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IF there is one brand that does super-limited edition bikes better than any other, it’s Mv Agusta. The Varese-based manufacturer has a knack of building small volume bikes that tick all the right boxes to the bike riding elite. MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR 2020 Specs And their latest creation, the Superveloce Alpine, might just be one of its most successful machines yet, lasting just a few short hours from launch before all of the 110 units were sold. The bike is a collaboration between MV and boutique French sports car maker Alpine and is touted as a celebration of both brand’s passion for design, engineering, and racing. Superveloce Alpine studio motorcycle The Alpine edition of the retro Superveloce follows hot on the heels of the 75 Anniversario edition of the same bike, with that model shifting all 75 units over a 75-hour timeframe. Each of the 110 bikes will feature a numbered plaque on the top yoke, along with bespoke Alpine branding on the seat and fuel tank strap. The bikes will come in one paint scheme only, the classy blue/grey metallic colour, finished with ‘A’ badging that synonymous with so many Alpine race and rally cars from years gone by. Performance-wise, the engine in the Alpine is the same as that of the current crop of Euro5 800cc machines, meaning 147bhp, a 13,000rpm redline, and top-speed of around 150mph. But don’t think that has stopped MV and Alpine from trying to make the bike faster. It’s dripping in carbon fibre loveliness, with many of the parts fitted being specially made for this machine only.

The US Congress has passed a long-awaited $900bn (£660bn) package of coronavirus pandemic aid after months of political wrangling. Senators approved the bill late on Monday, hours after it was passed by the House of Representatives. The aid includes direct payments for many Americans and support for businesses and unemployment programmes. The money is to accompany a bigger, $1.4tn spending bill to fund government operations over the next nine months. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the package into law quickly. President-elect Joe Biden welcomed the relief package but said Congress needed to get to work to support his Covid-19 relief plan in the new year. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter In the House, the bill passed by a vote of 359 to 53 and in the Senate it passed by 92-6. Many Covid-19 relief programmes were set to expire at the end of the month and about 12 million Americans were at risk of losing access to unemployment benefits. But some lawmakers said they felt blind-sided by being asked to vote on a mammoth bill without even having a chance to read it. At nearly 5,600 pages, the legislation was described by the Associated Press news agency as "the longest bill in memory and probably ever". What is in the package? The stimulus includes one-off $600 payments to most Americans, and will boost unemployment payments by $300 per week, extending expiration dates for the jobless programmes until the spring. It also contains more than $300bn in support for businesses, and money for vaccine distribution, schools and tenants facing eviction. Hunger spikes, demand rises for US food banks Unemployed in the US: 'I don’t know what to do' Counting down the days to losing a home The package includes an extension of an eviction moratorium that was due to expire at the end of this month, leaving tens of millions of Americans at risk of being thrown out of their homes. It contains $25bn in rental aid. The bill also has a provision to end surprise medical billing - where hospital patients get slapped with fees because they were treated by a doctor who was not covered by their health insurer. President Trump has championed calls to end these stealth fees, which are one of the most unpo[CENSORED]r pitfalls of the US healthcare system. The deal was announced on Sunday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican. Speaking on Monday ahead of the vote, he said: "None of us think this legislation is perfect, but a big bipartisan majority of us recognise the incredible amount of good it will do when we send it to the president's desk. The American people have waited long enough." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, said the package delivered "urgently needed funds to save the lives and livelihoods of the American people as the virus accelerates". Who will get the $600 cheques? Lawmakers said the bill would send $600 per adult or child for individuals earning up to $75,000 or married couples earning up to $150,000, with families earning more receiving less. The first cheques could arrive as soon as next week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. The payment is half the amount that Congress approved for direct payments during the first round of pandemic relief last spring. What is not in the bill? The bill does not include substantial aid to local governments, which had been a top priority for many Democrats. In exchange, Republicans agreed to accept a deal without legal protections for businesses from Covid-related lawsuits. Mr Schumer said the package would "establish a floor, not a ceiling, for coronavirus relief in 2021", and that Democrats would push for more aid after President-elect Joe Biden took office on 20 January. Congress had been expected to pass the bill by Friday, but negotiations continued through the weekend. The delays led to concerns over whether the government would shut down without a spending bill. Washington has been operating on temporary funding since October, the start of the federal government's financial year. How are Americans reacting? Economic analysts welcomed the deal, but have warned that it is probably too small and arrives too late to avert a slowdown in the recovery. They have also expressed concerns that money devoted to the stimulus cheques - which some families are likely to save - takes away from other, more targeted programmes that might provide a more effective boost to the economy. "Any Covid relief bill is better than no Covid relief bill, but the measures set to be passed by Congress... do not represent the most efficient use of the $900bn total cost," wrote Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics. However, on social media, many said the cheque should have been larger, saying $600 per person wasn't large enough to help meaningfully. "$600 will hopefully save some lives but we all know it's just barely scraping by," wrote one social media user in California. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter "I'm so excited about the $600 stimulus checks I can't even decide if I'm going to pay rent for the right side of my bedroom or the left!!!" Jack in New York joked. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter "It's infuriating to see what every other major country around the world had done for their citizens and our elected officials give us scraps," another user commented. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter Some also noted that many pandemic relief schemes have been plagued by fraud or delays in spending the money. What about previous aid? In March the US approved more than $2.4tn in economic relief, including one-off $1,200 stimulus payments, funds for businesses and money to boost weekly unemployment payments by $600. The package was credited with cushioning the economic hit of the pandemic, which cast more than 20 million Americans out of work this spring and drove the unemployment rate up to 14.7% in April. The US has regained about half of the jobs lost, but economists and businesses have been pushing Congress to approve further economic relief, as programmes expired and money ran out, prompting recovery to slow. Nearly eight million more Americans are now living in poverty. This year has seen the biggest single year increase since poverty tracking began 60 years ago.

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After spending most of the year making improvements to its business communications platform Teams, Microsoft has released a new version of Skype that includes several features to help users stay connected over the holidays. Version 8.67 of the company's original video conferencing software is now available and it includes a number of bug fixes and stability improvements as well as support for Large Grid Mode and even Teams' Together Mode. With Large Grid Mode enabled users will be able to see up to 49 video streams at the same time while Together Mode allows multiple users to share the same virtual space such as a coffee shop, conference room or a classroom while on a video call. Microsoft also recently updated Together Mode with a set of new winter wonderland scenes just in time for the holidays. We've put together a list of the best video conferencing software available These are the best business webcams for working from home Also check out our roundup of the best headsets for conferencing In order to switch views during a Skype desktop call, users will need to click on the “Switch View” button at the top of the screen and here they'll be able to choose from Grid view, Speaker view, Large grid or Together Mode from the menu. On mobile this works essentially the same way but users instead need to tap on the “Call layout” button on the top right of the app while in a video call. Skype version 8.67 In addition to Large Grid Mode and Together Mode, Microsoft has also added more predefined backgrounds and more background categories in Skype. Joining meetings is even easier in the latest version of Skype as Meet Now has been integrated into Windows 10 so users can begin a video call with a simple click. Finally, version 8.67 of Skype now includes the option to add someone to ongoing call either by their phone number or by using their Skype ID.

