DEREK LAWRENSON IN ABU DHABI: It is still more than two months until the clocks go forward, and Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have yet to hit a shot.

McIlroy could hardly ask for a more alluring target in his first tournament for seven weeks. A win at the Farmers Insurance Open will take him back to world No 1 for the first time in more than four years.

It's Hot or Not time again as Sportsmail's Riath Al-Samarrai reveals what's been making him feel warm and what's been leaving him cold this week.

The hole on the par-3 16th will be cut 24 paces on and eight from the left edge of the green to honour Bryant's two most iconic shirt numbers during his remarkable 20-year career within NBA.

Graeme McDowell succeeding in proving to his children he is not just a 'YouTube golfer', but their Easter holiday plans may have to change following his battling victory in the Saudi International.

DEREK LAWRENSON IN LOS ANGELES: Mark it down as another day at Riviera when the mysteries of this majestic course proved once more beyond even the great Tiger Woods.

DEREK LAWRENSON IN LOS ANGELES: On a day when Tiger showed once more that no venue causes him fits quite like the wiles and mysteries of Riviera, McIlroy answered the riddles with a fine 67

On Friday afternoon, a rumour spread like wildfire at the Genesis Invitational that Phil Mickelson was about to be announced as the first face of the proposed Premier Golf League.

Tommy Fleetwood will have a golden opportunity on Sunday to claim his first victory on the PGA Tour - and banish an unwanted label.

DEREK LAWRENSON IN ORLANDO: Another masterclass from Rory McIlroy but a nightmare first round for Tommy Fleetwood at the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Tiger Woods' Masters preparation has suffered a setback as he is unable to return to action at next week's Players Championship in Florida due to a back issue, ESPN reported on Friday.

DEREK LAWRENSON IN ORLANDO: In only his second tournament back after three months out, the 28-year-old from Marlow has given himself the chance of a first victory on the PGA Tour.

DEREK LAWRENSON AT BAY HILL: It really doesn't get much better than winning in America for the first time at the home of the man every golfer knows as the King.

Rory McIlroy was still a teenager when he marked his first appearance at the Players Championship in 2009 by getting thrown out of bars along Jacksonville Beach for carrying a fake ID.

Tyrrell Hatton revealed he is still feeling the effects of his victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational as he aims to improve his record at another iconic Florida venue.

Now it is Reed’s turn to run the gauntlet, the arch-villain in so many golfing eyes following his actions in improving his lie while attempting a shot from the sand at the Hero Challenge in December. 

The PGA Tour will continue for the next four weeks without spectators, beginning at the Players Championship today, and begging the question: will the Masters follow suit next month?

DEREK LAWRENSON AT SAWGRASS: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka took their cue from a subdued audience reeling from the news that this was the last action they will witness.

The legendary 49-year-old revealed on Twitter that talks with the 15-time major champion are underway over a high-profile shootout, despite virtually all sports being dragged to a halt.

Northern Irishman Rory Mcilroy showed off a few of his trademark moves including keepy-ups on his club before smashing the ball into the trees.

DEREK LAWRENSON: In 1995, Woods felt he'd stepped inside 'Disneyland, fantasyland, all rolled into one', when he cast his eye over Augusta National ahead of playing it for the first time.

Tiger Woods revealed that his traditional Masters Champions Dinner with his family ended in a food fight. The reigning champion had a version of the traditional meal under quarantine with his family.

The rigorous testing procedures put forward by the PGA Tour will involve players, caddies and officials being sent testing kits - already on mass order - to their homes.

DEREK LAWRENSON - WORLD OF GOLF: you are loath to argue with a 20-strong selection committee containing players like Nick Price, Curtis Strange and Annika Sorenstam.

DEREK LAWRENSON - WORLD OF GOLF: It was the hardest piece that I've ever had to write - and the lively aftermath was far, far worse. Seve Ballesteros tore into me in front of my peers.

Putin's decree released on Wednesday formalizes Russia's departure from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with the United States following Washington's withdrawal.

The spike in radiation in Russia yesterday may have been caused when one of Vladimir Putin's top secret Zircon hypersonic missiles exploded during tests, according to news reports in the country.

Steve Bullock, 2020 presidential candidate, on Sunday compared Ken Cuccinelli, the acting Director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services, to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Donald Trump's absence from an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the invasion of Poland in WWII is stoking fears that the security alliance between Washington and Warsaw is weaker than the two governments have let on.

Putin (pictured today) voted in Moscow elections which have taken on a rare significance after a series of candidates were detained and barred from the ballot, sparking mass protests.

