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Leading global interactive developer Blizzard Entertainment announced a new class Blood Knight launching in Diablo Immortal on Thursday, July 13. The release of the Blood Knight marks a special moment for the Diablo universe as it is the first new Class since the release of the Crusader in 2014. With hybrid attack options that can be either melee or ranged depending on your proximity to the target, the Blood Knight is a mid-range class. This vampire vanquisher feeds on the life of their victims, traps them in lethal shadows called out with cursed power, and keeps a safe distance from danger with the aid of their steadfast polearm. And if everything else fails, they might as well give in to the evil creature that is battling for control of their humanity inside of them.Combine the mastery of the polearm with supernatural strength of Blood Knight class in Diablo Immortal To defeat the demonic foot warriors of the Burning Hells, combine your mastery of the polearm with your supernatural strength and vampire abilities. The Blood Knight can launch powerful attacks to eliminate large groups of enemies and provide exquisite death with his defining life steal attacks. And if more destruction is required, they can temporarily change you into an animal with their Abomination skill. The whole list of the Blood Knight’s abilities is provided here to show how you’ll sneak up on targets:Primary Attack Skills of Blood Knight class in Diablo Immortal Ravage: Unleash a barrage of polearm thrusts and sweeps, dealing damage to an enemy and 25% as much to all other enemies. Annihilation (Ultimate of Ravage): Enhance Ravage for 12 seconds, gaining an additional polearm in your off hand that increases your range and causes the final attack to knockback enemies. While empowered, Annihilation deals increased damage. You also gain a shield that absorbs damage equal to 20% of your maximum Life for 3 seconds. Shadow’s Edge (Unlocked at Level 34): Wield a blade of pure shadow energy that can be used to slash at nearby enemies, dealing damage. If there are no nearby enemies the blade will be thrown a short distance, dealing damage. Shadow’s Embrace (Ultimate of Shadow’s Edge): Enhance Shadow’s Edge for 12 seconds, throwing a volley of 5 shadow blades that penetrate enemies, dealing damage for each blade that strikes an enemy. You also gain a shield that absorbs damage equal to 20% of your maximum Life for 3 seconds. Additional Skills of Blood Knight class in Diablo Immortal Spear Flurry (Unlocked at Level 1): Channel a flurry of polearm attacks, dealing damage to enemies in front of you. Upon activation, if no enemies are nearby, you will dash forward a short distance before the onslaught begins. Using Spear Flurry slowly consumes its energy, which recovers while Spear Flurry is not in use. Wave of Blood (Level 1): Expel a wave of blood that knocks back enemies, dealing damage. Maximum 2 charges. Tendrils of Blood (Level 3): Shoot bloody tendrils into nearby enemies, dealing damage. Activate again to pull all afflicted enemies to you, dealing additional damage. Siphon of Blood (Level 8): Continually siphon blood from the prey around you, dealing damage to all nearby enemies while also healing yourself for 15% of the damage done. Using Siphon Blood slowly consumes its energy, which recovers while Siphon Blood is not in use. Sanguinate (Level 15): Liquefy into a bloody form for 2.5 seconds, increasing your Movement Speed by 50%. Activate again to coagulate your being and rush forward, dealing damage to enemies you pass through. Umbral Lance (Level 20): Hurl a lance of pure darkness that penetrates through enemies, dealing damage. Charging longer increases range, and damage. Swarm of Bats (Level 28): Call a cloud of bats to attack enemies for 8 seconds, continually dealing damage. The cloud of bats will pursue enemies and can be redirected by activating this skill again.Whirling Strike (Level 38): Whirl your polearm around you multiple times, dealing damage to nearby enemies. Maximum 2 charges. Mephitic Cloud (Level 44): Release a toxic cloud around you for 6 seconds that confuses enemies, causing monsters to attack each other and restricts targeting for players. Skewer (Level 44): Skewer an enemy with your polearm and then slam the enemy into the ground, dealing damage to all other nearby enemies and Stunning them for 3 seconds. Shroud of Night (Level 47): Shroud yourself and nearby allies in darkness for 8 seconds, causing shadowy apparitions of yourselves to emerge every 1.5 seconds to unleash a Primary Attack against your enemies.against your enemies. Abomination (Level 50): Consume all your Anger to transform into an unholy abomination for 15 seconds, increasing your damage done and replacing your skills with Blood Rush and Shattering Fists. Generate Anger each time you damage an enemy with your Primary Attack or use a Skill. Blood Rush: Shed your mortal flesh and move forward a short distance, dealing damage to enemies in your path. Shattering Fists: Unleash a series of massive blows, dealing damage to all nearby enemies, with every third attack causing a knockback. Transfusion (Level 53): Using enriched blood, you can strengthen a friend or yourself, giving them a three-second shield that deflects attacks. The target player will also be immune to damaging effects for the duration of the shield and damaging effects will be removed from them. You run to their rescue and perform Transfusion on both of you when you cast Transfusion on an ally. Within five seconds of the initial cast, transfusion can be activated once again. 60 new class-specific Legendary Items are being released alongside the Blood Knight class in Diablo Immortal Chest Dereliction: Wave of Blood also reduces the Movement Speed of any enemies hit by 40% for 3 seconds. Chiropteran Trade: Swarm of Bats damage increased 10%. Count of the Eves: Whirling Strike also grants 5% damage reduction per enemy hit for 3 seconds. This effect stacks up to a maximum of 6 times. Influencer: Shroud of Night now only empowers you, causing every other Primary Attack to conjure a shadowy apparition to attack enemies. Layered Aims: Shroud of Night now empowers you and nearby allies, causing your Primary Attacks to mark enemies for death. The marks explode upon reaching 5 stacks dealing damage to the marked enemy. Momentary Comfort: Shroud of Night now periodically conjures shadowy apparitions that grant shields to you and nearby allies. No More Bygones: Sanguinate now also shatters enemy armor, increasing the damage they take by 10% for 3 seconds. Rootvein Mail: Tendrils of Blood now tethers you to an enemy, Immobilizing you and Stunning them for up to 3 seconds. The blood tether continually deals damage to the linked enemy and can be broken at anytime by activating the skill again. Ruin’s Bindings: Tendrils of Blood now throws enemies to a targeted location, dealing damage and Stunning them. Warmth and Likability: Wave of Blood maximum charges increased by 1. Helm https://gamingonphone.com/news/diablo-immortal-introduces-a-new-blood-knight-class-with-new-features/

