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Alexander Albon suffered a heavy crash in second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix, leaving his Red Bull career hanging by a thread. The British-Thai driver is trying to prove to Red Bull that he deserves to be kept on for 2021. But his crash, in which he was uninjured, was the latest in a series of incidents that are undermining his case. World champion Lewis Hamilton was fastest from Red Bull's Max Verstappen. F1 must do more on human rights - Hamilton Bahrain Grand Prix second practice live Albon lost control at the final corner when on his qualifying simulation run, sliding wide, over-correcting the car and then flicking back the other way into the barriers, wiping out the right-hand side of the car and giving the team a long repair job overnight. At the time, he was 0.7 seconds slower than team-mate Max Verstappen and trying to improve. The incident followed spins during the past two races in Turkey and Italy, both times when he was running in a strong points position. Red Bull have said that they want him to earn the drive, but insist they have not yet made a decision on whether to plump for a more experienced driver from outside the Red Bull programme, including either Sergio Perez or Nico Hulkenberg. "[I've] had a few of them so used to it," said Albon. "I should have pulled out of it really. I was a bit surprised by the lack of grip. Just one of those things. Not fun but all good. "I did back out, but not enough. When you have one tyre on the Astro and one on the grip, that's when the tank-slappers happen." The way the session developed, with teams on different programmes, and two red flag periods, one for Albon's crash and one immediately after the restart because a dog was loose on the circuit, meant it was hard to get a definitive read on overall competitiveness. Hamilton's fastest time was just over 0.3 seconds faster than Verstappen, with the Briton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas 0.018secs behind the Dutchman. Racing Point's Sergio Perez was fourth fastest, from Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Lando Norris. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, in a close fight with Perez and Ricciardo for fourth in the championship, was down in 14th on a day when the Italian team appeared to struggle for pace, and the drivers with the car. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel was 12th quickest. Both sessions were influenced by tyre supplier Pirelli handing the teams 2021-specification tyres, designed with a more robust construction to run in both sessions. Having to use two sets per driver meant the teams' programmes diverged more than usual and put many out of sync with each other. Hamilton, fresh from clinching his record-equalling seventh world title at the last race, was also fastest in the first session, with Bottas second and Perez third.

These are the best gaming monitors that will fully immerse you within your favorite videogame worlds. Buying one of the best gaming monitors is a lot like entering into a long-term relationship. And this is one which will likely last throughout many different iterations of your gaming PC, gear, and peripherals—perhaps even new versions of Windows. Is that even a thing anymore? Anyway, it's always worth spending all you can afford on the best gaming monitor, because it's going to be around a good while, and you're going to be staring at it a whole lot. But that doesn't have to mean spending over the odds, because we've been keeping tabs on the best Black Friday gaming monitor deals to make sure you can find a great screen for a decent price. There's also the fact that a fancy graphics card means nothing if you're using it with a crappy display. You don't want to buy a new 1080p screen if you plan on upgrading to one of the best graphics cards in a couple of months time. Something like an Nvidia RTX 3080 will deliver fantastic 4K gaming performance. With AMD's RX 6000-series launching soon that 4K dream is only going to become more attainable as we head into 2021, too. But the flip side of that is there's little point in picking up a brand spanking new 4K gaming monitor today if you've only got an AMD RX 5500 XT humming away inside your rig and aren't likely to find the cash for a 4K-capable GPU anytime soon. Sure, you can knock back the resolution in games, but modern panels look pretty unpleasant when they're not run at their native res. There are other things to consider too. Do you want to go for an ultrawide aspect ratio to give that real wrap-around aesthetic? Do you need a high refresh rate, and do you really need a IPS panel over a humble TN? The answer to all those questions should be a resounding: yes. Ultrawide monitors give an extra level of immersion to your games, though are sadly an unconscionably expensive luxury compared to a good 16:9 display. High refresh rates are almost a given nowadays, however, and should definitely be on your new gaming monitor checklist. We would also always recommend an IPS panel over TN, too. The clarity of image, viewing angle, and color reproduction are all far superior to the cheaper technology. The other alternative, less expensive than IPS and better than TN, is the VA panel tech. Colors aren't quite so hot, but the contrast performance is still impressive. Despite its age, the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is still the best gaming monitor you can buy right now. It is a 27-inch monitor with a 2560x1440 resolution, which we currently consider the sweet spot for high-end gaming. It offers substantially more pixels than 1080p without being as demanding on your PC hardware as a 4K panel. That means games look sharp at 27 inches but it won't bring a good GPU to its knees. Plus, you can still get higher than 60Hz refresh rates, which isn't possible on a lot of 4K displays. You can also comfortably run at 100 percent scaling in Windows, something that isn't always desirable with 4K panels. Like its primary competitor, the Acer Predator XB271HU, the PG279Q is an IPS panel with a refresh rate that can overclock up to 165Hz—the difference between 144Hz and 165Hz is mostly negligible, though. Inputs include DisplayPort 1.2a as well as HDMI 1.4 (one of each). Both displays also feature Nvidia's G-Sync technology for variable refresh rates, assuming you're using an Nvidia GPU. The biggest drawback to such an excellent monitor, of course, is the price. The PG279Q will set you back a healthy $650, but we really do consider a monitor an investment. Don't buy something cheap; you'll want to replace it in two years. Buy a great monitor that will still be going strong half a decade from now, which is exactly what this 2015 screen proves. There are 144Hz IPS monitors similar to Asus's offering, only with FreeSync instead of G-Sync, but the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is the best choice and worth every dollar. 4K gaming is a premium endeavor. You need a colossal amount of rendering power to hit decent frame rates at such a high resolution. But if you're rocking a top-shelf graphics card, like the new RTX 3080. This LG UltraGear is the first 4K Nano IPS 1ms gaming monitor that'll properly show off your next-gen GPU. This 4K 27-inch HDR monitor has a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time which is kind of wild for a 4K monitor. What is most impressive about this LG is the Nano IPS tech that offers a wider color gamut and stellar viewing angles. The LG UltraGear 27GN950-B bags you a terrific panel with exquisite IPS image quality and, despite the lesser HDR capabilities, beautiful colors, contrasts, and depths to games too. G-Sync is present to offer stable pictures and smoothness in games, and the speedy refresh rate and response times back this up too. The Pixio PX277 Prime is about as barebones as they come in regards to gaming monitors. This 27-inch 1440p panel provides frames at a stable 165Hz and is also FreeSync certified for a tear-free gaming experience with compatible graphics cards. The screen itself is advertised as being anti-glare and holds up in most brightly lit environments, and the thin bezel is always a plus in our book. The biggest draw to the PX277 Prime is its low price point. A great entry-level option for those looking for a larger screen with a high refresh rate and don't want to be left totally broke. While the build quality isn't as robust as a higher-spec screen, the Pixio panel is perfect for the budget gamer who doesn't mind missing out on some of the bells and whistles of a higher-end monitor, but is keen for top performance. When you're building a PC, it's tempting to invest all your resources into the guts of the machine. You want a system that can handle 4K graphics, with all the in-game settings ticked up. But equally important is the monitor needed to display your favorite games in 4K HDR glory. The BenQ EL2870U is a 28-inch gaming monitor that won't break the bank. Although it is constrained to the limited viewing angles of its TN panel, it more than makes up for this concession in other areas. Its native response time is a blistering 1ms, and the 4K TN panels are far better than the dodgy old 1080p TN fare. Meanwhile, unlike other monitors in its class, it touts a pair of integrated 2W speakers, perfect for late nights spent watching dumb videos on YouTube with your IRL best buds. Hey, monitors aren't just for gaming! Perhaps best of all, the BenQ EL2870U is graced with its 3.5mm headphone jack, so you don't have to waste time scouring the area for a cable long enough to reach all the way from the back of your motherboard. Lastly, the BenQ EL2870U features a hard-wired HDR button for toggling on and off the high-dynamic range. Because sometimes, we'll admit, it's more trouble than it's worth taking a screenshot in Windows with HDR enabled. And since it regularly goes on sale for less than $500, we're not too bothered by the fact that it foregoes Nvidia G-Sync in favor of AMD FreeSync. If you've got a little extra scratch, the 32-inch EW2780U is an excellent choice if you need something with a larger screen and 2.1 channel Sound. If your mantra for displays is 'go big or go home', Acer hears you, and its XR382CQK is a massive 38-inch curved screen that looks stunning. It features a not-quite-4K QHD ultrawide panel with a 3840x1600 resolution. With an aspect ratio of 24:10 it's slightly wider than the 'standard' 21:9 ratio seen on other ultrawide displays. The IPS panel looks great, and the size means gaming from the comfort of your couch is a viable option too. Not content to end there, the display also features FreeSync technology with up to 75Hz variable refresh rates. That's not a huge bump from a 60Hz panel, but it is genuinely noticeable. It's a big, bold, and beautiful looking display, and the zero-frame bezel-less approach is another welcome addition. If you're looking for something to turn heads, this is one of the best widescreen gaming monitors. And boy, is it broad. It's taller than the 27-inch 16:9 displays we've already mentioned, and nearly half again as wide, but the higher resolution means the dot pitch is slightly lower than that of the lesser panels. And for games that properly support ultrawide resolutions, the surround effect of the XR382CQK is incredibly immersive—sitting at your desk, the 38-inch panel will fill your field of view. Portable monitors have always existed as a novelty. Whenever you see one out in the wild, it's usually attached to someone's boring work laptop tasked with displaying mind-numbing spreadsheets. Portable monitors give you a second screen during travel without the fuss. The ROG Strix XG17AHPE takes that same portability but also adds in the performance of a premium gaming monitor. This thin and lightweight 17-inch IPS display has a 240Hz refresh rate, along with a 3ms response time, making it the perfect gaming monitor for a LAN party. Shooters like CS:GO and Apex Legends benefit from buttery smooth refresh rate. The built-in 7800mAh battery will give you a couple of hours of gameplay. The XG17 is the ideal companion screen for work and play... assuming you've got $500 lying around. 240Hz gaming is becoming all the rage these days, Alienware has set itself ahead of the pack with the gorgeous AW2521HF gaming monitor. While not the cheapest on the market, it has got the style and performance to make you want it on your desk. Gamers will dig the Alienware 25's lightning-fast response time in games like Valorent or Destiny with little to no ghosting or artifacting. This 1080p IPS panel is bright and vivid too. If you work or game in a bright room, the Alienware 25 handles even the most obnoxious of glares. More importantly, the AW252HF has some impressive viewing angles regardless if you have it set in the middle of your desk for gaming or off to the side in as a second monitor in portrait mode while you work. Our only real complaints are the lack of HDR support, along with having not the best contrast. How we test gaming monitors There are two main ways to test out our screens to determine the best gaming monitor. The first is by playing games on it. Subjectively testing the gaming performance of each panel isn't necessarily going to give you the lowdown on the specifics of a particular screen. Still, it will let you test the functioning aspect ratio, native resolution, and any specific gamer-centric technologies they're sporting. Side-by-side comparative testing in this manner is also incredibly valuable for keying into the sometimes subtle differences between each panel. When you use a screen in isolation, it's easy to become blind to its comparative faults as you simply get used to them. Testing screens back-to-back allows us to discover and highlight specific issues between them. We also use a heap of standardised tests produced by Lagom in order to ensure levels and saturation are visually up to our standards.

