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What a month. At the end of a series of tumultuous events and two political conventions, the presidential race is more or less where it was before it all began: Hillary Clinton has a clear lead. All seven national surveys conducted since the Democratic convention show her ahead, by an average of nearly seven percentage points. It’s a seven-point boost over where those same surveys showed the race after the Republican convention — enough to erase Donald Trump’s bounce and more. She is about three points ahead of where she was before the two conventions. Convention bounces often prove to be short-lived, as the name implies and as Mr. Trump’s experience proves. Often, post-convention bounces don’t even reflect real changes in support — just changes in how likely people are to respond to a poll or to indicate their support for a candidate. With that history in mind, Mrs. Clinton’s lead would be expected to fade a bit over the next few weeks. But her comfortable advantage in the post-convention polls suggests that her support can fade and that she can still maintain a clear lead. There are also reasons to think that Mrs. Clinton’s bounce is likelier to stick than most. In general, convention bounces are most durable when they help unify the parties — something that’s largely inevitable and hard to undo. The latest CNN poll, which showed Mrs. Clinton ahead by nine points, suggests that she made her biggest gains among friendly groups, like young voters, supporters of Bernie Sanders and nonwhite voters. These gains could prove relatively durable. Notably, these gains have been enough to push Mrs. Clinton to 50 percent in three of the post-convention surveys. Mrs. Clinton made gains among Republicans and white voters without a college degree, according to the CNN poll. But she’s still faring worse among those voters than the CNN poll has shown in the past, and even worse among white working-class voters than President Obama fared in pre-election polls from 2012. The CNN poll showed that working-class supporters of Mrs. Clinton were likelier to say that they were supporting her as a vote against Mr. Trump, not because they supported her. Between those figures and Mrs. Clinton’s weak overall number with the group, she does not appear to have built her lead with voters who might be especially likely to return to Mr. Trump. The polls now put Mrs. Clinton a bit ahead of the level she held before James Comey, the F.B.I. director, excoriated her for her use of a private email server. She held a similar lead in April — before Mr. Trump won the nomination in May and narrowed her lead for the month or so that followed. This has been the race’s natural resting place when there hasn’t been something else suppressing Mrs. Clinton’s support — another reason to think she might be able to retain most of her bounce. For Mr. Trump, the danger is that he has few opportunities to prevent Mrs. Clinton from further consolidating her support over the coming weeks. There are few reasons to think he has helped himself since the convention by firing back at the parents of Humayun Khan and drawing condemnation from some Republican leaders. August is typically a fairly quiet month in presidential politics. The Olympics soak up national media coverage, which could make it harder for Mr. Trump to break through. Mrs. Clinton’s extensive paid advertising will continue unabated. Perhaps the most famous August shift in recent memory came from the “Swift Boat” ads that eroded John Kerry’s standing after his convention in 2004. If Mrs. Clinton retains most of her gains over the coming weeks, Mr. Trump’s chances in the race will start to look fairly bleak. Surveys conducted a few weeks after the conventions are far more predictive of the result than those taken ahead of or during the conventions. No modern presidential candidate who trailed in the polls a few weeks after the conventions has gone on to win the popu.lar vote.

People are moving toward the urban cores of our cities in record numbers. And while cities are pushing inward, it’s becoming harder than ever to have a car—or multiple cars—in a household. Meanwhile, new subways and rail lines require deep pockets and often controversial funding sources. The solution, as some see it, is the automated (or semi-automated) city bus. A bus ticket is hardly an aspirational purchase for middle-class American consumers, yet two aspirational brands—Mercedes-Benz and Tesla—both recently mentioned bus projects intended to address the urban mass-transit dilemma. It makes sense. Moving people on buses networked with the traffic signals might ease gridlock without making other (far costlier) changes such as building new subways or light-rail lines, or adding politically loaded policies like urban-area tolling for private vehicles. According to the Union Internationale des Transports Publica (UITP), an international organization for transport authorities and operators, a single, large articulated bus could replace 40 personal vehicles and take up just one-eighth of the road space. The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus, a semi-automated city bus with a technology suite called CityPilot, is a front-runner in this field. It can journey up to 12.4 miles (20 km) without a need for the driver to touch the steering, accelerator, or brake pedal. With a dozen cameras plus long- and short-range radar systems monitoring the route ahead, the Future Bus can spot obstacles and pedestrians, follow lane markings, and function as part of a new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, employing networked data about traffic and signals along the route. That Mercedes-Benz system requires a driver on board (a press of a button puts it in semi-automated mode). It’s also fully functioning today, and being tested on a route in the Netherlands, to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Meanwhile, looking many more years into the future, Tesla recently announced a plan that sounds, in some respects, complementary to solutions like the Future Bus. Tesla Sees Future for Smaller Semi-Autonomous Buses Over the long term, Tesla says it intends not only to enter the bus business, but to produce a pilotless bus. As part of the much-discussed Tesla Master Plan Part Deux for the company to expand and “cover the major forms of terrestrial transport,” CEO Elon Musk said: “In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicles needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport.” Musk suggested that a fleet of smaller semi-autonomous buses could transition the role of the bus driver to that of a fleet manager. In the Tesla scenario, you’d arrange to ride these buses via a cellphone app, although Musk also suggested placing fixed summon buttons at existing bus stops. Tesla says its bus design would have car-like performance, so as not to impede traffic flow, and would include a flexible seating layout that could accommodate wheelchairs, strollers, and bicycles. Elon Musk’s Tesla Master Plan, Part Deux: Semis and Pickups, Solar Roofs, and Car Sharing 2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris First Driver Review Tesla Model X: Reviews, Pricing, Specs The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus, as it stands, is diesel-powered, but the company has announced an all-electric propulsion system for its buses on the way for 2018; that should beat Tesla by many years. Would getting the Tesla name, or Mercedes-Benz’s active-safety reputation, into city buses make Americans more likely to ride them? It’s too early to say, but with these two names involved, the future of public transit now looks not only safer but a little more glamorous.

