This Wednesday, the International Boxing Association (IBA) announced that its board of directors decided to end the measure that prohibited boxers from Russia and Belarus from competing in events organized by the sports entity.

According to the document, the return to the competitions of Russian and Belarusian technical officials is also contemplated. In addition, it was reiterated that the teams of both countries “will be able to act under their flags” and if they win a gold medal, their national anthems will be played.

“The IBA firmly believes that politics should not have any influence in sports,” the organization said, stressing that “all athletes must have the same conditions.”

“The IBA has an obligation to ensure equal treatment of athletes and competition officials, regardless of their nationality and residence,” he said.

IOC president accused of blackmailing Russian athletes

Thomas Bach, President of the IOC. Photo: File.

The former president of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, accused the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, of blackmailing Russian athletes.

In an interview with Corriere della Sera newspaper last week, Bach said athletes from Russia could compete under neutral status if they “distance themselves” from Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

“Once again, sports and politics are mixed. This is a kind of blackmail to which in no case should one succumb,” said Zhúkov, quoted by RIA Novosti, describing Bach’s statements as “provocative”.

“I hope none of our athletes take that step. At least everyone I asked said unequivocally that they would not,” he added.

(With information from RT in Spanish)

Describing him as a dear friend, Belarusian President greeted Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, during an official welcome ceremony held at the Palace of Independence, a beautiful building which has served as the government seat since 2013.

In his first words, Lukashenko referred to the last 25 years “of the history of the heroic revolutionary Cuba,” calling our nation a faithful ally and friend.

After official talks, the delegations signed several agreements: a memorandum of understanding between the two ministries of Justice to provide a legal framework for cooperation; a collaborative development program between Cuba’s Ministry of Higher Education and that of Belarus; plus a scientific-technical cooperation and innovation program.

In addition, an agreement between the news agency Prensa Latina and the Belarusian agency, Belta was updated; and a joint statement from the two Presidents was presented, synthesizing the results of their meeting, directed toward continuing the development of relations in the political, commercial, economic, industrial, agricultural, educational, and scientific-technological arenas.

President Díaz-Canel thanked Lukashenko for the support of Belarus in opposing the U.S. blockade, aggravated recently with further financial persecution and brutal sanctions on ships carrying fuel to Cuban ports.

Accompanying Díaz-Canel in Minsk, were Council of Ministers Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz; the ministers of Foreign Trade and Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, and that of Agriculture, Gustavo Rodríguez Rollero; the president of the Central Bank of Cuba, Irma Martínez Castrillón; BioCubaFarma executive, Eduardo Martínez Díaz; and deputy ministers of Foreign Affairs and Public Health, Rogelio Sierra Díaz and Marcia Cobas Ruiz, respectively.

(Granma)

The island was one of the first nations to respond to the tragedy and offer help in the form of rehabilitation treatment to those affected, the majority children. Cuban doctor Julio Medina, coordinator of the program, reported that to date the Cuban government has provided treatment to some 24,000 children.

According to Telesur, treatments last around 45 days for the majority of patients, however some stay up to a year at the Tarará health resort – a facility which was modified into a semi-hospital for victims of the nuclear accident and is located 20 kilometers east of Havana.
Many children from the Chernobyl disaster suffer from thyroid cancer, leukemia, muscular atrophy, physiological and neurological disorders and alopecia.

On April 26, the United Nations General Assembly held a special session in honor of the anniversary of the disaster which occurred in the then Soviet Union, now Ukrainian territory, during which the international community recalled the suffering of the victims and courage of those who responded to the emergency.

In addition to the Fukushima crisis in Japan, theChernobyl accident, which occurred at the Vladímir Ilich Lenin nuclear power plant, is rated as the worst nuclear disaster on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, according to Prensa Latina

(Con información de Prensa Latina)

Issues such as Marinich’s recent visit to Cuba, as part of the delegation led by Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, were analyzed in the meeting.

Vladimir Grushevich, assistant director of the Cooperation and International Relations Office, also attended the event.

Marinich highlighted the importance of the memorandum signed in the framework of this visit as a basis for the collaboration between the two countries.

One aspect in the memorandum is related to the fundamental role for the development of agriculture in the restoration of the MTZ tractors existing in the island, the charge d’affairs said.

The Belarusian minister sent his Cuban peer an invitation to visit the Central European nation accompanied by a delegation.

As part of the referred visit, the Cuban delegation could learn the Belarusian agro-industrial potential and the technology developed in this country for agricultural and live stock productions, Marinich stated.

The visit will offer the opportunity to strengthen bilateral and collaboration relations in this sphere.