Hackers target presidential candidates, U.S. spy chief says

The hacking efforts against the campaigns are considered so serious that some congressional committees have been briefed on the activity, a government source said.

?Given the intense scrutiny paid to the 2016 campaign, and the broad implications for U.S. foreign policy, it's no surprise that actors are launching cyber-attacks against presidential campaigns,? Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.

Cyber attacks against political candidates occur in countries around the world. The last two U.S. presidential cycles in 2008 and 2012 witnessed a barrage of cyber attacks from a range of adversaries targeting [the top candidates in both parties].

U.S. intelligence officials have said many previous assaults were linked to Chinese hackers. ?

Clapper said the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are working to educate ?both campaigns? about cyber threats, likely referring to the campaigns of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

A U.S. security official said foreign hackers would likely seek information about a candidates' foreign policy intentions and team and about the campaign's internal operations.

The Republican and Democratic candidates for president will begin receiving intelligence briefings after being officially nominated at party conventions this summer.

Clapper said the two candidates would receive ?exactly the same? briefings. ??We've been doing this for many years?.? Clapper said.

That was United's first trophy under Sir Alex Ferguson. It was also Les Sealey's finest hour, although he seldom spoke of it publicly out of concern for Jim Leighton, who was dropped after the 3-3 draw in the first game.

Sealey notes in Clitheroe's book that he writes with Leighton's permission. The next chapter is Leighton's own account of events, also told with brutal honesty in his own book, In the Firing Line, published in 2000.

Liverpool fans flock into Switzerland for final as they bid to cheer on their side to another European title

Liverpool fans appeared to be in high spirits on Wednesday morning as they travelled in their numbers to Switzerland ahead of their Europa League final showdown with Sevilla.  Supporters of Jurgen Klopp's side travelled from John Lennon Airport to Basle as they geared up for their highly anticipated clash. The Anfield faithful posed with club scarves and handmade posters in Liverpool as they prepared to board their flight to Central Europe.

There was always going to be attention on me following a famous Bairstow at Yorkshire and then England.

I had to follow my own path. Keeping wicket just happened, too. It was never a conscious thing to follow dad. He left an amazing legacy. He's in the top five for most appearances for Yorkshire and took over a thousand dismissals.

My earliest memory of sport is playing cricket on the beach in Barbados with my dad, David, when he was touring.

Either that or hitting a ball at Undercliffe cricket club in Bradford while my dad and brother Andrew were playing. My only karaoke experience came at Undercliffe. When I was five I stood up on a chair on New Year's Eve and sang Simply the Best by Tina Turner. I have no plans to repeat that.

The Sri Lanka legend was one of Ball's five second innings victims when Surrey tackled Nottinghamshire last month.

he believes England will not rule him out lightly when they consider the merits of him versus Steve Finn when they line up against Sri Lanka at Leeds on Thursday.

Philippe Coutinho named Liverpool Player of the Season as he completes clean sweep of club awards for second straight year

Philippe Coutinho was crowned Liverpool's Player of the Season for the second consecutive campaign as the midfielder completed a clean sweep during their awards dinner on Thursday night.Coutinho also won the Performance of the Season for his display against Manchester City in November, Goal of the Season for his solo strike against Manchester United in the Europa League and First Team Player's Player of the Season - the same four prizes he won last year.

"Building on his success with the Lions in the winter, Jake has impressed with the ball and has sh

"If selected, we are confident he will perform very well at international level."The first Test starts next Thursday, against opponents who pulled off a last-ditch victory over England at the same venue two years ago to take that series 1-0.

England selectors to decide between Nick Compton and Tom Westley in crucial No 3 spot for first Sri Lanka Test at Headingley

Nick Compton will dominate one of the most intriguing selection meetings in years on Wednesday when England must decide whether to stick with those who won in South Africa or revamp their under-performing top order.

Pat Cummins included in Australia A's 24-man squad for triangular series

Pat Cummins, the talented but injury-prone Australian paceman, has headlined Australia As 24-man squad for their quadrangular series featuring South Africa A in Queensland starting in late July.

The 23-year-old last played for Australia in September 2015 in a One-Day International (ODI) match against England before succumbing to a slew of injuries, most notably the lower lumbar stress fracture, which have plagued his fledgling career. Cummins has played just one Test match, when he memorably claimed seven wickets against South Africa in November 2011 as an 18-year-old.

Rod Marsh, Australias chief selector, said he was hopeful Cummins would play in the 50-over matches. "Pat is tracking along nicely in his recovery from his long term injury and we are hopeful he will be available for the one-day matches in this series," Marsh said on Tuesday (May 10). "However, we will be guided by medical staff on his return."

With the squad being mainly selected on the basis of domestic performances of the players, Marsh added, "It is important that we continue to build our arsenal of quality fast-bowlers and this squad features some new faces such as Joe Mennie and Dan Worrell, both of whom have impressed at the Shield level."

Quinton de Kock rues fielding errors, defends bowlers

After being outclassed by the bottom-ranked Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in a chase of 182, Quinton de Kock, Delhi Daredevils' opener, defended his bowlers but blamed the fielding lapses for their narrow nine-run defeat at the PCA Stadium in Mohali, on Saturday (May 7).

