Jao Felix on the road amongst the greatest
After two and a half years of flattering to deceive, Joao Felix is finally starting to look capable of becoming one of the best players in the world.
It wasn't supposed to take this long.
In the 2018-19 campaign, Felix scored 20 goals and provided eight assists for Benfica to become the most coveted teenager in football, winning the Golden Boy award given to the game's most exciting young player. It tempted Atletico Madrid to splash out £113m - the fourth-highest transfer fee in history - on a player who was still only 19.
He was expected to explode into global superstardom, but it didn't happen. After scoring just four goals in his first 22 starts for Atletico, the Portuguese lost his place in the team and has struggled to get it back ever since.
True, Felix was part of Atletico's title-winning team last season. But he didn't play a particularly significant part, especially in the decisive stages of the campaign as he failed to start or score in any of the final eight La Liga games.
The widespread conclusion was that Atletico boss Diego Simeone simply did not trust Felix, whose technically gifted, but physically-deficient profile, has rarely made him look like a natural fit for the exuberant Argentine coach.
One obvious criticism of Felix is a less-than-wholehearted attitude off the ball. So far this season, for example, he has averaged 9.1 pressures of the opposition per game, only slightly more than 35-year-old Luis Suarez (8.3) and far fewer than fellow forwards Antoine Griezmann (21.5), Matheus Cunha (20.4) and Angel Correa (19.5).
For a coach such as Simeone, who values work-rate and tenacity above all other attributes, that will always be a problem - especially when combined with Felix's undeniable creative ability on the ball only making sporadic appearances.
As recently as six weeks ago, it seemed inevitable this would become another season to pass Felix by. He had only started six league games out of 24 and his nimble talents appeared to be the last thing on Simeone's mind as he attempted to guide his team out of a slump that had seen them lose seven of their last 12 games.
A trip to Osasuna on 19 February, however, proved to be an unexpected turning point both for Felix and the team.
He was selected to start, scored after just three minutes and later provided an assist for Suarez's second in a 3-0 win. Four days later, he started again in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 meeting with Manchester United - and again scored an early goal, a leaping near-post header to give David de Gea no chance.
Since then, Felix has stayed in the team - making eight consecutive starts for the first time in more than two years - and continued to deliver the goods: two goals in a 3-1 win at Real Betis, an early strike to help defeat Cadiz, a prominent role in the build-up to Renan Lodi's tie-winner at Old Trafford; an assist for Koke's winner at Rayo Vallecano and another brace in Saturday's 4-1 victory over Alaves.
Madrid-based football journalist Euan McTear, who wrote a book on Atletico's 2014 title triumph, believes there's still a lot more to come.
"I don't think it's a coincidence that his recent run of good form has coincided with a run of consecutive starts," McTear told BBC Sport. "He needs to start each day at the office well and that's easier to do from the starting line-up.
"We have to remember he's still only 22, so he isn't supposed to be the team's leader yet. But, there's no doubt that, in time, he will be the star man for the club - that's why he signed a contract until 2026. Even if some say he isn't at the right club, he can still become one of the best in the world."
As noted by McTear, there is an ongoing debate Felix may only be able to truly flourish away from Atletico - and the defensive discipline demanded by Simeone.
Despite his struggles to justify his price tag for Atletico, Felix's ball-playing talents have always been obvious and he still has plenty of admirers. Only last week Barcelona president Joan Laporta admitted he attempted to bring Felix to the Nou Camp in a swap deal with Griezmann last summer, and it's easy to see the logic in such a move.
Conversely, other observers counter Felix's mercurial talents are exactly what Simeone needs to take Atletico to the next level, moving away from the old reliance on ground-out 1-0 slugfests and developing a more attractive, expansive style of play.
Recent results - six consecutive league wins plus the Champions League triumph against Manchester United with Felix in the starting line-up - support that argument.
And although his longer-term future remains in some doubt, right now Felix is clearly in the best form of his Atletico career - and arguably their most important player.
A pair of strong performances to defeat the mighty Manchester City could propel him to the next level.
Source- BBC
'Slap in the face says' Australian cricketer
A couple of months after they were dumped out of the 2017 World Cup, the Australia squad gathered to watch their semi-final defeat by India.
Battered, bruised and without a world title in any format in their trophy cabinet, Meg Lanning's team drew a line in the sand. They knew they were good, but not good enough.
"It was at that moment it slapped us in the face," says Lanning.
"We had to do something different otherwise we'd win most games, but not the really important ones.
"It was the catalyst for how we have changed the way we approach our cricket, on and off the field."
Lanning was speaking on a grey Monday in Christchurch, the day after she got her hands on the 50-over World Cup. It completed the set for Australia - they are now holders of both women's World Cups and the Ashes.