Valve's latest Steamworks Development blog provides a look at some of the numbers from this year's Autumn Sale. Normally a footnote compared to the Winter Sale, the Autumn Sale actually featured some pretty decent discounts this year and was apparently "the biggest-ever in terms of revenue for developers and publishers". Ongoing COVID-19 quarantines in many countries probably helped the sale, which overlapped with a Black Friday and Cyber Monday that saw online shopping up 22 percent according to Adobe Analytics. Steam's concurrent user numbers reached almost 24 million, which is "about 7 million more simultaneous users" than the same time last year. Valve also said that, "just shy of a million players bought a game or made a microtransaction on Steam for the very first time", which is apparently an increase of a third on the same period in 2019. Steam's new pages dedicated to categories sorted by genre seem to be working, as Valve reports "the genre hub pages drove as many add-to-carts as our front-page highlighted daily deals" during the sale. Valve also shared figures related to the Steam Awards nominations, which ran simultaneously with the Autumn Sale. Over 5.3 million voters took part, and thanks to a badge that could be leveled up by leaving a user review for one of the games you nominated, over 1.6 million people were motivated to add user reviews. The final nominees for 2020's Steam Awards are being revealed one category per day, and voting will run from December 22 at 10AM PST through to January 3 at 9AM PST. Whoever nominated Untitled Goose Game for the Sit Back and Relax Award had a very different experience of that raucous honking party than my household did.

Now here’s a familiar face in an unexpected place. The face is bug-eyed and painted fluro green on yellow, so roughly how I imagine an oversized, confused chameleon might look. It belongs to the #912 Porsche GT3 R that won the 2018 Nürburgring 24 Hours. That was an epic race: so wet and foggy that spectators were both mesmerised and profoundly unnerved. At the chequered flag, only 26 seconds separated the winner and the second-placed Mercedes-AMG, which had acquired some of that eye-popping paint over the course of 2128.8 miles. I know exactly how wet it was because I was watching from the woods, and I wasn’t expecting to see #912 again quite so soon. Or for the setting to be a dim and nondescript first-floor meeting room. Talk about cognitive dissonance. However, this particular meeting room belongs to Manthey Racing. You may never have heard of these guys (it’s pronounced Man-tie) but I’ll bet you’ve seen them in action. Manthey supported Porsche’s factory racing campaigns in a semi-official capacity as far back as the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours and has been so successful in endurance racing with the humble 911 that Porsche even took a 51% stake in the business in 2013. It was then that Manthey began running Porsche’s two monstrous works 911 RSR cars, which blast around Le Mans and anywhere else on the FIA World Endurance Championship calendar. It supplies everything from spare parts to pit crew. The same crew look after #912 and its #911 sibling 911 GT3 R in the GT3 class, so when it comes to top-tier sports car racing, Porsche is Manthey and Manthey Porsche, even down to the cast of works drivers in the hot seat. Household names like Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy, Lars Kern and Kévin Estre abound. Manthey also helps Porsche develop the race cars from scratch, although that process is secretive. But we’re not at Manthey Racing in Meuspath, on the fringe of the Nürburgring, to drool over competition machines. We’re here because that winning racing relationship is seeping into Porsche’s gilt-edged road car business. You see, when it isn’t competing on track, Manthey develops top-ranking road-going 911s – cars like the GT2 and GT3 RS – into even more precise, quick and capable machines than they are to begin with. How exactly it does so we’ll come to shortly, but the results are so convincing that in the not too dim and distant future, you might even have the option of ordering an ‘MR pack’ for your new 911 GT3 RS – straight from the dealer. It seems that, once again, we’re witnessing an external influence push an original product to new heights using expertise gained in motorsport, and so Manthey Racing in 2020 isn’t at all unlike BMW M was in the early 1970s. Exciting? Just a bit. As affable Nicki Raeder, who along with his brother Martin has run the Manthey operation since founder Olaf Manthey stepped back in 2013, neatly puts it: “Porsche engineers get to live out their fantasies with Manthey.” He’s talking about the aerodynamic and suspension modifications that form the basis of the MR kit. They’re derived directly from racing cars such as #912 and are the kind of changes Porsche cannot always exact upon its own series-production cars, no matter how much it wants to. Blame homologation rules, the broad-use parameters all mass-market series-production cars must today demonstrate, and plain old time. “Porsche develops a car and it has to be ready six to 12 months before the start of production,” says Raeder, who is sympathetic to the plight of Andreas Preuninger, Porsche’s colossally respected GT-series chief and the man whose products Manthey, for the want of a better word, perfects. “Andy can never do everything he wants. We start one or two years later, so have other possibilities, and more knowledge,” he says, before casually dropping perhaps the definitive description of Manthey Racing’s approach. “If the customer comes to us, we can help them prepare the car as Andy would want.” One look at the cars and you just know that’s the truth of it. Manthey’s modifications are not superficially spectacular or flamboyant. The wing end plates are vast and the car’s stance unambiguously mean, but this is more about making the cars faster, more confidence-inspiring and just more fun on circuit than turning them into flame-spitting animals. The Raeders’ story is an inspiring one. Alongside Olaf Manthey, Nicki and Martin own the 49% of the company that doesn’t belong to Porsche. They started out in 2001 in reasonably humble circumstances, and Raeder Motorsport built a good reputation for expertly setting up punters’ cars for Nordschleife track days. In motorsport-mad northwest Germany, this kind of cottage industry isn’t unusual, but in their late twenties the brothers began to develop almost anything they could get their hands on for serious club-level VLN racing: Honda’s Accord, the Mitsubishi Evo VII, even a thunderous Lamborghini Gallardo for none other than Hermann Tilke. And they proved exceptionally good at it. The pair eventually made big ripples when their Ford GT, developed on a shoestring’s shoestring, qualified on pole for the 2009 Nürburgring 24 Hours ahead of four works Audi R8 LMS cars and the Porsche works 911 GT3 RSR run by bearded Olaf himself. Two years later came the pivotal race. Having seen first-hand what Raeder Motorsport could do with almost no money, then boss of Audi Quattro GmbH and Nürburgring regular Werner Frowein handed it the contract to build the TT RS racing car. And it was in 2011 that one of these front-driven Audis, in damp conditions, won the six-hour ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen race ahead of no fewer than 30 GT3 cars. Remarkable doesn’t begin to describe it, and clearly Olaf Manthey thought so, too. “Olaf was the first to come and shake our hands,” recalls Nicki, still as proud now as he and his brother had been that very evening, when they related the moment to their motorsport-agnostic parents. So enthusiastic were Nicki and Martin that their mother (who else?) tracked down an email address for Herr Manthey to thank him for the moral support. Olaf’s lengthy reply floored them all when he wrote how, after the death of his own son in 2007, he had resigned himself to having nobody to follow in his footsteps, but now hoped to have the Raeder brothers take the reins at Manthey Racing. By 2013, Raeder Motorsport had been integrated into the wider Manthey Racing business, Porsche had taken the majority share in the team and Olaf had handed operational control to Nicki and Martin. Seven years since then, Manthey Racing’s turnover has increased sixfold to around €45 million, with the Porsche contract for WEC and Le Mans accounting for around 20% of that. The business has also diversified, not least with those MR packages for the GT3 and GT2 RS, and it is an MR-equipped GT2 RS that until recently held the Nordschleife lap record for road cars, with a time seven seconds quicker than the standard car’s. Does that irritate Porsche? Actually, no. It goes back to the notion of Porsche engineers ‘living out their fantasies’. It’s a literal claim. Since 2015, when contact was first established, the Raeders and Preuninger have tentatively built an effective and beneficial feedback loop when it comes to developing not only the factory-spec GT cars but also the more explicit MR kits. Back in the meeting room, and gesturing to the victorious #912, Nicki explains how even the four-way adjustable suspension on the GT3 RS MR is only lightly evolved – made road-legal, in essence – from that of this very racing car. “Everyone talks about the story from race track to street, but I think nobody does this more than Porsche,” he says, before adding, with the flicker of a smile, “and then Manthey”. How to make a car faster: the Manthey method Manthey only finished developing its kit for the 911 GT3 RS in August and the result is unmissable. Let’s start at the back. The wing uses the same struts as the regular GT3 RS but the end plates are dramatically bigger and the aerofoil replaced with Manthey’s own reinforced hardware. Why reinforce it? Because the new Gurney helps generate 50% (that’s not a typo) more downforce, which would be enough to eventually crack the factory wing. As a consequence, the mounting points for the wing are also reinforced, and because of this the bootlid is entirely new, and made from carbonfibre. There is also an unusual relationship between the wing and the spectacular aero discs that seem to float on the rear wheels. These saucers are not brake related, as you might expect, but instead tidy up the airflow and mean the wing can run 2deg less angle with no apparent reduction in downforce. That gives lower drag on the straights, and so bigger speeds. Note also the canards at the front of the car, which help balance the aero package and increase stability. Hidden from sight are sensational KW coil-over units derived from the GT3 R race car, along with more racy brake pads and braided brake lines. Finally, the magnesium-alloy wheels appear identical to the sought-after items you get with the Weissach pack for the regular GT3 RS. However, they are 1.6kg lighter at each corner than even those featherweight wheels and are the same as the WEC 911 RSR’s, only with altered dimensions.

