Reigning World Chess Champion Carlsen retained his title on Wednesday defeating his Russian challenger 3-1 in a series of tie-break’s rapid games and sealing the final score of the match at 9-7. “I would like to congratulate Karjakin with the perfect game. Unfortunately, he did not win, but he displayed a good game and outstanding qualities of a fighter and of an athlete,” Kolobkov said in an interview with TASS on Thursday....
Russia’s national coronavirus task force reported 36,446 new cases on Tuesday, a slightly lower number than those in the previous few days, and 1,106 COVID-19 related deaths, the most since the start of the pandemic. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said hospitals are being overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, as nearly 90 percent of hospital beds are filled with over 268,000 infected patients. “It’s a colossal load on the health care system,” Murashko said....
The league, a collaboration between Baseline Ventures and the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) will feature six teams in its debut season and close to 200 players in action across 18 matches in two cities, Kochi and Chennai. The auctions ahead of the season gave rise to a lot of excitement from the six franchises’ management groups as 117 Indian players went under the hammer, with the international players being drafted into the sides through a separate ‘draft system’....
And he just might come out on top. Google has struck a deal with News Corp, in which it has agreed to pay Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate to host its digital content over the next three years. The deal comes as the Australian government prepares to pass legislation requiring Google and Facebook, which control 81% of Australia’s online advertising revenue, to pay media publishers for their content. Yet, while Google continues to negotiate with publishers, Facebook decided to play hardball....
Westbrook’s latest impressive performance marks his 14th triple-double of this still-young NBA season, and he’s on pace to shatter his own career high of 18 triple-doubles in a single season set last year. MORE: Breaking down the top rookie scouts It’s been a while since the Celtics allowed an opposing player a triple-double. LeBron James was the last to do it, when he had 43 points,12 rebounds and 11 assists in a 113-109 Cavaliers win in Boston on Feb....
Nobody told that to Russell Wilson. MORE: Live updates from Seahawks vs. Panthers | Best photos from NFC divisional round It took Wilson and the Seahawks less than 90 seconds to score at the beginning of the second half, connecting with Jermaine Kearse on a 13-yard touchdown pass. He followed that up with beautiful toss to Tyler Lockett, this one for 33 yards to make it a 31-14 game halfway through the third quarter....
The Seahawks won a thrilling contest on the road against their NFC West rivals 27-24 as time expired in overtime courtesy of a 42-yard field goal from Jason Myers. A chaotic Monday Night Football encounter saw the two teams combine for seven turnovers, while Chase McLaughlin missed a 47-yard kick that would have given the 49ers victory. Wilson and his team-mates could barely believe what had transpired as they moved to 8-2 and handed the Niners (8-1) a first defeat of the season....
The claim comes only a day after the U.S. said that all of the systems, which have given a significant boost to Ukraine’s forces on the battlefield, remained intact. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday that between July 5 and July 20, two of the launchers “were eliminated” near the settlement of Malotaranovka in the Donetsk region as was another HIMARS and a transport-loading vehicle in Krasnoarmiisk....
The Gamaleya Institute and the Russian Direct Investment Fund released a statement on Friday claiming that Sputnik V had “the best virus neutralization results against omicron in comparison with other vaccines.” The claim starkly contrasts an independent study by the University of Washington and pharmaceutical firm Humabs Biomed that said the vaccine “had no neutralizing activity against Omicron.” Russian President Vladimir Putin backed up the vaccine, which he has taken four times as both a shot and an experimental nasal spray....
Airfinity estimates that 62 countries have supply agreements with Russia for about 1 billion doses of the Sputnik vaccine, which has been approved in around 70 countries. So far, only 4.8 percent of the doses have been exported, the firm estimated. Russian state media earlier this year broadcast reports of the vaccine “conquering the world” as Moscow marketed it toward developing countries while wealthy nations hoarded Western-developed vaccines, the Associated Press reported....
