process that could increase the number of seats in the lower house from 543 to about 850.
While there appears to be a broad bipartisan support for putting more women into Parliament, opposition parties have raised concerns over changing voting boundaries, warning it could tilt the political balance in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
The bills are being taken up during a three-day special session of Parliament and will require a two-thirds majority in both houses to pass. Modi’s ruling National Democratic Alliance holds 293 seats in Parliament, while a two-thirds majority would require 360 seats.
Several Asian countries, including India’s neighbors like Nepal and Bangladesh, have similar quotas for women in national legislatures. India already mandates that one-third of seats be set aside for women in local governance bodies, but women currently hold only about 14% of seats in the lower house of Parliament.
The quota could bring hundreds more women into legislative politics, which supporters say could redirect policy attention toward women’s health, education and gender-based violence. It is unclear how seats would be allocated to women in an expanded Parliament.
Ranjana Kumari, a women’s rights advocate, said the move would make India’s “democracy truly representative” and force political parties to field more female candidates.
“(The) door is little open. Women will enter and fill the room slowly,” Kumari said.
For many young Indian women, the change also carries symbolic weight.
Pranita Gupta, a 23-year-old law graduate, said it will instill “a sense of confidence that we can participate in politics and we can be part of Parliament not only as an exception but as well as a norm.”
The rollout of the quota is tied to a population-based redrawing of voting boundaries using data from the last completed census in 2011. While the timeline for this process remains unclear, the proposal has already triggered political debate.
Opposition parties warn that basing constituencies on population could shift political power toward faster-growing northern states, while diminishing the parliamentary representation, seat share and overall influence of southern regions. They also argue it could benefit Modi’s party, which has strong support in the northern states.
India’s Constitution mandates that parliamentary seats be allocated by population and revised after each census. However, boundaries have not been redrawn since the 1971 census, as successive governments delayed the process over concerns about uneven population growth.
Leaders in southern states, where birthrates have declined more sharply, say a population-based delimitation exercise could increase seats in the north and disadvantage southern regions that have slowed population growth and built stronger economies.
Modi’s party has pushed back on the criticism of the bill and said it would implement a uniform 50% increase in seats across all states, maintaining proportional representation nationwide. However, the draft legislation does not explicitly spell this out.
Speaking in Parliament, Modi said the legislation is “not discriminatory” and “will not do injustice to anyone.”
But early opposition surfaced Thursday, as Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin burned a copy of the bill and raised a black flag in protest. He urged people across the state to do the same.
Some leaders from southern states also turned up in Parliament dressed in black as a mark of protest.
India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi alleged the exercise could be used to “gerrymander” parliamentary constituencies in favor of Modi’s party ahead of the 2029 national elections.
“Delimitation should be based on a transparent policy framework, developed after wide consultations with a consensus,” he wrote Wednesday on X.
Pranita Gupta, a law graduate, poses for a photograph in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Communist Party of India member Annie Raja, left, and activist Shabnam Hashmi have a chat before a press conference on sending a petition on women's reservation to the parliamentarians in New Delhi, India, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A security officer takes photograph of Indian women lawmakers as they pose outside Parliament House before the start of the debate on a landmark bill to reserve one-third of seats for women, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo)
Indian women lawmakers pose outside Parliament House before the start of the debate on a landmark bill to reserve one-third of seats for women, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo)
