Cristiano Ronaldo, three times world champion, continues his record-breaking march and with another two goals, becomes the third top goalscorer in the history of Real Madrid, with much more to come. Messi for his part scored a hat-trick for Barça in the 4-0 win at Deportivo in Coruña. In England, Chelsea go five clear at the top as Arsenal does a favor beating City at the Etihad. I present this year the latest updates in four competitions: the National Championships, the Champions and Europa Leagues and the Qualifiers for UEFA 2016 in France, as well as all the matches played for our readers to follow the evolution of the competitions. UEFA National Championships 2014-2015

Messi gets a brace at Barça, along with Neymar. At Real, Bale and Benzema hit the net. Chelsea reaches the League Cup Final in England as January draws to a close and one of the European Leagues frozen out of winter starts to revive. Next week the Bundesliga is back. I present this year the latest updates in four competitions: the National Championships, the Champions and Europa Leagues and the Qualifiers for UEFA 2016 in France, as well as all the matches played for our readers to follow the evolution of the competitions. UEFA National Championships 2014-2015

Russian federal TV channels may refuse to broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics from South Korean Pyeongchang should the Russian delegation be suspended, the Vedomosti newspaper wrote. For the time being, Russia's three major TV channels - Channel One, Rossiya-1 (part of VGTRK) and Match TV (part of Gazprom Media) plan to broadcast Winter Olympics from South Korea. Yet, if the Russian national team is excluded from the Games, Channel One and Rossiya-1 will most likely refuse to broadcast the Olympics. Naturally, Russian people watch Olympic Games to support Russian athletes in the first place. If no Russian athletes take part in the Games, the audience of the major sports event of this winter will decease sharply, representatives of the above-mentioned channels say. It makes no sense for major channels to pay millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast the Games, if they make no money from advertising because of low ratings.

An anonymous assistant to President Putin has had a few meetings with winter sports coaches, during which he "in a mild form" recommended to refuse from participating in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. According to All Sports agency, an official from the Kremlin administration, whose name remains anonymous, specified that it would have to be the athletes themselves to make such a decision. The talks of the of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) commission with representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) took place in Moscow this week. The meetings were devoted to the structure of the Russian delegation during the Games in South Korea. The next day it became known that a number of prominent Russian athletes with an unblemished reputation, including biathlete Anton Shipulin, skier Sergei Ustyugov and speed skater Victor An, as well as the leaders of hockey and speed skating teams were not invited to the competitions, even though those athletes were not listed either in Richard McLaren or Denis Oswald reports. On Tuesday, the press service of the Russian Ice Skating Federation said that the IOC did not allow Russian figure skaters Ksenia Stolbova and Ivan Bukin to participate in the 2018 Winter Games without explaining the reasons. Representatives for the Russian Ice Skating Federation expressed their indignation about the absurd decision and started to defend the honour and dignity of athletes in all possible ways.The Russian Olympic Committee prepares to give a hard estimate to IOC's actions and request appropriate explanations.Following those events, Russian politicians assumed that the IOC was pushing Russia to boycott the Winter Games 2018 and exit the Olympic movement."If no explanations follow, perhaps Russian athletes will have to revise their decision regarding the participation in the Olympics in Pyeongchang. They wanted to make us boycott the Games before, but as soon as they realised that we were not going to do it, they decided to suspend clean athletes with perfect reputations. This looks like political blackmail and creates conditions for unfair victories at the Olympics," chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture Mikhail Degtyarev told Sport Express newspaper. On December 5, the IOC Executive Committee decided that only clean Russian athletes would be able to perform at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang under the Olympic flag. Two special committees of the IOC have reduced the list of 500 applicants to 389 names so far. The final structure of the Russian delegation will be announced on January 28. On December 6, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would not boycott the Games. Pravda.Ru

What if it was WADA employees who opened sample bottles of Russian athletes and then arranged a major provocation against Russia in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee? This could be possible, taking into consideration the fact that the US Justice Department announced the beginning of investigation into cases of corruption inside the IOC immediately after Federal Security Bureau and Foreign Intelligence Service officers visited the United States. Representatives of the US Justice Department announced the beginning of investigation into corruption in such international sports organizations as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Football Federation (FIFA), the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and the National Olympic Committee of the United States, The New York Times newspaper wrote. Soon afterwards, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne made a positive decision regarding 28 appeals from 39 Russian athletes, whom the IOC had suspended from from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. It looks like the anti-doping campaign against Russia could be a major a political operation, the goal of which was to discredit Russia and its president in front of the whole world.

