“Without Williams’ support when I initially went into Formula 3, it would have been very, very difficult for me to even do one season,” the 21-year-old said.
Despite being in the Williams Driver Academy, he was expected to cover part of the costs himself.
“Williams were very aware of my financial struggles,” he said. “Of course, they only contribute a certain amount to my season and that came very early in the year, as is quite normal.
O’Sullivan added that it is “down to the driver to bring the funding”, meaning sponsors are “critical” but difficult to find.
He explained: “I think any sponsorship you get is either from an act of extraordinary kindness, or family, friends, or someone who’s very, very passionate about racing or believes in the driver.”
He described a phenomenon that he called “motorsport inflation”, adding that he is “amazed” by the number of people able to race with the current costs.
“There are very few regulations controlling how much you can spend,” he said. “So the top teams perform the best because they have the most money.
“For as long as you have people wanting to race and with the finances to race, the teams can set their price. And if people pay, they’ll keep upping their price.”
For example, a top level, race-winning kart chassis can cost upwards of £4,000 – and that’s without an engine.
O’Sullivan said that in his time in European karting, the top teams had budgets of about £180,000 a year, but that has now increased.
“That’s now up to around £300,000 with motorsport inflation, which doesn’t really follow the global trends,” he said.
O’Sullivan believes “there’s no hiding away from” elitism within motorsport, adding: “There’s a few cases of drivers making it without the funds but you have to be able to get to a level where you’re recognised by Formula 1 teams, which is normally European karting, which is very expensive.”
Having left F2 before the end of 2024, he says that “realistically” F1 is no longer the goal for him and he currently races in Japan in the Super Formula series.
The Ducks held their annual fan appreciation day Sunday, handing out thousands of gifts, from a new car to team jerseys and gift cards. But the one prize the Ducks’ long-suffering fans really wanted, a playoff berth, remained just out of reach.
Needing a win to clinch a postseason berth for the first time since 2018, the Ducks lost a sloppy 4-3 overtime decision to the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL’s worst team, leaving them a point shy of the playoffs with two games to play. The loss was the seventh in eight games for the Ducks, who have tumbled from first to third in the Pacific Division standings and may now have to settle for a wild-card berth.
So they’ll hit the road Monday for their final two games of the regular season needing one point from games in Minnesota and Nashville. The Ducks could also back into the playoffs if Nashville losses either of its final two games.
“We haven’t clinched anything yet,” captain Radko Gudas said. “With two games to play, there’s still a lot of work to do, 120 minutes to give it our all and make that push.”
“We just can’t be satisfied with what we’re at right now,” coach Joel Quenneville agreed. “We didn’t make it easy on ourselves, that’s for sure.”
The Ducks have already assured themselves of their first winning record since 2017-18 but the playoffs have been the Holy Grail the team has been chasing since then. And it appeared within reach until Marco Rossi scored on a power play with less than 11 seconds left in the extra period, silencing a sellout crowd that had repeatedly peppered the Ducks with rhythmic chants of “We want playoffs!”
“I loved it,” Quenneville said of the chant. “I wanted to complete that wish tonight.”
And it looked as if that would happen given the way the Ducks started, with Cutter Gauthier opening the scoring with the first of two goals 3:41 into a feisty and physical first period that was interrupted by seven penalties and two fights.
But Vancouver got the next three scores, taking a 3-1 lead when Brock Boeser intercepted a sloppy Leo Carlsson pass intended for John Carlson in Vancouver’s defensive end, then outskated Carlson the other way before lifting the puck over goaltender Lukas Dostal less than five minutes into the final period.
The shorthanded goal seemed to wake the slumbering Ducks, with Gauthier scoring on a power play 37 seconds later to halve the lead and become the first Duck with 40 goals in a season since Corey Perry in 2013-14.
“It’s a huge milestone and something I’m very proud of,” Gauthier said. “But that’s not why I’m playing hockey. I’m playing to win games and eventually win a Stanley Cup.”