Update 1.04 fixes many gameplay issues and graphical bugs. Ubisoft rolled out an update for Assassin's Creed Valhalla today, which promises to fix some of the more peculiar bugs you can run into on your journey through Mercia. It also improves many other areas of the game, notably the UI and in-game guard behaviour. One particular bug caused dogs to levitate when you gave them a good pet, and that's clearly an example of "feature, not a bug". The patch notes are quite long, and cover only "the most notable changes", according to Ubisoft, so expect to feel the difference next time you play. Have some highlights: Addressed an issue where dogs would start levitating when Eivor starts to pet them. Crows will no longer randomly fall from the sky in Asgard. The crowd will now cheer during drinking games. Guards who clearly saw Eivor shoot their ally will now turn hostile. Guards will now hear the impact of dead bodies dropping to the ground. Addressed various issues with quests or world events that prevented players from completing them. The Codex will no longer foreshadow or spoil some events. Addressed an issue where allies would not help Eivor to open a door during Raids. On the technical side of things, the most important change is likely that an issue was fixed that caused RAM/VRAM leakage when players would alt tab out of the game. Graphical fixes include clipping issues, animations and lighting.

Electrified vehicle (EV) sales across Europe surged 153% year on year in October, bucking an industry-wide downward trend as a result of the coronavirus pandemic Of last month’s 1,127,624 registrations - 7% fewer than in October 2019 - 26.8% had some form of electrified powertrain, according to industry analytics firm Jato Dynamics. The biggest-selling electrified cars were mild hybrids, which made up 32% of electrified car registrations last month, compared with 16% for the same period in 2019. While demand for 'traditional' hybrid cars shrank, the market share of plug-in hybrids increased from 21% to 24% and registrations of pure-electric vehicles rose from 21% to 25%. The Volkswagen ID 3 enjoyed a particularly strong showing and was the top-selling pure-electric car in Europe, with 10,475 units sold throughout the month. The top spot was previously held by the Tesla Model 3 but the US brand tumbled down the rankings last month, due partly to the timing of Tesla’s deliveries, which are due to arrive in November, missing the boat for October. October was the second consecutive month in which EVs outsold diesel cars, whose share of the market fell to 26.3%. Jato analyst Felipe Munoz said: “Similarly to the demand seen for the Tesla Model 3, the Volkswagen ID 3 is another example of how appetite for competitive and stylish electric cars continues to grow day by day.” The Renault Zoe was the second best-selling pure-electric car, moving 9778 units, while Hyundai’s Kona Electric came third, with 5261 registrations for the month. The top-selling mild hybrids in October were Toyota’s Yaris and Corolla, of which 13,338 and 9728 units were sold respectively. The Mercedes-Benz A250e led the pack among the plug-in hybrids, with 4209 examples registered. As for conventionally fuelled cars, last month brought strong results for Opel/Vauxhall. The brand’s Corsa hatchback became the third best-selling car in Europe for both October and the year to date, selling 21,220 units last month, 59% more than the previous-generation car achieved in October 2019. Additional strong performers included the Renault Clio, Fiat Panda, Peugeot 2008, Hyundai Kona and Volvo XC40.

Six members of Pakistan's cricket team have tested positive for Covid-19 while on tour in New Zealand. All six have been moved from managed isolation into quarantine and the team's exemption from social-distancing rules for training has been suspended. Health officials said all 53 members of the visiting squad were tested on arrival in the country. New Zealand, widely praised for its pandemic response, had previously seen a total of 2,040 cases and 25 deaths. It implemented a stringent but brief lockdown at the start of the crisis, along with targeted testing and successful surveillance. The country reported its most recent case of transmission within its borders on 18 November. Pakistan meanwhile has seen 356,198 confirmed cases and 7,843 deaths. All Blacks 'up for sale' as virus hits funding One-way 'bubble' opens between Australia and NZ Youthful Pakistan appears to avoid worst of pandemic New Zealand's cricket authorities said two of the six cases were "historical" and the other four were new. Historical can refer to a positive test returned some time after a person has recovered. Some members of the Pakistan team had contravened protocols on their first day in managed isolation in Christchurch and would be reminded of their responsibilities, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said. A health ministry spokeswoman told Stuff.co.nz that several members of the Pakistan team had been seen on CCTV breaking the rules and the team was now on its "final warning". The rules had been broken despite "clear, consistent and detailed communication of expected behaviour", the spokeswoman was quoted as saying. All members of the Pakistan squad had earlier tested negative four times before leaving the Pakistani city of Lahore. The outcome was "disappointing for the Pakistan squad" but the "testing outcomes and the actions taken show the government system is working", NZC said. Earlier this month the West Indies cricket squad - who are also in New Zealand - were also briefly banned from training and confined to their hotel rooms after CCTV showed them sharing meals and mingling together in breach of managed isolation guidelines. The Pakistan team is scheduled to play two Test matches and three T20 matches while in New Zealand.

