SoRrY.

Its time to show Myself

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WASHINGTON: A U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a "freedom of navigation operation" on Thursday, coming within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea, U.S. officials told Reuters. The operation came as President Donald Trump's administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea's missile and nuclear programs and could complicate efforts to secure a common stance. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the USS John S. McCain traveled close to Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals. China has territorial disputes with its neighbors over the area. It was the third "freedom of navigation operation" or "fonop" conducted during Trump's presidency. Neither China's defense ministry nor its foreign ministry immediately responded to a request for comment. The operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing's efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters, and comes as Trump is seeking China's cooperation to rein in North Korea. Tensions have risen recently after North Korea carried out two nuclear tests last year and two ICBM tests last month, prompting a strong round of U.N. sanctions which angered Pyongyang who threatened to teach the United States a "severe lesson". Trump in turn responded by warning North Korea it would face "fire and fury" if it further threatened the United States. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis issued a stark warning to North Korea on Wednesday, telling Pyongyang that it should stop any actions that would lead to the "end of its regime and the destruction of its people." The United States has criticized China's construction of islands and build-up of military facilities in the sea, and is concerned they could be used to restrict free nautical movement. The U.S. military has a long-standing position that its operations are carried out throughout the world, including in areas claimed by allies, and they are separate from political considerations. The Trump administration has vowed to conduct more robust South China Sea operations. In July, a U.S. warship sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam. Experts and officials have criticized President Barack Obama for potentially reinforcing China's claims by sticking to innocent passage, in which a warship effectively recognized a territorial sea by crossing it speedily without stopping. China's claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