Overwhelmed by the amount of skincare products you get to see out there everyday? It’s safe to say that you are not alone. With copious amounts of common yet essential cosmetics available in the market these days it is nothing but just a natural reaction on your part to wonder which ones to take home. To be honest, most of the time these products don’t work as well as they should. Eventually you zero in on the one which you think works best for you, but not before you try out a couple of others. We ask you, is it right? You might not care right now but your skin does. Skin problems are real and it is a byproduct of internal and external factors affecting the body over a period of time. If not taken care of, it can lead to serious problems later. We tell you how to take care of your skin on a daily basis and how to use the common skincare products right. But before we get down to the basics, follow this golden rule the next time you buy anything: gel/serum based products for oily skin; serum/lotion for combination skin and cream based formulations for dry/sensitive skin. Now, back to the fundamentals. Cleansers and scrubs: A gentle cleanser has a pH balance of around 5.5 which keeps the skin hydrated. Many leading over-the-counter soaps and cleansers are alkaline in nature and are harsh, making the skin dry after a face wash. People with dry/sensitive skin can use cleansers with additional aloe vera/chamomile/oat milk extracts with soothing properties. Now, about scrubs. Using an exfoliating scrub with alpha hydroxy acids (AHA) like glycolic acid or lactic acid once or twice a week as per skin type helps to shed the dead skin cells, leaving a fresher looking skin. Scrubs must have very fine granules to bring about mechanical exfoliation gently on the skin. The ones like apricot/walnut scrubs with coarse granules are a strict no-no! If you don’t have the time for scrubs then you can use home peel pads which are a cocktail of multiple skin exfoliating and brightening agents. These pads are like soaked wet tissue wipes that can be rubbed on the face, neck, arms or rest of the body. They work great and instantly illuminate your skin. Moisturisers: This is an important recipe for a healthy anti-ageing regime. Hyaluronic acid based hydrating gels, serums and lotions are now increasingly getting po[CENSORED]r for their hydrating properties for all skin types. For very dry skin, it’s important not to be dependent on moisturisers alone but to also use a ‘skin repair’ hydrating cream to build up natural moisturising factors within the skin and work on the hydration as you continue using them over a period of time. Sunscreens and sunblocks: Sunscreens have chemical filters which absorb the harmful UVA/UVB rays. Once applied, the effect lasts for around 3 hours. Sunscreens with silicone elastomeric base have an extremely good matte, non-greasy and non-whitish feel. Optimal SPF for Indian skin type is 30+ and a minimum of PA+++ for UVA protection. While sunscreens lasts only for 3 hours, sunblocks act as a physical barrier not allowing the sun rays to penetrate the skin at all. Once applied, their effect lasts the entire day, until it’s washed off. They contain micronised zinc oxide/titanium dioxide for its aesthetic sun protection effect. Anti-ageing products: Serum containing Vitamin A, C, E can be applied during the early years for mild ageing signs. For people towards mid or late 30s with moderate to deep wrinkles and lack of firmness, it is important to build up the collagen and elastin and take care of the surface changes. Ingredients like Co enzyme Q10 (excellent antioxidant), matrixyl 3000 and peptides help to slow down the breakdown of collagen fibres supporting the skin and regenerating new ones to add to the firmness of your skin. Additional ingredients like green tea extract and caffeine act as good antioxidants and protects the skin from environmental damage. Women in menopausal age group can opt for creams containing geneistein or isoflavones/plant derived oestrogens, which help to maintain skin health from outside when the natural hormones are declining from the inside.

The unemployment rate is not a conspiracy. It is not mani[CENSORED]ted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And anyone who suggests otherwise is either uninformed, or trying to misinform others. Which is to say that you shouldn't listen to Donald Trump & Co. For a year now, the alleged billionaire has insisted that the "real" unemployment rate is something like 42 percent instead of the 4.9 percent it actually is. He hasn't said how he's gotten this — maybe it's from the same "extremely credible source" who told him President Obama's birth certificate was fake? — but the simplest explanation is that he's just ballparking how many adults don't work. That's 40.4 percent right now. The problem with using that number, though, is that it counts college students and stay-at-home parents and retirees as being equally "unemployed" as people who are actively looking for work but can't find any. So it doesn't tell us too much, at least not on its own, unless you think it's a problem that we have more 70-year-olds than we used to. Or unless conspiracy theories are one of your favorite accessories, as seems to be the case with the father, and now the son, Donald Trump Jr. On Sunday, he told CNN's Jake Tapper that the official unemployment numbers are "artificial" ones that are "massaged to make the existing economy look good" and "this administration look good." How do they supposedly do this? By, he claimed, defining "the way we actually measure unemployment" to be that "after x number of months, if someone can't find a job, congratulations, they're miraculously off" the jobless rolls. The only problem with this theory is it's false. The BLS hasn't changed the way it measures unemployment during the Obama years, and there is zero evidence it has changed the numbers themselves. Not only that, but Donald Trump Jr. doesn't even seem to know how unemployment is defined in the first place. As the BLS explains, everyone who doesn't have a job but is trying to find one counts as "unemployed." It doesn't matter how long you've been looking as long as you are, in fact, still looking. But that's not to say the unemployment rate tells us everything we need to know about the labor market. It doesn't. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will tell you that herself. There are still a lot of people who want full-time but can only find part-time jobs. Still a lot of people who want to work but weren't able to find anything for so long that they've given up looking for now. And still a lot of people who would want to work again if wages were high enough to make it worth their while. But none of this is a secret. The BLS publishes all this, too. So-called broad unemployment includes all these people who technically aren't unemployed but aren't fully employed, either. That's 9.6 percent today. Even more damning than that, though, are the millions of people who "should" be working but aren't. Those are the 25- to 54-year-olds who, for the most part, are too old to still be in school, but too young to be retired. In 2000, 81.9 percent of them worked; in 2007, 80.3 percent did; but only 77.8 percent do today. That adds up to at least 2.5 million missing workers. Where have they gone? Well, some of them are probably people who decided to go back to school. Others are probably parents who felt like they had to stay at home since their wages wouldn't have covered the ever-increasing costs of child care. And the rest are probably people who are still waiting for the recovery to reach them. Indeed, as you can see above, the share of 25- to 54-year-olds who have a job has only made up half of the ground it lost during the recession. The boring truth is that the economy is in a lot better shape than it was when Obama took office, but that it could be in better shape still. The recovery, in other words, still has a ways to go. But that's a lot different from saying that we have 40 percent unemployment and that the government is trying to cover it up. That just suggests you don't understand — or don't want to accurately describe — how stats work and you don't know how to look up the ones you think the BLS is hiding. It's not what you'd expect from a major party presidential candidate.