The poll on Sunday suggests a tactical voting strategy pushed by opponents may have worked, in order to punish the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin's (pictured) ruling United Russia party.

The WHO released the report on Tuesday that put a decrease in the country's alcohol consumption down to a raft of measures brought in under sport-loving President Vladimir Putin.

Greta Thunberg, 16, changed her Twitter biography after Vladimir Putin called her 'a poorly informed teenager' who was being 'used by adults' at an energy forum in Moscow on Wednesday.

'It's better to replace it with the Great Russian Encyclopedia in electronic form…here it will be in any case, reliable information in a good modern form.' Putin said in Moscow on Tuesday.

Head of the Russian Northern Fleet, Vice-Admiral Alexander Moiseev, warned NATO countries risk starting a war over the Arctic and their presence in polar waters.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Mr Putin that the first missile unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle entered Russian combat duty, the Defence Ministry said.

MARK ALMOND: He likes to take the world - and Russians - by surprise. Vladimir Putin's lengthy State of Russia speech yesterday was expected to be the usual tedious outline of statistics.

Putin appears to have set himself up to rule for life after announcing reforms that could see him grab the helm of a strengthened state council. His moves have been likened to that of China's leader.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has submitted to parliament a package of constitutional amendments widely seen as an attempt to secure his grip on power after his term ends in 2024.

Russia's parliament on Thursday approved a package of constitutional amendments in a move widely seen as an attempt by President Vladimir Putin to stay in power past the end of his term.

At a meeting discussing amendments to the Russian constitution, Vladimir Putin said: 'As long as I'm president, we will have ''dad'' and ''mom''.'

Dmitry Bosov, 52, one of the richest men in Russia, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head inside the private gym of his mansion in Moscow on Wednesday night.

The real estate development organizations that would demonstrate Agility, Discipline in Business, Decisiveness, Digitization & Responsiveness to Customers, shall reach new heights and make the sector lot more resilient, credible, customer & environment centric. It is time to become socially responsible towards planet & people as our fates are intertwined.

Business Wire India

Monsoon Blockchain Corporation, Asia’s premier blockchain company pioneering the adoption of highly secure decentralized asset management, has partnered with Asia’s largest digital asset platform OSL of BC Group, DraperDragon Fund, CarbonBlue of BSN, and Academy Award Winning Studio Cross Creek Media. This deal signifies a major move for the blockchain, digital assets, and the expansion of global media and Hollywood. These partners create a global powerhouse in the Asia-Pacific region, which plan to harness industry-leading blockchain solutions for their business needs.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200505006164/en/

The Monsoon-OSL deal will explore opportunities to accelerate the drive towards the digitalization of assets, money, currencies, and decentralized blockchain ledgers (where all transactions, storage of payments and data will be inviolably recorded). Combining intellectual property, deal flow, large scale investors, and blockchain capabilities, Monsoon Blockchain is looking to create a digital asset powerhouse in the US and Asia.

OSL is the Hong Kong region’s most comprehensive digital asset platform, providing Software-as-a-Service, brokerage, exchange, and custody services for institutions and professional investors. OSL manages over $1.5B in transactions per month in digital asset trading. After reaching $171 billion this year, the value of business-to-business and cross-border payments carried out on blockchain systems is estimated to exceed an astounding $4.4 trillion by 2024.

Recently, Fidelity International, a spin-off from the U.S. financial services brand Fidelity Investments, invested in BC Group (stock code: 863 HK), the Hong Kong-based operator of crypto exchange OSL. Including custodial accounts, the firm reported $8.3 trillion in assets under administration - a spike from the reported $6.7 trillion in 2018.

Both Monsoon and OSL will participate in launching multiple digital assets and tokens including media and telecommunications tokens, Monsoon Token, and other branded assets within the Monsoon ecosystem. Monsoon has been making worldwide news in blockchain after partnering with China’s largest phone retailer, Dixintong (D.Phone), which generated a reported $2.5 billion in revenue in 2019.

Monsoon will be joining the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), which was recently launched on the Chinese Mainland on April 25th, 2020 and will officially be available for global commercial use by June 25^th. China Mobile, China UnionPay, and Red Date Technology are the founding consortia partners that created the BSN protocol and infrastructure, which has been deployed in over 100 cities in China. The BSN is a global interoperability protocol that allows companies to connect to different blockchain ecosystems, as well as create and run new blockchain-as-a-service applications. The BSN will accelerate the development of digital economies and smart cities deployment by providing global interconnectivity and integrated blockchain cloud computing services for participants on the network.