Thousands of fans are paying their final respects to Argentine football legend Diego Maradona at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires. Three days of national mourning have begun in Argentina after the national hero died following a heart attack on Wednesday at the age of 60. Some wept, others blew kisses and said prayers as they filed past the coffin being displayed at the Casa Rosada. A million people are expected to visit his casket. Maradona's coffin - draped in Argentina's national flag and football shirt, bearing his trademark number 10 on the back - is expected to be on public display until Thursday afternoon. There were tense scenes when the Casa Rosada opened its doors, as some fans pushed and shoved against the barriers, which were lined with security forces. His family and former teammates took part in a private ceremony earlier in the day. Maradona dies aged 60 - tributes and reaction Obituary - Argentina's flawed football icon Maradona: A flawed hero on (and off) the pitch An extraordinary life in pictures One of the greatest football players of all time, Maradona had a troubled personal life marked by cocaine and alcohol addiction. He had successful surgery on a brain blood clot earlier in November and was to be treated for alcohol dependency. Local media said the preliminary results of an autopsy showed Maradona had suffered "acute heart failure". A spokesman told AFP news agency he would be laid to rest in a cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, where his parents were also buried. image captionSome fans clapped, others wept, as they filed past Maradona's coffin image captionSome fans clashed with police outside the Casa Rosada as they queued to see Maradona's coffin The former Argentina attacking midfielder and manager died at his home in Tigre, near Buenos Aires. The last person to see Maradona alive was his nephew Johnny Esposito, according to statements gathered by officials. Maradona is survived by five children and his former wife, 58-year-old Claudia Villafane, who he split with in 2004 after 20 years of marriage. Maradona, who played for clubs including Barcelona and Napoli, was captain when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup, scoring the famous "Hand of God" goal against England in the quarter-finals. To score the goal, Maradona used his hand to deflect the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, but the referee did not see it. It was one of the most controversial World Cup moments ever. Former Tottenham midfielder Ossie Ardiles, who played alongside Maradona at the 1982 World Cup, said he was "a god" in Argentina, in Naples and all around the world. Fans mourn 'eternal' giant The death has triggered an outpouring of grief in Argentina and across the world. At 22:00 on Wednesday (01:00 GMT) - an hour chosen to match the number on his shirt - stadiums across Argentina switched on their floodlights to honour his memory. Fans flocked to La Bombonera, Boca Juniors' stadium in Buenos Aires, where many were in tears. One fan of the star's former club had tears in his eyes as he explained how much Maradona meant to him. World mourns Argentine football legend Maradona "Maradona for me is the greatest thing that happened to me in life. I love him as much as my father and it's like my old man died," Cristian Montelli, 22, told Reuters news agency. "If I die young, hopefully upstairs I can play ball and watch a Boca game with him." image captionMaradona was venerated in Napoli, where he had a successful career On Wednesday, officials rushed to install cordons and other measures to try to limit the spread of coronavirus, as big crowds gathered on the Argentine capital's Plaza de Mayo after news of the death emerged. Late into the night, a sea of people in Argentina shirts thronged the streets across the country to mourn Maradona's death, and celebrate his life. Thousands of miles away in Italy, fans also gathered outside Napoli's San Paolo stadium, which was lit up in tribute to the man who scored 81 goals in 188 appearances for the club. Fireworks erupted in the sky as those below, clad in Maradona shirts and even Maradona face masks, chanted and wept. A minute's silence took place before Wednesday's Champions League matches and the same will happen before all other European fixtures this week. Maradona was not just a sportsman for Argentines, he was an icon, a political player and of course, a loveable rogue. There is deep sadness as people pay their respects to their superstar footballer. But his influence goes beyond Argentina - South Americans are proud of their footballing heritage so this news has resonated across the region. In neighbouring Brazil, where their man Pelé vied for the title of world's best footballer, Maradona's death was headline news - much of the rivalry between the two countries can be put down to the two players, such is the passion for the beautiful game here. But rivalry was put aside with Pelé paying tribute to Maradona as a dear friend. "One day, I hope, we will have a kick about together in heaven," he said. The footballing world pays tribute His former Argentina teammate Ardiles said today's football superstars "could not even dream" of being admired as much as Maradona was. "He will be remembered as a genius in football," he told the BBC. "You can see the extraordinary amount of interest that he generates." When the news of Maradona's death broke, Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi led tributes, writing on social media: "He has left us but he will never leave us because Diego is eternal." image captionThe government says it expects a million people to visit Maradona's body at the presidential palace Former England striker and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, who was part of the England team beaten by Argentina at the 1986 World Cup, said Maradona was "by some distance, the best player of my generation and arguably the greatest of all time". In a statement on social media, the Argentine Football Association expressed "its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend", adding: "You will always be in our hearts."

Red Dead Online will launch as a standalone title on Steam and the Epic store December 1, and until February 15, 2021 will be priced at $4.99. The game will require "up to" 123GB of disk space and will include the option to purchase Red Dead Redemption 2: Story Mode separately. This isn't the biggest surprise in the world, with both GTA Online and Red Dead Online having a much longer tail than the traditional singleplayer campaigns. The price however, for a Rockstar game, is pretty eyebrow raising. After February 15, the price for Red Dead Online standalone will be $20. The standalone game will arrive alongside a new Bounty Hunters expansion, bringing "an influx of fugitives to deal with" as well as re-jigging the bounty hunter role with new equipment and skills. There will also be new Legendary Bounties and a 100 Rank Outlaw Pass.

KAWASAKI Z H2 SE ADDS ‘BLING’, SKYHOOK INNOVATIONS TO SUPERCHARGED NAKED Twelve months after Kawasaki ramped up the so-called ‘supernaked’ category with the launch of its Sugomi-styled, supercharged Z H2, it it expanding the range with two new variants; Z H2 SE and SE Performance. Describing the new flagship as adding ‘yet more bling’ to a machine that you wouldn’t necessarily describe as subtle, the Kawasaki Z H2 SE features its own unique paint and graphic look - in short, a sharper shade of green - and a number of new features both on the skin and under it. At its core remains the 998cc inline four cylinder engine boasting 200hp with electronic riding aides - cruise control, integrated traditional control, launch control and Corner Management Function helping you keep all of that supercharged power on the tarmac. Kawasaki Z H2 REVIEW Some fettling under the skin has seen Kawasaki integrate its new Skyhook suspension technology courtesy of partners Showa. With a 1 millisecond reaction time, Skyhook adjusts the damping electronically to suit vehicle speed and suspension stroke speed with the intention of keeping the body of the vehicle in a constant attitude while the wheels and suspension follow the dips and deviations in the road surface. Deceleration is also considered, allowing the pitching that occurs under braking to be managed. Kawasaki Z H2 SE Kawasaki has also upgraded the ergonomics with smartphone connectivity to the firm’s Rideology app, allowing you to monitor your journeys and mileage more easily. The Kawasaki Z H2 SE is priced at £18,349 - up from the standard Z H2’s £15,149.

The Clarets had lost five and drawn two of their first seven games to leave them second from bottom in the table. However, Chris Wood's early strike - Burnley's first goal at home this season - proved the difference, the forward driving home from Jay Rodriguez's pass after a mistake in the Palace defence. Palace were without influential forward Wilfried Zaha after he tested positive for coronavirus, and they missed his contribution in attack. However, they did have the chance to equalise in the first half with on-loan Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi just failing to reach an excellent ball by James McArthur before Nick Pope tipped over Andros Townsend's powerful effort. Burnley should have put the game out of Crystal Palace's reach soon after the restart but Johann Gudmundsson crashed his shot against the crossbar, a miss that almost proved costly soon after when a Dwight McNeil mistake put Batshuayi in on goal but he could not beat Pope. There was one final chance for Palace to snatch an equaliser but Pope produced a superb save from close range to deny substitute Christian Benteke. The win moves Burnley up to 17th on five points, one point clear of the relegation zone, while Crystal Palace remain on 13 points in 10th place. A much-needed win to give Clarets hope After losing five of their six opening games in the league this season it had looked increasingly likely that Burnley's five-year stay in the top flight was going to come to an end. Clarets boss Sean Dyche has steadfastly maintained that his side have looked more like their old selves in recent games even if results suggested otherwise, but this was a performance reminiscent of those seasons when they have surpassed expectations. They took the very first chance that presented itself to them with Rodriguez pouncing after Cheikhou Kouyate fluffed a clearing header and the forward, restored to the side in place of Ashley Barnes, set up Wood to score his second goal of the season. Burnley showed good resilience to hold on to their slender lead and secure three important points, particularly before a tough-looking run of fixtures with games against Manchester City, Everton and Arsenal up next. Dyche said: "It's a starting point, it's nice to get that story to calm down a bit when you get that win, it takes your points tally up and you get out of the bottom three for this period but we know there's lots of work to be done. "We are getting players fit again, we do look a more rounded squad at the moment, provided everyone stays fit, so that gives you a better platform to build from." Palace feel Zaha's absence Zaha is undoubtedly a pivotal figure for Palace and the forward has made a particularly good start to this season with five goals and two assists in the eight games he has played. It is no surprise that prior to Monday's game the Eagles had lost 13 of their past 15 games without Zaha as in his absence they lack a real cutting edge in attack. Against Burnley their approach play was good but moves often fell away once they got close to the box, with players either making the wrong pass or not getting into the best positions. Palace have failed to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League since the opening game of the season, underlining the importance of scoring goals. This result highlighted their need to find a way to do that without putting the weight of expectation on Zaha. Hodgson, however, disagreed that Palace are too reliant on Zaha, saying: "We've scored 12 which is more than we've had in previous years after nine games. "I've had two years of listening to people tell us we don't score enough goals and we don't have enough goalscorers. There are goals in the team, we do have players who can score and who will score. "There are 29 games to go and the goals will come and will come from lots of different sources, I'm convinced of that." Clarets the last to finally score at home - the stats Burnley have won back-to-back Premier League games against Palace having lost four consecutive. Burnley have picked up their first Premier League victory of 2020-21, with this their first win in the competition since beating Norwich 2-0 in July (winless in eight prior to today). Palace have kept just one clean sheet in their past 17 Premier League games, conceding in eight consecutive matches since a 1-0 victory against Southampton in September. Wood's opener for Burnley was their first Premier League goal at Turf Moor this season (278th minute of action and 30th attempt at goal), meaning all sides across the top four tiers of English football have now scored a home goal in 2020-21. Since making his Premier League debut for Burnley (27-08-2017), Wood has scored 36 goals in the competition, at least nine more than any other player for the Clarets. Since the start of 2014-15 (when Zaha rejoined Palace), the Eagles have lost 20 of their 28 Premier League games without the Ivorian, including each of the past seven away from home. Johann Gudmundsson made his 100th Premier League appearance for Burnley this evening becoming the 10th player to reach this milestone for the Clarets in the competition.

