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The measures, published on the government’s official website, include the creation of a new national anti-doping laboratory and rolling out education programmes to discourage the use of performance enhancing drugs. Getting existing national anti-doping agency RUSADA fully compliant with international standards is another objective. WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, suspended RUSADA after a report published in November 2015 found evidence of state-sponsored doping and accused it of systematically violating anti-doping regulations....

Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic, which were scheduled to face Russia in World Cup qualifying were the first to take the position. England, Wales and Scotland have followed suit, ruling out playing Russia at any level of competition. After initially ordering Russia to play their upcoming games in neutral territory under the name the Football Union of Russia, FIFA is now set to oust the nation from World Cup qualifying altogether....

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday that he considers arm shipments to be “legitimate targets,” potentially raising the prospect of attacks. “Russia has warned the United States about the consequences of the transfer of weapons to Ukraine,” Ryabkov said, according to Russian newswire RIA Novosti. “Convoys of foreign weapons, which are thoughtlessly supplied to Ukraine, will be legitimate targets for the Russian Armed Forces,” the minister added....

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed on Tuesday that more than 120 U.S. private military contractors are currently located in two eastern Ukrainian villages. While there, Shoigu told officials that he believed they were stockpiling toxic chemicals and training Ukrainian soldiers as if they were preparing for a confrontation. Shoigu made these claims at the same meeting that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently held with the Russian Defense Ministry....

The price of crude oil increased 5 percent to $94.66 before closing at $93.10, according to U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude features, CNBC reported. It’s now at its highest level since September 30, 2014. The International benchmark Brent Crude settled at an increase of 3.3 percent to $94.44 per barrel. On Friday afternoon, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called for U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine within 24-48 hours, saying, “We are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time should Vladimir Putin decide to order it....

The Ukrainian armed forces had said this week that the Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as “kamikaze” drones, could not be used by Russia because they were made of plastic and other non-frost-resistant materials. But on Wednesday, Ukrainian Air Force Command spokesperson, Yuriy Ihnat, suggested that Russian forces had worked on these complications and had resumed using the loitering munitions after a hiatus of three weeks. “Even in the cold, these drones will fly, so it is also necessary to prepare for this,” he said according to Ukrainian army outlet Army Inform....

A ministry spokesman said during a televised broadcast on Friday that 70 percent of Russian strikes in Ukraine have been directed at civilians, according to Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform. The grim statistic follows repeated reports of war crimes against the Kremlin and comes a day after a Russian missile strike killed and wounded civilians in Vinnytsia, a west-central Ukrainian city far from the frontlines of the conflict. “Yesterday’s insidious criminal missile attack on the center of a peaceful city in Ukraine is yet another fact of Russia’s absolutely proven genocide against Ukraine,” Ministry of Defense spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said on Ukraine 24, according to Ukrinform....

Russian fingerprints are said to be all over the hack of SolarWinds software used by U.S. government networks, including the Treasury and Commerce Departments, the Department of Home Security (DHS), and several others, according to Reuters. The allegations implicating Russia’s external security service the SVR came just as an investigative website outlined the extensive role that Russia’s internal security service, the FSB, played in the Novichok poisoning of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent, Alexei Navalny....

“Every day, the Ukrainian authorities are scaling up their anti-Russian disinformation campaign, spreading new baseless accusations about alleged atrocities and war crimes of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, told Newsweek. “Judging by such rhetoric,” he added, “the leadership of Ukraine is guided not so much by the concern about civilians as by the desire to consolidate its image of a ‘victim’ and smear our country....

Three years ago Russian President Vladimir Putin made the rejuvenation of this Black Sea resort his personal project, and it has boomed ever since. The Kremlin has pledged $7.5 billion to upgrade the city’s infrastructure and create new ski runs in the mountains above the city. Private capital piled in behind. At this year’s Sochi investors’ forum, hosted by Putin, businessmen made $23.3 billion in investment deals in Sochi and the region, most of them construction and resort projects....

