REAL MADRID are reportedly preparing a move for Newcastle star Bruno Guimaraes.

The 26-year-old Brazilian midfielder moved to St. James’ Park for £35 million in January 2022 and has become one of Europe’s most sought-after players.

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The former Lyon ace has scored 13 goals and assisted a further 13 in 96 appearances for the Magpies.

And we revealed earlier this month how Guimaraes is now attracting interest from a host of teams across the continent.

He is under contract with Newcastle until 2028, after signing an extension earlier this season.

However, that deal reportedly includes a £100 million release clause, at the star’s own insistence.

Now talkSPORT claims Eddie Howe and the Toon are “bracing for Real Madrid to ramp up interest this summer”.

They claim the LaLiga giants had him under surveillance during last week’s 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester City.

Guimaraes is also said to have a “burning desire” to play regularly in the Champions League.

He did achieve that on Tyneside before the theory group stage was abandoned this season, but Newcastle will need a miraculous turn of results to qualify for it again next season.

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The Magpies are also looking at the prospect of having to offload a star to help them stay on the right side of the Premier League’s spending rules.

And any figure they receive near his release clause would result in a huge return on the Samba ace.

Newcastle are currently 10th in the Premier League and of all the cup competitions, something Guimaraes admitted left him “disappointed” when quizzed about the campaign this week.

Speaking ahead of Brazil’s match against England at Wembley, he said: “This season we have struggled.

“I think we have had a lot of problems with injuries and suspensions, but this is part of the process. When I signed for the club I knew this would happen.

“Things happened too quickly. During my two years at the club we reached a final. Unfortunately we didn’t win, but we got there after 20 years, which was huge for the club.”

When asked whether Newcastle had to sell to comply with PSR rules, Guimaraes said: “I don’t know. I’m not involved in that.

“We never know what will happen, but I am happy at the club. Of course I’m disappointed with our season, but I think we still have a chance to finish at least seventh in the Europa League or Conference League.

“But I can’t say much about the club staff. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but what I can say is that I am so grateful to Newcastle.”

OUR beloved astrologer Meg sadly passed away last year, but her column will be kept alive by her friend and protector Maggie Innes.

Read on to see what’s written in the stars for you today.

RAM

March 21 to April 20

Collecting work goals – no matter how impossible they seem – is your task for the day, while your ruler Mars awakens some deep dreams.

You can now bypass circumstances that previously held you back and you have the energy to keep moving.

This also gives passion an irresistible, sexy edge.

Get the latest Aries horoscope news, including your weekly and monthly predictions

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Taurus

April 21 to May 21

When you follow a Mars-led, stronger alignment with the people in your life, you can impress yourself – and them.

A time when you feel forced to make unwanted choices may come to an end. And true equality can be a shared goal.

But remember the difference between strength and sheer stubbornness.

Happiness visits a dark blue room.

Get the latest Taurus horoscope news, including your weekly and monthly predictions

GEMINI

May 22 to June 21

All day long you can struggle with a series of family demands. By tonight, as the dynamic planet moves signs, there will be a solution.

So move on to a conversation or signature.

In love? The Sun reminds you that partners who play together, grow together.

Single? A victory parade or speech can introduce your soulmate.

Get the latest Gemini horoscope news, including your weekly and monthly predictions

CANCER

June 22 to July 22

You’re a compassionate communicator, but if conversations seem to drag on forever, try a different tactic.

Writing down your words can add weight and sharpen your own vision.

A travel conversation seems informal, but there may be an invitation to love hidden in it.

Cancer partnerships have a Venus-deep spirit of adventure.

Receive the latest news Cancer horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions

LION

July 23 to August 23

Asking for or offering more time in cash negotiations is a sign of strength, so follow your instincts.

You get an overview of sudden realizations as the direct planet Mars enters your transformation zone and you see who you really could be.

What seems like a random selection of work can have special meaning.

Receive the latest news Horoscope news about Leo including your weekly and monthly predictions

VIRGO

August 24 to September 22

Because the moon works so closely with you today, you can tune into all feelings and deal with them calmly.

This takes the power away from someone close to home, or far away at work.

In love? You have an enchanting sensuality that a partner will love.

Single? Decide for yourself whether an ex is worth a second chance.

Receive the latest news Virgo horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions

LIBRA

September 23 to October 23

You start your day with a clash of personalities.

The caring you believes the best in everyone, but the more realistically you can see that someone will never change.

Which view you take is your choice, but your new emotional energy from Mars will give you a boost either way.

Passion asks about your day.

Receive the latest news Libra horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions

SCORPIO

October 24 to November 22

You are more daring than ever, especially in a romantic sense – and this can fill your day with unexpected encounters.

