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More than 400km range (when fully charged), 0-100km/h sprint time of 4.8 seconds, a network of charging points in and around the country's major hubs to switch off any fears of range anxiety: these are the headlines Jaguar screamed ahead of their new all-electric vehicle, the I-Pace, hitting the South African market. Yes, Jag took a huge gamble of creating a 'Power Highway' along major routes in Mzansi, fitted with 82 charging stations. The cost? An eye-watering R30-million. That's how much the automaker is investing to ensure that I-Pace owners and other EV owners aren't caught in the dark. The recent announcement by rolling blackouts by Eskom, would have only made the naysayers 'switch off' even more about the future of electric vehicles in South Africa, of which only two models were locally available: BMW's i3 and the Nissan Leaf. Sean Parker drove the electric vehicle (EV) in Johannesburg to find out how the 2.2-ton SUV feels on the road. Is it electrifying to drive? Like an ordinary car, in absolutely no way at all. The torque, close to 700Nm, is instant from the two electric motors mounted to each axle. Power? Well there’s enough of that too, 294kW in fact. It’s not delivered in a ferocious manner, but in a way, that’ll snap your head back and wide-eyed. The steering is electric power-assisted and offers little feedback and little understeer is evoked when pushed into a corner at swift speed. The I-Pace feels settled on the road mainly because of where the batter is placed, between the two axles, and almost as low as the cat’s eyes. The positioning of the battery translates into a low centre of gravity and 50:50 weight distribution. Did I mention it weighs around 2.2 tons? But on the drive, I felt it really did a fantastic job of hiding its heftiness. The model I drove on the launch was fitted with the optional air suspension (a touch less than R17 000). During a brief off-road challenge the elevated ride height came in handy over rocks and through a 400mm bath of muddy water. Pricing to install the unit starts from R25 000, however your I-Pace will be fully charged from 0% in 12 hours. And when you’re not at home? Well, Jaguar in partnership with GridCars, has set up 85 charging stations around the country at what they deem as major hubs and shopping centres. Most charging stations along the public network are 60kWh fast chargers, meaning 100km of range will take around 20 minutes and a charge from 0 to 80% will take around one and quarter hours. Not bad.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dove into the details of nuclear negotiations on Thursday against a backdrop of swirling questions about what Kim was willing to give up and what Trump may demand in the face of rising domestic turmoil. Tempering expectations, Trump opened by declaring, "There's no rush. We just want to do the right deal." The two men continued to offer hopeful words as talks began anew at their second summit about curbing Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons, a problem that has bedevilled generations of leaders. In a sharp break from his rhetoric a year ago, when he painted the threat from Pyongyang as so grave that "fire and fury" may need to be rained down on North Korea, Trump made clear he was willing to accept a slower timetable for denuclearisation. "Speed is not important," Trump said. "What's important is that we do the right deal." After their first summit, where Trump and Kim signed a joint statement agreeing to work toward a denuclearised Korean Peninsula, the president prematurely declared victory, tweeting that "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea." The facts did not support that claim. North Korea has spent decades, at great economic sacrifice, building its nuclear programme, and there are doubts that it will give away that programme without getting something substantial from the US. The Korean conflict ended in 1953 with an armistice, essentially a ceasefire signed by North Korea, China and the 17-nation, US-led United Nations Command. A peace declaration would amount to a political statement, ostensibly teeing up talks for a formal peace treaty that would involve other nations. North and South Korea also want US sanctions dialled back so they can resurrect two major symbols of rapprochement that provided $150 million a year to the impoverished North by some estimates: a jointly run factory park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong and South Korean tours to the North's scenic Diamond Mountain resort.