The United Nations has expressed concern about possible war crimes ahead of a threat by the Ethiopian army to start an assault on the northern Tigray region's capital. Fighting between Ethiopia's central government and forces in Tigray has been going on for almost three weeks. Hundreds have reportedly been killed and tens of thousands have fled. Aid groups fear the conflict could trigger a humanitarian crisis and destabilise East Africa. The UN said it was alarmed by the threat of major hostilities a day before the Ethiopian army said it would advance on Tigray's capital Mekelle, home to about 500,000 people. On Sunday, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed issued a 72-hour ultimatum to Tigray's forces, telling them to surrender as they were "at a point of no return". Africa Live: More on this and other stories Crisis has engulfed Ethiopia. Here’s what it means Fact-checking misleading images in Ethiopia conflict Debretsion Gebremichael, the man at the heart of the conflict But Tigray's forces have vowed to keep fighting, with their leader Debretsion Gebremichael saying they were "ready to die in defence of our right to administer our region". The conflict started after Ethiopia's central government accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party which controls Tigray, of holding an illegal election and attacking a military base to steal weapons. In response, Mr Abiy - a former Nobel Peace Prize winner - ordered a military offensive against forces in Tigray, accusing them of treason. The TPLF sees the central government as illegitimate, arguing Mr Abiy does not have a mandate to lead the country after postponing national elections because of coronavirus. What did the UN say? Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed "alarm at reports of a heavy build-up of tanks and artillery around Mekelle". She called on all sides to give "clear and unambiguous orders to their forces" to spare civilians. "The highly aggressive rhetoric on both sides regarding the fight for Mekelle is dangerously provocative and risks placing already vulnerable and frightened civilians in grave danger," Ms Bachelet said. "I fear such rhetoric will lead to further violations of international humanitarian law." image captionMore than 40,000 people are estimated to have fled Tigray to neighbouring Sudan The rhetoric has been ramped up in recent days. On Sunday, the Ethiopian army said "there will be no mercy" for Mekelle's residents when its soldiers "encircle" the city. Such talk could constitute a war crime, Ms Bachelet said. Mr Abiy has repeatedly said the Ethiopian army would protect civilians in its campaign against forces in Tigray. But Ms Bachelet said a virtual communications blackout in Tigray is making it difficult for the UN to monitor the human rights and humanitarian situation. "Reports continue to emerge of arbitrary arrests and detentions, killings, as well as discrimination and stigmatisation of ethnic Tigrays," the UN said. The UN Security Council is due to hold its first meeting on Tuesday to discuss the fighting in Tigray. What is the fighting about? The conflict is rooted in longstanding tension between the TPLF, the powerful regional party, and Ethiopia's central government. When Mr Abiy postponed a national election because of coronavirus in June, relations deteriorated. The TPLF said the central government's mandate to rule had expired, arguing that Mr Abiy had not been tested in a national election. In September the party held its own election, which the central government said was "illegal". Then, on 4 November, the Ethiopian prime minister announced an operation against the TPLF, accusing its forces of attacking the army's northern command headquarters in Mekelle. The TPLF has rejected the allegations. Its fighters, drawn mostly from a paramilitary unit and a well-drilled local militia, are thought to number about 250,000. Analysts believe the conflict could be long and bloody given the strength of Tigray's forces. How bad is the situation? Aid agencies have no access to the conflict zone, but they fear that thousands of civilians may have been killed since fighting erupted at the beginning of November. At least 40,000 refugees have already crossed into neighbouring Sudan. The UN refugee agency has said it is preparing for up to 200,000 people to arrive over the next six months if the fighting continues. With reports of rocket fire on Ethiopia's border with neighbouring countries, there are concerns that the conflict could extend into a wider war. Tigray crisis: Why there are fears of civil war in Ethiopia Marooned by conflict: 'My little brother needs medicine' Meanwhile, the UN has raised concerns about the influx of refugees into Sudan, which it says could destabilise a nation already supporting about a million people displaced from other African countries. Many of the refugees arriving in Sudan are believed to be children. Aid agencies say an immediate ceasefire would allow them to help thousands of civilians still trapped inside Ethiopia. Aid agencies are appealing for $50m (£38m) for food and shelter for the new arrivals.

Chrome extensions will need to be more transparent Extensions for Google’s Chrome web browser will soon be forced to show a bit more transparency concerning user data. From early next year, Google is introducing a policy that will require developers to disclose what data they are collecting and why. “Starting January 2021, each extension’s detail page in the Chrome Web Store will show developer-provided information about the data collected by the extension, in clear and easy to understand language,” Alexandre Blondin and Mark M. Jaycox of Chrome’s Product & Policy, explained. “Data disclosure collection is available to developers today.” Developers will also have to pledge to comply with the new policy in order to publish or update an extension. If a developer has not provided privacy disclosures by January 18, 2021, a notice will be displayed on their Chrome Web Store listing informing users that the developer has not certified its compliance with the policy. Our list of the best business VPNs And here's our roundup of the best proxy service providers Also, check out our list of best anonymous browsers A new privacy policy Extension developers will also be given additional policies to follow explaining what type of data they are allowed to gather. Specifically, the data must be for the primary benefit of the user and be in accordance with the extension’s stated purpose. In addition, selling data, using it for personalized advertising, or using to gauge creditworthiness is prohibited. Google is keen to show users that it can be trusted with their data – and it’s a lot of data to be held responsible for. In addition to its web browser, Google also processes data relating to its search engine, its Android operating system, smart home devices and a host of other technologies. Last year, the firm concluded its review of third-party developer access to Google accounts and Android device data, Project Strobe. That resulted in a number of policy changes, which have been beefed up further by the strengthening of extension rules coming next year.

Save $110 on this AOC gaming monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate. A fast gaming monitor can give you an edge over the competition, particularly in esports titles where a quick reaction time can be the difference between winning or losing. This deal on an 24-inch class monitor from AOC can give you that kind of advantage, and do it at a reasonable price. As in, just $119.99 at Office Depot. Amazon Black Friday deals 2020 That is a hefty saving of $110 over its list price, putting this one into budget territory. However, you're getting a better-than-budget display here. It sports a curved VA panel instead of a cheaper TN screen, which generally translates into better image quality and more flexible viewing angles (178 degrees) than what you might otherwise get in a less expensive gaming monitor. It's also a quick display—it has a 144Hz refresh rate mated to a native 1920x1080 resolution. A 1080p resolution is a good match for a 24-inch panel (technically it's 23.6 inches), and is not super demanding on the GPU either. If you own a mid-range graphics card, you should be able to blow past 60 fps in many games, especially less demanding esports titles like Counter-Strike Source: Global Offensive and the such. AOC 23.6-Inch Curved 1080p Gaming Monitor | 144Hz | $229.99 $119.99 at Office Depot This monitor strikes a great balance between price and specs. It is one of the more affordable displays out there, but still serves up a VA screen with a fast 144Hz refresh rate and FreeSync support. You don't get HDR on this model, but most HDR implementations on cheaper displays don't get bright enough to do it justice anyway. That is where the 144Hz refresh rate comes in handy. You might not always be able to hit 144 fps, depending on your GPU and what game you're playing, but it's nice to have the headroom for when you can. This is also a FreeSync display, for a smoother gaming experience if you own a Radeon GPU. Other features include a 1ms response time, 250 nits brightness, 3,000:1 native contrast ratio, and 80,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. And as for connectivity options, it serves up both HDMI and DisplayPort inputs. AOC backs this monitor with a three-year warranty.

