Blackfire

Chelsea and England midfielder Mason Mount, 24, is a high priority for Manchester United, but they will not pay more than £60m. (Give Me Sport) Manchester United are ready to move for Everton's England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, 29, regardless of whether David de Gea leaves. (TalkSport) Newcastle want to sign England defender Harry Maguire from Manchester United on loan, but they have been told they must buy the 30-year-old. (Sun) Manchester United's plans to sign Napoli's South Korea defender Kim Min-jae, 26, could be scuppered if Maguire refuses to leave. (90 Min) Liverpool are prepared to wait for Southampton's 28-year-old England midfielder James Ward-Prowse. They will pay only half of the Saints' £50m valuation. (Mail) Tottenham are considering a £50m bid for Manchester United's 23-year-old England winger Jadon Sancho. (Star) Brighton are hoping to beat Burnley to Anderlecht's Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen in a deal worth £16m. (Sun) Newcastle are considering making a staggering offer for RB Leipzig's 22-year-old Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. (L'Equipe via Sport Witness) Arsenal are leading the race to sign 24-year-old England midfielder Declan Rice but are not prepared to meet West Ham's asking price. (90min) West Ham are lining up Fulham and Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha, 27, as a replacement for Rice. (TalkSport) Manchester United are trying to drive down the asking price for Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa, 23, with Porto holding out for 75m euros (£64m). (A Bola - in Portuguese) Everton want Coventry's Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres, 25, but face competition from West Ham, Wolves, Fulham, Leeds, Southampton and Sporting Lisbon. (A Bola - in Portuguese) Borussia Monchengladbach's £30m-rated French midfielder Manu Kone, 22, is on Liverpool's shortlist. (Sky Sports Germany via Inside Futbol) Bayer Leverkusen are demanding at least 40m euros (£34m) for 22-year-old Netherlands defender Jeremie Frimpong, who is wanted my Manchester United. (Metro) Aston Villa, Tottenham, Juventus and AC Milan want Galatasaray's 23-year-old Italy forward Nicolo Zaniolo, who has a 35m euro (£30m) release clause in his contract. (Tuttojuve.com) Everton's Colombia defender Yerry Mina, 28, will not move to Besiktas when his contract expires because they are unwilling to meet his wage demands. (Fanatik) The agent of Bayern Munich's France defender Benjamin Pavard, 27, has spoken to Liverpool.(CaughtOffside) Real Madrid president Florentino Perez wants to sign 24-year-old Paris St-Germain and France forward Kylian Mbappe but not this year. (Madrid Xtra via 90 min) Arsenal have agreed a new four-year contract with 22-year-old France defender William Saliba. (Athletic) [https://www.bbc.com/sport/65868247]

The Mitsubishi Colt has returned to the European market as a rebadged Renault Clio, following the brand’s recent launch in the region of the new ASX - itself a Renault Captur clone. Identical to the recently updated French hatch aft of its bespoke front grille and bumper, the seventh-generation Colt is the first to offer hybrid power, launching with the Clio’s full-hybrid powertrain - comprising a 1.6-litre petrol engine mated to a pair of electric motors and a 1.2kWh battery. It also gets an entry-level 1.0-litre pure-petrol option, which is no longer an option for the UK version of the Renault Clio. The Colt will be built at Renault’s plant in Bursa, Turkey, where the Clio is produced for certain markets, and enter dealerships around Europe – not including the UK – from October. The Colt will be built at Renault’s plant in Bursa, Turkey, where the Clio is produced for certain markets, and enter dealerships around Europe – not including the UK – from October. Mitsubishi stopped selling cars in the UK in 2020 as part of a wide-reaching global cost-cutting strategy. It originally planned to leave Europe entirely but has remained in 17 markets in the region - with a view to ultimately regrow sales to around 150,000 units per year. [https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/mitsubishi-colt-back-sale-europe-rebadged-renault-clio]

