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---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
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Revocation of Syria Sanctions; Designation Updates and Removals
Revocation of Syria Sanctions; Designation Updates and Removals
"On June 30, the President issued an Executive Order "Providing for the Revocation of Syria Sanctions" that removes U.S. sanctions on Syria, effective July 1, 2025. To implement the President's action, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued four new Syria Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs 1220-1223).
OFAC previously issued Syria General License (GL) 25, which authorizes transactions otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 542. To the extent still necessary, persons may continue to rely on GL 25 and the related Syria GL 25 Fact Sheet, which OFAC originally issued on May 28, 2025.
This has resulted in the following updates and removals to OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) and Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (SSI List)."
The following changes have been made to OFAC's SDN List:
"ILYUMZHINOV, Kirsan Nikolayevich (a.k.a. ILYUMZHINOV, Kirsan); ...; POB Elista, Republic of Kalmykia, Russia (individual) [SYRIA] "
"Trump is God's chosen president": former FIDE head Ilyumzhinov on lifting US sanctions
Former FIDE President Ilyumzhinov to Open Chess Club Opposite White House After Sanctions Are Lifted Ekaterina Zakaryan
The United States lifted sanctions against former President of the International Chess Federation ( FIDE ) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. He himself told Gazeta.Ru that he had been trying to get rid of the restrictions for ten years and had written letters to Barack Obama , George Bush and Donald Trump until he finally "won." He called the current American president "God's chosen one" and thanked him for the decision to lift the sanctions.
“I was the initiator, because I have been writing since 2015, when I was illegally included in the sanctions. I filed a lawsuit against The Guardian newspaper, which published false information about Syria , won the case against them, they apologized. Then I filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury , the amount of the claim was 50 billion dollars. And I was ready to come to the court and testify there in front of the jury. If there is an electric chair, then the electric chair, if not, let them pay 50 billion. Then I wrote to Barack Obama, then I wrote to Bush and then to Donald Trump. Probably, everything played a role. And I believe that Donald Trump really came into this world as the President of the United States for the second time, he was not elected by chance, he is the president chosen by God. He must change the existing world order, which is wrongly arranged. Thank you Donald Trump, thank you to the President of the United States that he really listened, lifted the sanctions against me. I fought for 10 years. I believe that I won,” he said.
"I was the president of the world chess federation FIDE. I believe the initiator [of the sanctions] was the 13th world champion Garry Kasparov (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) - this was before the elections in 2014 in Tromsø. Unprecedented pressure was exerted on me to voluntarily resign as FIDE president, but I fought. Few people supported me then in our country, and in general they thought it was not serious. Back then, in 2014, I said that this was only the beginning, we need to completely rebuild our foreign policy, our agencies completely in a new paradigm, because since 2014, when we had Donbass, Lugansk , Crimea , we began to live in a new world, that is, in a state of this third world war. And I was, one might say, the first citizen of the Russian Federation to be subject to these international sanctions in 2015," he added.
According to Ilyumzhinov, he now wants to visit the United States, open a chess club opposite the White House and meet with Trump to tell him “how things are in the world and in Russia.”
"I am going to visit the United States, Washington , I have applied for a visa now. I rented a space opposite the White House to open a chess club there. And I want to open the headquarters of the World Chess Federation FIDE in Washington and promote peace throughout the world. Trump is now saying that he is against killing people - there are more than 117 armed conflicts going on now. Our President of Russia Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is against dictatorship, against interference in the sovereignty of states. I think that two great presidents, Trump and Putin, will find a common language. I want to meet with Trump. I have not sat at home for the past 10 years, I have visited more than 100 countries and I want to tell Donald Trump how things are in the world, as in Russia, and that we need to rebuild the world in a new way now," he said.
The former head of FIDE clarified that during the sanctions he could not enter the United States, but otherwise the restrictions did not bother him.
"The sanctions did not interfere, I just could not enter the US. They were supposed to freeze all my accounts - these are assets, yachts, planes. I had nothing anywhere except for an account in Sberbank . And so I hired lawyers, I had lawyers, American lawyers - they worked for a year, they did not find any accounts, nothing, they even wrote to the State Department , why were sanctions imposed against Ilyumzhinov? They did not freeze my yachts, planes, foreign accounts, nothing. And I visited all countries except the US. Now the sanctions have been lifted from me, I will visit the US, I want to open a chess club there. And in general, I want to pursue a peace-loving policy and explain to US citizens that the world is not limited to the United States of America," Ilyumzhinov concluded.
On July 2, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who headed the Republic of Kalmykia for 17 years and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for 23 years, reported on his Telegram channel that on June 30, by decree of US President Donald Trump, sanctions imposed ten years ago by the US Treasury Department were lifted. The former FIDE president said that he perceives the decision "as another serious signal of the interest of the US leadership, personally President Trump, to positively change the nature of relations with our country, his intention to rethink the further development of international relations."
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, while President of FIDE, once claimed he had been abducted by aliens, and then made his return to Earth. Such statements did not do a whole lot of good for the international image of chess.
Ilyumzhinov plans to run for FIDE president and return Russia's flag and anthem
MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS Corr. Andrei Kartashov/.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov plans to run for the post of President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) next year, his main task will be to restore the rights of Russian athletes. Ilyumzhinov told TASS.
