Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich wasn't right to sack Frank Lampard and should have given him more time in the job, but his ruthless methods have been unquestionably successful, that's the view of former Blues 'keeper Mark Bosnich.
Chelsea legend Lampard was relieved of his duties at Stamford Bridge on Monday with the club languishing in 9th place in the Premier League. Owner Abramovich reasoned in a statement that "under current circumstances we believe it is best to change managers".
Former PSG coach Thomas Tuchel was immediately appointed to take charge, which means Chelsea have now employed five different managers in just over five years, with varying success, since Jose Mourinho's second stint with the club ended in December 2015.
Bosnich became close to Lampard during their playing days at Chelsea, and believes his former teammate should have been given more time in the role as manager
Bosnich, who formed a close relationship with Lampard during his time at the club in the early 2000s, and who he reckons as perhaps Chelsea's greatest ever player, says he believes the club's all-time highest scorer should have been given an extended period to steady the ship, but told RT Sport that while he was "disappointed" it is hard to argue with Chelsea's success rate with Abramovich at the helm.
"I must confess I'm biased because I was obviously very close to him for the time that I was at Chelsea all those years ago. I don't think it was the right decision," Bosnich, who played for the West London club between 2000 and 2003, said.
"It didn't shock me, just disappointed. I just feel as though he’s the club's greatest ever player and the fact that he'd done an outstanding job last season to get them into the Champions League when they had the transfer ban and they'd lost Eden Hazard. The progress that he'd made this year, I thought afforded him more time.
"Now et's talk about the Roman Abramovich era from 2003, they've won more trophies than any other club in England. So you can't really complain about that model. I'm saying, I don't think it was the right way to go with Frank, due to the fact mainly of those two reasons that I just said.
"Legendary player or not, doesn't matter, you gotta be able to manage. And the fact that he got them into the top four last season when nobody expected, I do believe afforded more time. He would have done the same again this season. They're into the Champions League last 16 and they're still in the FA cup. And like I said, I could see as an ex-football person, I could see exactly what he was trying to do.
"And I can also see at this moment in time, he wasn't going through the greatest of times I'll forget, 5th of December - it was only about a month and a half ago - he was top of the table. Tuchel has come in and Tuchel is an outstanding young manager. No doubt about that. He's got a wonderful reputation if you talk to people which I have done who've known him or worked with him from a tactical perspective, there's no doubt about that.
Lampard suffered a forlorn tenure as Chelsea boss in the current season
"But he's untried in England and it's going to be a major shock for him, some of the situations that he'll encounter. I wish him all the best and I hope he does well, but like I said, it's just hard not to be disappointed about the way that Frank came to his demise."
Tuchel takes up the hotseat at the Bridge having taken PSG to the Champions League final last season, but his coaching career has been characterized by fractious relationships with the hierarchy and personnel of the club's at which he has managed.
The 47-year-old will most likely be answering to Abramovich's trusted aides at the club such as director and power broker Marina Granovskaia as the Russian billionaire does not currently reside in London, having faced UK visa issues since 2018, which Bosnich believes may have weakened his influence but will work in Tuchel's favour given his temperament.
Thomas Tuchel bring a temperament that has caused class at his previous jobs to Chelsea - AFP
"Roman Abramovich’s influence is huge and has been huge. But I'm not so sure that it is as great as it was when he was residing in London next to the club," he said.
"He's obviously not residing there for other reasons. He's left his trusted people in charge and I'm not so sure when I say his influence; obviously the final decision is his - and so there's no doubt about that - we know that, but it's more than based on informed opinions from his trusted lieutenants.
"So I think that although he is the boss and we know that. Let's not forget as well. And it must be said, I think he's done a fantastic job for English football in general. When he came, what he did, the amount of money that he spent and right now, and then this is obviously a different conversation, I don't think that he will be feeling as though that the appreciation is a two-way street, which I can completely understand. But in terms of the Tuchel situation, we know he'll be dealing with Marina Granovskaia.