Carlsson then evened things at 3-3 on a spectacular goal less than two minutes later, backhanding the puck over Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo while skating away from the crease for his 29th goal of the season.
“It was kind of a dagger when they score a shorthanded goal on us,” Gauthier said. “It’s supposed to be the opposite way. But I thought we responded really well, obviously tying it back up.”
The Ducks couldn’t keep it there, however, with Chris Kreider taking a slashing penalty with 2:07 left in overtime, giving Vancouver an extra skater. Dostal had kept the Ducks in the game, making seven saves in the extra period, including five huge stops on the power play, but he couldn’t stop Rossi on the final shot, one which sent the Ducks’ fans home disappointed and eager to end to the second-longest playoff drought in the NHL.
“They’ve been hungry to get back in the playoffs over these last seven years,” said Gauthier, who was in junior high school in Michigan the last time the Ducks played in the postseason. “They’re excited for it, we’re excited for it. We fell short tonight but we had a great opportunity to go on this road trip and get some get points.”
Actually just one point — the one they left on the ice Sunday — will be enough.
Erling Haaland treble and goal by Antoine Semenyo gives City 4-0 win, as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah misses a penalty.
Erling Haaland hit a hat-trick as Manchester City thrashed Liverpool 4-0 to reach the FA Cup semifinals and increase the pressure on Reds boss Arne Slot.
Haaland netted twice late in the first half of the quarterfinal at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and completed his treble after the interval following an Antoine Semenyo strike.
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With Liverpool trailing by four, Mohamed Salah had a penalty saved by City goalkeeper James Trafford to compound a miserable afternoon for the under-fire Slot.
Liverpool’s tame surrender was a bitter blow to Slot, who had to endure chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from gloating City fans.
They head to Paris Saint-Germain for the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Wednesday with Slot desperately needing a victory over the holders to keep the critics at bay.
Slot’s team, who have just two wins in their last seven matches in all competitions, are fifth in the Premier League and far from certain to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
It is a remarkable decline for Slot, who just 12 months ago was on the brink of leading Liverpool to their record-equalling 20th English title.
City’s ruthless performance took them into the FA Cup semifinals for an eighth successive season.
Liverpool made a bright start but Hugo Ekitike fired just wide from the edge of the area before Salah wasted a golden opportunity in the 14th minute, dragging his shot wide from just six yards out.
Ekitike lashed wastefully wide with a snap-shot from nine metres [10 yards] out as Liverpool paid the price for failing to make the pressure count.
Fresh from scoring twice in City’s recent League Cup final victory over Arsenal, Nico O’Reilly was key to City’s 39th-minute opener.
Matheus Nunes picked out O’Reilly in the Liverpool area and as he twisted away from Virgil van Dijk, the defender’s clumsy trip conceded a penalty that Haaland converted in clinical fashion.
Haaland had scored just once in his previous six games in all competitions. But the prolific Norway striker is never far from a hot streak and he doubled City’s advantage on the stroke of half-time.
Rayan Cherki found Semenyo’s run and he lofted a pin-point cross towards Haaland, who made a perfectly-timed run in front of Ibrahima Konate to glance a superb header past Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Liverpool were in disarray and Semenyo landed the knockout blow five minutes after the interval.
Cherki’s pass sent Semenyo sprinting in behind the flat-footed Van Dijk to clip a deft finish over Mamardashvili.
Haaland completed the 28th treble of his career in the 57th minute, drilling home via the underside of the bar after O’Reilly teed him up 11 metres [12 yards] from goal.
On a prolonged farewell tour after announcing he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, Salah produced the latest in a long line of lacklustre performances.
The Egyptian’s struggles were encapsulated by his second-half penalty miss after Nunes fouled Ekitike.
Haaland, meanwhile, praised his teammates for recovering from a difficult opening period to take charge of the game.
“Honestly, in the first half, we struggled a bit, but after 30 minutes, we kept going, and in the end, it was an amazing game at home,” Haaland told broadcaster TNT Sport.
“Another Wembley trip for us, it’s amazing and important.”