AMD's Starfield game promotional bundle is heading to Ryzen 7000 CPUs & Radeon RX 7000 / 6000 GPUs next week. AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs, Radeon RX 7000 & RX 6000 GPUs To Get Bundled With Bethesda's Starfield Next Week It looks like AMD Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs aren't the only hardware getting bundled with a free copy of Starfield. AMD's official Taiwan webpage has now listed the Starfield bundle which will be opening on the 11th of July, 2023 at 9 PM TPE and last till the 28th of October, 2023. The bundled game will be available with select Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs & Radeon RX 7000 / 6000 GPUs.Now what's interesting is that AMD will be offering two separate editions of Starfield with its CPUs and GPUs. The Starfield Premium Edition, valued at 2890 NTD or $92 US ($99.99 US on Steam) will be bundled with higher-end hardware while the mainstream hardware will be getting the standard edition of the game which is valued at 1990 NTD or $63 US ($69.99 US on Steam). Do note that the pricing for the game varies depending on the region. Following are the eligible AMD Ryzen CPUs & Radeon GPUs: STARFIELD PREMIUM EDITION ($99.99 US) STARFIELD STANDARD EDITION ($69.99 US) Ryzen 9 7950X3D Ryzen 9 7950X Ryzen 9 7900X3D Ryzen 9 7900X Ryzen 9 7900 Ryzen 7 7800X3D Ryzen 7 7700X Ryzen 7 7700 Ryzen 5 7600X Ryzen 5 7700 Radeon RX 7900 XTX Radeon RX 7900 XT Radeon RX 6950 XT Radeon RX 6900 XT Radeon RX 6800 XT Radeon RX 6800 Radeon RX 6750 XT Radeon RX 6700 XT Radeon RX 6700 Radeon RX 7600 Radeon RX 6650 XT Radeon RX 6600 XT Radeon RX 6600 A computer system equipped with the following: Ryzen 7 5700G or Ryzen 5 5600G with the above Radeon graphics cards Ryzen processor paired with the aforementioned Radeon graphics card For those of you who missed out on the previous announcements, Bethesda has selected AMD as the exclusive PC partner for Starfield. The company has announced that the game will feature FSR 2 support on launch and will also get specific multi-threaded optimizations targetting AMD Ryzen CPUs.News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Software Deals Reviews Videos How To Hardware AMD To Bundle Starfield With Ryzen 7000 CPUs, Radeon RX 7000 & RX 6000 GPUs Hassan Mujtaba • Jul 8, 2023 09:01 AM EDT 507 AMD's Starfield game promotional bundle is heading to Ryzen 7000 CPUs & Radeon RX 7000 / 6000 GPUs next week. AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs, Radeon RX 7000 & RX 6000 GPUs To Get Bundled With Bethesda's Starfield Next Week It looks like AMD Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs aren't the only hardware getting bundled with a free copy of Starfield. AMD's official Taiwan webpage has now listed the Starfield bundle which will be opening on the 11th of July, 2023 at 9 PM TPE and last till the 28th of October, 2023. The bundled game will be available with select Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs & Radeon RX 7000 / 6000 GPUs. RELATED STORY Muhammad Zuhair AMD’s Next-Gen Zen 5 CPUs Receive Support in Latest Linux Patch Now what's interesting is that AMD will be offering two separate editions of Starfield with its CPUs and GPUs. The Starfield Premium Edition, valued at 2890 NTD or $92 US ($99.99 US on Steam) will be bundled with higher-end hardware while the mainstream hardware will be getting the standard edition of the game which is valued at 1990 NTD or $63 US ($69.99 US on Steam). Do note that the pricing for the game varies depending on the region. Following are the eligible AMD Ryzen CPUs & Radeon GPUs: STARFIELD PREMIUM EDITION ($99.99 US) STARFIELD STANDARD EDITION ($69.99 US) Ryzen 9 7950X3D Ryzen 9 7950X Ryzen 9 7900X3D Ryzen 9 7900X Ryzen 9 7900 Ryzen 7 7800X3D Ryzen 7 7700X Ryzen 7 7700 Ryzen 5 7600X Ryzen 5 7700 Radeon RX 7900 XTX Radeon RX 7900 XT Radeon RX 6950 XT Radeon RX 6900 XT Radeon RX 6800 XT Radeon RX 6800 Radeon RX 6750 XT Radeon RX 6700 XT Radeon RX 6700 Radeon RX 7600 Radeon RX 6650 XT Radeon RX 6600 XT Radeon RX 6600 A computer system equipped with the following: Ryzen 7 5700G or Ryzen 5 5600G with the above Radeon graphics cards Ryzen processor paired with the aforementioned Radeon graphics card For those of you who missed out on the previous announcements, Bethesda has selected AMD as the exclusive PC partner for Starfield. The company has announced that the game will feature FSR 2 support on launch and will also get specific multi-threaded optimizations targetting AMD Ryzen CPUs. There has been some backlash to the exclusivity announcement since Bethesda itself has only so far listed support for AMD's FSR 2 upscaling technology. NVIDIA DLSS and Intel XeSS support has not been mentioned yet but considering that most AMD-sponsored and bundled AAA titles don't feature competitive upscaling solutions, it might be the case here too. As for the PC requirements, Starfield will be dropping support for HDDs and requires an SSD for optimal gameplay. You will be required to have a beefy graphics card to play the game. Starfield launches on September, 6th, 2023, on the Xbox Series S/X, PC, and Game Pass. We can expect more information on PC-specific technologies adopted by the game close to its launch. The bundle will be available through major retailers across the globe and you'll be able to redeem it from AMD's official promo page. https://wccftech.com/amd-to-bundle-starfield-with-ryzen-7000-cpus-radeon-rx-7000-rx-6000-gpus/

Despite leaving something to be desired when it comes to pure role-playing game mechanics, Final Fantasy XVI still grants players the chance to customize Clive by picking different Eikon abilities loadouts and equipping different items. Among the items that change the character's performance in combat are accessories that grant increased power for Eikon abilities, better healing, reduced cooldown, and so on. One of these accessories, called the Berserker Ring, can spice things up quite a bit by granting Clive access to a new technique, which may be good or bad depending on a lot of different reasons.What is the Berserk Ring in Final Fantasy XVI? The Berserker Ring in Final Fantasy XVI is an accessory that can be obtained in the second half of the game once the Renown mechanics have been unlocked. These mechanics reward Clive with Renown every time he completes a quest, and once enough has been obtained, he can get some unique rewards by speaking with Desiree in the Hideaway to access Patron's Whisper. The Berserker Ring can be obtained once at 85 Renown.News accessory that can be obtained in the second half of the game once the Renown mechanics have been unlocked. These mechanics reward Clive with Renown every time he completes a quest, and once enough has been obtained, he can get some unique rewards by speaking with Desiree in the Hideaway to access Patron's Whisper. The Berserker Ring can be obtained once at 85 Renown. What makes the Berserk Ring unique, compared to all the other accessories in the game, is the fact that it changes the Precision Dodge animation, and grants a very short burst of Limit Breaking, meaning that every time you Precision Dodge any attack, you will be able to unleash abilities that are locked behind Limit Break for a short period of time, such as the extended basic combo string, the more powerful Lunge, and Downthrust, and doubled magic attacks. There's a downside to all of this, however, as you will no longer have access to Precision Counter and Precision Counter Shot. Should You Use the Berserker Ring in Final Fantasy XVI?Using the Berserker Ring in Final Fantasy XVI is ultimately up to personal preference and playstyle. While being able to access Limit Break-exclusive attacks for a short time is a nice thing to have, being unable to use Precision Counter and Precision Counter Shot can throw you off, especially against enemies with a Stagger bar whose attacks cannot be interrupted. Additionally, the Limit Break combo string changes the timing of Parry slightly, so if you have spent a lot of time in Practice Mode mastering your defensive options, you may need some more practice to get used to this small yet significant change. https://wccftech.com/how-to/final-fantasy-xvi-should-you-use-the-berserker-ring/

White-tail sea eagles are suspected to have preyed on infected birds Conservationists fear avian flu has damaged the breeding success of white-tailed sea eagles - the UK's largest bird of prey. NatureScot said new analysis suggested the proportion of eagles rearing young in Scotland had dropped from 67% in 2021 to 45% last year. The public agency said it was suspected the raptors had caught or scavenged on birds infected with the virus. It said the golden eagle, another large bird of prey, was also suffering. The proportion of golden eagle pairs rearing young was found to have declined from 48% in 2021 to 28%.The largest declines recorded for both eagle species were in Lewis and Harris in the Western Isles. Concern at lower bird numbers in wake of avian flu In pictures: Bass Rock's black-eyed flu survivors What is bird flu and what's behind the outbreak? Analysis suggested the breeding success of golden eagles fell from 55% to 16%, and for white-tailed eagles it dropped from 66% to 24%. The study by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) used data from the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme. Avian flu has decimated seabird po[CENSORED]tions around Scotland's coast, including gannets on Bass Rock and skuas in Shetland. The first cases of the flu in birds of prey were detected in November 2021, and by April 2022 there were positive tests results for a range of species. John Allan, NatureScot ornithology advisor, said: "Scotland still has strong eagle po[CENSORED]tions but these findings are very concerning. "So far we have had fewer positive test results among birds of prey this year than last year, but it is early in the season and we can't be complacent. "We intend to repeat this analysis in 2023 to see if breeding success begins to improve." Mark Wilson, acting head of science for BTO Scotland, said laboratory tests for the virus in dead birds of prey had shown that avian flu could kill both adult and nestling raptors. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-66051875

