The International Olympic Committee has announced that Russians will participate in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games as neutral, independent athletes without the use of the national anthem or flag, while still being subject to the same restrictions as the Paris Summer Games last year.
Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October 2023 because it had recognized regional Olympic councils for the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia that had allegedly violated the Olympic Charter.
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“We also discussed AINs, or Independent Neutral Athletes.” IOC President Kirsty Coventry stated at a press conference that “this will not be anything new.” The executive board will approach the 2024 Olympics in Paris with the same strategy. Nothing has changed.
Russian and Belarusian athletes who pass the qualifying stage will first be checked for any affiliations with the Russian military or support for the Ukrainian conflict, both of which will exclusion them.
Russian competition teams are prohibited. Belarus has served as a staging area for the Ukrainian invasion.
After passing rigorous IOC vetting, only a select few Russian and Belarusian athletes were permitted to participate as AINs in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Without the Belarusian or Russian flag or anthem, they competed. Instead, they participated in a non-judgmental sport.
The International Skating Union recently granted four Russian figure skaters their first official Olympic qualification, which will take place on February 6, 2026, in Italy.
After participating in a covert incident at a nightclub meet and greet, Bonnie Blue has spoken out. The contentious influencer was posing for photos with fans at an early-morning brawl that appeared to be occurring at the Sheffield club’s Onyx nightclub.
Although initial reports suggested Bonnie had been punched, her security team now claim that Bonnie was “slapped,” and the culprit was promptly ejected from the building on Rockingham Street in the city center. As Missy Elliot’s song Get Your Freak On blares in the background, four hefty security guards escort someone across the late-night club’s dance floor.
Before a voice chimes in, “Bonnie Blue has just been punched in the face,” a woman was heard yelling. Bonnie has since kept a low profile about the situation, but a statement has been released following the shocking incident, according to the Daily Star.
Bonnie attended a newcomer’s event in Sheffield (Yorkshire Live/Lyra Auld).
She continued, “Quick update: there was a minor incident last night, but I’m still fine – big thanks to my A plus security for keeping things running smoothly.” No strain, no stress, or sluggishness in my progress. I’m anxiously awaiting my Nottingham homecoming in the next two days.
As Bonnie continues to work on her most recent project, where she intends to mingle with university students, her Bang Bus has been spotted all over the nation on social media. She affectionately dubbed her very own “Bang Bus,” and her choice of vehicle is a blue van.
As she aims to break more records, the vehicle is equipped with a bed, consent forms, and condoms. The nine-stop tour began in Glasgow on Saturday, and it wraps up in London about two weeks later.
Sources claim that a person punched the influencer (Jam Press/@bonnie_blue_xox).
However, she had trouble last night when a party started up where she was appearing. Before she allegedly “punched her square in the jaw,” a woman at the event is said to have been chatting to a friend while standing next to Bonnie.
A witness said, “I saw a woman standing next to Bonnie Blue talking to her friend. They turned to Bonnie, turned to their friend, and then struck her in the jaw.
A woman told Bonnie about how she was reinforcing feminism, another witness claimed to Yorkshire Live. We overheard Bonnie telling her security to “get those fat f**** away from me” while we were in the queue behind them. ‘”.
The controversial adult celebrity, who became well-known for sleeping with 1,057 men in a single day, is reportedly in good health, according to the police, who claimed there were “no injuries” related to the incident.
We were called to the Onyx nightclub in Portobello Street, Sheffield, at 1.22am today (Friday, September 19) for a disturbance report. A woman was allegedly assaulted at the nightclub, but she didn’t suffer any harm. At the scene, a woman was taken into custody before being released. In the interim, additional details have been released regarding the incident.
Bonnie wasn’t hurt in the altercation (bonnie_blue_xox/Instagram).
Bonnie will offer “interactive mini-games” and “high-energy DJ sets,” but there is no sexual behavior during her tour of the UK to meet with “barely legal” freshmen. She will also visit university cities across the country.
After a contentious documentary about the former Only Fans content creator, who claimed to have had sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours, the adult star and Channel 4 received a backlash.
Despite new stringent age restrictions designed to prevent children from accessing pornography, the shadow Home Office minister characterized it as “bizarre” that children were able to watch a TV documentary about sex marathon star Bonnie Blue.
Legislators and Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, were concerned about Channel 4’s decision to run the program. Despite the channel’s policy that requires at least 16 to register as a user, minors can merely enter their birthdates without using a robust age verification system.
