In their one-off Test against Zimbabwe later this month, Ben Stokes was named in a 13-man squad that was announced on Friday, giving him the all-clear to lead England.
The 33-year-old all-rounder has had hamstring surgery since suffering a broken hamstring in December, which is his second hamstring tear in five months.
Stokes hasn’t played for county side Durham this season, but he will lead England in the opening Test of their home season at Trent Bridge, which will be played over four days rather than the regular five.
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Sam Cook, an uncapped Essex seamer, is also in the squad and could make his Test debut in Nottingham, along with injured pacers Olly Stone, Brydon Carse, Chris Woakes, and Mark Wood.
Express-switched Jofra Archer isn’t currently regarded as qualified for international red-ball cricket.
Although Cook, 27, has taken 318 first-class wickets for an impressive under-20 rating, doubts persist as to whether he is quick enough to perform well in the Tests.
Along with Jordan Cox, his Essex teammate, who might play as the reserve batsman, Cook is one of the other two uncapped players in the squad.
Batter Jacob Bethell, who impressed during England’s tour of New Zealand, is currently playing for Bengaluru’s Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League, effectively excluding him from the Zimbabwe match.
Josh Tongue, a paceman for Nottinghamshire who last played for England during the 2023 Ashes, will hope to return to Test action on his home turf.
With concerns about Stokes’ ability to bowl, he might join a pace attack that includes Cook and Gus Atkinson.
Ollie Pope appears poised to make his first appearance as the number three batsman while off-spinner Shoaib Bashir has maintained his place despite his inconsistent performances this season.
Zimbabwe’s first Test match in England since 2003 will be here.
Zimbabwe have since lost a significant number of matches, but they won their first Test by three wickets in Sylhet last week.
England and India will also face off in a five-test series before the 2025/26 Ashes in Australia at the start of Stokes’ men’s busy home summer.
England squad
Ben Stokes (capt), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wkt), and Josh Tongue are the guests.
Ruaidhri Higgins, former Dublin City manager, has been appointed as Coleraine’s new manager.
On Wednesday, Higgins will take over the club’s European play-off semi-final in the place of Dean Shiels.
Higgins, a Limavady player who started for Coleraine from 2015 to 2016, left his position as manager of Derry City in November after the Candystripes’ FAI Cup final defeat to Drogheda United.
The 40-year-old previously worked as a scout for the Football Association of Ireland and as an assistant manager for Dundalk.
In their midweek play-off, the Bannsiders will face Crusaders or Dungannon Swifts, the Irish Cup winners.
After spending one season at the Showgrounds, Shiels and assistant Michael O’Connor left the organization on Wednesday.
As the club transitioned into full-time football, he led the team to a fifth-place finish in the Irish Premiership.
Oran Kearney, the manager Shiels replaced, also resigned from his position on Thursday.
Inpho
“Excited to begin”
Higgins helped Derry win the 2022 FAI Cup final while serving as the League of Ireland Premier Division coach.
Conor Loughrey will join his backroom team, according to him.
Higgins stated in relation to his appointment that he was honored to be working for a company that gives him a lot. This club has a long history, passionate supporters, and ambition.
I’m excited to begin, meet the players and staff, and create something that will help the pitch succeed and make you proud. Play-offs are the primary focus, and we’ll do everything to finish the season strong.
Conor Loughrey will be joining me, too, in addition to me. He’ll give the coaching team real energy and detail, which I can trust and value highly.
Henry Ross, the club’s executive chairman and majority shareholder, said, “We’re excited to welcome Ruaidhr to Coleraine at a crucial time.”
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been labeled a “right-wing extremist” by Germany’s domestic intelligence service.
Following an audit by the BfV security service, the party is now subject to surveillance, according to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s announcement on Friday. It might also bring up the possibility of banning the AfD, which has gained popularity in recent years and finished second in the general election in February.
Due to its attempts to “undermine the free, democratic” order in Germany, the BfV, which had already labeled several local AfD chapters as extremist, made the decision to label the entire organization.
Leading party officials continue to make numerous xenophobic, anti-minority, anti-Islamic, and anti-Muslim statements, the statement continued.
The AfD, which is currently leading several opinion polls and has capitalized on growing anti-immigration sentiment in the wake of the nation’s economic slowdown, denounced the designation as “clearly politically motivated.”
Friedrich Merz, the conservative CDU leader, is scheduled to take the oath of office as Germany’s new chancellor just days before the appointment.
The party, which has signed a coalition deal with the left-leaning Social Democrats, is debating how to handle the AfD in the new parliament.
The classification will make it easier for the authorities to monitor the AfD, including by intercepting communications.
It might also rekindle attempts to ban the AfD.
German Social Democrats’ current chancellor Olaf Scholz stated on Friday that he opposes rushing to outlaw the AfD, adding that it needs to be evaluated “carefully.”