Gaga attended the 91st Academy Awards in Los Angeles in a breathtaking black strapless Alexandra McQueen gown, make-up and hair pitch perfect but there was something else that people could not stop talking about. The superstar wore a 128.54 carat yellow Tiffany & Company necklace worth $30 million (R 419 556 000) and became the third person to ever wear the framed diamond according to Tiffany press site. It was first worn by Mrs Sheldon Whitehouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball held in Rhode Island. The second woman to wear it was late style icon Audrey Hepburn for the Breakfast at Tiffany's publicity photo shoot in 1962. The executives of the company call the iconic necklace "priceless". Tiffany & Co. says the yellow diamond was discovered in 1877 in the Kimberley mines in South Africa, and was excavated as a rough stone totalling 287.42 carats. It was then purchased by founder Charles Lewis Tiffany a year later for $18 000 (around R 250 000) and cut into a cushion-shaped diamond featuring 82 radiant facets. "The stone’s acquisition solidified Mr. Tiffany’s reputation as the “king of diamonds” and made his enterprise the world’s diamond authority," reads the official statement. According to Vogue, the exquisite diamond has since been featured at exhibitions in South Africa, London, and Paris. Gaga’s style team was excited about working with the historic stone that has remained at Tiffany & Co. since its purchase in the 19th century.

We’ve heard more from the rumor mill on how Microsoft’s alleged ‘Lite’ OS is shaping up, including a mock-up of what the operating system will supposedly look like. Again, this comes from the source of previous speculation on Lite OS, namely Brad Sams, a well-respected font of Microsoft knowledge (although we should obviously treat any leaks and insider info – no matter where they come from – with a suitable dose of skepticism). Okay, that’s the caveat done – now for the quick recap for those who may have forgotten exactly what Lite OS is about: it’s a lightweight spin on Windows designed to rival Google’s Chrome OS and run on (almost) any device. To clarify this, Sams has created a mock-up of what the operating system’s UI currently looks like, which you can see above, and he contends that it will provide a similar experience to Windows 10 out-of-the-box. Remember, though, while Sam says this is an accurate portrayal of the interface, it is only intended as an idea of how the desktop will appear, and that may well change during development. Aggressive deployment Speaking of development, Sams insists that Microsoft is working on an ‘aggressive schedule’ in realizing Lite OS, and that the plan is to begin testing in the summer (with an initial reveal, or at least some info on the OS, expected to be imparted at the Build developer conference in Seattle come May). Whether the testing will include a public beta, Sams doesn’t know yet, but obviously that’s what many will be hoping for. The underlying message is that Microsoft is placing a lot of importance on this new project, and getting it out quickly (or at least as swiftly as things can move in the complex sphere of operating systems). Getting heavy We’ve heard previously that Microsoft is working on Lite for two different categories of devices: Centaurus (dual-screen 2-in-1) and Pegasus (which refers to various types of low-end laptops). In this latest report, Sams further notes that while the focus may be on entry-level devices such as the latter – the core idea is a super-streamlined OS that runs on anything, after all – eventually Lite will expand to target ‘heavy users’ as well. Microsoft’s current vision is that these heavier users will be on Windows 10, with those who have lesser performance demands using Lite OS – but rather than having these two tiers of operating systems, apparently Lite OS will eventually expand to cover “most of the features that heavy users will need”, in Sams’ words. Of course, running full-fat Win32 apps will doubtless be part of that development path, but presumably Microsoft will keep more heavyweight features in the domain of Windows 10. After all, there needs to be some differentiation, because it doesn’t seem likely that Microsoft would want to completely sideline Windows.

