The GodFather

Rabat - Stimulating investments is the lever to economic development, supporting Morocco to engage in emerging industries and boosting employment, King Mohammed VI said during his speech marking the opening of the new parliamentary session. Highlighting the need to support Morocco’s economy to attract investments, King Mohammed VI pointed out that investments play an important role in stimulating socio-economic development and strengthening the state’s ability to fund various human development programs. Sharing his vision for stimulating the flow of investment in Morocco, the monarch said that he “expects that the new Investment Pact – a state initiative aiming to attract investments – would steer Morocco in the right direction to become an attractive investment destination for the national as well as the international private sector.” In his speech, the King stressed the need to lift restrictions and address challenges hindering growth in investments, calling on regional investment centers to “supervise investment operations in the country.” To this end, the investment centers “should work to become more efficient, and provide quality services to support project holders and assist them in bringing their projects to life.” In addition to recalling the important role of regional investment centers, the monarch gave equal weight to the need for the government’s intervention saying that “regional investment centers should receive the necessary support from all stakeholders on the regional and national levels” Regarding the business climate, he reckoned that “the structural reforms Morocco has undertaken significantly improved Morocco’s image as a business destination,” but emphasized that results could still be improved to support the country to reach its full potential through encouraging private initiatives, and attracting more foreign investments.” In the same vein, the monarch underscored the importance of accelerating the rate of adopting the advanced regionalization plan – a strategy aiming to create economically autonomous regions – and easing administrative processes. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351844/king-mohammed-vi-investments-are-cornerstone-to-economic-development

Rabat - Hiba Foundation and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) organized the private exhibition of the artistic residency Bayt Al Fenn at Morocco’s National Library in Rabat, on October 13. Bayt Al Fenn’s residency is dedicated to artistic creation in all its disciplines, and is “a thematic laboratory of inventiveness and a true place of experimentation and creation,’’ its organizers say. The theme of this year's edition is “Chkoun Ana (Who Am I) - An expression of Moroccan creative identity between heritage and modernity.’’ The artistic residency aims to give artists the opportunity to express their individual identities and unique perspectives on Moroccan identity through their art. “Each artist has the freedom to share with the public a story and a DNA,” the organizers said in a press release. “The result of the convergence of these works will answer the question Chkoun Ana.” Bayt Al Fenn welcomes all kinds of art and has designated spaces for visual arts and performing arts. Bayt Al Fenn calls itself an “incubator for cultural and artistic projects” created by the FNF Morocco and launched in partnership with the Hiba Foundation. The incubator is a multidisciplinary and thematic residency open to young artists living in Morocco who are interested in a “unique creative experience”. The incubator will support cultural and artistic projects through financial support of particular production needs. The completed projects are also recommended and displayed at venues such as festivals and galleries so that they can reach a wider audience. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351838/who-am-i-bayt-al-fenn-exhibit-explores-moroccan-creative-identity