Mark Drakeford said NHS staff dealing with avoidable problems get wrongly blamed for A&E waits Hospital staff treating "shockingly high" numbers of people who have drunk too much get unfairly blamed for long A&E waits, the first minister has said. Mark Drakeford said medical workers spent too much time responding to problems that "need never have happened". He said staff then seemed to be blamed when pressures become hard to manage. Mr Drakeford urged people to do all they could to avoid needing NHS help for "reasons that were avoidable". The first minister emphasised he was not just thinking about alcohol misuse, but also the "obesity agenda" and the "diabetes agenda".He was speaking at the three-times-a-year first minister's scrutiny session, which was held in Wrexham, where he faced questions from chairpersons of Senedd committees. Alcohol-related deaths in Wales reached record high in 2021 Sobriety tag changed my life, says alcohol offender Police officer turned to drink to cope with stress Before making his comments, Mr Drakeford said Betsi Cadwaladr health board had called for the po[CENSORED]tion to do more to "make sure that harms that genuinely can be avoided are avoided". He said: "When I read stuff in the media about difficulties in A&E departments, and the length of time people are having to wait, and then you look at the percentage of people who end up in an A&E department because they have drunk too much, it is shockingly high. "People who we rely on to work in A&E departments spend an awful lot of their time responding to harm that need never have happened. "It's the people who work there who seem to get the blame when those pressures become very hard t o manage."The first minister said "responsibility is shared amongst everybody" Mr Drakeford stressed he did not want to blame anybody but added "responsibility is shared amongst everybody". He said if society wanted the NHS to continue responding to those who fell ill for reasons beyond their control it must relieve it of avoidable pressure. "It is a partnership between the service and the po[CENSORED]tion it serves, in which the po[CENSORED]tion doesn't believe that we can all behave as we like, and the minute it all goes wrong it becomes the responsibility of somebody else," he said. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-66136137

At least eight people have been killed in an attack on a residential area in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, the country's authorities have said. Ukraine's interior ministry said another 13 people were wounded in the Russian shelling of the town of Lyman. The strike caused fires in a house, a printing shop and three cars which have now been put out by rescuers, the ministry said. It comes as the country marks the 500th day of the invasion. Ukraine's counter-offensive, which began last month, continues to grind on in the eastern Donetsk and south-eastern Zaporizhzhia regionsIts advances have been slow, as Russia continues its missile and drone attacks. The small city of Lyman is a key railway hub in the Donetsk, and was initially captured by Russia but then retaken by Ukraine's army in October. Russia had been "concentrating quite powerful forces" there, the spokesman of Ukraine's eastern group of forces, Serhiy Cherevatyy, told Ukrainian television on Friday. "At around 10:00, the Russians struck the town with multiple rocket launchers," the regional governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said on social media on Saturday. He said a house and a shop were damaged. The BBC has not been able to verify the claims.Authorities shared photos of the aftermath of the attack on social media On Thursday, 10 people, including a woman aged 95, were killed after a Russian rocket hit an apartment building in Lviv, western Ukraine. Another 40 people were injured in what the mayor of Lviv described as "one of the biggest attacks" on the city's civilian infrastructure. And the previous week 13 people were killed - including children - when a restaurant and shopping centre were struck in Kramatorsk, an eastern city close to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. For months, Russia has been carrying out deadly missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, often hitting civilian targets and causing widespread blackouts. War in maps: Ukraine's slow advance continues 'We believe and wait' - Ukrainians on the front line On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Snake Island - a place that has became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after being retaken by Ukrainian forces - to mark the 500th day of the invasion. "I want to thank from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days," Mr Zelensky said. One month into its long-awaited counter-offensive, Ukraine says its forces are making gains - although Mr Zelensky previously admitted progress was slow. And earlier this week, the US's highest-ranking military officer, Gen Mark Milley, said although Ukraine was advancing steadily, its counter-offensive against Russia would be difficult and "very bloody". The Ukrainian General Staff has reported that Ukrainian forces have conducted offensive operations south and north of what is left of the eastern city of Bakhmut - most of which has been under Russian control. Last week, Ukraine's military commander-in-chief said its campaign had been hampered by a lack of adequate firepower and expressed frustration with the slow deliveries of weapons promised by the West. But on Friday, the US announced it would be giving Ukraine cluster bombs - a controversial type of weapon that is banned in more than 120 countries, including the UK, because they have a record of killing civilians. The US has faced criticism for its decision, but Mr Zelensky thanked the US for the "timely, broad and much-needed" aid. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66142752

More power, a new interior, and a revised chassis turn the DB up to 12.The Route Napoléon, which climbs north from the French Riviera to Grenoble, is widely considered one of the best driving roads in Europe, with a spectacular collection of narrow switchbacks and high-speed curves connected by brief straights. Much of it runs through national parkland, so traffic is light. It's hardly a secret, though, and you'll find groups of motorcyclists, driving tour groups, and—inevitably—campers also on the route. The ideal car for the Route Napoléon is one that's tight and responsive in the twisties, poised through the fast curves, and with deep reserves of power in order to rip past dawdlers in the brief passing zones and roar triumphantly through the valleys. Something like the Aston Martin DB12.The DB12 is a big car, and it feels plenty wide when you're threading it along the narrow streets of the Côte d'Azur. Fortunately, the steering, which has been revised for greater precision both on- and off-center, makes placing this car easy. It's the same quickness as before—2.4 turns lock to lock—and the ratio is fixed, which aids predictability. The level of power assist varies with speed and drive mode, but not wildly so. On-center precision was also a key quality in the design of the DB12-specific Michelin Pilot Sport 5S tires (275/35-ZR21 up front, 325/30-ZR21 at the rear).So, too, was grip, and the DB12 has plenty. Pushing it as hard as we dared, it was impossible to upset this chassis—even when surprised by a tightening blind corner or suddenly booting the accelerator powering out of a curve. Aston claims 52 percent of the car's mass rides on the rear wheels, and the DB12 feels incredibly balanced, with eager turn-in and little front-end push.Chassis tuning for the new DB12 was undertaken with the goal of preserving ride quality but sharpening handling. The three main drive modes—GT, Sport, and Sport+—are joined by the new Wet and Individual modes. There are also nine levels of traction control once you switch off ESC (although that capability wasn't active on the pre-production cars we drove). Director of vehicle performance Simon Newton talks about wanting to allow the car to "breathe," which meant tuning the new Bilstein DTX adaptive dampers to allow some vertical motion even in the firmest setting. That firmest setting does preserve a measure of ride quality—more so than most Mercedes-AMG or BMW M cars in their max-attack mode.The biggest mechanical change from DB11 to 12 is under the hood. The twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 again hails from AMG but is much brawnier than the DB11's. Larger turbochargers, revised cam profiles, and a higher compression ratio push output to 671 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, an additional 143 horses and 77 pound-feet. The new V-8 also tops the previously available V-12's 630 horses and 516 pound-feet. (The V-12 isn't currently on offer for the DB12, but Aston insiders hint that it could make a return.) As it is, the V-8 certainly doesn't disappoint. The engine's fat torque band—the peak runs from 2750 to 6000 rpm—means the turbo V-8 is brutally strong throughout the rev range. And does this engine pack a punch. Aston quotes a 60-mph time of 3.5 seconds, but on the move, the DB12 seems even quicker. Out on the Route Napoléon, flooring the right pedal sent the car hurtling toward the next corner, and it made even the diciest passing opportunities suddenly viable. Our only quibble is the aggressive throttle mapping in Sport+ mode.An engine that can punt a car forward with the force of this V-8 requires brakes that are equally forceful when reining a car in. The firm, reassuring left pedal in our DB12 squeezed carbon-ceramic rotors that were well up to the task. A new option, they save nearly 60 pounds over the standard iron stoppers, although they sometimes emit a faint squeal under light applications. The beefy rotors are visible through new, 21-inch wheels (9.5 inches wide up front, 10.5 inches at the rear). The wheel size is an increase from 20 inches in the DB11, yet the new forged wheels are collectively lighter by some 17 pounds.The DB12 again uses a ZF eight-speed rear-mounted transaxle, and the ratios are the same as before. The final-drive ratio is 13 percent shorter, however, to aid in-gear acceleration, so calls for more midrange thrust often can be answered without downshifting. Aston has moved the large shift paddles from the column to the steering wheel, but you won't have much need for them, so intuitive is this gearbox. Regardless of mode, it was amazingly prescient with its downshifting into corners and holding on to a gear when accelerating hard out of them. In the opposite scenario, when motoring gently through a busy town center or at parking-lot speeds, this torque-converter automatic exhibits none of the jerky hesitation that can occur with a dual-clutch gearbox. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a44179305/2024-aston-martin-db12-coupe-drive/

