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Canadian electric bike firm Damon have given us another glimpse of their flagship Hypersport model. The bike shown appears to be the Premier edition complete with Öhlins suspension, Brembo brakes and a single-sided swingarm. For the uninitiated, new kids on the block Damon came out swinging last year with the Hypersport, a bike with a category-defying claimed 200hp, 200-mile range, 200mph top speed and 200kg weight. The batteries, they say, can also be charged to 80% in just 45 minutes with a combined charging system. Not content with these bold performance claims, Damon also said the bike’s CoPilot electronics complete with 360-degree HD cameras will keep you safe as you ride. Plus, at the flick of a switch, the handlebars and footpegs physically move between sportsbike and touring ergonomics. All of this may sound optimistic for what is essentially a new manufacturer, but Damon have worked with BlackBerry on the software for their safety systems, brought on technical expertise from the defunct Alta Motors and bought up the IP portfolio of Mission Motors, too. Damon say this new version represents 12 months of evolution and optimisation and includes tweaks to the bodywork, a more powerful motor, a higher voltage battery configuration, new handlebar controls and a new 7in recessed LCD display. The new version will be fully unveiled in the coming weeks, keep an eye on MCN for more information as we have it. Cheaper electric: Damon unveil two new versions of their Hypersport model Damon have unveiled two new versions of their Hypersport model with lower performance and range than the previous options but also a lower price. The Hypersport HS will cost around £18,757 and have a claimed 200bhp, 200-mile range and a top speed of 200mph. There’s also a £30,000 Premier version fitted with a single sided swingarm, Öhlins suspension and Brembo brakes. By comparison, the lowest performance Hypersport SX model will cost around £14,995 and will have a claimed power output of 150bhp, a range of 150 miles and a top speed of 155mph. Below that, the Hypersport SE will cost around £12,752 with a power output of 100bhp, 108-mile range and top speed of 120mph. There’s also a big difference in charging performance between the models, with the entry-level SE taking just 20 minutes to reach 80% with the faster level 3 combined charging system. This increases to 30 minutes for the SX and 45 minutes for the full power version. All spec levels include Damon’s Copilot system that uses 360-degree cameras to warn the rider of impending danger and their Shift system that allows the footpegs and handlebars to move electronically between riding positions. Damon Motorcycles bring in tech and expertise from Alta and Mission Canadian electric bike newcomers, Damon have released details of two new versions of their Hypersport model, the Arctic Sun and the Midnight Sun. The two new model variants are the latest premium version of the bikes following on from the Founders Edition, which was limited to 25 units featured Öhlins suspension and Brembo brakes and sold out soon after its announcement. It’s unclear what spec the two special editions will have, but you can put your name down for one with a refundable deposit of $1000 (just over £800). Damon, who burst onto the scene with some big claims at the start of 2020 also announced that they have taken on talent from the now defunct Alta Motors and have acquired the IP portfolio of Mission Motors. Alta were at the cutting edge of electric off road competition machinery and made enduro and motocross machines before ceasing trading at the end of 2018. And Mission built the multiple record-breaking Mission R that set electric land speed records and competed at the Isle of Man TT Zero before folding in 2015. What both of these companies have that Damon didn’t seem to is experience of designing and building electric bikes. "The purchase of the Mission Motors IP will add to Damon’s capability to build the highest performance drive trains in motorcycling," said Derek Dorresteyn, COO at Damon. "Mission Motors was a technical leader and we are happy that some of that competitive DNA has passed into the Damon Hypersport." According to the brand, they have also attracted over $13m (just over £10m) through pre-orders and investment since the start of 2020. This includes ‘several hundred’ deposits for the Hypersport, which is claimed to make 200bhp and have a top speed of 200mph combined with a 200-mile range. It also uses HD cameras to create a 360-degree safety net around the bike with haptic alerts for the rider. And its final party piece is that the footpegs and handlebars can be electronically adjusted to change the riding position depending on your situation. Electric news on the way: Damon Motorcycles have an announcement coming Damon Motorcycles, the Canadian electric bike start-up who made some really bold claims about their first model, the Hypersport back in January have said that they will be making a special announcement on Tuesday, March 31. The news came as part of a Covid-19 update email alongside an image of a bike under a dust sheet. "We’re also going to let you in on a secret -- there will be a special announcement at the end of the month that will lift rider spirits! It couldn’t have come at a better time," said the statement. The first 25 Hypersports to roll off the production lines are to be special versions with Brembo brakes and Öhlins suspension and are sold out. It could be that the announcement is an unveiling of the mass-production version. 200hp, 200mph and 200-mile range claimed for Damon Hypersport electric superbike Pricing and claimed performance stats have been released for the Damon Hypersport electric superbike and they include some very impressive numbers. Actually, it's pretty much just one number: 200. The tech firm reckon their new bike will have a 200-mile range, a 200mph top speed and generate 200hp (around 197bhp) and 200Nm (147ftlb) of torque. Not only that, but the Hypersport will purportedly hit 60mph in less than three seconds and can be charged in three hours. Battery technology can be heavy, but Damon say the Hypersport will weigh around 200kg or 7kg more than Ducati's flagship V4R superbike. Top spec electric projects like this often come with enormous price tags, like the £90,000 Arc Vector, but Damon are asking around £20,000 for the Hypersport. While this isn't cheap, it is in line with top spec petrol superbikes these days. The first 25 models to come off the production line will be fitted with Brembo brakes, Ohlins suspension and a single-sided carbon fibre swingarm to be sold as limited edition examples (at a higher price) with a standard trim version, still including the firm's CoPilot and Shift tech detailed below to follow. New tech down the line: Damon Motors and BlackBerry aim to revolutionise motorbike safety A Canadian electric motorbike firm called Damon are aiming to shake up the way we think about motorbikes and revolutionise safety with their new Hypersport Pro model. The superbike uses the firm’s Shift system to electronically adjust its riding position on the move. This moves the pegs and handlebars between a focused high feet/low hands sport riding position and a more spacious low feet/high hands touring position. The Hypersport will also use a combination of radar, telematics and cameras to build a 360-degree safety net predicting hazards and warning the rider. Damon want to attract younger people to motorcycling and believe that the industry isn’t doing enough to move with the times. "Resting on the laurels of 100 years of history and with an inventory of bikes nostalgically designed for specific riding styles, the complacency shown by manufacturers has resulted in today’s motorcycles not meeting Millennials’ generational needs," says a whitepaper released by Damon CEO, Jay Giraud. The document, entitled The Case for AWSM: An Accident Warning System for Motorcycles, cites the perceived risk and danger associated with motorbikes as a major contributing factor to a decline in motorbike sales. That’s where CoPilot comes in. CoPilot uses a platform created by BlackBerry (the phone people) combined with cameras and non-visual sensors to track the speed, direction and velocity of dozens of objects at a time around a motorcycle. This is all processed by onboard computers to anticipate threats and warn the rider through LEDs, vibrations (haptic alerts) or visually on a digital rear-view mirror. What’s more, any time a rider reacts to a warning by braking or swerving, the data is beamed to a cloud to allow the system to learn and adapt. Updates are then periodically released for all users with the improvements. Damon foresee three levels of AWSM becoming available: Level 1 – Basic Detection: A motorcycle is equipped with the necessary sensors to see a potential collision from all sides and warn the rider. Level 2 – Anticipatory: A motorcycle is equipped with the necessary sensors and capability to track the direction, velocity, and speed of surrounding vehicles to anticipate their approach and potential for impeding the rider’s right of way. Level 3 – Critical Automation: A motorcycle is equipped with the necessary sensors and capability to understand the rider’s abilities and intent. This third level will use real-time environmental and road condition information to adjust throttle, brake, and other control functions to ensure the motorcycle is not piloted to exceed the ability level of the rider and/or the conditions of the road. This advanced system can include tyre traction, curve radius of a given corner, or available braking distance to a decelerating or fixed object. For the more sceptical who see this as a passing gimmick, Damon raise an interesting point: "Ungoverned by emotional distractions or irrational reactions, computers react far more quickly than humans. "As the world shifts towards autonomous driving [in cars], the need for safer, more intelligently enabled motorcycles will grow at the same pace. "A comparable system of safety features will, therefore, become a critical factor for their continued growth as a viable means for interurban transportation." The Damon Hypersport Pro will be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 7. There’s no word yet on performance or pricing.