Rabat - King Mohammed VI has called for fresh and urgent action to tackle the water and societal crises that are affecting all of Morocco’s sectors and economic growth. The King dedicated a large portion of his speech during the opening of the legislative year to discuss the water crisis. Recalling that the crisis is a universal challenge, the King stressed that the current state of water resources concerns “all of us government, institutions, and citizens.” Calling for shared responsibility and “diligent handling” of water, the King warned that the water issue should not be “exploited for political outbidding purposes, nor should it be used to stoke social tensions.” The King also called for “greater efforts to ensure rational, responsible use of water.” The monarch recalled previous measures the North African country introduced to tackle the crisis but acknowledged the need for new actions. One of the initiatives Morocco introduced this year was the National Program for the Supply of Drinking Water and Irrigation 2020-2027 launched by the Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE). The program seeks to increase the capacity of Moroccan dams from 18 billion cubic meters to 27 billion. Morocco’s measures also include the construction of desalination water plants as well as basins and dams. To tackle shortages in the sector, the monarch called for “more ambitious initiatives and projects through the use of innovations and new technologies in the field of water saving and the reuse of wastewater.” The King also called for “particular attention” to the rational exploitation of groundwater and its preservation by putting an end to the phenomenon of illegal pumping and the digging of anarchic wells. “We should keep in mind that the water policy is not just a sectoral policy; rather, it lies at the intersection of a great many sectors,” the King emphasized. A World Bank report in July acknowledged that Morocco’s economy has been suffering from the severe drought on top of a slowing global economy and higher energy and food prices. “The impact of the drought, compounded by the war in Ukraine, highlights Morocco’s exposure to climate and global commodity price shocks,” the report stressed, concluding that the drought Morocco faced in the last four years is a reminder of the country’s economic vulnerability and its reliance on rainfall. National and local authorities also scaled up water rationing measures in several regions. The growing water stress also led to a joint resolution between the Ministries of Agriculture and Economy to lift their irrigation subsidy on the cultivation of crops that demand a lot of water such as avocado, watermelon, and citrus fruit. “The crops that are not eligible for support for the localized irrigation projects stipulated in the second paragraph of Article 6 of the joint decision are: avocado trees, new citrus trees, and red watermelons,” indicated the first article of the resolution. In June, Morocco’s Ministry of Water and Logistics acknowledged a decrease in water resources amid a domestic water usage increase. Warning against wastefulness in order to preserve the precious water supply, the ministry launched a campaign to raise alarm regarding drought risks and impacts. The drought led to a notable decline in agricultural output, which was further exacerbated by a global rise in food prices due to geopolitical factors. In the 2021-2022 season, Morocco’s cereal production declined by 67% to reach 34 million quintals compared to over 100 million quintals a season earlier. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351847/king-mohammed-vi-calls-for-fresh-approaches-to-tackle-water-scarcity

Overwatch 2 launched earlier this month, and needless to say it’s been a bit of a rocky road, with log-in issues, controversy over phone number requirements, and DDoS attacks raining on Blizzard’s parade. And all that’s not even getting into mixed fan reactions to changes to Overwatch’s core gameplay. Despite all this, it seems the launch of Overwatch 2 multiplayer has been a solid success, as the game has attracted 25 million players since rolling out 10 days ago. Of course, Overwatch 2 multiplayer is now free-to-play, so fairly decent launch numbers should have been expected. Still, Blizzard has a solid base to build off here. Speaking of which, the studio provided some details about their future plans for the game in a recent blog post. Obviously, balance is important given the introduction of three new Heroes and the tweaking of many more, but Blizzard doesn’t plan a major rebalancing pass until Season 2 launches. “While some heroes are performing better than others, and there are differences across player skill levels, we have been happy to see that no hero’s overall power level is far out of line with our goals. Every hero on the roster has a win-rate between 45% and 55%, and we are not planning any immediate balance changes based on what we are seeing, with the exception of a targeted adjustment to Zarya in Total Mayhem which should go live with our next major patch on October 25. Instead, our team is planning to make balance changes for Season Two that are in line with our design goal of ensuring the overall game feels balanced and fair while giving each season a more distinct identity. While we’ll continue looking at hero performance and listening to player feedback prior to finalizing any specific changes to balance for Season Two, we want to share more about what we are seeing so far.” One of the balance changes coming is a nerf for Genji, something Overwatch 2 players have been asking for since early testing. Blizzard is also promising fixes for online rubberbanding and hit detection issues players have identified. Activision Blizzard has faced a series of lawsuits and other legal action on the heels of a suit filed by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) alleging widespread gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment at the Call of Duty publisher. You can get more details on that unfolding story here. Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch. Season 2 is slated on launch December 6. https://wccftech.com/overwatch-2-25-million-players-balance-changes-season-2/

Apple released iOS 16 with a wide range of new features last month. While the highlight of the update is the new customizable Lock Screen, the company also added a wide range of extensions for existing features. Today, a leaker states that Apple is working on a new version of iMessage with multiple features like chat rooms and AR. Scroll down to read more details on the subject. Apple to Launch a New Version of iMessage Alongside Its AR Headset With a Home View, Chat Room, AR Functionality, and More Leaker Majin Bu shared on Twitter that Apple is working on a version of iMessage with a boatload of new features like home view, video clips, chat room, and more. Additionally, the app will also feature "new chat features in AR" and will be released sometime next year alongside the company's rumored AR Headset. With iOS 16, iMessage brings the ability to edit and delete recently sent messages. Furthermore, you can mark conversations as unread and much more. It makes perfect sense for Apple to add AR features in the iMessage app, especially if it will be connected to Apple's forthcoming AR Headset. It was previously rumored that the headset's operating system will be called "rOS" or "realityOS" which is internally codenamed as "Oak". The references to the operating system were confirmed in the App Store upload logs as well as Apple's open-source code. Apple's realityOS will feature existing apps with AR extensions and capabilities. Henceforth, a new version of iMessage with AR functionality makes sense next year. We have also previously heard that Apple will launch the AR Headset in the first quarter of 2023. It was also recently uncovered that the headset will use iris-scanning biometrics for payments and account logins. Majin Bu shared details on a new smart multitasking system for iPadOS which could be limited to iPad models with an M1 chip. Henceforth, the source has revealed some accurate information in the past. Nonetheless, since the final word rests with Apple, be sure to take the news with a grain of salt. https://wccftech.com/apple-could-launch-a-new-version-of-imessage-next-year-with-ar-capabilities-and-more/

