TheNewsGuru

Tag: Russia

  • Russia fined by FIFA for racial chants

    World Cup host Russia, has been fined 30,000 Swiss francs for discriminatory chants by fans, FIFA said on Tuesday.

    This came after racist abuse was directed at French players during a friendly in St Petersburg in March.

    A Reuters photographer at pitch level for France’s 3-1 win over Russia, heard monkey chants directed at French players on several occasions, including when midfielder N’Golo Kante came to the touchline for a throw-in.

    FIFA said it conducted a “thorough investigation’’ of video evidence of the match in reaching its decision.

    World soccer’s ruling body said it recognised the gravity of the incident but added that only a limited number of fans were involved.

    The Russian Football Union (RFU) referred questions to its anti-discrimination inspector Alexei Smertin, whose assistant declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

    Russia has pledged to crack down on racism as the country faces increased scrutiny ahead of this year’s World Cup.

    The country will host the tournament from June 14 to July 15, in 11 cities including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sochi.

    There have been other reported cases of racist abuse in the run-up to the tournament.

    Smertin said at the time that the RFU was looking for the people responsible for the chanting and said they should not be in soccer stadiums.

     

  • Vladimir Putin sworn in for fourth term as Russian president

    Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia’s president for a fourth term on Monday, extending his almost two-decade rule by another six years at a time of high tension with his Western rivals.

    The 65-year-old, in power since 1999, is on course to become the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin after his victory in March’s elections.

    Putin won nearly 77 percent of the vote in polls in which his most vocal opponent was banned from running.

    He has promised to use his fourth term to revitalise the country’s economy. But he also faces a host of delicate international disputes.

    “I consider it my duty and my life’s aim to do everything possible for Russia, for its present and for its future,” Putin said at Monday’s swearing-in ceremony, with his hand on the Russian constitution.

    Several thousand guests lined the red carpet and filmed Putin on their smartphones as he arrived for the swearing-in ceremony in the ornate Andreyev Hall, part of the Kremlin palace complex.

    Among them were US action star Steven Seagal, who has taken up Russian citizenship as well as former German chancellor Gerhard Schroder and Naina Yeltsina, the widow of Putin’s late predecessor Boris Yeltsin.

    The car that brought him to the inauguration was a black Russian-made limousine — a change from previous ceremonies when he used a German Mercedes.

    “I feel strongly conscious of my colossal responsibility,” he said, thanking Russians for their “sincere support” and “cohesiveness.”

    “We have revived pride in our fatherland,” Putin said.

    “As head of state I will do all I can to multiply the strength, prosperity and fame of Russia.”

    Shortly after the ceremony, Putin asked parliament to back a new mandate for outgoing prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, his long time ally, in a move that suggested continuity.

    – Crackdown on opposition –

    Opposition leader Alexei Navalny called on Russians to protest across the country on Saturday under the slogan “Not our Tsar”.

    On Saturday nearly 1,600 protesters including Navalny were detained during nationwide rallies against Putin. Navalny has been released pending a court hearing.

    The unrest revived memories of 2012, when authorities cracked down on rallies against Putin’s return to the Kremlin from the post of prime minister.

    Navalny was barred from challenging Putin in the March election over a fraud conviction that his supporters say is politically motivated.

    – Strained ties with West –

    Russia’s ties with the West have been strained by Putin’s moves to annex Crimea from Ukraine and to launch a military campaign in Syria in support of long-time Russian ally President Bashar al-Assad.

    In recent months relations have soured further over accusations of the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain and of election meddling in the US.

    “For Putin any concession is a sign of weakness, so there shouldn’t be any expectation of a change in foreign policy,” said Konstantin Kalachev, the head of the Political Expert Group think tank in Moscow.

    But independent political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin said the president may find himself obliged to shift his approach to the international community over the next term.

    “Russia hasn’t been so isolated since the Soviet war in Afghanistan” from 1979 to 1989, he told AFP.

    “Now his task isn’t to bring any new lands to Russia, but to force the world to consider Russia’s interests and accept its previous conquests.”

    Reports that Alexei Kudrin — a liberal former finance minister who is respected abroad — could return to the Kremlin in a reshuffle, suggest the president could be seeking a less confrontational approach.

    The constitution bars Putin from running again when his fourth term ends in 2024. But he has remained silent on the issue of his succession.

    Some Muscovites said Monday that they would back Putin as president for life.