A number of European countries have banned, or are planning to ban, travel from the UK to prevent the spread of a more infectious coronavirus variant. The Netherlands and Belgium have halted flights, with Italy to follow suit. Trains to Belgium are also suspended. Ireland is introducing a ban on travel from the UK from midnight on Sunday. Germany will also stop flights from the UK from midnight (23:00 GMT). The new variant has spread quickly in London and south-east England. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday introduced a new tier four level of restrictions, scrapping a planned relaxation of rules over the Christmas period for millions of people. Covid-19 - follow the latest updates here Top health officials said that there was no evidence the new variant was more deadly, or would react differently to vaccines, but it was proving to be up to 70% more transmissible. Which countries have acted and how? Within hours of the UK announcement on Saturday, the Netherlands said it would ban all passenger flights from the UK from 06:00 (05:00 GMT) on Sunday until 1 January. Pending "greater clarity" on the situation in the UK, the Dutch government said that further "risk of the new virus strain being introduced to the Netherlands should be minimised as much as possible". New variant: How worried should we be? Tracking the global pandemic: Where has been hit hardest? What is tier four and who is in it? The country on Sunday reported a daily increase of more than 13,000 cases - a new record, despite tough lockdown measures being applied on 14 December. Belgium is suspending flights and train arrivals from the UK from midnight on Sunday. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told Belgian television channel VRT the ban would be in place for at least 24 hours as a "precautionary measure", adding "we will see later if we need additional measures". Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on his Facebook page that the government was about to sign a measure to suspend flights from the UK. media captionCan you become immune to coronavirus? In Ireland, urgent talks were held on Sunday. Afterwards in a statement, the government announced that flights arriving from the UK would be banned for 48 hours at least from midnight and "in the interests of public health, people in Britain, regardless of nationality, should not travel to Ireland, by air or sea". Ferry crossings for freight would continue. In Germany, an order from the ministry of transport said planes from the UK would not be allowed to land after midnight on Sunday, although cargo would be an exception. Health Minister Jens Spahn said the UK variant had not yet been detected in Germany. What are the Covid symptoms and how do I protect myself? In France, news channel BFMTV reported that the government was "seriously" considering suspending flights and trains from the UK, and the government was "looking for European co-ordination". "A decision will be announced during the day," the channel said. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González said Spain also wanted a co-ordinated EU decision on the matter. Austria is also planning a ban on flights from the UK, with details currently being worked out, Austrian media reported. Bulgaria has suspended flights to and from the UK from midnight. What is the new variant? In the UK, it was first identified in the middle of October from a sample taken in September. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the same mutation has also been detected in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia. Dr Catherine Smallwood, of WHO Europe, said that as of 20 December, the numbers in those countries were small, nine in Denmark and one each in the other two nations. But she said other countries had notified WHO of other variants "that also carry some of the genetic changes seen in the UK variant". image captionThe initial coronavirus has a lower "viral load", which makes it slower to be passed on The new UK variant has been shown to spread faster than the original virus - up to 70% more transmissible based on modelling figures - but scientific details on the genetic changes, and how they could affect the behaviour of Covid-19, remain unclear. Although there is no indication the variant will be more resistant to already-developed vaccines, the mutation does involve the spike protein of the virus. This is the part that helps it infect cells - and also the part the vaccines have been designed to target. So although scientific experts have warned against an alarmist response, they also say it is essential to track the variant and try to stay ahead of the virus.

Of all the motorcycle manufacturers, it seems Aprilia is taking things a little slower than its rivals when it comes to getting systems up and running during this COVID-19 era. However, it seems we aren’t too far away from getting our hands on its next new launch - the Tuono 660. Revealed in lightly-veiled concept form at the 2019 EICMA show, the 2020 edition of the Milan exhibition would have likely seen the latest model to be based on the firm’s 660 platform revealed in production form. However, while other manufacturers have used November to act as a de facto EICMA by launching a variety of new models over the four week period, it has been suspiciously quiet over at Piaggio, with none of its brands coming out to play with some new metal. It comes after the RS 660 found itself shuffled back from an original May launch to October, so it stands to reason that the timescale thus applies to the Tuono 660, with a bow scheduled for Spring 2021, according to OmniMoto. Spy shots have already confirmed what we can expect from the Tuono as a more comfortable and practical version of the RS, which received rave reviews for the 660 platform’s eager engine and sublime dynamics. It could turn out to be a two-pronged launch for Aprilia though, with the Tuareg ADV version seen doing the rounds in spy shots to suggest it’s not far away either. Aprilia is expected to reveal a facelifted, Euro5 compliant RSV4 and Tuono 1100 in the coming weeks too, while it is set to confirm a new 350-450cc platform will be developed for a 2023 launch.

