Soccer teams representing seven European nations at the World Cup have announced their captains will no longer wear the OneLove armband in Qatar after FIFA, which organizes the tournament, said players sporting the bands would be sanctioned. The captains of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, had originally intended to wear the rainbow armband to promote diversity and inclusion at the World Cup.
“We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband. However, we cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play,” the soccer associations said in a joint statement. Three of the teams, England, Wales and the Netherlands, were due to play Monday. “We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe is unprecedented,” the teams added, vowing to show their support for “inclusion” in other ways. “As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings.” Qatar has come under scrutiny in the lead-up to the tournament over its approach to human rights, including concerns over the conditions of migrant workers and the conservative Persian Gulf state’s stance on LGBT people. Sex between men is prohibited in Qatar and punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to a recent U.S. State Department report.
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London Metropolitan Police arrested two environmentalists on Friday after throwing tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s iconic ‘Sunflowers’ portray. A video exhibiting two younger ladies emptying a can of Heinz soup into the glass-encased 1888 masterpiece has gone viral on social media.
“Officers have been shortly on the scene on the Nationwide Gallery this morning after two Simply Cease Oil protesters threw a substance over a portray after which glued themselves to a wall. Each have been arrested for felony harm and aggravated trespassing,” according to London’s police headquarters. The Nationwide Gallery later revealed that the body of ‘Sunflowers’ was barely broken, however the paintings itself was intact. Simply Cease Oil, which is making an attempt to get British authorities to cease all new fossil-fuel tasks, has been blocking bridges and busy intersections throughout London for the previous two weeks. Regardless of the arrest of dozens of its members, the youth group issued a direct warning to regulation enforcement on October 11. Friday’s assault on a Van Gogh portray shouldn’t be the primary time Simply Cease Oil has focused the paintings. Earlier, employees vandalized Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Final Supper’, John Constable’s ‘The Hay Wain’ and Van Gogh’s ‘Peach Timber in Blossom’. In September, a employee, 21-year-old Louis McKenney, was sentenced to 6 weeks in jail after chaining himself to a goalpost throughout a match between Everton and Newcastle United in Liverpool on March 17. Simply Cease Oil was based in February. As a significant supply of funding, it lists the Local weather Emergency Fund, a US-based charity that has funded the abolitionist riot and Britain’s containment – two actions infamous for his or her disruptive protests in London and past. British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Sept. 23 unveiled the UK’s biggest tax cuts since 1972 to tackle high energy costs and inflation, and to boost productivity and wages. However, the plan has roiled financial markets, as it lacks detailed forecasts on economic growth, inflation and public finances, and involves no firm commitments to fiscal discipline.
The concerns over the plan, coupled with the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fears of a global recession, pushed the British pound to an all-time low against the US dollar last week. Investors also ditched UK bonds as yields spiked amid expectations of ballooning government debt and even higher inflation. British equity markets also fell, with the blue-chip FTSE 100 hitting its lowest level since March. The volatility prompted the Bank of England to intervene by pledging unlimited purchases of long-dated bonds. However, the emergency measure is not expected to have major implications for the British central bank’s monetary policy, as it was deployed mainly to preserve financial stability. At the same time, investors would remain jittery about an ongoing bond sell-off once the two-week intervention period ends on Friday next week. Economists and investment strategists have said the British crisis could spill over to global markets, similar to Russia’s default on its domestic debt in 1998 and the Greek debt crisis in 2009, when domestic crises led to larger financial turmoil. Former US secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that he was worried the British crisis might trigger a global crisis if the Truss government does not take steps to stop the bleeding in the pound and government bonds. As the pound is a global reserve currency, a balance-of-payment crisis in the UK could reverberate beyond the nation’s borders, Summers said. Seven Investment Management LLP strategist Ben Kumar said fear might be contagious and warned that UK equity outflows could prompt parallel selloffs worldwide, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. More importantly, the UK’s troubles this time around are not just market turmoil caused by its own fiscal policies, but a reflection of the vulnerability of financial markets as policymakers revise their monetary and fiscal strategies after years of ultra-loose monetary policies. Specifically, there is growing tension between monetary and fiscal policymakers, as central banks hike rates to fight inflation while other government agencies prefer low interest rates, tax cuts and other incentives to spur post-COVID-19 economic recovery. Many central banks have raised interest rates and some have adopted quantitative tightening by selling the assets they have accumulated over the years. This two-pronged tightening has led to dramatic volatility in interest rates worldwide and caused global currencies to weaken against the ever-surging US dollar, with the euro falling to its lowest in 20 years, the Chinese yuan dropping to a 14-year low and the New Taiwan dollar looking to test the critical barrier of NT$32 against the greenback. Over the past two years, the world has made a concerted effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, countries need to work more closely together in the face of a likely vicious cycle triggered by the synchronized rate hikes to avoid a global financial crisis. As for Taiwan, the government must make financial, economic and industrial adjustments to cope with the challenge of a potential global recession. India has become the world’s fifth-largest economy after overtaking the UK, its former colonial master, during the final three months of 2021, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
