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- 16 April 2010, 15:43
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SCORING THE OLYMPICS | THE OLYMPIC CATWALK
For anyone expecting the spectacle and precision seen at the Bird"s Nest in Beijing in 2008, the scene at BC Place Stadium Friday night was positively underwhelming. If Beijing was Michael Bay, Vancouver is Yasujiro Ozu, as understated as Beijing was flashy.
There were, however, some fashion kicks to be had, especially during the parade of athletes. The Germans eschewed red and black, opting instead for cheery Easter-egg pinks and blues. Finland chose white Keith Haringesque down jackets, while Bermuda chose - surprise! - Bermuda shorts. But the most elegant of all nations were the Italians, whose team of 109 athletes emerged in white pants with charcoal gray, waist-length, single-breasted high-buttoned coats, worn over silver down vests and cream turtlenecks. The outfits, designed by Freddy, were molto elegante - a marked contrast to the techie posturing of nations like France or the strange airline-steward formality of Austria.
If the Italians won gold, the Americans took home the silver. Though their uniforms, designed by Ralph Lauren, were unwisely hidden under navy puffer jackets, the Aran knit cream sweaters (cable-knit and turtleneck) were things of beauty, slightly yellower than the lily-white trim-fitting fleece trousers with which they created so subtle and pleasing a contrast. With a few minor adjustments - one wonders what the I.O.C. would have made of Shaun White"s flowing red locks 80 years ago - the team could have emerged from a 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympics poster. This, of course, is much what Lauren intended.
The last place on the podium goes to Azerbaijan. For a country that has never won a gold during the winter Games and is fielding only two athletes, the fashion statement made by the team was disproportionately bold. When the tiny entourage emerged, led by Fuad Guliyev, the party of five sported paisley pants - a print no doubt making its Olympic debut - in, blue, red and green, which mirrored the national flag - a nice, if not particularly subtle touch. It makes one wonder what thrilling, trippy theater an Azerbaijani opening ceremony might be if the country were ever to host the Games.
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Russian authorities and pro-Kremlin influencers have been spreading false information about alleged Reporters Without Borders (RSF) research into Nazi tendencies within the Ukrainian military, which was featured in a viral video falsely attributed to the BBC. RSF exposes the inner workings of a disinformation campaign designed to justify President Vladimir Putin's war narrative.
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I welcome respected media representatives, professional and honest journalists from places of detention. July 22 is an important day for journalists, mass media and teachers of Azerbaijan. 149 years ago, Hassan Bey Zardabi, the great educator, the most valuable thinker, the founder of our journalism, lit the first light for society to come out of darkness, giving humanity the newspaper “AKINCI.”
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The past day has not clarified the question of why the meeting between Aliyev and Pashinyan in London on July18 broke down. The announcement of the upcoming meeting was made a week ago from Armenian sources, and Baku was silent about the upcoming meeting.
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I stand firmly in support of President Ilham Aliyev's vision for Azerbaijan's future.
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