England meets South America in semi-finals
England will face South Africa in the semi-finals of the Women's World Cup after an efficient defeat of Bangladesh in Wellington.
The 100-run success at the Basin Reserve continued a strong resurgence from the defending champions, who have won four successive matches after beginning the tournament with three straight losses.
On a tired surface, England started with circumspection against a hard-working Bangladesh attack, at one stage finding themselves 96-4.
They were lifted to 234-6 by Sophia Dunkley, who made 67 with support from Amy Jones and Katherine Brunt.
Bangladesh, playing the final match of their first World Cup, never showed any serious intent in the chase.
Spinners Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean took three wickets each as Bangladesh were dismissed for 134.
England will play South Africa in the last four in Christchurch on Thursday (02:00 GMT), a repeat of the meeting between the two teams at the same stage in 2017.
Australia play West Indies in the first semi-final in Wellington on Wednesday (23:00 GMT on Tuesday).
South Africa win last-ball thriller to eliminate India
England comeback continues
Two weeks ago, when England suffered a demoralising defeat by South Africa, the idea of having their fate in their own hands going into the meeting with Bangladesh was a best-case scenario.
Once victories over India, New Zealand and Pakistan were completed, it never seemed likely that Bangladesh would pose a great threat, even if they did give a fright to Australia on this ground two days ago.
Indeed, in their first one-day international meeting with Bangladesh, England had complete control for the majority of the contest and head to the semi-finals with the momentum of four successive victories.
Along with the win needed to guarantee their progress, England may have been mindful of keeping their net run-rate high enough to avoid a last-four meeting with unbeaten Australia.
However, a full-throttle approach with the bat was made difficult by the worn pitch, and England needed to take care in the early stages before late impetus from Dunkley, Brunt and Ecclestone.
The target of 235 was more runs than Bangladesh had ever made in a one-day international, so the result was not in doubt at the interval.
In the end, India's defeat by South Africa later on Sunday ensured net run-rate did not come into the equation and, with England finishing above West Indies, it could prove vital to be kept apart from Australia in the semis.
Source- BBC
Buick Has A New Logo
Depicting three shields standing separately and side-by-side, as opposed to staggered diagonally within a roundel, the trademark, filed on March 16, 2022, pertains to multiple fields ranging from keychains and eyewear to mugs, golf tees, clothing, and umbrellas. But the important categories under which the design, described in the filing as "a mark [consisting] of three shields," are for "Motor vehicles, namely, automobiles" and "Electronic key fobs for automobiles." The design is simplified and could be used in a backlit two-dimensional format.
There's no indication when the brand will officially announce the new logo, but with a new Regal replacement expected in 2023, that could be the first model to showcase the new logo. It's likely to roll out across the brand's other SUVs around the same time, but we also expect the announcement to coincide with new models and a new electrification strategy. Earlier this year, Buick teased a new electric vehicle as part of GM's Super Bowl advertising campaign. Bearing similarities to the Electra concept, this could be the flagship model of Buick's electric future, and it could have a new logo to go with it.
Trademark filings in Canada suggest that the Electra will come to North America, which would make this vehicle the ideal launchpad for the brand's new face.
Source- Carbuzz
The US and the EU have announced a major deal on liquified natural gas
The agreement will see the US provide the EU with extra gas, equivalent to around 10% of the gas it currently gets from Russia, by the end of the year.
The bloc has already said it will cut Russian gas use in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia currently supplies about 40% of the EU's gas needs.
The new deal will involve the US and other countries supplying an extra 15 billion cubic metres of gas on top of last year's 22 billion cubic metres.
The new total will represent around 24% of the gas currently imported from Russia.
The eventual aim is for the US and international partners to provide about 50 billion cubic metres per year to the EU.
Cutting reliance on Russia will mean generating more renewable energy and improving energy efficiency as well as increasing imports.
The deal was announced on Friday during a three-day visit by US President Joe Biden to Brussels.
Mr Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and offered fresh support to Kyiv.