In September last year Activision applied for a patent named 'Systems and methods for customizing weapons and sharing customized weapons via social networks', listing the inventor as one David J. Vonderhaar, the lead multiplayer developer at Treyarch. On November 17 2020 this patent was granted (thanks, GameRant). So what's in it? The nature of patent applications is to be as exhaustive as one possibly can, so there's a lot of text to dig through, but the basic idea here is a system for sharing Call of Duty's increasingly elaborate and in-depth weapon loadouts, both in-game and externally. The patent lists every aspect of a weapon tracked by Call of Duty, things like "weapon performance attributes, weapon appearance attributes, weapon performance statistics, player performance statistics," and posits players could control which of these are shared. The real meat is in the sharing options which, while not new to games, seems like an especially comprehensive and slick implementation of importing other players' settings. There's a degree of control and granularity here that goes beyond expectations: sharing with everyone, or within a group, or just within a squad. "A player may further specify that he or she wishes to make a customized weapon configuration available for gameplay by one or more other players. In some implementations, a user may specify that a customized weapon configuration and/or some or all of the foregoing information be made available to all players, or a subset of players including, but not limited to, friends (or followers), or team members, or other groups of players." Another big block of text incoming, this one explaining that the proposed system will work in-game and across most social media networks, but also via emails and texts. The sharing engine will "enable a player to share weapon configurations, information about weapon configurations, and/or gameplay statistics internally (or in-game) via, for example, an in-game social network or a game publisher-centric social network accessible in-game by game players. Additionally or alternatively [it will enable players to share] via one or more external social networks (e.g., Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Tumblr, etc.). In one implementation of the invention, the sharing engine may enable a player to transmit communications (e.g., email messages, text messages, or other electronic communications) that include hyperlinks or other selectable graphical user interface objects that enable recipients to access the shared information." In addition to the above, when sharing loadouts this patent allows for "personalized text, graphics, pictures, audio, video, or other multimedia" to accompany the goods. Given some of the playernames I've seen in Cold War so far, can't wait to see what ingenuity the COD community brings to its own Weapons Instagram. Another detail is that the patent goes beyond loadouts and into more community features such as players being able to challenge each other. "The sharing engine may further enable a player to issue challenges to one or more other video game players to obtain or exceed certain player performance statistics, weapon usage statistics, or ratings, and/or achieve other objectives using a given weapon configuration." The proposal suggests challenges could be timed, and players keep track of them via "challenge interfaces", i.e. a hub. Again this isn't something new to games: in fact it all sounds a lot like what Criterion did with Burnout: Paradise. But this is new to COD, and the idea of your COD crew having its own private set of loadouts and challenges is an attractive one. A final note: just because a patent's been granted doesn't mean these features are arriving tomorrow, or will necessarily ever appear in this precise form. But the intention is clearly there, and it sounds like a great addition to the somewhat omnipresent experience that Call of Duty is becoming.

The Toyota Camry has been updated with a series of interior and exterior tweaks, less than two years after it went on sale. The hybrid-only saloon - which made its return to the UK in 2019 after a 14-year absence as a replacement for the Avensis - will go on sale in its facelifted form in early spring 2021, with prices to be announced nearer the time. The Camry now more closely resembles its big-selling Corolla sibling, with a revised front bumper and grille that makes it look lower and wider. Two new alloy wheel designs will be introduced as well, with a choice between 17in or 18in. The most significant change comes inside, where the current Camry's integrated infotainment touchscreen makes way for a 9.0in freestanding unit like that of the Corolla, RAV4 and new Yaris. The infotainment system itself has been upgraded, with Toyota claiming faster software and input response times. As before, it can be operated using a combination of physical buttons and touch controls. Exact trim specifications are yet to be confirmed for the 2021 car, but beige and black leather upholstery options will be offered alongside new wood- and titanium-style finishes for the instrument panel. The Camry will likely continue to be available in both Design and Excel trims, with prices starting from around £32,000 - a slight increase on the current model. Safety equipment fitted as standard includes lane-keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control, road sign assistance and intersection turn assistance, which detects vehicles or pedestrians crossing the car's path when it's turning at a junction.

Jurgen Klopp's side remain behind Spurs on goal difference but the manner of the win sounded an ominous warning to those hoping to wrest the title away from the champions. Liverpool also established a new club record of 64 home league games unbeaten, breaking their previous best run, which was set between February 1978 and January 1981 and itself ended by Leicester. And they achieved this latest win amid a squad crisis that has robbed them of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah. "There were a lot of good things. I can't pick one that pleased me most - maybe the performance of James Milner at right-back," Klopp said. "He played an exceptional game, first there and then in midfield. That is what we expect from ourselves. "The injuries were a massive shock in that moment but the boys have to offer solutions. We have centre-halves, they are really young. They are not experienced, you saw the bench tonight." Klopp's side took the lead midway through the first half when Jonny Evans nodded a corner into his own net and the advantage was doubled four minutes before half-time when a move of 30 passes ended with Diogo Jota heading in Andrew Robertson's superb cross. Liverpool added Salah to their long list of absentees after he tested positive for Covid-19 in Egypt but the prolific Jota, signed from Wolves for £45m in September, once again stepped in - becoming the first player in the club's history to score in his first four competitive home appearances. Leicester improved marginally in the second half but it was still Liverpool who dominated, Evans heading against his own post and both Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane being denied by the woodwork and keeper Kasper Schmeichel. Firmino was finally on target as he rose to send a fine header out of Schmeichel's reach four minutes from time to give Liverpool the victory margin their superiority deserved. There was a sense before kick-off that a depleted Liverpool, and their unbeaten Premier League home record stretching back to 2017, might be vulnerable to the in-form Foxes. Not a bit of it. Liverpool were rampant from the first whistle and barely gave Leicester City a chance to hit the form that has made them so impressive this season. And in Jota, Klopp has added another potent threat to go with his long-established world-class attack of Firmino, Mane and Salah. The Portuguese forward has settled in seamlessly at Anfield, making that piece of history with his goal, but Liverpool were impressive in all areas and the final scoreline could and should have been more emphatic. Liverpool pinned Leicester in their own half virtually from the kick-off and rivals looking for any signs of potential weakness in the absence of so many key players would have been disappointed. Klopp's side were right at the top of their game, taking a stranglehold Leicester never threatened to loosen apart from the moment when Harvey Barnes steered a great first-half chance wide with the score at 1-0. Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Frank Lampard, among others, will harbour ambitions of taking Liverpool's crown. On this evidence, it will take some doing. This was a big chance for Leicester City to make another powerful statement about their quality after impressive away victories this season at Manchester City, where they won 5-2, Arsenal and Leeds United. Sadly, for manager Brendan Rodgers and his talented squad, they came up short here and ended up well beaten. Leicester did not move the ball with their trademark speed and were unable to get Jamie Vardy, their most potent threat, into any dangerous areas. They looked shaky under a constant wave of Liverpool attacks. The Foxes felt they were denied an early penalty when the ball struck Joel Matip's hand and Barnes wasted that glorious opportunity but in reality they never deserved anything and this was a chastening experience. Leicester are a fine side who will have better days and nights in the season ahead but they were never in serious contention at any point. 'The problems will not get smaller' Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, speaking to Match of the Day: "We scored three goals and didn't concede one; we defended exceptionally well, controlled the game. "It's a tricky situation and when Naby [Keita] goes off with a muscle injury, you know the problems will not get smaller. The boys know when they are allowed to train with us they have the quality to do so. We don't give tickets for training - you have to qualify with talent and aptitude. It is a tough school, there a lot of steps to go. "We have to make sure we recover but the Naby injury didn't help at all." Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers speaking to Match of the Day: "In the first half in particular, we were too passive and defending the space, but didn't have enough contact and gave away poor goals. "We had a good opportunity on the counter with Harvey Barnes, but overall when you are passive like that, your football is not quite the same. We weren't aggressive enough. "Second half was a little bit better; we were more aggressive in our press, and that allows us to play better football. Liverpool deserved to win. The guys coming back from the international break were not as cohesive as what we have been. "It's mentality - you have to get up to the ball. We were happy for them to have it in their own half, but as soon as it came into our territory, we were not as aggressive as I would like. "Unlike the game last year, when we lost at home, this is a game we can reflect on easily and analyse and move on." Foxes take Jota's fancy Liverpool's record-breaking 64-match unbeaten home league run includes 53 wins. Since Brendan Rodgers took charge of Leicester, they have lost all three of their Premier League meetings with Liverpool; conceding nine goals in the process - their most against any opponent in the competition under him. Liverpool have only conceded three goals in their past seven games across all competitions (W6 D1), with this their fourth clean sheet within this run. Liverpool forward Diogo Jota has netted four goals in five Premier League appearances against Leicester; his most against any opponent in the competition. Roberto Firmino has scored two goals in Liverpool's five league games at Anfield this season; he only scored once in 19 Premier League home games in the whole of 2019-20. Jota's goal came after a sequence of 30 passes; since Opta started keeping records of this data in 2006-07, this is the most in the build-up to any Liverpool goal in the Premier League. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, only Liverpool team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold has made as many assists as Andy Robertson (26) in the Premier League. Jonny Evans' own goal for Leicester was his sixth in the Premier League; in the competition's history, only Richard Dunne (10), Jamie Carragher (7) and Martin Skrtel (7) have scored more.

