26 Mar, 2023 19:27

EU warns of response to Belarus nuclear move

The bloc will apply sanctions unless Minsk refuses to host Russian tactical arms, Josep Borrell announced

The EU will respond with further sanctions if Belarus presses ahead with hosting Russian nuclear weapons on its soil, the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has stated. Borrell called the decision to transfer tactical weapons to Belarus “an irresponsible escalation” by Moscow.

“Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security,” Borrell tweeted on Sunday. “Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice,” he continued, adding that “the EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed on Saturday that his country’s tactical nuclear weapons will arrive in Belarus as early as this summer. Putin said that he made the decision after the UK announced it would transfer toxic depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine, a move he described as a sign of London’s “absolute recklessness.”

Belarus has already been extensively sanctioned by the EU and US since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine last February. Brussels has blacklisted more than 20 Belarusian officials, cut five of the nation’s banks off from the SWIFT system, and imposed numerous trade restrictions.

Prior to 2022, theEU banned Belarusian flightsfrom operating in its airspace and imposed five separate sets of sanctions in response to President Alexander Lukashenko’s 2020 election victory, which the EU deemed fraudulent.

In his announcement on Saturday, Putin explained that any nuclear weapons transferred to Belarus would remain under Russian control.

“There is nothing unusual,” about this arrangement, Putin stated, explaining that “the United States has been doing this for decades” by keeping its own nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye.

“They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies,” he said. “We agreed that we will do the same, without violating our international obligations on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/573635-borrell-sanctions-belarus-nuclear/

26 Mar, 2023 19:29

Athletes ‘pretended to be women’ in world championship – organizer

The International Boxing Association president said that some participants “were trying to fool their colleagues”

Several participants were disqualified from the Women’s World Boxing Championship after DNA tests rendered them ineligible, Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association, wrote on Telegram on Saturday. The competition took place in New Delhi, India on Sunday.

Kremlev said that the association’s executives met after the women’s championship to discuss “fairness among athletes and professionalism.” He added that after “a series of DNA-tests” the association “uncovered athletes who were trying to fool their colleagues and pretended to be women.”

He claimed that the tests “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded from the sports events.”

Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who won the 2022 African Championships and this year’s Mediterranean Games, was disqualified from the event “due to the failure to meet the IBA eligibility criteria.” Algerian media reported that her hormone test had returned an elevated testosterone level.Khelif claimed she was the victim of a “conspiracy.”

American and European sports have been locked in a debate over trans athletes. On Thursday, World Athleticsbanned “male-to-female transgender athleteswho have been through male puberty” from female events. World Aquatics, which handles watersports, made a similar decision in June 2022. Both decisions drew the ire of LGBT rights organizations and trans athletes.

Meanwhile, in many sporting events that do allow their participation, trans women have been beating the competition by a landslide. US cyclocross champion Hannah Arensman quit the sport after losing to a transgender athlete. She told reporters on Thursday that she “came in 4th place, flanked on either side by male riders awarded 3rd and 5th places.”Record-setting Canadian trans runner Tiffany Newell announced earlier this month that she was retiring from the sport to “stop being the center of controversy.”

https://www.rt.com/news/573633-women-boxing-dna-test/

26 Mar, 2023 19:06

Germany braces for biggest strike in decades – Bild

The country is set to be “paralyzed” on Monday as public transport workers will reportedly protest for wage increases

Public transportation throughout Germany will come to a halt on Monday, potentially leaving the 83-million-strong nation in a state of “traffic chaos,” the Bild warned on Sunday. What is being called the largest nationwide strike in decades was organized by several powerful trade unions.

All long-distance train serviceof the German national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, will be completely halted because of the strike, the company said. Regional train service will be drastically reduced, whileshort-distance city trains, known in Germany as the S-Bahn, will also not be in operation, it added.

In seven German states – Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, and parts of Bavaria – local transport workers will join the strike as well, meaning thatall bus, train and tram trafficwill likely be brought to a standstill, Germany’s Stern magazine reported.

The country’s airport association, ADV, already estimated that some380,000 travelers will be unable to flyon Monday because of the strike. This comes ahead of the Easter holidays in Germany, which start on Monday in Lower Saxony and the city of Bremen.

Stern warned of “traffic chaos” on highways, while Bild called the planned work stoppage “the worst strike in 31 years,” adding that Germany last experienced something similar back in 1992. Stern also described it as a “declaration of war on … the country’s infrastructure providers.”

The strike is the result of demands for wage hikes issued by several major trade unions. The public services union, Verdi, seeks a pay rise of 10.5%, but no less than €500 for some 2.5 million public employees. The railway and transport union (EVG) demands a 12% wage increase but no less than €650. The unions blame inflation and rising commodity prices for the crisis.

A “sufficiently high” minimum wage is required for employees with low to middle incomes to successfully weather the effects of price hikes, the head of Verdi, Frank Werneke, told Bild. “They are hit hardest by inflation. Everyone has to fill the fridge. Food prices have risen sharply, as have electricity and gas,” he argued.

Germany, along with other EU states, encountered economic difficulties last year as the bloc embarked on a gradual reduction of its reliance on Russian energy supplies. Although the EU did not ban Russian pipeline gas imports, flows dwindled significantly due to Ukraine-related sanctions and the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Earlier in March, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research warned that Germany could face a recession in 2023.

https://www.rt.com/news/573634-germany-biggest-strike-decades/