Tom Brady is Back
Tom Brady, one of the greatest players in NFL history, is coming back for his 23rd season just six weeks after announcing his retirement.
The quarterback, 44, said last month he was ending his playing career after winning a record seven Super Bowls.
But Brady has now said he has "unfinished business" and will rejoin the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"These past two months I've realised my place is still on the field and not in the stands," he said on social media.
"That time will come. But it's not now. I love my team-mates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I'm coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa."
After being selected by the New England Patriots with the 199th pick of the 2000 draft, Brady led the franchise to six Super Bowl wins.
He left for the Bucs in 2020 and helped them win the Super Bowl in his first season, being named the game's Most Valuable Player for a fifth time.
A three-time NFL season MVP, he led Tampa Bay back to the play-offs last season and still had a year remaining on his contract with the Bucs when he announced his retirement.
The franchise were yet to sign a new quarterback and, when asked about a possible return for Brady earlier this month, coach Bruce Arians said: "That door is never closed."
In his final game of the 2021 season, Brady narrowly failed to pull off a sensational comeback from 27-3 down in the play-offs as the Bucs ultimately lost 30-27 to the eventual Super Bowl winners, the Los Angeles Rams.
He amassed a career-high 5,316 passing yards last season and holds the all-time records for passing yards (84,520) and touchdowns (624).
The Bucs have been owned since 1995 by the Glazer family, who have also owned Premier League club Manchester United since 2005.
Brady and his two sons were guests of the Glazers at Saturday's 3-2 win over Tottenham at Old Trafford, during which Brady met former manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the first-team squad, including forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Source - BBC
Kyiv terrain will slow Russian troops, say Ukraine generals
At a briefing in their war room on Monday, the two Ukrainian generals responsible for the defence of Kyiv told the BBC how their forces were fighting hard to keep Russian artillery out of range, and explained why they believe the city has strengths that will make all the difference against the Russians.
Kyiv is feeling the sharp touch of the war more acutely, along with Russia's destructive firepower.
A nine-storey block of flats was hit by a Russian missile on Monday morning, killing at least one person and wrecking the building, making dozens of Ukrainians homeless. It would have been worse had many residents not taken to shelters.
But the centre of Kyiv and many of its sprawling suburbs are still untouched by Russian weaponry. Other Ukrainian cities are being very heavily shelled, and there have been many casualties.
Kyiv's remaining citizens - perhaps half have moved to western Ukraine or left the country - are facing the possibility that the same brutal experience lies ahead for them.
The generals responsible for Kyiv's defence said they were fighting hard to keep Russian artillery out of range, but accepted that the capital was vulnerable to missiles.
However the city's topography and terrain is on their side, Gen Andriy Krischenko told me. The city is big and sprawling. It is cut up by rivers, not just the mighty Dnieper which divides Kyiv in two, but its tributaries.
"It is difficult to defend on the one hand, given that it is very large," he told me. "But on the other hand, this is a plus. Rivers, bridges, are on the approaches to the city. Our troops are building defences and fortifications.
"Around the city there are many small rivers that flow into the Dnieper and there are many peat bogs, so that means the area is not suitable for large-scale movement of troops."
Gen Krischenko, who is also a deputy mayor, was wearing the same kind of informal outfit in army green that his President Volodymyr Zelensky has worn to rally his people, impress his allies and infuriate his enemies. The general also exuded the president's optimism.
Another advantage, according to the general, is that Kyiv is an industrial city, with workshops and factories that have repurposed themselves to produce the items needed for fortifications - concrete blocks, sandbags, and a variety of savage-looking anti-tank obstacles.
Gen Krischenko and Gen Knyazev stood in front of the big interactive screen they use to track the Russian push towards Kyiv.
They explained they had attacked and stopped the forward movement of two main thrusts, one from the east and one from the north-west, which included the much talked about 64km (40 mile) column of Russian armour.
They said it had been attacked and forced to disperse, and insisted it was no longer a threat.
Source - BBC
Climate Action Scholarships for students from small island nations
Britain’s Prince of Wales has joined with the University of Cambridge, to launch Climate Action Scholarships for students from small island nations.
The new scholarships, announced Monday by the Universities of Cambridge, Toronto, Melbourne, McMaster and Montreal will support students from small island nations to address climate change.
The Climate Action Scholarships are being launched to coincide with Commonwealth Day and recognise the disproportionate effects of climate change on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), many of which are part of the Commonwealth.
The scholarships are spearheaded by The Prince of Wales and will support students on courses that engage with sustainability, helping them develop their existing skills and knowledge to address the effects of climate change in the countries they come from.