World athletics championships host Russia on Monday rejected claims that it was soft on doping, saying the exposure of a spate of high-profile cheats was due to a stepping up of testing. A number of Russian athletes, including 2004 Olympic hammer champion Olga Kuzenkova, have been banned in recent months for doping violations, prompting calls in some quarters for Moscow to be stripped of its right to host the championships this year....

“The investigators have collected objective proof refuting Rodchenkov’s deceitful evidence concerning the delivery of athletes’ doping samples to the Sochi anti-doping laboratory,” the Russian Investigations Committee said in a statement. The committee said it had sent WADA documents relating to the registration of doping samples that contradicted the whistleblower’s allegations, according to the statement on its website. The body, which reports directly to the Kremlin, opened an investigation into the scandal in 2016....

In an interview Wednesday with Moscow-based newspaper Argumenty i Fakty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defended ongoing ties with both Iran and Israel as having “intrinsic value” for his country, despite the worsening feud between the archfoes. The two have exchanged threats as the U.S. stepped up its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran in hopes of isolating it internationally, a strategy that Lavrov condemned as destabilizing. “The escalating tension in the region we are witnessing today is the direct result of Washington and some of its allies raising the stakes in their anti-Iranian policy,” Lavrov said....

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin continues to “study” the U.S. response to Russia’s security demands - chiefly the expansion of NATO forces in Eastern Europe and the possibility of membership for Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to “study” the U. S. response to his security demands but Kremlin officials claim it is not a “positive reaction” to its main concerns ‘Very concerned’ Americans struggle to leave Ukraine as Russian forces continue to mass at the border U....

Artist Timofey Radya shared both a photo and a video of his piece entitled Future on Twitter on Tuesday. In the piece, a giant set of letters spelling future are set ablaze. The violent burst of fire is clearly meant to prompt fear and reflection on the world around us—as well as the future we’re all fighting just to reach. While art is open to interpretation by the viewer, the message of this piece seems pretty clear: As the world faces political unrest, a new and emboldened civil rights movement and the coronavirus pandemic, it can feel, at times, like the future will never come, like maybe we’re watching everything collapse before our eyes as we get sucked deeper and deeper into a time of change....

Borussia Dortmund have offered midfielder Julian Weigl to Real Madrid, according to reports from Spanish publication AS. The 21-year-old’s sparkling form was recently rewarded with a new and improved contract, tying him to the club until 2021, though the Bundesliga outfit are ready to let him leave for a substantial fee. Los Blancos have been keeping an eye on Weigl’s situation for some time and are said to be keen to complete a deal, though Manchester City and Barcelona are both interested in the German’s services....

The soldier fly, officially crowned the Opaluma Rupaul, is one of 150 new species named by Australia’s National Science Agency (CSIRO) in the past year. The fabulous flying insect is one of 13 soldier flies personally named by Bryan Lessard, aka Bryan The Fly Guy, who’s also responsible for naming the Scaptia beyonceae fly after pop singer, Beyoncé. The name Opaluma comes from the Latin words for opal, referencing the fly’s rainbow-hued exterior, and thorn, referring to the distinctive thorn tucked on the underside of their abdomen....

Chennai has produced a number of Volleyball players who have gone on to play for the Indian national team and the sport is a fan favourite in the whole state of Tamil Nadu. The tremendous demand for the game and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium being the only other venue for the league, the team will have incredible home support from the fans. Let us get to know more about the team and how it stands on paper as the inaugural league gets rolling from 2nd February:...

One thing our zip code should not determine is the quality of health care we receive. And yet, this, too, is determined by where you live. There is a huge disparity between rural and urban health care, one exposed and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, though it started long before 2020. Individuals in rural and urban America have fewer options for care due to geographic inaccessibility and transportation impediments, which make it a challenge in rural and urban communities to see a doctor or primary care provider for essential care services....