Tag Archives: profile

Kirsty Coventry transitioned from Olympic champion to IOC president with her lifelong commitment to the transformative power of sport, making history as the first female and African leader of the 131-year-old organization. BEIJING | Dong Yixing and Ji Ye -Xinhua | The moment Kirsty Coventry stood in front of the …

XI JINPING: The relay baton has been passed on to our generation Beijing, China | SPECIAL FEATURE – XINHUA  |  About five months after his election as general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Xi Jinping won his third term as Chinese president at the annual …

Rubaga, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, the Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese who was found dead in his bedroom Saturday morning, was a prelate who always spoke truth to power. Lwanga has always been distinct among his peers who always preferred to stay quiet on critical issues affecting …

Gideon Saar, the man challenging Israel’s Netanyahu for Likud leader Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | He looks more like an accountant than a political predator, but on Thursday Gideon Saar will challenge his former mentor Benjamin Netanyahu for the leadership of Israel’s ruling party. Saar, 53, has been a senior …

La Paz, Bolivia | AFP | Evo Morales broke down barriers when he became Bolivia’s first indigenous president in 2006, but his refusal to democratically give up power and his tumultuous exit cast a shadow over nearly 14 years of economic progress and poverty reduction. Forced to resign after losing …

  Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Benjamin Netanyahu has become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister with his right-wing leadership and by repeatedly besting rivals with deft political moves, but he will have to pull another rabbit out of the hat in Tuesday’s elections. The 69-year-old is fighting his second election in …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Over the course of his 66 years, Cyril Ramaphosa has experienced the poverty of Soweto, jail for fighting apartheid, trade union activism, fabulous wealth — and now elected leadership of his country. Ramaphosa, who became president last year through internal ANC politics, won a …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, long wanted on genocide and war crimes charges, was finally brought down in a popular uprising by the very people he ruled with an iron fist for 30 years. One of Africa’s longest-serving presidents, the 75-year-old had remained defiant in the …

Christchurch, New Zealand | AFP |  A one-time gym trainer from rural Australia who became steeped in neo-fascist ideology during travels in Europe, Brenton Tarrant described himself as an “ordinary white man” — until he became anything but ordinary. The gunman behind the massacre of 49 people in two New …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on a wave of hope that he could defeat Boko Haram Islamists and turn around a country blighted by decades of corruption and poor governance. But while he will go down in history as Nigeria’s first opposition …