ATHLETES’ ARRIVALS AT PARALYMPIC GAMES DISRUPTED

The International Paralympic Committee said it is working to find solutions after several ‌athletes were finding it difficult to travel to the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympic Games due to travel disruptions in several Middle Eastern airports.

“The closure of airspace in the Middle East is impacting the arrival of some stakeholders… we are working diligently with Milano Cortina 2026 to find solutions for those affected,” the IPC said on Tuesday.

TENNIS IN UAE HALTED ​DUE TO SECURITY ALERT

The ATP Challenger event in Fujairah was cancelled due to safety concerns after a security alert abruptly halted play.

The ATP Tour ​later said a charter flight had been arranged , “fully funded by the ATP to assist with departures from the region at ⁠no cost to players”.

U.S. WITHDRAW FROM HOCKEY WORLD CUP QUALIFIER

The U.S. men’s hockey team withdrew from a hockey World Cup 2026 qualifier in ​Ismailia, Egypt, after an official advisory from the State Department urging all U.S. citizens to leave nations within or close to conflict zones.

The International ​Hockey Federation said the U.S. team had withdrawn with the body’s “full support” and the team departed Egypt earlier on Wednesday.

SOCCER MATCHES IN IRAN AND QATAR POSTPONED, SPAIN V ARGENTINA IN DOUBT

All sporting events in Iran have been cancelled until further notice, including the country’s top-flight Persian Gulf Pro League.

The Qatar Football Association indefinitely postponed all soccer matches in ​the country, putting in doubt a clash between Spain and Argentina set for Doha on March 27. The Bahraini FA also halted all domestic competitions.

ASIAN CHAMPIONS ​LEAGUE MATCHES POSTPONED

Round of 16 clashes featuring Middle Eastern clubs in the Asian Champions League Elite in the first two weeks of March have been postponed until further notice.

Next ‌week’s quarter-final ⁠clashes in the Asian Champions League Two and the Asian Challenge League, featuring clubs from the region, are also postponed, the continental soccer body (AFC) said on Wednesday.

TENNIS PLAYERS MEDVEDEV, RUBLEV STUCK IN DUBAI

Russian players Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who participated in the Dubai Tennis Championships last week, were among players facing travel difficulties in reaching California for the Indian Wells Open.

The ATP Tour said on Wednesday that the vast majority of players who were in Dubai ​had successfully departed on selected flights.

WEC ​POSTPONES SEASON OPENER IN QATAR

The World ⁠Endurance Championship postponed its season-opening race scheduled for March 28 at the Lusail circuit in Qatar, until later this year.

“A new date for the Qatar 1812km during the second half of the campaign will be finalised and communicated in ​due course,” the WEC said in a statement.

MIDDLE EASTERN F1 RACES HANG IN THE BALANCE

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who ​heads the global ⁠motorsport governing body FIA, said safety will be their main concern when taking a decision on next month’s Formula One races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

“Safety and wellbeing will guide our decisions as we assess the forthcoming events scheduled there for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the FIA Formula One world championship,” he said ⁠on Monday.

SINDHU ​WITHDRAWS FROM BADMINTON’S ALL ENGLAND OPEN

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu withdrew from the All England Open ​after being stranded for days at Dubai airport. She returned to India on Tuesday.

“Back home in Bangalore and safe. The last few days have been intense and uncertain, but I’m truly ​grateful to be back at my house,” Sindhu wrote on X.

-Reuters

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President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict.

Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not “rushing” up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war.

Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory – or to Ukraine – Russia would treat the move as an intervention.

“(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” said Putin, the ultimate decision maker in the world’s biggest nuclear power.

“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”

Putin’s nuclear warning came alongside another offer for talks on Ukraine as part of a new post-Cold War demarcation of European security. The U.S. says Putin is not ready for serious talks over Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and Putin has warned several times the West risks provoking a nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine.

Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering full-scale war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other.

NUCLEAR WAR?

In a U.S. election year, the West is grappling with how to support Kyiv against Russia, which now controls almost one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and is rearming much faster than the West and Ukraine.

Kyiv says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity. Russia says the areas it controls in Ukraine are now Russia.

Putin has sent a series of public nuclear warnings to the U.S. aimed at discouraging greater involvement in Ukraine – a move the Kremlin says would mark a slide into world war.

Washington says it has seen no major changes to Russia’s nuclear posture but Putin’s public nuclear warnings – which break with the extreme caution of the Soviet leadership over such remarks – have sown concern in Washington.

Putin reiterated the use of nuclear weapons was spelled out in the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which it would use such a weapon: broadly a response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.”

“Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin said. “We have our own principles.”

CNN reported on Saturday the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden was specifically concerned in 2022 that Russia might use a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

Putin said he had never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

TALKS?

Putin said Russia was ready for serious talks on Ukraine.

“Russia is ready for negotiations on Ukraine, but they should be based on reality – and not on cravings after the use of psychotropic drugs,” Putin said.

Reuters reported last month that Putin’s suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the U.S. after contacts between intermediaries.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns warned earlier this week that if the West did not provide proper support for Ukraine, Kyiv would lose more territory to Russia which would embolden Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told the Senate Intelligence Committee it was in U.S. interests to support Ukraine to allow it to get into a stronger position before talks.

Putin said he trusted no one and Russia would need written security guarantees in the event of a settlement.

“I don’t trust anyone, but we need guarantees, and guarantees must be spelled out, they must be such that we would be satisfied,” Putin said.

-Reuters

President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict.

Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not “rushing” up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA in response to a question whether the country was really ready for a nuclear war.

Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory – or to Ukraine – Russia would treat the move as an intervention.

“(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” said Putin, the ultimate decision maker in the world’s biggest nuclear power.

“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”

Putin’s nuclear warning came alongside another offer for talks on Ukraine as part of a new post-Cold War demarcation of European security. The U.S. says Putin is not ready for serious talks over Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and Putin has warned several times the West risks provoking a nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine.

Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, triggering full-scale war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other.

NUCLEAR WAR?

In a U.S. election year, the West is grappling with how to support Kyiv against Russia, which now controls almost one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and is rearming much faster than the West and Ukraine.

Kyiv says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity. Russia says the areas it controls in Ukraine are now Russia.

Putin has sent a series of public nuclear warnings to the U.S. aimed at discouraging greater involvement in Ukraine – a move the Kremlin says would mark a slide into world war.

Washington says it has seen no major changes to Russia’s nuclear posture but Putin’s public nuclear warnings – which break with the extreme caution of the Soviet leadership over such remarks – have sown concern in Washington.

Putin reiterated the use of nuclear weapons was spelled out in the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which it would use such a weapon: broadly a response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.”

“Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin said. “We have our own principles.”

CNN reported on Saturday the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden was specifically concerned in 2022 that Russia might use a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

Putin said he had never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

TALKS?

Putin said Russia was ready for serious talks on Ukraine.

“Russia is ready for negotiations on Ukraine, but they should be based on reality – and not on cravings after the use of psychotropic drugs,” Putin said.

Reuters reported last month that Putin’s suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the U.S. after contacts between intermediaries.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns warned earlier this week that if the West did not provide proper support for Ukraine, Kyiv would lose more territory to Russia which would embolden Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told the Senate Intelligence Committee it was in U.S. interests to support Ukraine to allow it to get into a stronger position before talks.

Putin said he trusted no one and Russia would need written security guarantees in the event of a settlement.

“I don’t trust anyone, but we need guarantees, and guarantees must be spelled out, they must be such that we would be satisfied,” Putin said.

-Reuters