Their record-breaking final victory over England was an awesome display of power, the crowning glory of perhaps the best sports team on the planet.
For England, there is no shame in losing to such a dominant force. To ask why they were unable to stop the Aussies is like wondering if anyone could have beaten Arsenal's Invincibles, run faster than Usain Bolt or produce a routine better than Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 on the uneven bars.
Sometimes, the opposition are just too good.
In Australia there are about 120 women playing professional cricket for at least part of the year, compared to a maximum of 70 in England.
That depth allowed Australia to absorb injuries to Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck without missing a beat at the World Cup. If England had suffered similar losses, then the group-stage exit would probably not have been averted.
A greater number of high-quality players in domestic cricket also helps those in the England team guard against complacency, providing a drive to improve that might not have been there when the number of elite female cricketers in the country totalled no more than 20.
The building blocks are there for England - a group of talented young players, a strong captain who hopefully still has more to give and a domestic set-up that should grow in both size and quality.
Now, they just have to use the memory of Australia celebrating with the World Cup in the Christchurch night as their motivation to not let it happen again.
To use Lanning's words, it should be England's slap in the face.
Source- BBC
Karim Benzema's hat trick puts Chelsea in a tough position
Chelsea's hold on the Champions League hangs precariously after Karim Benzema's hat-trick put Real Madrid in a position of power following the quarter-final first leg at Stamford Bridge.
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti made a winning return to the club where he won the Premier League and FA Cup double after veteran France striker Benzema delivered his latest masterclass.
Benzema, 34 and fresh from the treble that sunk Paris St-Germain in the last 16, punished holders Chelsea with two magnificent headers in the space of three minutes midway through the first half.
Kai Havertz's header gave Chelsea hope before the break but keeper Edouard Mendy's poor clearance seconds after the restart gifted Benzema his third to put Real in command of the tie before the second leg at the Bernabeu next Tuesday (12 April).
Chelsea battled to the end of this first leg but were always fighting an uphill task after they were hit by Benzema's brilliant one-two and then saw their hopes of mounting a comeback wrecked by a self-inflicted wound.
Real had already delivered a warning about the danger they posed when Vinicius Junior hit the bar but that went unheeded as he provided the cross for Benzema's flying headed opener.
And once Benzema had confirmed his aerial threat with a second, Chelsea were always vulnerable against a side who are the masters of these Champions League situations.
Havertz, the match-winner in last season's Champions League final win against Manchester City, gave a subdued Stamford Bridge some hope but the entire destiny of the tie may have turned in the opening 40 seconds after the interval.
Mendy, normally so reliable, made an expensive misjudgement when he raced from goal only to send a weak pass in the direction of Antonio Rudiger.
The defender was unable to gain control and the predatory Benzema was in like a flash to roll the ball into the unguarded net with Mendy looking on in anguish.
It came just after Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel had introduced Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech at the start of the second half to build on Havertz's goal, but the changes were undermined before they had any chance to take effect.
Tuchel later brought on Romelu Lukaku in a desperate attempt to retrieve the situation but his struggles were summed up when he sent a weak header wide with one of Chelsea's best chances of the night.
Chelsea have demonstrated an ability to overcome adversity in the past but with Real holding a two-goal advantage going into the second leg at the Bernabeu, it would rank as one of their finest achievements if they were to reach the last four from this position.
Source- BBC
Love and Thunder's stars starting press tour, fans crying for trailer
With its writer/director Taika Waititi hinting since last year that his fourth Thor movie will be the "craziest film he had ever done" -- a bold statement from the guy who won an Oscar for imagining Hitler as an imaginary friend in Jojo Rabbit -- fans are rabid for a trailer.
Alas, first the Super Bowl, and then the Oscars ads passed with nary a hint about Thor: Love and Thunder.
Today, star Chris Hemsworth posted that "long-lead press" -- that is, generally, magazine interviews -- had begun to promote the anticipated film, and that managed to whip up fans further. "Get ready folks, this film's gonna be wild!" the God of Thunder himself promised.
However, with no trailer in sight, some fans are getting desperate for any hints, poring over Hemsworth's picture with Taika, and their co-star Tessa Thompson, as if it were the Zapruder film.
One fan circled the stars' hands: Waititi has his two index fingers up; Hemsworth is throwing up the heavy metal "devil horns," and Thompson has peace signs flying in both hands. The fingers spell out "11 4 22," the fan guesses, predicting the trailer would drop on April 11.
Like we said, they're desperate.
All we do know for sure is that Natalie Portman is returning to the franchise as Jane Foster, who inherits the mantle of Thor; Thompson's Valkyrie takes up the throne of New Asgard, hinted at the end of Avengers: Endgame; and Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, and the rest of their Guardians of the Galaxy pals also appear, as do a host of other stars.