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The McLaren 570GT cooks. It cooks with speed on the highway, the cabin cooks thanks to a full length panoramic sunroof above and the mid-mounted engine really cooks, enough to send heat wafting from the rear vents after only a short drive. The color, however? A cool turquoise shade named Pacific blue. Even in that color we can’t say the 570GT blends in, but compared to the 570S we drove last year, in arrest-me-red, it slips under the radar just a little bit, more so at night. So, the S and the GT aren’t very different cars, but there are some notable changes for the grand touring model, starting with the quieter exhaust system. It doesn’t rip, pop and snort as much as the S, which left this reviewer a little cold. The GT is 15 percent softer in the front and 10 percent in the rear. You’ll still be dodging the big potholes but nothing really makes you wince. The steering gets a slightly reduced ratio to smooth inputs, but is still both quick and easy. The car feels light all around with strong brakes and a still-touchy throttle. Of course, matting it from a stoplight makes both the S and GT feel light, especially when a factory fresh Mustang GT350 falls from your peripheral vision to your side mirrors, to your rearview. Other changes between the S and GT include more comfy, fully automatic seats, electric steering column, a nose lift, which we’ll get to later, more speakers, a little more storage with the clamshell rear hatch, quieter tires and that huge panomaric roof, cooking the car in Michigan’s summer heat. Just keep the AC on max and give yourself a few minutes before jumping in. And don’t touch the rear engine cover either. It’s hot. Execution It’s a McLaren, so you're going to have a good time no matter where you’re driving it. Like I said about the S, it's Porsche-911-Turbo money, but it gets way, way more looks than the squashed bug. I was cruising Woodward Avenue on a weeknight and the swarm of cars circling me got so annoying, I blasted back toward the expressway tunnels this car likes to call home. An orange MP4-12C also caught up, with a younger guy driving. He gave me a quick peace sign before taking off into the night. Even with a bit less sound from the pipes, it's still simply awesome to listen to. I took all my normal tunnel commutes and added a few others before I finally dropped the car off. It sounds almost like an F1 car at full tilt. It’s not a high-pitched scream -- more a bassy, middle C, just getting louder as the revs climb, with a little turbo whoosh for good measure. The 675LT sounded about the same. Might be a little less musical than a Ferrari, but no less thrilling. It takes a split second after flattening the throttle for this GT to get going, but after that it’s a never-ending wave of thrust, at least through 5 of 7 paddle shift changes. There’s one big -- scratch that, huge -- problem though: The paddles are in the correct format, the left is downshift, right is upshift, but they’re on a rocker and made from one hunk of carbon fiber. In theory the setup lets you change up or down with either paddle. The problem? Sometimes you just flick the upshift side with a fingertip and instead of going up a gear, it bounces back and goes down a gear. That’s not the end of the world on the street, but on the track, it could be catastrophic. This probably wouldn’t be a problem if you owned the car, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed such a thing. The seven-speed dual-clutch has three different shift modes through normal, sport and race. Race gives the driver a nice shove in the small of the back no matter where you shift. It’s the car saying, “I have plenty more to give, go for it!” Sport is a little softer; normal, even softer. The gauges change as the modes change and race mode has the coolest one. It’s sort of an ’80s digital throwback but it also tells you when to shift. You can see it in your peripheral vision, so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road. The 570GT has a few other issues, mostly small. The pedalbox is narrow so people with big feet, or people who feel the need to manspread, might have an issue. Rear visibility isn’t great with the small rear window and the seat controls are hidden very low on the sides of the buckets. I also couldn’t figure out the memory function so I had to readjust each time I got in. It’s part of the convenience entry and exit function, so it makes it easier to climb out, but I’d trade that for the perfect driving position easily. The nose lift function is almost necessary in car like this. My driveway is a little steep so I had to use it every time, and it takes a few times to get quick at it. All you need to do is flick the left stalk about 10 seconds before you need it. And then remember to tap it down when you’re back on the street. It also lowers automatically around 35 mph. Sometimes though it moves you into a setup mode, which you’ll have to back out of and then hit the stalk up again. The car can also get loud while idling. With the AC on the radiator fans, located near the doors, make a ton of noise. Same when the nose is raising or lowering. I don’t know if there’s a compressor in there or something but sitting at idle, you have to talk loudly for a passenger to hear you. Last complaint: the damn passenger side seatbelt warning goes off if you have anything heavier than a feather sitting there. And it’s not like this car has a ton of room for stuff. During the summer I usually take my light jacket along to carry all my stuff—cigarettes, wallet, work keycard, keys and such. You have to either throw it all on the floor or grab the seatbelt and buckle it. There’s definitely no turning it off. The cabin looks great in our car’s cream color and the driving position, besides where your feet rest, is perfect. McLaren took the opposite tack Ferrari did with the steering wheel. Ferrari has everything within a finger’s reach including the start button, mode control, windshield wiper, turn signals and probably more. McLaren’s wheel is just a naked piece of carbon fiber. I think the McLaren’s is cooler, and after an impromptu poll in the office, about two-thirds think the same. The single screen radio/infotainment works well once you get used to it. It connected with my iPhone without a hitch but it does react weirdly to polarized sunglasses. You have to tilt your head sometimes to see what you’re looking for. Takeaway Looking back at what I wrote about the 570S, most of it rings true here. There’s plenty of competition around this price point. A few AWDers and a few RWDers, no manual transmissions, but a McLaren is something different. In the nicer parts of southeast Michigan you see a few Ferraris a day, at least when the weather’s nice. I talked to a valet who said in the past year he’s seen tons of Italian exotics, but just two McLarens, including this one. There’s something to be said for that. And at this lofty performance perch, and price, the buyer should get exactly what he or she wants, including exclusivity. As far as the 570 fraternal twins go, the GT offers a few more creature comforts than the S and for that, and for Pacific blue, it gets the nod. We suggest wearing shorts and keeping sunglasses close by, and turn the music up to drown out those damn cooling fans.

Washington: Hackers claiming to have breached HBO were demanding millions of dollars in ransom payments from the television group, while threatening to release more files from what is claimed to be a massive data breach. A video circulating online directs a message to HBO chief Richard Plepler claiming that the group "obtained valuable information" in an attack that yielded a whopping 1.5 terabytes of data. The message was authored by someone identified only as "Mr. Smith." The website Databreaches.net reported that 10 files were leaked Monday as part of the demand including what may be another script of the po[CENSORED]r fantasy series "Game of Thrones." The video revealed a letter stating the hackers obtained "highly confidential" documents and data including scripts, contracts and personnel files. "We want XXX dollars to stop leaking your data," the letter said, later alluding to a figure of half the group´s annual budget of $12 million to $15 million. It went on to say, "HBO spends 12 million for Market Research and 5 million for GOT7 advertisements. So consider us another budget for your advertisements!" The message comes a week after a leak of one script of "Games of Thrones" and content from other productions. The letter said HBO was the 17th target for the hacking group and that "only 3 of our past targets refused to pay and were punished very badly and 2 of them collapsed entirely." HBO said in a statement that it believed that further leaks might emerge from the breach and that "the forensic review is ongoing." "While it has been reported that a number of emails have been made public, the review to date has not given us a reason to believe that our email system as a whole has been compromised," the statement from the Time Warner unit said. "We continue to work around the clock with outside cybersecurity firms and law enforcement to resolve the incident."