"Putin is using Russia's energy resources to coerce and manipulate its neighbours," Mr Biden told reporters in Brussels. "He's used the profits to drive his war machine."
He said the long term benefits of the deal would outweigh the short term pain that reducing Russian gas supplies would cause.
"I know that eliminating Russian gas will have costs for Europe, but it's not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, it's going to put us on a much stronger strategic footing."
President von der Leyen said: "We want, as Europeans, to diversify away from Russia towards suppliers that we trust that are friends and that are reliable."
She pointed out that the target 50 billion cubic metres per year "is replacing one-third already of the Russian gas going to Europe today. So we are right on track now to diversify away from Russian gas."
The EU gets 40% of its gas from Russia. If it's to wean itself off that dependency, it needs to get its energy elsewhere.
The question is, where from?
Gas is already piped from Norway - but those pipelines are already operating at maximum capacity. The EU gets relatively little from the North Sea.
New supplies will have to come from further afield, in the form of LNG - gas that's been chilled and liquified.
But there's already intense competition for LNG supplies from countries such as Algeria and Qatar, and that's been pushing up prices.
The 50 billion cubic metres of gas a year from the US - more than double the current quantity - would certainly be welcome.
But it still wouldn't fill the gap if Russian supplies were removed.
There are also question marks over how much gas the US can supply, how quickly it can increase exports to the EU - and how much those shipments will cost.
The EU has been enjoying cheap gas for many years - but now it seems to have accepted that era is coming to an end.
Source- BBC
Canada stepping up to help solve Global energy crisis
Prices have soared as a result of Russian supplies being squeezed because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Canada's natural resources minister said many countries are committed "to help as much as we can in terms of displacing Russian oil and gas".
The world's fourth biggest oil producer has committed to exporting an extra 200,000 barrels of oil.
Its Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told BBC News it would also export an additional 100,000 barrels of natural gas.
It follows requests from its allies at a meeting of the world's energy ministers at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, which pledged to accelerate the move to clean energy.
"We expect that by the end of the year we will be fully up to the 300,000 barrels," said Mr Wilkinson.
However, that is only a fraction of the three million barrels a day that the IEA says will be removed from global markets by next month because of sanctions against Russia.
Canada is limited in how much oil it can export because its pipelines are running near full capacity, but Mr Wilkinson says sending it via the United States is an option.
Canada's biggest pipeline company Enbridge told the BBC it is "prepared to do what we can to increase energy security for both North America and Europe".
The impact of Canada's extra supplies "will be relatively limited given the regionality of Canadian crude, which will likely stay in the North American market", according to Louise Dickson, who is a senior oil analyst at the consultancy Rystad Energy.
"The main energy crisis is playing out in Europe due to supply shortages, and Asia where demand is on the cusp of recovering if Covid-19 lockdowns can be kept at bay," added Ms Dickson.
Source- BBC
Oxford teen accused of being multi-millionaire cyber-criminal
A 16-year-old from Oxford has been accused of being one of the leaders of cyber-crime gang Lapsus$.
The teenager, who is alleged to have amassed a $14m (£10.6m) fortune from hacking, has been named by rival hackers and researchers.
City of London Police say they have arrested seven teenagers in relation to the gang but will not say if he is one.
The boy's father told the BBC his family was concerned and was trying to keep him away from his computers.
Under his online moniker "White" or "Breachbase" the teenager, who has autism, is said to be behind the prolific Lapsus$ hacker crew, which is believed to be based in South America.
Lapsus$ is relatively new but has become one of the most talked about and feared hacker cyber-crime gangs, after successfully breaching major firms like Microsoft and then bragging about it online.
The teenager, who can't be named for legal reasons, attends a special educational school in Oxford.
City of London Police said: "Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 have been arrested in connection with an investigation into a hacking group. They have all been released under investigation. Our inquiries remain ongoing."
Source- BBC
Officials believe Russia hacked Ukrainian satellite communications
Russia is believed to have hacked US satellite communications provider Viasat on the day of its invasion of Ukraine.