"Right now after what's happened with Frank Lampard, ironically enough it'll be Tuchel’s most powerful time because if he wants to have some clashes and all that, I'm quite certain, unless he really does go over the line, which I don't think he will do, his chips and his stakes if you like that he has, the chips that people have in him, it will be at an all time high."
Despite a model of business dealings that have seen a string of ruthless backroom decisions and personnel changes, since arriving in the capital in 2003, Abramovich's tenure which has yielded 16 major trophies including five Premier League titles and the 2012 UEFA Champions League.
Fans have since protested Lampard's sacking, tying a banner with the message 'Circus continues' onto the Stamford Bridge gate, and the decision was criticised by senior football figures, including pundit and former player Gary Lineker.
Bosnich believes the sheer volume of success under Abramovich will serve as justification in the eyes of Chelsea board members, despite also subscribing to the opinion Lampard's dismissal came too quickly.
"Chelsea will always turn around and point out the fact that since the Abramovich era began in 2003, they’ve won more trophies than any other club in England," he said.
Roman Abramovich celebrates one of Chelsea's Premier League wins with Frank Lampard and John Terry - AFP
"So they, and rightly so, they'll turn around and say ‘our system works for us’. In terms of other clubs we've seen the faith that Liverpool had in Klopp. If you look at Klopp’s record as opposed to Frank Lampard’s over a similar period, it's not too dissimilar.
"I’m telling you now that any person who’s associated with this decision at Chelsea will always come back at you, and rightly so, they have every right to say, ‘look, this has worked for us. Look, here's the evidence and we'll work in the future’. But I just said, like I said, because of the fact that he was their greatest player, I just would have thought in this instance, I would've say, ‘okay, you know what, just for Frank, we'll make this exception’."
A cheerleader and beauty pageant contestant has reportedly filed a lawsuit against a university in the US, claiming that dancers at football games were "presented as sex objects" to "titillate" men who made advances towards them.
2019 Miss Nebraska entrant Hayden Richardson is said to have launched a 58-page federal suit against Northwestern University, where she said she had been groped by sozzled fans and alumni during university events and alleged that female cheerleaders had been told by the team's head coach to "mingle" with powerful figures.
After sending in videos of her stunts, Richardson was accepted onto the squad when she transfered to Northwestern in 2018, only to be given guidance on “dealing with creepy fans” by head coach Pam Bonnevier, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“At every home game, the cheerleaders were instructed to walk around the tailgating lots, unsupervised in their skimpy cheerleading uniforms,” the outlet reported the lawsuit as saying.
Congratulations to @NU_Cheerleading's Hayden Richardson for being selected as a 2020 Truman Scholar. The prestigious @TrumanApp award will support her postgraduate education.
“They were expressly told to split up and mingle with extremely intoxicated fans alone and were not provided any security.
“It became clear to [Richardson] that the cheerleaders were being presented as sex objects to titillate the men that funded the majority of Northwestern’s athletics programs.
"After all, the happier these men were, the more money the university would receive from them.”
Richardson is said to have alleged that older men touched her breasts and buttocks over her uniform, picked her up without her consent and made “sexually charged comments” about her appearance, as well as offering her alcohol when she was underage or asking to meet her later.
The lawsuit said that students were instructed to take photos with fans even if they behaved badly and raised concerns about the university's speed and approach to dealing with complaints.
Bonnevier, who no longer works for the university, was named as a defendant alongside the institution and three other employees.
Richardson was cited as standing to lose almost $10,000 in scholarships through the team by potentially leaving the team, as well as being required to pay back expenses amount to between $2,000 and $4,000.
The 22-year-old is seeking damages for emotional distress and lost career and learning opportunities.
“This is not the highlight, by any means, of my life or time at Northwestern but it is certainly the most impactful,” she told the Tribune.
“While there have been extreme detriments and times where I was very sad and hurt by the actions of the university, I am here, I am bringing the lawsuit forward and I’m going to do what is necessary to ensure other young women don’t experience the same thing that I did.”
Bonnevier is also said to have sent some cheerleaders to a private space for "elite ticket holders" near the stadium in a move that male students were apparently not required to make.
The lawsuit said that male fans offered her shots of alcohol and made remarks including "you and I will have fun together tonight”, while one fan allegedly picked Richardson up, touched her backside and didn’t put her down until after a photo was taken.