A prominent ally of Donald Trump has urged him to drop his efforts to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the US presidential election. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called the president's legal team a "national embarrassment". President Trump has refused to concede the election, making unsubstantiated claims of widespread electoral fraud. Many Republicans have supported his legal efforts but a small but growing number have broken ranks. Voting in the US election ended on 3 November. Mr Biden is projected to beat President Trump by 306 votes to 232 when the US electoral college meets to formally confirm the winner on 14 December. This is far above the 270 votes he needs. What's wrong with Trump's legal efforts? Speaking to ABC's This Week programme on Sunday, Mr Christie, a former New Jersey governor, said: "Quite frankly, the conduct of the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment". He said the Trump camp was often discussing election fraud "outside the courtroom, but when they go inside the courtroom they don't plead fraud and they don't argue fraud". "I have been a supporter of the president's. I voted for him twice. But elections have consequences, and we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that didn't happen." The move paves the way for Pennsylvania to certify Mr Biden's win on Monday. However, the Trump campaign is appealing against the ruling. image captionSidney Powell made unsubstantiated claims at a news conference by Trump's legal team on Thursday Mr Christie was the first governor to endorse Mr Trump as a presidential candidate back in 2016. He also helped prepare the US president for his debates with Mr Biden earlier this year. He singled out for criticism Sidney Powell, a lawyer who appeared with Trump's legal team during a press conference on Thursday. She claimed, without providing evidence, that electronic voting systems switched millions of ballots to Biden, and that he also won thanks to "communist money". But on Sunday the Trump campaign issued a statement distancing themselves from Ms Powell, saying she "is practising law on her own" and was "not a member of the Trump legal team". A tweet from President Trump earlier this month explicitly named her as part of the team. On Sunday other Republicans also urged President Trump to concede. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan told CNN on Sunday that the Trump camp's continued efforts to overturn the election results were "beginning to look like we're a banana republic". Michigan Representative Fred Upton told CNN the voters in his battleground state "spoke" by choosing Mr Biden, while North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer said in an interview to NBC it was "past time to start a transition", although he stopped short of accepting Mr Biden's victory. What has the Biden camp been up to? Joe Biden has been pressing on with plans for office, despite President Trump's refusal to concede complicating the transition process. Ron Klain, Mr Biden's choice as White House chief-of-staff, again urged the Trump administration to kick-start the handover. "A record number of Americans rejected the Trump presidency, and since then Donald Trump's been rejecting democracy," he told ABC News. He also revealed that the Biden campaign was preparing for a "scaled-down" inauguration on 20 January due to the worsening coronavirus outbreak. And he said Mr Biden would make his first cabinet appointments on Tuesday. Who is Antony Blinken? US media say veteran diplomat Antony Blinken, 58, is set to be named secretary of state, the most important foreign policy position in the administration. Mr Blinken is a long-time aide to the president-elect. He was deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration, in which Mr Biden was vice-president. Meanwhile, US media say Mr Biden is set to name another long-time diplomat, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, as US ambassador to the UN. She also served under President Obama, including as assistant secretary of state for African affairs between 2013 and 2017. Jake Sullivan, formerly a top aide to Hillary Clinton, President Obama and Mr Biden, is reportedly the leading candidate to become national security adviser. Last week Mr Biden said he had also decided whom to nominate to lead the Treasury Department.

Teams has added the ability to make free 24-hour video calls from your browser In its latest effort to detract users from using rival video conferencing service Zoom, Microsoft is making an all new all-day video calling option available for free in Microsoft Teams that won't require participants to download its app. Earlier this year the software giant launched the mobile version of Microsoft Teams for consumers and now the company is brining the service's friends and family features to the desktop and web. This means that users will be able to create a Teams meeting for up to 300 participants that can run all day free of charge. At the same time, participants won't need a Microsoft Account or have to download the Teams app to join calls as this can be done for free using a web browser. We've put together a list of the best online collaboration software around These are the best business webcams for working remotely We've also rounded up all the gear you'll need to work from home successfully Additionally, Microsoft Teams will support seeing up to 49 friends or family members at the same time in a gallery view or through its Together Mode feature which puts participants side by side in a virtual space such as a auditorium, meeting room or coffee bar. Holiday push With Thanksgiving fast approaching in the US and the holidays a little more than a month away, Microsoft is now positioning Teams as a way for families to get together virtually as opposed to doing so in person which even the CDC has cautioned against. While Microsoft turned its attention to enterprise users first with the improvements its made to Teams earlier this year, the company is now shifting its focus to attract consumers to the service as well and a long 24-hour meeting length limit may do the trick. This is because rival video conferencing services all have much shorter limits on how long users can hold a meeting for. For instance, Zoom has a 40-minute limit, Google Meet has a 60-minute limit and Cisco Webex has a 50-minute limit. Zoom has a similar mindset to Microsoft as the company has announced that it will temporarily lift its meeting limit but only between midnight on Thanksgiving until 6am the following day. Although users could turn to Microsoft's Skype Meet Now service to quickly start video calls from within their browsers during the holidays, having everyone use the same service make a lot more sense which is likely why it has increased Teams' meeting limit to 24 hours.