Moderna has been approved by the US government as the country's second Covid-19 vaccine, clearing the way for millions of doses to be released. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the US-made jab about a week after approving a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which is now being distributed. The US has agreed to purchase 200 million doses of Moderna, and six million may be ready to ship now. The country has the world's highest numbers of Covid-19 deaths and cases. It has recorded more than 313,500 deaths and about 17.5 million infections, according to Johns Hopkins University. FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn said the emergency approval of the vaccine on Friday marked "another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing vast numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States each day". What you need to know about vaccine safety When will I get a Covid vaccine in US? How do the Covid vaccines compare? The authorisation came after an advisory panel on Thursday voted 20-0 with one abstention that the benefits of the Moderna vaccine outweighed the risks for those aged 18 and over. Regulators reported earlier this week that the Moderna vaccine was safe and 94% effective. media captionUS Covid vaccine: Three key questions answered US President Donald Trump, who hours before the official announcement tweeted that the vaccine had been "overwhelmingly approved" and distribution would "start immediately", said on Twitter: "Congratulations, the Moderna vaccine is now available!" President-elect Joe Biden, who is set to be vaccinated on Monday, said the authorisation of the Pfizer and the Moderna jabs "assures us that brighter days lie ahead". But, he added, "the fight against Covid-19 is not yet over." "We know the immense challenges ahead, including scaling up manufacturing, distribution, and the monumental task of vaccinating hundreds of millions of Americans. We need to make sure we have the resources to do all of this and to do it quickly." How does Moderna differ from the Pfizer vaccine? It requires temperatures of around -20C for shipping - similar to a normal freezer. The jab manufactured by US corporation Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech SE requires temperatures closer to -75C, making transport logistics much more difficult. Like the Pfizer jab, the Moderna vaccine also requires a second booster shot. Moderna's second injection comes 28 days after the first, compared with 21 for Pfizer. Moderna is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and had previously said that the "vast majority" of its doses would be manufactured there. Pfizer/BioNTech is being manufactured in several countries, including Germany and Belgium. Other countries have also ordered the Moderna vaccine: Canada plans to get two million doses by March - part of a total 56 million doses The UK has already pre-ordered seven million doses The European Union last month announced a contract to purchase of 80 million doses - with an option to purchase up to 80 million more - once the vaccine is deemed safe and effective Japan has signed up for 50 million doses, South Korea for 20 million, and Switzerland has ordered 7.5 million, according to data compiled by the Duke University Global Health Innovation Center Who is first in line in the US? The US vaccination programme aims to reach 100 million people by April. New York nurse Sandra Lindsay was among the first people in the country to receive a coronavirus vaccine when the Pfizer/BioNTech rollout began on Monday. Footage of her being vaccinated was streamed on the Twitter feed of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose state was the epicentre of the US epidemic in the first wave earlier this year. "I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. I want to instil public confidence that the vaccine is safe. We're in a pandemic and so we all need to do our part," Ms Lindsay said. media captionThe day the US began Covid vaccinations Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines submitted to US states say healthcare workers should be prioritised first, as well Americans living in long-term care homes. Essential workers are expected to be next in line for the jab, but it will be up to states to decide which industries to prioritise. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientist of federal vaccine distribution programme Operation Warp Speed, says the young and healthy should be at the back of the queue. At least 70% or 80% of the US po[CENSORED]tion need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, he said. In a statement on Friday, top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said he hoped that "all Americans will protect themselves by getting vaccinated when the vaccine becomes available to them". "That is how our country will begin to heal and move forward," he said. Earlier, Vice-President Mike Pence received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine live on television, with the White House saying the aim was to "promote the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and build confidence among the American people".

Surfshark has unveiled a new identity theft protection tool to inform users when their personal information is circulating online. Surfshark Alert is the firm’s latest privacy offering and promises to detect traces of hacked personal information from more than 60 different data points. Surfshark Alert will serve as an aggregator of compromised data, allowing individuals to see if information relating to their email accounts, passwords, credit cards, and even social media profiles, have been leaked. The platform pools all the information into a unified repository and even informs users of data breaches affecting services that they no longer use (providing their personal data was involved). Here's our list of the best VPN services right now And here's our roundup of the best identity theft protection services We've built a list of the best endpoint protection services out there Detecting data breaches If Surfshark Alert does detect hacked personal data being shared online, users will receive a notification prompting them to take the necessary action. In many cases, passwords will need to be changed quickly, but monitoring bank account activity may also be required when financial information has been breached. As Kaziukonis noted, the coronavirus pandemic has been accompanied by a marked increase in cyberattack activity. Interestingly, however, it appears that cyberattackers may not be receiving much financial reward for sharing victims’ personal data online. Recent research found that personal data sometimes trades hands on the dark web for as little as 50 cents. "Some of the biggest data breaches in history were disclosed a couple of years after the data first appeared online. It is evident that some companies choose not to inform their users about leaks, or in some cases, they are not aware they have suffered a breach," Vytautas Kaziukonis, founder and CEO of Surfshark, said. "Witnessing exponential growth in breaches and hacks due to the pandemic, we seek to empower privacy-minded people to oversee their digital presence better than ever before."

Asus has released BIOS updates for its 400-series motherboards to add support for AMD's new Ryzen 5000 chips. This is great news because it gives everyone a lot more options about the kind of systems they can build, and at more appealing price points. Particularly relevant, because even after the release of the supposedly more affordable B550 chipset, motherboards built around the B450 chipset still represent the best value for money. More importantly, it means that anyone that currently has a 400-series motherboard has a relatively easy upgrade path to get in on the Zen 3 game. Assuming of course that you can get your hands on a Ryzen 5000 CPU, as they sold out pretty much immediately at launch. Stock levels are starting to look a bit more hopeful as we head towards the end of the year at least, but your ability to get your hands on the new chips may vary depending on where you live. According to UK retailer Scan, it looks like AMD is trying to get stock out there at least—Scan took delivery of over a thousand Ryzen 5000 chips this week alone. Five different chipsets are getting BIOS updates, covering X570, B550, X470, B450, and A520 motherboards—you can find a complete list of the affected motherboards over on this AM4 Ryzen 5000 microsite. Note that Asus has separated out the 400-series and 500-series motherboards into different sections, so don't be alarmed if you don't instantly see your motherboard listed. There's a potentially tricky situation here for anyone buying a 400 or 500 series motherboard for the new Ryzen 5000 chips though, and that's actually getting the machine to boot. You generally need a working system in order to update your BIOS in the first place. Not a problem if you're upgrading, but more of an issue if you're buying a new motherboard and CPU. Asus has a clever solution here though, in the form of its BIOS Flashback function, which is only available on its recently released B450 II motherboards, but it does allow you to update the BIOS without needing an older CPU to be plugged in. Magic basically. Everything you need to update your BIOS is available on this site as well, you just need to pick which motherboard you have and go from there. If you want to get the most from the Zen 3 architecture, and here I'm chiefly talking about PCIe 4.0 support, then you're going to want to stick with an X570 or B550 offering, simply because they're the only chipsets that support the next-gen storage standard directly. If you already have a 400 series motherboard though, this is great news, and ahead of AMD's promise of those motherboards getting updates in January 2021.

Rainbow Six: Siege is five years old, and to celebrate Ubisoft is taking the game back to its roots. The time-limited Legacy Arcade mode runs until January 5, and reverts a game that has been tremendously well-supported and revamped over the years to roughly how it was in its first year. The maps go back to they way they were and looked then, the original 20 operators have their original loadouts, and while Tachanka players may not love the thought, everyone else will. There is no question that Siege is a better game now than it was at launch. However, it suffers from the same problem of accrual that any game supported this well for this long has: there are a huge amount of operators and maps, meaning every time you go back there's more to learn. That's not necessarily a bad thing—it's just the way things are in the games-as-a-service world—but it does mean that the pure and focused core the game started with is buried under years of additional stuff. I played Siege at launch, and can't wait for the little nostalgia hit of playing that version of the game again (I'll have Sledge, thanks). The mode does retain a couple of Siege's modern elements, but otherwise gets as close to those early days as it can. The update notes say "though your Operators will have their current abilities, all of your secondary gadgets will be fitting the original loadout of the game. That means no claymore, no impact or anything that was released later in the game. That also means that Ash, Bandit and Jager’s weapons will get back the scopes 2.5x(ACOG) they had upon release. The only exception being the deployable shields, which will remain the current ones." As an additional festive treat, any player who takes part in the Legacy Arcade mode will receive one operator for free: and if you already have them all, you get a daft candy-cane Elf outfit for the character Ash.

