- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
William Ruto: Kenya's 'hustler-in-chief' president
Incoming Kenyan president William Ruto has clawed his way to the top as the nation's "hustler-in-chief", playing on his religious faith and humble beginnings selling chickens by the roadside.
Although one of the richest men in the country and dogged by corruption allegations for years, the fiercely ambitious Ruto portrayed himself as the champion of the poor and downtrodden during the August 9 election campaign.
He won a narrow victory over the veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, despite running as the effective challenger after acrimoniously falling out with outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta who backed his rival in the closely-fought race.
"In becoming Kenya's fifth president, William Ruto symbolises determination to overcome the odds," Kenyan historian Macharia Munene said in an opinion piece for The Standard newspaper on the eve of his swearing in.
Ruto, who served as deputy president under Kenyatta for almost a decade, has pledged to reach out to his rivals in the deeply divided country, and tackle its deep economic woes and endemic corruption.
"There is no room for vengeance," the shadowy rags-to-riches businessman said after being declared president-elect in his first bid for the job.
He had described the election as a battle between ordinary "hustlers" struggling to put food on the table and the elite Kenyatta and Odinga "dynasties" that had dominated Kenyan politics for decades.
"We want everyone to feel the wealth of this country. Not just a few at the top," Ruto had said as he criss-crossed the country promoting his "bottom-up" economic plan.
- Effective strategist -
The outgoing president did not publicly congratulate Ruto until the eve of his inauguration, which takes place Tuesday, after the 55-year-old had backed his boss in the previous two elections with a promise he would have Kenyatta's backing this time around.
Their now fractured alliance was a marriage of convenience forged in the aftermath of deadly post-poll violence in 2007-2008 that largely pitted the Kikuyu -- Kenyatta's tribe -- against the Kalenjin, Ruto's ethnic group.
Both men were indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), accused of stoking the ethnic unrest that left more than 1,100 people dead.
The cases were eventually dropped, with the prosecution complaining of a relentless campaign of witness intimidation.
But Ruto was left out in the cold after Kenyatta shook hands with longtime foe Odinga in a dramatic switch of political allegiance in 2018.
He bounced back with a campaign that was directed as much at Kenyatta as his rival at the ballot box, blaming the government for Kenya's economic woes and even accusing the president of threatening him and his family.
Clad in the bright yellow of his United Democratic Alliance, whose symbol is the humble wheelbarrow, Ruto sought to reach out to those suffering most from the Covid-induced cost-of-living crisis that has been aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
"He succeeded in penetrating and vanquishing the collegiate club partly because the dynasties disdainfully underestimated him," wrote Munene.
- 'God has been kind to me' -
Observers attribute Ruto's aggressiveness to the fact he has had to struggle to get everything he has achieved in life from his lowly start in Kenya's Rift Valley, the Kalenjin heartland.
"I sold chicken at a railway crossing near my home as a child... I paid (school) fees for my siblings," he once said.
"God has been kind to me and through hard work and determination, I have something."
His fortune is now said to run into many millions of dollars, with interests spanning hotels, real estate and insurance as well as a vast chicken farm.
A teetotal father of six who describes himself as a born-again Christian, Ruto seldom lets a speech go by without thanking or praising God or reciting from the Bible.
He first got a foot on the political ladder -- and detractors claim, access to funds -- in 1992.
After completing studies in botany, he headed the YK'92 youth movement tasked with drumming up support for the autocratic then-president Daniel arap Moi, also a Kalenjin.
In 1997, when he tried to launch his parliamentary career by contesting a seat on his home turf of Eldoret North, Moi told him he was a disrespectful son of a pauper.
Undeterred, Ruto went on to clinch the seat, which he retained in subsequent elections.
His detractors say he siphoned money from the YK'92 project and used it to go into business, and allegations of corruption and land grabs still hang over him.
But he has long dismissed such claims, once telling local media: "I can account for every coin that I have."
A.Levy--CPN