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Switzerland

Is Lionel Messi Already The Best Soccer Player Ever, At The Age Of 25?

Worldcrunch

ZURICH - The results for Golden Ball 2012 killed any remaining doubt over who is our era's undisputed emperor of the soccer planet.

FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi won his fourth straight trophy for best player of the year, the first to notch that record for a man whose talent seems to know no limits. This was the voting announced Monday night in Zurich.

1° Lionel Messi 42 %

2° Cristiano Ronaldo 24 %

3° Andres Iniesta 11 %

The only remaining question about the Argentinean nicknamed “La Pulga” (“The Flea”) is whether he has surpassed the legends of the past, including the likes of his countryman Diego Maradona, Brazilian icon Pele and more recent stars like Zinedine Zidane.

Though he still has no World Cups with the Argentine national team, Messi has led Barcelona to three Champions League titles and five Spanish top division crowns.

Here's the man putting to shame Barcelona's arch enemy, the Real Madrid:



from GIFSoup


Here are ESPN Spain's top 10 goals:


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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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