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Trees and vegetation rush past the large windshield as I pin the throttle to the floor. Forty, 50, 60 flash by as the tach needle climbs to 7,000 rpm; my brain is telling me I’m in a muscle car, but my eyes and ears are receiving entirely different signals. It's not a muscle car, at least in the traditional sense. It's the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400, and the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 carried over from last year remains its biggest asset. The 400 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque is impressive enough, but how usable and extractable that power is makes this car special. Unlike many turbocharged cars, this engine feels linear and begs to be taken all the way to its redline. Scads of torque is available down low from the quick-spooling compressors; it might not even feel necessary to rev it out, but those who do will be rewarded by emotional acceleration living up to the “Sport” in its name. Infiniti didn’t overhaul the engine for the Q50’s 2018 refurbishment, so let’s get to what is new...it's not much. A new look from the front and rear fascias is the most obvious change. For the Red Sport we drove here, that means a more aggressive look than before with the addition of some meaner-looking vents up front, plus a sharper grill and headlight shapes. Out back, new taillights, sportier-looking exhaust tips and a body-colored diffuser insert finish the look up. We liked the way Infiniti’s best-selling car looked before, and this update does nothing to change our opinion. It’s clean, sporty and sets itself apart from the German competition. Small changes worked themselves to the interior as well -- the steering wheel and gear selector from the Q60 get pulled for double duty in the Q50. A new red-stitched instrument panel further differentiates the Red Sport’s interior from the other Q50 trim levels available. Speaking of, Infiniti has gone and renamed the trim levels to confuse folks -- something at which the brand is adept. At the bottom we have Pure, available only with a Mercedes-sourced 2.0-liter turbo four. Next up is the Luxe trim, available with either the volume seller 300 hp version of the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 or a hybrid powertrain consisting of a 3.5-liter V6 coupled to an electric motor producing 360 hp in total. Finally, unchanged is the Sport trim that exclusively comes with the 300 hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo, leaving our subject here -- the Red Sport 400 -- at the top of the list. The Execution Smashing the throttle on this car is undoubtedly a joy, but this being a sports sedan, it must excel in other areas as well. The elephant in the room is Infiniti’s Direct Adaptive Steering system, commonly known as steer-by-wire. Infiniti says it is constantly performing updates on this system, so the 2018 model year should feel different from 2017. As I flip through the unending number of modes and response levels I can put the steering into, all I can think about is how sports cars used to come in one specifically engineered flavor of steering, rather than leaving the driver to figure out which of the countless combinations of steering effort, response and suspension modes he or she should be in. I tried my best to sample as many mixes as I could, but settled for Dynamic response and Sport Plus modes. This delivered a quick rack and weighty feel for the winding and undulating backroads around Nashville upon which I tested the Red Sport. As for how that steering response translates to handling gets more complicated. Upon first moving the steering wheel off-center it feels airy and disconnected from what is happening on the ground. Dial-in some more lock and the wheel quickly firms up how a standard steering rack would feel. The road isn’t transmitted to your hands as with a hydraulic (or even electric) rack, but the electronics do their best to simulate it. A Q60 Red Sport I drove not too long ago felt much more videogame-like than the steering in the Q50 does, so some worthwhile tuning has been done. Whereas the steering lacks natural feedback, the suspension excels at transmitting the road surface to the bottom of the seat. Bumps and imperfections might not make their way to the steering wheel, but I still feel like I’m well and truly connected to the chassis through the seat and pedals. The Red Sport’s stability control has been massaged to allow a bit more tail wagging fun for 2018; it’s easily taken advantage of on the rear-wheel drive Q50. Our car had summer performance tire option and not the standard run flats, leading to much more grip in tight corners. Those big tires with 19” Red Sport exclusive wheels do make a bit of noise when cruising along, more road noise than one might expect from a near $60,000 car. If it means less weight for lack of sound deadening however, we’re all for it. Even in the softest suspension setting, road imperfections and potholes were felt in the cabin, so don’t expect to have your cake and eat it too on the performance-driven Red Sport 400. Circling back to the beast under the hood feels necessary, because Nissan/Infiniti has proven again how capable it is at making a properly sorted engine. A few blasts up and down some backroads can easily make you forget this car doesn’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto yet. You won’t be as perturbed or worried about the dual-touchscreen interface Infiniti has going on in the center stack. And the beeping from the lane-keeping assist feature? Well, that’ll still annoy you, so best turn it off when canyon carving. And the seven-speed automatic transmission gets the job done well and smoothly enough that I’m not yelling at it by day’s end. In fact, this is one of the few torque converter automatics I actually found myself choosing to use the paddle shifters (made of great-feeling magnesium) in manual mode for spirited driving. Some of that stems from its propensity to shift up when you don’t really want it to, but once the transmission realizes you’re trying to have fun, it tries to give you what you want. Unfortunately, the stock exhaust of this uber-fast sports sedan does not sound the part. It’s quiet and muted in every way a fast car shouldn’t be. Infiniti does have an answer for those yearning for the howls achieved by the VQ engines of old in the form of three dealer installable exhaust options. They range from mild to muffler-less, and we’re told one can be had for around $700. The quiet version of these exhausts was on hand for us to give a listen to, and after a few blips of the throttle it became clear that this is a required option box to check. We can’t wait to hear how good the more aggressive setups might sound if this is the baseline. The Takeaway The Q50 Red Sport 400 should theoretically be cross-shopped with the BMW 340i, Audi S4 and Lexus IS350 F-Sport, Infiniti says. It’s not aiming for BMW’s M division or Mercedes’ AMG. That being said, we’re not sure if this mid-cycle refresh will lure buyers away from those other brands. Even though it outclasses the others in pure power, the nonlinear steering and steep base price of $51,905 make it a hard sell against established players.