A lack of alternatives and the need to get out of the house have meant running’s po-pu-la-ri-ty has leapt. Kieran Smith of the Kilometre Club. A lot of runners used to play football or go to the gym, he says. It was the announcement of the third national lockdown and the prospect of more months juggling a busy job and homeschooling two primary schoolchildren that prompted Kate Henderson to take up running for the first time in years. “In the previous lockdowns, there were just days on end when I didn’t leave my flat. So when they announced lockdown three, I thought I need to do something positive, something that gets me out of the flat,” said the 40-year-old, who works as the chief executive of the National Housing Association. “I was quite unfit coming into it and to begin with, it was quite tough,” she said. “But the mental health benefits are massive. What surprised me is when my alarm goes off at 6.30am, I actually get up and just put my running gear on and go straight out the door before the children are awake. Kate Henderson “Even though it’s dark, and today when I went out it was snowing and really windy, it’s just really invigorating. It definitely makes you feel better.” Research published on Monday by Macmillan Cancer Support shows an estimated 7 million people across the country have turned to running or jogging during the Covid-19 crisis to boost their mental health. One in seven people in the UK (14%) said running had helped them deal with stress since the first lockdown in March, with the activity proving more po[CENSORED]r than meditation or yoga (12%). About a third said running helped them feel calmer and more positive, while one in five said it helped them to feel mentally stronger. The charity is hoping this will result in record interest for the 2021 London Marathon – after 2020’s event was first postponed to October and then cut back to just an elite event – with runners finding out on Monday if they have been successful in the ballot for places, following a year that has been devastating for charities owing to the lack of fundraising. Kieran Smith started running group the Kilometre Club in Chester just before lockdown last year, but found that interest, particularly from beginners, soared during the pandemic. “There’s been an influx in beginner runners, as well as people who used to play football or go to the gym who have come over to running during lockdown. I’ve been asked lots of questions about how to start and what to wear. “You can see it when you go out for a run yourself, the amount of new faces you see, the number of people running has definitely increased since lockdown.” According to City AM, Sports Direct sold 218% more pairs of running trainers online during the lockdown than in the same period a year earlier, and Britons bought 243% more running clothing than normal. Saurav Dutt, a 38-year-old author in London, has ramped up his running in 2021 after taking it up for the first time during the March lockdown. “I used to try to avoid running as much as possible just because of the effort,” he said. “But the endorphin release after a big run is really significant, it really lifts your mood. And you’re also thinking about reinforcing your own general health, because underlying conditions are a big problem with Covid.” In the absence of being able to organise running meetups, Smith has organised a number of virtual running challenges online during the pandemic, which he has found are especially po[CENSORED]r with people working from home. “It’s not good for us to be sat down at a desk all day, the tension it puts on your lower back and your hips, it is really important to get out and move the body,” he said. Henderson got herself up and running using Public Health England’s Couch to 5k app which was downloaded 858,000 times between March and June last year, a 92% increase compared with 2019. Like many across the country, her busy schedule now revolves around Zoom meetings and her step count has suffered. “Before I was travelling across different parts of London every day. But now that we’re working from home, you don’t even have the commute or the school run, and it’s very easy not to leave at all,” she said. Another perk is being able to explore her surroundings in north London in a different way. “I’ve discovered different bits of my neighbourhood through running, which has been really lovely, finding new routes and bits of green space I didn’t know existed.” Philip Ellis, a 33-year-old writer in Birmingham, took up the hobby when he went back to his parents’ house in Shropshire during the first lockdown. Nearly a year later, he’s still going strong, and said he doesn’t know how he would have got through January without it. “I never thought this would be something for me and I used to find people who banged on about running or cycling really boring,” he said. “But since becoming one of those people myself, I feel like it’s not necessarily about losing weight or getting fitter. It’s not about the body, it just makes me feel better. It clears my head. Because all I’m doing for that hour is putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on my breathing. “It’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

Small-scale trial of vaccine shows it offers very little protection against mild to moderate infection Scientists still hope the vaccine can offer significant protection against more serious Covid infection. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine offers as little as 10% protection against the Covid variant first seen in South Africa, researchers have suggested. Scientists who conducted a small-scale trial of the vaccine’s efficacy said it showed very little protection against mild to moderate infection, though they expressed hope that – in theory – it would still offer significant protection against more serious infection. The disappointing results came as lab tests on the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine found it may still provide substantial protection against the variant. Scientists at the University of Texas medical branch collected antibody-containing blood plasma from 20 people who recently had two shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. In tests, the antibodies were on average 81% as effective at neutralising the engineered virus as they were at blocking older variants. The results, reported in Nature Medicine, suggest the variant’s key mutation, known as E484K, does not dramatically undermine the vaccine’s protection. South Africa has halted the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, while a UK health minister indicated that an annual Covid jab could become the norm for many people as scientists work to stay a step ahead of the virus’s mutations. Prof Shabir Madhi from the University of the Witwatersrand, who led the trial, said that, while the study was small, it was designed to focus on determining whether or not the vaccine had at least 60% efficacy against Covid to any degree of severity. “The results that we now describe against the variant, the point estimate is 10%. Clearly, that is far off the 60% mark and, even if you had a larger study you are unlikely to get to a vaccine efficacy readout of even 40 or 50%,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “What the study results really tell us is that, in a relatively young age group demographic – with very low prevalence of morbidities such as hypertension and diabetes etc – the vaccine does not protect against mild to moderate infection.” He said its effectiveness against serious infection could possibly be inferred based on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which uses “similar technology”. “Extrapolating from that, there’s still some hope that the AstraZeneca vaccine might well perform as well as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in a different age demographic that are at highest risk of severe disease,” he said. He added that laboratory studies could reveal it is not just antibodies that are effective in protecting against severe disease, but also T-cell immunity. On the issue of delaying the second dose, he said the Oxford vaccine efficacy after a single dose was 75% but this was before the South African variant arose. The news has caused concern that the vaccines now available will prove insufficient to end the crisis on their own and manufacturers are already working on new versions that will offer protection against variants. However, Boris Johnson said he was “very confident” in the coronavirus vaccines being used in the UK. During a visit to a vaccine test facility in Derby, the prime minister said: “We’re very confident in all the vaccines that we’re using. And I think it’s important for people to bear in mind that all of them, we think, are effective in delivering a high degree of protection against serious illness and death, which is the most important thing.” Earlier the UK health minister Edward Argar acknowledged therewould be a need for booster shots. “What we would all expect is every year we have our flu booster jabs, or our flu jabs, it would not be unreasonable to suggest something similar here,” he told Sky News. Latest global Covid-19 data Total cases 105.201.267 New daily cases 396.269 Total deaths 2.274.364 New daily deaths 7.824 Total vaccinations 131.6m New daily vaccinations 4.6m Data from JHU CSSE Covid-19 Data and Our World in Data at 18.25 on 8 February 2021 He added that the virus “will always try to outwit us”, saying: “We’ve just got to make sure we get ahead of the game and we outwit it.” The Guardian Today newsletter: the headlines, the analysis, the debate – sent direct to you Argar said the results of the trial did not show the vaccine was ineffective at reducing the severity of the illness people would experience, telling Sky: “There is no evidence that this vaccine is not effective in preventing hospitalisation, severe illness and death, which is ultimately what we’re seeking with these vaccines.” He said the “dominant strains in this country are not the South African strain”, telling the Today programme the latest figures showed 147 cases of that variant in the UK. But he acknowledged the danger that new variants could develop with similar resistance, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the UK’s vaccination programme and meaning the work by scientists to stay a step ahead would need to continue for the foreseeable future.