A team of researchers has come up with a way to use “veritable wonder material” graphene oxide sheets to turn dirty water clean for a thirsty world. According to the engineers at Washington University in St. Louis, the novel hybrid nanomaterials could be a global game-changer. “We hope that for countries where there is ample sunlight, such as India, you’ll be able to take some dirty water, evaporate it using our material, and collect fresh water,” said researcher Srikanth Singamaneni. The new approach combines bacteria-produced cellulose and graphene oxide to form a bi-layered biofoam. “The process is extremely simple,” Singamaneni said. “The beauty is that the nanoscale cellulose fiber network produced by bacteria has excellent ability move the water from the bulk to the evaporative surface while minimizing the heat coming down and the entire thing is produced in one shot. “The design of the material is novel here,” Singamaneni said. “You have a bi-layered structure with light-absorbing graphene oxide filled nanocellulose at the top and pristine nanocellulose at the bottom. When you suspend this entire thing on water, the water is actually able to reach the top surface where evaporation happens. He added, “Light radiates on top of it, and it converts into heat because of the graphene oxide, but the heat dissipation to the bulk water underneath is minimized by the pristine nanocellulose layer. You don’t want to waste the heat; you want to confine the heat to the top layer where the evaporation is actually happening.” The cellulose at the bottom of the bi-layered biofoam acts as a sponge, drawing water up to the graphene oxide where rapid evaporation occurs. The resulting fresh water can easily be collected from the top of the sheet. The process in which the bi-layered biofoam is actually formed is also novel. In the same way an oyster makes a pearl, the bacteria forms layers of nanocellulose fibers in which the graphene oxide flakes get embedded. “While we are culturing the bacteria for the cellulose, we added the graphene oxide flakes into the medium itself,” said lead author Qisheng Jiang, adding: “The graphene oxide becomes embedded as the bacteria produces the cellulose. At a certain point along the process, we stop, remove the medium with the graphene oxide and reintroduce fresh medium. That produces the next layer of our foam. The interface is very strong; mechanically, it is quite robust.” The new biofoam is also extremely light and inexpensive to make, making it a viable tool for water purification and desalination. The paper is available online in Advanced Materials.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls says the French justice system has failed in connection with the killing of a priest in a church in Normandy on Tuesday. In a newspaper interview, he criticised the fact that one of the two attackers had been released with an electronic tag pending trial on terror charges. He said the release had been decided by independent judges, not his government. Mr Valls has faced criticism over the attack near Rouen, and the killing of 84 people by another jihadist in Nice. Adel Kermiche, one of the two teenagers who attacked the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on Tuesday, had been arrested after being caught trying to go to Syria last year. However he was released with a monitoring tag earlier this year, despite prosecutors' call for his continued detention. In an interview with Le Monde newspaper published on Friday, Mr Valls called the release a "failure" that must be acknowledged. He added: "This does not mean that my government is to blame, because that decision was taken by independent judges." Kermiche and the other attacker, Abdel Malik Petitjean, were shot dead by police outside the church, where they had slit the throat of Fr Jacques Hamel, 86, and taken hostages during Mass. Petitjean had been on a watch list as a potential security threat since June after trying to enter Syria from Turkey. After the attack, so-called Islamic State released a video showing the two men pledging allegiance to the group. In another video that emerged on Thursday, Petitjean called for more attacks against states involved in the anti-IS coalition.