A group of NASA scientists is sweating. Two enormous cracks in Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf - on the continent's northern rim, some 5,000km from the southernmost tip of South America - are accelerating toward each other. When they meet, they'll likely release an iceberg of 1,000 square kilometers into the ocean - that's more than twice the size of the Cape Town area (400 km²). NASA started tracking one of the cracks in October 2016 and aptly named it "Halloween crack." That chasm is growing eastward from an area called McDonald Ice Rumples - a spot on the ice shelf's surface where the ice isn't flat and instead features crevasses and rifts. But a second crack, which doesn't have its own cool name (it was dubbed "Chasm 1" by the British Antarctic Survey), is more concerning. That crack is southeast of the McDonald Ice Rumples, and it recently started accelerating north, putting it on a collision course with the Halloween crack. Chasm 1 had been stable for 35 years but started showing signs of movement in 2012. Now it's expanding at a rate of 4 kilometers per year, according to NASA. The two cracks are only kilometers apart. When they converge, a piece of ice about 1,000 square kilometers in size could break off the ice shelf. "It's hard to make a projection when it will happen exactly, but it will happen," Stef Lhermitte, an expert who has been closely monitoring Chasm 1's progression, told Earther. Lhermitte thinks that once Chasm 1 expands another 4km, the iceberg could break off. That could occur within "days, but it can also take a year," he said. NASA has kept tabs on the escalating crack situation using satellite imagery. The slider below juxtaposes an image from January 30, 1986, with another view of the same location on the ice shelf more than 20 years later. While the ice shelf juts farther into the ocean in the 2019 photo, the growth of both Chasm 1 and the Halloween crack is evident. Since the station's inception in 1956, there have been six Halleys. The station's current iteration, Halley VIa, moved 23km upstream from its original location west of Chasm 1 to the crack's inland side. But the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) decided to leave Halley VIa unmanned in 2018 "for safety reasons" related to the region's "complex and unpredictable glaciological situation." If the converging cracks destabilize the ice shelf even further, the BAS may have to move their research station again or consider abandoning Halley VIa altogether.

Lamborghini will present its the new Lamborghini Huracán EVO Spyder at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show; the open-top car joins its coupé counterpart launched earlier this year, as the second variant in the V10 Huracán EVO line-up. The Spyder adopts the next-generation vehicle dynamic control and aerodynamics developed for the coupe, with the 5.2 litre naturally-aspirated Lamborghini V10 engine uprated for a higher power output and incorporating Titanium intake valves. The Spyder outputs 470kW at 8000rpm with 600Nm of torque delivered at 6500rpm. A different class With a dry weight of 1 542kg the car reaches a weight-to-power ratio of 2.41kg/hp, accelerates from 0-100km/h in 3.1 seconds and from 0-200km/h in 9.3 seconds. Braking from 100km/h to 0 is achieved in just 32.2m, with a top speed of 325km/h. Stefano Domenicali, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini, said:"The car incorporates all the performance, next-generation vehicle control and aerodynamic features of the EVO coupé, with its own unique personality and driving excitement that only an open-top car can offer." "The Spyder continues the Huracán EVO’s evolutionary charge: extremely easy to drive while excelling as a highly responsive, fun super sports car. "Particularly with the roof open, the emotive sound of the naturally aspirated engine and the refined, lightweight exhaust system take the sensory experience to a new level. The Huracán EVO Spyder’s design, performance and exhilarating open-air drive experience is literally breath-taking," he added. Next generation vehicle dynamics The Spyder combines the option of open-air driving with the prowess of the Huracán EVO’s evolutionary technologies. Lamborghini Piattaforma Inerziale (LPI) version 2.0, launched on the EVO coupé, is a comprehensive set of accelerators and gyroscope sensors located in the car’s centre of gravity, monitoring real-time lateral, longitudinal and vertical accelerations, as well as roll, pitch and yaw rate. The magnetorheological suspension, also upgraded to version 2.0, instantaneously adapts the damping following inputs from the LPI.

BlackBerry has continued it growth as one of the leading global tech firms with the landmark takeover of AI security firm Cylance. The former smartphone giant has confirmed that its $1.4bn deal to buy Cylance has gone through, officially making BlackBerry a billion-dollar cybersecurity firm. Founded in 2015 by former Intel and McAfee staffers, Cylance deploys AI and machine learning-powered security solutions, and counts major Fortune 100 companies among its 4,000 worldwide clients. BlackBerry will now hope that Cylance’s technology can help it build and grow its BlackBerry Spark service, a secure communications platform that the company is developing for IoT devices, as well as boosting its work in creating secure endpoints. “Today BlackBerry took a giant step forward toward our goal of being the world’s largest and most trusted AI-cybersecurity company,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry. “Securing endpoints and the data that flows between them is absolutely critical in today’s hyperconnected world. By adding Cylance’s technology to our arsenal of cybersecurity solutions we will help enterprises intelligently connect, protect and build secure endpoints that users can trust.”