Overview The Mercedes-Benz S-class is a luxury sedan for the well-to-do, which makes the 2021 Mercedes-Maybach S-class a luxury sedan for people who are so wealthy that even their chauffeurs are well-to-do. Prepped to do battle against other ultra-luxury cars such as the Bentley Flying Spur and the Rolls-Royce Ghost, the Maybach S-class—dubbed S580—offers a stretched wheelbase, a sumptuously appointed cabin, and an effortlessly powerful twin-turbo V-8 powertrain. It shares its platform with the all-new S-class and offers much of the same infotainment and driver-assistance technologies. But the Maybach's standard equipment list includes some of the most luxurious furnishings and equipment the brand has ever seen. Its exterior styling is also less ostentatious than that of its ultra-luxe rivals, which makes it perfect for tycoons with conservative taste. What's New for 2021? Following the introduction of the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-class, the ultra-lux Maybach version delivers even more high-end features and road presence. Mercedes-Maybach says the new S580 sedan will roll into U.S. dealerships in summer, 2021. Pricing and Which One to Buy S580 4Matic - $180,000 (est) 0$ 50k $100k $150k$ 200k$ 250k$ 300k While we aren't sure how much the new Maybach S-class will cost, we do know that it will be offered in S580 guise this time around, powered by a 496-hp twin-turbo V-8 with a 48-volt hybrid system. Standard features are of course plentiful and include luxury items such as soft-close doors, an air suspension, a 30-speaker Burmester stereo system, and a rear-seat entertainment system with two 11.6-inch touchscreens—and much, much more. Engine, Transmission, and Performance Under the hood of every S580 sedan is a 496-hp twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 engine which is augmented by a 48-volt hybrid system. All models will come with Mercedes' 4Matic all-wheel drive system. The new powertrain makes 33 more horsepower than the old S560 from 2020, but we haven't had a chance to test its new performance. So far, there's no mention of a replacement for last year's Maybach S650, which was powered by a silky-smooth twin-turbo V-12 engine. An air suspension and an active sound cancellation system are both standard in the new model, so we're expecting a silky, ultra-quiet ride; the S580 also offers rear-wheel steering which should help with navigating this big sedan through tight city streets. Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG The EPA has not released any fuel economy estimates for the 2021 S580 but we expect that information to be available closer to the car's on-sale date. We're also looking forward to the day when we can test-drive this comfy cruiser; when we do, we'll take it on our 75-mph highway fuel economy route and report those test results here. Interior, Comfort, and Cargo The Maybach S580 has a seven-inch longer wheelbase than the already-large Benz-branded S-class sedan, which provides even more stretch-out space inside its leather-lined cabin. So many luxury features are standard in the S580 we couldn't possibly list them all here, but all models will come with exquisite leather on virtually every interior surface; a 64-color interior ambient lighting system; heated and ventilated front seats with massage and four-position memory settings; heated rear seats with power adjustments and massage; an air ionizing system with a signature fragrance; and a panoramic sunroof. For buyers who intend to be chauffeured, Maybach can add the optional Executive Rear Seat Plus package, which includes rear-seat folding tables, an extended center console, additional rear-seat wood trim, and temperature controlled cup holders. Also optional are electrically-operated rear doors, a refrigerator, and Maybach-branded champagne flutes. Infotainment and Connectivity Like the Benz S-class, the Maybach S580 comes standard with Mercedes's latest MBUX infotainment interface displayed on a 12.8-inch OLED touchscreen. A 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster is also standard, and all models also come with an augmented-reality navigation system that displays easy-to-follow video directions on both the infotainment display and the car's head-up display. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with wireless connectivity, 6 USB-C ports, a 30-speaker Burmester stereo system, a wireless smartphone charging pad, and a rear-seat entertainment system are all standard features. Safety and Driver-Assistance Features Crash test ratings for the 2021 S-class haven't been published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The S580 will offer a portfolio of standard driver-assistance features; traditionally the S-class is the model in which Mercedes offers its groundbreaking tech features first. Key safety features include: Standard automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection Standard lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist Standard adaptive cruise control with semi-autonomous driving mode Warranty and Maintenance Coverage Mercedes-Maybach provides solid warranty coverage. It surpasses the protection offered by Bentley. Limited warranty covers 4 years or 50,000 miles Powertrain warranty covers 4 years or 50,000 miles No complimentary scheduled maintenance

I was scribbling down recipes for what we had just eaten’: Fuchsia Dunlop. A Saturday morning and I am roaming the broad aisles of Wing Yip, the thrilling Asian supermarket in Croydon, trying to bring colour to a life of monochrome. Occasionally, I glance from my phone’s screen to the parade of jars, like a lost child looking for a parent in the crowd. There are a few of us like this here today; the baffled, hopeful and pathologically hungry, with ingredient lists for dishes so very far from our comfort zones. Happily, I have a guide. Her name is Fuchsia Dunlop. The image on my phone is a photograph from her book, The Food of Sichuan. It’s a set of Chinese characters for sweet flour sauce, a paste close to, but subtly different from, hoi sin. Unhelpfully, it has a bunch of different names in English. Photographing the Chinese characters is Dunlop’s suggestion and praise be, it works. I quickly find an ingredient for twice-cooked pork, one of my favourite Sichuan dishes. While it might be possible to approximate the dish without that particular sauce, I couldn’t do it without Dunlop’s book; it really is the key ingredient. The Food of Sichuan is a detailed, sometimes nerdy, often romantic guide-cum-travelogue through what many consider the most intricate and vivid of all the regional Chinese cooking traditions. This year sees the 20th anniversary of its first publication, an event marked by an expanded new edition, complete with endorsements from the likes of Ken Hom and, er, me. I describe it as “my bible for the subject”, and not unfairly; it is far more nourishing than any religious tract could ever be. It is that most beautiful of things: a window through which to glimpse, and occasionally participate in, another kind of life. Dunlop grew up in Oxford. Her mother taught English as a foreign language, and often invited her students round to cook their food from home. Early on Dunlop began noting down recipes, a habit which stayed with her when, in the 90s, she went to the city of Chengdu in Sichuan province to study at the city’s university and learn the language. “During a trip to a nearby fishing village I was scribbling down recipes for what we had just eaten,” Dunlop says now. “My Danish friend Marianne said I should write a book.” Later, she spent three months studying at the Sichuan cookery school, the first non-Chinese person to do so. “I was very rigorous in taking notes.” Dunlop could see a gap in the market. “There weren’t any Chinese cookbooks [in the