16 Mar, 2023 19:55

Tournament axed after Russian inclusion

A fencing tournament due to take place in Germany has been canceled amid complaints about Russian athletes competing

A tournament under the jurisdiction of the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE) scheduled for Germany in May has been canceled after thefederation voted to allow the inclusion of competitors from Russia and Belarus.

Sportspeople from both countries have been banned from taking part in many major sporting events for the past year, following advice issued by the International Olympic Committee soon after the launch of Russia’s military action in Ukraine in February 2022. The directive was subsequently adopted by various other sporting federations, resulting in the blacklisting of Russia and Belarus from several sports.

The FIE, however, voted in favor last week of reinstating Russian and Belarusians to its events, with the upcoming event in Germany being among the first major tournaments at which they would have been eligible to compete.

However, Germany’s Deutscher Fechter Bund (DFB) President Claudia Bokel, said the FIE vote had “triggered heated discussions both internally and externally” which, coupled with widespread travel restrictions imposed by several European countries – particularly Germany – led the DFB Executive Committee to state that the May tournament would be impossible to hold under the conditions set out by the FIE.

“We now want to give a clear signal that we would have liked a different result [in the vote] and still see a large number of open implementation questions from the world association, which [makes holding a tournament impossible],” Bokel told the sports publication Inside the Games.

She added: “As before, our solidarity is with the people in Ukraine who are suffering from a war of aggression.”

Russian Fencing Federation President Ilgar Mammadov told TASS that he was unsurprised by the German federation’s decision and insisted that another country would be able to step in.

“Those countries that cannot hold competitions on equal terms will not hold them,”Mammadov, an Olympics gold medalist, said. “Others will, in large numbers.”

The IOC, which maintains that sporting sanctions should continue against Russia and Belarus, has recently indicated that it supported easing certain restrictions, adding earlier this week that it had “taken note” of the FIE decision.

https://www.rt.com/news/573102-fencing-russia-germany-tournament/

This is such BS, they all know Ukraine is a cesspool

16 Mar, 2023 19:23

Russia slams Denmark over Nord Stream ‘fraud’

Copenhagen has refused to allow Moscow’s participation in pipeline bombing probe

Denying Russia access to the investigation of sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines makes a mockery of those probes, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

“This is such a fraud, a total scam, not even a con but a threepenny game, which in my opinion no one has been buying for a very long time,” Zakharova said in an interview with Rossiya-1. (Kek)

“They are playing this for themselves, but the story with Nord Stream will not end the same way as ==many other stories they have buried or covered up=, I think, for the simple reason that there’s a lot of money at stake,” Zakharova added.

Earlier in the day, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said that Moscow won’t be permitted to participate, telling reporters that “Denmark, Sweden and Germany all have rule of law and one can have confidence in our investigations.” (Russia owns the majority of the pipeline, law is not dictated by what a country wants to do except in the EU. I have no doubt Russia knows everything, they just can’t admit it.)

Russia has accused the three countries of lying about keeping Moscow informed of their probes, providing documents to that effect to the UN Security Council on Tuesday. The Russian mission has asked the UN for animpartial international investigation.

Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were built under the Baltic Sea to deliver Russian natural gas to Germany and on to Western Europe. Both pipelines were severely damaged in a series of explosions in September 2022, near the Danish island of Bornholm. No one has taken responsibility for the bombing.

In early February, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an account of what happened and blamed the US for planning and executing the bombing with the help of Norway. The US government denounced his account as “total fiction.”

Earlier this month, the New York Times quotedunnamed US intelligence officials to claim a rogue “pro-Ukrainian group” may have been behind the attack, and that it was not ordered by the Ukrainian government or involve any US or British nationals. Hersh has laughed off the story as implausible.

https://www.rt.com/russia/573100-zakharova-nord-stream-denmark-fraud/

16 Mar, 2023 21:33

Riots erupt after Macron raises retirement age

The French president forced his controversial pension reform bill through without a full vote in parliament

French President Emmanuel Macron bypassed parliament and enacted a controversial pension reform package on Thursday, triggering riots and arson on the streets of Paris. The move, which raises France’s retirementage to 64, had already caused months of strikes and protests. (BooHoo)

Macron invoked a special constitutional power to pass the bill, immediately before a vote was set to take place. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced the decision in the National Assembly, as opposition lawmakers booed, jeered, and sang.

Under the power invoked by Macron and Borne, the bill is considered passed unless a majority of lawmakers file a motion of no confidence against the government in the next 24 hours. Right-wing leader Marine Le Pen said that her National Rally party would back such a motion, as did a number of leftist leaders.

Macron has argued for months that France’s pension system will go bankrupt unless citizens pump more money into the system. Raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 – which would still see French workers retire earlier than most of their European counterparts – would be a “just and responsible” way to achieve this, he said in January.

France’s trade unions – who have protested the reforms since last year – have argued that the system should instead be buoyed byincreasing taxes on the wealthy. (This may help but does not solve the problem, what a weird system EU has)

Thousands of protesters gathered in Paris as Macron’s bill was passed. Near parliament buildings, police fired tear gas at the demonstrators and faced off against the crowd in lines.

Rioters set fires and blocked roads throughout the French capital, as groups of masked protesters clashed with riot police.

Prior to the bill’s passage, almost half a million people protested in cities across France on Wednesday, according to figures from the Interior Ministry. Police have already made 73 arrests in the capital, Le Figaro reported, citing a police source.

https://www.rt.com/news/573106-france-macron-retirement-riots/