The Climate Action Scholarships follow The Prince’s support of students from St Vincent and the Grenadines after the Volcano eruption on St Vincent in April 2021.
As a result of discussions between The Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) welcomed 37 students from the Caribbean Island.
“St Vincent and the Grenadines is extremely grateful for the splendid initiative of the Prince of Wales to secure 55 scholarships (40 undergraduate and 15 post-graduate) through the University of Wales Trinity St. David.
“The Prince of Wales acted swiftly on this package of scholarships, valued at £4.5 million (One British Pound=US$1.30 cents) in the aftermath of the volcanic eruptions on St Vincent in April 2021. Thanks again to Prince Charles for his love and concern for our people, especially the young,” said Prime Minister GOnsalves,
The Cambridge Trust was established in the 1980s with the specific objective of providing scholarships to students from the Commonwealth and wider world who lacked the means to fund their studies at the University of Cambridge.
The Prince of Wales, himself a Cambridge alumnus having graduated from Trinity College in 1970, has been involved in the work of the Trust for many years, serving as Patron since 2010.
In Cambridge the programme of awards will be offered by the Cambridge Trust, which will be awarding ten fully-funded ‘HRH The Prince of Wales Commonwealth Scholarships’ over the next two years, with the first recipients expected to take up their places at the University of Cambridge in October 2022.
The students from St Vincent and the Grenadines arrived in Wales at the end of January to study a range of programmes identified by their government as being beneficial to the future development of their country.
These include History, International Development and Global Politics as well as Early Childhood Education, Quantity Surveying and Civil Engineering. In addition, 15 students are studying online from St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Source - CMC
Traci Braxton, sister of Toni and Tamar, passes away at age 50
Traci Braxton, the sister of Toni and Tamar Braxton, has passed away after a private battle with esophageal cancer. She was 50.
The Braxton family shared the news in a statement Saturday.
“It is with the utmost regret that we inform you of the passing of our sister, Traci,” the statement reads. “Needless to say, she was a bright light, a wonderful daughter, an amazing sister, a loving mother, wife, grandmother and a respected performer. We will miss her dearly.”
The statement added that Traci “passed this morning as the snow was falling, our angel is now a snowflake.”
“We ask that you respect our privacy as we plan to send her home with love, celebrating her life,” the statement concluded.
Her husband Kevin Surratt said in a statement, "Our beloved Traci Braxton has gone on to glory.”
Traci’s management team also confirmed the news Saturday, noting she was “surrounded by family and friends at the time of her passing.”
Source - ABC
New evidence highlights corrupt deals
A BBC investigation has uncovered new evidence about the corrupt deals that made Roman Abramovich's fortune.
The Chelsea owner made billions after buying an oil company from the Russian government in a rigged auction in 1995.
Mr Abramovich paid around $250m (£190m) for Sibneft, before selling it back to the Russian government for $13bn in 2005.
His lawyers say there is no basis for alleging he has amassed very substantial wealth through criminality.
The Russian billionaire was sanctioned by the UK government last week because of his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Abramovich's assets have been frozen and he has been disqualified as a director of Chelsea Football Club.
The Russian billionaire has already admitted in a UK court that he made corrupt payments to help get the Sibneft deal off the ground.
He was being sued in London by his former business associate Boris Berezovsky in 2012.
Mr Abramovich won the case, but he described in court how the original Sibneft auction was rigged in his favour and how he gave Mr Berezovsky $10m to pay off a Kremlin official.
BBC Panorama has obtained a document that is thought to have been smuggled out of Russia.
The information was given to the programme by a confidential source, who says it was secretly copied from files held on Mr Abramovich by Russian law enforcement agencies.
The BBC cannot verify that, but checks with other sources in Russia have backed up many of the details in the five-page document.
The document says that the Russian government was cheated out of $2.7bn in the Sibneft deal - a claim supported by a 1997 Russian parliamentary investigation. The document also says that the Russian authorities wanted to charge Mr Abramovich with fraud.
It says: "The Dept. of Economic Crimes investigators came to the conclusion that if Abramovich could be brought to trial he would have faced accusations of fraud… by an organised criminal group."
Panorama tracked down Russia's former chief prosecutor, who investigated the deal in the 1990s.
Yuri Skuratov did not know about the secret document, but he independently confirmed many of the details about the Sibneft sale.
Mr Skuratov told the programme: "Basically, it was a fraudulent scheme, where those who took part in the privatisation formed one criminal group that allowed Abramovich and Berezovsky to trick the government and not pay the money that this company was really worth."