Bonnie nude is depicted in explicit scenes in the program, along with other porn actors, and making adult movies. It appears to contradict the recently passed Online Safety Act, which mandates age verification to prevent underage users from accessing adult websites.
At Shang Yabing’s Chinese knitwear factory, where racks of scarves bear the national teams’ logos from Ireland to Tanzania, tariff concerns are affecting World Cup merchandise orders.
Before the United States, Mexico, and Canada take on the next summer’s football tournament, which is being hosted by the United States, Yiwu, Chinese export hubs would typically already be flooded with World Cup orders.
However, international buyers are reevaluate their options before placing orders with businesses like Shang’s Yiwu Wells Knitting Product due to the rollercoaster ride of a trade war between Washington and Beijing.
When AFP visited his busy workplaces, Shang was tasked with ensuring that rows of coworkers finished a long list of sports-themed accessories.
According to Shang, “We’ve been in this industry for more than 10 years, and we’ve produced World Cup-related merchandise for almost every tournament.”
He continued, “We’ve secured some smaller orders this year, but the smaller orders that were previously on hold haven’t yet been fulfilled… this is probably due to the US tariffs.”
On Thursday, workers’ workstations were surrounded by colorful crates that were overflowing with colorful goods.
One worker ironed green and yellow lengths of fabric emblazoned with the word “Australian” onto some workers’ sewing machines to attach fringe trims to the ends of scarves.
Although the two countries have reached a temporary truce, they have until November to avoid paying triple-digit tariffs on one another’s goods. However, they continue to battle over semiconductors and TikTok.
With less than nine months until the World Cup, Shang claimed the company was still waiting for clients to approve significant orders totaling a million pieces.
On September 18, 2025, employees at a factory in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, sew scarves. (Photo by Jade GAO/AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY CHINA-US-TRADE-TARIFFF-FBL-WC-2026, REPORTAGE BY JING XUAN TENG AND RITA QIAN
READ ALSO: US Ends Tariff Exemption for Small Packages Globally Shipped.
Lack of clarity
On September 17, 2025, a man passes a sporting goods store that sells balls at the Zhejiang province of eastern China’s Yiwu. (Photo by Jade GAO/AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY CHINA-US-TRADE-TARIFFF-FBL-WC-2026, REPORTAGE BY JING XUAN TENG AND RITA QIAN
Soccer balls and flags were relatively quiet along Yiwu’s sprawling International Trade City, one of the largest wholesale markets in the world, when foreign buyers rushed in during peak times.
From flag-printed sunglasses to miniature football cleats hanging on keychains, vendors displayed everything.
We saw a significant influx of orders by the time the previous World Cup was over, according to Daisy Dai, a seller of printed soccer balls, AFP.
Customers are stifling her this year, she claimed.
Dai’s clientele was once comprised of American customers, but “a number of large brands stopped ordering because there was no clarity on tariffs,” according to reports from the company.
Zhou Yanjuan, a seller of flags and souvenirs with World Cup themes, told AFP that her exports had slowed.
After all, Zhou said, “We’re not selling necessities.”
She maintained that “things will gradually improve going forward.”
According to Zhou, “everyone is probably anticipating the downward adjustment of (tariffs).
That might ease things up for us, he said.
On September 17, 2025, soccer balls are displayed at a sporting goods store in Yiwu, Zhejiang province in eastern China. (Photo by Jade GAO/AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY CHINA-US-TRADE-TARIFFF-FBL-WC-2026, REPORTAGE BY JING XUAN TENG AND RITA QIAN
Location: Glasgow’s Firhill Stadium on Sunday, September 21.
Russell Martin, the Rangers head coach, is expected to recover from his current setback, according to Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.
After Barry Ferguson’s interim spell in charge, Martin is under pressure after winning three games in 12 games.
Ibrox hosts Celtic in 10th place, nine points back, in the Scottish Premiership.
Rodgers, a commentator about Martin, said, “I have some issues around the moral aspect when I see people comment on how he’s doing when, not that long ago, they were in his shoes or sat on the bench.
“I don’t like it when I see a manager being sucked into a certain game mechanic or tactic that other people couldn’t figure out either,” said one player.
It’s a big challenge at the big pressure clubs because everyone is watching you. It can be lonely there. Even less people speak out for safety.