Western intelligence agencies have been investigating the incident and while they have not yet made a public accusation, they believe Russia was behind it.
It appears to be the most significant cyber-attack linked to the conflict so far, affecting military, as well as government, communications.
Overall though, Western officials say Ukraine has proved more resilient to cyber-attacks than many had expected.
Western intelligence agencies are investigating the hacking of Viasat, which provides communications through a network of satellites.
It appears to have been hit by a sophisticated cyber-attack that wiped devices on the day the invasion began.
It also affected other countries in Europe, although not the UK.
Viasat told the BBC that it was replacing some customers' modems but its core network infrastructure and the satellite itself were not damaged.
"Viasat is actively working with distributors to restore service for those fixed broadband users in Europe impacted by this event," it said in a statement.
The company did not say who it thought was behind the cyber-attack and said the US government would provide attribution in due course.
"It looks like the clearest example of spill-over," said one official.
Western officials believe this was almost certainly the work of Russia but have not yet assembled the evidence to make a public accusation.
"Were it to be ultimately attributed to Russia, it would very much fit with what we expect them to do, which is use their cyber-capability to support their military campaign," said one Western official.
They believe it fits closely into Russian military doctrine, in which cyber-attacks are used to support specific military objectives - in this case trying to sow confusion by disrupting Ukrainian command and control.
In recent days, US cyber-authorities have warned that they are "aware of possible threats to US and international satellite communication networks", and America's FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) have urged providers to improve their security because of the continuing potential risks.
Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, is thought to have been behind the Viasat hack, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Other officials also say that the GRU has led in operations against Ukraine.
Five wounded after explosions hit western city of Lviv
Several explosions hit the city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, regional officials said.
The governor of the Lviv region, Maksym Kozytskyi, said five people had been injured, and that rocket fire had hit a fuel storage facility and a factory.
Lviv has so far escaped much of the shelling that has come to be a part of daily life in other parts of Ukraine.
It has also become a hub for hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing other parts of the country.
The alleged Russian attack came as US President Joe Biden delivered a speech in Warsaw, Poland, some 250 miles (400km) from Lviv.
In it, he addressed the Russian people on their leader, President Vladimir Putin, telling them: "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power."
The Kremlin responded that was not for the US leader to say. "That's not for Biden to decide. The president of Russia is elected by Russians," a spokesman said.
A White House official later said that Mr Biden was not calling for "regime change", but making the point that Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbours in the region.
Lviv's mayor, Andriy Sadoviy, said that "with today's blows, the aggressor sends greetings to President Biden, who is in Poland," Reuters news agency reports.
First, mid-afternoon, the air raid sirens went off. Then, three powerful explosions, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen from the distance. Hours later, another attack.
It all happened a day after Russia said it was focusing its invasion of Ukraine on the east. Lviv is in the extreme opposite.
And this distance from the worst of Russia's aggression, where people have been under unrelenting bombing and shelling, turned this city into something like a safe heaven. Displaced people, humanitarian workers, volunteers. They are all here.
That perception could be changing. Maryanna Pack, a 39-year-old economist who was near the site of the blast, gave a passionate testimony that may be a view shared by many. "We're feeling unprotected. Nobody really cares about what's happening here," she said.
"We need more help now. Eastern Ukraine has been completely destroyed. It's really possible that could happen to Lviv and the west of the country too."
As bombs fell on Lviv and other cities across Ukraine, President Biden referred to his Russian counterpart as "a butcher".
The comment was made during a meeting with Ukrainian refugees helping with the humanitarian relief effort in Poland - where more than two million Ukrainian refugees have now fled.
A spokesperson for Mr Putin, cited by Russian state news agency Tass, said the comment narrowed the prospects for mending ties between the two countries.
Earlier, Mr Biden met Ukraine's foreign and defence ministers, Dmytro Kuleba and Oleksii Reznikov.
The two Ukrainian's ministers' trip out of Ukraine to Poland was seen as a possible sign that confidence in Ukraine's fightback against Russia is growing.