west] that had been researched on the ground, in the way they had for the Middle East or Italy,” she says. Publishers were less convinced; her first proposal was turned down by all of them for being “too narrow”. A year later she tried again. This time she was successful. The world was introduced to the surprising delicacy of dishes intertwining red chillies with numbing Sichuan peppercorns; to the choreographed dance of salt and sweet and sour; to the joys of fuhewei, the compound flavours that give these dishes their showy, high-kicking appeal. ‘A rust-coloured sauce of fermented beans’: twice cooked pork. Like all the best cookbooks, it places the dishes in context. “It’s one of those books that has to be started at the back,” says the chef Jeremy Pang, who runs the School of Wok in central London. He’s not wrong: that’s where you’ll find lists of seasonings and stocks, and an account of the “23 flavours of Sichuan”: the numbing and hot, the scorched chilli, the fragrant-boozy and more. Meanwhile, at the front there are pages on the 56 cooking techniques and the many different knife cuts. “Chinese cooking is so complex,” Pang says, “and this book shines a light on that.” He also loves the way it moves an understanding of Sichuan food far beyond the obvious headline appeal of chillies and peppercorns. “As Fuchsia says, texture is vital.” He professes a love for the white pork in garlicky sauce and the steamed aubergine with scorched green peppers, to be eaten hot or cold. Chef Andrew Wong, of the much-admired London restaurant A Wong, is also a huge fan. “The recipes are accurate in a way lots of Chinese cookbooks really aren’t,” he says. (Impressively, an edition in Chinese has just been published in China.) Are there any recipes he turns to regularly? “There was a point when I was always making her fish-fragrant aubergine.” The key thing, Wong says, is Dunlop’s foresight. “She was ahead of her time in recognising that the food would catch on.” Dunlop is partly responsible for that, too. She was a consultant to London’s Barshu, the first specifically Sichuan restaurant in the UK, which opened in 2006. Now Sichuan restaurants are everywhere. “I’m surprised by the speed with which it spread,” she says. “Then again I did know how appealing the food would be.” ‘Like punctuation marks with cashews’: gong bao prawns. I decide to have a go at that twice-cooked pork, the gong bao prawns and mapo tofu, all dishes I know well from my eating adventures in restaurants. It gives me something to benchmark my efforts against. Dunlop’s directions are clear. Nevertheless, cooking this food is challenging. Quickly my kitchen degenerates into barely controlled chaos. Surfaces fill with bowls: of chopped spring onions here and fermented black beans there; of red chillies mixed in with peppercorns; of sauces blending Shaoxing wine and Chinkiang vinegar. Eventually I abandon the idea of doing three dishes. The mapo tofu is put off for another day. I simmer the slab of pork belly with aromatics, let it cool then slice it up to be wok fried. This recipe, like many of them in The Food of Sichuan, uses the language of the subjective. The meat must be fried until it smells “delicious”; livid-red Sichuan chilli paste must be cooked out in oil until it smells “wonderful”. Dunlop is consistent in this. The recipe for mapo tofu, that classic dish of cubed, wobbly bean curd in a cheek-slapping sauce, also requires the chilli paste be cooked until “wonderful”. I do as I’m told. Wonderful is what I crave. Wonderful is what I need. ‘The most comforting of fearsome-looking dishes’: mapo tofu. To my shame, I scorch the chillies in an overly hot wok for the gong bao prawns and curse myself. Nevertheless, I finish with food I recognise; it is the first time I have cooked dishes at home resembling those I’ve eaten in Chinese restaurants. There’s that twice-cooked pork, with shoots of brilliant green and a rust-coloured sauce of fermented beans; there are fat prawns like punctuation marks with cashews and the waft of Shaoxing wine; and, a day or two later, that most comforting of fearsome-looking dishes, the mapo tofu. The washing up may be copious. The work surfaces may be splattered. But this belly says, “Thank you Fuchsia. You took me somewhere else.”

Overview Kia's big sports sedan—the 2022 Stinger—aims high to challenge the automotive elites from Europe, and it and nearly pulls it off. When compared to rivals such as the Audi A5 Sportback and the BMW 4-series Gran Coupe, the Stinger offers a very similarly premium look and feel as well as lots of driving verve, making it a great option for enthusiasts on a budget. It shares its underpinnings with the impressive Genesis G70 sedan, but the Stinger disguises its roomier interior, larger cargo hold, and hatchback liftgate with a sexy fastback roofline. A trio of turbocharged engines are on offer, with top-level models getting a gutsy twin-turbo V-6. Rear-wheel drive is standard but all-wheel drive is also available for those who want it. What's New for 2022? In addition to several styling updates for 2022, the Stinger receives an a new 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder as its optional, mid-level engine. The new engine makes a stout 300 horsepower. Not to be left out, the optional twin-turbo 3.3-liter V-6 receives a slight power boost to 368-hp thanks to a new variable exhaust system. Styling improvements for 2022 include updated exterior lighting elements, new wheel designs, and larger exhaust tips. Inside, the 2022 Stinger will receive upgraded materials throughout, new metallic trim pieces, adjustable ambient lighting, and a larger optional 10.3-inch infotainment display. Pricing and Which One to Buy Even though the GT-Line has the looks of the V-6 models, we'd still go with one of the higher-powered models. Of those, the GT1 is the one to get. It keeps its price below the $50,000 mark but adds a sunroof, navigation, an 8.0-inch infotainment display, Harman/Kardon audio, automatic high-beam headlamps, a power-adjustable steering column, ventilated front seats, automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, and a driver-attention monitor. Engine, Transmission, and Performance The Stinger now has three available engines and can be equipped with either rear- or all-wheel drive. The entry-level 2.0-liter powertrain does an adequate job relative to its rivals, but the powerful twin-turbo V-6 delivers scintillating performance that gets our enthusiast blood pumping. The 2022 model will offer an optional turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder for the first time, but we haven't yet tested that model. The eight-speed automatic that comes in every Stinger offers quick shifts and is well calibrated when left to shift for itself. We wish the paddle shifters offered sharper responses to driver inputs, however. Still, for drivers in single-minded pursuit of straight-line speed, the Stinger GT does not disappoint. The Stinger has mastered straight-line speed and returned solid numbers during our track testing. It comports itself well in normal driving, but when pushed to the limit, it couldn't quite match the composure of its more established competition. Likewise, we identified some protestations from the rear suspension—an unnerving side step when cornering hard on a bumpy road—while some fore-and-aft pitching accompanied our all-out acceleration and braking runs. All GTs feature powerful Brembo brakes, which provided quick stops by any measure and fit in nicely within this class of high-performing sedans. Without the Brembos and rolling on less grippy all-season tires, in our testing a four-cylinder Stinger was not impressive—in this class or any other. Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG Whether you're looking at the four-cylinder or the V-6, the Stinger is less efficient than similarly equipped competitors. The EPA's fuel-economy ratings for each of the Stinger's engines fall below those of comparable rivals, but the V-6 outperformed its ratings on our real-world test, and there is virtually no fuel-economy penalty for choosing all-wheel drive. So far, only V-6–powered Stingers have made a trip on our highway test circuit. Both rear- and all-wheel-drive models outperformed their EPA ratings by a slight margin during our real-world test. For more information about the Stinger's fuel economy, visit the EPA's website. Interior, Comfort, and Cargo The Stinger's interior is well designed and attractive, but it can't quite match the Audi A4 or the BMW 3-series for material quality or construction. Then again, the Kia costs considerably less than those two German sedans. The Stinger does, however, offer a significantly more comfortable rear seat than many cars in this class—and its advantage feels greater than its numbers would suggest. While the Stinger's interior is free of glaring errors and omissions, the overall effect is less polished than the efforts we've enjoyed from established luxury brands. The Stinger's stated trunk volume would predict that it has by far the most cargo space in this set, but it only bested its rivals by a small margin in our real-world cargo tests. With its wide hatchback opening and long wheelbase, we'd hoped the Stinger would do even better in these measurements. Its center console is on the large side for a car, which helps to compensate for the fact that the front-door pockets are the smallest of this bunch. Infotainment and Connectivity Kia's infotainment system—called UVO—is used to good effect in the Stinger and consists of an 8.0- or 10.3-inch touchscreen mixed with useful physical buttons. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, as is a six-speaker stereo system. Audiophiles can upgrade to a 15-speaker Harman/Kardon stereo system, and Kia offers a host of other tech upgrades as well, such as a wireless smartphone charging pad and in-dash navigation. Safety and Driver-Assistance Features The Stinger offers nearly every driver assist that we report on available as an option. For more information about the Stinger's crash-test results, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) websites. Key safety features include: Available automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection Available lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist Available adaptive cruise control Warranty and Maintenance Coverage Kia's long powertrain warranty is practically legendary, and it easily outdoes every other car in this set for length of coverage. Unlike many of its premium-branded rivals, the Stinger offers no complimentary scheduled maintenance. Limited warranty covers 5 years or 60,000 miles Powertrain warranty covers 10 years or 100,000 miles No complimentary scheduled maintenance

Floods force evacuation of villages and witnesses report avalanche creating wall of dust, rock and water A massive flood of water, mud and debris flowing at Chamoli district. As many as 150 people were feared dead in northern India after a Himalayan glacier broke and crashed into a dam early on Sunday, with floods forcing the evacuation of villages downstream. “The actual number has not been confirmed yet,” but 100 to 150 people were feared dead, Om Prakash, the chief secretary of Uttarakhand state where the incident occurred, said. A witness reported a wall of dust, rock and water as an avalanche roared down a river valley. “It came very fast, there was no time to alert anyone,” said Sanjay Singh Rana, who lives on the upper reaches of Raini village. “I felt that even we would be swept away.” Locals feared that people working at a nearby hydropower project had been swept away, as well as villagers roaming near the river looking for firewood or grazing their cattle, Rana said. “We have no idea how many people are missing.” The prime minister, Narendra Modi, said he was closely monitoring the situation. “India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone’s safety there,” he tweeted after speaking with the state chief minister. State disaster response fund personnel prepare for deployment in Srinagar, Uttarakhand state. India’s air force was being readied to help with rescue operations, the federal government said, while the home minister, Amit Shah, said disaster response teams were being airlifted in to help with relief and rescue. “All the concerned officers are working on a war footing,” Shah tweeted, referring to Uttarakhand by its nickname, the Hindi term for “land of the gods” – due to the numerous Hindu temples and pilgrimage centres located across the state. The neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous, also put its riverside areas on high alert. Footage shared by locals showed the water washing away parts of the dam as well as whatever else was in its path. Videos on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed water surging through a small dam site, washing away construction equipment. “The flow of the Alaknanda River beyond Nandprayag (stretch) has become normal,” tweeted the Uttarakhand chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat. “The water level of the river is now 1 metre above normal but the flow is decreasing.” Uttarakhand in the Himalayas is prone to flash floods and landslides. In June 2013, record rainfall caused devastating floods that claimed close to 6,000 lives. That disaster was dubbed the “Himalayan tsunami” by the media due to the torrents of water unleashed in the mountainous area, which sent mud and rocks crashing down, burying homes and sweeping away buildings, roads and bridges. Uma Bharti, India’s former water resources minister and a senior leader of Modi’s party, criticised the construction of a power project in the area. “When I was a minister I had requested that Himalaya is a very sensitive place, so power projects should not be built on Ganga and its main tributaries,” she tweeted, referring to the main river that flows from the mountain.

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The 2020 BMW S10000RR is a hardcore superbike designed to push things to the limits. The motorcycle is about unbridled power and pushing yourself to the very edge while on the track. It’s designed for an experienced rider, who wants to hit every apex perfectly in every single twist and turn. The BMW S1000RR features a 999cc liquid-cooled four-cylinder inline engine with four titanium valves per cylinder. It also has wet-sump lubrication and BMW ShiftCam technology. The bike’s engine makes 205 hp and 83 lb-ft of torque. The motorcycle is available in two color options: Motorsport (white, red, and blue) and Racing Red. The S1000RR comes with a price tag of $16,995. It is a machine well worth its price in terms of the prestige and performance it offers. General Info Price: $16,995USA / $18,900 Canada Key Features: Traction Control ABS Pro LED Lighting Key Specs Engine type: 999 cc Inline 4 cylinder Power: 205 hp Wet weight: 427 lb (193 kg) Seat height: 32.4 in (822 mm) Key Competitors Ducati Panigale V4 Yamaha YZF-R1 Aprilia Tuono 1100 RR KTM 1290 Super Duke R ENGINE Engine Liquid cooled, 4-stroke in-line 4-cylinder engine Power 205 hp (151 kW) Torque 83 lb-ft Bore x Stroke 80 mm x 49.7 mm Compression Ratio 13.3:1 Fuel System Fuel Injection DRIVETRAIN Clutch Multi-disc clutch in oil bath, 6-speed, #525 17/45 chain Transmission 6-speed CHASSIS Suspension Front 45mm Upside-down telescopic fork, 3-way adjustable, 4.7-in travel Suspension Rear “WSBK” Aluminium swing arm, 4-way adjustable; 4.7-in travel Brakes Front 320 mm Dual floating disc brakes, ABS Brakes Rear 220 mm Single disc brake; ABS Tires Front 120/70 ZR 17 Tires Rear 190/55 ZR 17 Fuel Tank Capacity 16 L / 4.4 US gal ELECTRICAL Ignition TCI: Transistor Controlled Ignition Headlight LED Tail Light LED DIMENSIONS Overall Length 2,073 mm (81.6 in) Overall Width 848 mm (33.4in) Overall Height 1,151 mm (45.3 in) Wheelbase 1,441 mm (56.7 in) Seat Height 822 mm (32.4 in) Curb Weight 193 kg (427 lb) OTHER Warranty 3 year