Asked if it was City’s best performance this season, he replied: “I think so. Between 30 and 60 minutes, it was one of the better ones.”
Later on Saturday, Chelsea host third tier strugglers Port Vale and Premier League leaders Arsenal visit Championship side Southampton.
West Ham meet Leeds at the London Stadium in the last quarterfinal on Sunday.
Judd Trump swept to a commanding 10-4 victory over Neil Robertson but expressed concern about his cue tip as he reached the final of the Tour Championship in Manchester.
World number one Trump laid the platform for his success in Friday’s afternoon session which he dominated to establish a 7-1 lead, before finishing the job in the evening.
Trump, who will be making a first appearance in the final of the event, set the tone with breaks of 87, 94 and 113 as he registered 294 unanswered points in the opening three frames.
He will face either world champion Zhao Xintong or Scotland’s John Higgins in Sunday’s final which begins at 13:00 BST.
“I started off well in the first three frames and after that it went a bit downhill so I am pleased to get over the line,” Trump said on 5Action.
“I have been struggling with my tip for the whole tournament. Somehow I have had a good run and Neil struggled a bit and that was the difference.”
Armed with his hefty lead, Trump made sure he carried focus into the evening session.
The Tour Championship launched in 2019 and this is the eighth edition, with Robertson a two-time former winner, so Trump knew he was not to be underestimated.
“In my eyes Neil loves to win 10-0 so I wanted to beat him 10-1 or give myself something to focus on so he didn’t get back in it,” said the 36-year-old Englishman.
“At this point you want to beat everyone with the World Championship just around the corner. Whoever I play in the final it will be an amazing game.”
After Trump built on his brisk start to develop a 6-0 lead, Australia’s Robertson celebrated with the crowd when he won frame seven.
While Robertson reduced his arrears to 7-3 by winning the first two frames when play resumed in the evening, Trump closed the door on any prospect of a full-scale fightback with runs of 87 and 75 to move 9-3 ahead.
He then traded frames with his opponent to set up a mouth-watering finale to the tournament against Zhao or reigning champion Higgins, who begin their semi-final at 13:00 BST on Saturday.
This is the final event for snooker’s elite players before the World Championship begins in Sheffield on 18 April.
NASA has successfully launched the Artemis II mission, marking the first crewed mission to the moon’s vicinity since the Apollo programme ended in 1972.
The 322-foot Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted off at 6:35pm ET (22:35 GMT) on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sending the Orion crew capsule on a 10-day journey.
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While Artemis II will not land on the moon, it will fly a “free-return” trajectory that swings around it to prove the spacecraft can sustain a crew on future missions.
The idea is to descend to the surface of the Earth’s only natural satellite again on Artemis IV in 2028.
“We have a beautiful moonrise,” said Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut serving as mission commander, about five minutes after the launch. “We’re heading right at it.”
Here is what we know:
What happened?
The Artemis II mission launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending four astronauts on a historic journey around the moon, the first crewed mission beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years.
The launch followed a tense countdown, as engineers worked through several technical issues. Teams closely monitored the rocket during fuelling due to hydrogen leaks that had delayed the mission in the past, but no major leaks were detected on launch day.
Engineers also resolved last-minute problems involving battery sensors and the rocket’s flight termination system, a critical safety system used to destroy the rocket if it goes off course, before clearing the mission for liftoff.
The 32-storey rocket lifted off in the early evening in front of large crowds gathered near the launch site. The crew are now on a mission that will take them around the moon and back to Earth.
The launch had been planned for as early as February 6, and then March 6, until a hydrogen leak prompted NASA to roll the rocket back to its vehicle assembly building for scrutiny.
It had earlier been scheduled for November 2024, but NASA announced a delay due to technical investigations, particularly into the Orion’s heat shield.
Who is part of the Artemis II mission?
All three NASA astronauts are veterans of Earth-orbit science expeditions to the International Space Station, while the lone Canadian joining them on a voyage around the moon and back is a spaceflight rookie.
Reid Wiseman, 50, commander: The NASA veteran and former International Space Station commander is leading the Artemis II mission. A test pilot-turned-astronaut, he has leadership and deep spaceflight experience.
