Author: RT

‘Opponent must always be respected’: Italian youth football coach sacked for inflicting humiliating 27-0 defeat Italian youth football coach Massimiliano Riccini has been fired for disrespecting opponents, after his team Invictasauro beat fellow rivals Marina Calcio with a crushing score of 27-0. The team’s president Paolo Brogelli slammed the coach and the footballers for the on-pitch, drubbing underlining that football values “are antithetical to such a thing.” READ MORE: Lights out: Non-league goalkeeper spectacularly misses penalty, breaks floodlight (VIDEO) “We were stunned and deeply regretful when hearing that our junior team had beaten Marina Calcio 27-0,”  Brogelli said. “The values of youth team football are antithetical to such a thing. ...

No playing around: US Army’s new card decks feature Russian, Chinese & Iranian weapons ‘to learn more about adversaries’ The Russian-made S-400 air defense system – the one that triggers US threats of sanctions for nations if they decide to buy it – can actually help an American soldier to win a battle... in a card game. The S-400 [or SA-21 Growler in NATO nomenclature] is a joker in a new line of card decks for the US army, an all-mighty card of many faces capable of incinerating an enemy. The second joker in the Russia-themed deck is the Iskander tactical missile system [SS-26 Stone in NATO nomenclature] with its 9M729 missile that was used by Washington as a pretext for quitting the INF Treaty, despite Russia’s assurances that it did not viol...

‘Morons, bullies & thugs’: French interior minister hits back at ‘ultras’ at Yellow Vests after Saturday mayhem in Paris Interior Minister Christophe Castaner argued that the “original” Yellow Vest movement was overtaken by the violent ‘ultra-yellow’ protesters, as the massive anti-government rallies across France reached their first anniversary. The minister's statement followed a tweet by left-wing lawmaker Jean-Luc Melenchon, who blamed police for behaving like “a government militia” and causing chaos on the streets during the protest rallies. Castaner, in turn, blasted “barbaric” Yellow Vests for attacking police officers and preventing firefighters from putting out the fires started by the demonstrators on the makeshift barricades and parke...

Turkey’s Russian-made S-400s on combat duty ‘by spring’, Moscow confirms Despite many attempts by the US to derail Turkey’s plan to acquire the S-400 air defense missile systems, the state-of-the-art weapons will be fully active next year. The contract is being carried out “normally” and according to the initial plan, Dmitry Shugayev, the head of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), which is responsible for arms trade, told reporters at an expo in Dubai on Sunday. We will finish training the Turkish personnel by the end of this year. The system will be placed on combat duty by spring. The delivery of the S-400s to Ankara began in July. Turkish officials said that the weapon system will be fully operational next Apri...

Accused US spy Whelan tracked since first Russia visit, built contacts using autographed book of disgraced KGB officer – reports Paul Whelan, a former US marine currently waiting for trial in Russia on espionage charges became a person of interest for Russian counter-intelligence as early as his first visit in 2007, the daily Kommersant claims. The 49-year-old corporate security director, who was arrested in Russia last December, is far from being the innocent victim of entrapment that his defense team says he is, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources. In fact Whelan was considered suspicious by the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s intelligence agency, more than a decade ago. Once on Russian soil, the man, who was serving in the U...

Sri Lanka’s former defense chief Rajapaksa becomes country’s new leader Sri Lanka’s former wartime defense minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa is set to become the country’s new president, winning in an election held months after terrorist attacks plunged the country into political crisis. Rajapaksa and his brother, a former president of the island nation Mahinda, are credited with bringing an end to the country's quarter century-long civil war in 2009, when government troops defeated Tamil separatists. Seventy-year-old Rajapaksa, the candidate for the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, got more than half of the votes, compared to roughly 42 percent in favor of his main rival Sajith Premadasa, who was supported by Tamil and Muslim minorities.  Also o...

Jazz on my mind: Italian musician played piano while surgeons operated on his brain The doctors in Italy could enjoy some refined jazz tunes at work, when a patient whose brain they were operating on played the piano in real time. The technique dubbed ‘awake brain surgery’ helps doctors treat brain tumors and epileptic seizures without accidentally damaging the areas responsible for vision, speech or movement. The patients stay conscious during the operation and can respond to questions – which allows the surgeons to know that they are treating the correct part of the brain. One particular patient of the Maurizio Bufalini Hospital in Cesena, central Italy, did more than just talking, though. A music teacher and jazz lover, he performed several melod...