The BfV has long been investigating the radical right-wing party because of its connections to Russia and its extremist connections.
More than 10,000 of the 38,800 far-right extremists counted by the organization last year are members.
Several AfD factions, including three regional parties in the east of the nation and its youth wing, were already categorized as extremists.
In 2021, the entire organization was labeled as a alleged extremist case. The national party’s entire designation has now been officially recognized by the security services.
The classification, according to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, was “clear and unambiguous” and the result of a 1,100-page “comprehensive and neutral audit” without any political influence.
Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, AfD’s co-leaders, claimed in a statement that the organization is “being publicly discredited and criminalized.”
The iconic Knightsbridge department store, Harrods, and British retail giant Marks & Spencer (M&, S) are the latest victims of cyberattacks in the UK.
One of the most well-known high-street stores in the United Kingdom, M&, S, is still accepting online orders, which has already resulted in millions of pounds in lost revenue as a result of the attack.
What we know about the incident, its effects, and where things are right now are as follows.
What transpired during the Marks and Spencer and Harrods cyberattacks?
April 21: Marks &, Spencer customers report issues with making contactless payments and ordering click-and-collect services (both online and in-store). The business later confirms that a “cyber incident” is brewing.
April 25: M&, S halts all online orders and removes all of its offline job postings. Store signs start flashing warning about limited food options. At M&, S food stores, gift cards and returns are not accepted.
April 28: Some M&, S locations report no longer carrying popular goods like Percy Pigs candy and empty shelves in some stores. The Castle Donington warehouse in the UK’s East Midlands has instructions for around 200 agency workers to remain at home. Stores continue to experience shortages.
April 29 through May 2: Job applications are still pending and M&, S’s website is still inaccessible. No further public updates have been made from the retailer. Physical stores are still open, but some product lines aren’t.
The United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police confirms its investigation into the attack on April 30.
May 1: Harrods, a luxury department store in London, confirms a cyberattack but promises that business will continue as usual. The company has not disclosed the extent of the breach or the leakage of customer data.
M&, S is back online, though.
The online services offered by M&, S have not fully reopened. Customers can browse online, but they can’t finish making purchases. Gift cards are still being accepted in stores, which also causes some issues.
A recovery timeline has not been established by the company.
What led to the attack on these retailers?
Experts believe the company’s system shutdown suggests a likely ransomware incident, despite M&, S’s not confirming the type of cyberattack it experienced.
A type of malicious software that blocks access to files or systems until a ransom has been paid, which is typically in the form of cryptocurrency. Operationen can be stopped and crucial data can be held hostage by this type of software.
Harrods has not disclosed the details of its cyberattack, but experts think there may be something going wrong with it.
The cyberattacks are being investigated by both the Metropolitan Police and the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC). The NCSC has advised consumers to check bank activity and update passwords, as well as urges all retailers to strengthen their cybersecurity.
[Photo: Mina Kim/Reuters] People cycle past the Harrods department store in London.
The most recent cyberattack was carried out by who?
Cybersecurity experts believe that the Scattered Spider, also known as Octo Tempest, is responsible for the attack on M&, S.
This loose network of mostly young, mostly English-speaking hackers exploit phishing techniques to break into company systems (messages where criminals deceive recipients into handing over sensitive information like login details), SIM swapping (taking control of someone’s phone number), and multi-factor Authentication fatigue (sending repeatedly authorized login requests until someone unintentionally approves one).
Scattered Spider is alleged to have used DragonForce, a ransomware, to access M&, S systems.
According to cybersecurity firm Akamai, phishing emails are one of the most frequent ways ransomware infiltrates a system. The goal of exploiting either a human error or a technical vulnerability is what is a common practice across all methods, according to its website.  ,
Important files are encrypted and spread through the malware, locking them so that the company can’t access or use them. The hackers then demand a key to unlock the data in exchange for a ransom.
Scattered Spider is an unusual hacking organization, according to Tim Mitchell, a senior security researcher at Secureworks, because most cybercriminal networks operate out of countries like Russia, where looser enforcement creates a more “permissive environment” for cybercrime.
Russia is ranked second in the world in terms of the highest cybercrime threat by the World Cybercrime Index, followed by Ukraine, China, the United States, Nigeria, and Romania.
How much have the businesses lost as a result of this attack?
More than 700 million pounds ($930 million) have been lost to Marks &, Spencer’s market value since the attack, with its share price falling by 6.5 percent, including a 2.2% drop on the day of the first disruptions, just by the 2.2% drop.
About 3.8 million pounds ($5.05 million) in daily revenue is generated by online shopping, which accounts for about one-third of M&, S’s clothing and home sales. This is a stream that has been halted as a result of the ongoing shutdown.