The physiological changes that take place around a woman’s period can affect her training. Experts assess when to take it easy – and when you should go hard Women all experience their menstrual cycles differently – so a blanket approach will not work (posed by model) When Evgenia Koroleva started learning about her menstrual cycle and the effect it was having on her, week to week, she says: “It blew my mind. Why did I know so little about my body?” A gym owner, Koroleva has since created a training programme based around an individual’s cycle, which she says will optimise results. Hers is not the first to take the menstrual cycle into consideration when it comes to exercise. Interest has grown hugely in recent years, with elite athletes tracking physiological changes and coaches educating themselves about the effects. For the rest of us, there are apps and cycle trackers, but the area is still woefully under-researched (blame male-dominated medicine and sport). There are also a lot of conflicting results, while almost half of the existing studies are low quality, says Kelly Lee McNulty, a PhD student at Northumbria University, who is investigating the effects of the menstrual cycle on performance, adaptation and recovery. “While performance and training based on the menstrual cycle is such an interesting concept, and very po[CENSORED]r at the moment, there’s not enough published high-quality evidence,” she says. (There is even less on the impact of hormonal contraception on exercise performance, so where we refer here to the menstrual cycle, it is for women who are not on the pill or using an implant.) However, there are generalities that could be helpful for some women. Here is how your cycle may be affecting your workout. Get to know your cycle The 28-day cycle is split into two halves – follicular and luteal, either side of ovulation. Very broadly, taking a 28-day cycle as the textbook example, McNulty defines the most-relevant phases as early follicular (days one to five), with low oestrogen and progesterone; late follicular (days six to 12), with high oestrogen and low progesterone; and mid-luteal (days 20 to 23), with high oestrogen and progesterone. “Women are so different; we experience our menstrual cycles differently and a blanket approach is not going to work for everyone,” she says. Collect your own data, she advises – there are numerous apps, but a notebook is fine – “and then look for patterns”. If one week you can blitz a high-intensity workout and the next you can barely make it through, it doesn’t mean your fitness has gone backwards. If your motivation is suffering, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. It could all simply be hormonal. “Then you’ve got hormone fluctuations daily, so it all becomes more complex,” McNulty says. Try exercising through the symptoms “There are more than 150 symptoms, like breast pain, headaches and nausea … potentially, that’s a time to decrease training if you’re not feeling it,” says McNulty. “But then it’s also been shown that moderate-intensity exercise, like yoga, is beneficial for premenstrual symptoms.” Around days three to five of your period, oestrogen starts to increase, “so you might be starting to feel better and up for exercise around that time”. Koroleva says: “Training on your period is a good way to offset your symptoms.” Push yourself up to week three … In the late follicular and the mid-luteal phases, oestrogen is higher. McNulty says one of its many effects is to help build muscle mass. “This is when we can really push female bodies,” says Koroleva. “For the first three weeks, we push you in terms of strength training and add cardio to it. Our bodies don’t have a huge amount of testosterone, but it rises during ovulation and this makes it an ideal time to really push, because of the energy levels.” This is the time when you might set your personal bests and “sail through high-intensity training”, she says. However, it is not a given. “In that mid-luteal phase, progesterone rises; that has its own physiological effects, so you might not notice that difference,” she says. “It’s just being aware of what might work for you.” … but be wary of injury around ovulation time There is some evidence that, when oestrogen is high, around the late follicular phase, there is an increased risk of injury, because the hormone makes ligaments and tendons more lax. For instance, an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (in the knee) may be more likely. “It’s something to be aware of, but I would never say not to train,” says McNulty. “But if you know this phase might have certain increased injury risks, you could warm up better.” Get to know your cycle and you’ll know when a yoga day is most beneficial (posed by model). Take advantage of oestrogen While it might make you more prone to injury, oestrogen also provides benefits. It is thought to have a positive effect on mood, “so this might increase your motivation to train,” says McNulty. “It has neuromuscular effects as well, so it can signal to increase your ability to activate your muscles. There is evidence to suggest that our ability to recover from training is improved, as oestrogen is thought to have a protective function against muscle damage.” It also reduces the inflammatory response, so it could reduce muscle soreness. “This might mean that we recover more quickly and therefore adapt to training more readily.” Burn fat Oestrogen is also thought to reduce the amount of carbohydrate the body uses as the fuel for exercise, instead burning fat. “In theory, it might be that, when oestrogen is high, your body might use more fats for energy – but, again, there are conflicting research findings,” says McNulty. There is some evidence that the metabolism speeds up towards the end of the cycle (and this may be why you get cravings for carbs). “On any weight-loss programme, the point is to put the body into a calorie deficit,” says Koroleva. However, if you go too far, it can be counterproductive. “If you’re trying to lose weight and you’re in the second phase of your cycle, if you’re doing high-intensity training and you don’t add carbohydrates and increase your calories, your body can actually start to hold on to the weight. It’s almost counterintuitive, but, because of the hormonal changes, the calories need to increase.” Don’t overheat in week four In the mid-luteal phase, progesterone rises along with oestrogen. This may limit some of the effects of oestrogen, but it has its own consequences, says McNulty. “It increases your basal body temperature, so, if you’re doing an endurance sport, you might be struggling in a hot environment a little bit more in that mid-luteal phase and you might have to adopt cooling strategies.” Progesterone is also a “calming hormone”, she says. It may increase sleep, but also can affect the way the brain picks up new skills. Trying to perfect a dance routine, or change your golf technique, may be more difficult during this phase. Take it easy “After the third week, taper down and do more restorative exercise, such as yoga or pilates,” says Koroleva. “It’s not the time to try to beat any records or do much strength training. If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s a really good time to do long walks and low-intensity training. In a world where we’re surrounded by these super high-intensity workouts and we beat our bodies into the ground, working with your cycle is a much kinder way to look after your body.”