Life with a Volvo XC40 PHEV: Month 3 Semi-autonomous driving features and touchscreen tech actually prove pleasing - 23 December 2020 Slightly controversial statement time: I don’t mind the Volvo XC40’s Pilot Assist system. In fact, I actually quite like it. Doubtless some of my colleagues will be shaking their heads at me right now. But, like them, I remain generally unconvinced by lane guidance systems, which do often aggressively intervene and save you from some imagined danger should you choose to steer vaguely close to a painted line. However, I do reckon that such systems have a use in the right circumstances – and that’s shown by my experience with the XC40 T5 on long motorway trips between various lockdowns in recent months. Volvo’s Pilot Assist function effectively combines its adaptive cruise control (ACC) and lane keeping assistance systems. You simply pick the speed at which you want to drive, set your preferred distance to keep from cars ahead and press engage. The XC40 will then not only keep you suitably distanced from cars ahead but also keep you in the middle of your lane. And it works better than any other semi-autonomous system that I’ve tried for an extended period. While the car will gently try to correct your steering if it feels that you’re going off course, it feels more like it’s helping you than trying to wrestle for control. And when you indicate, it stops any resistance until you’ve changed lanes. Meanwhile, the ACC is a step up from many others: it’s pleasingly graduated in decelerating as you approach a car ahead and also restrained in getting you back up to your preferred speed once the path ahead is clear. In the right circumstances (such as on a reasonably long drive on a motorway you know well), it’s very effective, working in the way that a semi-autonomous system should: not by driving the car for you but by making it easier for you to drive the car. It removes a little of the tedium and frees you up to focus on the road. It perhaps helps that it’s quite suited to the XC40’s role as an excellent and cosseting long-distance cruiser. Volvo’s stylish and premium Swedish design is very much evident in our range-topping Inscription Pro model, and it’s a comfortable place to pass a long journey. That said, long journeys do show up both the benefit and limitation of plug-in hybrid powertrains. From a full charge, the T5 offers around 24 miles of electric power, which obviously doesn’t take long to exhaust on a longer journey. And once it does, the weight of the battery clearly hits the fuel consumption. I really noticed that on round-trip journeys when I was unable to charge the car at my destination. If you programme your journey into the car’s touchscreen infotainment system, it automatically calculates the best usage of the battery’s electric charge on that trip for optimum fuel economy. But that means on the return leg, with the only electric power coming from regenerative braking, my economy was substantially lower. Still, I’ve found a way to mitigate that by programming the journey as a round trip, with my destination as a waypoint. That means the car measures out the electric charge on both legs, which from my experiments has a small but notable positive impact on fuel economy. Another minor niggle with the XC40 T5 is the brake pedal, which can lack feel, occasionally jarringly so because of the energy recovery system. It’s always effective, but it just results in a feeling of imprecision – which, when you’re exiting a motorway after a long, calming, comfortable and Pilot Assisted drive, is a little off-putting. Love it: Reversing assistance The cross-traffic alert when you’re reversing is incredibly effective, detecting approaching cars from scarcely fathomable distances. Loathe it: Button symbols The signs on the steering wheel are a little vague, so I find I mute the radio while trying to expand the trip computer Touchscreen makes top-ups easy - 18 November 2020 A message popped up on the XC40’s touchscreen recently to say the car needed a litre of oil, but I didn’t have to use the manual to find the type needed. A simple tap of my finger opened the appropriate page in the system – a reminder that touchscreens can improve usability. Oil was then procured and the car is running happily again. Life with a Volvo XC40 PHEV: Month 2 Something of a head-turner - 21 October 2020 The XC40 still draws attention. BMW- and Audi-owning neighbours have all stopped by to admire ours from a social distance and claim they are strongly considering switching brands with their next purchase. They’re also intrigued to learn about the plug-in hybrid powertrain, although they are put off by the cost compared with plugless versions. Mileage: 2599 Life with a Volvo XC40 PHEV: Month 1 Volvo’s app gives a graphic illustration – literally – of the benefits of plugging in - 16 September 2020 Data is everywhere these days. As a keen amateur runner, I can track every run using my Garmin smartwatch and then spend hours poring over data showing my pace, cadence, foot strikes, heart rate and more in a bid to improve my speed. Usually, I find that the key is just to run faster. Since I’ve been looking after the Volvo XC40 Recharge T5, I’ve got a new smartphone app battling Garmin Connect for my data-driven attention: Volvo On Call. Generally, I find many car firm apps to be little more than gimmicks, but with the XC40’s plug-in hybrid powertrain, the data it provides is fascinating. Assuming you give the necessary permissions (because GDPR), the app’s Driving Journal function logs all of your trips, giving you a wealth of information that shows the benefits of using the plug-in to its full potential. An example: I recently made a 19.5-mile trip to visit family, setting off with the PHEV battery mostly (but not fully) charged. I made it virtually all the way there on battery power alone: I used 0.4 litres of petrol and 6.1kWh of electricity – including 0.5kWh captured regeneratively – resulting in an economy of 164.8mpg. I’d planned to stop before the return journey to do some shopping at a supermarket where there is a Volkswagen-funded charging station, with a cunning plan to grab some free electricity. But my idea was thwarted by three Teslas and a VW Golf GTE all using the chargers (not so much being ICEd as EVed…). That meant I had to make the return journey largely using petrol power: 2.2 litres of unleaded to be precise, and just 0.8kWh of electricity (although I did manage to recapture 1.2kWh). That meant my return run averaged 33.6mpg. Oof. Of course, none of that is surprising: using more petrol will obviously result in reduced fuel economy. But being able to pore over such data is useful to illustrate the efficiency gains that come from using a plug-in hybrid properly. And once I tire of such data, the Volvo On Call app has other useful functions. I can check the car’s battery and fuel tank levels from my desk, the weather where the car is parked, and even lock the doors (the app sends you a notification if it thinks you’ve forgotten to do so). Yes, those are a little more gimmicky… Love it: Relaxing interior XC40’s cabin is a hugely comfortable place to spend time in, aided by a smooth, quiet ride. Loathe it: Waking the four-pot Petrol engine is relatively unobtrusive but still feels gruff when it kicks in after the quiet of electric running. Mileage: 1694 Back to the top A charging free for all - sort of - 26 August 2020 Alliances are all the rage right now, and I can exclusively reveal a new Volkswagen-Volvo tie-up – to keep my plug-in hybrid XC40 charged. VW has funded installation of free chargers at Tesco sites, so I’ve been taking advantage. That said, speed is limited: during a recent 30-minute visit, just 1.6kWh went in. Add Tesco’s slogan as a punchline if you wish. Mileage: 1316 Welcoming the XC40 Recharge to the fleet - 19 August 2020 It may look like any other Volvo XC40, but the car pictured here is actually a glimpse into the future. Well, sort of. It represents both where Volvo is now and where it’s aiming to go. It’s a snapshot of a company – and an industry – in transition. The clue lies in its unwieldy name: the Volvo XC40 Recharge Plug-In Hybrid T5 Inscription Pro. Let’s break it down. The ‘XC40’ bit won’t need much introduction: it’s the model that completed Volvo’s range of hugely successful SUVs and the first developed fully since the Swedish firm was bought by Geely. The XC40 has now been around for a few years, and we’ve previously run one as a long-termer; the reason we’ve added another one to our fleet is the ‘Plug-In Hybrid’ part of the title. The addition of this powertrain, combining a 178bhp three-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol engine with an 80bhp electric motor, to the XC40 range means that Volvo now offers a PHEV version of every model in its line-up. That leaves ‘Recharge’, and this is the element that signals where Volvo is going. The new sub-brand will be used for every Volvo with a plug-in hybrid or fully electric powertrain (replacing the Twin Engine badge previously used for PHEV models). This is the first new car to use it; the next will be the electric XC40 Recharge P8 later this year. Expect to see a lot of Recharge models arrive in the near future: Volvo has pledged that, by 2025, half the cars it sells will be electric and the other half hybrid. Reaching that goal will involve the firm launching a new EV every year for the next five years, and it counts on public demand for EVs growing, charging infrastructure developing and battery costs falling. But with EU emissions rules requiring firms to cut their cars’ CO2 output, Volvo, like others, is using plug-in hybrids to plug the gap until that happens. In short, the XC40 Recharge PlugIn Hybrid T5 Inscription Pro (we’ll plump for XC40 T5 from now on…) is very much a car designed for the industry in 2020. It’s intended for drivers who want some of the benefits of electric power but without some of the challenges an EV presents. We’re out to discover whether it’s successful in doing that. We’re ramping up the degree of difficulty a bit, too. Several of our team who have recently run plug-in hybrids, such as Andrew Frankel with the Mercedes-Benz E300de and Mark Tisshaw with the BMW 330e, have the benefit of a 7kWh home charger. Lately, I’ve split my time between my house in Middlesex and my family home in Somerset. Neither has a home charger: my house is set back from the road and has no private parking, while my mum has so far resisted requests to have a charger stuck on the side of her house. At one level, that means I’m not ideally placed to get the best out of the XC40 T5, but this is a challenge also faced by many of the drivers who are tempted by a step into electrification. So, can you still get the best out of a plug-in hybrid when keeping its battery topped up relies on charging from the mains at 2.3kWh and public charging points? That’s going to be a key question to consider for this test. We’ll be considering that question in considerable comfort, because our XC40 T5 further highlights Volvo’s recent reinvention into a genuine rival for the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes. The Recharge line is only offered with Volvo’s higher-end trim levels, and we’ve decided on range-topping Inscription. And this wasn’t just because that means it has an Orrefors crystal glass gear selector, something I have a soft spot for after going to the factory to make one for an Autocar feature last year. Honest. As well as the fancy gear selector, Inscription means our XC40 T5 gets 19in alloy wheels, leather upholstery, wooden dashboard trim, a 12.3in infotainment touchscreen and, since this is a Volvo, just about every driver assistance and safety system there is. Plenty of options have been added, too, including a 360deg camera, a panoramic glass roof, a powered tailgate, heated seats, a Harman Kardon audio system, wireless phone charging and tinted rear windows. All this raises the cost of our car from £42,305 to £48,255, and that needs to be considered next to the £25,295 base price for the entry-level XC40, the three-cylinder petrol T2. Even with the promised fuel and tax savings offered by the plug-in hybrid’s greater economy (with an official economy of 134.5mpg) and lower CO2 emissions, that’s a big difference – and we’re going to need some convincing that it’s worth it. Early impressions are largely positive: the XC40 is as comfortable and pleasant to drive as I remember, and the plug-in hybrid powertrain is impressive, offering serene electric-only running and a smooth transition when the engine does have to kick in. Less smooth, so far, is the slightly ungainly sight of the charging cable snaking out of the house from the plug nearest to the front door when I’m slowly charging the XC40 from the mains supply. Clearly, it’s not the ideal solution – but it is a reminder that plug-in hybrids are something of an interim technology. For Volvo, the Recharge brand represents the future – but we’ll be judging the Recharge Plug-In Hybrid T5 by how well it can serve us right now. Second Opinion The XC40 remains my premium compact SUV of choice, led by its good looks and cemented by living with the petrol-powered T4 version for six months last year. It’s pricey, and the PHEV even more so, but I suspect that many who favour an electrified powertrain in an upper-end car will go for the T5. I can’t wait to try it. Rachel Burgess Back to the top Volvo XC40 Recharge T5 Inscription Pro specification Specs: Price New £42,305 Price as tested £48,255 Options Xenium Pack (panoramic sunroof, 360deg camera, Park Assist) £1600, Intellisafe Pro Pack (auto-dimming mirrors, blindspot detection, Intellisafe Assist) £1500, Convenience Pack (electric boot, electric rear headrests, keyless drive, puddle lights) £400, Winter Plus Pack (heated rear seats, heated steering wheel) £300, Sensus Connect and Harman Kardon stereo £550, smartphone integration £300, wireless phone charger £175, tinted windows £350, Mode 3 charging cable £50, spare wheel £150, metallic paint £575 Test Data: Engine 3 cyls, 1477cc, turbocharged, petrol, plus 80bhp electric motor Power 258bhp at 5800rpm Torque 313lb ft Kerb weight 1741kg Top speed 127mph 0-62mph 7.3sec Fuel economy 119.1-139.4mpg CO2 47-55g/km Faults None Expenses None