Unsafe injection practices such as reuse, incorrect disposal and poor sterilisation of syringes are increasingly contributing to Hepatitis-C Virus infection in India, doctors have cautioned on World Hepatitis Day. The disease, that does not have a vaccine and spreads mainly through unsafe blood transfusion and needles, can be completely cured if detected at an early stage. But prolonged neglect may lead to liver cirrhosis and even cancer, they said. “Hepatitis-C (HCV) is 10 times more infectious than HIV. It is asymptomatic, which means it does not exhibit any obvious symptoms of sickness in its initial stages. If it does, it can be easily diagnosed with a blood test and treated,” Dr Manav Wadhawan, a gastroenterologist with the Fortis Escorts Liver and Digestive Diseases Institute, said. He identified exhaustion, jaundice, abdominal pain, loss of appetite as some of the symptoms of HCV. According to a WHO estimate, around 12 million people are affected by the disease in India. Dr Siddharth Srivastava, who works with the Department of Gastroenterology in GB Pant Hospital, underscored the need for patients to be vigilant and be aware of safe injection practices like the use of sterile, single-use or preventing reuse of syringes. “The irony is that Hepatitis-B has a vaccine, but no cure, while hepatitis C has no vaccine, it does have a cure. Laid down WHO safe injection protocols should be followed by healthcare practitioners. Staff should wash their hands before administering injections, and they should clean the area of the injection adequately,” he said. According to health experts, around 5,00,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related liver diseases in India and an estimated 4.7 million HCV infections can be attributed to poor needle practices.

The rapid growth in the illegal killing of African elephants seen since 2006 seems to have stabilised and may be decreasing. Two new reports indicate that across the continent, the numbers of elephants being killed for ivory has slowed. But the picture is mixed as the slaughter in Central and West Africa shows no sign of moderating. Some experts believe that the decline in deaths could be down to fewer elephants being alive to poach. Numbers high, trend down The BBC investigated the war on elephants earlier this year and how it is fuelled by demand for ivory from Asia. Now there is new data on the sources of the illegal killings from the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, better known as Cites. They run two important elephant monitoring records that are seen as reliable indicators of what's happening on the ground. A few months ago, the Mike programme (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) showed that number of deaths, which started to grow in 2006, peaked in 2011. Even though the trend is moving in the right direction, there were still over 14,000 elephants killed in the period from 2003-2015. The BBC also investigated the war on elephants this year and how it is fuelled by demand for ivory from Asia. New data has also been published for the ETIS programme (Elephant Trade Information System). This shows that while trading in illegal ivory reached its highest levels in 2012 and 2013, it had levelled off by 2014. But while there are some positives in the overall picture for Africa, the regional differences are stark. Southern Africa is the area where poaching levels have remained consistently the lowest. It remains the only sub-region that has not seen illegal killings exceed natural deaths since monitoring began. Poaching remains high, however, at the Niassa Reserve in Mozambique and there has been a "troubling spike" in killings at South Africa's Kruger National Park. East Africa has also seen a decline in poaching for the fourth year in a row. Central and West Africa continue to show the most serious levels of poaching, with illegal killings far exceeding natural deaths. "There are some encouraging signs, including arresting the overall upward trends in poaching, the decline in poaching trends in some sites in East Africa and the overall trends in Southern Africa," said Cites secretary general John Scanlon. "This shows what is possible through a sustained and collective effort with strong political support, but much more remains to be done." However others say that there may not be much comfort in the relative stability that the new figures indicate. "It needs to be understood that poaching levels may be down but in some cases that is due to the fact the po[CENSORED]tions are severely depleted," said Dr Susan Lieberman from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). "If you look at some of the Central African po[CENSORED]tions that have lost up to 70% of their elephants you may see poaching stabilise or decrease but that is because the elephants are harder to find." Future trade? The future for elephants will be a major topic of debate when 182 countries gather at the Cites triennial Conference of the Parties in Johannesburg at the end of September. At present all commercial, international trade in ivory from African elephants is prohibited. A one-off commercial sale of ivory from Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa took place in 2009. Both Namibia and Zimbabwe are now proposing changes at the upcoming meeting that would allow ivory from these two countries to be internationally traded subject to permit. They argue that that these sales would help boost their conservation efforts. Critics of these moves are concerned that any permitted trade would be used as a cover for illicit ivory and would boost poaching across the continent. "As long as there is some signal that there may be a legal ivory trade, these speculators, traffickers and crooks are going to take advantage of it," said Dr Lieberman from WCS. "We've got China now saying its going to close its domestic ivory market, the very worst thing that could happen would be for the Southern Africans to get a nod that maybe you can trade in the future. "That would be the death knell of elephants in Central, West and East Africa."

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If you thought the passel of special-edition Vipers announced last month as part of the Viper’s going-away party were it, the end of the road for the Viper, the snake’s swan song, guess what? They weren’t! While all 206 of those cars are sold out, Dodge is slipping in one more special-edition Viper before the sports car is officially killed, and it’s based off the hard-core ACR model. There also is a GTC-based Snakeskin—it was among the models already sold out—and it’s pictured above. It’s Official: Dodge Viper Is Bowing Out, Special Editions Ease the Pain The Ultimate Antivenom: The Viper’s Dying, and I Won’t Miss It 2016 Dodge Viper ACR First-Drive Review The rather appropriately named Viper Snakeskin ACR edition is, mercifully, free of any actual snakeskin, but it does boast “snakeskin patterned” stripes and a Snakeskin Green paint color. Dodge also throws in the ACR package, the Extreme Aero package, carbon-ceramic brakes, a serialized plaque for the dashboard, and a matching green car cover. Spiritually, the Snakeskin ACR channels the same vibe as the special-edition Viper of the same name sold in 2010. Perhaps in acknowledgment of the Viper’s slow sales—the nail in the model’s coffin, really—Dodge says it will build “as many as” 31 Snakeskin ACRs for 2017, and it will begin taking orders later this month.