Former US President Donald Trump has been charged over his handling of classified documents after he left the White House. Mr Trump, 76, faces seven counts, including mishandling classified documents and obstructing efforts to investigate the storage of the files at his Florida home, his lawyer said. Both are federal crimes which can carry a prison sentence on conviction. Mr Trump is campaigning to make a return to the White House in 2024. Legal experts say the indictment does not prevent him running for the presidency again. It is the second time Mr Trump has been charged with a crime, but now he is facing a federal case. These typically carry harsher sentences. He is the first former president ever to be criminally prosecuted by the government he once headed. In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Mr Trump said he had been summoned to appear on Tuesday afternoon at a federal court in Miami, Florida, where the charges against him will be read. "I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former president of the United States," Mr Trump wrote. He added: "This is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!" The charges have not yet been made public, but the details were laid out by his lawyer Jim Trusty. He told CNN they include conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice, and illegally retaining classified documents under the Espionage Act. Mr Trump was at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Thursday when news of the indictment broke. On Friday, the US Secret Service will meet Mr Trump's staff and security officers to plan his journey to the Miami court next week. Prosecutors had also presented evidence in court in Washington DC, but a decision to file the indictment in southern Florida instead may offer some consolation for the Trump team. Legal experts say the state - where the former Republican president is po[CENSORED]r - is likely to produce a less Democratic-leaning jury pool than if the case had been prosecuted in the US capital. The investigation into Mr Trump's handling of classified documents has been overseen by special prosecutor Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November. Mr Smith, a former war crimes investigator, is also overseeing a separate probe into Mr Trump's role in the storming of the US Capitol. In the documents case, prosecutors have said that Mr Trump took about 300 classified files to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, after leaving the White House. About 100 of those - some labelled top secret - were seized when the FBI searched the Palm Beach mansion last August. Reports surfaced last week that prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Mr Trump acknowledging he kept a classified document after leaving the White House in January 2021. Transcripts of that tape circulated in US media on Friday. It is against US law for federal officials - including a president - to remove or keep classified documents at an unauthorised location. Legal experts say Mr Trump will still be able to enter the White House race. "He can be indicted any number of times and it won't stop his ability to stand for office," says David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Centre. Opinion polls show Mr Trump is currently the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. He could continue running even if convicted in the documents case. As Mr Trump issued a fundraising email with the subject line "BREAKING: INDICTED" on Thursday, several leading Republicans voiced their support for him. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said it was "unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him". "House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponisation of power accountable," he wrote on Twitter. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65852062]

Russia appears to have moved to take direct control of Wagner, after months of infighting between defence officials and the private military group. Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov said on Saturday "volunteer formations" will be asked to sign contracts directly with the ministry of defence. The vaguely worded statement is widely believed to target the group. But in a furious statement on Sunday, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces would boycott the contracts. The private military group has played a major role in the war in Ukraine, fighting on the side of Russian forces. But Prigozhin, who is said to hold political ambitions of his own, has been embroiled in a public dispute with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and military chief Valery Gerasimov for months. He has repeatedly accused the pair of incompetence and of deliberately undersupplying Wagner units fighting in Ukraine. "Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu," Prigozhin said in response to a request for comment on the defence ministry's announcement. "Shoigu cannot properly manage military formation." He insisted that his group was well integrated with the Russian military, but said that its effectiveness would be damaged by having to report to the defence minister. While Saturday's announcement did not directly reference Wagner or any other paramilitary groups, Russian media suggested that the new contracts were a move to bring Prigozhin and his forces under control. But the defence ministry said the move was designed to "increase the effectiveness" of Russian units fighting in Ukraine. "This will give volunteer formations the necessary legal status, create common approaches to the organization of comprehensive support and the fulfilment of their tasks," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the contracts must be signed by 1 July. The long-running tensions between the Wagner Group and the army have threatened to boil over in recent weeks. Last week the group kidnapped a senior frontline army commander, Lt Col Roman Venevitin, after accusing him of opening fire on a Wagner vehicle near Bakhmut. Lt Col Venevitin was later released, and in a video shared by Russian military bloggers he accused the group of stoking "anarchy" on Russia's frontlines by stealing arms, forcing mobilised soldiers to sign contracts with the group and attempting to extort weapons from the defence ministry. Prigozhin called the comments - which appeared to be read from a script - "absolutely total nonsense". He has also suggested that he is ready to deploy his troops on Russian soil, saying on Telegram that Wagner was ready to fight against insurrectionist forces in the Belgorod region. In December, the US estimated that Wagner had around 50,000 troops fighting in Ukraine. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65871232]

You've shown great dedication and activity in our projects, demonstrating your potential to be a valuable moderator on our forum. Your consistent engagement speaks for itself.

You are doing a fantastic job in both the VGR and journalists projects. Your behavior is exemplary, and I believe we need more individuals like you on our staff

Name of the game: Red Dead redemption 2 Price: 19.79 $$ Link Store:Here Offer ends up after X hours:SPECIAL PROMOTION! Offer ends 12 June Requirements MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 - April 2018 Update (v1803) Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Memory: 12 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 150 GB available space Sound Card: Direct X Compatible RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 - April 2018 Update (v1803) Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Memory: 12 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 150 GB available space Sound Card: Direct X Compatible

AI seems to be everywhere at the moment, and Google is building the tech into its products faster than most. Gmail is the latest Google app to get an injection of artificial intelligence, to improve search results on mobile. When searching in Gmail, machine learning models will use the search term, most recent emails and other relevant factors to show you the results that best match your search query," Google explains in a blog post (via Android Central). "These results will now appear at the top of the list in a dedicated section, followed by all results sorted by recency," the post continues. In other words, AI will (in theory) pick out the best matches for your search, and put them at the top of the list. This is coming to the Gmail apps for Android and iOS, and should be rolling out for everyone now. As yet, there's no word on whether or not the same feature will be making an appearance in the desktop web interface for Gmail. AI has been built into Gmail for years of course, with features like Smart Reply composing short automated replies for you. In recent months, Google has been pushing more advanced, generative AI as a way of composing your emails. More AI features are heading to search on the web too, while development on the ChatGPT rival Google Bard continues at a steady pace. We can expect plenty more announcements like this one in the months and years ahead. [https://www.techradar.com/news/Gmail-is-adding-more-AI-to-help-you-find-important-emails-faster]

