Good morning,
Football EarthQuake
European football, (soccer) is worth more than 25 billion dollars a year and the key club in that are the names that even if you don’t follow football, you have no doubt heard of; Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are among 12 clubs that have agreed to join a new European Super League (ESL) and it’s causing a huge storm and ripples of condemnation amongst fans and political leaders. The group have all agreed to be part of a predominantly closed shop league also featuring Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
British P.M. Boris Johnson has waded into it, tweeting the move is very damaging and saying “the clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps” adding “they would strike at the heart of the domestic game”.
Translation - the owners are stealing the clubs away from their long held domestic fans in England, creating an elitist league putting money over national love! Oh no, you mean football owners like Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich don’t care about Englands National game? Of course they don’t and of course they see money ahead of all else as owners of the big ticket clubs and the players they pay huge salaries.
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville also blasted the plan. He said: 'I'm disgusted with Manchester United and Liverpool the most. They're breaking away to a competition they can't be relegated from? It's an absolute disgrace.
'It's pure greed, they're impostors. The owners of Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City have nothing to do with football in this country.'
The Premier League could be destroyed and fans are outraged and talking boycotts and ruin of these titans of the the game.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9485311/Boris-Johnson-condemns-plans-English-clubs-join-European-Super-League.html
Alexei Navalny “Could die at any moment”
The leader of Russia’s opposition movement against the Kremlin, is said to be dying in prison where he was placed this year after members of Putins security services tried and failed to poison him with a nerve agent. Navalny who has accused Putin of widespread personal corruption, was put in jail on wobbly fraud charges, many say were designed to silence Putin’s chief critic and challenger. 3 weeks ago Navalny started a hunger strike after being refused treatment by his own doctors for agonizing back problems. And now his doctors are warning he could die at any minute.
The health alarms have prompted an international reaction with The United States national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, saying that the Russian government would face “consequences if Mr. Navalny dies.”
“We have communicated to the Russian government that what happens to Mr. Navalny in their custody is their responsibility and they will be held accountable by the international community,” Mr. Sullivan said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/18/sports/soccer/super-league-united-liverpool-juventus-madrid.html
Russia accused of Czech Bombing
In 2014, just east of Prague, a huge ammunition depot explosion rocked the area killing two people while hundreds of people were evacuated. At first deemed to be an accident The Czechs rocked the international community this weekend by announcing in fact the explosion was an act of sabotage and they kicked out 18 Russian diplomats.
Czech officials said "unequivocal evidence" showed the 18 diplomats were spies from the Russian GRU and SVR intelligence services involved in the blast in an eastern town of Vrbětice. They were given 48 hours to leave the Czech Republic. Russia has of course responded by kicking out 20 Czech diplomats in turn.
In addition to naming Russia as the perpetrator of the attack, The Czechs now say two of the Russian agents involved are the same, who poisoned a former double spy in Salisbury England Sergei Skripal and his daughter in 2018.
Note - these are attacks on NATO Countries by Russia and the news of The Czech expulsions come on the heels of President Biden’s expulsions of 10 Russian’s last week over computer hacking and election interference.
https://news.sky.com/story/czech-police-hunt-two-men-wanted-over-salisbury-novichok-poisonings-12278716
George Floyd
Closing arguments in the murder trial of police officer Derek Chauvin will begin today and the outcome will be watched by a nation on edge because of other police shootings and wide spread unrest in American Cities. Across Minneapolis stores were boarding up windows in case of riots.
The prosecution has tried to show how Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck until death with complete disregard for his health as he was unconscious on the ground handcuffed and pleading. While the defence has tried to say he died of drugs and other factors.
https://www.npr.org/sections/trial-over-killing-of-george-floyd/2021/04/18/988573043/closing-arguments-in-derek-chauvin-trial-set-to-begin-monday?t=1618815580575
Covid Milestone
The grim Global death toll surpassed 3 million on the weekend, for a pandemic that has crippled families and taken a heavy toll on economies.
Try to have a good week everyone!
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