Victor Glover, 49, pilot: The US Navy aviator is the first Black astronaut assigned to a lunar mission and flew on SpaceX Crew-1.
Christina Koch, 47, mission specialist: The record holder for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 328 days is a veteran of multiple spacewalks and has scientific and deep-space mission expertise.
Jeremy Hansen, 50, mission specialist: The first Canadian set to travel to the moon is a former fighter pilot. His presence represents international collaboration in deep space exploration.
(Al Jazeera)
When will the mission reach the moon?
If the mission goes as planned, the capsule is expected to reach the moon on about April 6, the sixth day of the mission.
The crewed Orion capsule will then fly around the moon, reaching its closest point before beginning the journey back to Earth, with splashdown expected on April 10, 2026.
What is the mission plan for the next 10 days?
The Artemis II mission is expected to last about 10 days and follows this general outline:
Days 1-2 high Earth orbit : The crew will spend their first one to two days in high Earth orbit conducting extensive checks on the spacecraft’s systems.
Once those checks are complete, Orion’s propulsion system will perform a “translunar injection”.
A translunar injection is a critical manoeuvre performed by the Orion spacecraft’s propulsion system. Occurring after the crew completes their initial systems checks in high Earth orbit, this manoeuvre propels the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and sets it onto a direct trajectory towards the moon.
Days 3-4 translunar transit: As they transit to the moon over the next several days, the astronauts will continue monitoring Orion’s systems.
The spacecraft will then pass behind the moon on a “free-return” trajectory, a strategic path that naturally swings the capsule back towards Earth without requiring any additional propulsion.
Day 5 lunar sphere of influence: Orion enters the moon’s gravitational pull, which becomes stronger than Earth’s.
The astronauts will spend the first several hours of the day testing their spacesuits, including practising how quickly they can put them on, pressurising them and strapping into their seats.
Day 6 lunar flyby: This is the day the crew fly by the moon.
The spacecraft reaches its closest approach, approximately 4,000-6,000 miles (6,450-9,650km) above the lunar surface.
Day 7-9 Return journey: Following the flyby, Orion remains on its free-return trajectory. The crew conducts deep-space science, including medical monitoring through programmes like ARCHER.
Day 10 Re-entry and splashdown: Orion separates from the service module and re-enters Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 25,000mph (40,230km/h). The mission concludes with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
What’s NASA’s next mission?
Artemis III is the next mission and is currently planned for 2027.
It will involve the Orion spacecraft docking in Earth orbit with at least one of NASA’s lunar landers, either Blue Origin’s Blue Moon system or SpaceX’s Starship.
The docking manoeuvre is intended to demonstrate how the landers will collect astronauts in orbit before transporting them to the moon’s surface.
Arsenal captain Kim Little says she believes her side are “getting better and better” as they reach the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League, after beating Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate to close in on successfully defending their title.
The Final Four in men’s and women’s basketball is scheduled for this weekend, and Southern California has two players to root for who were high school graduates from the area.
McDonald’s All-American Brayden Burries, a freshman at Arizona from Eastvale Roosevelt, has been a key player in the Wildcats’ season, averaging 16.1 points.
Gabriela Jaquez has helped the UCLA’s women’s team reach the Final Four, averaging 13 points a game for the 35-1 Bruins.
The men’s semifinals and final are Saturday and Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The women’s semifinals and final are Friday and Sunday at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
The Connecticut Sun have reached an agreement to sell the team to Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta for $300 million and will move to Houston in 2027, according to a person familiar with the deal.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press on Friday because the deal hasn’t been announced publicly.
The WNBA Board of Governors still needs to approve the sale and the move. The team will play in Connecticut for the upcoming season before moving to Houston and becoming the Comets again.
This will end a 23-year run by the team in New England after the team moved to Connecticut from Orlando in 2003.
Houston was one of the groups that expressed interest in buying the team last year, eventually raising its bid to $250 million — the amount that Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia paid for expansion fees. Now with the $300 million sale price that’s the highest a team has been sold for in WNBA history.