HONG KONG: Ten beaches typically packed on a hot weekend were closed in Hong Kong on Sunday due to a palm oil spillage from a ship collision in mainland Chinese waters. Photographs showed styrofoam-like clumps lining the shores, while the waters at a fishing village po[CENSORED]r with tourists were seen covered in oil and rubbish. Hong Kong comprises more than 200 islands, many with po[CENSORED]r beaches, but there are increasing concerns about pollution and rubbish blighting the city´s shores. The government closed six beaches and hoisted warning flags after "white, oily substances" were spotted on the waters and sands off southern Hong Kong´s outlying islands on Sunday morning, according to a statement. Four additional beaches on the southern coast of the main Hong Kong Island were shut when beach staffers found "white, granular substances" on them, the statement added. Despite the rise of debris on beaches, washed ashore from mainland China and other parts of Hong Kong, residents in areas affected by the spillage said they have never seen anything like the congealed oil lumps. "It had a sort of bubbly consistency," said a resident of Lamma Island quoted by the South China Morning Post, who added the substances were strewn along the high-tide line. Others cited a rancid smell later in the afternoon, the paper reported. The leakage was caused by the crash between two cargo vessels near the Pearl River estuary in southern China on Thursday, the marine department confirmed. While oil spills from ships are relatively common in Hong Kong, the edible palm oil may have hazardous effects once it has absorbed toxins in the ocean, according to Gary Stokes of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, quoted by the South China Morning Post.

KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has said internet services across Pakistan are being gradually restored after different parts of the country were disrupted early Saturday owing to a major fault in the international cable system IMV. This was said by Imran Jangua, General Manager PTCL while talking to Geo News here Sunday afternoon. A fault in IMEWE (India-Middle East-Western Europe) undersea cable near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has been fixed and internet services are being gradually restored, he said. He, however, said work is still underway to fix the CMV 4. Services would be fully restored within few hours, he added. Internet subscribers reportedly faced difficulties in browsing due to the disruption in the 13000km-long IMV cable — extending from India till France — that was affected by a technical fault near Jeddah. “A fault in IMEWE in Saudi Arabia disrupted the internet in Pakistan in the wee hours of Saturday,” said Sikandar Naqi, chief business development officer (CBDO) PTCL. “The international consortium managing the submarine cable system has already started working to resolve the situation as early as possible.” Pakistan faced a similar internet outage last month when another international submarine cable system, SEA-ME-WE 4, broke down and was still under repair. On Saturday in his statement, Imran Janjua had said that maintenance teams outside Pakistan were working to repair the fault. “PTCL will be providing internet service through alternate source till the maintenance work is complete,” Janjua had said. IMEWE submarine cable is an ultra high capacity fiber optic submarine cable system which links India & Europe via Middle East. This 3 fiber pair system with total length of approx. 12,091km is well complemented with nine terminal stations forming a consortium of 09 leading telecom carriers from 08 countries. It must be noted that PTCL has recently announced to link the world’s biggest submarine cable consortium Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) in order to provide an alternative route to its customers and ramp up data carrying capacity. AAE-1, spanning over 25,000 kilometres, connects South East Asia to Europe via Egypt. The cable system will be constructed within the next 15 years.

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ISLAMABAD: Internet users in Pakistan will face slow internet browsing due to 'outage in international submarine cable systems providing internet bandwidth to Pakistan, IMEWE, PTCL said in a statement. “The international consortium managing the submarine cable system has already started working to resolve the situation as early as possible,” it added. In order to minimize the service impact, PTCL has already undertaken necessary measures to arrange/alternate bandwidth through its other cable systems and international cable business partners.” Another international cable system SEA-ME-WE 4 is already under repair by the international consortium. IMEWE (India-Middle East-Western Europe) submarine cable is an ultra high capacity fiber optic submarine cable system which links India and Europe via Middle East. This 3 fiber pair system with total length of approx. 12,091km is complemented with nine terminal stations forming a consortium of nine telecom carriers from eight countries including PTCL.

The annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance has turned into a small luxury auto show right before the Frankfurt or Paris motor shows, with luxury automakers filling the increasingly jammed Concept Lawn with dramatic concepts created just for the concours. This practice has noticeably picked up in recent years, and automakers now use the concours for gauging customer interest in front of those with the money to buy just about any car in the world. A recent Instagram video posted by Mercedes-Benz design boss Gorden Wagener is now teasing, via some intended misdirection, a new Mercedes-Maybach concept expected to take to the concept lawn at Pebble this year, with Mercedes designers shuffling around sketches of past concepts including the Vision Maybach 6 concept coupe that debuted at Pebble in 2016. Autocar reports the concept due at Pebble will be a drop-top version of the Mercedes-Maybach 6, but hasn't cited firm production plans for the model. The four-wheel-drive 2+2 EV seen last year produced a total of 738 hp through its four electric motors, drawing juice from an underfloor battery, and it was said to be capable of sprints from 0-60 mph of under 4 seconds while boasting a range of more than 200 miles. The sleek 18.5-foot-long coupe sat on 24-inch wheels, as if intending to crowd out other Pebble concepts through sheer square footage alone, and featured a chrome grille said to have been inspired by pinstripe suits. The concept also featured a number of classic Mercedes and Maybach design elements along with gullwing doors, plus a Star Trek-style interior. The second-most-recent revival of Maybach never actually produced a convertible version when the W140-generation Maybach lineup was its own separate brand, only offering what we'll graciously call a president-for-life Landaulet model. The Landau retained the C-pillars and rear doors of the Maybach 62 sedan, with the only open section being a retractable canvas roof for the rear seat passengers (permitting them to wave at adoring throngs of citizens). Maybach was criticized at the time for not offering a simple two-door cabriolet priced akin to the short-wheelbase 57 sedan, which could have helped sales in the sunnier tax havens. It remains to be seen whether Mercedes-Maybach will field a production cabriolet, but with the S-Class Cabriolet already on the market it will surely be easy for the automaker to develop an even more luxurious model based on it.