Intel and AMD didn't have much to show us at Computex, but there were one or two interesting side shows. How about 16 Intel Performance cores humming along at 7.2GHz? Of course, you can't get more than eight Performance cores in a current consumer CPU from Intel. But you can get 16 Performance in one of Intel's new Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPUs. That's exactly what Level1Techs managed to achieve at the Computex show with help from ASRock's performance team. Running a 16-core version of Intel's latest Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPU in an ASRock W790 motherboard, they started out running the chip at 6.1GHz and achieved a massive Cinebench R23 score of around 46,000. Note, all 16 cores in the Xeon chip are Performance cores based on the same Golden Cove spec as the big P-cores in a 12th Gen Alder Lake desktop CPU. It doesn't have any Efficient cores. Also, for context, a stock-clocked Intel Core i9 13900K scores around 38,000 in the same test. They managed to get the chip running as high as 7.2GHz, which is awfully impressive for a huge CPU with 16 of Intel's biggest and most powerful cores. But the system wasn't stable enough to complete any benchmark runs at that frequency. Anyway, it all begs the question of what you'd rather have in your performance PC: do your want Zillions of Intel's Efficient cores, or a smaller number but still a decent chunk of purely Performance cores? These overclocking results suggest going all big cores might be the better option for pure performance. The downside is power consumption. The 16-core Xeon chip was apparently sucking down 50W per core at 6.1GHz. Yeah, that's 800W for the whole CPU, a whole bunch more than a Core i9 13900K and a big enough gap to ensure the regular desktop chip is returning a lot more performance per watt. Speaking of running things at silly speeds at Computex, memory specialist GSkill ran a DDR5 overclocking competition at the show. In the end, Seby9123 ran out the winner, achieving DDR5-11158 speeds with G.Skill's 24GB DDR5 memory kit and winning $10,000 for their efforts. That's about twice the memory frequency of your usual DDR5 memory. Not bad. You can catch image highlights of the event here. [https://www.pcgamer.com/intel-cpu-with-16-big-performance-cores-hits-72ghz-and-draws-800w/]

Real Madrid have agreed a deal with Borussia Dortmund to sign England midfielder Jude Bellingham for 103m euros (£88.5m). The 19-year-old, who joined Dortmund from Birmingham City in July 2020, was one of England's top performers at last year's World Cup. Bellingham wants the move and will have a medical in the next few days. The midfielder, who has been linked with some of Europe's top sides, will sign a six-year deal. Dortmund have confirmed in a statement that the Spanish side have agreed to pay 103m euros, with various potential add-ons on top of that. If those add-ons are achieved, the deal could reach 133.9m euros (£115m). Manchester City and Liverpool were two of the sides keen on Bellingham, who is set to become the world's third-most expensive teenager. The Bundesliga's player of the season will also become the second-most expensive English footballer and Real Madrid's second-most expensive signing after Eden Hazard's 115m euro move from Chelsea in 2019. In April, Liverpool dropped out of the race to sign Bellingham because of the cost involved. Asked about Bellingham at the time, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp compared talk of big-money transfers to a "child wanting a Ferrari for Christmas". When Bellingham left Birmingham for Dortmund for £25m, becoming the most expensive 17-year-old in the history of football, the Championship side were mocked by some for retiring the teenager's shirt number, despite him only playing one full season of professional football. He excelled at Dortmund and in October last year he made history by becoming the club's youngest captain aged 19. Bellingham has played 42 times for his club this season - scoring 14 goals and registering seven assists. [https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65836734]

The Volvo EX30 compact crossover, the firm's new entry-level model, will be a “cornerstone” of the Swedish brand's reinvention as an electric-only manufacturer by helping to attract new, younger customers. The Jeep Avenger and Smart #1 rival is available to order in the UK now priced from £33,795 including three years of free servicing. Subscription packages will start at £579 per month, with ustomer deliveries due to start early next year. Volvo says the machine has been developed with a focus on lowering the total cost of ownership and attracting new, younger, urban buyers. Chief executive Jim Rowan claims the intention is to “bring premium, fully electric mobility to a much broader audience”. Volvo expects around three-quarters of EX30 buyers will be new to the brand, with the majority buying it as a second car. The firm also claims the machine has the smallest lifetime carbon footprint of any Volvo model to date and doesn’t compromise on the marque's famed commitment to safety. But the EX30 also offers performance: with a 0-62mph time of 3.6sec in top-spec Twin Motor Performance form, it is the fastest-accelerating Volvo yet. Based on parent firm Geely’s SEA platform also used by the Polestar 4 and Smart #1, the EX30 is 4233mm long, making it slightly longer than the Avenger, but notably shorter than the Polestar 4. date and doesn’t compromise on the marque's famed commitment to safety. But the EX30 also offers performance: with a 0-62mph time of 3.6sec in top-spec Twin Motor Performance form, it is the fastest-accelerating Volvo yet. Based on parent firm Geely’s SEA platform also used by the Polestar 4 and Smart #1, the EX30 is 4233mm long, making it slightly longer than the Avenger, but notably shorter than the Polestar 4. [¡ The EX30 has a clear family resemblance to the flagship EX90 large SUV that was revealed last year, with a closed-off grille and Volvo’s signature ‘Thor’s Hammer’ headlights. It will be offered with wheels ranging from 18in to 20in and in five colours, including a new Moss Yellow that’s inspired by lichen that grows on rocks on Sweden’s west coast. The interior also builds on Volvo’s traditional design form, with the dashboard dominated by a 12.3in vertically mounted touchscreen. The infotainment runs Volvo’s Google-based system, which is compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Instead of the traditional door-mounted speakers, a home audio-style soundbar runs across the full width of the dashboard. There is also an emphasis on interior storage, including a centrally located dashboard glovebox-style multi-function centre console in the front and a removable storage box at the back of the tunnel console. Four interior designs – termed ‘rooms’ by Volvo – will be offered, all using different recyclable and renewable materials, including one that has upcycled denim fibre in the dashboard. The Single Motor powertrain will also be offered in Extended Range form. Priced from £38,545, it uses with a 69kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery, which extends the range to 298 miles, with a claimed efficiency of 4.0mpkWh. That battery is also used in the top-spec Twin Motor Performance model, which adds a second, 154bhp electric motor on the front axle to give a combined output of 422bhp. That model is priced from £40,995 and offers a 286-mile range. The entry-level LFP battery can be charged at a peak of 134kW, while the NMC models can accept charge at up to 153kW. [https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-volvo-ex30-arrives-£33,795-298-miles-range]