Female cheerleaders were ordered to "be especially attractive” at alumni events, according to the documents, and were “forced to dress in their tiny cheerleading uniforms to parade around men old enough to be their fathers and even grandfathers.”
Bonnevier is alleged to have barely responded to Richardson's concerns, leading to her disclosing the issues to the team doctor and meeting with the associate athletic director for marketing, who told her to gather "testimonials and evidence".
When Richardson provided anonymous “letters and testimonials” from teammates, she alleged she had been accused of fabricating the documents.
Bonnevier allegedly required "training" in April 2019, and an official probe is said to have been launched a year after Richardson's initial complaint, which she said she had not been kept up to speed with.
In November, Richardson was told that “steps” were taken to address the situation, the lawsuit says, but no "specifics" were provided.
Erika Carter, who was part of the squad between 2016 and 2018, also spoke to the Tribune.
“We were really expected to look pretty and to engage with fans even if they were belligerent or drunk,” the 23-year-old said. “We were sent on our own... no supervision whatsoever.”
The Tribune said that the 2018/19 contract for cheerleaders had banned them from wearing braids and advised them not to “cut or color hair without checking with the coach”.
The lawsuit said that participants were "constantly told that they were not attractive or skinny enough.”
The university contacted Carter in June 15, saying that it had “recently learned that you may have experienced or witnessed concerns... in the context of the NU cheer team.”
Richardson received a prestigious scholarship of up to $30,000 in 2020 and is hoping to attend law school, having been rejected by three schools while awaiting responses from seven others - including Northwestern - according to the lawsuit.
"Unfortunately I was studying for my [qualification] when all of this was unfolding with my team,” she said.
“It’s very upsetting to me that it has detracted from my future plans and ability to progress.”
The Tribune said that it had unsuccessfully tried to reach Bonnevier by phone, email and social media on Friday.
In a statement, Northwestern insisted it was "committed to fostering an environment in which all members of our community are safe, secure and free from discrimination or harassment of any form.”
A spokesman added that “reports of discrimination or harassment are confidential in order to protect the individuals involved”, preventing the school from confirming "details that have been made public regarding any allegation or investigation.”
During her time on the team, Richardson described what she saw as the brighter side of her time on the team on Instagram.
"One of the most rewarding experiences I have had during my time at Northwestern has been my time as a cheerleader," she wrote almost two years ago alongside a photo of herself smiling in her uniform.
"I have had made absolutely lifelong friends, including my roommate, and because of this a severe heart defect was found and repaired, which quite possibly have saved my life.
"Thank you to the admissions committee who took a chance on me and made me one of the four percent accepted. I hope I am making you proud."
Boris Johnson has penned an open letter to parents, who have to deal with homeschooling hardships due to Covid-19 and have done so “magnificently” well. Some said the PM is the last person they want to get parenting advice from.
The Johnson government this week disappointed those who eagerly expect schools in the UK to open again. It will not be possible due to the “perilous” Covid-19 situation, the prime minister said, so remote teaching is to continue for weeks longer. In England, students may be welcomed back no sooner than March 8, though Wales may have a reopening somewhat sooner.
In an apparent bid to balance the bad news, on Saturday Johnson penned an open letter to express how he was “in awe” of British parents, carers and guardians of children, who “have risen to the unique challenges” of the epidemic.
I want to say a huge thank you to the parents, carers and guardians of children.
Millions of you have coped with the pressures of home schooling and childcare while also doing your day jobs. And by staying at home you are, quite literally, saving lives. pic.twitter.com/m6NSyAPITl
“You have been dealt the trickiest of hands yet played it magnificently,” he wrote. “It is especially true of the way millions of you have coped with the pressures of home schooling while also doing your daily jobs.”
You are paving the way back to normalcy and you are, quite literally, saving lives.
Johnson touted his government’s effort to help the needy families by providing free meals and laptops for online education and pledged to invest “hundreds of millions of pounds” into catch-up programs.