The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang is to begin on Friday, February 9, at 14:00 MSK. One hundred and sixty-eight athletes from Russia will take part in the Games for sure, but their quantity may increase. The second hearing of the panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was held on Feb. 8. For the time of the Olympics, judges stay in Pyeongchang. Today, they looked into the cases of 45 athletes and two coaches from Russia, who still have a chance to perform at the Games.They received such an opportunity after the first meeting, at which the CAS issued a decision that came contrary to the position of the IOC, but the decision was consistent with common sense. Having not heard any evidence to establish the guilt of several Russian athletes, the CAS sustained their appeals. Afterwards, the Russian athletes appealed against the non-admission to the Olympics.During the second hearing, CAS arbitrators considered the cases of 13 athletes and two coaches who had been acquitted. They also looked into the cases of 32 athletes who had never been suspected of violating anti-doping rules. None of them have received invitations from the IOC. They are stars of Russian sports - Anton Shipulin (biathlon), Victor An (speed skating) and Sergei Ustyugov (skier). Which abbreviation is worse: CAS, WADA, or IOC? Head coach of the Russian national luge team, Albert Demchenko, Tatyana Ivanova (sleigh) and Elena Nikitina (skeleton) had an opportunity to speak at the hearings. They told reporters later that they could not say anything about the hearings, and expressed a hope that common sense would prevail. According to Albert Demchenko, CAS arbitrators have listened to all arguments of the Russians.Earlier, skeletonist Elena Nikitina expressed the general idea of the outcast athletes. In an interview with R-Sport, she said that CAS made an independent and fair decision at first hearings contrary to that of the IOC, which gave the Russian athletes more confidence. The athlete also said that she would not mind moving into the Olympic Village even on the opening day of the Games.The head of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation, Sergei Parkhomenko, said that Russian bobsleighers would fly to South Korea as soon as they are allowed to do so. Nick Butler of Inside The Games shared insider information on Twitter. A reliable source, he wrote, informed him that the lawsuits from the Russian athletes would be sustained partially - some would be allowed to take part in the Games, but some others would not. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the IOC remain dissatisfied with the decision that CAS made during the first hearing. WADA officials said that the CAS verdict may cause anxiety and disappointment among athletes.However, it was only the Germans, who publicly supported the decision of the International Olympic Committee not to admit even acquitted Russian athletes. The head of the German delegation, Dirk Schimmelpfennig, told Munchner Merkur that the IOC rightly sticks to its original opinion, and this comes as "an important signal about the equality of all athletes - a signal about the ongoing struggle against doping."IOC President Thomas Bach stated that one needs to reform the CAS. All of a sudden, it turned out that the court in Lausanne makes the decisions that the IOC does not like, because the attacks against the Russian athletes were unfounded. Vice president of the Curling Federation of Russia, Andrei Sozin, said that the IOC behaves like a feudal lord who chooses whom of his slaves can be admitted to the Olympics. Yet, the Russians do not agree with that role that someone wants them to play. Evgeny ShurshakovPravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Fans from all over the world continue coming to Russia for the World Cup. In Moscow, football fans paralyzed many pedestrian streets having arranged mass festivities there. Most fans gathered on Nikolskaya Street, which is adjacent to Red Square. Crowds of football fans gathered on Nikolskaya Street to support their national teams. Russia is welcoming fans of all ages - one can see elderly people holding hands, young people partying and even young parents with children. Light garlands above the street created a very special atmosphere of a football carnival against the background of facades of historical buildings covered with flags of the countries participating in the championship.Representatives of Latin and South America predictably turned out to be most active football fans, for whom football is a religion. Peruvians and Mexicans attracted people's attention by performing  national dances and playing traditional musical instruments. Fans from Argentina gathered the largest number of fans around themselves as they were singing