Latest news with #Africa
The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Faith Kipyegon certain a woman will break four-minute mile barrier within a decade
Faith Kipyegon remains convinced that a woman will break the four-minute mile barrier within 10 years, despite falling more than six seconds short in her record attempt in Paris. It was a disappointing result for Kipyegon and her sponsor Nike, who had hoped that aerodynamic skinsuits, lighter super spikes and a team of 13 pacers would help the 31-year-old Kenyan get within touching distance of the famous mark. But speaking to the Guardian on the morning after running 4min 06.42sec in Paris, Kipyegon insisted she was still proud to have rolled the dice – and to have run a mile quicker than any woman in history. She also predicted that new technology was coming that would also help Britain's Keely Hodgkinson break the women's 800m world record of 1min 53.28sec, which has stood since 1983. 'Absolutely there will be a woman running a mile in under four minutes,' she said. 'And I think it will take less than 10 years. And if it doesn't come my way, it will be someone else doing it.' Asked why she was so confident, given the gap was still more than six seconds, she replied: 'Going forward, the technology will be even higher than what I was using yesterday. So I think one day, one time, it will happen.' Kipyegon admitted that she had struggled in the final 200m, having heard the bell in 3:01. But she insisted she would not have changed anything about her attempt. 'Birds sometimes fall but they fly again,' she said. 'I believe I will still lower the world record of 4.07. I want to get it very close to the four minutes mark. And I believe I can still run under 4.05 in a race with female pacemakers.' Kipyegon's next race will be over 1500m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, next week, and she insists she is in shape to challenge her world record of 3:49.04. However she said there are no plans yet to have another crack at the four-minute mile barrier. In Paris she spoke to Hodgkinson, who told her she is hungry to go faster once she has recovered from a hamstring injury. 'I talked with Keely yesterday about everything,' said Kipyegon. 'And my run was a huge inspiration for her. She's hungry to go under 1.54 in the 800m. And I think Keely Hodgkinson one day, one time, will run under 1.53. She is so fast.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Nike's chief innovation officer, Tony Bignell, who has worked with the company since helping design spikes for Michael Johnson at the Atlanta and Sydney Games, promised that there would be more innovation and attempts at breaking records. 'Yes, I've seen things in the lab, and I've put things on my foot where I've thought: 'I've never felt that before,'' said Bignell. 'And that's coming. 'Last night could have been anywhere on a scale of zero to 10, but we took the risk. And taking risks is a good thing.'
Sky News
25 minutes ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda sign US-brokered peace deal - but doubts over success linger
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have signed a peace deal which Donald Trump said he brokered - resulting in the US getting "a lot" of mineral rights in the process. The deal has been touted as an important step towards ending the decades-long conflict in eastern DRC which has caused the deaths of six million people. US secretary of state Marco Rubio called it "an important moment after 30 years of war". Earlier on Friday, President Trump said he was able to broker a deal for "one of the worst wars anyone's ever seen". "I was able to get them together and sell it," Mr Trump said. "And not only that, we're getting for the United States a lot of the mineral rights from Congo." The Rwanda -backed M23 rebel group, the most prominent armed group in the conflict, has suggested that the agreement won't be binding for them. It hasn't been directly involved in the planned peace deal. DRC foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner invoked the millions of victims of the conflict in signing the agreement with Rwandan foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe. The agreement, signed by the foreign ministers during a ceremony with Mr Rubio in Washington, pledges to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern DRC within 90 days, according to a copy seen by Reuters. "Some wounds will heal, but they will never fully disappear," Ms Wagner said. "Those who have suffered the most are watching. They are expecting this agreement to be respected, and we cannot fail them." Mr Nduhungirehe noted the "great deal of uncertainty" because previous agreements were not put in place. "There is no doubt that the road ahead will not be easy," he said. "But with the continued support of the United States and other partners, we believe that a turning point has been reached."