The Sun had an offer for $325 million from a group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca that would have moved the franchise to Boston. The WNBA basically blocked that deal from happening by saying that “relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams.”
The league also went on to say that other teams had gone through the expansion process and had priority over Boston.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said during a news conference to announce the three new expansion teams that Houston was up next.
Ever since Mark Davis bought the Las Vegas Aces in 2021, the league has added new owners that have some sort of NBA tie. Golden State, which came into the league last season, is owned by the Warriors. Portland and Toronto are coming into the WNBA this season and the ownership groups are connected to NBA teams.
The next three expansion teams — Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia — are all owned by NBA groups in those cities.
The WNBA just agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement last week where teams need to have top notch facilities similar to those of NBA franchises.
With the news of the deal on Friday, it allows the franchise to have clarity for potential free agents who could sign with the Sun next month.
The Houston Comets were one of the original franchises in the league that won the first four WNBA championships from 1997-2000. The franchise disbanded after the 2008 season.
The last WNBA team to move cities was the Las Vegas Aces, who relocated from San Antonio in 2017.
Zheng beat American 15th seed Madison Keys to claim her firstwin over a top-20 player since having elbow surgery in July.
Sabelenka has won seven of her eight meetings with Olympic champion Zheng.
Third seed Elena Rybakina cruised into the last 16 with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina will play Australian qualifier Talia Gibson, who knocked out another seeded player courtesy of a 6-2 6-2 win over 18th seed Iva Jovic.
Gibson, who reached the Indian Wells quarter-finals, beat former world number one Naomi Osaka in the second round in Miami.
Fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula, runner-up to Sabalenka last year, needed only an hour and six minutes to beat Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-2.
Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, runner-up in Miami in 2018, fought back to claim a 5-7 6-2 7-5 win over seventh seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
Ostapenko will next play American world number 45 Hailey Baptiste, who beat Ukrainian ninth seed Elina Svitolina 6-3 7-5.
Ant McPartlin has reportedly reached an agreement with his ex-wife Lisa Armstrong over their late dog Hurley’s ashesCredit: AlamyThe former couple got Hurley back in 2013 and famously went through a custody battle for him following their splitCredit: instagram/lisaarmstrongmakeup
They continued to the publication: “Ant has already collected his ashes, while Lisa intends to do likewise when she returns from her trip.
“It’s likely the ashes will be buried in their own respective gardens so they’ll both be able to regularly pay their respects to Hurley.”
Ant was with make-up artist Lisa for over two decades, with the pair going through a divorce in 2018 which saw them reach a massive £31million deal.
Hurley became Britain’s best known celebrity dog during Ant and Lisa’s highly-publicised custody battle following their divorce.
They eventually agreed to share custody and Hurley spent his time between their homes.
The pair recently came together to say goodbye to Hurley, who they got in 2013.
The Sun revealed how they had to make the decision to put Hurley down at the vet due to him being too ill to recover.
And confirming the situation, Ant explained on his and Dec Donnelly’s podcast: “He passed away in my arms.
“We were at the vet’s and we were all there to see him, all the family, everyone that he loved was there, and it was a very sad, but it was a very lovely moment when we all got to say goodbye to him.”
The presenter, who has two other dogs, went on to share how the grief has been “awful” and has seen him often break down in tears.
Lisa and Ant reportedly agreed to split Hurley’s ashes 50/50Credit: Refer to CaptionAnt opened up about the loss last month on his podcast, sharing how Hurley died in his arms
Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike (3), president of the WNBA players’ union, said for the first time, player salaries will be tied to a meaningful share of league revenue.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
The league and players association have not made the terms public yet, but the salary cap will start at $7 million, up from $1.5 million in 2025, and the supermax will start at $1.4 million, up from $249,244 in 2025, a person with knowledge of negotiations not authorized to discuss them publicly told The Times. ESPN was the first to report the figures.