the national anthem in unison, infecting everyone around with football fever.The Moscow police were behaving in a very friendly way with foreign guests, but were firmly suppressing all attempts of the latter to drink alcoholic beverages in public places. Of course, unpleasant incidents are unavoidable, and foreign football fans already appear in crime reports. In St. Petersburg, a fan from Morocco was robbed after visiting the festival of FIFA fans on Konyushennaya Square. On the way back, the man found that he lost 2,500 euros and his iPhone 7. The loss was evaluated at about 200,000 rubles. The Moroccan fan could only speak Arabic, and it took police officers a lot of time to understand what he was trying to say.On June 11, a Chinese woman reported the loss of a designer backpack and an amount of money worth 3,000 dollars. The same day, an American man addressed the police saying that he was left without cash. A 25-year-old Egyptian reported the loss of his luggage. The young man could not overcome the language barrier and resorted to the help of his friend, who could speak English. It turned out that the men forgot about their bag with tickets inside as they were stunned with views of St. Petersburg. In Kaliningrad, Nigerian football fans asked local authorities permission to bring live chickens to the stadium. The authorities had to decline. For Nigerian fans, a chicken is their mascot that they bring to every venue.  They did not specify what they needed the chickens for, although it is generally believed that African football fans usually practice various magic rituals during football matches, and chickens are widely used in Africa for sacrifice. Nigeria will play against Croatia in Kaliningrad on June 16. World Cup 2018 scheduleJune 14thGroup A. Moscow, "Luzhniki". Russia - Saudi Arabia 18:00June 15thGroup A. Ekaterinburg. Egypt - Uruguay 15:00Group B. St. Petersburg. Morocco - Iran 18:00Group B. Sochi. Portugal - Spain 21:00June 16thGroup S. Kazan. France - Australia 13:00Group D. Moscow, "Spartacus." Argentina - Iceland 16:00Group S. Saransk. Peru - Denmark 19:00Group D. Kaliningrad. Croatia - Nigeria 22:00June 17Group E. Samara. Costa Rica - Serbia 15:00Group F. Moscow, "Luzhniki". Germany - Mexico 18:00Group E. Rostov-on-Don. Brazil - Switzerland 21:00June, 18thGroup F. Nizhny Novgorod. Sweden - South Korea 15:00Group G. Sochi. Belgium - Panama 18:00Group G. Volgograd. Tunisia - England 21:00June 19Group H. Saransk. Colombia - Japan 15:00Group H. Moscow, "Spartacus." Poland - Senegal 18:00Group A. St. Petersburg. Russia to Egypt 21:00June 20thGroup B. Moscow, "Luzhniki". Portugal - Morocco 15:00Group A. Rostov-on-Don. Uruguay - Saudi Arabia 18:00Group B. Kazan. Iran - Spain 21:0021st of JuneGroup S. Samara. Denmark-Australia 15:00Group C. Ekaterinburg. France - Peru 18:00Group D. Nizhny Novgorod. Argentina - Croatia 21:0022nd of JuneGroup E. St. Petersburg. Brazil - Costa Rica 15:00Group D. Volgograd. Nigeria - Iceland 18:00Group E. Kaliningrad. Switzerland - Serbia 21:00June 23Group G. Moscow, "Spartacus." Belgium - Tunisia 15:00Group F. Rostov-on-Don. South Korea - Mexico 18:00Group F. Sochi. Germany - Sweden 21:00June 24Group G. Nizhny Novgorod. England - Panama 15:00Group H. Ekaterinburg. Japan - Senegal 18:00Group H. Kazan. Poland - Colombia 21:00June 25thGroup A. Volgograd. Saudi Arabia - Egypt 17:00Group A. Samara. Uruguay - Russia 17:00Group B. Kaliningrad. Spain - Morocco 21:00Group B. Saransk. Iran - Portugal 21:00June 26thGroup C. Moscow, "Luzhniki". Denmark-France 17:00Group S. Sochi. Australia - Peru 17:00Group D. St. Petersburg. Nigeria - Argentina 21:00Group D. Rostov-on-Don. Iceland - Croatia 21:0027th of JuneGroup F. Kazan. South Korea - Germany 17:00Group F. Ekaterinburg. Mexico - Sweden 17:00Group E. Moscow, "Spartacus." Brazil - Serbia 21:00Group E. Nizhny Novgorod. Switzerland - Costa Rica 21:00June 28thGroup H. Volgograd. Japan - Poland 17:00Group H. Samara. Senegal - Colombia 17:00Group G. Kaliningrad. England - Belgium 21:00Group G. Saransk. Panama - Tunisia 21:00Playoff schedule30 June1/8 finals. Kazan. C1-D2 17:001/8 finals. Sochi. 1A - 2B 21:00July 11/8 finals. Moscow, the Luzhniki Stadium. B1 - A2 17:001/8 finals. Nizhny Novgorod. D1 - C2 21:002 July1/8 finals. Samara. E1 - F2 17:001/8 finals. Rostov-on-Don. G1 - H2 21:003 July1/8 finals. St. Petersburg. F1 - E2 17:001/8 finals. Moscow, "Spartacus." H1 - G2 21:006 July1/4 finals. Nizhny Novgorod. (A1-B2) - (C1-D2) 17:001/4 finals. Kazan. (E1 - F2) - (G1 - H2) 21:00July 7th1/4 finals. Samara. (F1 - E2) - (H1 - G2) 17:001/4 finals. Sochi. (B1-A2) - (D1-C2) 21:0010 July1/2 finals. St. Petersburg. 9pmJuly 11th1/2 finals. Moscow, the Luzhniki Stadium. 9pmthe 14 th of JulyMatch for third place. St. Petersburg. 5pmJuly 15The final. Moscow, Luzhniki 18:00