Washington Post
25 minutes ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump seeks crown as world peacemaker, brokering truce in central Africa
President Donald Trump celebrated a U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in an Oval Office ceremony Friday, touting the potential pause in a decades-long conflict as he sought to build his image as a global dealmaker. It was the latest in a flurry of global peacemaking efforts Trump has undertaken to mixed results, working phones and meeting personally with leaders to resolve a conflict between India and Pakistan and wars in Iran, Ukraine and Gaza. In some cases, including in Iran, a ceasefire has held — but at times he has also projected more optimism than some warring leaders themselves, as was the case Friday in the Oval Office.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Six-year-old British boy is arrested on suspicion of DRUG SMUGGLING in Mauritius 'after £1.6million of cannabis is found in his luggage'
Airport officials swooped on a six-year-old British boy after £1.6million of cannabis was found in his luggage after arriving in Mauritius. The youngster was arrested alongside six other British citizens who had travelled to the tropical Indian Ocean island on Sunday. Customs officials at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport were stunned to discover 14 kilos of cannabis concealed in the young boy's bag and 17 kilos in luggage belonging to another individual. They have condemned the use of the child as a drugs mule as 'inhumane', according to The Sun. Altogether, 161 kilos of the drug were found hidden throughout several other suitcases. Eleven numbered Apple AirTags were also discovered, suggesting the operation may have been linked to an organised crime gang responsible for smuggling drugs from Europe to Mauritius. The six arrested British adults - all from Cambridgeshire - included Laura Kappen, 28, a bar worker from Orton Goldhay, Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer, from Bretton, Shona Campbell, 33, a cleaner from Standground, Lily Watson, a caterer from Peterborough and window fitter Patrick Wilsdon, 21, also from Peterborough. Romanian national, Florian Lisman, 38, a machine operator living in Huntingdon, was additionally arrested. The youngster has since returned to the UK with his father, who flew out to Mauritius to collect him. On Monday, the seven arrested men and women appeared in court in Mahébourg and remain in custody. The drugs were discovered as part of a joint operation between the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (CANS) and the Anti-Drug & Smuggling Unit (ADSU) at the airport. Shocked relatives have said they 'can't believe what's happened' after being alerted to the arrests. Carly Wilsdon, mother of Patrick Wilsdon, said her son was 'vulnerable' and had only been abroad once before. It is believed he was offered a 'free holiday' to Mauritius. She said: 'He wouldn't have known what he was doing because he wouldn't get involved in drugs. 'The person who told them about this free holiday is one of his circle of friends but now he has disappeared.' The incident is the latest in a spate of British citizens arrested abroad accused of smuggling drugs, including former air stewardess Charlotte Lee, who was arrested in May in Sri Lanka, after £1.15million worth of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage, and Bella May Culley, 18, who was intercepted by police in Georgia for allegedly smuggling cannabis. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: 'We are supporting several British nationals who are detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.'
Arab News
an hour ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Rwanda, Congo sign peace deal in US to end fighting, attract investment
WASHINGTON/PARIS/KINSHASA: Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a US-brokered peace agreement on Friday, raising hopes for an end to fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more this year. The agreement marks a breakthrough in talks held by US President Donald Trump's administration and aims to attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. At a ceremony with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, the two African countries' foreign ministers signed the agreement pledging to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days, according to a copy seen by Reuters. Kinshasa and Kigali will also launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days, the agreement said. 'They were going at it for many years, and with machetes — it is one of the worst, one of the worst wars that anyone has ever seen. And I just happened to have somebody that was able to get it settled,' Trump said on Friday, ahead of the signing of the deal in Washington. 'We're getting, for the United States, a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo as part of it. They're so honored to be here. They never thought they'd be coming.' Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe called the agreement a turning point. Congo Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said it must be followed by disengagement. Trump later met both officials in the Oval Office, where he presented them with letters inviting Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to Washington to sign a package of agreements that Massad Boulos, Trump's senior adviser for Africa, dubbed the 'Washington Accord.' Nduhungirehe told Trump that past deals had not been implemented and urged Trump to stay engaged. Trump warned of 'very severe penalties, financial and otherwise,' if the agreement is violated. Rwanda has sent at least 7,000 soldiers over the border, according to analysts and diplomats, in support of the M23 rebels, who seized eastern Congo's two largest cities and lucrative mining areas in a lightning advance earlier this year. The gains by M23, the latest cycle in a decades-old conflict with roots in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, sparked fears that a wider war could draw in Congo's neighbors. Economic deals Boulos told Reuters in May that Washington wanted the peace agreement and accompanying minerals deals to be signed simultaneously this summer. Rubio said on Friday that heads of state would be 'here in Washington in a few weeks to finalize the complete protocol and agreement.' However, the agreement signed on Friday gives Congo and Rwanda three months to launch a framework 'to expand foreign trade and investment derived from regional critical mineral supply chains.' A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday that another agreement on the framework would be signed by the heads of state at a separate White House event at an unspecified time. There is an understanding that progress in ongoing talks in Doha — a separate but parallel mediation effort with delegations from the Congolese government and M23 — is essential before the signing of the economic framework, the source said. The agreement signed on Friday voiced 'full support' for the Qatar-hosted talks. It also says Congo and Rwanda will form a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days and implement a plan agreed last year to monitor and verify the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers within three months. Congolese military operations targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda's former army and militias that carried out the 1994 genocide, are meant to conclude over the same timeframe. Reuters reported on Thursday that Congolese negotiators had dropped an earlier demand that Rwandan troops immediately leave eastern Congo, paving the way for the signing ceremony on Friday. Congo, the United Nations and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defense against Congo's army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, including the FDLR. 'This is the best chance we have at a peace process for the moment despite all the challenges and flaws,' said Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada who specializes in Africa's Great Lakes region. Similar formulas have been attempted before, Stearns added, and 'it will be up to the US, as they are the godfather of this deal, to make sure both sides abide by the terms.' The agreement signed on Friday says Rwanda and Congo will de-risk mineral supply chains and establish value chains 'that link both countries, in partnership, as appropriate, with the US and US investors.' The terms carry 'a strategic message: securing the east also means securing investments,' said Tresor Kibangula, a political analyst at Congo's Ebuteli research institute. 'It remains to be seen whether this economic logic will suffice' to end the fighting, he added.