Judging by the initial response online, as a PR exercise the letter was not very convincing. While a few ‘thank you’ comments did pop up, an overwhelming majority was seething with anger and frustration. People accused the government of shambling incompetence and demanded that schools be opened.
I do not want your thanks, I want my child back at school. We are not saving lives, the prevailing cause of death in our area is SUICIDE (source McTigue Funeral Directors, Castleford , West Yorkshire)
Your token thanks doesn’t stop me crying in the toilet every day because working full time and homeschooling in the same room all day every bloody day has me at breaking point mate.
Families still without laptops tablets/internet access for home schooling & have been for many months instead of 'ramping up' the supply Johnson writes to parents he is 'in awe' of their efforts to home school & thanks them just give them the fucking equipment Prime Minister
Some even suspected that Johnson played copycat to Sarah White, a teacher, whose similarly-themed letter to parents went viral and was widely appreciated.
A few people went after Johnson personally, pointing out that he is hardly a paragon of family stability and parenting skills. Still, he famously refuses to discuss his private affairs with the media.
I’m not sure given Johnson’s parenting skills this is such a compliment. https://t.co/6WSHtn5KJk
A previously unknown terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the explosion near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi. Police are not jumping to conclusions as an investigation is still being carried out, a report says.
A screenshot circulating on social media purportedly shows a group called ‘Jaish ul Hind’ claiming responsibility on Telegram for the bombing.
“The soldiers of Jaish ul Hind were able to infiltrate a high security area in New Delhi and carry out an IED attack,” the message said, promising more attacks in “major Indian cities.” The group also accused the Indian state of unspecified “atrocities.”
India Today TV described Jaish ul Hind as “an unknown and unheard of organization.”
The channel cited sources saying that security officials are attempting to verify the claims made on social media, and will “not rely” on them until more evidence is gathered.
Reportedly, no previous terrorist attacks have been attributed to Jaish ul Hind. Several jihadist groups are active in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
A homemade bomb went off near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi on Friday without injuring anyone. According to Indian media, ball bearings were used as shrapnel.
PTI news agency cited sources saying that an envelope with a note to the Israeli Embassy was found at the site. NDTV reported that police are studying CCTV footage of two people exiting a cab near the embassy.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, and promised “the fullest protection for the Embassy and Israeli diplomats.”
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UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan has offered a short and scathing assessment of Conor McGregor's defeat at UFC 257 to Dustin Poirier, whose wife has been seen meeting the Irishman in his dressing room after her husband beat him.
Russian star Yan drew a curt conclusion when he was asked about McGregor's surprise defeat to former victim Poirier on "Fight Island" last week, criticizing the beaten braggart's physical conditioning and longevity after his second-round knockout loss.
Speaking from Florida, where he is preparing at martial arts epicenter American Top Team for his much-anticipated defense against Aljamain Sterling on March 6, Yan declared: "I saw that McGregor became fat and old."
At 32, McGregor could conceivably have years of fights ahead of him - and "Notorious" looked ripped ahead of his unsuccessful rematch with Poirier, with only his badly injured leg appearing to cause him concern in footage showing him receiving a visit from his opponent's wildly supportive wife after the bout.
In the immediate aftermath of Poirier's revenge for his 2014 defeat to McGregor, Jolie was off her ringside seat.
"I swear to god," she cheered. "That's the last time you're going to doubt my husband."
Yan has taken a leaf out of McGregor's book by taunting his next opponent. "Let him know that when he was lifting, I was already fighting," he jibed at Sterling, continuing an acerbic exchange that has blazed on Twitter.
"We have a date now and, for sure, we're going to meet. You can say we have opposing styles.
"My goal is to break him. I have a lot of partners here with whom I wrestle, grapple, spar."
Yan said a win over Sterling could allow him to target former champion TJ Dillashaw, adding that "anything is possible" when he was asked the inevitable question about lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov's possible return from retirement.
Hey big mouth @funkmasterMMA why you went quiet recently? Don’t worry I’m not gonna beat you up too hard. I will put you to sleep nicely, you won’t even realize what happened! And your friend Merab can get the same treatment from my bro Denis Lavrentyev on the same night too
Reporting on life in the US, Yan said: "Most of the time we're hitting the beach, visiting some local landmarks - but most of the time it's just relaxing, swimming, training on the beach."