More surprises: Japan and Senegal Japan beat Colombia 2-1, the same result as the Senegal versus Poland game   

Photo credits: Wikipedia/Faren29/CC BY-SA 4.0 By Romer Cherubim, UK Anthony Joshua lost his four heavyweight boxing titles on 01 June in spectacular fashion against Andy Ruiz Jr. at Madison Square Garden, NYC, USA. Eddie Hearn's master plan to introduce Joshua to the American public and make him look good, failed. Hearn did everything in his power to help Joshua to win his first defence of his heavyweight crown on American soil. By selecting Andy Ruiz Jr. as Joshua's next opponent, with Ruiz Jr. having only six weeks' notice of the fight, Hearn was convinced that Joshua was guaranteed an easy pay day. However, the likeable Ruiz Jr. tore up the script and proved all doubters wrong by producing a skillful display of boxing and sticking to a workable game plan. This was not a one punch wonder.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended Russia from all international competitions - including Olympic Games and world championships - for four years. Russian athletes will receive the right to participate in them if it is confirmed that they are "clean." However, they will be able to perform only under the neutral flag (including at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022). In addition, Russia will not be allowed to host major world championships, nor will it be able to apply for them, while Russian officials will not be able to attend them. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will lose the right to test athletes for doping.Russia will thus miss: 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing2022 World Cup in Qatar2021 World Student Games  2023 World Student GamesBecause of the ban, Russia probably will not be able to host the 2020 World Chess Olympiad, 2020 and 2021 World Ice Hockey Championships, the 2021 Women Hockey World Championship, the 2021 Beach Soccer World Cup, the 2022 Volleyball Men's World Championship, the World Wrestling Championship in 2022, the 2023 Summer Universiade-2023, the World Ice Hockey Championship in 2023 and other competitions. Their venues will be rescheduled, while Russian athletes will be able to take part in those tournaments only in neutral status, if proved clean.145 athletes, whose doping samples disappeared from the database of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, were thus removed from competitions. The names of the athletes remain unknown. Russia delivered the database to WADA in January 2019 in order to lift all restrictions on participation in international competitions. Having studied the base, WADA experts came to conclusion that someone had made changes to it. The story continued until the beginning of 2019, although by that time the Russian Investigative Committee had seized the base as material evidence on the case of the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov.The head of RUSADA, Yuri Ganus, called WADA's new claims a "tragedy." Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called it an "anti-Russian series." Ganus suggested that it was Russian sports officials, who authorized changes to the database of doping samples to protect the reputation of former athletes, who currently take high positions. PM Dmitry Medvedev called WADA's sanctions "a continuation of the anti-Russian hysteria that has taken a chronic form."WADA originally wanted to bar Russian athletes from international sports competitions entirely. The head of the WADA Compliance Review Committee (CRC), Jonathan Taylor, said that the agency was seriously considering a possibility to remove Russian athletes from competitions entirely, but former athletes assumed that representatives of a new generation of Russian athletes should have an opportunity to participate in competitions."Russia may appeal against WADA's decision within 21 days. In the next ten days, the RUSADA Supervisory Board will announce whether Russia is going to file a lawsuit at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes that Russia should fight, but the head of RUSADA, Yuri Ganus, said that Russia would have no chances to win such a lawsuit. Almost a year ago, Yuri Ganus warned President Putin of the imminent sanctions. However, the Kremlin simply said that Ganus was overreacting as he was not familiar with the process to deliver the data to WADA.The report from the CRC said that there was a whole team working at the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, for the purpose to conceal changes in the database before delivering it to WADA. It is believed that the team was editing the data related to the winners of the Sochi-2014 Games, who retained their medals following the trial.As a result, WADA found inconsistencies between the two versions of the databases from the Moscow laboratory. WADA received the first version of the database from Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the agency, who had fled Russia. The second version was received from the Russian authorities in exchange for restoring the status of RUSADA. During the interval, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation sealed the laboratory as part of the federal investigation. The Russian authorities of the Russian Federation claim that nobody had manipulated the database.

Does Russia want its athletes humiliated at the Olympic Games again? Will Russia boycott the Games this time? Olympic alternative to Russian national anthem In December 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) prohibited Russian athletes from performing at world championships and Olympic Games under the national flag and deprived them of the right to perform the Russian national anthem. To crown it all, Russia was deprived of the right to host such sports events too.A number of active Russian politicians started looking for an alternative to the Russian national anthem and picked up the idea for the Russian athletes to perform ​​the famous WWII song "Katyusha." Some of them were not even embarrassed by the fact that the IOC requires not to include any mentioning of any war or any war-related topic in the Games, including in opening and closing ceremonies. They apparently assumed that the rest of the world should accept World War II as an excuse for Russia's current problems. On March 13, 2021, CAS rejected the request from the Russian Olympic Committee to use the "Katyusha" song as a replacement for the Russian anthem at the upcoming Olympic Games in the summer of 2021 in Tokyo and in February 2022 in Beijing. The court clarified that the concept of "any anthem associated with Russia" applied to all songs associated with Russia. However, the court decision did not close the discussion in Russia anyway, and the search for the replacement for the Russian national anthem continues. Does Russia need the white flag in sports? This is strange indeed: if Russia can stand up against the world supremacist state in Syria, return territories in Europe, ignore the work in the Council of Europe and make harsh statements about its readiness to terminate relations with the European Union, then why not slam the door to the IOC?Why should Russia should feel humiliated to participate in the Olympics? Those who believe that one needs to think about the athletes and their most important sports competitions, may forget to think that it goes about Russian athletes being Russian citizens. Does Russia need athletes that do not want to sacrifice their achievements and victories for sake of their country's dignity? Or does Russia need to live up to the interests of a handful of athletes to the detriment of its own national interests and interests of millions of other Russian citizens, who are not thrilled at the whole idea of Russia's sports humiliation?

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva said that she was emotionally tired of the doping scandal, in which she found herself at the Beijing Olympics. "These days have been very hard for me, there are not enough emotions. I am happy, but I am emotionally tired. There are tears of happiness and grief a little. But, of course, I am happy to be at the Olympics. I will try to represent our country and I hope that I will be as motivated as possible to show a good result,” said Valieva. According to the athlete, she saw all the good wishes, and even banners in her support in the streets of Moscow.

When flying at full speed, Russia's state-of-the-art Avangard hypersonic vehicle is invisible to radar. “This is the only hypersonic unit in the world that can be used at intercontinental range and has a speed of Mach 28. In a nutshell, this is  a vehicle to deliver conventional or nuclear weapons that flies in the form of a fireball as its surface heats up to colossal temperatures at such speed producing plasma on the surface of the vehicle,” Yuri Knutov military expert, director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces Yuri Knutov told lenta.ru publication.  Plasma absorbs electromagnetic radiation making the unit invisible to radar, the expert added. 

Bones of unknown animals millions of years of age were found in Yakutia.  In the Churapcha region of Yakutia, archeologists found a Paleolithic human site that is believed to be at least 30,000 years old. Bones of unknown animals were found during excavation works.  The radiocarbon research of the finds revealed that the found remains were from the Neogene era - a period that began 23 million years ago and ended 2.58 million years ago.