If you have an idea this time to bring partners closer together, please share it.

If you’re starting the day single, a name that pops into your head late tonight is one to watch, for your heart.

Receive the latest news Horoscope news about Scorpio including your weekly and monthly predictions

SAGITTARIUS

November 23 to December 21

Plans for your home can feel like they’re in an endless loop, but when you ask everyone (including yourself) what they really want, a sudden switch can happen.

You’ll have new energy to shake things up over the next six weeks.

At work and in love, you can be the leader, instead of the usual easy follower.

Receive the latest news Sagittarius horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions

CAPRICORN

December 22 to January 20

Your birth sign makes you a natural planner, but today you can introduce some spontaneity into your life.

From trying new foods to taking a new route to work, the smallest changes can be positive.

In love, this adds freshness that can seal a deal.

When you’re single, the least likely date can be a wonderful match.

Receive the latest news Horoscope news about Capricorn including your weekly and monthly predictions

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AQUARIUS

January 21 to February 18

Delaying cash decisions buys you time, but knowing it’s right can save your day.

You are a thinker by nature, but Mars now also makes you a doer.

Get ready for a weekend full of passion surprises by clearing your calendar.

If you start the day single, a love triangle can turn into a straight line to happiness.

Receive the latest news Aquarius horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions

PISCES

February 19 to March 20

Mars enters your personal space tonight and for the next six weeks you can be the passion and potential star of the zodiac.

Nothing is out of reach if you trust yourself and take action.

Long-lasting regrets about love can come with just a few well-chosen words.

Lucky numbers include your age on the next birthday.

Receive the latest news Pisces horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions

Elon Musk has shared stunning footage of the first person to use the Neuralink brain chip to control a computer cursor and play video games just by thinking.

The groundbreaking patient, paralyzed man Noland Arbaugh, 29, was seen in a video shared with X using only his mind to play a game of chess.

‘Do you see that cursor on the screen? That’s all me… it’s all brainpower,” he said from his wheelchair. He said in the video that he had a “freak diving accident” eight years ago that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down.

His successful use of the technology marks a breathtaking development and reinforces experts’ belief that it could revolutionize care for the disabled.

Arbaugh beamed with happiness throughout the segment, showing the mouse moving back and forth across the online chessboard.

Musk announced a month ago that the first person had had the chip implanted, saying at the time that Arbaugh could “move a mouse across the screen just by thinking.”

He still seemed baffled by how the groundbreaking technology actually worked and compared moving the mouse across the screen to using ‘The Force’ from Star Wars.

“Progress is good and the patient appears to have made a full recovery, with neural effects that we are aware of,” Musk said in a Spaces event on X.

Neuralink’s technology uses a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface implant into a part of the brain that controls the intention to move.

The system consists of a computer chip attached to small flexible wires that are stitched into the brain by a ‘sewing machine-like’ robot.

In the operation, the ‘sewing robot’ removes a small piece of the skull, connects the thread-like electrodes to certain parts of the brain, sutures the hole closed and all that is visible is a scar left from the incision

Musk said the fitting procedure takes just 30 minutes, requires no general anesthesia and allows patients to return home the same day.

Arbaugh suffered his debilitating injury while working at a children’s camp in Texas in 2016, and said he had “absolutely no feeling” below his shoulders for years.

He added that he “loved to play chess” before his injury, continuing, “This is one of the things that you all have enabled me to do… I haven’t really been able to do much in the last few years. .’

In a GoFundMe as of 11 months after his accident, Arbaugh was said to be struggling with his “lack of mobility.”

‘Noland is bound to a large electric wheelchair that he has to take everywhere. The wheelchair, coupled with his condition, makes traveling anywhere an ordeal,” the fundraiser said.

Arbaugh was assisted in the segment by a Neuralink engineer, who at one point asked the patient to explain how he was able to move a computer mouse telepathically.

“So we started trying a few different things,” he said. “We actually went from what we would call ‘imagined movement’ versus ‘attempted movement’, and we started with an attempt to move.”

This involved thinking about moving his right hand left and right, and “from there it just became intuitive to me,” he said.

Comparing the technology to using “The Force” from Star Wars, Arbaugh said he was taught to move the cursor around the screen by “staring somewhere on the screen.”

Describing the first time it worked, he said, “It just went to where I wanted it to go, it was such a wild experience… it’s crazy, it’s crazy.”

Eric McCormack — a straight actor who rose to fame playing a gay character on NBC’s Will & Grace — has joined the debate over gay roles.