The document also suggests Mr Abramovich was protected by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
It says law enforcement files on Mr Abramovich were moved to the Kremlin and that an investigation by Mr Skuratov was stopped by the president.
The document says: "Skuratov was preparing a criminal case for the confiscation of Sibneft on the basis of the investigation of its privatisation. The investigation was stopped by President Yeltsin … Skuratov was dismissed from his office."
Mr Skuratov was sacked after the release of a sex tape in 1999. He says it was a stitch-up to discredit him and his investigation.
He said: "This whole thing was obviously political, because in my investigations I came very close to the family of Boris Yeltsin, including via this investigation of the Sibneft privatisation."
Mr Abramovich remained in the Kremlin inner circle when Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000.
The document contains details of another rigged auction two years later, involving a Russian oil company called Slavneft.
Mr Abramovich formed a partnership with another firm to buy Slavneft, but a rival Chinese company was planning to bid almost twice as much.
Many powerful people - from the Kremlin to the Russian parliament - would have stood to lose out if the Chinese won the auction.
The document says that a member of the Chinese delegation was kidnapped when they arrived in Moscow for the auction.
"CNPC, Chinese company, a very strong competitor, had to withdraw from the auction after one of its representatives was kidnapped upon arrival at Moscow Airport and was released only after the company declared its withdrawal." The kidnapping story is backed up by independent sources who did not know about the document.
Vladimir Milov was Russia's deputy energy minister in the run up to the Slavneft sale. He didn't comment on the kidnapping story, but he said senior political figures had already decided that Mr Abramovich's partnership would win the auction.
"I said, look, the Chinese want to come in and they want to pay a much bigger price. They say it doesn't matter, shut up, none of your business. It's already decided. Slavneft goes to Abramovich, the price is agreed. The Chinese will be dragged out somehow."
There is no suggestion that Mr Abramovich knew anything about the kidnapping plot, or played any part in it.
His lawyers told the BBC the kidnap claim "is entirely unsubstantiated" and he has "no knowledge of such incident".
Different factions had been fighting for control of Slavneft and there was widespread opposition to the Chinese bid.
Whatever the reason for the Chinese withdrawal, Mr Abramovich's partnership had the only bid left on the table. And they bought Slavneft at a knockdown price.
Mr Abramovich's lawyers say allegations of corruption in the Slavneft and Sibneft deals are false, and he denies he was protected by Mr Yeltsin.
Source - BBC
Reselling PlayStations keeps a roof over my head
A sudden drop in income, a mounting medical debt and a family to feed left Sheraz (not his real name) struggling to find another way of making money.
During the pandemic his wife lost her job as a beautician, and the government's pandemic support was not easily available to him.
So, he turned to "scalping" - an unfavourable term for stockpiling popular products and reselling them at a higher price for profit.
Many sought-after items are resold, including concert tickets, limited-edition trainers and games consoles.
While the general resale of football tickets is illegal, practically everything else is legal to buy up and resell.
Sheraz says he only sells to his friends and family to make about £250 extra a month, so that he can "slowly eat away" at a £50,000 medical bill.
But for a majority of resellers, scalping is big business - and they are using tech to give them an added advantage.
Jack Bayliss is a 24-year-old former investment banker who started reselling six years ago. His profit margins were huge - sometimes he would buy Yeezy trainers for £150 and sell them for up to £1,000.
He decided to quit his day job and start Aftermarket Arbitrage - a reselling company that teaches others how to scalp. Through subscriptions alone, Mr Bayliss says he has made £456,000 in revenue since starting the company 18 months ago.
For £30 a month, subscribers receive alerts as soon as the bots detect that a rare item is in stock.
The 1,200 subscribers are notified on the Discord app, and can quickly head to the retailer's website to snap up the item.
Asked whether scalping was fair, Mr Bayliss told the BBC: "If you look at any marketplace, if there is an arbitrage opportunity, people are going to capitalise on it.
"Why would you leave the money on the table?"
Rather than being greedy, Mr Bayliss said scalpers were simply trying to make some extra cash. But for some, he said it was also to make a living.
Source - BBC
Durant said the Kyrie Irving situation was "ridiculous"
Kevin Durant has questioned New York's Covid-19 rules which allowed unvaccinated Brooklyn Nets team-mate Kyrie Irving to attend the 110-107 victory over the New York Knicks.
Durant said the situation was "ridiculous" after scoring a season-high 53 points with Irving courtside at the Barclays Center.
Fans no longer need to show proof of vaccinations to attend indoor venues, but businesses still require workers to be vaccinated.
Irving refused to be vaccinated and was kept out of the Nets set-up until December, when they let him return to action.