On Thursday, March 21, the Soyuz-2.1a rocket with the Soyuz MS-25 manned spacecraft was supposed to blast off from launch pad No. 31 (Vostok) at Baikonur Cosmodrome. The rocket launch was aborted at the last moment. The countdown was stopped approximately 20 seconds before the start time. "Attention at the launch complex. The launch was automatically aborted. Bring the units of the launch complex to their original condition. Prepare to be parked for 24 hours,” the announcer of the broadcast hosted by Roscosmos said. The launch was dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut and first man in space Yuri Gagarin.

The first launch of the Angara-A5 heavy launch vehicle from the newly built launch complex at the Vostochny Cosmodrome was aborted two minutes before lift off. The rocket with the Orion upper stage and test payload was supposed to take off for the first time from Vostochny on Tuesday, April 9, at 12:00. The launch was postponed. The launch of the Angara rocket was postponed till Wednesday, April 10, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov said.

The Orion upper stage of the Angara-A5 heavy rocket launched the Gagarinets small satellite into low Earth orbit, Roscosmos said on its Telegram channel. "The Cubesat 3U format satellite was created by Russian private company Avant Space and is intended to test elements of the service platform,” the state corporation said. After the launch of the Gagarinets, the upper stage continued its work.

Boston Dynamics presented the new robot. The company refused from the old hydraulic platform to introduce the new electric one under the same name, Atlas. The new robot is completely electronic, there are no hydraulic systems involved. The new robot will be stronger and more maneuverable as all developments of the previous generation of the robot will be improved. The company is ambitious to introduce humanoid robots and create infrastructure for them, including software.

The United States has stopped research into new cancer treatments in Russia, Andrey Kaprin, oncologist at the Russian Ministry of Health, General Director of the National Medical Research Center of Radiology said. According to the expert, the United States independently refused to continue research into new cancer therapy. In particular, the US stopped cooperation on protocols. The corresponding decision of the United States has not affected cancer patients in Russia. On the contrary, domestic fundamental science was given a powerful impetus for development, he noted. "The most important thing that we have come to realise is that we need to create our own,” said the oncologist.

The UFL-2M laser system, which is often called the "Tsar Laser" due to its unique technical specifications and power performance, will be fully operational by approximately 2028-2029, Valentin Kostyukov, Director of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center said in an interview with Russia-24 TV channel. "We have launched the first stage of physical foundations associated with engineering systems," Kostyukov said, admitting that the system will yield results in the next four to five years. The UFL-2M laser system was developed at the Sarov Nuclear Center. The system is needed for modeling and designing new types of nuclear weapons. It is used to study the processes that occur at the moment of explosion. There are only three countries in the world that have such technology: the United States, France, and Russia.

India and China evince interest in the Russian nuclear power plant project on the Moon, TASS reports with reference to Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev. "The new solution that we are asked to implement is a version of a lunar nuclear power plant with an energy capacity of up to half a megawatt,” Likhachev said at the Eastern Economic Forum. In May, Roscosmos Director Yuri Borisov said that a Russian-made nuclear installation for a joint Russian-Chinese station would be sent to the Moon after 2036. Borisov also said that the development of a nuclear power plant for a joint lunar station with China had already begun.

Russian specialists designed the Buran cargo drone that can be used to deliver cargo to the front line, developer company Kotlin-Novator told the Izvestia newspaper. The UAV weighs about 80 kilograms and can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour. If unloaded, the drone can stay airborne for 45 minutes. The six rotor hexacopter can deliver up to 80 kilograms of ammunition, water, and other cargo to supply troops on the front line.

Russia will use Buk and Pantsir air defense systems against Israeli Air Force aircraft. Analysts say that Russian officials have repeatedly declared that Israeli aviation poses a threat to the Russian military in Syria. According to British publication Rai Al Youm, Russia may use its complexes to cover the Syrian sky from Israeli air raids. Experts of the publication note that Israel, while striking Iranian groups in Syria, endangers the Russian military.

The United States has been losing its global hegemony. The non-western world is opposed to the concept of global hegemony. Everything will happen within the next decade, Western analysts predict. Nevertheless, the Americans still have a chance to achieve the world order that suits them, if they make certain concessions, Jorgen Erstroem Moeller, former State Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in an article for The National Interest. Moeller drew attention to Vladimir Putin's announcement of partial call-up of reservists, the referenda and saw a threat of the use of nuclear force. The situation is indeed very alarming, but the United States could now take the world out of chaos that was created by Russia and the United States. At the same time, chances for Washington to demonstrate common sense are slim as the US has contributed greatly to the current crisis as well. 

My Thought of the Day  A Pentagon enforcement agent twice had arrived in Cyprus to make sure our government complies with all the American instructions on sanctions against Russia in support of Ukraine and also to insist on the prosecution of Greek Cypriots and Companies who continue to disobey their instructions! The Cyprus government promised to prosecute all of those found guilty. That’s a pre-condition for purchasing arms from America! The EU on the other hand behaves in a much worse manner; not only Cyprus it’s ordered to impose EU sanctions against Russians at the detriment of its own economy, but it also demands social, judicial and economic obedience on how to run the country. If that’s not bad enough, Cyprus it’s also punished with massive fines for rule breaking! Meanwhile, Turkey is busy with the Islamization of the occupied northern part of our island! Last week it turned its attention to desecrate the most sacred Christian monastery of Apostolos Andreas and has proceeded to turn part of it into a Muslim prayer mosque. This is a blatant insult to all Orthodox Greeks and an inexcusable desecration to the Hellenic Orthodox faith. The Cyprus government has decided to make an “official complaint” to the UN, knowing it would amount to nothing! And, here we are! From one frying pan straight into another!  Is Cyprus a free nation or a subservient state incapable of producing a strong decisive government to run the country and develop its own policies free from foreign meddling but instead, bows subservience to the EU—and now the United States doctrine— by showing absolute submissiveness? Is there hope for a country governed by such a mentality? Andreas C ChrysafisAuthor/Artist/WriterAugust 1 2023