NVIDIA has just launched and unlaunched their high-end GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards but it looks like the AIBs have well been informed about the future plans which include mainstream cards such as the GeForce RTX 4050. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Graphics Card Packaging Spotted At GALAX's RTX 40 Launch Event In The Philippines Posted by user, TheBloodNinja, in the NVIDIA subreddit, we can see that GALAX recently hosted a big launch event of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards where they showcased their new custom designs including the flagship GeForce RTX 4090 SG variant which recently broke some big world records. Also present at the event was a mysterious box with the label of an unreleased NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics card, the GeForce RTX 4050. The box was sitting under the display table next to the GeForce RTX 4080 packages and it seems to be of a similar size. We doubt that the GeForce RTX 4050 will be the same size as the RTX 4090 or RTX 4050 but GALAX may be using similar packaging for the graphics card. Do remember that NVIDIA hasn't officially announced any model besides the RTX 4090, the RTX 4080 16 GB and the RTX 4080 12 GB (which was canceled today). So why this box exists and why it was displayed during GALAX's launch event remains a mystery. It is likely that GALAX might have printed the boxes of future graphics cards early on and someone accidentally brought them to the event. We can think of several reasons but unless GALAX themselves comment on this, we would never know. NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card will be positioned in the mainstream lineup but it won't see a launch until mid of 2023 since the green team already has a large inventory of mid-tier graphics cards to get rid of from their inventory. Many thanks to our reader, LongGone, for the tip! https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4050-graphics-card-box-allegedly-spotted-sitting-at-galaxs-rtx-40-launch-event/

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This is the final Lamborghini Aventador, an LP780-4 Ultimae Edition roadster finished in Azzuro Flake. It was delivered to a customer in Switzerland. Lamborghini originally planned to build 350 Ultimae coupes and 250 roadsters. This car rolled off the production line in July, Lamborghini says. Things didn't exactly go according to plan for the final production run of the V-12–powered Lamborghini Aventador supercar. Lamborghini originally announced an exclusive Ultimae special edition to mark the end of the line, with 350 LP780-4 Ultimae coupes and 250 roadsters planned. But 15 of those cars were lost on the Felicity Ace cargo ship when it sunk earlier this year, meaning that some suppliers had to restart production in order to build replacements for those U.S. customers. The true final Aventador is the special Ultimae roadster you see here. It rolled off the production line in July, Lamborghini confirmed to C/D, and has now been delivered to a customer in Switzerland. Finished in a color called Azzuro Flake, this particular Aventador was part of Lamborghini's Ad Personam customization program and is meant to be an homage to a one-off Miura P400 roadster shown at the Brussels motor show in 1968. The Aventador's white leather interior also matches the Miura's, as do its silver wheels and black trim pieces. There are also special Miura badges inside, on the dashboard and the side sills. The Aventador Ultimae LP780-4 is powered by a 6.5-liter V-12 engine with 769 horsepower. All-wheel drive is standard, and the transmission is a seven-speed single-clutch unit. With its naturally aspirated engine and lack of hybrid assistance, it's likely to be the last of its kind, as the Aventador's replacement is rumored to be a plug-in hybrid. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a41611908/lamborghini-aventador-ultimae-last-vehicle/