An unmanned rocket took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday night carrying Israel's Beresheet spacecraft, aiming to make history twice: as the first private-sector landing on the Moon, and the first from the Jewish state. The 585kg Beresheet, which means "Genesis" in Hebrew, lifted off at 20:45 (01:45 GMT Friday) atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX company of entrepreneur Elon Musk. Take-off was followed live back in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu watching alongside engineers from the control center of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The Israeli craft was placed in Earth orbit, from where it will use its own engine to undertake a seven-week trip to reach the Moon and touch down on April 11 in a large plain. The rocket also contains an Indonesian satellite and a satellite of the US Air Force Research Laboratory. The mission is part of renewed global interest in the Moon, sometimes called the "eighth continent" of the Earth, and comes 50 years after American astronauts first walked on the lunar surface. "This is history in the making – and it's live! Israel is aiming for the #moon and you're all invited to watch," said a Twitter message from SpaceIL, the non-profit organization that designed the Israeli craft. It was backed notably by businessman and philanthropist Morris Kahn, who financed the development of a craft. "Make us proud," he said on Thursday. Entrepreneurs, not government space agencies, financed the mission, which was initially projected at $10m but eventually grew to $100m. Other partners are IAI, Israel's space agency its Ministry of Science and Technology. So far, only Russia, the United States and China have made the 384 000km journey and landed spacecraft on the Moon. China's Chang'e-4 made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon on January 3, after a probe sent by Beijing made a Lunar landing elsewhere in 2013. Americans are the only ones to have walked on the lunar surface, but have not been there since 1972. India plans to follow Beresheet carries a "time capsule" loaded with digital files containing a Bible, children's drawings, Israeli songs, memories of a Holocaust survivor and the blue-and-white Israeli flag. At a cost of $100m, "this is the lowest-budget spacecraft to ever undertake such a mission. The superpowers who managed to land a spacecraft on the Moon have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding", IAI said in an earlier statement. "Beresheet is the first spacecraft to land on the Moon as a result of a private initiative, rather than a government." NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine congratulated the Israeli team for carrying out the mission, saying, "this is a historic step for all nations and commercial space as we look to extend our collaborations beyond low-Earth orbit and on to the Moon". After China earlier this year, and now Israel, India hopes to become the fifth lunar country in the spring with its Chandrayaan-2 mission. It aims to put a craft with a rover onto the Moon's surface to collect data. Japan plans to send a small lunar lander, called SLIM, to study a volcanic area around 2020-2021. As for the Americans, a return to the Moon is now the official policy of NASA, according to guidelines issued by US President Donald Trump in 2017. "This time, when we go to the Moon, we're actually going to stay," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said last week. To achieve this, the US space agency is changing its model and no longer wants to design the missions itself. NASA, which has installed equipment on Beresheet to upload its signals from the Moon, said last week it aims to land instruments later this year or next year and that it is inviting private sector bids to build and launch the US probes. The US space agency plans to build a small space station, dubbed Gateway, in the Moon's orbit by 2026, and envisages a manned mission to Mars in the following decade.

We were there when former Audi Sport boss Stephan Winkelmann unveiled the Audi RS 4 at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show. Spotted in the Eastern Cape But that never materialised, and we were left waiting as to when the V6-powered wagon would make its appearance on local soil. Wheels24 can confirm it has touched down in South Africa. Uitenhage-based media personality Wezile Bonani tweeted a photograph of the car dressed in a Sonoma Green hue. The colour was first seen on the new RS 5 Coupe and is part of the Audi Sport colour palette. How much it costs in SA We made some calls and were told by an Audi dealer in Cape Town that the car is on sale , although their branch was likely to receive their first orders in May. The indicative price is R1 211 500. The RS 4 is powered by a 2.9-litre V6 turbocharged engine with 331kW with 600Nm of torque. An eight speed automatic gearbox from manufacturer ZF does duty, four-wheel drive is standard. The wagon has a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.1 seconds says Audi. Top speed is electronically limited to 250km/h. At time of publishing, Audi SA couldn't' be reached for comment. We will update the story to reflect Audi's statement.