A visitor to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming pleaded guilty to a federal charge and was fined after he helped a bison calf, which was later euthanized after its herd rejected it, officials said. Clifford Walters, of Hawaii, pleaded guilty to one count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife, the U.S. attorney's office for Wyoming said. He was ordered to pay around $1,000 in a fine and payment to the park's wildlife fund, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. On May 20, Walters helped a newborn bison calf out of the Lamar River after the animal became separated from its herd, the National Park Service said. But the herd rejected the calf, which can happen when humans interfere with wildlife, according to the park. Staff members killed the calf because it was abandoned and because it was "causing a hazardous situation by approaching cars and people along the roadway," the park said in a statement. There was nothing to indicate Walters acted maliciously, federal prosecutors said Walters represented himself, court records show. He declined to comment Wednesday. Yellowstone has explained its decision to euthanize the calf instead of send it to a sanctuary or care for it by saying state and federal regulations prohibit transferring bison out of Yellowstone except for scientific research or meat processing. The park also said that it is there to preserve natural processes and that it is not a zoo. It said that as many of 25% of bison calves born this spring will die but that they will benefit other animals by feeding them. Allowing this cycle of life to play out aligns most closely with the stewardship responsibility entrusted to us by the American people. Unfortunately, the calf’s behavior on roads and around people was hazardous, so rangers had to intervene: but the calf’s body was left on the landscape," it said. Park officials have stressed that visitors should give wildlife space by staying at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards away from other animals. The sentence handed down for Walters included a $500 fine and a $500 payment to Yellowstone's wildlife protection fund, the U.S. attorney's office said. [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hawaii-man-pleads-guilty-fined-death-yellowstone-bison-calf-rcna87174]

Woking Borough Council has imposed emergency spending restrictions on itself due to its £2bn debt. All spending for non-essential services has been halted after the Section 114 notice was issued, the council said. Its chief executive said the full impact on residents is not yet clear, but the restrictions reflect the "scale and breadth of the acute financial situation facing the council". The Surrey local authority's debt is forecasted to rise to £2.6bn. The deficit increased dramatically following an investment strategy which saw the council borrow hundreds of millions of pounds for regeneration projects. The most high profile was the Victoria Square development in Woking town, which was based on £750m of borrowing. Reports showed the project was worth just £200m. 'Difficult decisions' The Section 114 notice comes three weeks after government-appointed commissioners were sent in over the "exceptional level of financial and commercial risk" the authority exposed itself to. The council's chief executive Julie Fisher said: "The issuing of a Section 114 notice is a very serious matter that rightly reflects the scale and breadth of the acute financial situation facing the council. "Following the secretary of state's appointment of a commissioning team, I will be seeking their expertise and using their critical insight to help the council deliver an improvement and recovery plan at pace to ensure we take actions that are in the interests of the public purse." The only exceptions to the spending restrictions are in cases where the council must legally protect vulnerable people and for services it must cover by law. Woking Borough Council leader Ann-Marie Barker said the notice makes clear the "true scale" of the challenges faced by the authority. "Difficult decisions will lie ahead as we seek to balance the council's budget and address the unaffordable debt," she said. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-65833006]

