GENEVA (AP) — The world Kirsty Coventry walks into Monday as the International Olympic Committee’s first female and first African president is already very different to the one she was elected in three months ago.
Take Los Angeles, host of the next Summer Games that is the public face and financial foundation of most Olympic sports.
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FILE - IOC President Thomas Bach, right, greets Kirsty Coventry after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE -Kirsty Coventry, of Zimbabwe, kisses her gold medal after winning the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympic Aquatic Centre during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Aug. 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Mark Baker), File)
FILE -Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis), File)
The city described last week as a “trash heap” by U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to welcome teams from more than 200 nations in July 2028.
Most of the 11,000 athletes and thousands more coaches and officials who will take part in the LA Olympics will have seen images of military being deployed against the wishes of city and state leaders.
A growing number of those athletes’ home countries face being on a Trump-directed travel ban list — including Coventry's home Zimbabwe — though Olympic participants are promised exemptions to come to the U.S. Several players from Senegal's women’s basketball team were denied visas for a training trip to the U.S., the country's prime minister said.
A first face-to-face meeting with Trump is a priority for the new IOC president, perhaps at a sports event.
Welcome to Olympic diplomacy, the outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach could reasonably comment to his political protégé Coventry.
The six Olympic Games of Bach’s 12 years were rocked by Russian doping scandals and military aggression, Korean nuclear tensions, a global health crisis and corruption-fueled Brazilian chaos.
Still, Coventry inherits an IOC with a solid reputation and finances after a widely praised 2024 Paris Olympics, plus a slate of summer and winter hosts for the next decade. Risks and challenges ahead are clear to see.
For the two-time Olympic champion swimmer’s first full day as president Tuesday she has invited the 109-strong IOC membership to closed-doors meetings about its future under the banner “Pause and Reflect.”
“The way in which I like to lead is with collaboration,” said Coventry, who was sports minister in Zimbabwe for the past seven years, told reporters Thursday.
Many, if not most, members want more say in how the IOC makes decisions after nearly 12 years of Bach's tight executive control. It was a theme in manifestos by the other election candidates, and the runner-up in March, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, will lead one of the sessions.
“I like people to say: ‘Yes, I had a say and this was the direction that we went,’” Coventry said. “That way, you get really authentic buy-in.”
In an in-house IOC interview, Coventry also described how she wanted to be perceived: “She never changed. Always humble, always approachable.”
That could mean more member input, if not an open and contested vote, to decide the 2036 Olympics host.
Coventry’s win was widely seen as positive for the ambitions of India, and its richest family, to host the Summer Games that will follow Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
Nita Ambani, the philanthropist wife of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, has been an IOC member since 2016 and helped promote India’s Olympic bid in Paris last year.
She and Coventry are seen as being close, and the 2036 hosting award is among the biggest decisions pending.
“It is an open question,” Coventry told reporters Thursday. “For me as a president I need to be able to remain neutral.”
Qatar is bidding for the Summer Games for a fourth time and Saudi Arabia also is interested. A regional Middle East bid could be a political and logistical solution.
A Bach legacy is the policy of fast-tracking well-connected bidders into exclusive negotiations toward a rubber-stamp vote by IOC members.
At some point in Coventry’s presidency, Russia could possibly return fully to the Olympic family. It is unclear exactly when less than eight months before the 2026 Winter Games opening ceremony in Milan.
Russian athletes have faced a wider blanket ban in winter sports than summer ones during the military invasion of Ukraine. Even neutral status for individual Russians to compete looks elusive.
Vladimir Putin offered “sincere congratulations” on Coventry's election win, with the Kremlin praising her “high authority in the sporting world.”
However, there seems little scope for the IOC to lift its formal suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee imposed in 2023 because of a territorial grab in sports administration. Four regional sports bodies in eastern Ukraine were taken under Russian control.
Coventry said she will ask a task force to review IOC policy relating to athletes from countries involved in wars and conflicts.
The first Summer Games under a female presidency will be the first with a majority of athlete quota places for women.
Another task force is promised to look at gender eligibility issues, after the turmoil around women's boxing and two gold medalists in Paris. The new World Boxing governing body said last month it will introduce mandatory sex testing.
Coventry often states the importance of “Olympic Values,” which include gender parity, inclusion and inspiring young people through sports. "That is something that we can never, never, never compromise. And we have to be proud of that.”
The top-tier Olympic sponsor program might have peaked in Paris with 15 partners earning the IOC more than $1.6 billion in cash and services over the past two years.
The sponsor slate is down to 11 after all three Japanese sponsors and US tech firm Intel did not renew, though a major new backer from India is all-but promised.
Total revenue was $7.7 billion for 2021-24, including $3.25 billion of broadcasting revenue in 2024. It helps fund the Olympic Channel media operation in Madrid and about 700 staff in Lausanne. Salary and staff costs topped $250 million last year.