"There is the potential for benefits from providing more direct controls." Introduced with the RDNA 2 architecture, Infinity Cache is a new cache system that operates alongside the GDDR6 memory interface within both the RX 6800 XT and RX 6800. It's a pretty big deal for AMD, too, with its engineers telling us it is the key to unlocking gaming performance from 1080p to 4K where it would otherwise have been saddled with a massive and power-hungry alternative. Sitting just off the side of the main cluster of compute cores within AMD's Navi 21 GPU, the Infinity Cache essentially acts as a small yet effective memory store. It's situated between the smaller L1 and L2 caches, also on the GPU itself, and the wider GDDR6 and DDR4 memory off-chip, on the PCB and in the PC itself. And the reason for this whole new approach to a graphics cache? I'm told it all comes from the engineering team's desire to avoid using a super-expensive, and thirsty 512-bit memory bus. Presumably that's what would have otherwise been needed to keep the Big Navi GPUs in touch with their Nvidia rivals. As it's turned out, the RX 6800 XT and its little sibling are often more than a match for the RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 respectively, and the Infinity Cache is a big reason why. For the record, all RX 6000-series graphics cards, including the upcoming RX 6900 XT, come with the same memory configuration. 16GB of GDDR6 and a 256-bit memory bus—which could be construed as a little small for all those memory chips. That's where the 128MB of Infinity Cache on chip comes in. We were looking at the daunting prospect of having to put a 512-bit interface and all the power, area and expense associated with that," Sam Naffzifer, product technology architect at AMD, says. "And so we wanted a better solution. But no one had done this before. So there wasn't much data on exactly how much reuse we get, and how effective the cache could be." The team ran performance simulations to help gauge the prospect of a new cache on the chip, and these showed that a large cache on die would indeed help with the re-use of temporal and spatial data when rendering a complex image—even without special instructions, a shader will look to access the same data more than once for multiple frames in-game. Having someplace physically near the GPU's compute units to store all that data for rapid access acts a a boon to the GPU performance as a whole. The core concept is said to have come from similar caches used on AMD's EPYC server chips, those which use the Zen architecture found in many of the best CPUs for gaming from team red. It's pretty accurate, too, we're told. AMD's engineers expect a call to the Infinity Cache will hit 60-80 percent of the time, meaning it's regularly used with existing game engines right now, storing useful data for the rendering of a frame. And when it does, AMD's engineers are touting a 3.25x increase in effective memory bandwidth over a straight 256-bit solution. From 512GB/s to an effective 1,664GB/s. But it's not just about merely sticking a cache on the GPU and getting it to work. We've seen a handful of new and exciting hardware-based solutions over the years, some of which required developer support to fully-integrate and operate effectively. And that's where things can get a little tricky. "We want our architectures as far as possible to be light touch for the developers", Andrew Pomianowski, Radeon product architect tells us in an RDNA 2 roundtable, "where they go in and they just get performance straightaway." And it's true that Infinity Cache is fairly transparent to developers. There's no specific programming required to get it operational, and thus it works no matter what game you plug into it. "The important thing to realise here is that, when you're bringing a new technology like this to the market, it's very, very important that it's as transparent as possible to developers initially, right?" Pomianowski says. "You can't bring something like this to the market, that's a departure from the traditional memory subsystem on the GPU, and have a high barrier of entry to the developers where they have to programme in a particular way to get benefit from it." But what if a developer did program specifically for Infinity Cache? That's a question raised during an AMD roundtable discussion ahead of the RX 6800 XT and RX 6800 release date, and AMD is quietly optimistic for future performance if a developer were to team up with the red team for a little more juice. "You know, there is the potential for benefits from providing more direct controls," Pomianowski continues, "we have … quite an extensive set of ways in which the Infinity Cache can be controlled. "That's something we will we will look at. I mean in our initial interactions with developers we talked to them about ways that, if they understand that the cache is there, that they can perhaps alter how they do their rendering to be more friendly to the cache—get even more benefits out of it, you know, the ways in which you order rendering and place things can realise definite gains." Perhaps there's even more leverage for a developer to do so with the Xbox Series X, Series S, and PlayStation 5 all utilising the Infinity Cache through the use of RDNA 2 silicon. There's a lot of modern red team silicon around right now, and that's potentially a feather in the hat of AMD as it works to lessen Nvidia's choke-hold on the graphics card market. It's still got a long way to go in order to do just that, with Nvidia making up over three-quarters of the market, but RDNA 2 feels like a big leap in the right direction. "So, we'll be working on that. And we'll be evaluating in the future, you know, whether there's reasons to explore providing more visibility into the cache." Perhaps that will feed into the age-old adage of 'fine wine', the concept that an AMD graphics card only gets better with age. "But at the moment, you know, I think it's just good that it's there, and that it provides benefits without having a huge amount of work on the part of the developers to realise those benefits." And those potential benefits will only comes as icing on the cake for AMD's graphics team. The Infinity Cache is already proving its worth, and as you can see in our reviews of the RX 6800 XT and RX 6800, these two graphics cards manage to stand on their own two feet well enough without being propped up by clever programming per game. Although a little more performance out of the RX 6800 XT would go a long way in its battle against the Nvidia RTX 3080 at 4K.

I like Doritos as much as the next guy, but I've always hated how they can't hang from the sides of my favorite FPS weapons. What's up with that? Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War is finally tackling this dire issue by offering a free Doritos weapon charm and Mountain Dew emblem to gaming-centric snack fans like myself. The catch? I had to slide into Mountain Dew's DMs. That's right, Mountain Dew didn't just want a follow and a hashtagged tweet. The carbonated constable needed to test my determination with a follow-up direct message. Our exchange was brief (and private), but after dropping their #DoritosDewDrop hashtag once again, I was gifted a code redeemable at callofduty.com/redeem. To my delight, cheese-dusted goodies were waiting for me when I launched Cold War. The Doritos charm is pretty much exactly what I was expecting: a singular, sad nacho cheese corn chip affixed to any weapon I desire. Considering the unimpressive structural integrity of every Dorito I've ever eaten, I'm surprised it can swing in the breeze and withstand proximity mine detonations without so much as a crack. The Mountain Dew-themed emblem, on the other hand, is pretty lame. It's called "Kaboom" and just appears to be an explosion tinted green. Is that supposed to be Mountain Dew? I suppose it's cool that it's animated (every other emblem I have isn't), but I was hoping for something that lets me express my love for bubbly sugar water. If you believe these incredibly dumb cosmetics are worth your time, reply to the tweet above and meet Mountain Dew's demands. In actual Cold War news, Treyarch's first big balancing pass just nerfed every sniper rifle in the game.

Joaquin Buckley admits he was "unknown" when he travelled to Abu Dhabi for his second UFC fight in October. Things have changed a bit as he prepares for his third, against Jordan Wright at UFC 255 on Saturday. Back in October, Buckley's middleweight bout against fellow American Impa Kasanganay had been fairly when the unbeaten Kasanganay caught a kick from his opponent midway through the second round. Then came the moment that changed Buckley's life. With his left ankle still being held, the 26-year-old defied gravity by producing a spinning back kick which toppled Kasanganay. Commentator John Gooden said it was "real-life ninja stuff". Former UFC fighter Dan Hardy added it was "a viral knockout". The video clip on UFC's Instagram account now has more than 6.6m views. Not only is it the favourite for knockout of the year, but many also argue it's the best in MMA history. "Now people know my name," laughed Buckley. "The outpouring from thousands of people from all over the world, all messaging me at once... I never expected it to take storm like it did." It didn't just send shockwaves through the MMA community - it inspired memes galore. Hollywood actors commented. Kanye West was "so energised" by the kick, he "had to release theme music", playing the knockout on a loop in a video with his new track. "That was awesome," said Buckley. "I'm appreciative of Kanye West for throwing that out there. He's a legend in the hip-hop community and for him to be inspired by my kick and come out with a classy hit like that is pretty cool. I'm grateful." Report While the kick was opportunistic, Buckley insists it was no fluke. He says the origin was a two-touch taekwondo kick he has practised "all the time". But to produce it in the octagon means he has written himself into UFC folklore. Six weeks on from the 'kick heard around the world', its impact is still being felt. "People have seen me throw that kick before, they've seen me practise it," said Buckley. "Everybody else was shocked - but they were just like 'about time'. "I can't help but run through it, all the time people are tagging me in it. But I'm not really tripping off it. It was just a moment and now it's time to make another one." Fatherhood, UFC debut and contender for best-ever KO It's been some year for Buckley, who turned professional in 2014 and now has an 11-3 record. He was working as a night-shift manager at a pharmacy when he got the call to make his UFC debut at short notice in August, losing to Kevin Holland. Then he became a father before registering his first UFC win in devastating style, pocketing the $50,000 bonus for Performance of the Night. Report Yet when Buckley landed back in St Louis, there was no car waiting for him. He got the train home from the airport. But having announced his arrival in the UFC, he is keen to establish himself in MMA's top promotion. "I've used the knockout to network, to gain connections in the UFC I've never had before," he added. "An extra $50,000 was awesome but the exposure is worth so much more right now. "Having that kind of exposure is a big deal. It allows me to get more fights as people are coming after me, trying to get that name. "I have an opportunity to do what I love to do and make a career out of it. It's a blessing to be able to provide for my family at the same time." UFC 255: Scotland's Paul Craig primed for Rua re-match UFC 257: Conor McGregor v Dustin Poirier 2 confirmed Buckley had been scheduled to fight next in January against compatriot Wright, who is 11-0 and also joined the UFC this year. But it was brought forward to this Saturday, as one of the preliminaries at UFC 255 in Las Vegas, and Buckley says he feels "no pressure" to produce another highlight reel knockout. "Expect fireworks, there's nothing different," he said. "Any time I go out there, it's exciting. I don't care whether I win or lose, as long as you're entertained. That's my job. "I'm just going to go out there, have fun, do what I do and look for that finish again - hopefully in the first round. "Jordan's a great guy. I just feel sorry for him that he's got to fight a person like me because I'm coming for the head, all day." But if there's no sequel, Buckley will always have that kick. "When I'm retired, they're [still] going to be playing it," he said. "That's pretty cool.