    “If a leader defends his country’s interests, then let him govern until the end of his days,” said Maxim Kuznetsov, a courier.

    Driver Maxim Yermolayev said that, “for a good president, I think that even 30 years (in power) is not enough.”

    – Economic woes –

    Putin has promised to use his fourth term to improve Russians’ standard of living.

    “People will live better,” he said.

    A new poll by Russia’s independent Levada Center found that while the majority of Russians support Putin’s foreign policy, the main complaints are over the economy.

    The survey showed 45 percent of Russians believe Putin has not been able to achieve a “fair distribution” of state revenues to benefit ordinary people.

    Russian businesses are expecting wide-ranging reforms in a system of government that is heavily bureaucratised.

    According to statisics published in the RBC newspaper on Monday, the number of bureaucrats during Putin’s third term rose by 50 percent, from 1.57 million to 2.17 million.

    Putin has struggled to revive an economy that crashed after Moscow was hit with Western sanctions over Crimea and by a fall in global oil prices.

    AFP

  • Russia 2018: VAR replays to be shown on big screens at the World Cup

    Video assistant referees (VAR) replays of incidents will be shown on big screens at the 2018 FIFA World cup in Russia.

    VAR will be used at a World Cup for the first time in Russia despite criticism of its use in domestic competition.

    One issue has been that fans have been unable to see replays shown on television that referees use to make their decision, leading to confusion.

    But this summer the crowd will also be told when a decision is being reviewed and why a decision has been reached.

    However the replays will not be shown inside the ground while the referee is making a decision, only afterwards so the official is not influenced by the crowd, football’s world governing body Fifa has announced.

    VAR has been trialled in some domestic English cup games this season, as well as in Germany and Italy, and Fifa confirmed in March the system would be used at the World Cup, starting in June.

    The system was described as “comical” and “embarrassing” after Tottenham’s FA Cup win over Rochdale in late February, when a goal was disallowed and a converted penalty overturned.

    On Monday, a penalty was awarded after players had already left the pitchfor half-time in Mainz’s Bundesliga win over relegation rivals Freiburg.

    Fifa’s announcement that replays will be shown on big screens at the World Cup comes a day after Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said VAR needed further testing before it would be used in European football’s Champions League competition.

    “I have some fear for the World Cup, where we will have referees who have never officiated with the VAR,” Ceferin told Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview.

    Fifa’s referees’ chief and former World Cup final referee Pierluigi Collina said the system “is about avoiding clear and obvious major errors”.

    “It’s not a question of refereeing the match with technology,” he added. “The goal has never been to check every minor incident.”

    BBC

  • Our response to U.S. sanctions will be precise and painful – Russia

    Our response to U.S. sanctions will be precise and painful – Russia

    Valentina Matvienko, the speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament, said on Wednesday that Moscow’s response to U.S. sanctions will be targeted and painful, Russian news agencies reported.

    The United States this month added several Russian firms and officials to a sanctions blacklist in response to what it said were the Kremlin’s “malign activities”. Moscow says those sanctions are unlawful and has warned that it will retaliate.

    “No one should be under any illusions,” Matvienko, who is closely aligned with the Kremlin, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
    “Russia’s response to the sanctions, our so-called counter-sanctions, will be precise, painful, and without question sensitive for exactly those countries that imposed them (the sanctions) on Russia,” she was quoted as saying.
    “Sanctions are a double-edged sword and those who impose them should understand that sanctions against countries, especially those like Russia, will carry with them risks of serious consequences for those who impose them.”

    Lawmakers in the lower house of the Russian parliament have drawn up legislation that would give the government powers to ban or restrict imports of U.S. goods and services ranging from medicines to software and rocket engines. However, the Kremlin has not yet said if it backs such measures.

    A senior U.S. administration official said on Monday President Donald Trump has delayed imposing additional sanctions on Russia and is unlikely to approve them unless Moscow carries out a new cyber attack or some other provocation.

    Reuters

  • Trump still willing to meet with Putin despite rising U.S.-Russia tensions – White House

    U.S. President Donald Trump is still willing to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in spite of increasing tensions between the United States and Russia, White House Spokesperson, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said on Tuesday.

    “The president still would like to sit down with him [Putin]. Again, he feels like it is better for the world if they have a good relationship.

    “But that’s going to depend on the actions of Russia,’’ Sanders told newsmen.

    Sanders also said the U.S. was considering additional sanctions against Russia and will make a decision on the matter in the “near future.”