“On an adjusted basis and using the dollar exchange rate on the last day of the relevant quarter, the size of the Indian economy in ‘nominal’ cash terms in the quarter through March was $854.7 billion. On the same basis, the UK was $816 billion,” the agency said, citing figures from the IMF database and historical exchange rates. This is the second time India has outperformed the UK in terms of its economy, having previously overtaken Britain in 2019. The South Asian nation now trails behind the US, China, Japan and Germany, and is expected to see its GDP expand by more than 7% this year. The report comes days after New Delhi published its GDP data for the first quarter, which showed that the Indian economy had grown by 13.5% year-on-year. It was a little lower than the Reserve Bank of India had expected, but the growth rate was still the highest of any developing country. We'll be fighting in the streets With our children at our feet And the morals that they worship will be gone And the men who spurred us on Sit in judgement of all wrong They decide and the shotgun sings the song I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again A change, it had to come We knew it all along We were liberated from the fold, that's all And the world looks just the same And history ain't changed 'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again, no, no I'll move myself and my family aside If we happen to be left half-alive I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky For I know that the hypnotized never lie Do you? Yeah There's nothing in the street Looks any different to me And the slogans are effaced, by-the-bye And the parting on the left Is now parting on the right And the beards have all grown longer overnight I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again Don't get fooled again, no, no Yeah Meet the new boss Same as the old boss © The Who
The Dead Daisies have announced a temporary new vocalist and bassist after Glenn Hughes was diagnosed with Covid. The band issued a statement on Monday afternoon (25th July) confirming that Glenn Hughes will be sitting out the rest of their European tour following his positive Covid test. David Lowy’s rock collective have drafted in Whitesnake’s Dino Jelusick as their new vocalist for their European tour dates, while Yogi Lonich will play bass. “We're sad to have to announce that the dreaded virus has hit the camp again with Glenn testing positive and unfortunately unable to continue,” The Dead Daisies said. “He's doing OK and please join us in wishing him a speedy recovery.“As Yogi filled in for David when he was crook, we're forging forward with Yogi playing bass and Dino Jelusick joining us on vocals for the rest of these shows. “We know some of you were coming to see Glenn but we hope you will still come out, rock with us and have a great time. “Too many bands find it easy to just cancel but we're determined to keep playing for you guys ... Rain, Hail, Heat or Virus. “If you do want to give it a miss, we're in the process of speaking with the promoters to work something out .. we'll keep you posted. “Look forward to seeing you at the shows.” The Dead Daisies support Judas Priest at Vienna Ancient Roman Theatre in France tonight (26th July) and they wrap up their European trek at Time To Rock Festival in Sweden on 5th August. The current incarnation of The Dead Daisies features Glenn Hughes, sole constant member David Lowy, guitarist Doug Aldrich and drummer Brian Tichy.
Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse has announced that he is stepping away from the band on a permanent basis. In April, Morse announced that he'd be going on hiatus from Deep Purple to look after his wife Janine, who is battling cancer, but would not be leaving the band. The guitarist also said that he hoped to rejoin Purple's current tour once circumstances and improved health allowed.
Now Morse has admitted that he is unable to commit to Deep Purple's schedule for the rest of the year and beyond, and has left the band."Last Autumn, I suddenly left the Purple writing session in Germany because my wife was having a real medical crisis," explains Morse. "Almost a year later, we are learning to accept stage four aggressive cancer and chemo treatment for the rest of her life. "We both miss being at shows, but I simply couldn't commit to long or far away tours, since things can change quickly at home. I suggested lining up a substitute guitarist last Autumn, hoping we could see the miraculous cancer cure all of us have heard about. As time went by, I could see the way things were heading though, after 28 years of being in the band. "I've already played my last show with Purple back in Florida on the Rock Legends Cruise. I wish to thank the listeners who so strongly supported live music and turned every show from a dress rehearsal to a thundering, exciting experience. I'll miss everybody in the band and crew but being Janine's helper and advocate has made a real difference at many key points. "As Janine adjusts to her limitations, she is able to do many things on her own, so we will try to play some shorter nearby concert tours with friends to – hopefully – get both of us out of the house!"