He has not been able play in home games because rules in New York require players to be vaccinated, and has missed away games in states with similar rules.
Sunday's match was the first home game he has attended this season.
"It's ridiculous. I don't understand it at all," said Durant, who called on New York City Mayor Eric Adams to "figure out" a solution.
"There's unvaxxed people in this building already. We got a guy who can come into the building - I guess, are they fearing for our safety?
"Pretty much everybody in the world is confused at this point."
Los Angeles Lakers legend LeBron James tweeted that Irving being able to attend the match but not play made "absolutely zero sense".
James became the first player to record 10,000 assists, rebounds and points in the NBA as he scored 31 points and made seven rebounds and six assists in a 140-111 defeat by the Phoenix Suns.
Devin Booker scored 30 points for the Suns as the Lakers slipped to their seventh loss in nine games.
The LA Clippers beat the Detroit Pistons 106-102, the Boston Celtics lost 92-95 to the Dallas Mavericks, the Philadelphia 76ers recorded a 116-114 overtime win against the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers 131-128.
The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Houston Rockets by 130-105 and the Memphis Grizzlies won 125-118 at the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Source - BBC
More companies halt operations in Russia
Western Union, Goldman Sachs, The Walt Disney Company, Sony Music and Warner Music are pulling out of Russia amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, now in its second week.
Goldman Sachs announced that it will be shutting down its operations in Russia. "Goldman Sachs is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements," it said in a statement.
Western Union announced Thursday that it is suspending its operations in Russia and close ally Belarus amid the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The Denver-based money-transfer and payments company said in a statement that it "stands with the world in condemning the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine."
The Walt Disney Company, parent company of ABC News, announced it is also pulling operations from Russia, reports Variety. A spokesperson confirmed, "Given the unrelenting assault on Ukraine and the escalating humanitarian crisis, we are taking steps to pause all other businesses in Russia. This includes content and product licensing, Disney Cruise Line activities, National Geographic magazine and tours, local content productions and linear channels. Some of those business activities we can and will pause immediately. Others -- such as linear channels and some content and product licensing -- will take time given contractual complexities."
Also on Thursday, Warner Music suspended all operations in Russia, reports Variety. The company said in a statement, "Warner Music Group is suspending operations in Russia, including investments in and development of projects, promotional and marketing activities, and manufacturing of all physical products."
Variety reports that Sony Music also withdrew from Russia, saying in a statement, "Sony Music Group calls for peace in Ukraine and an end to the violence. We have suspended operations in Russia and will continue our support of global humanitarian relief efforts to aid victims in need."
Source-ABC
Inflation reaches 40-year high; Russian invasion will drive it higher, Psaki says
Americans are already bracing for higher prices at the pump, grocery stores, housing and more. Inflation jumped an unprecedented 7.9 percent over the past year, the largest spike since 1982. Those surging prices are expected to only go up amid the uncertainty in Ukraine, says the Labor Department. Between January and February of this year, inflation rose by an additional 0.8 percent, up from an increase of 0.6 percent from December to January.
Gas prices have spiked on a national average of 62 cents since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Prices skyrocketed elsewhere before the war, with housing costs -- which make up a third of the government's consumer price index -- rising sharply over the past year. Experts say that housing trend is unlikely to reverse course anytime soon.
Inflation rates in coming months will be higher than they would have been had Russia not invaded Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki warned Thursday. When asked how high the Biden Administration expects inflation rates to climb, Psaki said the energy and fuel prices will go up, but the increase will be "temporary."
While inflation rates are expected to decrease by the end of the year, "There is also no question that inflation may be higher for the next few months than it would have been without the Russia," Psaki said.
Source-ABC
England wipe off Windies deficit
England wiped out their first innings deficit as West Indies struggled for breakthroughs at lunch on the penultimate day of the first Test here Friday.
Trailing by 64 runs after dismissing West Indies for 375, England were 72 for one at lunch – a lead of eight runs – at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium.
Zak Crawley was unbeaten on 45 and partnered by captain Joe Root on 20, the pair having put on 48 for the second wicket.
The only casualty was debutant Alex Lees, the left-hander falling lbw to wily seamer Kemar Roach for six in the 11th over of the innings.
Crawley has played positively, lashing seven fours in a 77-ball knock while Root has faced 40 deliveries and counted two boundaries.
Earlier, West Indies managed to add only two to their overnight 373 for nine before Jayden Seales fell to the morning’s third ball, lbw to left-arm spinner Jack Leach (2-79) without scoring.
Veerasammy Permaul remained unbeaten on his overnight 26.
Source-CMC