We are more dangerous to the animals around us than the great white shark By Helen Briggs Environment correspondent Humans are well known as super predators but for the first time scientists have put a figure on it. We exploit around a third of all wild animals for food, medicines or to keep as pets, putting almost half at risk of extinction, they say. That makes us hundreds of times more dangerous than natural predators such as the great white shark. And they warn of profound consequences for whole ecosystems. "The size and scale of what we found surprised us," said Dr Rob Cooke of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. "Humans have a breath-taking diversity of uses of animals but we need to move towards sustainable human-nature relationships across the globe."Humans have a breath-taking diversity of uses of animals but we need to move towards sustainable human-nature relationships across the globe." Illegal smuggling for the pet trade puts wild birds at risk of extinction The researchers analysed data on almost 50,000 different wild mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish that humans harvest for food, medicines or clothing, or collect from the wild for the pet trade. They found we use or trade 14,663 species - about a third of all vertebrates - and are driving 39% of these towards extinction. And our impact is up to 300 times greater than that of top predators such as the great white shark, lion or tiger. Humanity now has a bigger influence on other animals on the planet than at any time in history, Why the chicken is a symbol of our times Over-fishing threatens many marine species We are entering the Anthropocene, the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Domesticated animals now make up the majority of animal species on land, shaping the natural world. The researchers warn that continued overexploitation of wild animals will have "profound consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem function". https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66058976

Health Minister Eluned Morgan will say that difficult questions will need to be asked of the NHS By Jenny Rees & Michela Riva BBC Wales health correspondent Wales' NHS is not fit for the future in its current form, the health minister has said. Speaking at a conference on Thursday to mark 75 years of the NHS, Eluned Morgan warned increased demand on services meant tough choices laid ahead. She said the health service would need reform if it was to be preserved for future generations. Groups representing NHS staff have long complained of worker shortages at all levels in the health service. A projected rise in cancer and diabetes, among other conditions, means the health service will need to treat even more patients in future.The number of people diagnosed with cancer is expected to rise from 20,000 a year to 25,000 a year in the next 20 years. Type 2 diabetes is also projected to rise rapidly, reaching 17% of the po[CENSORED]tion by 2035. Advancement in treatment and care, coupled with people living longer, means there are more complex cases to treat. During her speech, the minister also announced an independent review into the management of the NHS and repeated her calls for people to help by looking after their own health and wellbeing. She said sacrifices might have to be made, should changes not be made to the health service in Wales. "When you have limited resources, you have to make choices - these choices are becoming increasingly difficult as the demand keeps growing. "There is only one cake, and my responsibility as the minister is to determine how that is cut up," she said. Ms Morgan claimed Wales had more hospital beds per head of po[CENSORED]tion than England but said that, in order to shift care from hospitals to the community, "we may need to see a reduction in the number of beds". She was also critical of those who train as doctors or dentists in Wales, then move immediately abroad or to work solely in the private sector. "When money is really tight we can't afford to be training people - paid for by Welsh taxpayers' money - who will then trot off to some exotic, far, distant land to work exclusively for the private sector or in another country," she said. Retention is also a serious concern, with about 5,000 vacant posts across Wales.Nurses have been taking part in strikes in recent months, although they have been paused The health service has faced a series of strikes by workers in a dispute over pay and conditions. Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru's health spokesperson, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast it was essential the NHS recruited more but also retained the staff it already employed. "There's not flexible working hours for nurses, they had to fight for their pay and improved working conditions," he said. The party supports higher taxes to pay improve working conditions in the NHS, he said. "We have to look at ways of bringing money in in order to pay them for the work that they are doing," Mr ap Gwynfor said. Gareth Davies, for the Welsh Conservatives, said waiting times had increased year-on-year in the 25 years since the NHS has been devolved to Wales and been the responsibility of the Labour government. He argued that the issue was not just pay. "It's also feeling valued in roles, also and feeling like there are career pathways and career progression," he said. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set out a 15-year plan to recruit and train 300,000 more doctors and nurses in England. NHS Wales and GPs face collapse, says doctors' union Public must get fit to help NHS, says health minister It is thought the independent group being set up by the Welsh government will focus on NHS governance and accountability and whether it can meet future needs. Meanwhile, it has emerged that the first regional diagnostics hub, serving about half the po[CENSORED]tion, will include surgery space in the future, to bring down lengthy waiting lists. While plans are still in their infancy for the new centre in south Wales, one NHS boss said he hopes some services will start by the end of this financial year.We will have dedicated space that can't be 'crashed' by the emergency demand," says Paul Mears, of Cwm Taf Morgannwg Paul Mears, head of Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board, where the diagnostic hub will be located, said patients would accept travelling further for care if it meant being seen more quickly in the future. The new hub based in Llantrisant will cover the Cwm Taf Morgannwg, Cardiff and Vale, and Aneurin Bevan health boards in south east Wales. While it was initially billed as a diagnostics and treatment hub, Mr Mears said the aspiration is for that to include surgery, further down the line. Opposition parties have long called for the establishment of surgical hubs, which are separated from the demands of emergency patients, to help tackle the post-pandemic backlog. Waits for orthopaedic operations and other surgeries are among the most stubborn in Wales, with more than 30,000 people waiting longer than two years for treatment. But Mr Mears said health boards with extra capacity have already been working with neighbours to reduce their waiting lists, where possible. "What we're looking at is how we can work together to think about the collective resources available to us and we've got some really great examples already happening in ophthalmology," he said. "We have been offering opportunities for our patients to go down to Cardiff to have their procedure to try and make sure that we get as many people through as quickly as possible." The hope is that such hubs will help reduce long waiting lists The regional hub will be based in an existing set of buildings near the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and will provide CT and MRI scans as well as ultrasounds in the first instance. Mr Mears hopes mobile services could be on site by spring 2024, but acknowledged it would be some time before the site is fully kitted out and operational. "Also we'll be looking to provide treatment there - so theatre capacity to provide day surgery facilities for all sorts of surgical procedures. Potentially some orthopaedic capacity and other surgical specialties," he added. "Often we have to cancel elective operating lists because we've got huge pressures on the beds from the emergency patients. "A facility such as the one in Llantrisant will mean that we will have dedicated space that can't be 'crashed' by the emergency demand coming through the front door. "It will give surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, and others the ability to keep going with the work regardless of how many people are coming through on the emergency side." https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-66111431

Apple recently released a major accessory to the tech world: its mixed reality headset called the Vision Pro . This occurred during WWDC 2023 last month. Since then, this product has been the center of attention due to its innovative features… and also because of its high price. However, the latter is not the only challenge the company is facing with the accessory. One example is that its complicated design appears to have led to production complications, forcing the company to make significant cuts to its manufacturing plans. And this is something that is not exactly something positive.A very important cut from Apple There's no question that Apple's Vision Pro is one of the most complex products the company has created to date. With so many innovative features, it's hard to fit them all into such a compact device (which has been a huge success, go ahead). This has led the firm to considerably reduce its production plans , as indicated in the source of the information .Initially, it was planned to launch the glasses early next year and, by this time, have one million glasses manufactured . However, the company has asked two China-based suppliers to supply components for only 130,000 to 150,000 units . A very important cut and, from what it seems, the initial sales forecasts are not as expected. The Vision Pro uses several very new technologies, which has complicated their manufacture. Additionally, production challenges have been compounded by supply chain delays. As a result of the production cuts, it is estimated that Apple will sell fewer than 400,000 units of the Vision Pro by 2024 . While this represents a significant reduction from the initial sales target, it is still a considerable amount for a new category.A technological leap that may -or may not- succeed This product is Apple's first big step into the augmented reality market. It is expected to be a high-end device with features like eye tracking, facial recognition, and high-resolution displays. It is not yet clear how the production cuts will affect the price of the Vision Pro, but it is likely that the final price of the accessory will even be higher than announced (which could be a catastrophe).Despite the cutbacks, Apple seems to continue to support the Vision Pro. The company reportedly plans to release a more affordable version of the headset in 2025 . However, we don't know if Apple will achieve its production goals for the Vision Pro in 2024. https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2023/07/04/gadgets/1688464967_649741.html