Thousands are fleeing parts of southern Ukraine after a major dam burst, triggering huge floods and sparking a humanitarian disaster. Water continues to surge down the Dnipro river which divides Russian and Ukrainian-controlled territory. Officials say 30 towns and villages along the river have been flooded and nearly 2,000 homes have been submerged in the main city of Kherson. Both Ukraine and Russia blame each other for sabotaging the Kakhovka dam. The BBC has been unable to verify claims from either side. Early on Tuesday morning, the dam in Russian-controlled Nova Kakhovka was breached, leading to mass evacuations as water levels downstream rapidly increased. One woman, who arrived in Kherson on a rescue boat from the Russian-occupied east side of the river, explained how quickly the situation escalated after she heard about the disaster early on Tuesday. "We managed to collect our things but the water kept rising. At that moment I was cooking buckwheat and my feet were already underwater. It started to flood really fast," Kateryna Krupych, 40, told the BBC. "It feels like we lived a whole life in just one day." Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the Ukrainians are developing a plan to help people on both sides of the Dnipro river. "We are saving everyone on the right [Ukrainian-controlled] bank and developing a plan to help people on the [Russian-held] left bank." the 30 flooded towns and villages, 20 are on Ukrainian soil and 10 in Russian-occupied territory, he said. Mr Klymenko also accused the Russians of leaving "people to fend for themselves". Rising water levels are expected to peak in Kherson late on Wednesday, but officials fear a catastrophic impact on agriculture as the vast Kakhovka reservoir empties into the Black Sea. Who benefits from breaching the dam? What we know about Nova Kakhovka incident 'More and more water is coming every hour' Kherson's regional head Oleksandr Prokudin said 1,700 have so far been evacuated while Kremlin-installed officials on the other side of the river say 1,200 people have been taken to safety. Officials say more than 40,000 people - 17,000 in Ukraine-held territory west of the Dnipro and 25,000 in the Russian-occupied east - need to leave. Unicef's Damian Rance said the charity has seen homes completely destroyed as concerns continue to linger around trapped residents. "Safe water has been impacted in many of these locations as the water supply obviously came from the reservoir there, as has the electricity supplies that have been cut off." President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier on Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of people across the Kherson region are without drinking water. Both sides blame each other for the destruction of the dam. Ukraine says it was mined by Russian forces, and accuses Russia of doing little to help people in flooded areas of the Russian-occupied east bank of the river. Russia says the damage was caused by Ukrainian shelling, and President Vladimir Putin it "a barbaric act" in a phone call with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is just the latest difficulty to hit the city of Kherson. It was occupied by Russian forces soon after the war began last year, but liberated by Ukraine in November. Since then the city has been bombarded with shelling. Viktoriia Yeremenko, 57, told the BBC her house was destroyed in February and she moved to her son's apartment which has now been flooded "We managed to get out," she said. "There was panic, we had to leave quickly and grab the dogs. My brother is half paralysed too." In recent years the Kakhovka dam has become a symbol of leverage between Kyiv and Moscow. When Russia first annexed Crimea in 2014, Ukrainian authorities closed it down and cut off the peninsula from a major water supply. Then last year, invading Russian forces were accused by Ukraine of planting the dam with explosives, which the Kremlin denied. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65835742]

Microsoft is further improving the Paint app in Windows 11, with new changes coming through in testing including a dark mode. As mentioned, one of the big tweaks for Paint here is the addition of a dark mode, and the app will automatically use it if you’ve turned on dark mode in Windows 11’s settings. (Note that you can turn off the option to automatically switch, mind). Another useful change comes with zoom controls. Microsoft has given users a higher level of fine-tuning with the zoom slider, and you can set a custom zoom value if needed. On top of this, a ‘fit to screen’ option is now present which will do just that – zoom to match the size of the app window. In the blog post describing all the changes, Microsoft further tells us that it has overhauled ‘Image Property’ dialog boxes to match Windows 11’s modern design, and fit with the new backdrop for the Paint client. Finally, we’re informed that there have been “many accessibility and usability improvements” to dialog panels throughout the app, with better access key support (keyboard presses for interface controls, rather than having to use a mouse) and keyboard shortcuts in general. Accessibility has been a major focus for Microsoft with Windows 11 for some time now, and again and again, we’re seeing either small tweaks or larger feature introductions coming through for the OS. Good stuff. The dark mode looks smart and is another piece of the puzzle for those wanting this option throughout Windows 11, wherever they’re working. Paint remains a po[CENSORED]r app, so it’s not surprising to see Microsoft continuing to improve the software. Folks want more though (don’t they always), and we’re still seeing calls for layers to be introduced to the app. If you remember, the addition of layers is something we’ve seen (in the early stages) from the modding community, and recently an innovative Paint hack brought in the ability to create simple animations. Maybe – just maybe – those are features we might see Microsoft officially working on in the future. Who knows, stranger things have happened, and the software giant certainly appears keen to keep on motoring ahead with Paint improvements. [https://www.techradar.com/news/Microsoft-gives-one-of-its-oldest-apps-dark-mode-in-Windows-11]