image captionThe FBI is among those investigating the hacking campaign The US energy department is the latest agency to confirm it has been breached in what is being described as the worst-ever hack on the US government. The department is responsible for managing US nuclear weapons, but said the arsenal's security had not been compromised. Tech giant Microsoft also said on Thursday that it had found malicious software in its systems. Many suspect the Russian government is responsible. It has denied any role. The US treasury and commerce departments are among the other targets of the sophisticated, months-long breach, which was first acknowledged by officials on Sunday. SolarWinds: Why the Sunburst hack matters More US government agencies hacked 'State-sponsored' hack hits US cyber-security firm Researchers, who have named the hack Sunburst, say it could take years to fully comprehend what is one of the biggest ever cyber-attacks. How has the US government responded? image captionJoe Biden said America would impose "substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks" President Donald Trump is yet to comment on the cyber-attacks. Meanwhile, US President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to make cyber-security a "top priority" of his administration. "We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyber-attacks in the first place," he said. "We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in co-ordination with our allies and partners." America's top cyber agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (Cisa), gave a stark warning on Thursday, saying that addressing the intrusion would be "highly complex and challenging". It said "critical infrastructure" had been damaged, federal agencies and private sector companies compromised, and that the damage posed a "grave threat". The hack began in at least March 2020, and those responsible had "demonstrated patience, operational security, and complex tradecraft", the Cisa said. The agency did not identify what information had been stolen or exposed. Addressing the attack on the energy department, spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes confirmed it was responding to a cyber-breach - but said "the malware has been isolated to business networks only". She said security functions at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which oversees US nuclear weapons, had not been affected. A race to see what's been stolen The list of who was hacked is already long - and it is going to get longer. These are still early, and quite frantic, days in the investigation as government departments, companies and organisations race to see if they have a backdoor in their systems and what might have been stolen through it over a period of months. The scale is potentially huge, but the truth is no-one is quite sure of the impact yet. So far, this looks to have been classic espionage - the targeted theft of information. There is not much sign yet that the hackers were planning to disrupt systems or carry out real world damage, although that could still emerge. That also makes it trickier for the US to respond - after all, espionage is something it also carries out regularly. The problem is that in this case US defences were not good enough to spot and stop those responsible. What do we know about the hack's consequences? "There's a lot we don't yet know, but what we do know is a matter of great concern," Mr Biden has said. Hackers are known to have at least monitored data within a range of key US government departments including state, defence, homeland security, treasury and commerce, Reuters news agency reports. Cisa said the perpetrators managed to breach computer networks using network management software made by the Texas-based IT company SolarWinds. Up to 18,000 SolarWinds Orion customers downloaded updates containing malicious software installed by hackers. All US federal civilian agencies were told to remove SolarWinds from their servers earlier this week as a result. Cisa said it was investigating "evidence of additional access vectors, other than the SolarWinds Orion platform". Microsoft said it had identified more than 40 of its customers who were targeted in the cyber-attack, including government agencies, think tanks, non-governmental organisations and IT companies. About 80% of these were in the US, while others were in Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, the UK, Israel and the UAE. The company's president Brad Smith said the attack was "remarkable for its scope, sophistication and impact". "This is not 'espionage as usual,' even in the digital age," he wrote in a blog post. "Instead, it represents an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world." Neither Cisa or the FBI have publicly said who they believe to be behind the attacks, but private security companies and officials quoted in US media have pointed the finger at Russia. The Washington Post cast suspicion on a Russian hacking group called Cozy Bear or APT 29, which has ties to the country's spy agencies. Bears with keyboards: Russian hackers snoop on West The Post reported that the same Russian group hacked the State Department and White House email servers while Barack Obama was president. What is Russia saying? In a statement shared on social media on Monday, the Russian embassy in the US said it "does not conduct offensive operations in the cyber domain". "Malicious activities in the information space contradict the principles of the Russian foreign policy, national interests and our understanding of interstate relations," the embassy said.