When Sterling suggested on social media that he had struggled to find a place to train earlier this month, Yan fired back: "Don’t worry about me, worry about your ass. I trained for a title fight in the garage, nothing special about it."
After his latest interview, Yan also asked Sterling: "Hey, big mouth - why you went quiet recently?
"Don’t worry, I’m not going to beat you up too hard. I will put you to sleep nicely - you won’t even realize what happened."
Businessman Steve Cohen appears to have deleted his Twitter account amid uproar over the GameStop short squeeze debacle. The Mets owner’s hedge fund drew suspicion after bailing out fellow financiers hit hard by small investors.
Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management helped his former protege, Gabriel Plotkin, after the latter’s hedge fund Melvin Capital lost billions by betting against video game retailer GameStop. The rug was pulled from under Plotkin by a bunch of small dollar investors coming from a Reddit community called WallStreetBets.
This placed Cohen on the radar of people angry in the aftermath, believing that Wall Street movers had colluded to change the rules of the game and punish the common folk for outsmarting them.
It’s no wonder that attention on Twitter switched from his plans for baseball team the New York Mets, which he purchased for $2.4 billion three months ago, to the way he made his wealth as a hedge fund manager. The negativity was bad enough for Cohen to remark on it several times.
“I’m not feeling the love on this site today. Trading is a tough game. Don’t you think?” he wrote on Thursday.
“Rough crowd on Twitter tonight,” Cohen tweeted on Wednesday night. “Hey stock jockeys keep bringing it.”
Amid the tension, the billionaire got into a back-and-forth with Dave Portnoy, the founder of the popular blog Barstool Sports and one of the loudest critics of Wall Street over the GameStop saga. Portnoy repeatedly called for an investigation and prison terms for all those involved in the decision made by Robinhood to throttle trading.
Emergency Press Conference - Everybody On Wall Street Who Had A Hand In Today’s Crime Needs To Go To Prison pic.twitter.com/aKr8aPbB3Z
PRISON TIME. Dems and Republicans haven’t agreed on 1 issue till this. That’s how blatant, illegal, unfathomable today’s events are. It also shows how untouchable @RobinhoodApp @StevenACohen2C Citadel Point72 all think they are. Fines aren’t enough. Prison or bust https://t.co/cEldMThZSD
The commission-free app that supposedly democratized trading was the main way for WallStreetBets members to buy into GameStop stock. After the market rush led to disastrous consequences for short sellers, Robinhood disallowed purchases of the stock involved. Ken Griffin’s firm Citadel is the biggest executor of orders collected by Robinhood, and it also helped bail out Melvin Capital.
Cohen asked on Twitter what beef Portnoy had with him, and the two had a face-off, in which Cohen denied any connection to Robinhood’s questionable move and Portnoy ultimately said: “At least you are speaking and trying to answer. That is appreciated.”
Others were apparently less easy to placate, either on Twitter or offline. Former Cincinnati Bengals player Boomer Esiason, for example, lashed out at Cohen’s tweets on the radio show he co-hosts, Boomer and Gio.
Boomer Esiason lights up new Mets owner @StevenACohen2, and vows to never attend another game until he confirms there were no shady dealings.
On Friday evening, Cohen’s Twitter account went missing, presumably deleted by Cohen himself. So the GameStop saga may have finally brought comedian Jon Stewart to Twitter, but it pushed Steve Cohen out at the same time.
This is bullshit. The Redditors aren't cheating, they're joining a party Wall Street insiders have been enjoying for years. Don't shut them down...maybe sue them for copyright infringement instead!!
We've learned nothing from 2008.
Love
StewBeef
After his alleged poisoning, accusations that the Kremlin was responsible, then his immediate arrest on returning home, Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny is enjoying notoriety like never before. But who is he, exactly?
Media portrayals of the Moscow street-protest leader have ranged from comparing him to a western-style liberal, to a far-right radical racist to a persecuted freedom fighter. While many Russians from all points along the political spectrum support his investigations into corruption at the highest levels of government, there is little agreement on what he actually stands for or how he'd act if he were somehow thrust into a leadership role.