The 60-year-old Toronto native played gay lawyer Will Truman for 11 seasons, the first eight on the original series from 1998 to 2006 and another three seasons from 2017 to 2020.

Will & Grace was a landmark series for the LGBTQ community and became one of the first successful network sitcoms to feature gay cast members.

Now there’s been a lot of discussion about whether heterosexual actors should play gay roles, which McCormack addressed during a Good morning Great Britain interview.

“That’s a tough call for me because I didn’t become an actor so I could play an actor,” McCormack said on the show, weeks after appearing at an Oscar viewing party with his estranged wife Janet Holden.

“There’s not a role I’ve ever played where I wasn’t playing something I’m not. It’s part of the performance. If gay actors weren’t allowed to play straight actors, Broadway would be over. So this is what we do,” he continued.

McCormack added: So this is what we do. I think I represent it well. I came out of theater and one of my best friends was gay.”

“So I think I took their spirit and their message into what was otherwise just a sitcom and represented it, I hope,” he continued.

The actor was also asked about the sitcom being cast today and if he would get the role, and he had this to say.

‘Well, I guess the answer would be that they would have to say in the casting room, “And you’re gay, right?” which I don’t think they can say,” he began.

“I would like to think generally that the best person for the role, the one who comes in and knocks it out of the park, is the one who gets the role,” he said.

The interview comes nearly four months after the actor’s wife of 26 years, Janet Holden, filed for divorce.

She cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split, although no date of separation was stated in the documents.

Janet is seeking spousal support and reportedly wants to “end the court’s ability to award spousal support to Eric,” according to TMZ’s report.

The Canadian actor and Janet share one child together: 21-year-old son Finnigan Holden McCormack.

However, last week they attended the Elton John AIDS Foundation 2024 Oscars viewing party on Sunday evening.

Although there is no update on the divorce filing, the couple seemed to be in good spirits as they hung out together at the gala event.

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN competes today at one of snooker’s largest permanent venues – a venue that could become a future home to the World Championship.

The World Open, shelved for five years due to the Covid pandemic, will be held this week at the grand Yushan Sports Center in China’s Jiangxi province.

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A five-hour drive south-west of Shanghai, the Center claims to be the world’s first purpose-built venue designed specifically for billiards and snooker events.

The building, which looks like something out of Disneyland Paris, has a construction area of ​​35,500 square meters and is 25.7 meters high, the equivalent of an eight-storey building.

The arena for the cloth campaign has 3,000 permanent seats, but there is capacity for an additional 1,000 seats.

And should the Rocket go far this week – there’s £170,000 on the table for the winner on Sunday – there’s a good chance every seat will be filled.

The seven-time world champion will play Welshman Michael White in the first round on Tuesday and he already has more than £1 million in prize money on the table this year.

The sports center is the centerpiece of an ambitious project to form the Yushan International Billiards Culture City project, which is estimated to cost more than £200 million.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the sport’s governing body, claims the building has “high-quality maple flooring from Canada to prevent vibrations and ensure snooker tables remain stable at all times”.

These are said to be “the most advanced soundproofing materials to minimize distractions for the players.”

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LED screens are said to have been installed at each entrance so fans can follow the latest scores between frames.

And there are up to “45 bespoke rooms” suitable for snooker and other indoor sports.

There are also areas for the media, tournament staff, commentators and drug testers, while other facilities include a heated swimming pool, gym, children’s play area and fitness centre.

Jason Ferguson, president of WPBSA, said in September 2018 that China wants to make Yushan County a “home” for snooker.

And given the sheer size and scope of the Centre, this opens up the debate as to whether it would ever be a suitable venue for the World Championships.

Traditionalists might want to stay at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, which opened its doors to action in 1977 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary of top-level snooker in 2027.

Yet the hall there can only accommodate fewer than 1,000 seats and the contract must be renewed in three years.

Although the BBC is still broadcasting the event, it will certainly remain in Britain, but there is talk of money in the corridors of power at Matchroom Sport.

Veteran sports promoter Barry Hearn, who founded the Essex-based organization in 1982, does not want to move the event away from Sheffield.

He has close ties there given his management of six-time world champion Steve Davis and the success of the product this century.

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Yet in recent years he has told the city council that he wants to see more investments in infrastructure and behind the scenes.

His son Eddie now runs the company and is not as involved in the day-to-day running of snooker. He is more hands-on with boxing.

So who knows? Perhaps one day during the World Snooker Tour, officials in Yushan will make a compelling argument that the sport’s flagship event could be held in their city in April and May. The building and facilities are all there.

That would have been an unthinkable prospect last year when 10 Chinese players were banned from the sport, two for life, for match-fixing offenses and corruption allegations.