Rabat - The central mosque in Cologne, which is the largest mosque in Germany, will begin calling Muslims to prayer (adhan) on Friday for the first time. The decision comes after the city’s authorities in Cologne approved a pilot project under “strict limits,” AFP reported. The call for prayer will last five minutes between 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., and the volume from the mosque should not exceed 60 decibels, according to the pilot project. Abdurrahman Atasoy, General Secretary of the Turkish-Islamic organization Ditib, expressed satisfaction with the approval of the plan, saying: “We’re very happy…. The public call to prayer is a sign that Muslims are at home here.” Mayor of Cologne Henriette Reker, also commended the city’s idea, emphasizing that it reflects a “sign of respect” for the Muslims in the city. Statistics show that the number of Muslims living in Germany increased from 3.3 million to nearly 5 million between 2010 and 2016, representing 6.1% of Germany’s total population. Pew Research Center said that “immigration has been a major factor in the growth of Germany's Muslim population.” The center believes that the Muslim community will continue to increase because German Muslims are “much younger and have more babies than Germans as a whole.” https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351818/mosque-in-germanys-cologne-to-begin-calling-muslims-to-prayer

Rabat - Russian news agency TASS reported on Wednesday that Russia approved the nuclear cooperation agreement which it had signed with Morocco in 2017. In line with Morocco’s strategy to prioritize greener energy, the cooperative agreement will help the country produce electricity from nuclear energy, and be less dependent on energy imports. The agreement was negotiated by the Russian state-run company Rosatom, which specializes in nuclear energy. With over 300 enterprises under its wing, the Russian company employs more than 250,000 people. According to the Russian press, the agreement concerns at least 14 sectors, including the creation and improvement of Morocco’s nuclear infrastructure, designing and creating nuclear reactors, and exploring and developing uranium deposits. Through this cooperation, Russia seeks to help Morocco with creating water desalination plants and elementary particle accelerators, as well as boosting research on mineral resources available in the country. Thanks to its expertise in the sector, Russia will provide Morocco with support in terms of the management of nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, as nuclear reactors are powerful and can be environmentally destructive if they are not well managed. Morocco is considered a regional and international leader in the field of renewable energies, making the potential implementation of nuclear energy in the country notable. Despite skepticism surrounding the potential dangers and costs of nuclear energy, it is still gaining steam as a potentially major source of clean energy. Given good management and oversight, nuclear facilities can produce clean and sustainable energy, but their extensive use of water resources and the worry of nuclear proliferation continue to be points of contention for its critics. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351817/russia-to-support-morocco-in-nuclear-energy-sector

Rabat - Former American professional boxer Mike Tyson was photographed for King Kong magazine, wearing an overcoat embroidered with motifs from the Moroccan-inspired brand Casablanca. Mike Tyson's look is from the fall-winter 2022 collection of Casablanca, entitled ‘Le Monde Diplomatique.’ Casablanca is a luxury clothing brand created by French-Moroccan fashion designer and creative director Charaf Tajer in 2018. The Moroccan fashion designer reportedly founded the brand in his mother's living room “with a little more than $3,000,”managing to transform it into a Paris fashion house in three and a half years. Tajer’s remarkable career has led him to collaborate with major luxury brands such as Bulgari and New Balance sneakers. He has also reportedly been in contact with Italian luxury fashion company Versace and offered to design the company's men's clothing line, although there is no sign of a public agreement yet. The fashion designer is also a finalist for the LVMH prize 2020, as well as making it to the finals of the International Woolmark Prize 2021 and the Andam Grand Prize 2021. This is not the first time Casablanca has featured well-known celebrities. American actor Nicolas Cage starred in the brand’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection, joined by two of the most sought-after models in fashion, Alton Mason and Anok Yai. Nicolas Cage, Anok Yai and Alton Mason. Debuting latest Automne-Hiver 22 Campaign. Credit Casablanca brand. ‘“The french brand with a souvenir of Morocco,” as Tajer described it in an October 2018 interview with Vogue, is on its way to joining the French luxury brands legacy. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351814/moroccan-designers-latest-collection-features-mike-tyson