Matt Damon, and Sam Neill also re-appear, after cameoing in Thor: Ragnarok, and Russell Crowe also will be seen.
Christian Bale reportedly plays the heavy, Gorr the Butcher, when the movie debuts July 7.
Source- ABC
Morbius takes the top spot with decent $39 million open; The Batman crosses $710 million worldwide
The Sony Pictures vampire superhero Morbius managed to fight off a critical drubbing to earn a respectable $39.1 million opening at the domestic box office, enough for the weekend's top spot. The movie, starring Oscar-winner Jared Leto as one of Marvel Comics' Spider-Man baddies, debuted to $84 million worldwide: Decent, but nowhere near Spider-Man: No Way Home's numbers, nor even another Spidey-adjacent Sony offering, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which opened to $90 million domestically last fall.
In the second-place slot this weekend is last week's box office champ, the Channing Tatum/Sandra Bullock romantic romp The Lost City. The adventure film, which also stars Daniel Radcliffe, earned $14.8 million in its sophomore frame.
The Batman took in another $10.8 million domestically for third place. Starring Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz, it also crossed the $700 million mark globally after five weeks with $710.5 million, and counting.
Rounding out the fourth and fifth places in theaters over the weekend, respectively, were Tom Holland's blockbuster video game adaptation Uncharted, which earned $3.6 million, and the anime adventure Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie, which earned a bit under $2 million.
Both films are also scoring overseas: Uncharted, from Sony Pictures, has a worldwide haul of more than $234 million, while Jujutsu's bottom line was also boosted from foreign theaters, pushing its worldwide take to $149.1 million over the weekend.
Source- ABC
Kevin Smith will become the first filmmaker to release a full movie via NFT
Clerks director Kevin Smith will soon become the first movie maker to release an entire movie exclusively via NFT, or non-fungible token.
The newest film by the director and Good Will Hunting producer, KillRoy Was Here, will only be made available to the person who wins the NFT via auction.
For the forthcoming NFT sale, Smith collaborated with SCRT Labs' Secret Network, which recently worked with Quentin Tarantino for the release of his exclusive Pulp Fiction NFTs.
The movie KillRoy is being called "a throwback anthology horror film featuring a creature that kills evil adults at the behest of victimized kids."
The movie, along with exclusive content from the film, behind-the-scenes footage and a commentary track, will be launched as a 5,555-piece generative art NFT collection, according to the Secret Network.
The director adds, "When you buy the KillRoy NFT, you get exclusive access to the movie. But more importantly, the specific version of KillRoy you get is YOUR KillRoy to do with whatever you want: Make your own movie, turn it into a cartoon, license him for lunchboxes! We started the story, now YOU get to continue it with your very own version of our titular character!"
He calls it "an exciting and unique opportunity to go from art collector to collaborating artist!"
Source- ABC
Tourism spending plunges over key holiday
Tourism spending in China plunged over this week's Qingming festival, as the world's second largest economy battles a rise in infections.
The amount tourists spent during the key three-day holiday was more than 30% lower than the same time last year, official figures show.
It comes as travel restrictions in China continue, and Shanghai and other cities remain locked down.
Shanghai is the largest city to go into lockdown to date.
The Qingming festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, is usually a time when people visit the graves of family and friends to pay their respects.
This would often mean people travelling from their homes to other parts of China, which can provide a boost for consumer spending.
The festival took place from Sunday 3 April to Tuesday 5 April this year.
Local tourists spent 18.78bn yuan ($2.95bn; £2.26bn) over the three days, according to China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism. That was 30.9% lower than last year.
The ministry also said that there were 75.4m domestic trips during the festival, which was more than 26% lower than the same time last year.
Chinese authorities have extended the lockdown of Shanghai to cover the whole city after a fresh surge in Covid cases.
Shanghai reported 19,982 new infections for Wednesday, which was a new daily record. However, the numbers are not high by some international standards.
The important financial and manufacturing hub has battled a new wave of coronavirus infections for more than a month.
Major businesses, including German carmaker Volkswagen (VW), have scaled back their operations in Shanghai.
The motor industry giant partially closed its factory in the Chinese city last week, citing supply shortages.
Since then production has been suspended and the plant remains closed.
"Like before the Qingming holiday we will continue to monitor the situation day by day," a VW spokesperson said.
Source- BBC
Chanel restricts sales of goods to Russians abroad
French luxury giant Chanel has stopped selling its products to people who intend to take them to Russia, after shutting its stores in the country.
Moscow and some customers have accused the firm of being anti-Russian, and threatened to boycott the brand.
Chanel says it is just complying with European Union (EU) sanctions, which ban the sale to Russia of luxury goods priced at more than €300 ($327; £250).