The total salary cap will jump by around 4.64 times the previous amount. The super maximum salary will be elevated by 5.61 times the previous amount. It means the top players will be eligible for larger raises than the league’s middle class.
The average salary will be $600,000, a bump from the previous average of $120,000, and the minimum salary will be more than $300,000, up from $66,079.
“For the first time, player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue, driving exponential growth in the salary cap, increasing average compensation beyond half a million dollars and raising the standard across facilities, staffing and support,” union president Nneka Ogwumike told reporters.
The main sticking point during negotiations was revenue sharing, and that number will be around 20% for the entirety of the multi-year deal. The league had previously offered 15.5%, a source told The Times, and players went down from their 40% ask to around 26% at the end of February, and then reached the agreement around 20% on Wednesday morning. The Athletic first reported the shift in revenue sharing figures.
Players had been negotiating for a percentage of overall revenue without factoring in expenses while the WNBA was seeking sharing tied to net revenue, mirroring the NBA’s structure that deducts expenses before sharing 50% of profits. The players secured a gross revenue deal, which gives them a cut of WNBA revenue without factoring in expenses, a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times.
“This deal is going to be transformational, and you’ll see all the details hopefully soon,” WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart told reporters on Wednesday. “But it’s gonna build and help create a system where everybody is getting exactly what they deserve and more from on the court and off the court aspects.”
Liverpool shrugged off their Premier League malaise to storm into the Champions League quarterfinals by thrashing Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield.
Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah on Tuesday overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit for Arne Slot’s men to set up a reunion with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight.
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Slot needed a reaction from the English champions after they were booed off at Anfield on Sunday for the latest in a series of lacklustre displays in a 1-1 draw against struggling Tottenham.
Languishing fifth in the Premier League, the Champions League could save Liverpool’s season and Slot’s job.
The Dutchman had given a rest to some of his stars at the weekend and was rewarded with a dominant display that could have resulted in an even more comprehensive scoreline.
Galatasaray’s hopes of causing an upset were dealt a massive blow inside the first few minutes when star striker Victor Osimhen injured his forearm in a clash with Ibrahima Konate.
The Nigerian international was clearly hobbled as he continued on until half-time, when he was replaced by Leroy Sane.
By that point, the Turkish champions’ advantage had already been erased.
Szoboszlai has been Liverpool’s outstanding performer in a troubled season and levelled the tie with a cushioned finish from a well-worked corner on 25 minutes.
Galatasaray somehow escaped further punishment before the break.
Salah missed a glorious chance to immediately double the Reds’ lead when he failed to chip Ugurcan Cakir.
Florian Wirtz’s deflected effort flew just over, and Cakir repelled another sweet Szoboszlai strike.
The Turkiye goalkeeper then saved Salah’s poor penalty after Szoboszlai was upended inside the box.
But the floodgates opened on the visitors in the second half. Salah atoned for the penalty miss with an inch-perfect pass for Ekitike to slot home.
Two minutes later, Gravenberch fired in the rebound off a Salah shot that had been saved.
Salah has been a shadow of his former self this season, either side of a public bust-up with Slot after being dropped in December.
He could and should have had many more on the night, but did register his 50th Champions League goal in some style with a spectacular strike from Wirtz’s backheel.
Salah also hit the bar before asking to be replaced due to an injury concern, as Galatasaray offered little resistance to the waves of Liverpool attacks.
The Reds face a very different challenge against PSG, who crushed Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate to reach the last eight.
Slot has repeatedly spoken in glowing terms of the French champions.
Liverpool came as close as anyone to stopping PSG last season as Luis Enrique’s men emerged victorious on penalties in the last 16 after a titanic tussle.
Szoboszlai said he was delighted to get the win in such emphatic style, but warned that PSG would pose a formidable task.
“Today, we showed the right direction where we want to go and what we want to show everybody,” he told TNT Sports.
“I watched [PSG] play against Chelsea yesterday, they didn’t become a worse team than last season. But we showed today that we are able to do everything.”
Elsewhere, Harry Kane scored a brace in Bayern’s 4-1 over Atalanta to complete a 10-2 aggregate win.