Rabat - The Spanish government has announced their plan to reactivate the undersea railway project set to link Morocco and Spain through the Strait of Gibraltar. The project was first conceptualized in a joint declaration dating back to 1979. Four decades later, the 38-kilometer-long tunnel from Tangier to Tarifa still remains an idea waiting to be executed. Expected to open in 2030, the tunnel would extend for 27 kilometers undersea with a maximum depth of 475 meters. According to the Spanish news outlet elDiario, the Spanish Society of Studies for Fixed Communication through the Strait of Gibraltar (Segecsa) is in charge of the project. In 2021, the state-owned company received European funds from the Spanish Recovery Plan to conduct new feasibility studies on the tunnel’s infrastructure. This October, Spain’s draft budget for 2023 allocated €750,000 (MAD 8 million) to Segecsa. The Spanish daily reported that the funds are set to finance new preliminary studies that take into account recent advances in technology and the earlier feasibility studies conducted around 30 years ago. The same source noted that the Spanish government is willing to take the “final” and “definitive” steps to implement the pending project, adding that it is set to introduce modifications to the initially planned route. Quoting the Spanish government, elDiario said that "the technical and technological advances recorded in the last 15 years in the field of construction, management, operation and maintenance of underground and undersea works represent a spectacular leap.” The recent diplomatic rapprochement between Rabat and Madrid is also expected to facilitate and accelerate the implementation of the project. With Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez set to visit Morocco in November, the undersea railway tunnel is likely to be added to the meeting agenda with the hope of securing the smooth execution of the plan. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351820/spain-relaunches-undersea-railway-tunnel-linking-it-with-morocco

Marvel’s Midnight Suns launches in less than two months, and yet, a lot of folks still have some questions about the game. Thankfully, Firaxis has launched a new series of developer livestreams that should provide some more gameplay and information about the new XCOM-style tactical RPG. You can check out the first one below, which includes new gameplay featuring the likes of Dr. Strange, Captain Marvel, Blade, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Magik. The developer video ends with a Q&A, in which creative director Jake Solomon and producer Garth DeAngelis answer some questions about the game. We’ve already heard that Marvel’s Midnight Suns will be a big game, but Solomon and DeAngelis went into more granular detail, promising a campaign that will require you to complete “at least 45+ missions” and more than 80 hours of gameplay for those who want to wrap up all side content. “I would say [the campaign is] 50 hours. I'd say a minimum is maybe 45, 40 [hours]. That's really if you're just straightlining it, golden path, none of the optional content, no additional missions. And there's so much optional content! We've had a lot of user tests and a lot of folks are playing upwards of 70, 80 hours. And that's even without them doing all the additional content. This truly is an RPG and the game is kind of at your discretion.” Solomon also got into the deckbuilding aspect of Midnight Suns’ somewhat divisive card system. While your hand will be randomized, it turns out you’ll have quite a bit of power over what cards each character brings to the battle. “There's a limit to cards in your hand, but it's very big. It's 10 [cards]. It's rare that you reach that. Every hero bring 8 cards into combat, and it's up to you, the player, to decide which cards they are. Over the course of the game, especially with your favorite heroes, you're going to customize what abilities every hero has. It gets really tough with the [player-created] Hunter who has so many abilities to choose from. You can unlock things like combos -- those come out of friendship. As you increase friendship with other heroes around the Abbey, you'll start to say, 'Okay, not only is each hero bringing in 8 cards, then we're also going to throw in some combo cards as well.’” Marvel’s Midnight Suns launches on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch on December 2. https://wccftech.com/midnight-suns-campaign-45-plus-missions-over-80-hours-for-full-completion/

3DMark Speed Way benchmark is now available for download and lets users test their PC's capabilities in DX12 Ultimate & Ray Tracing. UL Solutions will launch 3DMark Speed Way to offer DirectX 12 Ultimate users new tools to test and compare various compatible hardware being released 3DMark is the foremost benchmarking suite for testing the graphics and stability of gaming hardware and systems. 3DMark offers tests such as Time Spy/Time Spy Extreme, CPU Profile, Wild Life, and more. The software is available on Steam for $29.99. With the introduction of Speed Way, the cost of the suite and the Advanced Edition is now raised to $34.99. If you own the 3DMark software from UL Solutions, you have the opportunity to purchase the Speed Way test as a downloadable upgrade for only $4.99. There is also a Professional Edition that includes an annual license. Still, customers with older license support will need to purchase a new one to access the new DirectX 12 Extreme-based testing suite. Interestingly enough, Steam updated the company's policies, which will cause any licenses for the standalone version of 3DMark Advanced edition that are purchased after the release of 3DMark Speed Way (October 12, 2022), the available upgrade will not be available be added to customer's accounts. Users can download the software from the UL Solutions website or from Steam. Following is our own result of benching the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 with a massive overclock. We got a score of 10,728 points so do show us what's the best you have managed with your hardware: https://wccftech.com/3dmark-speed-way-benchmark-now-available-test-your-pcs-prowess-in-dx12-ultimate-ray-tracing/