Samsung has updated Quick Share to include support for file transfer for Windows computers , so users can transfer documents from their smartphone or tablet to a computer running this operating system, even if it's not a Samsung brand.Quick Share was presented by the Korean company in 2020 as a solution designed for users to exchange files, images, or videos with other Samsung devices without the need to use cables or a connection. It is a system similar to Apple's Airdrop. However, this function was only available to transfer files between the technology company's own devices. Now, Samsung has included file transmission compatibility with computers running Windows operating system , regardless of whether the manufacturer brand is other than Samsung. This has been indicated by Samsung in the description of the application published in the Microsoft store where, according to details, Quick Share is compatible with Samsung Galaxy Book devices and Windows PCs. Specifically, it is compatible with the Windows 10 operating system, version 2004 (build number 1904) or higher . In this sense, to use Quick Share with Windows computers, users only have to download the application from the Microsoft store. After that, they will be able to send their files or images from their Samsung smartphones to the PC and vice versa. However, regarding its use in 'smartphones', it must be taken into account that Quick Share continues to be exclusive to Samsung phones. https://www.europapress.es/portaltic/software/noticia-quick-share-app-samsung-traspasar-archivos-ya-disponible-ordenadores-windows-20230705162419.html

Following a sharp price decrease in the memory industry, which was primarily driven by dwindling demand and a lack of customer interest, DRAM price declines have been slowing down recently. DRAM Industry Expected to Witness Economic Rebound, Now is The Best Time to Get New DDR5 Memory TrendForce reports that industry experts have predicted that the price decline for the current quarter has reduced to 0-5%. Compared to what we saw in Q2, this is a significant decrease and will potentially be fruitful for the industry. However, TrendForce has also stated that price recovery for DRAM products won't occur soon and is expected to take place by 2024.This decline in price drop trend is mainly related to the industry leaders such as Samsung, Micron, etc., reducing their production faster than in previous quarters. This is an attempt to cater to the oversupply situation that the industry has witnessed for several quarters. This strategy will benefit companies in the short term since it could create a scarcity of memory products leading to a price hike. However, from a consumer point of view, it can cause trouble, specifically when acquiring high-configuration memory.News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Software Deals Reviews Videos How To HardwareIndustry PC DRAM Price Decline To Slow Down In Upcoming Quarters As Demand Picks Up Muhammad Zuhair • Jul 5, 2023 01:25 PM EDT 2 DRAM including DDR5 & DDR4 memory is seeing a production cut from leaders in the field, such as Micron and SK Hynix, reports TrendForce. 1 Following a sharp price decrease in the memory industry, which was primarily driven by dwindling demand and a lack of customer interest, DRAM price declines have been slowing down recently. DRAM Industry Expected to Witness Economic Rebound, Now is The Best Time to Get New DDR5 Memory TrendForce reports that industry experts have predicted that the price decline for the current quarter has reduced to 0-5%. Compared to what we saw in Q2, this is a significant decrease and will potentially be fruitful for the industry. However, TrendForce has also stated that price recovery for DRAM products won't occur soon and is expected to take place by 2024. RELATED STORY Hassan Mujtaba Samsung Begins 12nm DDR5 16 Gb DRAM Mass Production: Up To 7200 Mbps & 23% Efficient This decline in price drop trend is mainly related to the industry leaders such as Samsung, Micron, etc., reducing their production faster than in previous quarters. This is an attempt to cater to the oversupply situation that the industry has witnessed for several quarters. This strategy will benefit companies in the short term since it could create a scarcity of memory products leading to a price hike. However, from a consumer point of view, it can cause trouble, specifically when acquiring high-configuration memory. Image Credits: Trendforce The oversupply isn't limited to current-gen memory products, as TrendForce states that DDR4 is also facing a similar situation. It is expected that DDR4 memory could drop in price by 3-8% for upcoming quarters since manufacturers are focusing on getting rid of high inventory levels. Moreover, statistics for Graphics DRAM have depicted that it is too affected by the price decline in the industry. However, with the release of the new GeForce RTX 40 series lineup, the demand for 16 GB GDDR6 memory is increasing, but the price drop is still expected to be at 0-5% for Q3. The current situation in the DRAM industry is surely devasting, and it is still unclear when the markets will recover. However, it was recently reported that companies like SK Hynix have witnessed a significant increase in demand mainly due to the recent AI boom. The DRAM business is severe. problems right now, but the buzz around AI may be able to save it. https://wccftech.com/pc-dram-price-decline-to-slow-down-in-upcoming-quarters-as-demand-picks-up/