CFMOTO has shared some images on its Facebook page that show the CLX 700 concept looking remarkably close to production spec. We first saw the CLX 700 at EICMA in 2019 at the firm’s swanky launch event in Milan. Back then this model was a speculative glance at how future models from the brand could look. Now though, with CFMoto’s UK PR team sharing images of the bike on Facebook, it might be a little closer than first thought. 2021 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and ZX-10RR sports bikes revealed to the world The bike is a nailed on MT-07 rival, featuring a 692cc, parallel twin-cylinder engine that is claimed to make 74bhp and 49lb-ft of torque. The bike weighs in at 183kg, includes a 14l fuel tank, and comes equipped with a slipper clutch and solid-looking J.Juan calipers and discs. CFMoto naked As with the MT-07 is will be gunning for, the CLX 700 isn’t just a one bike range. The bike is available in three distinctly different flavours, all three of which were on show at EICMA last year. There is a rugged scrambler version, featuring knobbly tyres and saddlebags, and also a slick-shod super naked, complete with angular bodywork and bright graphics. CFMoto naked Until we receive any official confirmation regarding the model, further details around price and availability are unknown – as is any confirmation that this is anything more than just a concept. You do have to wonder though, why else would the CFMoto team be sharing these images on social media?

A host of European leaders are self-isolating after the French President, Emmanuel Macron, tested positive for Covid-19. Mr Macron, 42, will self-isolate for seven days while working remotely, the Elysée Palace said in a statement. The French president attended a number of high-profile events in recent days, including an EU summit. Following his diagnosis several other European leaders, including the Spanish PM, said they would self-isolate. "The President of the Republic has been diagnosed positive for Covid-19 today," the Elysée said on Thursday morning. The diagnosis was made following a "test performed at the onset of the first symptoms", the statement added. The French president's wife Brigitte Macron, who is 67, is self-isolating but has no symptoms. It is not yet known how Mr Macron caught the virus but his office said it was identifying any recent close contacts he has had. How are France and other European countries tackling the pandemic? French culture takes centre stage in Covid protest The meteoric rise of France's youngest president On Tuesday President Macron hosted French parliamentary heads and on Monday members of the intergovernmental group the OECD. Last week he, along with almost every other EU leader, attended a summit in Brussels. Who else needs to self-isolate? Among those going into self-isolation are European Council chief Charles Michel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, all of whom met President Macron this week. The Spanish prime minister's office said he would be tested "without delay" and would "respect the quarantine until 24 December". Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, 59, has cancelled all official trips, and is isolating and awaiting test results, after a working lunch in Paris with President Macron on Wednesday. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel too are self-isolating following contact with the French president. In a statement Mr Bettel wished Mr Macron a "speedy recovery". French Prime Minister Jean Castex, 55, and parliamentary speaker Richard Ferrand, 58, are also self-isolating, their offices confirmed. image captionPresident Macron (L) met Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez on Monday Mr Castex, who is not showing any symptoms and has tested negative, was due to introduce the government's Covid vaccination policy in the Senate on Thursday - now Health Minister Olivier Véran is doing it instead. France this week ended a six-week national lockdown, replacing the measure with a curfew to help deal with soaring cases. Mr Macron last week attended a two-day European Council heads of state summit, finishing on Friday. However, the French president is considered to have become potentially contagious as of Monday evening, a senior EU official told the BBC. All sanitary measures were observed during last week's meeting and the council has not been informed of any other participants testing positive, the source added. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wore a mask at the summit and tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, German officials said after hearing the news about President Macron. A French presidential spokeswoman confirmed that all of Mr Macron's forthcoming trips, including a scheduled visit to Lebanon on 22 December, had been cancelled.

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If you've ever considered making the switch to ChromeOS, installing Neverware's CloudReady OS on an old or sluggish PC allows you to essentially turn your device into a Chromebook. However, this process is likely about to get a whole lot easier as Neverware has announced that it has been acquired by Google. The search giant has been following the software company for some time now and just three years ago it invested in Neverware's Series B funding round. We've put together a list of the best laptops for students These are the best Chromebook deals available now Also check out our roundup of the best mobile workstations In a statement to 9to5Google, a spokesperson from Google has confirmed the acquisition, saying: “We can confirm that the Neverware team is joining the Google Chrome OS team. As we continue to support customers with their transition to the cloud, Neverware has offered a valuable solution, CloudReady, that allows customers to unlock the manageability, speed, and productivity of a Chrome device. Following our partnership over the past few years, we’re looking forward to working more closely with the team to support more customers in their transition to deploy Chrome OS.” CloudReady Just like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, Neverware's CloudReady OS is based on Chromium. However, instead of being merely a forked browser, CloudReady is a full-featured operating system designed to be installed on aging Macs and PCs that are still very usable but no longer receive regular updates. First launched in 2015, CloudReady is an ideal solution for schools that want experience the many benefits of ChromeOS without having to replace their old computers. Once the acquisition is complete, Google plans to make CloudReady an “official Chrome OS offering” according to a FAQ from Neverware. Up until now, Neverware's release schedule has been a bit behind but that will change once CloudReady becomes an official Chrome OS offering. Going forward users “can expect the release mechanics to fall in line with official Chrome OS releases”.

