Sports and Beer

Quote of the day:

How can he be complaining? Photo: Yuliya Nesterenko, winner of the women's 100 meter dash at the Olympic games in Athens

"I give particular attention to sport. The State does practically everything for its successful development. At the same time, the results yielded do not correspond to the state investments"

Said President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko addressing the meeting on the activities of the country’s leading sports federations and public associations.


From The Top

Procurement of Brewer’s Barley Discussed at the Presidential Meeting

The President wants only the right stuff for the peasantry!!

On October 5, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held a meeting on procurement of brewer’s barley.

The policy by the State concerning the brewing industry has yielded positive results. Reconstruction and modernization of the available breweries have resulted in considerable betterment of quality of the beer produced and its consumption has also increased.

The President demanded that those who are guilty for the non-fulfillment of the state purchase order of brewer’s barley should be held strictly liable, including the top leaders of the vertical authority line and managers of individual enterprises.

He also said: “If even a small quantity of barley is imported from abroad I will regard this case as corruption, as detriment inflicted upon our peasantry. We cannot today, once we have reached normal production volumes of brewer’s barley, import this product from outside the home country. First of all, we need to support our domestic manufacturers.”

Alyaksandr Milinkevich to Participate in Forum-2000 On Invitation of Vaclav Havel

From Charter '97

Alyaksandr Milinkevich: Friends in high places

An invitation to take part in the international conference Forum-2000 was sent to the single democratic candidate for presidency Alyaksandr Milinkevich personally by former president of the Czech Republic, a playwright Vaclav Havel.

“We want to gather in Prague internationally renowned people: Nobel prize winners, politicians who promote peaceful solutions of conflicts and wars, famous democracy advocates, academicians and analysts, writers and intellectuals, -- to define, evaluate and study the key problems of humankind in the new millennium,” Vaclav Havel said in invitation.

The conference Forum-2000 will be held on October 9-10 for the ninth time. This meeting was founded in 1997 by Vaclav Havel, Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel and Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa.

Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on Belarus following the harassment of the independent newspaper Narodnaia Volia

From Viasna

A photo from the The Day of Banned Newspapers

The European Union expresses its concern for the future of the independent press in Belarus following the harassment of the last remaining independent daily newspaper Narodnaya Volya. The EU condemns the crippling fine imposed on the newspaper and the termination of printing and distribution contracts by the state owned monopoly printers and distributors. The EU regrets that the media space is increasingly controlled by the government and is concerned that this latest development will further limit the access of the Belarusian people to free and objective reporting of events in the country. The EU calls on the Government of Belarus to respect its OSCE commitments on Freedom of Expression, Free Media and Information and to allow the independent media to operate freely. The EU also calls on the Minister of Information to meet with the EU Heads of Mission in Minsk to discuss the situation of the media in Belarus.

The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia,1 the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine align themselves with this declaration.

Sport:

Belarus VS Scotland

The Scotts are doing some thinking in regards to their upcoming October 8th World Cup qualifier match up with Belarus

From The Independant

David Weir yesterday hailed Walter Smith for giving Scotland an outside chance of qualifying for next year's World Cup finals, but cited Everton's plummet to the bottom of the Premiership as a cautionary tale about how the optimism suddenly surrounding the national side could evaporate if they under-estimate Belarus at Hampden Park tomorrow.

Scotland lie fourth in the Italy-led Group Five, two points behind both the second-placed Norway and Slovenia, who they meet in Celje next Wednesday. Belarus are second from bottom, with key players reportedly at odds with the coach Anatoly Baidnachy, yet Weir warned against taking victory for granted.
Full Text
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/internationals/article317744.ece

News from the International Chess championships in Argentina

Veselin Topalov and Peter Leko drew an atypically peaceful Eighth round game. Peter Svidler blew an advantage against Michael Adams and drew in 40 moves. Rustam Kasimdzhanov lost unluckily with the white pieces against Alexander Morozevich. Vishy Anand defeated Judit Polgar in a 62-move struggle.

Standings after 8 rounds:

Topalov: Abra Kadabra- and your pieces disapear!

Veselin Topalov 7.0
Peter Svidler 5.0
Vishy Anand 4.5
Peter Leko 4.0
A. Morozevich 4.0
Kasimdzhanov 3.0
Michael Adams 2.5
Judit Polgar 2.0

And, in related news

Chess Players Are as Chess Players Do: FIDE President Ilyumzhinov resigns as Kalmykian President

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: Riding high

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the president of the independent Russian republic of Kalmükia, has tendered his resignation as leader of his country, stepping down over a year before his term ends. This is apparently a move to get renominated with the full backing of Russian President Putin.

The ITAR-TASS news agency has reported that Kirsan Ilyuzmzhinov, the president of Russia’s internal republic of Kalmykia of many years, and FIDE president, tendered his resignation this week (as Kalmykian President, not from his FIDE post). A new president will be nominated by Dmitry Kozak, Russian President Putin’s special envoy to the South Federal District, who will be holding talks in the coming days in Kalmykia.

Ilyumzhinov’s term in office officially expires in November 2006. He has been the head of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, since 1995.

Mosnews is reporting that President Ilyuzmzhinov tendered his resignation on Tuesday and simultaneously raised before Russian President Vladimir Putin the question of trust in him. The leaders of regional parties, public groups and Kalmykia’s parliament will take part in the consultations with Kozak. Ilyumzhinov’s administration stressed that “representatives of all parties and movements opposed to Ilyuzmzhinov will be invited to the meeting” with Kozak. Over the past years Kalmykia has been a venue for violent protests against Ilyumzhinov’s regime, notorious for human rights abuses and crackdowns on the free press.

Interfax reports that Dmitry Kozak has said that the majority of participants in consultations to nominate a candidate for the Kalmyk presidency in Elista supported incumbent President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Kozak consulted Peoples' Khural (Parliament) deputies, heads of local governments and representatives of regional parties, public and veterans' organizations. "During the consultations various opinions were articulated. The majority of the participants, despite certain wishes and criticism, believe that the incumbent president's term should be extended," Kozak said. "As far as my own opinion is concerned, the final decision belongs to the Russian president," Kozak said.