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Los Angeles - Chicago police say Empire actor Jussie Smollett has turned himself in to face a charge of making a false police report when he said he was attacked in downtown Chicago by two men who hurled racist and anti-gay slurs and looped a rope around his neck. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tells The Associated Press that Smollett turned himself in early Thursday at central booking. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson plans to hold a morning news conference and Smollett is expected to appear in court later in the day. The 36-year-old actor was charged Wednesday. The charge could bring up to three years in prison. It could also force the actor, who's black and gay, to pay for the cost of the investigation into his report of a 29 January beating.

Peugeot will unveil the high-performance 508 Peugeot Sport Engineered concept at the Geneva International Motor Show as the brand’s electrification strategy gathers pace. The Peugeot Sport team confirmed plans to develop a range of high-performance electric vehicles last year and the new concept car is the first step on the journey towards electrification. Electric performance The Peugeot experts took the 508 Hybrid as a starting point and enhanced its design, performance and efficiency. An advanced PureTech 200 engine and 82kW electric motor drive the front wheels and a separate 150kW electric motor powers the rear The four-wheel driven 508 can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 4.3 seconds and hit a mechanically limited top speed of 250km/h. This electric performance is underpinned by an 11.8kWh battery, which gives the car a zero-emission range of up to 50km when switched to 100% electric mode and CO2 emissions of 49g/km, on the WLTP test protocols, when in Hybrid mode. Specially designed finishes It also has enhanced aerodynamics, with flaps fitted to the subframes to reduce aerodynamic drag and streamlined winglets located on the quarter panels, where GT Line and GT monograms usually reside. This helps to smooth the flow of air. Adding to the car’s character, it comes with a specially designed 'Selenium Grey' paint finish which changes in the light and carbon fibre door mirrors, while the iconic Lion badge features the distinctive anodised finish first seen on the Peugeot e-Legend concept car. Next gen cockpit The Alcantara design continues through to the roof, A-pillars and quarter panels, providing excellent visibility augmented by the innovative Peugeot i-Cockpit, which gives drivers intuitive access to the latest onboard technology. The cabin comes fitted with Kryptonite finishing around the door handles and dashboard, along with an all Kryptonite 10" capacitive HD touch screen and 12.3" head-up digital instrument display panel.

A living member of species of tortoise not seen in more than 110 years and feared to be extinct has been found in a remote part of the Galapagos island of Fernandina. An adult female Chelonoidis phantasticus, also known as the Fernandina Giant Tortoise, was spotted Sunday by a joint expedition of the Galapagos National Park and the U.S.-based Galapagos Conservancy, Ecuador's Environment Ministry said in a statement. Investigators think there may be more members of the species on the island because of tracks and scat they found. The team took the tortoise, likely more than 100 years old, to a breeding center for giant tortoises on Santa Cruz Island where it will stay in a specially designed pen. (Washington Tapia, member of Galapagos Conservancy, transports a specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought to have gone extinct about a century ago, to the Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean 1000 km off the coast of Ecuador, on February 19, 2019. - The adult female was found earlier in the day during an expedition in Fernandina Island, in the Galapagos, Ecuadorean Environment Minister Marcelo Mata announcement on Tuesday. (Photo by Rodrigo BUENDIA, Getty Images) The only other living member of the species was found in 1906, the group said. Since then, expeditions have encountered tortoise scat and bite marks on cacti, and there was a possible unconfirmed sighting in 2009. But Sunday's discovery was the first confirmed sighting and together with the possibility of finding more members of the species has raised the possibility of breeding. "They will need more than one, but females may store sperm for a long time," said Stuart Pimm, a professor of conservation ecology at Duke University. "There may be hope." Fernandina is the third largest Galapagos island and features the La Cumbre volcano, one of the most active in the world. The archipelago lies in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off Ecuador's mainland.