A tweet by former HardOCP chap and ex-Intel employee, Kyle Benett, maybe the first hint of AMD's RDNA 3 GPUs using the DisplayPort 2.1 standard. AMD & Intel Feature Better Display Capabilities Than NVIDIA? RDNA 3 Rumored To Get DisplayPort 2.1 Support It is unusual for a new product to release without support for newer technologies. DisplayPort 2.0 was available starting in 2019. Integration of the product support never came to light, and current and more recent NVIDIA GPUs only support DisplayPort 1.4a. Intel is the only company that is using the current 2.0 standard in the company's Arc GPUs. Kyle Bennet, a Twitter user, posted the tweet below yesterday. The image is from the HardForum website. There could be a reason for this decision by NVIDIA. When the company held an official GeForce RTX 40 series question and answer session, with the results posted on September 21st, one of the questions asked of the company was, "Why isn't DisplayPort 2.0 listed on the spec sheet?" The company responded that the "current DisplayPort 1.4 standard already supports 8K at 60Hz. Support for DisplayPort 2.0 in consumer gaming displays [is] still a ways away in the future." It appears NVIDIA does not want to throw caution to the wind in offering the newest specification ahead of full integration. The DisplayPort 2.0 technology allows for a few different configurations. While it does offer support up to 16K resolutions, there is very little to no support for that high of a resolution, and most audiences do not adopt that high of a display resolution. Two displays at 8K resolutions using the DP 2.0 spec can offer a 120Hz refresh rate with a screen resolution of 7680 x 4320. However, three 4K displays at 3840 x 2160 will produce a 90Hz refresh rate. Another reason that NVIDIA is slow to adopt the current DisplayPort 2.0 or 2.1 standards is that the latter is yet to be approved by VESA. VESA handles standardization when it comes to interfaces for displays. Additionally, DP 2.1 cables are accessible in the marketplace, which makes this all the more confusing, especially when NVIDIA revealed several technological advances in its recent keynote last month. Earlier this year, AMD RDNA 3 GPU and Linux DCN32/321 patches leaked, showing that the company would support DisplayPort 2.0. But, the company also does not yet support DisplayPort 2.1 specifications but appears to approve it ahead of NVIDIA. There is very little official information given about the new DisplayPort 2.1 specifications. There are rumors that the new display specification will offer support for Ultra-High Bit Rate 20 (UHBR), the highest bandwidth per lane you can receive from DisplayPort specifications, equaling 20 GBits per lane. With DP 2.0 offering three times the bandwidth of DP 1.4, the highest amount of bandwidth, currently, is 80 Gbps, with a data rate of 77.37 Gbps. That would be four lanes total being used by DisplayPort 2.0. News Sources: VideoCardz, Kyle Bennett (Twitter), HardForum, NVIDIA blog, NVIDIA AMA Reddit, TFT Central, , , https://wccftech.com/amd-rdna-3-gpus-might-support-displayport-2-1-output/

Ford Pro announced a new camper van version of the Transit van and named it the Transit Trail. The announcement came in the form of a tweet from Ford Pro CEO Ted Cannis. The Transit Trail will be produced at the Kansas City production facility with more information to be available in November. Ford has teased the imminent arrival of a factory camper version of its workaday Transit van. The CEO of Ford's Pro division released a tweet with a teaser video showing a Transit van parked in what appears to be a forest setting at dawn. "On the road of van life, a few simple lessons can lead to many big adventures," the video reads. "Get ready for the new 2023 Ford Transit Trail." Camper-van conversions made headlines throughout COVID-19 lockdowns with third-party outfitters popping up to offer their take on conversions. Despite most COVID restrictions having lifted around the country, buying a full-size van and converting it into some form of adventure-mobile still seems quite po[CENSORED]r in the Instagram age. Many conversions feature things like murphy beds, modular storage spaces, and sometimes even flushable toilets and running water. Ford's Upfits department already refers people to outside firms to convert the Transit, but the Transit Trail will allow customers to skip shopping around for the best outfitter and instead order directly from the factory. The video shows off a set of what appears to be knobby all-terain tires, making excursions off the beaten path a more reasonable request. Apart from a few exterior accessory lights visible in the short clip, there are no real giveaways as to what changes Ford Pro will make from the factory. The Transit is available with either a naturally aspirated V-6 producing 275 horsepower or a turbocharged V-6 making 310 hp. Both pair to a 10-speed automatic transmission, with the Transit available in rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations and in three comfort levels: cargo, cargo crew, and passenger. The standard Transit cargo van starts at $41,665 for 2022, with the passenger-van version starting at $48,240, and we expect the Trail version to cost considerably more. The Transit Trail will be built at Ford's Kansas City production facility alongside the Transit and E-Transit vans. Ford promises to announce more details concerning the Transit Trail sometime in November. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a41600017/ford-transit-trail-camper-van-conversion-teaser/