But almost a year later, with the cheaters thrown out, a new breed of Chinese players is emerging.

And it only takes one of them, perhaps someone like Zhang Anda or Si Jiahui, to make that breakthrough at the highest level and the case for taking the Long Road to China becomes stronger.

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THE world was rocked by the death of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, with an outpouring of condolences across the internet.

Known for his signature art style, Toriyama not only created the Dragon Ball franchise, but was also involved in several popular video games, such as Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger.

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At the time of his death, Toriyama was working on the upcoming game Sand Land, which is based on his manga series.

He oversaw the game and created new designs. It is one of the last projects he worked on before his death.

Sand Land is launched April 26, 2024, for PlayStation, Xbox and Steam. However, fans can play it now, well over a month before its official release.

The blurb for Sand Land reads: “Deep into a desert world where humans and demons alike suffer from an extreme water shortage: Sand Land.

“Meet the devilish Prince Beelzebub, his chaperone Thief and the fearless Sheriff Rao, and follow the team on an extraordinary adventure in search of the legendary spring hidden in the desert.

“The end is only the beginning, for beyond this barren land lies a new realm to explore.”

No matter which console you want to play on, the Sand Land demo is available on all launch platforms.

If you’d like to try out Sand Land for yourself, you can do so by visiting the game’s store page directly from your PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, or Steam.

You can then download the demo directly to your system and play numerous sequences from the game.

This data is not carried over to the full game, because you play small series from different parts.

If you want to read more about game deals, check out the free game you can download on Steam.

MANCHESTER UNITED teenage sensation Amad Diallo was shown a red card for celebrating stoppage time in the FA Cup against Liverpool, but he can still feature in the semi-final.

Diallo’s goal in the 121st minute gave United a thrilling 4-3 victory over Jurgen Klopp’s men in the FA Cup last-16 tie.

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And the young Red Devil picked up a second yellow card for celebrating with his shirt off after ‘forgetting’ he had already received one earlier in the match.

Under normal circumstances this would result in Diallo missing United’s next match in the league.

But in the FA Cup different rules apply.

Why can Amad Diallo play in the FA Cup semi-final?

Amad Diallo will still serve a one-match ban for receiving a red card, but under FA Cup rules it will be served in United’s next home match.

Manchester United will take on Brentford in a crucial Premier League match on Saturday, March 30. Diallo is excluded from this match.

While United’s FA Cup semi-final against Coventry doesn’t take place until the end of April.

What has been said?

Diallo believed United deserved to win and admitted he felt his winner was the best goal of his career.

After the whistle, Diallo said: “What a match. Today I think we deserved this victory.

“One of the best games of the season, so I’m very happy. It was an important moment, I think it was the best goal of my career.

I don’t believe it, but this is football, so you have to believe every moment. When he (Garnacho) gave me the ball, I wanted to give it to him again, but I shot.

“I forgot the first yellow card, so I’m very disappointed that I got the red card, but the most important thing for me was to get the win. Everyone came up to me and said I deserved it. The most important thing [thing] for me today was the victory.”

When is the Man Utd FA Cup semi-final?

• Manchester United’s exciting FA Cup semi-match against Coventry takes place next weekend April 20 and 21.
• Wembley will be the designated arena for this huge clash, seating around 90,000 passionate fans.
• If United advance, they will play either Manchester City or Chelsea in the final.

The CCI decision came after several Indian app developers and industry groups filed a complaint against Google, raising concerns about the company’s unfair practices.

New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday ordered a probe into the Google Play Store, accusing the tech giant of exploiting its dominant position in the country’s online market. The CCI said Google has allegedly imposed unfair terms and conditions and discriminatory practices on the Play Store, violating several provisions of the country’s antitrust law. The CCI investigation wing has been given 60 days to complete the investigation.

The company said it was examining the CCI order that opened the probe.

“The CCI previously examined our service charges in detail between 2020 and 2022 and found no illegality. However, we take our commitment to comply with local laws and regulations in India seriously and will cooperate with the process in every way possible,” a Google spokesperson told IANS.

The CCI decision came after several Indian app developers and industry groups filed a complaint against Google, raising concerns about the company’s unfair practices after several of their apps were removed. The apps were later restored. The CCI investigation was launched following a new complaint from People Interactive and several other developers, specifically about the service fees charged on Google Play.

Prateek Jain, Associate Director of the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), said in a statement that they applaud the commitment of regulators like the CCI to promote a level playing field for businesses.

“We believe that fair implementation and monitoring of billing systems will result in competitive pricing of services in the marketplace, stimulate innovation, safeguard consumer choice and benefit the interests of all stakeholders in the digital ecosystem,” Jain added.