Protests have spread across country since military coup, as citizens resist return to dictatorship. On Friday evening, after darkness fell, the sound of car horns and the clanging of pots and pans and metal railings echoed around the compact grid of central Yangon. It was the fourth consecutive night that people had gathered on their balconies to loudly voice their fury at the military junta now running Myanmar. It was Monday morning when the public had awoken to find that Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had won a landslide election in November, had been detained, and that the army had seized all legislative, judicial and executive powers. The country – which spent five decades under military rule before it began transitioning to democracy in 2011 – was once again under direct control of the army. Despite the army’s history of using deadly violence against demonstrators, protests have sprung up, and public rage is mounting. In Yangon on Thursday, small groups of activists played a cat-and-mouse game with police, holding impromptu protests before racing away to avoid being arrested. At Sule Pagoda a truck slowly released a cloud of red balloons into the sky – the colour of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party – to signal their loyalty to the ousted leader, who is now under house arrest with other senior officials. Doctors and nurses from Universities hospital in Yangon hold up placards as they participate in a civil disobedience campaign against the military coup. Drivers, meanwhile, threw flyers disparaging the army’s commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, from their car windows. On Friday, hundreds of students gathered at Dagon University on the outskirts of the capital, with smaller gatherings taking place elsewhere. The military has “beaten down” the people and destroyed their dreams, said one student, who demonstrated outside Yangon University. He asked to remain anonymous because he feared being targeted. “I hope our generation will be the last to experience military rule,” he said. A civil disobedience campaign has gained pace over recent days, with medics from dozens of hospitals refusing to work, as well as many teachers, students and youth groups. In photographs shared online, protesters wore red ribbons to show support for Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years in detention campaigning against military rule. Though internationally she has been condemned for her treatment of the Rohingya, at home she is considered by many to be a symbol of democracy. At protests they raise their hands in a three-finger salute, an anti-military gesture used by pro-democracy demonstrators in neighbouring Thailand. Yangon University Teachers’ Association members protest against the military coup by wearing red ribbons and raising three-fingered salutes. “I don’t want to look back some day and think that things did not change because I didn’t help bring change,” said a student in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan state. The people had been robbed by the military, he said. Aung San Suu Kyi aide arrested as Myanmar military seeks to quash unrest The authorities have attempted to halt any dissent, and fear of a violent response has deterred people from gathering for mass street protests. In Mandalay, the city’s police chief said protesters would be shot with rubber bullets, teargas would be used, and medical staff protesting outside hospitals would be arrested, according to police documents. About 30 people were reportedly arrested for taking part in pot-banging protests over recent evenings. Internet service providers were also ordered to block Facebook, the main mode of communication in Myanmar. To get around the restrictions, residents rushed to download virtual private networks – which the junta later said it also would ban – and turned to Twitter to share information. “People are more educated now and more willing to speak out against the military,” said Tun, 19. “We lived in fear, but we have had some years without it. We know our rights and we aren’t brainwashed any more.” Myanmar rings with pots and pans against military coup. The army has justified its takeover by accusing Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) of widespread fraud in November’s election, but has not provided credible evidence to prove this. The NLD won by a huge margin, taking 396 out of 476 seats, an even stronger performance than in 2015 when the country held its first free vote in decades. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party suffered a humiliating defeat, taking just 33 seats. The military was already hugely powerful before the coup, prompting some to question why Min Aung Hlaing decided to seize power. Under the constitution it maintains control of key ministries and is guaranteed a quarter of parliamentary seats. “This is clearly not in the long-term interests of the country or the Tatmadaw [armed forces],” said Richard Horsey, an independent political analyst based in Myanmar. A portrait of the army chief Min Aung Hlaing is burned. However, Min Aung Hlaing has made no secret of his desire to one day be president, and within the military there has long been resentment over the power-sharing arrangement. The recent election brought such grievances to a head, said Horsey. “I think there’s a lot of people in officer corps who genuinely believe the election was not free and fair,” he said. While the election process was not without flaws, there is no evidence to suggest the large-scale fraud that has been alleged. Speculation over Min Aung Hlaing’s ambitions matters little to Myae, 60, who wants anything but a return to power exercised through threats and violence. Roads, transport and electricity had improved in the last nine years, she said, unlike before 2011 when power was provided to different parts of Yangon on a rotary system. “The buses were cramped, run-down and made me feel like livestock en route to the slaughterhouse,” she said. The tilt towards democracy had helped her feel valued, she said, because the elected government “treats us more like human beings … without the need for stealth and suspicion”. Minority groups are especially fearful. Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya rights activist, said her community would be even more vulnerable to abuses. Hundreds of thousands remain stuck in camps in Rakhine, where they are denied freedom of movement and access to education or healthcare. “It’s much easier now for the military to squeeze people a lot harder than they have in the past because there is not even a perception of democracy any more,” she said, calling for the international community to support human rights defenders in the country, who are especially exposed. So far 147 people have been arrested, mostly activists and politicians. Despite such crackdowns, the nightly ritual of the clanging of pots and pans has been getting louder and more drawn out. A revolutionary song that was an anthem for the millions of people who opposed the military in 1988 is also being sung by many. For Tun, 56, who remembers the violence that was used by the military at that time, the peaceful protest is a sign of hope. “These moments in the nights make me believe there are so many more like me who want to be free from military rule,” he said.

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KTM’s V-twin adventure-touring rig gets adaptive cruise control and a new look. The 1290 Super Adventure S gets tighter steering geometry, updated suspension, adaptive cruise control and more for 2021. The 1290 Super Adventure S, KTM’s beastly street-oriented ADV-tourer, has been updated for 2021 with tighter steering geometry, updated semi-active WP suspension, radar-based adaptive cruise control, a new 7-inch TFT display, and more. Well, for the European market, anyway. But in light of KTM’s penchant for giving Europe a head start, we’re betting the 1290 Super Adventure S ends up on the North American new-for-2021 or -2022 list. If crushing mile after twisty mile without visiting your chiropractor afterward is your idea of a good time, the 2021 Super Adventure S would really like to be your friend. Updates include a shorter frame and longer swingarm, with the 1,301cc LC8 V-twin rotated forward 2 degrees and the rake/trail tightened from 26 degrees/4.7 inches to 24.7 degrees/4.3 inches for sharper handling without sacrificing stability. A new, taller windscreen is adjustable with either hand, and the LED headlight has a wider throw than before. While power output remains unchanged (KTM claims 160 hp at 8,750 rpm and 103.3 pound-feet of torque at 6,750 rpm), the high-strung twin is now even lighter thanks to thinner engine cases and a redesigned oil system. A revised Pankl gear mechanism improves feel and performance from the optional Quickshifter+, and new radiators shed heat away from the rider. The current Super Adventure S already boasts numerous rider aids, but the 2021 model throws down with adaptive cruise control, a first for KTM. This radar-based system, developed with Bosch, automatically maintains spacing from vehicles ahead and can be adjusted in five levels from Very Short to Very Long. With 160 hp (claimed) on tap and an optional Rally riding mode that unleashes all the beast’s potential, the 1290 Super Adventure S is ready to get as frisky as you dare. The semi-active WP suspension also gets an updated Suspension Control Unit that magnetically adjusts damping in real time and offers more rear preload adjustability than before. A new six-axis Bosch IMU is the brains behind the MSC (stability control), cornering ABS, and MTC (traction control). There are four standard ride modes: Rain, Street, Sport, and Offroad, with a Rally mode offered as an option. The rider controls the Austrian wizardry via redesigned switch gear with programmable favorites, all viewable on a new 7-inch color TFT display that is Bluetooth compatible and ready for KTM’s My Ride app. New 7-inch TFT display is larger and more intuitive, with KTM My Ride functionality. Redesigned bodywork wraps up all these goodies in a black-and-orange package. Three fuel tanks are utilized—a small tank up top and two larger tanks on the sides—employing the same centralized-mass principle of the 790 Adventure R. The windscreen adjusts over a 2.2-inch range with either hand. The new shorter seat height is adjustable from 33.4 to 34.2 inches. It remains to be seen whether we will get similar options, but Europe’s 2021 KTM 1290 Super Adventure S will be available as a base model with three factory packages available. The Rally Pack features the Rally riding mode with associated MTC setting and adjustable throttle response. The Suspension Pro features individual damping for the fork and shock, automatic preload adjustment with three settings, and an On/Off Anti-Dive. The Tech Pack gives you all that and a bag of chips: all of the above plus Motor Slip Regulation, Hill Hold Control, Quickshifter+, and an adaptive brake light. The 2021 KTM 1290 Super Adventure S puts the “sport” in adventure sport. US pricing is, of course, not yet available. But we’ll be on the lookout for news regarding if and when the updated Super Adventure S will be on its way to our shores.