In 1994, Mauro Prosperi was running an ultramarathon through the Sahara when he was blown off course by a sandstorm. Alone and dangerously dehydrated, he found nourishment in unexpected places by Paula Cocozza Prosperi’s run through the Sahara desert was going well. The Marathon des Sables is a notorious foot race – 250km in extreme heat across terrain that ranges from dunes three storeys high to stony outcrops. Prosperi, a former Olympian, was among the fastest competitors. But, as he began to pass through a section of the race that was dominated by small dunes, the sand around him started to lift and swirl. “Small dunes, unlike large ones, walk,” he says. The swirling resembled a dance, rhythmic and mesmerising at first, but the rhythm became insistent and before he knew what was happening, Prosperi faced a yellow wall. “I couldn’t see anything. The wind blew so violently, the sand hurt.”At the start, the organisers had given a talk and advised runners to take shelter in the event of a sandstorm. If lost, they should walk towards the clouds that gather at sunset. But, as Prosperi says, “There aren’t many shelters in the desert. In the middle of the dunes, it’s hard to find a place that will defend you.” So he kept moving. He tried to shelter several times, but the sand always covered him up. He moved again, sheltered again. The storm took seven hours to pass. When it had gone, there was absolutely nothing left to point his compass at. “The sandstorm took away every point of reference,” he says. “The landscape was completely transformed.” Prosperi’s first instinct was to run. He had lost a lot of time and his thoughts were on finishing the race. “I hoped to at least get in the medals,” he says. Still, it struck him as strange that he hadn’t seen anyone. This was 1994, and the event was little known. Prosperi ran mostly alone. But why hadn’t he passed the walkers, who set off early from the checkpoint? Or seen any race markers? He climbed a dune, but saw no one. “I knew that something was wrong,” he says. Still, he would have a story to tell his friend Giovanni Manzo, who was mostly walking the course. And an off-schedule night alone in the Sahara desert brought its own magic. “It was immediately fascinating,” he says. “You have this sky that is white with stars that almost suffocates you.”Prosperi, who will be 68 this month, says that he had had a fatalistic understanding of death all his life. “I was convinced that the end is already written when you are born.” As a child in Rome, he listened to his grandfather’s stories of the first world war, and perhaps it was a sense of embattlement that brought them to mind now. “He told me that when there was no water, he and other soldiers had drunk their own urine to survive,” Prosperi says. He promptly peed into his canteen. “It was clear like water.” He was sure he wouldn’t need it. The organisers would find him soon. The next morning, Prosperi continued to run. He kept faith in the race, the sense that he was still a competitor. He did not know that the organisers had yet to begin a search – and that to survive, he would need to effect his own rescue. When he heard a helicopter, he assumed it had come for him. It flew low. He saw the pilot’s white helmet. But the pilot did not see Prosperi. The runners had been issued with flares, small and thin like a ballpoint pen. Prosperi shot his into the sky, waved the Italian flag from his backpack, and lost all self-control. “I ran after him. I shouted at him. I called him Paolo, Giovanni” – every random name that sprang to mind. But the noise of the engine faded to a hum, then there was silence.Mauro Prosperi and another Italian runner, Mario Malerba, in the 1994 race before the sandstorm cut him off. Photograph: Handout Prosperi slowed down to a walk. He was in a different contest, with an unplotted route, a finishing line of his own devising and adversaries that were only beginning to make themselves known. He carried mostly dehydrated food, and no water. And yet for the nine and a half days that he was lost – and this was the moment when he really understood that he was lost – Prosperi says he felt no fear. Instead he experienced a deep, consuming serenity pocked with moments of riveting anger.The resilience, strength and stamina that he had accrued during years of elite sport must have helped him. But these qualities also honed instincts that he now had to overthrow. He had been a modern pentathlete since the age of seven, when he bumped into one of his father’s friends, who was a coach at the local sports centre in Rome. Prosperi began to excel. He joined the state police from school and was picked up by the Fiamme Oro sports section that is run by the force. In 1984, he represented Italy at the Los Angeles Olympics, and the world championships the year after that. But a professional, single-minded focus was at odds with what he needed now – an aliveness to the world outside the parameters of the race. “When you are going all out to win, you don’t notice anything. I won Olympics and World Cups. But, I didn’t look around me. As a professional, you have to do the race, full stop. You have to win, full stop,” Prosperi says. “In the desert, I learned that it is really important to look around you, to see what is happening, to know the being next to you.”2022, Prosperi returned to the marabout, or burial shrine, with a TV crew. In Prosperi’s case, the beings next to him were sometimes a family of dromedary camels, or a tree that interrupted the endless sand whose branches felt like home, almost like kin, the sand on Prosperi’s skin a kind of bark. Climbing one on his second day lost, Prosperi spotted a disturbance to the view. “I was convinced it was somebody’s home or a holy man’s shrine.” But the shrine, or marabout, was empty. The only holy man was in a sarcophagus.At least I had a roof over my head,” Prosperi says. Securing his Italian flag to the turret, he heard a squeaking noise, like small birds chirping. Clusters of tiny bats clung to the walls. He grabbed a handful, squeezed them dead. He cut off their heads, stirred up their insides with his little knife, and sucked them out. He repeated this with about 20 bats. “This way, I ate and drank at the same time,” he says. Did he make a practical decision to catch the bats, or were his instincts in charge? “I saw them. I thought, I’ll eat them raw. Then I won’t need water,” he says. It is fair to say that Prosperi emphasises practicality over emotions. While his friend Giovanni was given to reflection and hoped through the ultra marathon “to know himself better”, Prosperi says, “I don’t really do that.” I’m curious about whether he had to overrule disgust to eat the bats, but he seems nonplussed by the question. “I ate and that was it. The only thing was they stank a bit.”Prosperi talking to Bear Grylls about surviving on bats. Afterwards, he carried the bat remains out of the shrine and buried them. This was an act of respect for the shrine and the bats, and perhaps it felt important to impose a ritual of civilisation upon what had just occurred. “That’s how I am. Very ordered in things. And it seemed just to me, if I have to kill an animal to live, I will bury the remains,” he says. Last October, he returned to the spot with an Italian television crew and, digging, found all the tiny skeletons. No wonder, then, the marabout was where Prosperi confronted the prospect of his own remains. Hearing another aircraft, he rushed outside to light a fire. “I made a hole in the sand. I put in all my things: sleeping bag, rucksack. Plastic things make smoke. Unfortunately, as soon as it was lit, another sandstorm hit. I felt so much anger in my body.” He waited 12 hours inside the marabout for the storm to pass and next day came to a decision. “In Italy, if they don’t find the body of the presumed dead, the family doesn’t receive a payout.” Since he was a policeman, his wife (they are now divorced) would have been entitled to his state pension. They had three young children. She had not wanted him to go. “I felt a bit guilty. I thought, maybe it would have been better if I didn’t come. Because if I walk towards the clouds, I don’t know if I’ll arrive. And if I die, they will never find my body. In the desert, within a few days, everything disappears. Only the skeleton remains.” Prosperi weighed all this up, and decided that the sensible course of action was to cut his veins. If he bled to death in the marabout, his body would be found, and the pension paid. “Slowly, slowly, I will fall asleep and die,” he thought. It sounds like an act of despair, but Prosperi says it was the product of great anger and acuity.Prosperi after completing the 2012 Marathon des Sables. Photograph: Handout “I only had a little knife,” he says. He must have felt piteously sad to cut his veins – to wait out death alone like that. “Sad? No, no. “It was necessary. I had made this decision.” And maybe carrying out the ultimate act of self-determination, putting reason before emotion, was itself affirming. Prosperi woke the next morning to find that, due to extreme dehydration, the blood had clotted almost immediately at his wrists. “I thought, it is not my moment. I am not to die here. I will head towards the clouds.”It wasn’t exactly a celebration tipple but it was at this point he drank his urine. From that moment, “I did everything I could” to survive. “I ate what I found.” He rustled up mice and snakes from the shady growth at the base of trees. “I squashed everything up in a little cup that I found in the marabout.” He ate large ants, chewed leaves, and cut the backs off his running shoes to relieve the sores on his heels. In the “profound silence”, it was sometimes the hiss of wind that kept him company. He walked towards the clouds.Over the following six days, Prosperi “really looked” around him. He had to, to live. “I saw fantastic panoramas,” he says. He saw “an enchanted valley, like a gigantic dry estuary. There were two canals and, in the middle, a mound of stones like a castle.” Was he scared of dying? “I learned something,” he says. “I don’t fear death. It is suffering that makes you scared. If you don’t suffer, you don’t feel fear.” So he didn’t suffer by being lost, by his struggle to survive? “No, I didn’t suffer. Everything I could do, I did.” “I lived with death – arm in arm, next to me every day. Death became a friend of mine. It was close to me, was with me, always, every day. I looked to survive – and death kept me company, positively, not even negatively. It gave me the force, the strength, to not succumb.” Prosperi thinks he survived, where surely others would not, because “the impossible did not exist” for him. He tried “to normalise” whatever he could, to persuade himself that “it was the most normal thing in the world that I was there”. He encouraged himself “to see the positive – the chance to know more profoundly the desert”. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jul/04/how-we-survive-mauro-prosperi-lost-desert-raw-bats-urine