DES MOINES, Iowa — No jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing worth an estimated $454 million, a lottery official said. Virginia Lottery spokesman John Hagerty told The Associated Press that because no one won the jackpot, it will increase to an estimated $508 million for the next drawing on Friday. With slightly better odds than the Powerball game, it’s rare that nearly four months passes without someone winning a Mega Millions jackpot. Tuesday marks the 34th time the jackpot has rolled over without a winner. The previous record was 22 rolls. “This is our longest roll ever, by far,” said Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia Lottery and lead director for Mega Millions, which is managed by a consortium of lottery organizations. Otto said there are several factors for the lack of a winner, and it includes fewer players. The highest jackpot drawn in the country was a $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot won in January by players in three states. “It takes much bigger jackpots to get players excited,” she said. “It looks like the tipping point might be right about now.” Paul Jeanne came out of Sam’s Lobby Shop in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, on Tuesday waving a handful of Mega Millions tickets, jokingly claiming he was holding a fortune in his hands, the Baltimore Sun reported. Jeanne said he knew his odds are slim to win the Mega Millions but felt marginally better going in with about a dozen co-workers in an office pool. “When it gets big like this, we all throw a few bucks in and hope for the best,” the Homeland resident said. “You take your tiny odds and tiny odds get multiplied by a tiny bit, and hopefully, it comes in one of these times The prize increased slightly Tuesday morning from a $449 million prize that was reached after no winner was selected Friday night. The jackpot was the largest since a $429.6 million Powerball prize won by a New Jersey family on May 7. The odds of picking the correct numbers on five white balls and one yellow ball in the Mega Millions game are one in 259 million. For Powerball, it’s one in roughly 292 million. Revamps to the country’s two big lottery games in recent years decreased the odds of picking all the numbers needed for the top prize, though officials point out it’s increased the number of winners who score smaller prizes that range from $1 million to $5 million, depending on the game. Mega Millions tickets are sold in 43 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This story has been updated to correct the total of the Powerball prize won in May. The jackpot was $429.6 million, not $448.4 million. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Feet are the direct warriors which fight with dirt, pollution, age-counting, infections, and high-heel pain on a regular basis — and so it is important to pamper your feet the way you do to your face. Meghna Gupta, Cosmetic Dermatologist and Director at Delhi Skin Centre, lists some handy tips to keep in mind to avoid dirty”, “cracked” and “sweaty” feet. * It’s important to notice foot fungus at an early stage. Carefully follow complete procedures as instructed by a verified expert. * After washing properly with a medicated soap, apply a foot cream that not only has skin-hydrating lubricants to keep your feet soft and free from cracks and dryness. Look for moisturisers with AHA or lactic acid. * Try to keep your foot nails short which are good to carry everyday with minimal dirt in it. * Cracked feet are also a sign of dehydration. Along with daily water intake, try to include more fruits and vegetables in your routine. Try to avoid or cut down coffee, tea and alcohol. * Continuous habit of good scrubbing is a natural way to prevent common foot problems like cracked heels and tired feet. Rough feet are never pretty and you certainly want your skin to feel as beautiful as the shoes you are stepping into. It doesn’t mean you have to sit at a parlour every week. Try pumice stone, bristle brush and exfoliating creams at home only. * Don’t have time to visit a spa or salon? You can prepare a foot mask for cracked and dry feet. Add two table spoons of powdered oatmeal, 1/2 table spoon honey, 1/2 table spoon olive oil, make a thick paste and apply it. Leave it on for the next half an hour. Rinse properly and complete it with good massage with nice moisturiser.