A former student at America’s Yale University, Navalny first gained international prominence in 2011, over a decade after he first became active in politics. Since then, he has been arrested on numerous occasions, received two suspended sentences, and participated in a Moscow mayoral election. He is well known for opposing President Vladimir Putin and exposing corruption, but what are his political positions? What does he believe in, other than simply removing Putin?
For many within the non-systemic opposition, Navalny’s opinions are unimportant. He represents a real alternative to the current administration and is a fighter against what his followers see as two decades of oppressive leadership that has failed to tackle the endemic corruption of post-Soviet Russia.
For his Western backers, the same applies. He is not Putin, and there’s no way he can be worse than Putin, in their opinion, so he’s worth supporting. However, many of them sweep under the carpet some of the activist’s unsavory history.
NAVALNY'S NATIONALIST ROOTS
Navalny first entered political life in 2000 as part of the liberal Yabloko party. Despite officially being a member of a left-wing faction, the activist was a fixture of far-right politics, becoming a familiar face in the ‘Russian March,’ an ultranationalist gathering that ran with slogans like “Stop Feeding the Caucasus” while flying the Russian Empire’s Black-Yellow-White flag.
Yabloko eventually kicked him out for his far-right leanings. Its leadership later noted that “infatuation with Navalny and membership of the party are incompatible.”
In 2011, a profile of Navalny in the New York Times noted that Russian liberals have “deep reservations about him,” particularly regarding his outward and open racism.
“He has appeared as a speaker alongside neo-Nazis and skinheads, and once starred in a video that compares dark-skinned Caucasus militants to cockroaches. While cockroaches can be killed with a slipper, he says that in the case of humans, ‘I recommend a pistol.’,” the profile read.
here is another video navalny is not keen to share anymore, in which he compares muslims to cockroaches and flies and recommends shooting them with guns if swatters and shoes failhttps://t.co/xf0yDtA4s5
The BBC, which reported on Navalny's involvement in the 'Russian March,' noted that he spoke to a crowd of 7,000 people, bashing the Kremlin.
"We have problems with illegal migration, we have the problem of the Caucasus, we have a problem of ethnic crimes...," he said, according to the state-funded British outlet.
Two years later, in 2013, 37-year-old Navalny spoke out in favor of the 2013 Biryulyovo race riots, when up to 1,000 nationalists attacked Central Asian immigrants in the streets.
He lashed out on his blog against "hordes of legal and illegal immigrants," once again using his trademark animal imagery, claiming that they "crawl out to the surrounding neighborhoods."According to the BBC, participants chanted "Russia for the Russians!" and "White Power!"
2013 seemed to represent a turning point for Navalny. As he sought to hold political office, he began to clean up his image, toning down the nationalist rhetoric of his past. After coming second in the Moscow mayoral election, the world began to take even more notice of the anti-Kremlin politician.
Subsequently, Navalny largely dropped his racist beliefs, at least in public, and shifted his movement towards picking up Russia's disaffected youth – many of whom are Moscow-dwelling and left-leaning. To target Russians who have never experienced life without the presence of Putin in politics, his nationalism took a back seat. However, while these views were front and center in his thirties, it's quite clear that he has not changed his mind in his forties.
In 2016, he condemned the banning of the far-right Russian March, writing on his blog that "nationalists are under pressure more than liberals."
In 2017, in an interview with The Guardian, Navalny was given an opportunity to renounce his far-right views but refused to apologize.
Here is a 2017 @guardian interview where Navalny was given a chance to renounce his far-right views (which was presumably what his interviewer hoped he would do). Instead, he chose to double down on them. pic.twitter.com/0k6k1mKQfu
Then, three years later, in an October 2020 interview with Germany's Der Spiegel, he once again admitted that he still holds the nationalist opinions he did in the early 2000s.
"Decades-old tweets?" Incredible to see the revisionism around Navalny since he became a household name in the West.
"I have the same views that I held when I went into politics," he said. "I see no contradiction in promoting trade unions while at the same time demanding a visa requirement for migrants from Central Asia."
