Tennis: Pliskova rallies to reach first Wimbledon final

LONDON - Former world number one Karolina Pliskova reached her maiden Wimbledon final after coming back from a set down to beat second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 5-7 6-4 6-4 on Thursday.

The Czech goes into Saturday's final looking to capture her first Grand Slam title, having only ever reached one other final when she finished runner-up to Angelique Kerber at the 2016 U.S. Open.

Pliskova will face another Wimbledon final debutant in world number one Ash Barty, who beat Kerber earlier on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Pliskova found it hard going against Sabalenka, the first seeded player she had faced in this year's tournament, and it showed as she dropped her first set on the only break point she faced with a double fault.

She made inroads on Sabalenka's booming serve, which reached speeds of 193 kilometres per hour, to clinch a break to love midway through the second set from which she served out to level the match.

The 23-year-old Sabalenka, playing in her first major semi-final, struggled for consistency, sending down 18 aces in the match but making 20 unforced errors including one to give up an early break in the first game of the deciding set.

Although the Belarusian rallied, Pliskova never looked in any danger, rarely breaking a sweat on her own serve as she booked her place in Saturday's showpiece with an ace. (Reporting by Christian Radnedge Editing by Toby Davis)

-reuters-

Mask wearing promoted at John Lennon Wall

A woman wearing a face mask signs her autograph on the legendary graffiti-covered John Lennon Wall as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday. The Czech Republic mobilized the public to manufacture home-made masks after the government issued a decree on mandatory wearing of face masks to prevent spread of COVID-19 amid rising infection in Europe.

-Reuters-

Czech Republic reports first cases of coronavirus

PRAGUE - The Czech Republic has confirmed its first three cases of coronavirus, with all the patients having travelled from northern Italy, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on Sunday.

Health officials said the patients - two Czechs and an American student who studied in Milan - showed mild symptoms. Two were in Prague and the third in the city of Usti nad Labem, 90 km (56 miles) north of the capital.

Vojtech warned against unnecessary travel to regions in northern Italy that have seen the highest number of cases in Europe.

"We ask everyone to very seriously consider not travelling to those (affected) regions for holiday or ski trips unless necessary, because the danger exists," Vojtech told a televised news briefing.

The Czech Republic is the first of its central European neighbours to report coronavirus cases although it joins a list of others in Europe battling the spread of the virus that has infected more than 80,000 since first appearing in China.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet and Jan Lopatka; Editing by Mark Potter and Ros Russell)

Russian indicted in US on charges of hacking LinkedIn

A federal grand jury in California has indicted a Russian man for hacking computers belonging to LinkedIn Corp, Dropbox and Formspring, the US Justice Department said on Friday.

Yevgeniy Nikulin was arrested on October 5 by officials in the Czech Republic and remains in custody in Prague, the Justice Department said in a news release.

LinkedIn said at the time of his arrest that it was related to a 2012 breach at the social networking company that may have compromised credentials of 100 million users, prompting a massive password reset operation.

It was not immediately clear if US officials had begun extradition proceedings to have Nikulin, who was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury in Oakland, California, brought to the United States to stand trial.

According to the DOJ, Nikulin is accused of accessing computers belonging to LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring and obtaining information from them.

The US attorneys office could not immediately be reached for further comment. It was not yet clear who would be representing Nikulin in the proceedings.

He is also alleged to have used credentials of LinkedIn and Formspring employees in connection with the computer intrusions. Further, Nikulin is alleged to have engaged in a conspiracy with unnamed co-conspirators to traffic stolen Formspring user credentials.

The indictment charges Nikulin with three counts of computer intrusion, two counts of intentional transmission of information, code, or command causing damage to a protected computer; two counts of aggravated identity theft; one count of trafficking in unauthorized access devices; and one count of conspiracy.

(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Eric Walsh and Diane Craft)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com