It is more than a week since Britain voted to leave the European Union, and there is still little certainty regarding the future status of EU citizens currently living in the UK, or of British people living elsewhere in the EU. While many British citizens are happy to potentially wave goodbye to freedom of movement within the EU, some Britons would like to hold on to the opportunity to live and work in the other 27 countries that make up the union. At the weekend, German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the remaining members should not "pull up the drawbridge" for young Britons, who largely voted to remain, and so should consider offering dual nationality to young British citizens "who live in Germany, Italy or France, so that they can remain EU citizens in this country". Mr Gabriel's comments follow a statement by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi last Tuesday suggesting that EU nations were considering whether British students at universities on the continent could be offered citizenship. Mr Renzi said he was "sad" for the younger generation of Britons. In the absence of any concrete information on either plan, what other options are already open to British citizens, of any age, keen to access an EU citizenship after Brexit? The UK remains part of the EU, for now, so freedom of movement still applies. This means a British citizen currently still has full rights to move to any other EU country to work or study, as many have already done. While it is not clear what will happen to those residents once the UK "brexits", they may well be able to stay, and, in time, apply for citizenship. For example, residents of Germany can apply for citizenship after eight years - less in some circumstances - as long as they pass an assessment of their German language skills and a naturalisation test, among other criteria. A spokesman for the German interior ministry told the BBC that, while up-to-date figures were not available, he would not rule out an increase in applications for German nationality from Britons in light of the Brexit vote. This is because German law requires non-EU citizens to give up their existing nationality when applying for German citizenship - so British citizens are currently able to hold on to their UK passport and get a shiny new German one. The ministry confirmed that a Briton in this situation would not be deprived of their newly acquired German nationality even if/when the UK subsequently leaves the EU. Mr Gabriel's SPD - the junior coalition partner in the German government - told the BBC that the vice-chancellor's comments about dual nationality for young Britons referred specifically to Britons living in Germany, so that they would be able to retain their UK citizenship even if applying for German naturalisation in a post-Brexit world. France and Sweden are among several EU countries which set a shorter period for residents to gain citizenship. Adults must have lived in Sweden for at least five years, children as little as two years, before they can apply for naturalisation (again, other conditions apply). Grandpa from Galway? Nonna from Napoli? Then you may be entitled to claim a second nationality by descent. If you have a parent born in another EU country, your route to citizenship may be reasonably clear, but if the link is more distant you need to look in detail at the relevant country's nationality laws. Ireland in particular allows people with just one Irish grandparent to claim Irish citizenship - and if each generation registers before the birth of the next, it is possible to keep passing the Irishness down the generations, even if you do not live there. Post Office in NI reports 'unusually high number of people' seeking Irish passports And Italian roots can go back even further, with citizenship being passed from parent to child and no limit on the number of generations. So a single great-grandparent might entitle you to an Italian passport - as long as no-one in the chain has renounced their Italian citizenship, and with the important proviso that citizenship could only be passed on by women after 1948. Lithuania is another country that potentially allows citizenship for great-grandchildren of its former citizens. The laws of other countries, including Spain, Poland and Hungary, allow descendants of citizens to claim nationality, though the rules are often complex, and you would have to track down a lot of documents. If you are descended from Jews or other groups who had to flee persecution, including the Holocaust, you may be eligible under special rules, sometimes called restored citizenship or restitution. The German constitution provides for German citizenship for the descendants of former German citizens "who were persecuted on political, racial or religious grounds between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945". This mainly applies to German Jews and social democrats and Communists who had to flee the country. Descendants of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain and Portugal five centuries ago may be able to apply for a Spanish or Portuguese passport more easily under recent legislation - although there are language requirements. Spain naturalises expelled Sephardic Jews' descendants Portugal to naturalise descendants of Jews expelled centuries ago. Some countries will grant citizenship to the spouse of a passport holder - even if the couple do not live in the country concerned. Italian law states that "the spouse of an Italian citizen living outside of Italy can apply for Italian citizenship three years after the date of the marriage, or after 18 months if the couple has children". Portuguese citizenship can also be acquired by declaration after three years of marriage or de facto partnership with a Portuguese citizen. Most other EU countries do require the non-national spouse to live in the country for a set period - but this period is often less than it would be if they were not married to a citizen of that country. Note that for Irish citizenship, the spouse or civil partner needs to have lived on the island of Ireland (so Northern Ireland counts) for at least three of the past five years, and to have been married for at least three years. Malta and Cyprus are both in the EU, and both offer a fast-track to citizenship for people who are able to invest a significant amount of money. Maltese citizenship is available to those who invest €1.15m (£965,000; $1.3m) there; the country added a one-year residency requirement after EU pressure. The scheme is aimed at "ultra-high net worth individuals and families worldwide". The Cypriot government offers citizenship to those who put €5m (£4.2m; $5.6m) into approved investments - this is reduced to just €2.5m for those taking part in a collective investment. Applicants need to have a property in Cyprus but do not need to live there all of the time. Family members are included in the application, which can take as little as three months.

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Overview: The Mazda 3 is again the brand’s entry-level model (now that the 2 is being sold as a Toyota) and also one of the best small cars. Like the Volkswagen Golf with which it competes, it’s a stalwart of our 10Best Cars list. As Mazda’s budget leader, not every 3 comes loaded with features, but even the base 155-hp 2.0-liter sedan delivers pleasing dynamic behavior, solid build quality, and impressive fuel economy. Upgrading to the 3 s model brings a 184-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with more thrust, nets standard features such as heated leather seats, and makes available options that include active safety features. It is offered with a choice of automatic or manual transmissions in a pair of four-door body styles: sedan or hatchback. The 3 i automatic sedan we drove recently isn’t our favorite specification of Mazda 3, but we understand that some prefer the security of an out-of-sight-out-of-mind trunk for their cargo as opposed to an open hatch. City dwellers, take note: The sedan is nearly five inches longer than the hatchback, so if you live where on-street parking battles are a matter of inches, go with the hatch. What’s New: There were few changes to the Mazda 3 for 2016, but not much has needed to change since this third-generation design debuted for the 2014 model year. All models come with a backup camera; most Touring and Grand Touring models also get a sunroof, rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlights, and an auto-dimming interior mirror. New option packages for the 3 i Sport, 3 i Touring, and 3 s Grand Touring bring automatic climate control, an upgraded stereo with satellite radio, and active safety features such as blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert. What We Like: In one word: lots. In a segment dominated by smaller turbocharged engines, Mazda sticks with naturally aspirated powerplants. And yet the 3 returns real-world fuel economy on par with or sometimes even better than most of its competitors. The big trick is variable valve timing capable of employing the more efficient Atkinson-cycle operation (common in hybrid cars), at the cost of some midrange power when you’re not flogging it. Fortunately, when you step on the gas, the engine reverts to the conventional Otto-cycle operation, and maximum power is available. No Mazda 3 will break speed records: A 2.5-liter example can reach 60 mph in the low-seven-second range, with the 2.0-liter not far behind. The big advantage to the 2.5 is the added torque at lower revs, giving the car more around-town pep. The 2.0-liter, by contrast, has to be worked quite hard to complete a safe passing maneuver on a two-lane road or to merge onto the freeway. The Mazda 3’s dynamics—the way the car turns and handles—set the gold standard among sub-$20,000 cars. Vehicles costing two or even three times more could learn something from the 3’s suspension tuning, which is a masterful balance between control and comfort. Finally, the hatchback is highly practical: Fold its rear seats, and the cargo hold grows from 20 cubic feet to 47; the sedan’s trunk swallows only 12 cubic feet. What We Don’t Like: In two words: not much. The 3’s steering can feel a little too quick, as if the car was in a rush to change lanes on the highway, and the driver has to press the brake pedal too far into its travel before anything happens. Unfortunately, all 2.5-liter Touring models come fitted with a six-speed automatic (otherwise a $1050 option) as standard equipment, which makes them $50 more costly than manual-transmission Grand Touring models. Rear-seat legroom is tight for adults. And our favorite version, the 3 s Grand Touring hatchback (like our current long-term test car), is the most expensive. For the money Mazda wants for it, the quicker, dynamically more refined Volkswagen GTI makes an equally pleasant car to drive every day. Verdict: The Mazda 3 does a great impression of a BMW from 20 years ago: It’s just quick enough, never too soft, and certainly never too stiff. This is near-perfect small-car porridge.