KXIP team plundered 80 runs in the final seven overs to post a challenging 181 from their quota of overs before executing their plans to perfection in death overs to restrict the visitors to just 172. De Kock, however, felt that it was their fielding mistakes and not bowling that cost Delhi their second game on the trot, for the first time in the ninth season of the Indian Premier League.

"I'm sure we gave a lot of runs away, but I think our bowling was fine. We were just a little bit sloppy in the field," the Daredevils opener told media after the nine-run loss. "It was a good wicket, and other teams bat well also. We would like to bowl them out for 120 every time but that can't happen," he added.

Marcus Stoinis, the destructor-in-chief, got two reprieves within a space of four deliveries as the Delhi fielders missed close chances to run him out. The Kings XI opener was on 16 when as many as three fielders converged but failed to send in a throw from the cover region, allowing Stoinis, who was halfway down, to regain his crease safely. In the next over, Nadeem's failure to collect the throw neatly at the non-striker's end gifted Stoinis his second chance when the batsman was sent back by his partner Hashim Amla. The Australian all-rounder made the most of the opportunities and crafted his maiden IPL half-century to guide his team to a winning score. He topped it up with a three-wicket haul to bag the Man of the Match award.

Delhi were not out of the contest until the excellent spell of bowling in death overs by Punjab. De Kock showed little mercy as he hammered his third fifty-plus score of the season, off just 27 balls, to lead the chase effortlessly. His wicket, first of Stoinis's three in the night, triggered a dry spell and subsequently a collapse that saw Delhi finishing nine runs off the mark. The opener credited the two Sharmas in the Punjab camp Sandeep and Mohit for choking the chase with some tight bowling.

"Ya, I think that (death overs) was kind of where we lost it a little bit. With the new ball, it was quite nice to play and then towards the end of the game, it got a lot harder (to score)," he explained. "Obviously they bowled pretty well also. We tried our hand but Mohit and Sandeep bowled well and to their fields. They also hit their yorkers. But saying that, we were also in a good position at that stage. It happens I guess," the 23-year-old wicketkeeper-bat added.

“I thought it was really important to catch up with him as a friend and see how life is,” added Cook. “It was a ­really nice meal.”

Nick Compton, will be worried about holding on to his place as he takes on Alex Hales and Nottinghamshire at Lord's in what looks like a last-chance saloon.

“We went and won in South Africa, which gives the guys in the side credit in the bank, but we didn't score the runs in the top order that we'd have liked.

“I'm going to this selection meeting. It's not as clear as I hoped it would be by this stage, but that's probably ­because we could go two or three ways. It will be an interesting meeting. There might be some tough calls, but they might give some players another chance. I don't know which way it's going to go.”

Fabregas 'flicked Spurs players in groin' while Dier 'made threatening gesture' to Spaniard in ugly scenes at Battle of the Bridge

SAMI MOKBEL: Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier made a threatening 



gesture to Cesc Fabregas in the aftermath of Monday night's Battle 



of the Bridge. The England international's gesture shocked eye-



witnesses as both teams clashed by the entrance to the tunnel 



after the final whistle.

Blistering Steve Smith and Rising Pune Supergiants's death overs woes

For the third game in a row, Steven Smith, Rising Pune Supergiants' No. 3 batsman, had to come to the crease before the third over. When RPS, one of two latest entrants in the Indian Premier League (IPL), started their maiden season, it was with a 78-run opening stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis. Supergiants' opening stands in the subsequent games haven't even crossed 30, but that fact has been masked by solid second-wicket partnerships, and Smith has had an important role in that. Apart from the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, when the second-wicket stand was worth zero runs because Kevin Pietersen had to retire hurt, the rest have all been over 40. Among them, six have been over fifty, four have been 80 or more, with three such involving Steven Smith. Smith, who batted down the order for the first few games, had an inconsistent start, but he made up for it as he grew from strength to strength with each passing game. The injury to Pietersen, which ruled him out of the IPL, meant that Smith had to take over the crucial No. 3 position, which was his place during Australia's World T20 campaign. While he did not do much at that position for Australia, knocks of 46 not-out, 101 and 45 - the last two coming at strike-rates of close to 200 - is a clear indicator that Smith relishes batting higher up the order. While the Australian has been going great guns in the last few games, and Rahane has been solid at the top of the order, RPS's inability to capitalise on the good starts has been one of their problems. A problem that has been now exacerbated by Steven Smith's injury and being ruled out of the IPL. Each time the Supergiants have batted first in the ongoing edition, they have ended up on the losing side, which is as many as five losses. The chief contributing factor for that has been their death overs batting as much as the shoddy performance of their bowlers. In the matches that they have batted first, the IPL newbies have scored 75 or more at the half-way stage in four games out of five, with three scores at the end of the 10th over being in excess of 80. But in three such matches, their batting in the death has not complemented the superb starts, which has meant that the Supergiants have ended up with totals that haven't met their expectations. Their average score in the last five overs while batting first is a touch below fifty, and they scored 60 apiece in the last five overs against Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Lions before their home match against Mumbai Indians. However, on the two occasions before those scores, RPS's scoring rate was just a touch above eight during the death