There has been a tight police presence around the Champs Elysée By Katya Adler Europe editor "Could you just go home?" It was a weary-sounding question, directed by a middle-aged French woman at a gang of youths pushing past her, as a mass of defence shield-wielding riot-police chased after them. It was the early hours of Sunday morning on the Champs Elysées - the tourist shoppers' paradise in central Paris. The air was acrid with tear gas. Night number five of the street riots that have engulfed France since the killing of Nahel, a French Algerian teen, by a policeman on a Parisian housing estate. My colleagues and I were filming the chaos all around when it struck me just how many people in France have posed the same question as the irritated lady. The acts of violence across France dropped considerably overnight, the rioters shamed perhaps by Nahel's grandma, who took to French TV to appeal to the youngsters to calm down.is second term as French president has been peppered by civil unrest - over pension reform and now, Nahel's death. It's not exactly improving his po[CENSORED]rity ratings. Abdul Image caption, Abdul blames President Macron for the unrest Teacher Abdul - who lives on the same estate as Nahel, told me Mr Macron was fully to blame. His economic reforms are a disaster. France is crumbling - he told me - along with its education system. Abdul was convinced disgruntled, unemployed young men from disadvantaged neighbourhoods were at least partly responsible for the street violence. They're behind the scenes, pushing these teenagers, he said. Abdul's neighbours bring out their mobile phones each morning to photograph the smouldering remains of the latest riot-devastation. They also told us they wished the youngsters would stop. Student Celia said she worries the violence could end in a backlash against their whole community. On Sunday night, the mums in Aulney, a working-class area near Paris, took to the streets themselves, waving banners calling for an end to the violence. President Macron appealed to the "mamans et papas" (the mums and dads) of the rioters last week to keep them at home and off social media, which, he said, allow "inflammatory material" to circulate. France teen's family tell BBC police use of lethal force must change French teen shooting: Piecing together what happened The crisis is also weakening Macron politically, under fire from the political left and right over what best to do next. The left accuses him of neglecting the poor and the marginalised. The right demands he crack down harder on the violence, imposing a nationwide state of emergency. But the optics would be tricky for the French president. He'd worry a crackdown like that could ignite an even greater rage on the streets - and further tarnish France's international standing. Mr Macron was forced by this crisis to leave last week's summit of EU leaders where they discussed Europe's biggest emergency: Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And this weekend, the president had to cancel a much discussed state visit to important EU ally Germany - the first by a French president in 23 years. While in the world of sport, questions are being asked as to whether France can be trusted to safely host international events like the world's biggest cycling championship, the Tour de France. It concludes in three weeks on the Champs Elysées - a favourite spot for rioters, as we learned at the start of this article. The Rugby World Cup is due to begin in France in September. France is also set to host next year's summer Olympics. It escaped no-one's attention here that an Olympic swimming complex was targeted by rioters on one of the first nights of turmoil following Nahel's death. Talk to the protesters themselves and many say staying home on their housing estates is far from straightforward. They feel unsafe, they say, because of regular confrontations with police. The UN has accused France's security forces of systemic racism.Watch: Nahel's family say violence won’t bring justice for the boy they lost Activists like Assa Traore - whose brother died seven years ago following his arrest, told us being a young black or Arab man on a housing estate in France means being regularly exposed to police brutality and racial profiling. Until France recognises the problem is endemic, she says, there will be a lot more Nahels. But the secretary general of one of France's powerful police unions, Unité SGP, flatly denies the allegations of systemic racism. Jean-Christophe Couvy says France is "not the US. We don't have ghettos", he told me. "Our forces represent France's multicultural society with officers from all backgrounds. You'll find maybe 1% of racists - like in the rest of society - but no more." Mr Couvy didn't want to discuss the specifics of Nahel's case as it's an open investigation. So I asked him how he would go about improving police relations with the estates.Jean-Christophe Couvy denies there is systemic racism in the police force "The best way forward is to return to a system of community policing in France, where we know each other by our first names." Right now in France, he told me, policing has become a box-ticking exercise of showing how many people each officer detains for questioning - to demonstrate he or she is working hard. "The problem with that is it becomes like two opposing gangs on the streets: police vs the inhabitants of the estates." Back in January, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne launched a new action plan against racism but it's been criticised for its silence on racial profiling by French police. Last summer, the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance released its sixth report on France, highlighting "little progress" on curtailing the use of ethnic profiling by law enforcement officers. Not all the rioters on France's streets were triggered by Nahel's death, but those who were say loud protests are the only way that people like them get their voices heard in France. That's why, they say, they shouldn't sit quietly at home. France may be calming down. The large majority of the country fervently hopes so. But the spectre of potential renewed violence hangs over France. On the streets and across social media here, French men and women predict, if relations between the authorities and housing estates such as Nahel's remain unchanged, France's streets could easily ignite again - as they've done many times in the past. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66083281

Rioters run as French police officers use tear gas in Paris on 2 July By Laura Gozzi BBC News Riots in France appear to be calming, after five days of violent protests in response to the shooting of teenager Nahel M during a police traffic stop. Sunday night saw violence subside and fewer arrests were made. However, President Emmanuel Macron has asked the interior ministry to keep a "massive" police presence on the streets. On Monday, mayors called for rallies to be held outside town halls to protest the violence and looting. In Nanterre, Nahel's hometown, mayor Patrick Jarry said he was pleased the violence had subsided, but added that "we shouldn't lose sight of the incident that sparked this situation and the continuing need for justice".help to restore the public buildings that were damaged and looted. But there are concerns that the spate of violence might have a long-term effect on the tourism sector just as the summer season begins. French media outlet Le Point quoted a tourism official as estimating that up to 25% of hotel bookings in Paris had already been cancelled. The regional transport network for Ile-de-France told AFP that €20m in damage was caused to public transport, including "burned buses, a torched tramway, two damaged tramways and urban infrastructure which was smashed". François Rial said that the riots posed "a real risk" to the image of France: "This is true even if the unrest subsides, as many tourists are allergic to risk." On Tuesday, President Macron will meet the mayors of 220 municipal areas that have been affected by the violence. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66084677

@Arunabh.ly__ Has Been Added To Our Team Welcome.

If you’re looking for some tough skill-testing battles in Final Fantasy XVI, then you should look no further than the Hunt Board located at your Hideaway. Presided over by a friendly Moogle, the Hunt Board points you toward “Notorious Marks” – challenging boss fights you can take on for some nice rewards. The Hunt Board doesn’t tell you exactly where to find these monsters, it simply provides hints and you have to find them yourself. As you might expect, the toughest S-rank monsters are some of the hardest to find, with the clues being particularly vague. But don’t worry, we’re here to help! Here’s where to find the game’s five S-ranked Notorious Marks… Atlas - Check out “The Breaker of Worlds” listing on the Hunt Board.- Fast travel to the Martha's Rest obelisk in Rosario. - Head north and east until you come to the village of Cressida.- Find the semi-hidden clearing at the rear of the village. Your target is there. Svarog - Check out the "Ruin Reawakened" listing on the Hunt Board. - Fast travel to the Caer Norven Glorieuse Gate obelisk in the Glorieuse area of Sanbreque. This is South of Northreach and the Claireview areaHead east and south through Mornebrume pass. Find your target at the end of the trail. Pandemonium - This one is just listed as Pandemonium on the Hunt Board. No mysterious codename. - Fast travel to the Shadow Coast obelisk in Waloed.Follow path north, then take the branch to the west. Gorgimera - Check out "The Tricephalic Terror" listing on the Hunt Board. - Fast travel to either the The Dalimil Inn or The Velkroy Desert obelisks in Dhalmekia.Your going to have to find your target in the Velkroy Desert, which is one of the larger open areas in the game. That said, it’s not that big. Search in the south-west part of the area. Behemoth King - Check out "The Masterless Marauder" listing on the Hunt Board. - Fast travel to the Vidargraes obelisk in Waloed, which happens to be the last obelisk you'll encounter in the game.Your mark is relatively close by to the south-west in the large open Vidargraes area. Final Fantasy XVI is out now on PS5. You can check out Wccftech’s other Final Fantasy XVI guides here. https://wccftech.com/how-to/final-fantasy-xvi-guide-find-all-s-ranked-hunt-board-marks/