Our life is all about desires. Our desires form the basis of our dreams. We set out in life with a bagful of dreams to fulfill — each of us nurturing and guarding our dream like a piece of porcelain. They are precious to us. They keep us motivated, focused and centred. Our dreams, in fact, give a sense of direction to our life and a rush of energy which drives us to pursue it. And it is this rush of energy that gives us the determination and courage to overcome the obstacles and set backs that we meet along the way. As we move along the road to fulfill our dreams, we are faced with the choice of using the energy positively or abusing it. We could either resort to shortcuts by compromising on the principle of honesty — the basis of all human endeavours — or we could choose to be honest no matter how difficult the path or how long it takes to reach our destination. When we choose to compromise on our principles and break people’s trust as we go on to fulfill our dreams, we need to know that even if our dreams get fulfilled, the Law of Karma will not permit us to enjoy our ill-earned success. Such is the working of this Law. When we ride on success by deceiving people in the process, existence makes sure that though we may acquire the object we had set out for, our physical or mental state will not allow us to enjoy it. When we earn our success in the right manner — that is, without compromising on our values and living up to people’s trust — our dreams may take time to materialise, but existence ensures that we get to enjoy our success. So dream on and dream big, but remember it’s the choices that we make along the way that can protect or break our precious piece of porcelain.

Asian stock markets have recorded more gains, continuing the positive lead set by the US and Europe on Tuesday. Wall Street and bourses across Europe have been recovering some of the ground since the UK voted last week to leave the European Union. In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 share index finished 1.6% higher at 15,566.83. Shares in carmaker Toyota rose by more than 2% despite fresh recalls over faulty airbags. Other markets across Asia also saw gains, despite the continued uncertainty in the wake of the UK's referendum vote. Investors are hoping that central banks will step in with more stimulus measures should the global economy weaken. The latest business news on our live page Detailed coverage of the Brexit turmoil in Europe Rating agencies downgrade UK credit rating after Brexit vote What the UK downgrades mean for Asia Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.7% to 20,318.23 while the mainland benchmark Shanghai Composite was 0.5% higher at 2,926.95. In Australia, the ASX/200 index also closed higher, up 0.8% at 5,142.40. Shares in commodity giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were both up by almost 2%. In South Korea, the Kospi share index finished 1% higher at 1,956.36.

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IBM has teamed up with Local Motors, a Phoenix-based automotive manufacturer that made the first 3D-printed car, to create a self-driving electric bus. Named “Olli,” the bus has room for 12 people and uses IBM Watson’s cloud-based cognitive computing system to provide information to passengers. In addition to automatically driving you where you want to go using Phoenix Wings autonomous-driving technology, Olli can respond to questions and provide information, similar to Amazon’s Echo home assistant. The bus just recently debuted in the Washington, D.C., area for the public to use during select times over the next several months, and the IBM-Local Motors team hopes to introduce Olli to the Miami and Las Vegas areas by the end of the year. By using Watson’s speech-to-text, natural language classifier, entity extraction, and text-to-speech APIs, the bus can provide several services beyond taking you to your destination. You can give Olli commands to take you to a specific location or somewhere more general, such as the closest grocery store, and you can also ask the bus questions about how it works, why it’s stopping, where it’s going next, or even what the weather will be like or the score to a sporting event. Olli will also recommend a nice restaurant for you or tell you about the local attractions. “Cognitive computing provides incredible opportunities to create unparalleled customized experiences for customers, taking advantage of the massive amounts of streaming data from all devices connected to the Internet of Things, including an automobile’s myriad sensors and systems,” said Harriet Green, general manager of IBM Watson Internet of Things, Commerce & Education, in a press release. An Amorphous Milestone: We Attend the First Autonomous Track Day NHTSA Chief: Autonomous Cars Should Cut the Death Rate in Half How We See It: Autonomy and Self-Driving Cars “IBM is excited to work with Local Motors to infuse IBM Watson IoT cognitive computing capabilities into Olli, exploring the art of what’s possible in a world of self-driving vehicles and providing a unique, personalized experience for every passenger while helping to revolutionize the [CENSORED]ure of transportation for years to come.” There are many who believe the [CENSORED]ure will be filled with self-driving cars without individual owners that come pick you up like taxis. Clearly, a bus is the first logical step in that direction. They just should have named it “Otto.” This story originally appeared on Po[CENSORED]r Mechanics.