, June 2, 2023: Gigabyte has released an official statement and has been in touch with us to say that it has uploaded beta BIOS options to the official Gigabyte website which addresses the security issues highlighted by the Eclypsium report. It claims that Intel 600- and 700-series and AMD 400- and 500-series firmware updates have been released and that Intel 400- and 500-series and AMD 600-series beta BIOS releases will be available soon. A quick check of a couple of B550 boards on the Eclypsium list, however, highlights that they're still missing the new BIOS update, though I have seen the new firmware available for Intel boards. After the Asus debacle I am waiting for a response to confirm that the use of a beta BIOS won't affect your motherboard warranty. To fortify system security, GIGABYTE has implemented stricter security checks during the operating system boot process. These measures are designed to detect and prevent any possible malicious activities, providing users with enhanced protection: 1. Signature Verification: GIGABYTE has bolstered the validation process for files downloaded from remote servers. This enhanced verification ensures the integrity and legitimacy of the contents, thwarting any attempts by attackers to insert malicious code. 2. Privilege Access Limitations: GIGABYTE has enabled standard cryptographic verification of remote server certificates. This guarantees that files are exclusively downloaded from servers with valid and trusted certificates, ensuring an added layer of protection. Original story, June 1, 2023: It's not a great time to be a motherboard manufacturer. First, Asus risks burning up your Ryzen processor with overly aggressive voltage settings in its firmware (even the supposed 'fix') and now Gigabyte is accused of using the same sorts of backdoor techniques as "threat actors" looking to hack into systems. The vulnerability has been discovered by security company, Eclypsium (via Wired), and points to millions of Gigabyte motherboards out in the wild with the same invisible firmware updating mechanism. "We are working with Gigabyte to address this insecure implementation of their app center capability," reads its report. "In the interest of protecting organizations from malicious actors, we are also publicly disclosing this information and defensive strategies on a more accelerated timeline than a typical vulnerability disclosure." Eclypsium has published a list of the affected motherboards (pdf warning), but basically if you have a modern Gigabyte motherboard the chances are that your current mobo is going to be on this extensive list. There are reportedly 271 different models on the list, but I've not counted because the pdf file runs over three pages and three columns of pretty small typeface. Suffice to say, it's a lot of boards. It also doesn't matter if you're running an AMD or Intel system; the vulnerability affects both platforms. All it would theoretically take is someone on the same network as your machine intercepting Gigabyte's insecure updater and pointing it to a different URL than the standard firmware repositories. One of the worst parts of this is that, of the three possible download locations, one of them is using a plain HTTP address, not the far more secure HTTPS. Eclypsium has stated that it doesn't currently believe there has been an active exploit of the vulnerability, but that "an active widespread backdoor that is difficult to remove poses a supply chain risk for organizations with Gigabyte systems." lists the potential risk and impact as follows: Abuse of an OEM backdoor by threat actors: Previously, threat actors have taken advantage of legitimate but insecure/vulnerable "OEM backdoor" software built into the firmware of PCs. Most notably, Sednit group (APT28, FancyBear) exploited Computrace LoJack to masquerade as legitimate laptop anti-theft feature. Compromise of the OEM update infrastructure and supply chain: Gigabyte does have documentation on their website for this feature so it may be legitimate, but we cannot confirm what is happening within Gigabyte. In August 2021, Gigabyte experienced a breach of critical data by the RansomEXX group and then experienced another breach in October 2021 by the AvosLocker group. Persistence using UEFI Rootkits and Implants: UEFI rootkits and implants are some of the stealthiest and most powerful forms of malware in existence. They reside in firmware on motherboards or within EFI system partitions of storage media, and execute before the operating system, allowing them to completely subvert the OS and security controls running in higher layers. Additionally, since most of the UEFI code exists on the motherboard instead of storage drives, UEFI threats will easily persist even if drives are wiped and the OS is reinstalled. The rate of discovery of new UEFI rootkits has accelerated sharply in recent years as seen by the discovery of LoJax (2018), MosaicRegressor (2020), FinSpy (2021) ESPecter (2021), MoonBounce (2022), CosmicStrand (2022), and BlackLotus (2023). Most of these were used to enable persistence of other, OS-based malware. This Gigabyte firmware images and the persistently dropped Windows executable enable the same attack scenario. Often, the above implants made their native Windows executables look like legitimate update tools. In the case of MosaicRegressor, the Windows payload was named "IntelUpdater.exe" MITM attacks on firmware and software update features: Additionally, the insecure nature of the update process opens the door to MITM techniques via a compromised router, compromised device on the same network segment, DNS poisoning, or other network mani[CENSORED]tion. It is also important to note that the third connection option, https://software-nas/Swhttp/LiveUpdate4 , is not a fully qualified domain name, but rather, a machine name that would presumably be on the local network. This means an attacker on a local subnet could trick the implant into connecting to their system, without the need for DNS spoofing. Ongoing risk due to unwanted behavior within official firmware: Backdoors hidden within UEFI or other firmware can be hard to remove. Even if the backdoor executable is removed, the firmware will simply drop it again the next time the system boots up. This challenge was demonstrated before when trying to remove Computrace LoJack and Superfish tools from Lenovo laptops. The whole thing takes place during the Windows startup process where the Gigabyte updater, without any input from the user, can go off and download and then execute payloads from different locations on the internet. The fact that one of those locations is on an insecure HTTP address makes it easily compromised by a so-called Machine-in-the-middle attack. Though Eclypsium also notes that even on the HTTPS locations the actual remote certificate validation (the part that should theoretically make it more secure) isn't implemented properly, which makes them vulnerable to the same sort of attack, too. It's a bit of a security nightmare if you're running an organisation on Gigabyte-based systems, though arguably less of a concern for solo PC gamers. But it's still not a good feeling knowing that an insecure Wi-Fi network could lead to anything getting loaded onto your machine without you knowing anything about it. [https://www.pcgamer.com/if-youve-got-a-modern-gigabyte-motherboard-theres-a-bios-setting-you-need-to-disable-to-avoid-pcs-latest-security-calamity/]

