Tragedy strikes Polish gov't

[the_future_modernes]

Poland mourns loss of national leaders

AlJazeeraEnglish — April 10, 2010 — Poland has declared a week of national mourning following the death of its president and many of its political and military leaders in a plane crash in Russia.

In one of the country's worst days since the second world war, 97 people were killed when their plane went down in heavy fog.

The group had been travelling to western Russia for a memorial service marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, in which Russian forces killed more than 20,000 Polish prisoners of war.

Church leaders and some of the families of those who had died in the massacre were also on board.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister has promised a swift investigation into the incident and it leading the probe himself.

Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reports from Warsaw. (Apr 11, 2010)

Polish plane crash investigated

Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president, will be buried alongside his wife on Saturday at the end of an official week of mourning.

Russian investigators have said there was nothing technically wrong with the plane that crashed killing the president and 95 others on its way to a memorial service in Smolensk.

Some have suggested that the pilots may have been pressured by people aboard the plane to land quickly so as not to miss the ceremony they were due to attend, which had previously been denied.

Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reports from Warsaw.

Oh fuck you, FIFA

[the_future_modernes]

Iran fights Fifa ban on hijab

Because punishing kids for what their fucking gov'ts do is absolutely what the Olympic Spirit should be about. Apparently the argument started in Canada 11 year old girl told to take off hijab while on the field or be banned for safety reasons And instead of asking that adjustments be made to satisfy their safety requirements, they just banned religious symbols entirely. Which is in my view discriminatory and high-handed.

finally

[the_future_modernes]

Caster Semanya cleared to compete as a woman.

After months of speculation and gender testing, South African runner Caster Semenya is finally being allowed to compete again:

“Semenya’s lawyers told the eNews channel Wednesday that her medical team looked at test results following the 2009 world championships and their own tests and concluded that she was clear to compete.”

...

Pending official “gender verification” from the track and field’s governing body, the IAAF, Semenya plans to make her return to competitive racing at Spanish competition on June 24.MORE