    Tensions between the U.S. and Russia have escalated in recent days over the conflict in Syria.

    The U.S., UK and France launched missile strikes on a number of targets in Syria on Saturday in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Damascus’ suburb of Duma.

    Western states have blamed the Syrian government forces for the incident, but Damascus has denied using chemical weapons.

    Ties between Moscow and Washington significantly worsened after the eruption of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014.

    Russian-U.S. relations continued to deteriorate in 2017 over a number of issues including alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.

    Also by playing a row around Russian diplomatic property in the U.S. as well as U.S. pressure on the RT broadcaster’s activities in the U.S.

    In 2018, tensions have escalated even further over the U.S. decision to expel Russian diplomats over Moscow’s alleged involvement in the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK city of Salisbury.

    However, Russia has repeatedly denied all allegations.

     

  • Russia to cooperate with FIFA probe into racist chants during France friendly

    Russia will cooperate with a FIFA investigation into racist abuse directed at French players by Russian fans during a pre-World Cup friendly last month, a Russian soccer official said on Monday.

    Alexei Smertin, the Russian Football Union’s anti-discrimination inspector, said global soccer’s governing body had informed it about the launch of an investigation into the incident.

    “The Russian Football Union is ready to take an active part in it (the FIFA probe) and is already conducting an internal investigation,” Smertin said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

    A Reuters photographer at pitch level for France’s 3-1 win over Russia in St Petersburg heard monkey chants directed at French players on several occasions, including when midfielder N’Golo Kante came to the sideline for a throw-in.
    Russia has pledged to crack down on racism as the country faces increased scrutiny ahead of this year’s World Cup, which it will host from June 14 to July 15 in 11 cities including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sochi.

    There have been other reported cases of racist abuse, however, in the run-up to the tournament.

    At CSKA Moscow’s Europa League quarter-final match against Arsenal last week, a Reuters photographer heard dozens of supporters make monkey chants aimed at some of Arsenal’s black players.

    CSKA dismissed the Reuters account and said in a statement that they were “outraged” by what they called a “slanderous” report.

    European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, told Reuters last week that no racist behavior had been reported to it by match officials at the game.

     

  • Putin predicts global ‘chaos’ if West hits Syria again

    Putin predicts global ‘chaos’ if West hits Syria again

    Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that further Western attacks on Syria would bring chaos to world affairs, as Washington prepared to increase pressure on Russia with new economic sanctions.

    In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, Putin and Rouhani agreed that the Western strikes had damaged the chances of achieving a political resolution in the seven-year Syria conflict, according to a Kremlin statement.

    “Vladimir Putin, in particular, stressed that if such actions committed in violation of the U.N. Charter continue, then it will inevitably lead to chaos in international relations,” the Kremlin statement said.

    The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” program that the United States would announce new economic sanctions on Monday aimed at companies “that were dealing with equipment” related to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged chemical weapons use.

    On Saturday, the United States, France and Britain launched 105 missiles targeting what the Pentagon said were three chemical weapons facilities in Syria in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack in Douma on April 7.

  • Egypt, Russia resume direct flights after halt of more than 2 years

    Direct flights between Moscow and Cairo resumed on Thursday, more than two years after Russia banned flights to Egypt in response to a terrorist attack.

    A plane from Russian carrier Aeroflot flying from Moscow landed early Thursday at Cairo airport with 120 passengers aboard, sources at the airport said.

    Hours later, an Egypt Air flight with 109 passengers departed Cairo to Moscow, the sources added.

    Egypt was a major Russian tourist destination until Russia stopped flights to the country in November 2015 after a Russian passenger plane crashed in the restive Sinai Peninsula, shortly after taking off from the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh.

    All 224 people on board were killed. The extremist Islamic State militia claimed responsibility for downing the airliner.

    Aeroflot and EgyptAir were originally scheduled to begin operating flights between Moscow and Cairo in February, but the resumption of flights was postponed several times as Russia required more security measures at Egyptian airports.

    Russian flights to Egyptian resorts remain suspended.

    Russia’s ban had crippled Egypt’s ailing tourism industry, a main source of national income.

    In recent months, Russian security experts have regularly inspected Egyptian airports to ensure tightened security measures are in place before reopening the route.