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes feels he owes manager Erik ten Hag for standing by him after a 7-0 humiliation at Liverpool in March. Fernandes attracted huge criticism, from ex-United captain Gary Neville and others, for his conduct that day. Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said after the match that the Portugal international should not captain United again. Ten Hag rejected the demands and called the 28-year-old "an inspiration". He is set to lead United out for Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley with club captain Harry Maguire likely to be on the bench. "I'm aware that he's really happy with the way I train, the way I play, the way I show my emotions and the way I show my passion for the game," said Fernandes. He knows I care. That's why probably sometimes it makes you do some things that you should not do. "But I will never do anything to make the team look bad, make my team-mates look bad, or something that is not good for the team. He knows that, so that's why it protects me. "I think that's good because he shows you the respect, he shows you the protection, but always with the demands behind that because obviously when you protect someone you want them to give you some back, so he can have his reasons to protect you." Fernandes had a testing day at Anfield; with once incident late in the match where he appeared to make contact with an assistant referee, although he was not charged. Ten Hag has supported the midfielder, but does not give him a free pass. In a throwback to Sir Alex Ferguson's days, there have been occasions when Ten Hag has demanded to see the 28-year-old to express his displeasure - but the manager maintains trust by not disclosing the details of those discussions. Fernandes said: "He has called me to his office two or three times and said 'look, we have to change this, we have to change this, I think you could do it in a different way'. We had many conversations this season." Latest Manchester United news, analysis and fan views The midfielder feels United are heading in the right direction under Ten Hag - having wanted reassurance regarding the club's plans before signing a four-year contract in 2022. "I am ambitious. I want to win trophies at the club," said Fernandes, a £47m buy from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020. "I spoke with the club before I signed that contract and said I want to be successful with the club but I need to make sure the club is going to do the right things and do things in a successful way. "I think those steps are being done. We still need some things and I think we will have that - not only with transfers but also in the dressing room, with us stepping up more in moments that we needed [to do it] this season but didn't. "Next season we will have learned, so we need to do it better." Positive, rather than successful season Fernandes refuses to call this season "successful" for Manchester United. The word he prefers to use is "positive". A successful season, he argues, would involve "winning the league, winning the Champions League, winning big trophies because the past of this club, the history of this club, is big". He won his first trophy as a United player, the Carabao Cup, in February, with the team securing a place in next season's Champions League. United have never won both domestic cups in the same season, so some kind of history awaits if they are successful at Wembley. However, Fernandes knows most of his club's supporters have a different reason for wanting their team to beat City - stopping them matching United's 1999 Treble-winning campaign. As players, Fernandes does not believe the United squad can think about the game in the same way. "We are aware of it," he said. "We know it. We know the story of our club and that the fans don't want City to do it. "But for us it is about ending the season in the best way possible. "We know if we win the trophy, the consequence of that is Manchester City cannot do the Treble any more. But from the players' side, it is just about winning the game because we want to win a trophy for ourselves, the club, the fans. That [https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65786336]

Why we’re running it: To see if a vRS badge can make an electric car exciting and if the Skoda Enyaq vRS is a case-in-poin Life with a Skoda Enyaq vRS: Month 4 Coloured cables help avoid accidents - 24 May I’m not sure if Skoda colour-matched the charging cable provided with our EV’s ludicrously bright hue, but it both makes a change from a black cable and is quite useful. When using lamp-post chargers on the street, I always try to tuck the cable under my car for pedestrians’ safety, but a virtually glowing cable is an extra welcome warning of the potential trip hazard Don’t worry: you haven’t stumbled across a well-thumbed edition of Dogs Monthly in the dentist’s waiting room. This is still Autocar. Only this week we’re mostly modelling dogs, specifically my two. That’s Tatty on the left and Himba on the right (a West Highland terrier and Miniature Schnauzer respectively), and part of the reason I’m parked outside a freezing-cold NEC is to visit Crufts and get the two mutts assessed by one of the esteemed judges. There is a car link, I promise. In one of those slightly off-the-wall brand tie-ups, Skoda has embraced the world of dogs and launched a range of products that help keep your precious cargo safe in the back of the car. There’s even a playlist for anxious dogs, I kid you not. Barkin’ Bops – ye gods! Wander around Crufts during the build-up to the show and you can understand why Skoda sponsors it: dogs are big business in the UK. Over the course of the event, the Crufts judges will assess 20,000 dogs, whittling that number down to 220 best of breeds and then into the final that’s across seven categories. The logistics of that process alone blows the mind. How on earth do you choose one black Lab from another? n the back of our Skoda Enyaq iV Coupé, I’ve gone for the harness-and-hammock combo. The former is to keep things legal: not only is it incredibly dangerous to have a hound loose in the cabin with you, it will also get you in trouble with the police. They cost £62.32 each, so not cheap but still vital. I also used the hammock – basically a piece of non-slip canvas strung across the rear seats to keep the car clean and the dogs comfy. This is available from £117.24 but is Skoda-branded and padded, so cheaper, thinner options are out there. Both are relatively easy to fit, even if I do manage to thread Tatty’s head and leg through the same gap on the harness at one point. The hammock also took a bit of assessing, as you need to get the straps in the right spot (these help secure it, via the headrest stays), but it has a nifty Velcro ‘door’ so it’s easier to post the dogs into the car. It also comes with slits in the base so you can poke the harness through to attach it to the seatbelt. It’s a remarkably well-thought-out set-up that keeps all the muck well contained. You can also buy dog guards for the rear if you would prefer to keep your pets in the boot, and a mat for back there with a handy flap that protects the rear bumper when they jump in and out. It makes the journey to the NEC effortless and the dogs settled in well. Back to top How did they get on with the judging? Well, as you can see, it was only a mock-up (Crufts is way too busy to let my two reprobates in on a proper day), but judge Bill Lambert thought both performed well, even going so far as to say that Himba was “well balanced”. That gave me visions of her front camber being set-up just so, but, apparently, it actually means she has good proportions. If only she was as easy to clean as the Enyaq. [https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/skoda/enyaq-iv-vrs/long-term-reviews/SKODA-ENYAQ-COUPE-VRS-2023-LONG-TERM-TEST]