NAVALNY'S LIBERAL TURN
Nowadays, Navalny positions himself – or rather, has been positioned by others – as a liberal politician with a focus on rooting out corruption and developing closer ties to the West. For his supporters, he is a Mandela or Ghandi-like figure, having been likened by those such as former US Ambassador Michael McFaul to the famous 20th century civil rights activists.
"Navalny’s heroic struggle is no different from what Gandhi, King, Mandela and Havel fought for. While Navalny has not succeeded yet, there should be no doubt that his cause is good and just." 2/
"Navalny's heroic struggle is no different from what [Mahatma] Gandhi, [Martin Luther] King, [Nelson] Mandela, and [Václav] Havel fought for," he wrote, in a piece for The Washington Post. "While Navalny has not succeeded yet, there should be no doubt that his cause is good and just."
When it comes to money, his politics certainly have been consistent with liberal ideas. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, he worked in finance and was a staunch proponent of capitalist economics, calling himself a "market fundamentalist."
During an ill-fated presidential election run in 2018, when he was refused permission to participate in the contest owing to criminal convictions, which he says are politically motivated, he published a manifesto listing his political positions. Many of his policy suggestions were left-wing in nature, including the introduction of a minimum wage and making medical care and education completely free. It also included some common pillars of modern neoliberalism, like lowering taxes on small businesses and reducing the "presence of the state in the economy as an owner and an economic entity."
Some other of his flagship policies included ratifying the UN Convention Against Corruption, decentralization, demonopolizing the economy, and introducing visa regimes for Central Asian countries, instead of migrants coming "uncontrollably,” as he sees it.
Taken at face value, most of Navalny's published positions are broadly similar to those of liberal parties in Europe. However, many of his views don't quite match up with those of his Western backers. For example, Navalny has been criticized as an imperialist and believes that Crimea is rightfully a part of Russia. The opposition figure has also engaged in jingoistic rhetoric during the 2008 war with Georgia, supporting "serious military and financial assistance" to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He also backed expelling all Georgians from Russian territory. In a blog post, he called for Russia to "fire a cruise missile" at the Georgian General Staff, dubbing the country's inhabitants ‘grizuny' – literally, rodents, in yet another animal metaphor.
DOES IT ACTUALLY MATTER WHAT HE BELIEVES?
For a segment of Navalny's supporters, his opinions don't matter. He is the embodiment of anti-Putin sentiment and the person to open Russia up to a better future with western-style liberal democracy. In 2013, as quoted by registered foreign agent RFE/RL, left-wing Russian-Ukrainian journalist Matvey Ganapolsky labeled him "a tool" to move towards "honest elections," with "anti-Kremlin" views similar to his own.
Like Ganapolsky, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' mantra has guided much of Navalny's following. Eight years later, this phrase is still uttered, with many of his backers urging critics to focus on the more important, immediate goal, as they see it - removing Putin.
For many of these people, Navalny is a means to an end. They don't want him to become president, or to come into any power, but simply want him to topple the existing system and help push the country towards a different political future.
That is my concern - not Navalny's views or his tweets or whatever. That is basically something I don't care about. Once Putin relinquishes power and we have democratic elections, then I will review all the candidates, and their sins, and support those who align with my views.
For others, they genuinely believe that Navalny has reformed, and his old views no longer correspond to who he is today.
Unfortunately, the "#Navalny = nationalist" theme keeps popping up whenever he is in the news. One may feel "woke" mentioning it, and Russian state media would love to "cancel" Navalny this way, but these decade-old tweets have little to do with who he is and what he does today. https://t.co/ZJqD2QPWWN
No matter his true opinions, the Russian opposition figure might be the only politician in the world to have an abundance of domestic supporters and foreign cheerleaders who disagree with his views.
SO, WHAT IS HE?
With Navalny's strong racist roots and a decade of courting western support, it's hard to know which box he fits in, in 2021. He might still be a nationalist or he may have become a liberal. Who knows? But what is certain is that he has become an extremely shrewd and versatile opportunist.