During the talks, the US's "unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" was discussed, according to a US state department spokesperson.
Mr Biden also stressed the "sacred commitment" to Nato's collective defence, after meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
"You can count on that... for your freedom and ours," he told Mr Duda.
Source- BBC
Ferrari are finally back
If the battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen is any measure of the season to come in Formula 1, it is going to be quite a year.
Mercedes' struggles with their car after the huge change of regulations for 2022 have taken Lewis Hamilton out of the title battle - for now, at least, and possibly for the year if his team cannot find some rather large solutions quickly.
But Leclerc and Verstappen staged a gripping contest in the Bahrain Grand Prix. They raced wheel to wheel for two laps, swapping the lead five times, before the Ferrari driver came out on top.
If their battle was the highlight of the race, it was not the most dramatic moment. That was saved for the final three laps, when both Red Bulls retired with the same problem - something to do with the fuel system, the team said - and lost second and fourth places.
Leclerc's consummate victory - a drive that had pace, control, maturity, coolness and aggression - has put him in a strong position but it means little at the start of F1's longest ever season other than one very important point: Ferrari are back with a bang.
Source- BBC
Russia 'exploring' US cyber-attacks
President Joe Biden said on Monday that intelligence indicated a growing Russian cyber threat to the US.
He said Russia was "exploring" cyber attack, but the US would use "every tool" to prevent and respond to such a move.
Mr Biden suggested Moscow could act in retaliation for sanctions imposed on it after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's foreign ministry has said bilateral ties between Moscow and the US were on the "verge of rupture".
Mr Biden has previously warned of a possible cyber attack from Russia, saying on 24 February the US was prepared to respond.
In Monday's statement, Mr Biden said that intelligence had been "evolving", and that the US believes the "Russian government is exploring options".
Mr Biden also called for US companies to "accelerate efforts to lock their digital doors".
"You have the power, the capacity, and the responsibility to strengthen the cybersecurity and resilience of the critical services and technologies on which Americans rely. We need everyone to do their part," he said.
Mr Biden said the potential "malicious cyber activity" could be prompted by the "unprecedented economic costs" caused by economic sanctions imposed by the West.
The cyber security world has been braced for some sort of large scale cyber-attack from Russia since tensions began building between Russia and Ukraine.
Cyber authorities in the US, UK and elsewhere have been warning not just about attacks on Ukraine but on so-called "spill over", where other countries are targeted or where a hack accidentally spreads outside of the theatre of conflict.
The example authorities keep giving is the NotPetya wiper attack, which the US and EU have publicly blamed on Russian military hackers.
That malicious software spread uncontrollably in 2017 taking out thousands of businesses around the world and causing an estimated $10bn (£7.6bn) of damage.
Although President Biden doesn't explicitly say it, the concern seems to be about some sort of attack that could affect a critical part of US infrastructure.
We saw the disruption and distress caused last year on the east coast when criminal hackers caused an oil pipeline to switch off supplies.
In the worst case scenario, a major cyber-attack on the US or another NATO member could trigger Article 5, its collective defence clause.
On one hand, President Biden's warning is unsurprising and simply a repetition of the "shields up" initiative started by his government months ago.
On the other, western intelligence has been extremely effective at guessing the next move of the Kremlin so his words will potentially carry extra weight in the context of the escalating conflict.
Source- BBC
Jason Roy, England batter, suspended and fined
Jason Roy has been given a suspended two-match international ban and fined £2,500 following an England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary hearing.
Roy admitted a charge of "conducting himself in a manner which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the game of cricket, the ECB and himself into disrepute".
An ECB statement added the ban was suspended for 12 months.
However, there was no information about the nature of the Roy's offence.
The 31-year-old, who helped England win the World Cup in 2019, recently announced he was taking a "short, indefinite break from cricket".
Roy said he wanted to spend more time with his family as he pulled out of the Indian Premier League and he will miss the start of the County Championship for Surrey.
Source- BBC