LONDON – It's often said that David Cameron is a lucky politician who has seemed to coast through politics on instinct and charm during a career that has culminated in six years as British prime minister. But now his luck may be running out. In calling a referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union, Cameron has made a gamble that could end his career — and take his country out of an international alliance it joined more than 40 years ago. It would be a rare but fateful miscalculation for a politician who has a reputation for thriving under pressure and astutely judging political risks. "I think he's actually been pretty stunned by the strength of the 'leave' cause," said Cameron biographer James Hanning. "The golden rule is, never hold a referendum unless you're confident of winning it, and I think he thought that the moderate voices would prevail by some distance. But that's not the way the polls are suggesting it's going to go." The referendum campaign has been unexpectedly bitter and divisive, and was brought to a shocked halt when Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death in the street last week by a man witnesses heard yell "Britain first." Both sides suspended campaigning out of respect for Cox, amid fears that the political fury unleashed by the EU campaign was somehow connected to the killing. Before Cox died, opinion polls had shown surging sentiment in favor of a British exit from the 28-nation EU — known as Brexit. A majority of supporters of Cameron's Conservative Party said they would vote to quit the bloc in Thursday's referendum. That's bitter news for Cameron, who called the referendum to puncture growing support for the anti-EU U.K. Independence Party and placate the strongly Euroskeptic right wing of the Conservatives. Victoria Honeyman, a lecturer in British politics at the University of Leeds, said Cameron had seen EU battles poison the leaderships of former Tory leaders John Major and William Hague and "feared a civil war in the Conservative Party." She said the referendum was about "defusing that time bomb" — but Cameron has "moved from having one ticking time bomb to having another ticking time bomb." When he promised the referendum, in 2013, Cameron said it would "settle this European question in British politics" once and for all. He told voters he would forge a new deal between Britain and the EU that would make remaining an attractive prospect. At a Brussels summit in February, he won changes to welfare benefits that he said would reduce immigration and an exemption for Britain from the EU's commitment to "ever-closer union" — a phrase that stirs images of a European super-state in some patriotic British hearts. But many voters have proved resistant to Cameron's message that Britain is stronger, safer and more economically secure within the EU than it would be outside it. The concessions he gained have been dismissed as paltry by "leave" campaigners, who say they will do little to limit immigration from other EU nations because the bloc guarantees free movement among member states. It's a subject that resonates with many voters, who have seen hundreds of thousands of people come to Britain over the past decade from new EU members in eastern Europe. (Hundreds of thousands of Britons also live in other EU countries, a less remarked-upon fact). "I think he has underestimated the enduring nature and the strength of the Euroskeptic support in the country and also the extent of the bitterness inside his own party," Hanning said. Far from healing Conservative divisions over Europe, the referendum has exacerbated them. Cameron has led the "remain" campaign, but let Euroskeptic members of his Cabinet call for a "leave" vote. As a result, senior Conservatives, including former London Mayor Boris Johnson and Justice Secretary Michael Gove, have spent months attacking him. Tory leader for a decade and prime minister since 2010, Cameron has vowed to stay in office if there is a "leave" vote. "Will I carry on as prime minister? Yes," he told the BBC last week, vowing to "construct a government that includes all of the talents of the Conservative Party." But many feel he will have little choice but to resign quickly, with a pro-Brexit figure like Johnson or Gove his likely successor. Even if Britain votes to remain, Cameron's days as leader are numbered. He has already announced he will step down before the next election in 2020. A deeply divided party will likely want him to leave long before that, so that a new leader can help heal the referendum's wounds, and dissident Conservative lawmakers could trigger a no-confidence vote to oust Cameron. Hanning said 50-year-old Cameron will be worried about what the referendum means for his legacy. A son of privilege, educated at elite Eton College and Oxford University, he has a strong sense of national duty. He won two elections espousing a fiscally conservative, socially moderate "one-nation Conservatism" that he believes speaks to a large swath of the British public. Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London, said Cameron had hoped to be remembered for restoring the economy after the 2008 financial crisis and for social reforms such as legalizing same-sex marriage. "I think gay marriage will still be an important one," Bale said. "But unfortunately I think he's going to be remembered in the history books as the prime minister who took us out of Europe." Hanning said Cameron would find that "mortifying." But he said a vote for Brexit would overshadow Cameron's other achievements, just as the decision to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 has clouded the legacy of former Prime Minister Tony Blair. "You might say that is his Iraq," Hanning said. "Blair had foreign affairs successes in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Kosovo — and then Iraq was the manifestation of his overconfidence. I suppose people might say this is Cameron's."

A couple of years ago, Harley-Davidson unveiled the LiveWire, a concept electric motorcycle, intending to garner feedback from riders. After touring the country with a fleet of LiveWires for the media and the public to demo, Harley went quiet on its EV plans. Until now. Sean Cummings, senior VP of Harley-Davidson, told the Milwaukee Business Journal in an interview that Harley plans to get an all-electric bike into full-scale production within five years. The iconic American brand, known for asphalt-shaking V-twins and Screamin’ Eagle exhaust pipes, is apparently serious about getting into the electric-motorcycle game. The LiveWire impressed most riders with its performance specs—topping out at almost 100 mph with a zero-to-60 time under four seconds—even though the technical details of its electric motor and battery were kept hush-hush. The range was the bike’s Achilles’ heel, only capable of 55 miles before needing a 3.5-hour recharge. To compete with electric-motorcycle specialists like Zero, Harley is going to need to get that range up closer to 200 miles and reduce the recharge time. It’s no secret that Harley riders are an aging bunch. The V-Rod was Harley’s first attempt to attract younger riders with a sportier bike, and the planned electric bike is likely another attempt to develop a new generation of Harley-Davidson aficionados. Is It Too Fast for Love? Harley-Davidson Announces LiveWire Electric Motorcycle Evel Knievel’s 1976 Harley Sportster Is Headed to Auction This Amazing AWD Diesel Scooter Is Vehicle Nerdery Incarnate Nothing is known about the looks or specs of the electric motorcycle Harley hopes to put on the road in five years, and details probably won’t be available for some time. Still, the fact that the company has a plan to get a bike on the market means it probably has some pretty impressive stuff planned, in an effort to take on companies like Zero and Brammo. We can’t wait to see what Harley-Davidson has in store. Live to ride, ride to live. This story originally appeared on Po[CENSORED]r Mechanics via The Verge.