DPRK Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui arrived in Vladivostok, Russia, on October 29. From Vladivostok, the minister traveled to Moscow, a message posted on the official Telegram channel of the Russian Embassy in North Korea said. The North Korean Foreign Minister is visiting Russia as part of the strategic dialogue that took place between the leaders of the two countries in the June 2024 summit. Choe Son-hui's visit to Moscow is taking place in the midst of discussions in the West about the alleged involvement of DPRK military personnel in combat operations in Ukraine. On October 18, South Korean intelligence said that 1,500 North Korean soldiers were already at Russian training grounds in the Far East, from where they would be sent to Ukraine. The intelligence service later reported a larger number — 3,000 soldiers.

In addition to promises regarding domestic policy, the candidates in the current US presidential elections have released indicative statements about their attitude to major international conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have spoken about Russia as well to outline how they would build future relations with Moscow. Trump has repeatedly stated that he will quickly end the conflict in Ukraine should he return to the Oval Office. "I will literally call two people the same night that I am announced as the winner: Putin and Zelensky. We will make a deal within 24 hours," Trump said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, which said that the Donald Trump team was discussing a new plan to end the conflict in Ukraine. According to Peskov, the WSJ article about Trump's peace plan was abstract. Peskov believes that the article is more like the WSJ plan. "Everything is impersonal there," he said.

On November 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi. The head of state announced a war for a new world order, spoke about guarantees of the West not to use nuclear weapons, and warned of difficult years to come. According to the Russian leader, the old world order is going down in history and the moment of truth was coming. "A serious, irreconcilable struggle is unfolding for the formation of a new [world order]. It is irreconcilable because this is not even a fight for power or geopolitical influence. This is a clash of the very principles on which relations between countries and peoples will be built at the next historical stage," Putin said.

US President-elect Donald Trump allowed for a possibility of talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after his victory in the US presidential election. He has already spoken with 70 world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but Putin was not among them, Trump said. "I think we'll talk," US President-elect Donald Trump said. In an interview with NBC, Trump also noted that he had agreed to have lunch with US President Joe Biden in the near future.

In Amsterdam, people with Palestinian flags attacked Israelis after a football match between local club Ajax and Tel Aviv's Maccabi. Masked men waving Palestinian flags attacked Israelis after the Israeli soccer team lost to Ajax in the Europa League. The attackers were chasing and beating Tel Aviv Maccabi fans throughout the night shouting "Free Palestine!" Click here to see more raw videos from Amsterdam

The so-called “Peace Summit” held in Switzerland had an obvious outcome. It didn't lead anywhere. It could, since from the beginning the failure of the alleged negotiations was imminent. Convened at the request of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the high-level meeting was not attended by Russia. As the Brazilian government rightly argued, a meeting that wants to discuss the steps to end a conflict cannot take place without all sides of the conflict being represented and with the same rights to speak. Russia was not invited. He had also already said that he would not participate in a meeting in Switzerland anyway, since the country abandoned its traditional neutrality status by joining the United States and Europe's campaign against the Russians.

Albania’s football team is to be congratulated on some very entertaining football, taking the game to their powerful opponents in the most difficult group at UEFA 2024 Group B, the Group of Death. Spain, Italy, Croatia, and…Albania, present in the UEFA finals for only the second time (2016 was the first). Along with everyone else, when I saw the group, I groaned and said “Poor Albania, they are going to get thrashed”. Well, they didn’t. The game against Italy surprised and shocked everyone as the reigning champions were outplayed by a spirited Albania for much of the game, managing to hold on to their 2-.1 lead in a game which Albania should have drawn.  Spirit and grit For those who thought this was a fluke, they were wrong. This was already obvious in the first game with Albania’s passing and movement off the ball, the team spirit and what we call grit, saw wave after wave of Albanian attacks, intelligent attacks favouring incursions down both flanks or through the middle, depending on where there were better positioned players with all the Albanian team able to read the game as it developed. The passing was not only intelligent, it was accurate, fast-paced and sophisticated, denoting remarkable maturity.

The big loser in the French elections was not the far right. It's true that if it hadn't been for the spurious agreements between the New Popular Front and the Macronists, the National Regroupment would have grown even more. But the result of the second round is not exactly a victory for the left. After Marine Le Pen's RN led the first round of the elections, the leaders of the NFP fell into the trap of the French press and Emmanuel Macron, abandoning numerous candidates of their own to increase the chances of the neoliberal right linked to the Renaissance party beating the far right.  The French big bourgeoisie called for a "republican front" to create a "cordon sanitaire" made up of the left and the neoliberal right in order to prevent a landslide victory for the RN, which led to agreements in around 220 constituencies for the candidate with supposedly the least chance of winning the RN to abandon the race in favour of the candidate with the greatest chance. Except that most of the abandonments were by the NFP so that Macron's allies could beat Le Pen's allies, even though the NFP came second in the first round, far ahead of Macron's coalition.