Nvidia and AMD have been trading some good blows over this latest generation of GPUs, with little space to breathe between each new release. It may come as a surprise then, that Nvidia is reportedly holding back a possible RTX 3080 Ti launch until later in 2021 than we first expected. New projections suggest that, after the launch of AMD's most recent Navi card, the Radeon RX 6900 XT, Nvidia's going to be taking a leisurely stroll with the rest of the 30-series lineup. The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is now not expected to surface until mid to late February next year—certainly not before Chinese new year celebrations have come to a close around February 17. According to sources (via Igors Lab), it looks as if the likelihood of Nvidia following up with the reflexive, potentially rash release of an RTX 3080 Ti has dwindled. Despite the extra 6GB onboard memory that AMD's RDNA 2 cards boast over the Nvidia RTX 3080, the 6000 series cards still have a tendency to falter at 4K. Subsequently, the pressure for Nvidia to deliver a better version of the RTX 3080, or a cheaper version of the 24GB Nvidia RTX 3090, has lifted somewhat. Considering the RTX cards superiority in many cases with this most recent GPU lineup, it seems Nvidia has positioned itself perfectly for a slower paced roll out of its intermediate range of Ampere cards. AMD has made it unnecessary for Nvidia to rush about, so Nvidia now lies in wait, secure in the knowledge that "it's got high-end refreshes in the bank"—as our Dave puts it. The RTX 3080 Ti, when it eventually drops, is rumoured currently to arrive with 9,984 CUDA cores (78 streaming multiprocessors), placing it neatly between the RTX 3080's 8,704 CUDA cores (68 SMs), and the 10,496 (82 SMs) coming out of the RTX 3090. What's more, it's expected to pack a favourable 20GB of VRAM. Some spicy predictions there. Let's just hope the stock shortages subside by February.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is the series' best instalment to date, so writes Steven in his review. One of the major improvements is that it's far less of a grind compared to its two immediate predecessors. Hitting story quests at the recommended level doesn't involve interminable hours spent dabbling in side content like it did in Assassin's Creed Origins and Odyssey. Still, maybe you're short of time, or maybe you like feeling really powerful from the get go. Ubisoft knows: the company has been selling XP boosters for its mainline Assassin's Creed games for a while, and while that wasn't initially the case for Valhalla, the in-game store now has these items for sale. First spotted by Game Informer, you can now spend 1000 Helix points ($10) for a permanent 50 percent increase to acquired XP. For 1500 Helix points ($15) you get that, as well as a 50 percent increase to acquired money. It's hardly a new phenomenon, but this is a singleplayer game, and once upon a time you'd be able to use a cheat code for something like this. Indeed, Assassin's Creed Odyssey did have a cheat method of sorts for XP grinding, concocted by players in its Story Creator mode, but Ubisoft quickly put a stop to that. "These exploits risk jeopardising the overall quality, integrity, and purpose of Story Creator Mode and results in less visibility for the creative, interesting and frankly fantastic community stories that have been published," a spokesperson for the company wrote at the time. Perhaps that's a euphemistic way of saying: we want you to pay money for XP boosters. Ubisoft sent Game Informer a statement on the Valhalla boosters, writing that "as more and more post-launch content becomes available, we want to give the option to players to advance their progression. "Utilities [the item category in the Valhalla store] allow players who lack the time to fully explore the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla to be able to acquire the game’s best gear, as well as other items, by accelerating their progress. For instance, these players can purchase maps that uncover some interesting locations in the world, but would still have to visit and play them to get their rewards." I don't see why you should have to pay for this, but That's Business. Good thing the game is pretty good: "Bloody and captivating, Valhalla is Assassin's Creed at its best," Steven wrote last month.

A team of 10 international scientists will travel to the Chinese city of Wuhan next month to investigate the origins of Covid-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. China has not opposed an independent investigation, although the WHO has been negotiating for access to the city for a number of months. The virus is thought to have come from a market in the city selling animals. But the search for the source has led to tensions, notably with the US. President Donald Trump's administration has accused China of trying to conceal the initial outbreak. What is the aim of the investigation? A biologist on the team travelling to Wuhan told the Associated Press news agency that the WHO was not seeking to apportion blame, but rather to prevent future outbreaks. "It's really not about finding a guilty country," Fabian Leendertz of Germany's Robert Koch Institute said. "It's about trying to understand what happened and then see if, based on those data, we can try to reduce the risk in the future." Wuhan: Looking for answers in a city of silence China pushes for QR code based global travel Covid symptoms: Is it a cold, flu or coronavirus? Dr Leendertz said the aim was to find out when the virus began circulating and whether or not it originated in Wuhan. The mission was expected to last four or five weeks, he added. Where and when was the virus first detected? In the early days of the virus, it was traced to a so-called "wet market" in Wuhan, Hubei province, and it was suggested that this was where it made the leap from animals to humans. But experts now believe it may simply have been amplified there. Research suggests that coronaviruses capable of infecting humans may have been circulating undetected in bats for decades. Last December, a Chinese doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital - Li Wenliang - tried to warn fellow medics about a possible outbreak of a new disease, but was told by police to "stop making false comments" and was investigated for "spreading rumours". Dr Li died in February after contracting the virus while treating patients in the city. image captionIt was initially believed that the virus originated at a so-called "wet market" in Wuhan In April, suspicions and allegations emerged that the virus might have leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan. US State Department cables came to light suggesting that embassy officials were worried about biosecurity there. The office of the US national intelligence director said at the time that while the virus was not man-made or genetically modified, officials were investigating whether the outbreak began through contact with animals or through a laboratory accident. Recent reports in Chinese media have suggested that Covid-19 could have started outside China. But analysts say the reports are without foundation, and the campaign reflects anxiety within the leadership in Beijing about damage to the country's international reputation from the pandemic. Will access to Wuhan provide answers? Analysis by Naomi Grimley, BBC health correspondent The question of an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus has become embroiled in international geopolitics and rows about the WHO. The Trump administration has always taken a hard line, arguing that the WHO has been too soft on China and citing examples of officials praising the Chinese regime for its actions such as locking down Wuhan, mass testing and its publication of the genetic code of the virus. However, lots of other countries also said there needed to be a proper inquiry - including Australia and the UK. The Associated Press revealed transcripts of video calls from WHO officials complaining back in January that they had not received the right data they needed from the Chinese authorities. A two-man WHO team that visited China this summer had difficulty negotiating access to Wuhan. This trip, when it does happen, will probably concentrate on fundamental biological questions: did the virus originally come from bats? Was there an "intermediate host" linking bats to humans? And were Wuhan wet markets at the centre of the initial outbreak? What has been the response to China's reporting of the virus? China's tackling of the developing crisis was praised in January by the head of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Mike Ryan, who said the "challenge is great but the response has been massive". Beijing had helped slow the spread of the virus, the WHO said, by quickly volunteering to share its knowledge of the virus's genetic code. However, the US - among a number of other countries - raised questions about whether China was fully transparent when the virus first emerged there. Timeline: What did China do about early outbreak? In March, the head of the WHO in China, Dr Gauden Galea, told the BBC there were "shortcomings" in tackling the outbreak in the early days, but that experts would look at how issues could be avoided in the future. Mr Trump later attacked the WHO itself for being too "China-centric" in praising Beijing, saying the organisation "really blew it" with its early guidance during the outbreak. He announced that he was pulling the US out of the body and said funding would be redirected elsewhere. Trump's charges against the WHO However, US President-elect Joe Biden, who is due to be sworn in on 20 January, has since set up a foreign policy team tasked with keeping America in the WHO.

Microsoft is working on a couple of updates that should make it a lot easier for Excel users to annotate their spreadsheets. The new additions were quietly added to the Microsoft 365 roadmap and, although currently only classed as being “in development” are expected to be made available later this month. The first of the updates will enable users of the web version of Excel to use the ink and highlighter functions to naturally annotate over their worksheets. The addition should make it much quicker for individuals to make quick additions to their spreadsheets or emphasize certain aspects for the benefit of their collaborators. The second update, which also concerns the web version of Excel, enables users to create notes to share and track important information in their online notebooks. Again, this is likely to prove particularly useful for Excel users that share spreadsheets with business colleagues, allowing them to ask questions or leave comments natively in the web app. Check out our roundup of the best spreadsheet software We've put together a list of the best free office software available Get more done with our picks of the best productivity tools New features The new Excel features are likely to be welcomed by those using the software to collaborate remotely – something that has become more commonplace in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Not that long ago, colleagues would have organized a face-to-face meeting to discuss queries or comments regarding a file that they had shared access to. In the era of social distancing, however, these discussions are more likely to occur remotely. Although digital tools have stood up to the disruption caused by the pandemic admirably, it is noticeable how many software providers have been issuing updates over the last few months. It is likely that the influx of new users have suggested changes that simply wouldn’t have been thought of without the adoption of mass remote working.