Over 700.00 foreign football fans have visited Russia for the World Cup, according to Russian and FIFA officials. World Cup 2018 CEO Alexey Sorokin and FIFA’s chief competitions and events officer Colin Smith, at an event in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, reported on operational aspects of the World Cup so far.
The Cuban government opened on Monday the 3rd Edition of International Convention and Exhibition of Cuban Industry (CubaIndustria 2018), seeking to attract foreign investors to revitalize the country's economy.
A plague of small flying insects have caused chaos for fans, locals and the media in the city of Volgograd where England and Tunisia played on Monday.
Argentina’s Diego Maradona has come out to defend Lionel Messi after the Barcelona attacker missed a penalty in his team’s draw against Iceland on Saturday. Speaking to Telesur, the 1986 World Champion said: ”I missed five penalties in a row and I was still Diego Armando Maradona.
The Russian economy is expecting to get a significant financial boost from an increased tourist flow during the FIFA World Cup, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development said. “According to our estimates, foreigners will spend over 100 billion rubles (US$1.6 billion) during the World Cup in Russia,” Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin told Sovetsky Sport newspaper.
The threat of trade protectionism is the biggest concern looming over a solid upswing in the global economy, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said. The “darkest cloud” on the economic horizon is the “determination of some to actually rock the system that has actually presided over the trade relationships that we have all undertaken and enjoyed to some extent over the last many decades”, said Lagarde.
“We are really moving ahead and we have committed to President Macri that we will do the best we can in order to move expeditiously and efficiently in order to change the perception about Argentina and the perception that people have about our role,” Ms Lagarde said in Russia.
The UK has been accused of turning a blind eye to Russia's dirty money, putting national security at risk. The House of Commons foreign affairs committee said London was being used to hide the corrupt assets of President Vladimir Putin and his allies.
Geopolitics has taken over the oil market, driving oil prices up to three-year highs. The inventory surplus has vanished, and more outages could push oil prices up even higher. Yet, there are some signs that demand is starting to take a hit as oil closes in on $80 per barrel.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has been criticized for including a chapter about how to stand a chance with a Russian girl in a manual it handed to journalists travelling to the World Cup in Russia. It recommended that journalists look clean, smell nice and dress well in order to impress Russian girls.