By the 2020s, in spite of centuries after the Emancipation Proclamation (in 1863) and decades or generations of Black empowerment, there is still something fundamentally missing in the Black American identity, because the latter has failed to substantially "de-colonize" the violent colonial legacy (like the ruthless importation of Black slaves, not just the near-extermination of Native Americans) in the Thirteen British Colonies (and later the United States) in early American history. A good beginning for a long-term solution (de-colonization) is to understand in what ways the "average" Black American mindset has lost its average Black "African" roots, with the resultant effect of "inferiority complex" among Black Americans (involving both "self-hatred" within the oppressed and "anger" or "hatred" towards the oppressor, which vary in degree from person to person), on "average." Although this essay uses the case of Black Americans for analysis, the logical implication is much broader, since the same reasoning can be applied to Black communities around the world (outside sub-Saharan Africa), be they in Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, North Africa, the Oceania, and the like.

After the Summer holidays, back to work. And what do we find? A worsening shock and horror story on Planet Dearth ‘24 Twenty-five years ago, as the new millennium approached, I, along with many others, was brimming with hope and optimism for the new century, expecting a multilateral approach to international affairs and the full implementation of the rule of law on the international stage. The warning sign, Albanian terrorists 9/11 had not yet happened. But Kosovo had and I suppose this was a tell-tale warning sign of what was already in motion, the behind-the-scenes scheming of a new world order controlled by those who pull the strings behind the scenes in Washington DC and therefore its troupe of yapping chihuahuas across the Pond.

We are in a dangerous place, the black and white areas defined by The Global Thinking Project…and the Fake News story.  We are in a dangerous place, where the term Fake News has been hijacked to censor out everything that does not follow the Global Thinking Project, which is basically a unilateral straight-.line-on-a-map dogma defining This Is How We All Think. The Internet was praised for bringing us a wide range of information in real time, enabling us to think for ourselves and choose our sources. I myself was one of the pioneers of Intervention Journalism, telling it as it is, as it really is, including my opinion sometimes, but outside the tidy little news package edited to follow the editorial line of the Mainstream Media, funded and financed and made viable by media companies which would not toss a cent to any publication deemed outside the little box. I would take great offence at being classified over the years as a vendor of Fake News, since I do a lot of reading and listening before starting to write and speak and only write when I am sure I know what I am speaking about.

India's strategic pivot towards liquefied natural gas (LNG) is set to redefine its energy landscape, especially amid the shifting dynamics of global energy trade. Earlier this year, GAIL (India) Ltd, the country's largest government-owned natural gas company, secured a 10-year LNG purchase agreement with Vitol, a global energy trader with extensive operations in Russia. This deal, which begins in 2026, will ensure approximately 1 million metric tons (mt) of LNG annually, including gas sourced from Russia. This agreement is instrumental for India as it strives to elevate natural gas consumption to 15% of its energy mix by 2030. India's LNG imports have demonstrated considerable variability, reflecting its dependence on this critical energy source. Imports surged to 3,516 million standard cubic meters (MMSCM) in May but fell to 2,794 MMSCM in July. Over the first four months of the year, LNG accounted for a substantial 12,269 MMSCM out of a total gas consumption of 24,210 MMSCM, underscoring the country's reliance on imported LNG to meet its growing energy needs. This volatility highlights the strategic importance of agreements, like the one with Vitol and the one between Novatek and Deepak Fertilisers, signed in February 2023, for both spot and long-term supply contract markets in securing energy stability. Russia, for its part, has been adapting its LNG export strategy in response to global pressures and the evolving market landscape. In the first half of 2024, Russian LNG imports to Europe rose by 11% from last year, with Russia supplying 69.95 million mt so far. Despite a general decline in European gas consumption and a shift toward long-term contracts, Russian LNG remained a significant portion of imports, with France alone seeing a 110% increase. This demonstrates the resilience of Russian LNG in maintaining its foothold in European markets. Additionally, Russia's LNG exports to China have also seen growth, with 1.648 million mt shipped in the first quarter of 2024-a 2% increase from the previous year.

The Russian leadership verbally approves and supports the China-Brazil peace plan for Ukraine. In reality, it is just diplomacy so as not to offend the "allies". China and Brazil peace plan for Ukraine The plan to establish peace in Ukraine called "Common Understandings Between China and Brazil on Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis" will be presented on September 27 in New York with the participation of delegations from 20 countries of the Global South, including Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the UAE. Representatives of European countries and the United States were not invited to the meeting.

London will additionally transfer about a hundred Brimstone missiles, artillery guns and ammunition, British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey said earlier. It was previously reported that the UK would transfer 100 missiles for F-16 aircraft to Ukraine at the end of the summer. The transfer of the fighters has allegedly begun. In the fall of 2022, London transferred Brimstone-2 missiles with increased range and laser guidance to the Armed Forces o Ukraine. In February 2024, the UK announced plans to transfer another 200 homing Brimstone missiles to Ukraine. The Brimstone family includes several modifications of missiles. They are launched mainly from aircraft, helicopters or unmanned vehicles to strike sea and land targets, including moving ones. One Brimstone missile costs about 175,000 pounds sterling ($234,500).