No @Blackfire

Nick: [X]pErT-

Ever since the launch of NVIDIA's DLSS and AMD's FSR, there has been a constant battle of who can get their tech implemented first in the biggest AAA titles. The first few years saw these GPU makers gunning for exclusivity but more recently, we have seen the shift to friendlier support with a range of titles now featuring support for tech from all three GPU vendors (Intel, AMD, NVIDIA) but there are still several AAA titles that are missing your favorite upsampling technologies and we reached out to both AMD and NVIDIA to know why that's the case despite both companies claiming to offer an open-source integration. NVIDIA DLSS Games Are More Friendlier & Open To AMD FSR & Intel XeSS Support Pre/Post Launch NVIDIA's DLSS has been adopted at an accelerated pace and there are more DLSS titles in the market than both FSR and XeSS combined. Not just that, but the newest DLSS 3 technology has surpassed the adoption rate of DLSS 2 with more and more titles popping up that utilize DLSS 2 and DLSS 3 technologies to deliver faster frame rates at similar or better quality than the native image.Since we last published our DLSS 3 adoption story back in March, there have been 40 more DLSS titles and DLSS currently offers a library of over 300 titles whereas AMD was only able to manage 17 titles during this period which is less than half the DLSS list. However, one interesting thing has happened and is something that has been overlooked for a while now. Why Are My Favorite AAA Titles Missing Support For NVIDIA DLSS? So all of this leads to one of the biggest questions that most gamers have right now and that's the DLSS support in some of the biggest recent releases? We have told you how NVIDIA has made it a lot easier to integrate upscaling technologies in games and has provided tools to everyone to make their choice of upscaling tech easier to integrate into any title. If we take a look at some of the most recent NVIDIA and AMD-sponsored releases, we would see that almost all NVIDIA-sponsored titles had DLSS and FSR support at or soon after launch. Every title except Battlefield 2024 had DLSS/FSR support added to it. The only reason Battlefield 2024 didn't have FSR 2 support was that the upscaling technology wasn't available at the time of the launch.Looking at the other camp (AMD), out of the 13 or so sponsored AAA titles, only 3 titles received support for DLSS. This is something to be concerned about since these are major AMD-sponsored titles and game developers might have been asked to keep upscaling technology exclusivity to the Radeon camp since there's no reason to not have DLSS or XeSS support within these titles. Even in Intel's camp, the company has been very open in the integration of its own and competition tech in AAA titles. Following is a list of bundled AMD and NVIDIA titles and their support for DLSS / FSR: Forspoken AMD 1/24/2023 1/24/2023 12/2/2022 Callisto Protocol AMD 12/2/2022 None 12/1/2022 Marvel's Midnight Suns NVIDIA None 10/6/2021 5/7/2021 Resident Evil Village AMD 7/19/2021 None 11/23/2020 World of Warcraft Shadowlands AMD None None We reached out to AMD for their comment and they once again commit to an open approach that is broadly supported by console and competitive solutions.We reached out to AMD for their comment and they once again commit to an open approach that is broadly supported by console and competitive solutions. To clarify, there are community sites that track the implementation of upscaling technologies, and these sites indicate that there are a number of games that support only DLSS currently (for example, see link). AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution is an open-source technology that supports a variety of GPU architectures, including consoles and competitive solutions, and we believe an open approach that is broadly supported on multiple hardware platforms is the best approach that benefits developers and gamers. AMD is committed to doing what is best for game developers and gamers, and we give developers the flexibility to implement FSR into whichever games they choose. AMD Spokesperson to Wccftech We also used the link provided by AMD to see if what we are stating above is indeed the case. The PCGamingWiki list that AMD linked us back to also shows the same pattern which we showed above. Besides a few "Early Access" & Indie titles that exclusively feature NVIDIA DLSS, the majority of AAA titles released this year such as The Outer World's Spacer's Choice Edition, Resident Evil 4, Dead Island 2, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor doesn't have DLSS support but modders have made tools that help inject DLSS within these games. Even in unofficial support, DLSS excels over FSR 2 in the AAA title, Star Wars Jedi Survivor.So it looks like NVIDIA cannot do much in this situation since certain sponsorships or deals can restrict developers and publishers from actively participating and integrating another competitor's tech within their games. But it gives gamers a very clear message that NVIDIA-sponsored titles are friendlier and open to competitors than AMD. The only problem is that gamers on NVIDIA camp are being punished for not having DLSS support integrated into their favorite games. Considering the number of bad PC ports that we have gotten this year, upscaling technologies can assist a lot in boosting performance but having just FSR and leaving out DLSS or XeSS support only means that you are hurting gamers and not NVIDIA or Intel in the process. We also reached out to NVIDIA to comment on this and they were very straightforward that it is not their policy to block, restrict or discourage developers from implementing technologies from its competitors within their games: NVIDIA does not and will not block, restrict, discourage, or hinder developers from implementing competitor technologies in any way. We provide the support and tools for all game developers to easily integrate DLSS if they choose and even created NVIDIA Streamline to make it easier for game developers to add competitive technologies to their games. Keita Iida, vice president of developer relations, NVIDIA It is actually great to hear that NVIDIA doesn't allow "exclusivity" to get in the way of the development of AAA and standard games. I am sure no company would want to give up the opportunity to have a certain game offer only their exclusive technologies but NVIDIA and Intel have so far shown to be the most mature and open in this regard. NVIDIA Is Making It Easy For Everyone To Integrate Super-Resolution Technologies NVIDIA, with the help of its open-source tools, is helping game devs not only integrate DLSS but also AMD FSR & Intel XeSS into their titlesNVIDIA, AMD & Intel are surely in the race to offer the most titles with their DLSS, FSR & XeSS tech support. This means that vendors will be willing to go the exclusivity route in enabling a certain tech on their sponsored titles. Look at it as the TressFX (Tomb Raider) or NVIDIA Hairworks (The Witcher 3), both of which enhanced the image quality in a certain way. But it looks like NVIDIA has chosen not to go that route in locking away other vendors and devs from enabling FSR or XeSS in NVIDIA-sponsored titles. Instead, NVIDIA has taken a very friendlier approach, allowing game developers and modders to get access to tools that enable easy integration of not just DLSS but also AMD FSR and Intel XeSS in the titles. For this sole purpose, NVIDIA introduced "Streamline" which is an open-source cross-IHV solution that simplifies the integration of NVIDIA and other independent hardware vendor's upscaling and super-resolution technologies into applications and games. Streamline supports the following technologies: DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) DLAA (Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing) Image Scaling (Spatial Upscaler) Real-Time Denoisers (NRD) Reflex (Low-Latency SDK) NVIDIA is also working with modders and authors of tools that inject DLSS into unofficial titles on future game integration and also Remix titles. There is a vast list of Remix titles currently under development and there are many gamers requesting an RTX Remix of older titles such as the Need For Speed series and more (I can't wait to try out Underground 2 and Most Wanted with Remix!). It is likely that having upscaling technologies from competitors integrated into games will let users see the difference between DLSS, FSR, and XeSS. DLSS has so far been shown to offer the best image quality with XeSS coming in a close 2nd. Both technologies use AI assistance whereas AMD's temporal upscaler has been unable to keep up with them. AMD does have FSR 3 coming which will be following NVIDIA's footsteps in offering to interpolate frame generation but NVIDIA once again has the edge with its Tensor Core-powered DLSS 3 and industry-leading AI performance which is going to keep giving it a huge edge. https://wccftech.com/whats-up-with-the-missing-nvidia-dlss-support-in-amd-sponsored-fsr-titles/

https://i.postimg.cc/SRbHNKRK/Dead-Blood-1.jpg Fight the undead and survive the wild westDead Blood: Survival FPS is a new cowboy-themed zombie survival game brought to you by Crazy Panda FZCO. Dead Blood: Survival FPS is now available on both Android and iOS platforms as part of the official launch announced by the developers. Dead Blood: Survival FPS aims to deliver a zombie apocalypse-themed wild west experience The game will be aiming to deliver a zombie post-apocalypse-themed wild west experience where players will do everything necessary to succeed and survive. There would be a variety of weapons, equipment, and other allies to assist the players on their never-ending quest for survival. However in the end it’s all about what strategies the players will develop and deploy against the zombie hoardes.The game gives ample amount of opportunities for the players to hone up and test their strategies against the zombie hordes and try their luck. The game also makes use of base-building mechanics where players can rebuild their town from scratch and eventually turn it into a civilization to attract more settlers. As the storyline will progress further new buildings and new allies will be unlocked in a bid to solidify the settlement and protect it from future attacks. The game aims to deliver an experience much more unique than just zombie survival, it promises to deliver a wild west experience where players will be tasked to rebuild their community back from scratch all while defending and exploring the storyline. As per the developers, the game will offer a captivating storyline fueled by detailed graphics, and intense gameplay. The game is a great choice for players who are big fans of both the cowboy-themed wild west and the zombie apocalypse.The game has been released officially and is available to be downloaded from both Google Play and App Store for Android and iOS respectively. https://gamingonphone.com/news/dead-blood-survival-fps-gets-an-official-launch-on-android-and-ios/