There’s a new report that says AMD will have some big plans to announce both 7nm processors and graphics cards this July. RedGamingTech claims a "reliable source" has word that AMD will launch Ryzen 3rd Generation desktop CPUs, Navi GPUs and X570 motherboards at Computex on July 7. The date seems to line up with when Computex will be held this year, and it's conveniently on the seventh day of the seventh month, a likely cheeky tie-in with the 7nm processor architecture. Thus far, we’ve only heard that Ryzen 3000-series CPUs will launch sometime in mid-2019, so a July release date does line up with that as well. This is also the first time we’ve heard of a potential release date for AMD’s Navi graphics cards, and reportedly AMD is doing everything it can to make the 7/7 announcement happen. As with previous Ryzen 3rd Generation rumors we’ve heard before, RedGamingTech reports that we can expect at least 12-core CPUs from AMD. Meanwhile, manufacturers the site has spoken with reportedly say there will almost certainly be 16-core parts as well. The first engineering samples of these new processors will also purportedly begin shipping sometime after April 2019. Aside from the 7nm architecture and PCIe 4.0 support that we know Ryzen 3000 CPUs will feature, AMD is said to be targeting higher clock frequencies. That seems like a given for most generational CPU upgrades, but we don’t want to put that much stock into this – or any of these rumors – just yet. As we get closer to the mid-point of this year, we’re sure to hear much more about Ryzen 3rd Generation and Navi.

Google is testing new welcome screens for Chrome, with a friendlier look and brighter design to greet new users. The new design replaces the mostly white screen that currently welcomes users to their freshly-installed browser. There seems to be a limited test group at the moment, but we were able to trigger it when installing Chrome in a new PC. The new look might be the start of a more 'fun' overall aesthetic for Chrome, with larger buttons that are easier to read and more amenable to touchscreens Shiny and Chrome The new welcome screen encourages you to 'Make Chrome your own' and personalize your browser by selecting a set of bookmarks to get started. Whereas the old design prompted you to sign in with a Google account, the new version doesn't assume you have one, and lets you start customizing the browser without logging in. It will be interesting to see whether this is the first step towards a more flexible, customizable Chrome that has more in common with Vivaldi, which is also based on Chromium.

Australia is letting drivers add an emoji to their official government issued licence plates. Drivers in the state of Queensland are able to add one of five emoji to the end of their usual state issued licence plate numbers from March 1. People can choose "laughing out loud," "winking face," "cool sunglasses," "heart eyes," and "smiley face" emojis. These new plates will still have the three-letter and two-number combination required by law, with the emoji coming next. The price for the plates has not yet been announced on the government's website, but are estimated to be between R1,160 and R5,000, Daily Mail Australia reported. Not everyone is happy with the development. Bill Potts, president of the Queensland Law Society, criticised the move in an interview with the Brisbane Times, saying that "clearly the government is trying to sex up number plates." "But the purpose of number plates is for the police to be able to identify vehicles." "How do you write down the emoji in your number plate after an accident?"

First shown in concept form at the 2013 Geneva motor show Toyota’s personal mobility vehicle (PMV) the i-Road has been transformed into a road-legal version – capable of circumventing city congestion and creating enhanced mobility. PMVs are a new, more flexible type of transport for urban driving that is significantly more comfortable, weatherproof, stable and safe than scooters and motorcycles. Personal mobility While they share the zero-emissions and low running cost virtues of electric vehicles, their dimensions – in particular, their width – are similar to a conventional two-wheeler, giving them the essential manoeuvrability needed for negotiating city traffic and easy parking. For the first time, the i-Road vehicle has touched down on African soil – as part of a personal mobility demonstration at Toyota’s State of the Motor Industry (SOMI) address held in Midrand, Gauteng. Toyota has refined the design of the original i-Road concept to improve visibility, weatherproofing, manoeuvrability and general user-friendliness. The doors have gained manually operated windows, making i-Road completely weatherproof and giving it a considerable advantage over conventional two-wheelers in that it can be driven without a helmet or protective clothing in all weather conditions. The rear has been redesigned with a reduced overhang, restyled and repositioned combination lamps and a small rear window. There is a choice of five bright colours for the bodywork. Active Lean technology and rear-wheel steering The revised Toyota i-Road measures 2 345m long, 1 455mm high and 870mm wide, and has a 1 695mm wheelbase. This makes it 5mm shorter than the concept, 10mm higher and 20mm wider – dimensions that remain ultra-compact. This means it can be driven smoothly along roadsides and down narrow alleys. Up to four i-Road can be parked in a single standard parking bay. With brisk acceleration and near-silent running, i-Road has a driving range of around 50km (target distance at a fixed 30km/h). A full recharge from a conventional household power supply takes just three hours.