Nearly 200 job postings have also been removed from the company’s website.
Harrods, in contrast, has not yet disclosed any financial losses. It is a privately held company that does not typically release financial information to the public and does not have a stock price.
What has M&, S and Harrods said?
M&, S initially responded to the cyberattack by first letting users know about the breach and halting the affected services. Only two official statements were made since April 25, with the last one being released on April 25. However, communication has since stalled.
The retailer confirmed that it “as a precaution” by shutting down the store’s stock and logistics.
Harrods, in contrast, has not yet disclosed any financial losses. Harrods is “working closely with leading cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to investigate the incident and ensure the integrity of our systems,” according to a spokesperson.
Have there recently been any other cyberattacks of this nature?
Yes . The latest UK retailers to be affected by cyberattacks are M&, S, and Harrods.
Co-op, a British consumer cooperative that runs restaurants, funeral homes, and other businesses, also experienced an attempted breach the same week. Back-office and call center functions were impacted by the IT system shut down. Stores remained open throughout.
In June of this year, a ransomware attack targeted Synnovis, a partner of the UK’s National Health Service, which delayed more than 11, 000 medical appointments while keeping the patient data it relied on private. According to the UK government’s policy against paying cybercriminals, Qilin, the Russian-linked cybercriminal group demanded $50 million to restore access, but Synnovis refused to pay. The group responded by posting the stolen information online, including names, birthdates, NHS information, and information on blood test results.
Finn Russell and Johnny Sexton are “completely different characters,” according to former Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw, who believes the pair can put their differences to rest and work together on the British and Irish Lions tour this summer.
Sexton has previously expressed disapproval of Russell, who has been drafted into Andy Farrell’s backroom team for the Australian tour.
The Ireland legend claimed that Warren Gatland’s choice to choose the Scot over him during the 2021 Lions tour of South Africa in his autobiography.
Laidlaw, who was a member of Sexton and Russell’s Lions squad in 2017, is unable to see a situation where his former Scotland team-mate is selected for Farrell’s squad.
According to Laidlaw, “Finn is undoubtedly going to be on that tour,” Laidlaw told BBC Scotland.
“I believe he will find success there based on merit.” He has been fantastic, played well in the third Test, and went on the previous trip.
He is a top player, has excelled for Bath, and is “flying high in the Premiership.”
“I think it lends more to that coaching staff, including Owen Farrell, Richard Wigglesworth, and Jonny Sexton, I believe. That is likely to occur, in my opinion.
“I still see Finn going, probably those two plus Sam Prendergast,” I said. I don’t understand why he won’t be a part of the squad, therefore.
Despite their opposing personalities, Laidlaw believes he could work with Russell despite taking a close look at Sexton during his 2017 tour of New Zealand.
Sexton was the “urgent competitor,” Laidlaw, who trains with the Urayasu D-Rocks in Japan, said.
On that trip, I had the honor of spending time with him, and I definitely learned a lot from him.
He simply isn’t Finn like Finn, though. He obviously takes things seriously. He is simply completely unique.
Would you like to buy some new bedding for your bedroom this spring that doesn’t cost as much as it should? You won’t want to miss this Debenhams sale, then.
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‘Super soft’ luxury bedding set hits Debenhams sale with a mega 50% off(Image: Debenhams)
Nothing can be added to a room’s ensemble like a luxurious bedspread, whether you’re enhancing it or elevating it to your bedroom. And thanks to this Debenhams deal, this Flannel Marl Brushed Cotton Duvet Set may be just the thing for you when it comes to purchasing luxuriously soft bedding that looks expensive but won’t break the bank.
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This Flannel Marl Super Soft Brushed Cotton Duvet Sets is now 50% off(Image: Debenhams)
With its super-soft, top-notch cotton yarn and gray and beige understated colors, this bedding set maximizes comfort. In the spring and summer heat, it makes for indulgently cozy and snug sleeping that won’t make you sleep all night. The skin is also kept soft thanks to the brushed fabric.
This bedding will look stylish and stylish in any bedroom, much like an expensive set similar to a hotel where you can relax in enduringly soft sheets. It has a subtle, sophisticated appearance that can be layered with other pieces to complement the design of your home.
Any room will look more sophisticated with this understated, chic addition. While Debenhams’ spring sale lasts, this set is currently priced at just £49.99, which is roughly equivalent to between £100 and £120, depending on your choice of size.
One customer who was content with their purchase wrote, “Absolutely love this duvet set I want to get another.”
Another person chimed in with their own accolades, as they put it, “Great quality! I feel cozy because it is so soft and warm.
Continue reading the article.
This Flannel Stripe 100% Brushed Cotton Duvet Set, which is currently on sale for 50% off, is another example of another Debenhams bedding set. You’ll need to order this one quickly, though, because its own colorway has already sold out.