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Apple Inc has failed in its bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it disabled the po[CENSORED]r FaceTime video conferencing feature on older iPhones to force users to upgrade. US District Judge Lucy Koh ruled late on Friday that iPhone 4 and 4S users can pursue nationwide class action claims that Apple intentionally "broke" FaceTime to save money from routing calls through servers owned by Akamai Technologies Inc (AKAM.O). Neither Apple nor lawyers for the plaintiffs immediately responded on Monday to requests for comment. Apple began using Akamai's servers after losing a lawsuit in 2012 in which VirnetX Holding Corp claimed that FaceTime technology infringed its patents. Testimony from a 2016 retrial in that case showed that Apple paid Akamai $50 million in one six-month period. The plaintiffs said Apple eventually created a cheaper alternative for its iOS 7 operating system, and in April 2014 disabled FaceTime on iOS 6 and earlier systems. Koh said the plaintiffs alleged some measurable loss to their phones' value, and could try to show that Cupertino, California-based Apple's conduct constituted a trespass and violated state consumer protection laws. The San Jose, California-based judge twice quoted from what the plaintiffs said was an Apple employee's internal email characterizing iOS 6 users as "basically screwed" because of the disabling of FaceTime. She also rejected Apple's argument that the plaintiffs suffered no economic loss because FaceTime was a "free" service. "FaceTime is a 'feature' of the iPhone and thus a component of the iPhone's cost," Koh said in a footnote. "Indeed, Apple advertised FaceTime as 'one more thing that makes an iPhone an iPhone.'" The plaintiffs are led by Christina Grace of Marin County, California, and Ken Potter of San Diego County, California, who both owned the iPhone 4. Akamai was not named as a defendant. The case is Grace et al v Apple Inc, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-00551.

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BEIJING: The small, ornate figurines look like relics of a bygone age: a serene Buddha´s head from the Tang dynasty, or a collection of stone-faced soldiers from the Qin era. The creation process, however, is decidedly modern. In northwest Shaanxi province´s capital of Xian, home to such historic sites as the clay Terracotta Army and the 1,000-year-old Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, a small studio and factory uses 3D printing technology to replicate ancient art. "All the intricate details of the original design are preserved in a 3D mould," Xi Xin, the president of the Xian Chizi Digital Technology company, told AFP. "Human workers may not be able to produce everything we want in the design, but the printer can do it all." The firm, whose products are sold at museum shops and to personal collectors, is among the businesses taking advantage of China´s foray into 3D printing -- a rapidly-growing industry that has been incorporated into the country´s national manufacturing strategy. "In the last five years, 3D printing in China has grown from a one billion yuan ($149 million) industry to a more than 100 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) industry," Luo Jun, the head of the China 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance, told AFP. Technological breakthrough 3D printing came to China in the 90s, Luo said, after Tsinghua University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology professors brought the technology back from the United States. Domestic development of the methods were slow at first, but the industry has gained momentum with government support. The Chinese State Council´s "Made in China 2025" industrial development plan lists the promotion of "new breakthroughs in 3D printing" as a priority for growth into the next decade, while the Ministry of Science and Technology counts 3D printing among its thirteen priority projects for technological innovation. "Now the scale of China´s 3D printing industry has surpassed those of Europe and the US," Luo said. The Xian Chizi Digital Technology company has developed its 3D design technology over the last ten years, using a stereolithography machine to print carefully constructed digital replicas of historic artifacts. The design process can take between one to three months, while printing requires up to several weeks of time for the more elaborate pieces. Once the prototype is complete, it will be mass-produced in a factory using the sane material -- usually wood or copper -- as the relic it was modelled on. "Our clients don´t buy our products because of the 3D printing aspect, but it does make things easier," Xi said. For instance, if a customer decides that she wants an 80-centimetre elephant instead of a 50-centimetre one, it´s a simple matter of programming the 3D printer accordingly. Xi´s company also makes 3D printed moulds for sculptors who use them as models for their own handcrafted artworks. The final products -- painted miniatures sold for between 20 yuan ($3) and 500 yuan ($74) -- are po[CENSORED]r among the tourists who flock to Xian, known as the oldest of China´s four great imperial capitals. The figurines are now being sold at the mausoleum for Qin Shi Huang, China´s first emperor, and his Terracotta Warriors. There, at the burial place dating back to 200 B.C., visitors can hold the 3D "artifacts" of China´s future in the palm of their hands.