After their most recent defeat, a 2-0 defeat by Hearts at Ibrox last Saturday, Martin was criticized for taking his players mountain biking and swimming in a wild environment.
Rodgers responded, “It’s timing. Everyone would be saying, “What a great idea! if Russell does that and they win a few games.”
We had a really nice team-building exercise with the players and the partners during the week.
“Whatever happens to Russell will be better for it, because I see the scrutiny that is on him,” he said. He will benefit from it more.
Rodgers notices similarities between Martin’s circumstances and those of his own youth.
The Northern Irishman, who is 39 years old, can identify with the situation he finds himself in when he took over Liverpool in 2012.
Do you really, really understand what that person’s going through unless you’ve been in the shoes of a manager or coach? And if you’ve ever held that position, you ought to be treated with more respect.
He is a good man, he says. He had a fantastic career when he first started playing, had a fantastic career, and had a fantastic career when he entered management.
After the United States refused to grant him a visa to travel to New York in person, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be able to speak at the UN General Assembly’s annual meeting of world leaders via video link the following week.
The resolution, which was approved on Friday with 145 votes in favor, five against, and six abstentions, read, “The State of Palestine may submit a prerecorded statement of its President, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall.”
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Abbas’s visa was reinstated in the wake of the Palestinian Authority’s demand that he attend the UNGA in person and travel to the United States to lead the delegation there.
Abbas was one of the 80 Palestinian officials whose visas were suspended by the US State Department due to concerns for national security.
Following a summit hosted by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday that aims to create momentum for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, the General Assembly speeches are scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
According to James Bays, the diplomatic editor for Al Jazeera in New York, “Gaza is issue number one at the UN General Assembly.”
“All leaders meet here to deliver their speeches. However, Mahmoud Abbas has been denied a visa, which is unusual for this circumstance.
Bays claimed that there were “very few countries that are backing the side of Israel and the US” in the wake of Abbas’s overwhelming support of the UNGA’s video session.
The Trump administration’s decision has drawn widespread criticism, with the UN claiming that it is in violation of the Host Country Agreement, which requires US leaders to allow heads of state and government to visit New York for annual meetings and diplomatic meetings.
Israel’s war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and a wave of Israeli settler and military violence in the occupied West Bank are all under the spotlight as the US visa restrictions are implemented.
An increasing number of nations, mainly in Europe, have announced their support for Palestinian statehood at the UN in September in response to Israel’s devastating attacks over the past almost two years.
The Tokyo World Athletics Championships will conclude on Sunday with its ninth and final day.
Can Keely Hodgkinson and Georgia Hunter Bell compete in the women’s 800-meter final and become the first two to win the title?
Morgan Lake will aim for gold in the men’s 5, 000m while George Mills has a good chance of winning.
Tokyo medal collection
BBC Sport
medals won by Great Britain in Tokyo
Silver – 2:
The men’s 1500m champion Jake Wightman claimed silver, the 2022 world champion.
In her first major final, Amy Hunt won silver in 200 meter swimming.
Bronze – 1:
After collecting the same number of points as American heptathlete Taliyah Brooks, the two-time world champion, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and two-time world champion Taliyah Brooks shared the bronze medal position.
schedule for Sunday
All times BST
01: 05 – Men’s 110m hurdles – decathlon
Men’s discus group A decathlon time: 01:55
Men’s discus group B decathlon 02:50
Men’s pole vault group A decathlon 03:20
Men’s pole vault group B decathlon at 04:00
Men’s javelin group A decathlon at 9:35
10: 47 – Men’s Javelin Group B Decathlon
11: 05 – Women’s high jump – final
11: 35 – Women’s 800m – final
11: 47 – Men’s 5, 000m – final
12: 10 – Men’s discus – final
12: 20 – Men’s 4x400m relay – final
12: 35 – Women’s 4x400m relay – final
12: 49 – Men’s 1500m – decathlon (final event)
13: 06 – Women’s 4x100m relay – final
BBC coverage of medal-events
Gold medal events: 9 – women’s high jump, women’s 800m, men’s 5, 000m, women’s discus, men’s and women’s 4x400m relays, decathlon, women’s and men’s 4x100m relays
01: 00-04: 30 – live coverage on BBC Red Button
Live coverage from 11:00 to 13:00 on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, and online.
Highlights from BBC iPlayer, Red Button, and online at 17:00 to 17:30