After 18 months, 73 witnesses, 4,350 questions, and countless hours of evidence, British lawmakers delivered an excoriating verdict on Facebook's year from hell. In one of the most comprehensive accounts of the social network's disastrous 2018, a UK parliamentary committee published a report on Monday accusing Facebook of putting profit over privacy, misleading lawmakers, and being a "digital gangster" that considers itself above the law. Mark Zuckerberg was singled out for particularly withering criticism. The Facebook CEO showed "contempt" for British Parliament because he failed to give evidence, and, perhaps more stingily, was said to have displayed a spectacular failure of leadership in gripping Facebook crises. Nowhere is this better evidenced than in Facebook's early handling of the enormous Cambridge Analytica data breach, a scandal which brought the company to its knees in March last year. Lawmakers were shocked at what Zuckerberg didn't know about the scandal - and said it pointed to structural issues at Facebook. The Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee's report revealed that three Facebook executives discussed the data breach over email, which impacted 50 million users, before The Guardian first reported on the issue in December 2015. There isn't much more than this tantalising detail, but the report was clear that several Facebook employees were aware of the Cambridge Analytica issue long before the public. The report doesn't name the employees. Here's the relevant paragraph, emphasis ours: "We were keen to know when and which people working at Facebook first knew about the GSR/Cambridge Analytica breach. The ICO confirmed, in correspondence with the Committee, that three "senior managers" were involved in email exchanges earlier in 2015 concerning the GSR breach before December 2015, when it was first reported by The Guardian. At the request of the ICO, we have agreed to keep the names confidential, but it would seem that this important information was not shared with the most senior executives at Facebook, leading us to ask why this was the case." Damian Collins, the chair of the committee of British lawmakers, said Zuckerberg failed to show the "leadership and personal responsibility" required of the CEO of such a large company. In his remarks last week, Stamos - a senior insider until late last year - put it this way: "Facebook wasn't measuring the bigger impact and thinking about the ways people could twist it to be misused. And in the end, that is Mark's responsibility."