Iran's unprecedented ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1 shocked the world. Benjamin Netanyahu's hands were shaking shook as he read out the counter threats. This is an important signal for Russia. Iran shows everyone what's what Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran, by striking Israel on the evening of October 1, exercised its right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. He stressed that the attack was carried out only to strike military and security facilities "responsible for the genocide in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon." "Our action is concluded unless Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation. In that scenario, our response will be stronger and more powerful. Israel's enablers now have a heightened responsibility to rein in the warmongers in Tel Aviv instead of getting involved in their folly," the minister wrote on X platform.

On the first day of October, Iran fired more than 200 missiles at Israel. The missiles reached their targets in 10-12 minutes. According to the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said, the attacks were conducted to hit Navatim and Netzarim air bases, where F-35 aircraft, radars and tank assembly centers are based. It is believed that Iran used new Fattah-2 hypersonic missiles for the attack. The hypersonic ballistic missile flies at a speed of about 6,000 km per hour (up to 5 Mach); its flight range amounts to 1,400 km.

Did Iran conduct an underground nuclear test on October 5? Iran will build a nuclear bomb anyway, and the US and Israel will have to occupy it not to let it happen. Iran May Have Conducted an Underground Nuclear Explosion An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale was recorded in the desert of Iran's Semnan province at 10:45 a. m. on October 5, Iranian news agency Mehr reported. The US Geological Survey said that the epicenter of the earthquake was only 10 kilometers below the ground. Iranian sources announced different number — 12 kilometers. What puzzles experts most is that the earthquake had no early warning issued.

The West has been cutting its funding for Ukraine. Next year loans remain doubtful. European heavyweights have announced a reduction in funding for Ukraine. France, which promised 3 billion euros in aid to Ukraine this year, has cut it by 1 billion, or by one-third. This is due to budget problems — budget deficit for 2024 may amount to about six percent of France's GDP, which is unacceptable according to EU rules. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu clarified in an interview with Politico that he did not plan to request additional funds for Kyiv from parliament until the end of this year.

Ukraine is considering a possibility of creating nuclear weapons, Bild said citing a high-ranking Ukrainian official. The republic has the resources necessary to restore its nuclear arsenal, the official claimed. A high-ranking Ukrainian official told Bild that Kyiv has the materials and knowledge to build nuclear weapons. It would take Ukraine "only a few weeks" to make an A-bomb if relevant agreements could be reached quickly. Not too long ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told former US President Donald Trump that Ukraine should have nuclear weapons or become a NATO member.

Marginal result with diaspora fake votes calls the legitimacy of the constitutional referendum in Moldova into question. The next two weeks before the second round of the presidential elections will be dangerous. Constitutional referendum in Moldova is illegitimate The EU spent huge amounts of money to promote the idea of European course in Moldova. In a nutshell, the essence of this idea is about the "Anti-Russia" project: Visits of European ambassadors, "Citizens for Europe" rallies, campaign trips in blue minibuses, all kinds of concerts demonstrations and other events with blue flags. The pro-Western media machine was trying to convince the Moldovans that the idea of the European integration would receive the support of 70 percent of voters.

On October 8, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun announced that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, commonly known as North Korea) had transferred troops to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later announced that the DPRK had effectively become a party to the conflict. First reports about the transfer of North Korean troops to Ukraine appeared after Russia and the DPRK signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty. The parties agreed to immediately provide mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of them. Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine was in a state of war with the DPRK.

The October 18 blackout paralyzed Cuba completely. The Cuban government tries to shrug the problem off by making references to the economic blockade, although the leadership of the island of freedom with no electricity should rather look at its own effectiveness. Total blackout in Cuba: three days without electricity and water Blackout, or apagon in Spanish, is a long-standing problem in Cuba that the island nation has been living with since the 1970s. Yet, this is the first time when the country experienced such a large-scale accident. On Friday, October 18, the Cuban electrical system was completely shut down as a result of an emergency at its main thermal power plant Antonio Guteras in Matanzas. This thermal power plant has not been modernized since 1988. The Cubans had to live without electricity and water for three days. All institutions and industries stopped and thus put the country's security in jeopardy.

The fact that President of Brazil Lula is not attending the BRICS summit in Kazan has given rise to rumours of internal contradictions within the bloc. Brazilian sources debunk this myth and explain why there is a queue to join BRICS. According to Western media, Brazil was against the participation of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the BRICS summit in Kazan, since Brazil did not recognise the presidential election in this country. In an interview with the O Globo, Celso Amorim, special adviser to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on foreign policy, said that Brazil's position on Venezuela "is not a moral or political judgment." "I am not concerned about Venezuela's accession, we do not make moral or political judgments about the country itself. BRICS has countries that practice different types of regimes, the question is whether they have the potential to contribute to a more peaceful world, given their political weight and ability to form relationships," Amorim said.

It appears that the moment when Israel is going to strike Iran is getting closer. Ten US Air Force KC-135R tanker aircraft are heading towards the Middle East with at least 20 F-16 fighters escorting them. French all purpose landing ship L9013 Mistral arrived in Larnaca, Cyprus. US has transferred new combat aircraft to its base in Qatar. A curious event was noticed in the sky over Cambridge: three US tanker aircraft and a C-5M Super Galaxy military transport aircraft were spotted airborne. According to The New York Times, Iranian leader Ali Khamenei ordered the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic to prepare for a state of war with Israel. Khamenei instructed the army to present several plans of response to Israel's imminent attack on Iran, depending on the scale of the strike.