5 h. ago Kirsty Coventry is now the most powerful person in sport and faces a bulging in

Successor to Thomas Bach is already making a positive impression and displaying a more human approachA new day has broken, has it not? For several reasons, Tony Blair’s 1997 election victory speech comes to mind on what will be a historic and symbolic day for sport. Because in Lausanne on Monday, after plenty of handshakes and platitudes, the 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry will become the first female and first African president of the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year-old history.It has been, by any measure, a dizzying ascent. In 2016, Coventry stepped out of an Olympic pool for the final time in Rio. Now, nine years later, she is the most powerful person in sport. Yet as she takes charge, there are some who suspect that the new dawn will look rather like the old one – and that her predecessor, Thomas Bach, and his administration, will remain puppet masters behind the throne. Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago Coventry makes history and has steel to make IOC role more than a puppet show | Sean Ingle

Bach’s successor is already making a positive impression but will need all her resolve at mammoth organisationA new day has broken, has it not? For several reasons, Tony Blair’s 1997 election victory speech comes to mind on what will be a historic and symbolic day for sport. Because in Lausanne on Monday, after plenty of handshakes and platitudes, the 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry will become the first female and first African president of the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year-old history.It has been, by any measure, a dizzying ascent. In 2016, Coventry stepped out of an Olympic pool for the final time in Rio. Now, nine years later, she is the most powerful person in sport. Yet as she takes charge, there are some who suspect that the new dawn will look rather like the old one – and that her predecessor, Thomas Bach, and his administration, will remain puppet masters behind the throne. Continue reading...

Culture

24 h. ago Charles Dickens’s ‘sliding doors’ moment: how a cold turned an aspiring thespian into a writer

An exhibition explores the authors’ love of theatre, highlighting the dramatic impact of his works As a sliding doors moment, it leads to arguably one of the greatest “what if?” questions in literary history. Passionate about the theatre, Charles Dickens, then just 20, wrote to the famous Covent Garden theatre actor-manager George Bartley seeking an audition, saying he believed he “had a strong perception of character and oddity, and a natural power of reproducing in my own person what I observed in others”.Bartley responded saying they were producing “the Hunchback” and arranging an appointment. Dickens planned to take his sister, Fanny, to accompany him singing on the piano. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Kirsty Coventry vows to stay humble as the first female president of the IOC

Zimbabwean opts against using luxury hotelsCoventry wants IOC members to speak their mindsKirsty Coventry has promised to not let power go to her head when she becomes the first female president of the International Olympic Committee next week.Her predecessor, Thomas Bach, would always stay in a suite paid for by the IOC at the five-star Lausanne Palace hotel, costing about £2,000 a night, whenever he was in the city. However, the Zimbabwean confirmed her family would not be following suit. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Kirsty Coventry to swerve palaces and focus on responsibility as first female IOC president

Zimbabwean takes over from Thomas Bach next weekCoventry speaks of making ‘right decisions’ in the roleKirsty Coventry has promised to not let power go to her head when she becomes the first female president of the International Olympic Committee next week.Her predecessor, Thomas Bach, would always stay in a suite paid for by the IOC at the five-star Lausanne Palace hotel, costing about £2,000 a night, whenever he was in the city. However, the Zimbabwean confirmed her family would not be following suit. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Unstoppable force loses battle with immovable object: Elon bows to Trump

Four days into a public feud between the world’s most powerful person and the world’s richest person, I declare Musk the loserElon Musk and Donald Trump are no longer friends. Tension between the two exploded into public view in the middle of last week, with each leveling sharp barbs at the other. Four days into the public feud between the world’s most powerful person and the world’s richest person, though, I declare Musk the loser. An unstoppable force has lost its battle with an immovable object.From my colleagues Hugo Lowell and Andrew Roth: On Thursday, Elon Musk called for Donald Trump’s impeachment and mocked his connections to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the US president threatened to cancel federal contracts and tax subsidies for Musk’s companies, in an extraordinary social media feud that erupted between the former allies. The direct shots at Trump were the latest twist in the public showdown over a Republican spending bill that Musk had criticized. Conti...

Politics

1 week ago Nigel Farage struggles to name an 'inspirational' Welsh person as he talks up Reform taking power in Cardiff

The party leader said that his party was the only real alternative to Labour in the Senedd as he spoke in Port Talbot ahead of elections next May.

Politics

2 w. ago JD Vance says Elon Musk’s attack against Trump is a ‘huge mistake’

Vice-president was interviewed by comedian Theo Von, who also asked him if he ‘got high’ on election nightJD Vance said Elon Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after Donald Trump in a storm of bitter and inflammatory social media posts after a falling-out between the two men.But the vice-president, in an interview released on Friday after the very public blowup between the world’s richest person and arguably the world’s most powerful, also tried to downplay Musk’s blistering attacks as an “emotional guy” who got frustrated. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Donald Trump says Elon Musk has ‘lost his mind’ and dismisses peace offering

Trump says he’s ‘not particularly’ interested in reconciling with Musk, who reportedly wanted to speak to presidentUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump has accused Elon Musk of “losing his mind” as the dramatic breakdown between America’s most powerful person and the world’s richest person escalated into a full-blown feud that could have seismic political and economic consequences.In a series of phone calls to US media on Friday morning, Trump snapped back at Musk, after the tech mogul and Republican financier launched an extraordinary social media attack on the president the day before, which ended with him accusing Trump of being named in the so-called “Epstein files” – documents related to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s crypto ventures may be his most dangerous moneymaking scheme | Mohamad Bazzi

The US president is leveraging his position for personal gain by exploiting an industry known for lack of transparency and fraudThroughout his business career, Donald Trump sought new ways to leverage his name to make easy money. He ran an airline, a university and a winery. Thanks to The Apprentice show that made him a reality TV star, the US president slapped his name on real estate projects around the world built by other companies – along with Trump-branded steaks, vodka, deodorant and bottled water. Many of these businesses ultimately failed, but Trump rarely invested his own funds and he still walked away with hefty licensing fees.Today, as the most powerful person in the world, Trump has found perhaps the easiest way to profit off his name: cryptocurrency. Days before his inauguration for a second term on 20 January, Trump’s family business launched a meme coin, called $TRUMP, which is a type of digital currency often connected to an online joke or mascot. It has no inherent ...

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