Many Western firms halted operations in Russia after the Ukraine war started.
Chanel told the BBC that sanctions, imposed by the EU, as well as Switzerland, also prohibit the sale of luxury items to individuals who intend to use them in Russia.
The company said it "complies with all laws applicable to our operations and employees worldwide, including trade sanction laws".
"This is why we have rolled out a process to ask clients for whom we do not know the main residency to confirm that the items they are purchasing will not be used in Russia," Chanel said in a statement.
"We are currently working on improving this approach and we apologise for any misunderstanding this may have caused," the company added.
"Welcoming all our clients, regardless of where they come from, is a priority for Chanel."
Some Russians have said that they have been turned away from Chanel stores around the world.
Influencer Anna Kalashnikova said on Instagram that she was stopped from buying Chanel products in Dubai.
Ms Kalashnikova posted: "Since I often come to Dubai as the host of Fashion Week, the managers of Chanel recognised me, approached me and said: We know that you are a celebrity in Russia. We know that you will go there, so we can't sell you our brand items."
"Western boutiques ask for identification data, and when you [give] a Russian number, the salesmen say, now we sell things to Russians only under the promise that they will not take them to Russia and that they will not wear them there," Ms Kalashnikova said.
"Russiaphobia in action. I experienced it myself," she added.
In an Instagram video, Russian model Victoria Bonya cut up what appears to be a black quilted Chanel bag.
"Bye bye" Ms Bonya said as she threw the pieces aside.
"If Chanel house does not respect their clients, why do we have to respect Chanel house?" she said.
Earlier this week, Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said "A number of bloggers reported that official Chanel brand stores abroad refused to sell their products to Russian citizens".
Ms Zakharova accused Chanel of joining "the Russophobic campaign to cancel Russia".
Many Western brands have halted their operations in Russia. Early in March, luxury retailers Chanel, LVMH, Hermes and Kering said they would temporarily shut their shops in the country.
On Tuesday, the EU, along with the US and G7, said it would propose further sanctions against Russia, following allegations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said the planned measures included an import ban on coal and a ban on Russian ships and road operators.
The G7 (Group of Seven) is an organisation of the world's seven largest so-called "advanced" economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system. They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.
Earlier measures have targeted individuals including Russian President Vladimir Putin and hundreds of Russian politicians and oligarchs, as well as the country's financial and energy sectors.
Source- BBC
EpicGames and Xbox has raised $144m USD to aid humanitarian efforts in Ukraine
The Fortnite maker announced on 21 March it would donate all proceeds from in-game sales, including cosmetic in-game items and virtual currency bought in a shop or online, until 3 April.
And Xbox, part of Microsoft, is also donating the fee it would usually take on items bought by players in Fortnite.
Epic expressed its "deepest thanks" to everyone who contributed.
"Together with the Fortnite community and Xbox, we raised $144m for Direct Relief, Unicef, UN World Food Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and World Central Kitchen in support of their humanitarian relief efforts for people affected by the war in Ukraine," Epic wrote in a blog post.
Epic is not the only games company to have been fundraising for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine for example, Humble Bundle, which sells collections of video games online raised more than $20m (£15m).
Source- BBC
Elon Musk becomes Twitter biggest shareholder
Elon Musk has taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter, according to a US securities filing.
The announcement sent Twitter shares soaring by more than 27% in New York trading on Monday.
Tesla's chief executive owned 73,486,938 shares in the social media platform as of 14 March, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The stake is worth $2.89bn (£2.2bn), based on Twitter's closing price on Friday.
It makes him the largest shareholder in the company, with more than four times the 2.25% holding of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.
Mr Musk is a regular Twitter user with more than 80 million followers, although recently he said he is giving "serious thought" to building a new social media platform.
Late last month, Mr Musk asked his followers whether they thought the social media platform encouraged free speech.
"Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?"
He then asked: "Is a new platform needed?"
He regularly uses Twitter to share updates from the companies he owns - including SpaceX and Neuralink. He is also known for sharing memes, adding to his popularity among fans.
But some posts have drawn controversy.
Last year he tweeted in response to a claim, made by the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), that just 2% of Mr Musk's wealth could help to solve world hunger.
In October, Mr Musk said he would sell $6bn in Tesla stock and donate it to the WFP, provided it could describe "exactly how $6bn will solve world hunger".
Mr Musk saw the valuation of his Tesla car company surpass a market value of $1 trillion last autumn, making it the fifth such firm to reach the milestone, after Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google-owner Alphabet.
Soon after he took to Twitter to ask users if he should sell a 10% stake in the electric carmaker.
More than 3.5 million Twitter users voted, with nearly 58% voting in favour of the share sale leading to Musk selling around $5bn (£3.7bn) of shares in the firm in November.
Source- BBC