Additionally, Monsoon has formed a new partnership with CarbonBlue Innovations to integrate cloud computing capabilities on top of the BSN protocol, allowing the creation of new low-cost blockchain cloud computing offerings suitable for developing regions of the world. CarbonBlue Innovations is a leading venture building and investment company that is focused on rapidly commercializing and scaling blockchain, fintech, and digital finance innovation around the world. Not only does CarbonBlue Innovations focus on both fintech infrastructure solutions, but also digital assets and investment banking services to allow the institutional adoption of regulated digital assets.

Michael Sung, Chairman of CarbonBlue Innovations asserted: “Monsoon’s unique cloud computing optimization technologies complement the existing multi-cloud offerings of the BSN and can further enhance our ability to customize blockchain cloud services for the developing world. With this partnership, we will be able to offer compelling low-cost solutions to enable SMEs (small and medium enterprises) globally to join the digital economy, which will massively drive self-sufficiency and financial inclusion in these developing regions.”

Monsoon will also be able to leverage the partnership with CarbonBlue Innovations to create innovative digital asset securitization and digital finance solutions for the market. Leveraging CarbonBlue Innovation’s strong academic and institutional finance affiliations, the new partnership will allow the creation of a vertically-integrated digital asset investment banking platform to address the massive opportunity in the future digitization of the world’s economy. CarbonBlue Innovations is able to provide full-stack solutions, vertically-integrating fintech technology infrastructure, legal/regulatory best practices, and institutional financial engineering expertise for digital finance.

Michael Sung added, “CarbonBlue Innovations has created a strong strategic partnership network consisting of the top digital asset companies leading the industry. Combined with Monsoon’s access to various industry ecosystems and pipeline of tokenization projects, our partnership will enable us to immediately scale to take a leadership position in the market and allow our clients to leapfrog into the future of finance.”

Partnering with Monsoon Blockchain, Cross Creek Media ($1.5B in the worldwide Box office) will expand its digital assets in film, television, and IP into the blockchain universe. The aim of the partnership is to achieve streamlined digital content management systems, and to gain broader access to worldwide audiences. Cross Creek has been a co-financier/producer of such films as Oscar winner Black Swan and has been behind hits American Made,Everest, Black Mass, Bloodshot, Hacksaw Ridge and the upcoming The Trial of the Chicago 7. Cross Creek is well positioned to be the next generation of production houses. Additionally, Cross Creek will announce a token style offering alongside Monsoon Blockchain Corporation. Timmy Thompson, CEO of Cross Creek Media stated: “We are very excited to work with Monsoon and continue developing award-winning properties. Furthermore, we believe Cross Creek's portfolio of new media technology investments perfectly positions us to take advantage of the new distribution paradigms.”

“We are very honored to work with such insightful leaders and innovators, the breadth of participants in this deal demonstrates the significant impact blockchain will have across a wide variety of industries,” Dr. Donald Basile added, “tokenization of asset classes has a tremendous upside on both the investment level and security level. Gartner’s prediction of over $3 trillion of business value added by blockchain seems increasingly likely.”

Monsoon Blockchain Corporation is focused on innovative cloud solutions in the blockchain ecosystem. Dr. Donald Basile, its CEO and founder, is the former CEO of Fusion IO, a company known for playing a major role in implementing the cloud systems at Apple and Facebook as well as partnerships with HP, IBM, and Dell. Recently, Monsoon Blockchain added advisory board members Ken Goldman, President of Hillspire (Eric Schmidt’s family office), and former CFO of Yahoo and Fortinet and Xiaoma Lu, former Dalian Wanda Investments CEO and former board member of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to their team.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200505006164/en/

Justin Bieber's $1200 art purchase has helped raise $12.5K for Kobe Bryant's Mama fund. The artists created 260 mini versions of Justin's and donated 24% of profits to the Mamba On Three fund.

The Canadian crooner looked like he was in full preparation mode as he made his way to the dance studio on Thursday. The Yummy singer, 25, seemed like he was in high spirits.

The Sorry hitmaker, 25, who married Hailey in 2018, added that he initially told the model that he wouldn't be faithful as he was still dealing with 'unforgiveness' from the previous relationship.

Justin Bieber shows solid technique as he plays a round of golf with friend and  two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The Never Say Never hitmaker's fans were concerned about him in 2018 when photos emerged of the star in tears, but he has recalled just feeling emotional that day.

Justin Bieber was among hundreds devoted to celebrating Christ at Kanye West's Sunday Service. The singer performed Marvin Sapp's gospel hit Never Would Have Made It to a roaring crowd.