While it has yet to receive one spoken word of confirmation from Chevrolet, the spy photos don’t lie: A mid-engine Corvette is probably on its way. These spy shots give us our first glimpse of the interior, as well as small hints of the shape that will most likely be revealed at the 2018 Detroit auto show. Clearly, the doors open conventionally, and everything about the curves scream mid-engine. Even the larger rear brake rotor size hints at more weight being further back in the car -- another mid-engine tip-off. These photos are more detailed than before and reveal what looks to be a car further along in the production process. The front of the car looks decidedly un-Corvette like, but the rear certainly reminds us of the C7. Not looking over a mile of hood and still being in a “Corvette” sure will be weird, but we can’t wait to see what Chevy can do with a seriously dynamic chassis. This decades-in-the-making supercar? is dangerously close to being reality now. A small-block V8 with something around 500 hp or more could make this thing competitive with most budget supercars out there now. Obviously, a massive price hike above the normal front-engined Vette is to be expected, but a cheap McLaren/Ferrari alternative sounds great in our book.

LAHORE: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi took control of prime ministerial duties on Thursday after a guard of honour amid growing uncertainty that Shahbaz Sharif will eventually take over the job as planned. Nawaz Sharif, disqualified by the Supreme Court last week, named Abbasi as temporary prime minister and outlined plans for brother Shahbaz Sharif to take over once he contests and wins a parliamentary by-election in less than two months. But doubts seem to have surfaced about those plans since Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party used its hefty majority in the National Assembly to elect Abbasi as prime minister on Tuesday. Three senior PML-N officials told Reuters that Shahbaz's eventual installation as prime minister was no longer a foregone conclusion, while two of Shahbaz's Lahore-based aides added that the chances of him taking over were receding. "Nawaz Sharif is in two minds about Shahbaz's premiership," said one of Shahbaz's aides in Lahore. Asif Khawaja, former defence minister and staunch Nawaz ally, told Geo TV late on Wednesday that the plan to make Shahbaz premier was "almost confirmed", but added Nawaz as the leader of the party "has the prerogative to revise (or) amend his decision — or stick to it". Opposition politicians have slammed Nawaz's plans as dynastic, with opposition party leader Imran Khan decrying Pakistani politics as a "form of monarchy". Still, analysts say the relatively smooth transition to Abbasi after Nawaz was disqualified has eased fears that nuclear-armed Pakistan could be plunged into a prolonged bout of political turmoil. Former petroleum minister Abbasi has frequently travelled to the Sharif family home in Murree, in the hills northeast of Islamabad, and has spoken openly about "consultations" with his old boss, bolstering the widespread view that the toppled leader is the power behind the throne. Nawaz resigned on Friday after the Supreme Court disqualified him for not declaring a small source of income — something he rejects receiving. He has criticised the judiciary for cutting short his third stint in power and his allies have hinted that elements of the powerful army may have played a role, but the veteran leader retrains widespread backing of his party. 2018 POLL PML-N officials say the main reason why Shahbaz may not take over is linked to the 2018 general elections, and the party's fears that its grip on the vital Punjab province will weaken if he steps down as chief minister. The way Pakistan's political system is set up means any party that sweeps Punjab, which houses more than half of Pakistan's 190 million people, will most likely go on to form a government after the general elections in mid-2018. Shahbaz has served as chief of Punjab since 2008, delivering big wins for PML-N and forging a reputation as a competent administrator whose workaholic habits have contributed to timely completion of infrastructure mega projects po[CENSORED]r with voters. "The safer choice is to leave Shahbaz in Punjab," said a senior PML-N official. "Most people think that it would be safer and better at this stage to not disturb these things too much." Abbasi and Sharif are due to hold further discussions about the formation of the new cabinet and PML-N officials expect a decision to be made about Shahbaz's future in a day or two. Abbasi, a Western-educated businessman who founded a budget airline, is regarded as an absolute Nawaz loyalist. Abbasi spent most of his political career by Nawaz's side and the two were jailed after the 1999 coup by General Pervez Musharraf.