If Navalny is to succeed, he will have to create an all-encompassing supporter base, using populism to attract both Russian nationalists and west-leaning liberals. In this regard, as he looks to form a broad anti-Kremlin coalition, his tendency to change his political stances to the prevailing view of the day may be his superpower. Navalny may potentially be unique in world politics in his ability to garner support from young, pro-LGBT rights liberal socialists and far-right monarchists.
However, despite their hope that the blogger-turned-activist is the person to eventually remove Putin, Western commenters are likely being disingenuous in projecting a rosy future with Navalny at the helm. His deep-rooted views are more similar to those found in some of Europe's most maligned leaders, such as Hungary's conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban or French opposition leader Marine Le Pen, than the liberal platforms espoused by Angela Merkel or Emmanuel Macron. In the end, Western activists may discover that sometimes, the enemy of their enemy turns out to be an enemy as well.
Russia’s liquefied natural gas production rose by 3.5 percent last year to a total 30.5 million tons, according to data from Rosstat, the country’s official statistics agency.
In December alone, Russian producers turned out 2.85 million tons, which was up 1.4 percent on the year and 5.8 percent on November, Rosstat also reported.
Russia is a relative newcomer on the LNG market but has already staked a solid claim, eyeing a market share of 25 percent in the medium term, Deputy Prime Minister and former Energy Minister Alexander Novak said earlier this month in an interview with news outlet RBC.
Meanwhile, thanks to its abundant natural gas reserves, the country has quickly become the world’s fourth-largest LNG exporter, after Qatar, Australia, and the United States. Most of Russia’s LNG comes from the Yamal LNG project, majority owned and operated by Novatek.
Despite its ambitious plans for liquefied natural gas, Russia, like other exporters, felt the pinch of lower demand amid the coronavirus epidemic, with LNG exports falling sharply in 2020 from 2019. Now that demand is beginning to improve, Novatek and Russia’s second LNG producer, Gazprom, will likely see higher shipments, especially to Asia, where demand for the fuel is most likely to rebound quickly and start growing.
In fact, Novatek expects the LNG market to swing into a deficit of 150 million tons annually by 2030 because of the delay or cancellation of final investment decisions on new capacity, a move in response to the pandemic’s effect on energy demand.
Yet the possibility of natural gas as a whole falling out of favor because of the energy transition and "falling out of the equation is grossly overstated," Novatek’s CFO Mark Gyetvay said, as quoted by Argus this week.
In fact demand for LNG will likely grow along with global renewable energy capacity thanks to coal phase-outs and plans for much greater hydrogen production, Gyetvay said at the virtual European Gas Conference.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has ordered Americans to wear masks on all forms of public transport, including airplanes, trains, and buses. They also must remain masked up in airports and bus terminals.
Starting from February 1, people in the US must wear masks on planes, trains, subways, buses, taxis, ships, and ferries. They must do the same in transportation hubs, including airports, train stations, and bus terminals.
Transportation companies and personnel were instructed to deny service to maskless passengers and to otherwise enforce the new rules.
The CDC said that surgical masks and N95 respirators fulfill the requirements of the order. Homemade masks are permitted too, as long as they completely cover the nose and mouth, and are “a solid piece of material without slits, exhalation valves, or punctures.”
Masks should have ear loops or elastic bands, and should “fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face,” the CDC added.
This makes the new rules less stringent than, for example, those in Austria, which recently instructed citizens to only wear higher-grade FFP2 respirators on public transportation and in supermarkets. In Germany, the orders are strict as well, with only higher-grade surgical masks and N95 and FFP2 respirators allowed.
The change comes shortly after President Joe Biden ordered the CDC and other health agencies to require masks on “all forms of public transportation,” including buses, trains, and aircraft. He also ordered officials to boost efforts aimed at “maximizing public compliance” with mask-wearing.
Biden frequently mentioned a federal mask mandate during his election campaign and said that masks are one of the keys to overcoming the pandemic.
In its most recent review, the CDC warned that the Covid-19 hospitalization rate “has remained in an elevated plateau above earlier peaks in the pandemic.”
Overall, the US has had almost 26 million Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, and over 430,000 deaths.
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