The Ford Performance-developed all-new Focus ST enhanced with advanced sports technologies will go on sale in the northern summer in five-door hatch and estate body (only offered in Europe) styles. The new ST uses a bigger engine than the previous generation's 2.0-litre and now employs a 205kW and 420Nm 2.3-litre EcoBoost turbocharged engine with twin-scroll turbo and anti-lag. The automaker says it's the first time the ST uses a first front-wheel drive electronic limited-slip differential which improves traction and stability. For the first time Ford will offer a new seven-speed automatic gearbox as a option to the standard rev-matching, short-shift six-speed manual gearbox. The new ST also has selectable drive Modes for the first time, adjusting features including Electronic Brake Booster and fastest Ford electric power-assisted steering to match performance to scenario Recaro supply the sport pews in the new ST and the car features an independent rear suspension configuration with continuously controlled damping. New tech The new ST will feature adaptive Cruise control coupled with Stop & Go, speed sign recognition and lane-centering for ease in stop-start traffic. Ford’s adaptive front lighting system uses a new camera-based to predicatively curve light and sign-based light that pre-adjust headlamp patterns for improved visibility by monitoring bends in the road and – for the first time in the industry – road signs. There is active park assist 2 that operates gear selection, acceleration and braking in addition to steering, to enable fully-automated manoeuvres at the push of a button. For the first time in Europe, Ford’s first head-up display will help drivers focus their attention on the road ahead according to the automaker. A system called evasive steering assist, a segment-first technology that helps drivers steer around stopped or slower vehicles to help avoid collisions. Ford SA has yet to confirm whether the ST will be introduced to Mzansi.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel drew lengthy applause on Saturday for her spirited defence of a multilateral approach to global affairs and support for Europe's decision to stand by a nuclear deal with Iran. US Vice President Mike Pence was not among the impressed, however, and he doubled down on American criticism of Europe. Merkel's comments at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of world leaders and top global defence and foreign policy officials, followed days of acrimony between the US and Europe over Iran. Merkel told the group - which included the largest US delegation ever with dozens of members of Congress, Ivanka Trump, Pence and others - that she shared American concerns about many Iranian efforts to increase its power in the region. But while she said the split with the US over Iran's nuclear agreement "depresses me very much," she defended it as an important channel to Tehran, stressing the need for international diplomacy. "I see the ballistic missile programme, I see Iran in Yemen and above all I see Iran in Syria," she said. "The only question that stands between us on this issue is, do we help our common cause, our common aim of containing the damaging or difficult development of Iran, by withdrawing from the one remaining agreement? Or do we help it more by keeping the small anchor we have in order maybe to exert pressure in other areas?" Germany, Britain, France, China, Russia and the European Union have been trying to keep the 2015 deal with Iran alive since President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of it last year. The deal offers Iran sanctions relief for limiting its nuclear programme. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that, so far, Tehran is sticking to the agreement. But the US argues that the deal just puts off when Iran might be able to build a nuclear bomb. Speaking after Merkel, Pence pushed for Europeans to end their involvement in the nuclear deal, calling Iran "the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world." "The time has come for our European partners to stop undermining US sanctions against this murderous revolutionary regime," Pence said. "The time has come for our European partners to stand with us and with the Iranian people, our allies and friends in the region. The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal." Merkel's speech was warmly received, while Pence's was met with polite applause.

Auckland Consistently rated in the top 10 of the world's most liveable cities, Auckland is an intoxicating blend of natural wonder and modern, urban adventure. Framed by two harbours, this city is also one of the most beautiful in the world. No matter where you are in this, you're never further than a half an hour away from a beach, a hiking trail or one of the many holiday-friendly islands. Travellers can go from the high-rise filled centre of the city to thermal springs, rainforest and wildlife reserves in less than an hour's drive. The sunny climate matches the city's inhabitants disposition which extends to its exciting culinary, commercial and cultural offerings. New Zealand's largest and most diverse city is a must-see. Queenstown The adventure capital of New Zealand (and perhaps the world), Queenstown is anything but reserved and demure. Travellers looking to get an adrenaline fix need look no further than this city that has more adventure options than you knew existed. Jump out of a helicopter and hit the slopes on skis, zip-line at incredible speed, skydive above a beautiful landscape, hit the rapids on a river raft or just go bungy jumping in the city that birthed the activity - there is more than enough to keep the heart pumping here. Don't think this is all the city has to offer, however. With a cosmopolitan culinary and arts scene. Sitting on the shores of the crystal clear Lake Wakatipu among alpine mountain ranges, it is easy to see why the origin of the name of the town is thought to be an attempt to capture and appreciate the majesty of this great city. Wellington At the southern end of the North Island, resting on a harbour surround by mountain ranges - Wellington is one of the most attractive cities in New Zealand. The city, though comp[act, is filled to the brim with vibrancy and a healthy dose of creative energy. Arguably nowhere in New Zealand can you enjoy culinary exploits as much as you can here with a proud coffee, craft beer and casual dining culture. The compact nature of this city makes it relatively simple to explore the many theatres, museums and galleries in the New Zealand capital. Just watch out for the wind, the city is infamous for its epic gales that may blow your flat-white right out of your hand. New Plymouth Mount Taranaki serves as a dramatic backdrop (and a reminder of the great hiking options) to this city in New Zealand. Like many of the other port towns, the world comes and goes as regularly as the surf which has lent the locals with a particularly global mindset that travellers will appreciate. New Plymouth is known for its emerging arts scene, great beaches and lush parks.