An Oklahoma man said he was the victim of an hourslong bee attack last Friday, leaving him with a broken hip and over 200 stingers in his body. Carl Amos, 81, was mowing his yard in Maysville when his family said he was swarmed and attacked by what appeared to be “killer bees," an aggressive subspecies also known as Africanized bees. “They were going in my hair and going in my ears and in my nose, and I thought I better keep my mouth shut because those bees will be in my mouth,” Amos said in an interview with NBC News affiliate in Oklahoma City KFOR. “I hit some of them with my hands,” he told the outlet. “You just can’t kill ’em fast enough.” Amos tried to run from the bees but fell and injured his leg in the process. “I knew I had broken my leg because I heard it pop, so I thought this is not good,” he told KFOR. He said the bees continued to sting him as he lay on the ground for nearly three hours. A man who worked at a business nearby discovered Amos and called an ambulance. “I feel like I owe him my life,” he told KFOR. Amos was subsequently transported to a local hospital where staff began to remove the bees' stingers, according to a statement posted on GoFundMe from his daughter Heather Garvey. “The hospital has removed over 200 stingers and are still removing them three days later,” Garvey said. “After all this, he is in good spirits but it will be a long road to recovery,” Garvey wrote. [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-man-suffers-hourslong-bee-attack-leaving-broken-hip-hundreds-rcna87458]

Two women have been killed in shelling by Ukrainian forces in the Russian border region of Belgorod, its governor has said. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the victims were hit by shrapnel as they were travelling in a car near the village of Maslova Pristan. Officials in the neighbouring Bryansk and Kursk regions said buildings had been damaged in shelling and an overnight drone attack. Ukraine has so far not commented. However Kyiv has denied involvement in previous attacks across the border, which it says are carried out by Russian anti-government groups. In Belgorod, Mr Gladkov said two men travelling in another car had been seriously wounded in the shelling. He added that nine people had been injured in the region in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, one of the most prominent anti-Kremlin paramilitary groups, the Liberty of Russia Legion (FRL), said it had been engaging in military operations in the nearby village of Novaya Tavolzhanka. In a post on social media on Friday morning, it said two civilians had been killed after the Russian artillery mistook their vehicle for a car containing FRL members. The FRL said "active fighting" continued on the outskirts of Novaya Tavolzhanka, admitting that there were injured "legionnaires". Neither claim has been independently verified. Long-range drones also hit two towns in the Smolensk region, the local governor there said, while the Kaluga region's head said an explosion had been reported in a forest. Recent weeks have seen an increase in cross-border attacks by the FRL and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), another paramilitary group. Last month, the two groups carried one of the most significant incursions - targeting the border towns of Shebekino and Grayvoron - since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Who are the Russian anti-Putin paramilitaries? The Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) came to prominence in March 2023, taking part in a cross-border raid in Russia's western Bryansk region. The group's leader is known as Denis Kapustin or Denis Nikitin, a Russian nationalist, who a Ukrainian investigative website alleged had links to neo-Nazi groups. Mr Nikitin has described himself as a patriot with "traditionalist" views and the RDK accuses Russia's mainstream opposition of sitting on the fence in the Ukraine war. The Liberty of Russia Legion (FRL) is a very different organisation which fights alongside Ukrainian troops. The group uses a white-blue-white flag, seen by part of the Russian opposition as the flag of "free Russia". Arguably the FRL's best-known soldier, Caesar, has insisted "there are no people in the legion who were forced to join it" and all members were contract soldiers with Ukraine's international legion. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65786624]