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of two men who died in the volcanic eruption that destroyed the ancient Roman city of Pompeii nearly 2,000 years ago. One was probably a man of high status, and the other his slave, officials at the Pompeii archaeological park said. They "were perhaps seeking refuge" from the eruption "when they were swept away", director Massimo Osanna added. Pompeii was engulfed by a volcanic eruption from Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The eruption buried Pompeii in ash, freezing the city and its residents in time, and making it a rich source for archaeologists. The latest discovery was made this month during an excavation of a large villa on the outskirts of the ancient city. 'Sorcerer's treasure trove' found in Pompeii Horse found in harness at Pompeii Vesuvius eruption 'turned man's brain to glass' Officials said the wealthy man was aged between 30 and 40. Traces of a warm woollen cloak were found beneath his neck. The other man was aged between 18 and 23. Officials at the archaeological site said crushed vertebrae indicated that he was a slave who did manual labour. Casts were created, using impressions the victims' bodies had made in the hardened ash. "It is a death by thermal shock, as also demonstrated by their clenched feet and hands," Mr Osanna told reporters. He described the discovery as "an incredible and extraordinary testimony" of the morning when they eruption took place. Excavation work is continuing at the archaeological site, located near Naples, but it remains closed to tourists because of coronavirus measures.

Old gfx/ good work/ good active Pro

Take a look at our best antivirus guide and you'll see Bitdefender firmly planted at the top. It's been there for a few years now and never fails to impress us in our in-depth testing. And luckily for us, it always goes big with impressive Black Friday deals, too. 2020 is looking like no exception. In fact, it's quite possibly its best antivirus deal we've seen yet. Bitdefender is slashing a mighty 70% off all three of its cybersecurity packages. That means you can get a whole year's worth of cover from as little as $18/£12. Get 70% off Bitdefender for Black Friday: in the US | in the UK Bitdefender really does have all the bases covered when it comes to creating top-notch online security software. Naturally, it has powerful anti-malware and spam detection tools, but it's also incredibly easy to set up and use while having minimal impact on the performance of your devices. And at these prices, you could go all out and get Bitdefender's all-singing all-dancing Total Security. That gives coverage of up to five devices, so you can protect your iOS or Android mobiles along with your Windows and Mac computers. It also adds in handy extra features like device optimization and a basic VPN. You know it's a great discount, you know that it's market-leading antivirus - that just leaves you to decide what package to go with... Bitdefender Antivirus Plus - 70% off US deal: $59.99 $18 | UK deal: £39.99 £12 Not only does Bitdefender's base-package have plenty of features, it's also straightforward to use and has very accurate malware blocking. With multi-layered protection, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2020 is super, affordable protection for your PC. Bitdefender Internet Security - 70% off US deal: $79.99 $24 | UK deal: £49.99 £15 For just a few dollars or pounds more, Bitdefender's Internet Security adds features like parental control and privacy firewalls. It can protect up to three PCs, making it great value for families or multiple account users. Bitdefender Total Security - 70% off US deal: $89.99 $27 | UK deal: £69.99 £21 Takes Botdefender's virus protecting prowess and makes it available for Mac, Android & iOS. Covers five devices with the one sub to cover home computing and mobile - so this is definitely the best value for your money. Why do we rank Bitdefender so highly? There's a multitude of reasons why we rank Bitdefender as the world's best antivirus, all of paramount importance to the user. Not only does it cover all your antivirus needs and deflects all possible threats coming your way - it also is extremely user-friendly and straightforward. Below we have listed our top five reasons for why we consider this antivirus software to be the best: Protects all systems: If you’re worrying that it won’t be able to defend your device, Bitdefender’s Total Security covers Android, Mac and iOS systems. Security: In our rigorous tests, we found that Bitdefender was one of the most impressive services out there for pure blocking of malicious software. So it will give you peace of mind once installed. Anonymity: All of its antivirus software seeks to ensure you remain anonymous online, also offering file encryption, firewall and anti-spam perks. Affordable: Despite its lofty position in our best antivirus countdown, Bitdefender still has extremely competitive prices in comparison to other antivirus software. No compromise necessary: Bitdefender says that all of its antivirus software preserves your battery and the speed of your devices, so they keep running smoothly. We found that it doesn’t significantly interfere with your system’s speed or battery life, unlike other antivirus software. TechRadar is scouring every retailer and rounding up all the top deals over the Black Friday period, and we’ve put all the best Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals in easy-to-navigate articles to help you find the bargains you’re looking for.

Nvidia and CD Projekt Red have released a new trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing cranked all the way up. The new trailer shows what the real-time ray tracing experience in Night City will be like at ultra, which by the looks of Cyberpunk 2077's new system requirements, you're going to want an RTX 3080, at least, in order to enjoy at 4K. Cyberpunk features ray-traced ambient occlusion, diffused illumination, reflections, and shadows, all of which can be spotted coming into play in the gorgeous new trailer. Check it out in the embed above. In the video, three developers working on the game—Jakub Knapik, Marcin Gollent, and Miles Tost—talk a little more in-depth about each ray tracing effect and how you'll experience it during gameplay. Shout out to the PC Gamer magazine at eight seconds in. "Night City is a vast place," Gollent says. "It is vast both horizontally and vertically. It is filled with a very large variety of architecture styles. We had to make sure that all those settings look at any hour, any second, with an LED, flashlights, neons dynamically turned on or off at any time." It's sure to be demanding as a result, too. But Nvidia and CDPR say that even an RTX 2060 can handle the game with ray tracing set to medium and with the GPU manufacturers AI-powered supersampling, DLSS, turned on. You'll want something a little more RTX 3080-shaped for ultra RT, though. At least you now have the option to side with the red team for a little ray tracing action, with the RX 6000-series GPUs, such as the RX 6800 XT and RX 6800, now supporting ray tracing and the DirectX Raytracing API used in Cyberpunk 2077. Check out the full updated Cyberpunk 2077 system requirements to see if your PC has what it takes. It's not like there's an easy route to an upgrade right now, with most graphics cards sold out everywhere, which might mean all this talk of Cyberpunk 2077 on an RTX 3080 is tough to bear for some.

The new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class has been unveiled as the pinnacle of the new luxury saloon range, offering more space and premium features for rear-seat occupants. Set to reach showrooms next summer, the Bentley Flying Spur rival aims to capitalise on growing demand for ultra-luxury flagship variants from markets such as China, Korea and Russia. It joins the Mercedes-Maybach GLS, the sub-brand’s first SUV, which was revealed last year. At 5469mm long, the Maybach S-Class is a full 18cm longer than even the long-wheelbase version of the standard Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The firm claims this increase “entirely benefits the rear”, making it ideal for high-end chauffeurs. The upgrade isn’t limited to more space, however, with the twin Executive seats fitted as standard allowing independent adjustment of the squabs and backrests. Mercedes also claims that the footrest attached to the front seat and the electrically extending legrest (itself 50mm longer than that in the old Maybach S-Class) allows for a “continuous, comfortable reclining surface for a pleasant sleeping position”. Further new features include an optional massaging function for the legrest and heating for the rear passengers’ necks and shoulders. Also added for the rear passengers are ‘belt butlers’ - automatic seatbelt extenders that are usually found in Mercedes’ coupé and convertible models. There are also electrically assisted rear doors that can be operated by the driver, plus adaptive lighting for the rear occupants with a wide range of adjustment. Utilising the same MBUX interface for the available five part-OLED screens as the regular S-Class, the Maybach offers a vast array of control over vehicle systems and features and can recognise movements and gestures from rear passengers via 3D laser cameras in the roof lining. Externally, the Maybach is differentiated from the standard S-Class with a new bonnet design that features a chromed fin, Maybach’s signature vertically slatted grille and wider rear doors. There’s also a new C-pillar quarterlight, while bespoke badging is applied throughout. Optionally available is a two-tone paint finish (as pictured). The Maybach S-Class will be offered with two engines in the UK at launch: the 496bhp 4.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 from the S580 and a 603bhp 6.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V12, set to be badged as the S650. Other markets will receive a plug-in hybrid using a 3.0-litre six-pot turbo petrol engine and a gearbox-mounted electric motor for a combined 503bhp. Air suspension is standard, along with Mercedes’ road surface-scanning E-Active body control tech. Rear-wheel steering is optionally available. Pricing is also yet to be detailed but, based on the price of the previous-generation V12 Maybach S-Class, it’s likely that the base V8 model will comfortably exceed £150,000.