United States: Boulder, Colorado attack suspect posed as gardener

01:42
03/06/2025
Voting has closed in South Korea's snap presidential election
03/06/2025
France probes terror motive after man shoots dead Tunisian neighbour
03/06/2025
War in Ukraine: Istanbul talks fail to make headway towards ceasefire
03/06/2025
South Koreans vote for new president in wake of Yoon's ouster
03/06/2025
Middle East: Gaza rescuers say toll from Israel fire in Rafah rises to 27
03/06/2025
Ivory Coast: Ele festival celebrates lagoon culture and tradition
03/06/2025
Celebrating African talent: 'The Cavemen' champion highlife revival
03/06/2025
Children in Sudan struggling for survival amid health, food crises
03/06/2025
Poland's PM Tusk calls for confidence vote after Nawrocki wins presidency
Europe

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

France 24

5 hours ago

• France 24

Olympic chief Kirsty Coventry's steeliness honed by hard knocks

Looming large on the horizon of the 41-year-old Zimbabwean -- the first woman and African to occupy the post of the most powerful single figure in sport -- is US President Donald Trump. With Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Olympics, Trump will feature often on Coventry's agenda. Trump has not been shy in giving public dressing downs to world leaders -- notably Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. Judging by Coventry's initial response, after a crushing first-round victory in the presidential election in March, she may have Trump's measure. "I have been dealing with, let's say, difficult men in high positions since I was 20 years old," she said, adding "communication will be key." Unlike Trump, though, Coventry embraces the word failure, for it helped forge her stellar career. "Everything's scary. Embrace that. You have to fail," Coventry told the swimming team at her American alma mater Auburn University last year. "I've learned the best lessons by failing, and I have failed at many things. Life has a really good way of humbling you." At the same time that steely resolve comes to the surface when winning is at stake. "I was banned from playing card games with the family, because they didn't like to deal with me when I lost," she said. A glance at Coventry's CV suggests failure in her life has been relative. Coventry, who had the Olympic rings tattooed on a leg after her first Games in 2000, is a two-time Olympic gold medallist and she has contributed seven of Zimbabwe's overall Games medals tally of eight. She has accrued domestic political experience, as she was Zimbabwe's Minister for Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation from 2019 to this year. That attracted some flak as she was serving in a government whose election in 2023 was declared to be "neither free nor fair" by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). "I don't think you can stand on the sidelines and scream and shout for change," she said in her defence. "I believe you have to be seated at the table to try and create it." Her record as a minister has been heavily criticised by the Zimbabwean arts community in particular. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose predecessor Robert Mugabe labelled Coventry "a golden girl" and awarded her $100,000 after she came back with a gold medal from Beijing in 2008, hit back. "Whoever was not impressed by her can appoint someone else when they become president," said the 82-year-old. 'Very hard times' In 2004, Coventry gave an insight into why she would later accept such a poisoned chalice and how whites in Zimbabwe have to perform a delicate balancing act. "Zimbabwe is my home," she said after returning to a heroine's parade after winning her first gold medal at the Athens Olympics. "It's where I was born. It's my culture. I will always represent Zimbabwe. Colour doesn't matter to me. "I think every country goes through bad years and good years." Coventry had a largely urban upbringing. Her parents Rob and Linn owned a chemicals firm in a suburb of Harare, but the farming evictions -- where predominantly white farm owners were forced off their lands in their early 2000s -- affected her too. "I have had very close family members and friends on farms who have gone through very hard times," said Coventry. Away from the controversies she has shown decisive leadership in dealing with Zimbabwean football chiefs and FIFA. She backed the government body Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) when it suspended the Zimbabwean Football Association (ZIFA) over allegations of fraud and sexual harassment of referees. FIFA has a zero tolerance policy of political interference in its associations and barred Zimbabwe from international football in February 2022. However, by September the same year they were back in the fold. A ZIFA official was later banned for five years for sexually harassing three female referees. Coventry said in 2023 that the process had been "hard, but it was worth it, to have a way forward that's going to benefit us as a country". Those tempted to mess with Coventry in the years to come have been duly warned.

Euronews

11 hours ago

• Euronews

Tusk and Duda clash over presidential election outcome

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda on Saturday clashed publicly over the outcome of the country's recent presidential election amid reports of vote-counting irregularities. Tusk addressed Duda, President-elect Karol Nawrocki and the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party leader Jaroslav Kaczynsky on X. He asked whether they were interested in learning the 'real vote count' and said 'the honest have nothing to fear.' Duda responded that the ruling camp was unable to accept defeat. 'You believe you must win, and that's it,' he said, 'I am not curious about the result because I know them.' The president defended the National Electoral Commission's (PKW) certification of the vote and called on the government to refrain from 'provocations, lies and pressure.' He added that the ballots remain under the authority of the Supreme Court and the PKW. Kaczynski said a recount is not permitted under Polish law. Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticized Tusk's remarks, questioning whether coalition leaders should endorse what he described as the prime minister's 'madness.' According to the PKW, PiS backed Nawrocki won 10,606,877 votes in the runoff, narrowly defeating centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who received 10,237,286 votes. The electoral commission confirmed the results on Monday but acknowledged that 'incidents that could have affected the outcome' occurred in the second round. It said the Supreme Court would assess the implications. Local media have reported counting errors in several areas, including Krakow and Minsk Mazowiecki. Officials there admitted to misattributing votes cast for Trzaskowski to Nawrocki. The Supreme Court last week ordered a review of ballots from 13 electoral commissions. On Friday, Supreme Court spokesman Aleksander Stepkowski said about 4,300 electoral protests had been filed and the number could reach 50,000. He confirmed the court had begun receiving some submissions past the deadline and would soon assess how many were valid.

France 24

a day ago

• France 24

African civil society unconvinced by Meloni, Von Der Leyen investment plan

In Rwanda, opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has been arrested once again. A rare and outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame, she was taken into custody yesterday – just after appearing in a case involving nine people accused of distributing a book by Serbian author Popovic, 'How to Topple a Dictator', which outlines peaceful resistance to authoritarian rule. Ingabire's lawyers say this is a politically motivated move to silence dissent. Cameroon has been without cinema halls for years now. To bridge this gap and make African cinema available to all, the Cinémathèque Afrique deployed a caravan to screen a selection of iconic works from its about 1,500 catalogue. The project, which relies on the mobile digital cinema, aims to showcase African films in regions where movie theatres do not exist, mainly in villages and disadvantaged neighbourhoods.