Barcelona were not far off when they thrashed Newcastle United 7-2 for an overall 8-3 score, with captain Raphina getting two goals and assists apiece, and Robert Lewandowski also claiming a brace.
Tottenham Hotspur put up a fight against Atletico and won 3-2 from Xavi Simons’s late penalty for a personal brace, but the damage was done last week in Spain, where they lost 5-2.
The results mean that Liverpool and Arsenal are the only two of six Premier League teams to progress, as Chelsea and Manchester City went out on Tuesday against title-holders Paris Saint-Germain and record winners Real Madrid, respectively. Arsenal, for their part, ousted Bayer Leverkusen.
The quarterfinals, to be played April 7-8 and 14-15, are Real vs Bayern, Atletico vs Barcelona, PSG vs Liverpool and Sporting vs Arsenal.
This time of year – close to the spring equinox – day length increases and the Sun moves higher in the sky. You might notice the Sun feeling stronger. With largely clear skies forecast, UV levels will rise to medium across England, Wales and eastern Scotland on Wednesday. Cloudier conditions will keep UV levels low elsewhere.
It is easy to get caught out in the spring months because, although temperatures aren’t as high as later in the summer, ultraviolet (UV) levels in late March are actually just as strong as they are in September.
Whilst exposure to small amounts of UV radiation is essential to produce vitamin D, the World Health Organization warns “overexposure may result in acute and chronic health effects on the skin, eye and immune system”.
Advice from the NHS, external is to “strike a balance between protecting yourself from the Sun and getting enough vitamin D from sunlight”. This includes spending time in the shade between 11am and 3pm, and covering up with suitable clothing and sunglasses.
Keep an eye on the UV forecast on the BBC Weather app or website.
Wakefield Trinity produce a dominant second-half display as they recover from 14-12 down at half-time to beat Leeds Rhinos 24-14 and reach the Challenge Cup quarter-finals for the second season in a row.
The global energy landscape is facing its most volatile period in decades following the US-Israeli strikes against Iran on 28 February that triggered a wider and potentially prolonged conflict in the Middle East.
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What began as a targeted military operation has rapidly escalated into a direct confrontation with global economic implications.
Based on claims by Iranian state media and regional reports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has ostensibly adopted a strategy of “energy blackmail” to leverage the international community into pressuring the US and Israel to cease its attacks.
The $200 per oil barrel threat was first articulated shortly after the conflict began.
On Sunday 1 March, a senior IRGC spokesperson warned that if “cowardly anti-human actions” continued, the world should prepare for a massive price surge, even as high as $200 per oil barrel.
This rhetoric has since become a central pillar of Tehran’s messaging.
As recently as this Wednesday, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, the spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters, told state media: “Get ready for the oil barrel to be at $200, because the oil price depends on the regional security which you have destabilised.”
Iran’s tactical disruption
The IRGC’s current strategy relies on “internationalising” the cost of the conflict.
By disrupting the flow of nearly 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran aims to drag the global economy into the fray.
This is why the IRGC has targeted vessels from neutral nations, including ships sailing under Thai, Japanese and Marshall Islands flags, among others.
According to energy analysts, this disruption is designed to create domestic political pressure within Western nations, to in turn force the US and Israel to pull back on military action in exchange for energy stability.
By striking countries that have not attacked them directly, Tehran is signaling that no maritime trade is safe as long as the strikes on its soil continue.
The main vector of this strategy is precisely the disruption of energy markets, an element Iran can influence directly through its geographical advantage.
A history of oil price shocks
While $200 per barrel sounds astronomical, oil has approached similar levels in the past when adjusted for inflation.
The highest nominal price ever recorded was around $147 in 2008, driven by peak oil fears and rampant speculation just before the global financial crisis. When adjusted for 2026 inflation, that 2008 peak represents roughly $211 per barrel.
Previous major shocks, such as the 1973-74 Arab Oil Embargo and the 1979 Iranian Revolution, saw prices quadruple and double respectively from pre-crisis levels.