"In September next year, there will be elections for the FIDE president in Uzbekistan. At one time, I was asked to leave this post, since I was under sanctions. But now they have been lifted from me, and I am ready to run for the post of head of the organization. For this, five countries need to nominate me," Ilyumzhinov said.
He stressed that if elected, he would restore the rights of Russian chess players and return the flag and anthem: "This will be my first task: to restore the full rights of glory of the Soviet and Russian chess school. So that the Russian flag flies at all FIDE competitions. I plan to talk about this with [US President Donald] Trump, among other things."
In 2018, FIDE's presidential council asked Ilyumzhinov, who had led the organization since 1995, to resign immediately because he was under U.S. Treasury Department sanctions. Fourteen members of the presidential council voted for the resolution, and one voted against. Arkady Dvorkovich, who currently leads the organization, became FIDE's next president.
"I am grateful to Donald Trump, who by his decree removed me from the sanctions list. I fought, waged war for ten years - wrote letters to [Barack] Obama, and [George] Bush, and Trump. And filed lawsuits. Now justice has prevailed," Ilyumzhinov said. "I have been actively traveling around the world for these 10 years, and have not stopped playing chess, albeit on a voluntary basis. I recently opened my own chess school in Kyrgyzstan, in Vietnam, and now I am flying to Pakistan," Ilyumzhinov said.
On February 28, 2022, the International Chess Federation admitted Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions in a neutral status. On March 16, 2022, the FIDE Council banned the Russian and Belarusian national teams from participating in competitions under the auspices of the organization. In January 2025, FIDE admitted Russian and Belarusian youth teams (under 18) to participate in international competitions in a neutral status, and also admitted chess players with disabilities to participate in team competitions in a neutral status.
Here's an inspiring e-mail I received from the Social Security Administration this morning.
" Social Security Applauds Passage of Legislation Providing Historic Tax Relief for Seniors
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is celebrating the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, a landmark piece of legislation that delivers long-awaited tax relief to millions of older Americans.
The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits, providing meaningful and immediate relief to seniors who have spent a lifetime contributing to our nation's economy.
“This is a historic step forward for America’s seniors,” said Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano. “For nearly 90 years, Social Security has been a cornerstone of economic security for older Americans. By significantly reducing the tax burden on benefits, this legislation reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and helps ensure that seniors can better enjoy the retirement they’ve earned."
The new law includes a provision that eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries, providing relief to individuals and couples. Additionally, it provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older, ensuring that retirees can keep more of what they have earned ."
Last edited by Vadim Tsypin; Friday, 4th July, 2025, 12:32 PM.
Reason: Typos
The Russian Chess Federation will support a candidate for the post of FIDE President who will restore rights of Russian chess players
This was stated by the head of the organization, Andrey Filatov
Former President of the International Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov plans to run for the post of FIDE President next year, his main task will be to restore the rights of Russian athletes. Ilyumzhinov told TASS about this.
"In September next year, there will be elections for the FIDE President in Uzbekistan. At one time, I was asked to leave this post, since I was under sanctions. But now they have been lifted from me, and I am ready to run for the post of the head of the organization. For this, I need five countries to nominate me," Ilyumzhinov said.
He emphasized that if elected, he will restore the rights of Russian chess players and return the flag and anthem: "This will be my first task: to restore the full glory of the Soviet and Russian chess school. So that the Russian flag flies at all FIDE competitions. I plan to talk about this with [US President Donald] Trump, among other things."
In turn, the President of the Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov noted that the RCF will support the candidate for the post of FIDE head who promises to restore the Russian teams and return the country's flag and anthem to competitions.
"The election of the FIDE President is expected next year. And we will support any candidate who promises to return the flag and anthem to us and to allow our teams to participate in international competitions. And also stops the discriminatory policy towards our chess players," he said.
... his main task will be to restore the rights of Russian athletes.
Before doing that, will Ilyumzhinov help restore the lives and property of Ukrainian citizens? My wife has relatives living in Ukraine. For 3+ years we've feared getting a call that one of them has been killed. Kinda makes a board game seem inconsequential.
Here's an inspiring e-mail I received from the Social Security Administration this morning.
" Social Security Applauds Passage of Legislation Providing Historic Tax Relief for Seniors
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is celebrating the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, a landmark piece of legislation that delivers long-awaited tax relief to millions of older Americans.
The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits, providing meaningful and immediate relief to seniors who have spent a lifetime contributing to our nation's economy.
“This is a historic step forward for America’s seniors,” said Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano. “For nearly 90 years, Social Security has been a cornerstone of economic security for older Americans. By significantly reducing the tax burden on benefits, this legislation reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and helps ensure that seniors can better enjoy the retirement they’ve earned."
The new law includes a provision that eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries, providing relief to individuals and couples. Additionally, it provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older, ensuring that retirees can keep more of what they have earned ."
Regards Vadim :)
I saw others on social media who received the same propaganda from the SSA ...
I cannot even begin to comprehend what a gigantic hole the U.S. has become.
I heard someone the other day speculate that the GOP should be renamed the American Fascist Party.
Absolutely unbelievable.
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Revocation of Syria Sanctions; Designation Updates and Removals
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