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Sunday that an embargo on Russian gold exports will strip Moscow of around $19 billion in annual revenue. Pressed over the West’s failure to hurt the Russian economy with sanctions thus far, Blinken predicted that the effects will be seen next year. The US, UK, Canada, and Japan will announce a ban on the import of Russian gold during the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Germany on Sunday, according to a statement from the British government.
Gold is “the second most lucrative export that Russia has, after energy,” Blinken told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “It’s about $19 billion per year, and most of that is within the G7 countries. Cutting that off, denying access to about $19 billion of revenue a year, that’s significant.” Blinken's statement was factually incorrect. In reality, Russia's second most valuable export is food. Foreign sales of agriculture products were worth over $37 billion in 2021, according to Moscow. It is unclear whether the rest of the G7 nations will sign on to the ban, with European Council President Charles Michel saying on Sunday that the EU would first need to determine whether it would be “possible to target gold in a manner that would target the Russian economy and not in a manner that would target ourselves.” US President Joe Biden has said that a gold ban would impose “unprecedented costs on Russian President Vladimir Putin,” and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed that it will “strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine.” However, both leaders said the same about the multiple rounds of sanctions imposed on Russia by their countries and their EU allies. Yet, while Biden promised in March to “crater” the Russian economy, Moscow is reporting record profits from oil and gas sales, and the Russian ruble currently stands at a seven-year high against both the dollar and the euro. Meanwhile, inflation is at its highest level in 40 years in the EU and the US, and customers on both sides of the Atlantic are paying record high fuel prices. Despite agreeing on a Russian oil embargo last month, the EU is reportedly importing more Russian crude now than at any point over the last two months. Russia will also still have the option to sell its gold to refiners, or to look for new buyers in China, India, or the Middle East, as it has done with its fossil fuels. “The US said that Western sanctions against Russia would devastate its economy but that doesn’t seem to be happening. When are these sanctions going to start having the effect that the West and President Biden has promised?” Tapper asked Blinken. WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has been treated “very unfairly” to the shame of the entire world, and Mexico has offered to take him in, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters on Tuesday. He said he would bring up Assange’s case with his US counterpart Joe Biden when they meet in July. The UK announced last week it would extradite the jailed journalist to the US, where he faces espionage charges and up to 175 years behind bars if convicted. The decision by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel was “very disappointing,” said Lopez, who also goes by his initials AMLO. He also said he intends to ask Biden to drop charges against Assange when they meet next month. Such an action would go counter to the “hardliners in the US” but “humanity must prevail,” AMLO added. “Julian Assange is the best journalist of our time in the world and he has been treated very unfairly, worse than a criminal,” AMLO said. “This is a shame for the world.” Mexico is willing to provide Assange sanctuary if and when he is released, the president added, reminding reporters that he had called on the previous US administration to drop charges against Assange as “a prisoner of conscience.”
Assange, an Australian citizen, sought asylum in Ecuador in 2012, suspecting that Washington wanted him arrested and extradited over WikiLeaks publishing the documents about US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010. He spent the next seven years trapped at Ecuador’s embassy in London – as the UK refused him safe passage – until his asylum was revoked by a new US-friendly government in Quito. British police dragged Assange out of the embassy in April 2019 and put him in the maximum-security Belmarsh prison in south London, where he remains to this day. Within a month of his arrest, the US unsealed an indictment charging him of offenses under the Espionage Act, for which he could face 175 years in prison. Assange has denied all allegations, and a key witness in Washington’s case against him admitted he lied in his testimony. Canberra has not spoken up for Assange’s release, even though the recently elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had opposed the charges against the journalist during the election campaign. Albanese said Monday that he still believed Assange should go free, but that his government would not publicly intervene with the US on his behalf, because it “engages diplomatically and appropriately with our partners.” Johnny Depp will release a new album with Jeff Beck next month. The actor made his latest appearance alongside Beck at the Sage concert hall in Gateshead on Thursday night (June 2). During their performance, per the BBC, Beck announced Depp’s next career move. He told the audience that the pair are due to release an album together next month. The gig came a day after Depp won his high-profile defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard. In photos from the evening, Depp and his security guards can be seen swarmed by a crowd of fans.