    NAN

  • Facebook CEO, Zuckerberg apologizes ahead of Congressional quizzing

    Facebook CEO, Zuckerberg apologizes ahead of Congressional quizzing

    Facebook Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mark Zuckerberg, on Monday told Congress the social media network should have done more to prevent itself and its members’ data from being misused and offered a broad apology to lawmakers.

    His conciliatory tone precedes two days of Congressional hearings where Zuckerberg is set to answer questions about Facebook user data being improperly appropriated by a political consultancy and the role the network played in the U.S. 2016 election.

    “We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake,” he said in remarks released by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Monday.

    “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

    Surrounded by tight security wearing dark suit and a purple tie rather than his trademark hoodie, Zuckerberg was meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Monday ahead of his scheduled appearance before two Congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    He did not respond to questions as he entered and left a meeting with Sen. Bill Nelson, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee.

    He is expected to meet Sen. John Thune, the Commerce Committee’s Republican chairman, later in the day, among others.

    Top of the agenda in the forthcoming hearings will be Facebook’s admission that the personal information of up to 87 million users, mostly in the United States, may have been improperly shared with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

    But lawmakers are also expected to press him on a range of issues, including the 2016 election.

    “It’s clear now that we didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm…” his testimony continued.

    “That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy.”

    Facebook, which has 2.1 billion monthly active users worldwide, said on Sunday it plans to begin on Monday telling users whose data, may have been shared with Cambridge Analytica.

    The company’s data practices are under investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

    London-based Cambridge Analytica, which counts U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign among its past clients, has disputed Facebook’s estimate of the number of affected users.

    Zuckerberg also said that Facebook’s major investments in security “will significantly impact our profitability going forward.” Facebook shares were up two per cent in midday trading.

    Facebook has about 15,000 people working on security and content review, rising to more than 20,000 by the end of 2018, Zuckerberg’s testimony said.

    “Protecting our community is more important than maximising our profits,” he said.

    As with other Silicon Valley companies, Facebook has been resistant to new laws governing its business, but on Friday it backed proposed legislation requiring social media sites to disclose the identities of buyers of online political campaign ads.

    Also introduced a new verification process for people buying “issue” ads, which do not endorse any candidate but have been used to exploit divisive subjects such as gun laws or police shootings.

    The steps are designed to deter online information warfare and election meddling that U.S. authorities have accused Russia of pursuing, Zuckerberg said on Friday.

    Moscow has denied the allegations.

    Zuckerberg’s testimony said the company was “too slow to spot and respond to Russian interference, and we’re working hard to get better.”

    He vowed to make improvements, adding it would take time, but said he was “committed to getting it right.”

    A Facebook official confirmed that the company had hired a team from the law firm WilmerHale and outside consultants to help prepare Zuckerberg for his testimony and how lawmakers may question him.

     

  • U.S slams sanctions on Russian oligarchs, govt officials

    The United States government on Friday hit Russian oligarchs, government officials and companies with sanctions, citing Moscow’s “range of malign activity around the globe.”

    Seven Russian oligarchs, 12 companies they control and 17 senior government officials are on the list announced by the Treasury Department.

    The move targets Russia’s elite and people in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

    Among them is Kirill Shamalov, who is married to Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova.

    The US noted that Shamalov’s “fortunes drastically improved following the marriage,” and a year later he was able to borrow more than 1 billion dollars from state-owned Gazprombank, eventually joining “the ranks of the billionaire elite around Putin.”

    Also included on the Treasury list are a state-owned Russian weapons trading company and its subsidiary, a Russian bank.

    “The Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs and government elites,”

    Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

    He accused the government in Moscow of engaging in “a range of malign activity around the globe, including continuing to occupy Crimea and instigate violence in eastern Ukraine.”

    In addition, Russia supplies the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with “material and weaponry as they bomb their own civilians, attempting to subvert Western democracies and malicious cyber activities,” Mnuchin said.

    In March, the U.S. imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and 19 individuals for cyber attacks and attempted interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

    It marked the first use of a law Congress passed in June to punish Russia for its alleged election meddling.

    While President Donald Trump signed the law, he later issued statements saying that he believed the legislation was “seriously flawed.”

    The Treasury Department had in January named and shamed 210 Russian political figures and oligarchs linked to the Kremlin, issued in connection with the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

    But the list did not impose sanctions, fuelling criticism that Trump is unwilling to confront Moscow over its alleged meddling.

    On Friday, Mnuchin said: “Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government’s destabilising activities.”

     

    dpa/NAN