Rabat - Morocco’s High Commission of Planning (HCP) has shed light on the average age gap between married couples as well as the preferred age for marriage in Morocco. Released on Tuesday, the new study shows that the average age gap between married couples moved from 7.2 years in 2004 to 7.9 years in 2018. The HCP study indicated that half of couples in Morocco had an age difference of over six years in 2004. This gap widened by more than seven years between 2012 and 2018. Couples living in urban areas had an average age gap of 8.1 years in 2018 compared to 7.9 years in 2011. Meanwhile, spouses in rural areas have an average age gap that is 0.4 years lower compared to urban couples, standing at 7.7 years in 2018. “This increase in the average age gap results from the decrease in the share of women married to younger men or men of the same age.” The HCP also attributed the change to the increase in the number of women married to older men. Data from 2018 showed that 87.1% of women are younger than their husbands. About 9.5% of women are married to men of the same age, while only 3.4% of women are married to men younger than them. HCP explained the situation by concluding the differences in the partner’s age preferences are frequently driven by an “unconscious psychological process of reproduction.” This means that men whose objective is procreation “opt for younger women who do not undergo the pressure of the biological clock.” Women, meanwhile, “lean towards men with a stable economic status that will ensure the safety and material comfort of their children.” The study also claims that men “generally value the physical condition and beauty that is often associated with young women.” On the other hand, women are supposedly more interested in “maturity and a sense of responsibility.” The age preferences, HCP argued, lead to “men seeking younger women and women seeking older men.” “The percentage of couples with age differences ranging from 2 to 9 years is decreasing,” the study said. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351804/marital-age-preference-determined-by-beauty-money-and-reproduction-in-morocco