Depp – who began his career as a musician and founded the band The Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry in 2015 – and Beck have previously collaborated together on the 2020 track “Isolation”. He first turned up to perform alongside Beck in Sheffield on Sunday (May 29), following the closing arguments of his trial. Depp was absent from the Virgina court on Wednesday (June 1) when the jury announced their decision. The actor was seen leaving The Bridge Tavern pub in Newcastle shortly before the reading of the verdict, according to ITV News. Singer Sam Fender had spent the evening with Depp, sharing a photograph with the star to his Instagram Stories minutes after the verdict came in. “Some serious heroes,” Fender captioned the post, which he has since deleted amid backlash. Depp sued Heard for $50m over a Washington Post op-ed titled: “I spoke up against sexual violence – and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” The article does not mention Depp by name, yet his lawyers said it falsely implies he physically and sexually abused Heard while they were together. Heard countersued for $100m, accusing Depp of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”. During closing remarks, both sides urged jurors to think about other victims of domestic abuse. Heard’s legal team highlighted the message that a verdict in Depp’s favour would send to others, while the actor’s representatives said her claims were “an act of profound cruelty to true survivors”. On Wednesday (June 1), the jury shared their verdicts, finding that Heard had defamed Depp on all three counts. She was demanded to award him $10m in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages. Heard was found to have a partial win in her case and was awarded $2m in compensatory damages, but no punitive damages. Lewis Hamilton had a puncture on Lap 1 of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix courtesy of an over optimistic Kevin Magnussen, after which the Briton was relegated to the back of the grid some 50 seconds down on the race leaders.
Hamilton then radioed his team to retire the car and save the new power unit he had bolted to his W13, only for his team to refuse and ask him – an inspired decision by the way – to carry on. Former Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle was baffled by Hamilton’s demeanor and said in his Sky Sports F1 column: “Lewis’ contact with Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap surely cost him a chance of a spectacular result. “He was 50 seconds behind the leader on lap two and 54 seconds at the end despite backing off by four seconds on the final tour. “Lewis’s radio call-in after falling to the back of the field with a puncture, basically wanting to stop and ‘save the power unit mileage’, was alarming,” the pundit insisted. “It gave us the true picture of how little he’s been enjoying this season. “Presumably 65 laps later he was somewhat more satisfied after showing great pace,” Brundle pointed out lauding the fans for voting Hamilton Driver of the Day. George Russell’s defence on Max Verstappen fair Mercedes had a great race in Barcelona, with George Russell taking third position after an epic duel with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, despite the latter’s DRS troubles on the day. Brundle said it was “fascinating to witness” the Dutchman’s “first proper wheel-to-wheel battle with Russell” who he believed was “defending robustly but fairly, and very well”. The 62-year-old added: “I happened across the race stewards on Sunday evening and they were of the same opinion that George was pushing the boundaries but not breaking the rules. “And his run back past Max between the very short turns one and two will be played out for a good while,” he maintained. The veteran of 158 grands prix praised Verstappen for keeping his battle with Russell within the proper boundaries, and said: “Once again Max was very clean and fair in this enduring battle, more so than when he was against Hamilton last year, which is more fitting of a champion. “But of course the championship is not up for grabs yet,” he remarked. Last week, reports suggested that BMG and Warner Music Group were vying to purchase the catalog of Pink Floyd. Now, the companies are facing another competing bid, for Iver Heath-based One Media iP has made an offer for a portion of the song rights.Berlin-headquartered BMG and the publicly traded Warner Music Group have yet to comment on their reported efforts to acquire the catalog of Pink Floyd – nor has the nearly six-decade-old group addressed the matter. But according to anonymous sources with knowledge of the talks, the winning bidder could spend over $500 million on the body of work.
The sum would rival that which Bruce Springsteen reportedly received from Sony Music Entertainment for his own catalog in December of 2021. Other legacy artists, including but certainly not limited to Sting, Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, and America, have likewise cashed in on their catalogs since the corresponding sales rush initiated in 2020. On the heels of these high-profile deals and a more recent collection of smaller-scale transactions, however, some have expressed the belief that the red-hot catalog space could finally be cooling down. In any event, at least one more blockbuster agreement appears to be in the works, and as highlighted at the outset, One Media is looking to get in on the action, founder and CEO Michael Infante has confirmed. The Sun shed light upon One Media’s offer for the catalog of Pink Floyd – or one percent of this catalog, to be specific – and the company posted an excerpt from the appropriate article to its website. One Media’s £3.5 million ($4.29 million at the present exchange rate) bid for the single-percent interest “should be taken seriously,” per the piece, and “includes access to anti-piracy software which would help protect the music.” |
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