The move comes as Ukraine is in the midst of an attempt to reoccupy the southern city of Kherson from Russian forces by targeting Russian supply chains and arms systems. United States National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that the counteroffensive is part of a larger picture of growing attrition on the Russian side, where military recruiting has become an issue in recent months. The Naval News website reported that a “nondescript Russian cargo ship” believed to be the Sparta II traveled through the Bosporus in Turkey, the only waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea....
The Russian MoD said: “As part of a planned exercise with a grouping of heterogeneous strike forces of the Northern Fleet taking place in the waters of the Barents Sea, the flagship of the Northern Fleet—the Pyotr Velikiy heavy nuclear missile cruiser (TARKR)—launched a Granit cruise missile at a target position in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. “According to objective control data, the maritime training target was successfully hit at a distance of more than 124 miles....
As negotiations between representatives from Moscow and Kyiv continue despite escalating violence as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” reaches its three-week mark this week, the Kremlin has issued key conditions to cease the attack, including a Ukrainian pledge for neutrality, recognition of the independence of the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk Republics and recognition of Russia’s control over the Crimean Peninsula. And while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled progress on Wednesday with comments that a potential deal with Russia “sounds more realistic,” the view from Crimea was less hopeful that a compromise could be met with Zelensky still in power....
“For the first time in three weeks, there have been reports of attacks by Iranian-provided one-way attack (OWA) uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs),” the British Defence Ministry said in an intelligence update posted to Twitter. “These events remain to be verified, but it is likely that Russia exhausted its previous stock of several hundred Shahed-131s and 136s and has now received a resupply.” The Ukrainian armed forces recently ruled out the idea that Russia could use the Shahed-136 UAVs, also known as “Kamikaze” drones, because they were made of plastic and other non-frost-resistant materials....
The rebranded fast food chain “Vkusno i Tochka”, which roughly translates as “Tasty and that’s it” said a shortage of the correct variety of potatoes meant that diners would need a different side order with their burgers. The chain said that over the past eight years it had focused on purchasing products from Russian suppliers but that in 2021 there was a poor harvest of the potato needed to make fries, and added that the problems may persist until the fall....
Americans know all about that; Vietnam was their first televised war, and most of them didn’t like what they saw either. But Americans of that era were more sophisticated about the media than today’s Russians. And in the years since Vietnam, the technology of journalism has been revolutionized, making war reportage far more immediate than it was then. Film does not have to be flown back from the front anymore; instead, video images can be sent over telephone lines....
Moscow’s ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, said in an interview with Tass published Friday that “the risk of a clash between the two great powers is high.” Alexander Darchiyev, director of the Foreign Ministry’s North American Department, made similar remarks in an interview with the same Russian state news agency. The comments follow the Washington visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden pledged a further $1....
After Russia exited the tournament with a 0-1 defeat to Greece Sunday, the team did not publicly thank the travelling Russian support, provoking controversy in the Russian media. After the Polish team were knocked out the same night, they visited the Warsaw fan zone to thank fans for their support, and Ireland held a banner reading “To The Best Supporters in the World” after the last of their three defeats Monday....
The prediction came from Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, who spoke with reporters in comments cleared for publication on Tuesday. Ushakov said he talked to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan by phone on Monday to set the agenda between the two leaders, which is scheduled to take place at a Lake Geneva villa. “The talks are expected to consist of three parts. First, there will be a private conversation, which will be followed by extended talks that will have a continuation....
Russian TV presenter and propagandist Vladimir Solovyov acknowledged on-air Thursday that the Ukrainian military’s advancements in Kherson and Lyman are making Russia look foolish. This week, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov of the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the retreat of Russian troops in Lyman, just hours after Putin announced the annexation of the city and region. “We ourselves understand that things are tough in the Kherson area that, yes, we managed to avoid encirclement and the dissection of our forces,” said Solovyov, known for his strong pro-Kremlin views....