In 1980, prices hit a nominal peak of about $39.50, which would be approximately $160 in today’s terms.
However, the current crisis involves a total physical blockade of one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoint, increasing the risk of a price “moonshot”.
Market response and reserves
At the time of writing, Brent crude is trading just above $100 per barrel, a sharp increase from the $60 range seen in mid-February before the Iran war began.
The International Energy Agency has attempted to stabilise the market by orchestrating the largest-ever coordinated release of strategic reserves, but the continuation of Iranian strikes agaisnt oil infrastructure and tankers has largely neutralised the effort.
With insurance providers cancelling war-risk coverage and shipping companies redirecting fleets, the market remains in a state of high anxiety.
If the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz persists, the $200 figure may shift from a political threat to an increasingly likely scenario.
In a recent report, Oxford Economics identified $140 per barrel as the threshold at which the global economy tips into mild recession, reducing world GDP by 0.7% by year-end and pushing the UK, the Eurozone and Japan into contraction.
When a freshman is wondering whether to play sports or focus on academics because of the immense time commitment, it’s usually the parents who have to give a nudge toward one or the other. Except this time, the decision was left to 15-year-old Javier Zarate, and he chose to give up club soccer to try for straight A’s last year at Garfield High.
Last spring, Garfield soccer coach Pablo Serrano, knowing he had a highly regarded goalie on his campus, began a lobbying campaign with emails and text messages inviting him to try out for the Bulldogs’ soccer team.
“He told me if I wanted to give it a shot, I could try out,” Zarate said. “They were very welcoming and nice.”
The rest is going to be part of Garfield sports lore, because Zarate saved three penalty kicks when Garfield won the City Section Division II championship game against Canoga Park and delivered more saves last week in helping the Bulldogs beat Bakersfield Taft 1-0 in the Southern California Division V regional final.
Incredibly, Garfield is headed to Sacramento this week to play in the first CIF state soccer championships, against Branford on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Natomas High.
“I’m super pumped up,” Zarate said.
Who knows how many alumni from Garfield are living in Sacramento or nearby, but they have been known to travel around the country to support their Bulldogs, especially if rival Roosevelt is the opponent. Something tells me there’s going to be a caravan from Boyle Heights headed to Sacramento to provide support.
“I know some will make the drive,” Serrano said.
It’s been a strange season in City Section soccer, with six schools removed from the playoffs for using ineligible players, most of whom played for club teams while also playing tor their high school team, in violation of CIF bylaw 600.
Serrano said there’s always a reminder making sure his players know the rule.
“There’s a lot of soccer going on in this community,” he said. “It’s always a challenge because kids play outside with club. It’s something I do from the beginning of tryouts. We talk to the kids that if they play in a club outside of school, they are not allowed to play high school or vice versa. There’s no excuse,”
In the case of the 5-foot-6 Zarate, he didn’t play any soccer last year while focusing on academics and being part of the school’s ROTC program. His weighted grade-point average is at 4.4. He wants to study to become a firefighter.
“My family motivated me to be academically focused and I found a balance to do both,” he said of his return to soccer.
Goalies are usually much taller than Zarate, but he received lots of lessons on how to overcome the size disadvantage.
“I get that a lot that I’m very short for a goalie,” he said. “As a kid I, got training by a good trainer. He told me, ‘You’re pretty short for a goalie. As long as you can master being able to dive and jump high, you should be as good as them.’”
Garfield finished fourth in the Eastern League behind City Section soccer powers South East and Marquez, both of whom were eliminated after making the semifinals because of ineligible players.
Given the opportunity to get hot in the playoffs, the Bulldogs have done just that. Junior Noe Marmolejo has been the leading goal scorer.
The team is scheduled to take a bus to Sacramento on Friday, stay at a hotel Friday night, rise early for its game on Saturday, then immediately return home. Considering how loyal the Boyle Heights community is, look for lots of fans supporting the team in Sacramento and when that bus returns home.
“It’s an honor,” Serrano said of being the first City team to play for a state soccer title.