Though the future broadcasting landscape is hard to predict, the IOC has said $7.4 billion already is secured through 2028, and $4 billion for the 2033-36 commercial cycle. That sum was topped up in March with a foundational $3 billion deal.
NBC renewed for two more Olympics through the 2034 Salt Lake City Winter Games and the 2036 Summer Games that look destined for Asia.
The IOC also has a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia through 2036 to host a video gaming Esports Olympics, though the launch is delayed until at least 2027.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
FILE - IOC President Thomas Bach, right, greets Kirsty Coventry after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE -Kirsty Coventry, of Zimbabwe, kisses her gold medal after winning the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympic Aquatic Centre during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Aug. 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Mark Baker), File)
FILE -Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis), File)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as a crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act before then as reports of deaths mount and Iran's government continues to arrest protesters.
“Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest, said at least 599 people have been killed, including 510 protesters and 89 members of security forces. It said over 10,600 people have been detained during two weeks of protests. The group relies on supporters in Iran cross-checking information.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
The Latest:
President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran’s trade partners will face 25% tariffs from the United States as he looks to pressure Tehran over its violent protest crackdown that’s left nearly 600 dead across the country.
The U.S. president has repeatedly threatened Tehran with U.S. military action, if his administration found the Islamic Republic was using deadly force against antigovernment protesters. It’s a redline that Trump says he believes Iran is “starting to cross” and has left him and his national security team weighing “very strong options.”
Trump announced the tariffs in a social media posting, saying they would be “effective immediately.”
China, Brazil, Turkey and Russia are among economies that do business with Tehran.
The top diplomats for Iran and Britain have traded sharp statements after speaking by phone.
U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that Iran must halt the violence aimed at its people. She wrote on X that the killing and repression of peaceful protesters is “horrific.”
Araghchi responded by saying the U.K. should stay out of Iran’s internal affairs. He also criticized security at the Iranian embassy in London, where a demonstrator on Saturday scaled a wall and replaced the Islamic Republic’s flag with the banner flown before the Western-backed shah was overthrown in 1979.
“If the U.K. cannot uphold its duty to protect diplomatic missions, Iran would be left with no choice but to consider evacuating our personnel,” Araghchi said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has told reporters that airstrikes are among the “many, many options” that President Donald Trump is considering but that “diplomacy is always the first option for the president.”
Trump on Sunday said Iranian officials have reached out for talks. He has threatened to take military action against the Islamic Republic for its crackdown on the protests.
“What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” Leavitt said. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”
The U.S. last year bombed Iranian nuclear sites when it inserted itself into the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.
The executive secretary of Russia’s Security Council has condemned what he described as foreign interference in Iran’s internal affairs.
The council said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that Sergei Shoigu spoke by phone Monday with his counterpart Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
The statement said Shoigu also expressed condolences over the numerous casualties, without elaboration.
Iran has alleged foreign influence in the protests.
The ban was announced Monday by the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
“This House will not aid in legitimizing this regime that has sustained itself through torture, repression and murder,” Metsola wrote on X. She also praised protesters who “continue to stand up for their rights and their liberty.”
— The Iranian government seems to be publicizing the killing of demonstrators for the first time to dissuade others from joining in, said Kamran Matin, an associate professor of international relations at the University of Sussex in England and an expert on Iran. “It’s broadcasting some of the footage, both of those killed but also of the actual protests. It seems to be intended to intimidate protesters from returning to the streets.” He also said that Trump’s primary aim is to change the behavior of the Iranian regime, not necessarily the regime itself.
— Although some observers have speculated that Venezuela may provide a template for creating a new Iranian government, the situation in Tehran is very different, said Iran expert Siavush Randjbar-Daemi at the University of St. Andrews. He said there is no similar figure in Iran to interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, who took over after U.S. forces arrested Nicolás Maduro. “There’s nobody who the Americans can really talk to like that,’’ he said.
A senior Turkish official voiced opposition to foreign interventions in Iran, warning that such actions could worsen the country’s crisis.
Omer Celik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, acknowledged on Monday that Iran faces internal challenges but stressed they must be resolved through “its own dynamics and the will of the state.”
“We would never wish for any chaos to emerge in our neighbor Iran,” Celik said, adding that outside interference would only produce “worse outcomes.”
He cautioned that regional instability could escalate further if external involvement is driven by what he described as “Israeli provocations.”
Video circulating online purports to show dozens of bodies in a morgue on the outskirts of Iran’s capital.
People with knowledge of the facility and the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Monday that the video shows the Kahrizak Forensic Medicine Center.
People are seen walking by bodies in body bags laid out in a large room, attempting to identify them. Another video, widely shared by activists, purportedly shows people gathered around a television monitor at the morgue, looking at images of corpses’ faces. Outside, people can be heard wailing in grief. The footage matches other images of the facility online.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem
A witness told the AP that the streets of Tehran empty at the sunset call to prayers each night.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, addressed “Dear parents,” which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.
It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.
State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.
China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
People attend a rally in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)
A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