Casablanca - As Africa is facing growing agricultural threats, Morocco’s city of Casablanca is hosting the third edition of the Africa Fertilizer Financing Forum to explore escalating fertilizer costs and their implications on the continent’s food security. The forum, taking place from October 11 to 13, is initiated by OCP Africa and the African Development Bank. It aims to promote fertilizer-use throughout the continent, establishing collaborations targeted at boosting agriculture output, and gaining access to funding as a key to success. It also intends to identify long-term strategies for improving the continent’s food sovereignty. The high-level symposium brought together over 200 individuals from across the world. All attendants shared their concern about soaring fertilizer prices and their vast consequences in exacerbating food insecurity in Africa. International senior executives and business leaders from around the world attended the event alongside government representatives and members of research institutes. The first day of the event, October 11, saw a tour of Morocco’s state-of-the-art institute, the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Benguerir. On October 12, the event started with government keynotes in which highly regarded representatives from Morocco, Malawi, Angola, Ivory Coast, and Togo discussed their respective countries’ agricultural concerns. Africa’s Resources Are Enough OCP Africa CEO Mohamed Anouar Jamali opened the forum’s second day with a statement regarding Africa’s major agricultural concerns. “Africa can be self-sufficient in food. We must act,” Jamali underlined. With the goal of successfully feeding one billion people, OCP Africa’s CEO announced the start of the organization’s second phase initiative to finance fertilizers in Africa. The initiative will feature four million tonnes of fertilizer and specifically fertilizer tailored to African soil for the benefit of over 40 million farmers in 35 African countries. The financing program follows its first stage, which consisted of donations of, and rebates on 550,000 tonnes of fertilizer, which benefited four million farmers in 20 African countries, Jamali continued. For his part, Martin Fregen, director of the Agriculture and Agribusiness Department at the AfDB in Ivory Coast pointed out that 30 million farmers have benefited from the fertilizer financing mechanism initiated by the AfDB. He added that by the end of this year, $1.5 billion is set to be disbursed for the acquisition of these fertilizers. With the increase in the price of much-needed fertilizer and the fuel needed for logistics, the small farmer, who makes up the bulk of the agricultural sector across all African countries, is unable to fertilize his land, he continued. “Why should we turn to Ukraine and Russia to feed our value chains, when the continent is rich and can feed its po[CENSORED]tion?” Fregen questioned. Malawi’s Minister of Agriculture Lobin C.Lowe talked about the agricultural budget, food insecurity (continental dependence on food from Russia and Ukraine), and the effects of COVID-19 on all domains, notably on agriculture. The minister also emphasized the need to improve irrigation in Malawi and Africa as a whole. Manuel Bartolomeu de Cunha Joao, Angola’s secretary of state for agriculture and livestock, pointed to the fertilizer crisis, saying that “most of the African countries live this reality.” Thus, he emphasized that Angola is hoping for support from the AfDB and OCP Africa, especially since it has just launched a large-scale cereal mass production program for the region, along with a short and medium-term program to boost livestock numbers. Although “80% of the farming po[CENSORED]tion lacks financial resources,” the Angolan senior representative noted that “Africa does not need to look elsewhere, we have everything.” He added that “we are here to show OCP that we are ready.” Read also: OCP Africa, African Development Bank to Host Africa Fertilizer Financing Forum Martine Aboin, head of the Fertilizer Service and the representative of Ivory Coast’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development expressed her country’s interest in local sources of fertilizer in order to guarantee food stability in Africa. According to the Ivory Coast’s representative, the price of a 50 kg bag of fertilizer in one year has doubled, rising from 15,000 CFA francs to 30,000 CFA francs. While some countries suffer from a lack of access to these inputs, due to their high cost or domestic scarcity, others such as Togo, have put in place measures to facilitate supply, Aboin underlined. In a statement to Morocco World News, Aboin said that “today the policy of Ivory Coast [... is to be] in food security,” which is why the country is participating in this forum. “Ivory Coast is an agricultural country whose agriculture is based on caffeine and cocoa [...] which disfavors the cultivation of crops that are sources of food security. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351808/africa-fertilizer-financing-forum-calls-for-future-proof-agriculture

Rabat - Moroccan women, including artists, journalists, and writers have resorted to activism by cutting their hair in a gesture of solidarity with Iran’s Mahsa Amini, and 14-year-old Moroccan Meriem who died following a clandestine, unsafe abortion. “For Mahsa Amini, Meriem, and all the others,” reads the campaign’s slogan, which was launched on October 10 to mark National Women’s Day. The campaign aims to defend the rights and freedom of women, as well as speak up about the discrimination they face. Amini was arrested and detained last month by Iran’s morality police for not complying with the country’s strict hijab regulations. The 22-year-old was reportedly beaten by the police, causing her to fall into a coma and later die. Meanwhile in Morocco, 14-year-old Meriem passed away after undergoing an unsafe clandestine abortion. The minor was a victim of sexual exploitation and fell pregnant by her abuser. The devastating event led to renewed public debate about abortion, with many Moroccan activists and women’s rights associations calling for reform in the country’s abortion law, notably in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergencies. Read also: Moroccan Association Calls for Abortion Law Reform After Death of 14-year-old Girl Moroccan Outlaws 490, a Moroccan women’s rights movement, posted a video on Instagram featuring several Moroccan female public figures cutting their hair. Some of the influential women include producer Lamia Chraibi, journalist Ghizlane Taibi, actress Latefa Ahrrare, writer Narjis Rerhaye, and many others. The caption of the video reads: “Against all forms of violence against women, Moroccan women mobilize for the freedoms and rights of Moroccan women […] On October 10, 2022, we cut our hair for the rights of half of society.” The symbolism of cutting one’s hair was adopted by several Iranian women following the death of Amini, to protest against brutality inflicted by the morality police and the country’s harsh hijab regulations. Several women from across the world followed suit in defiance of the oppressive, sexist laws. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/10/351800/moroccan-women-cut-hair-in-solidarity-with-mahsa-amini-meriem