The United States Navy sent a guided-missile destroyer through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the first time a US warship has gone through the waterway that separates China and Taiwan during the Biden administration. The Japan-based USS John S McCain made the routine transit in accordance with international law, Lt. Joe Keiley, a spokesperson for the US Navy's 7th Fleet, said in a statement. "The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows," Keiley said. The issue of self-governed Taiwan has been one the first big foreign policy challenges for US President Joe Biden. Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades. On the first weekend of the Biden presidency, China dispatched two large formations of warplanes close to the island, prompting Taipei to take defensive measures including scrambling fighter jets to monitor the Chinese flights. US warships transiting the Taiwan Strait are seen by Beijing as provocations that threaten stability in the region by encouraging supporters of Taiwanese independence. The last transit occurred on New Year's Eve when the McCain and a second destroyer, the USS Curtis Wilbur, went through the strait, according to US Navy statements. US warships transited the waterway 13 times in 2020, according to the US 7th Fleet, the most since 12 such transits in 2016, the final year of former President Barack Obama's administration. The US showed a strong commitment to Taiwan's defense during former President Donald Trump's administration by approving the sale of sophisticated military hardware to Taipei, including F-16 fighter jets, advanced missiles and main battle tanks, while sending high-level envoys to the island. Recent statements from the Biden administration suggest there will be no pullback on these actions. "There's been a strong and long bipartisan commitment to Taiwan," new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his confirmation hearing last week. "Part of that commitment is making sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself against aggression. And that is a commitment that will absolutely endure in a Biden administration."

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Nintendo reportedly scrapped a live-action Legend of Zelda series with Netflix after news of the project leaked and circulated online. As reported by Eurogamer, US comedian Adam Conover, who was working on a secret Star Fox claymation project around the same time, revealed that Nintendo canceled its proposed slate of video game adaptations with Netflix after someone from the company allegedly spread the word about the Zelda series. The Wall Street Journal shared details of the adaptation and Nintendo rescinded the show. "Suddenly there were reports Netflix wasn't going to do its Legend of Zelda anymore," Conover recently recalled, speaking on The Serf Times podcast. "I was like 'what happened?' And then I heard from my boss we weren't doing our Star Fox anymore. I was like 'what happened?' He was like, 'someone at Netflix leaked the Legend of Zelda thing.' They weren't supposed to talk about it, Nintendo freaked out... and they pulled the plug on everything, the entire programme to adapt these things." News of the prospective live-action Legend of Zelda series with Netflix hit headlines back in 2015 when "a person familiar with the matter" reportedly told WSJ that the streamer had described the upcoming show as "Game of Thrones for a family audience," with a story that would follow Link's conquest to save Princess Zelda and the land of Hyrule. However, little more was said after that. In the years since then, video game adaptations have become big business on Netflix as the games market has experienced rapid growth, and interest in gaming has exploded even more so during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Netflix wants to be the service that players turn to when they need to take a break from gaming, and the streamer is making big moves to make it happen.

Learning to drive is still a rite of passage for young people in the UK, and buying your first car is the natural next step. Yet it can be a fraught process, with many factors to consider. Finding a car that’s not only affordable to buy but offers the right combination of safety, equipment and yes, even desirability is difficult enough, but doing all that while keeping insurance costs as low as possible can be very tough indeed. However, today's young drivers who can buy new can enjoy all of those factors, as the low end of the market where they’ll be looking at is jam-packed with slick city cars and superb superminis. Today’s small cars often have all the essential equipment you’d expect, as well as some you might be surprised at. What to look for in a first car The biggest hurdle facing most young drivers is a financial one. Even with the bank of mum and dad helping out, the costs of owning a car can be prohibitive enough to keep many on the bus even after they’ve passed their driving tests. It's worth noting that many drivers will choose to spend their first years in an inexpensive used car rather than purchasing brand-new, which is often a sensible move. But even with a couple of years experience, it can still be very expensive to run a car - so the principles of buying a first car still apply. The most difficult cost to stomach is that of insurance. As a new driver with no experience, you’re a risk to insurance companies and as such will attract sky-high premiums. There are a few ways to help lower this cost, such as opting for a black-box policy or adding an experienced named driver to your plan, but it all starts with the right car in a low insurance group. As much as you may want a powerful first car with a beefy engine, that will ramp up your insurance cost at a frightening rate. The lowest insurance groups in a car’s range correspond with the smallest and least powerful engines – they’re almost always powered by petrol, and fitted with manual gearboxes. Safety is important – inexperienced young drivers do statistically have a lot of accidents, so for peace of mind it’s best to opt for a car with as high a crash test rating as possible. This is one area where opting for a newer car will have great benefits over one that’s even a few years old – active safety features such as autonomous emergency braking have the ability to stop an accident before it turns into an expensive crash. Then of course, there are all the important qualities to look for in a car regardless of when you’re buying it. Good visibility, responsive engine, a no-nonsense interior with controls placed in logical spots and enough practicality to cover your usual needs. We’ve rounded up our pick of the best first cars for young drivers below. Read on for our picks, or click on the links below to jump straight to the model you’re interested in. Best first cars for young drivers 2021 Renault Clio Volkswagen Up Kia Picanto Ford Fiesta Fiat 500 Peugeot 108 Skoda Fabia Hyundai i10 Nissan Micra Volkswagen T-Cross Renault Clio Taking home the Parkers Award for "Best First Car" means the Clio gets top billing on this list – simply put, we think it’s the best small car you can buy at the moment. The Clio’s success story begins with its good looks. Superficial, yes, but fashion-conscious young buyers want something that looks fresh, and this certainly does. That carries over to the inside, where all Clios get an up-to-date dash design. Mid-spec trim levels have all the tech you’d want, while top-end cars get some really premium stuff like digital dials, a 9.3-inch portrait infotainment touchscreen, and wireless charging. A range of frugal and fun engines cap things off, but it’s the value proposition where this car distinguishes itself. It’s cracking value on finance and significantly cheaper than most of the competition to buy outright, too. Opt for the 75hp engine and insurance is only Group 3 – perfect for a young driver. Price new: From £15,895 Lease this car: From £161 per month Volkswagen UP There aren’t too many city cars around these days, with most manufacturers deciding it’s too difficult to make a profit on such small, cheap cars. That means, however, that the ones left are really excellent little vehicles – and we think the Up is one of the best of the bunch. It’s roomy for such a tiny car – there’s space for four six-foot adults at a pinch, and it can even come with five doors so it’s easy to get into and out of. It even has a reasonably-sized boot, at 251 litres in capacity. It’s an absolute hoot to drive, too. It may only have 60hp on offer from its 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engine, but the Up is a tenacious performer and handles like a dream, with supple suspension striking a great balance between ride comfort and cornering performance. Most models are in insurance group 1 or 2, and unless you’re driving like a loon you’ll see fuel economy approaching 60mpg. Price new: From £12,705 Lease this car: From £201 per month Kia Picanto This brilliant city car takes a more conventional approach than the Volkswagen, with a sporty edge to its styling but a very straight-edged and sensible interior. It offers a great blend of practicality and dependability, plus the peace of mind that comes with Kia’s impressive seven-year warranty. The Picanto’s offered with either a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine or a 1.2-litre four-cylinder – it’s the former you’ll want, as it’s in insurance group 4 rather than 8. It has plenty of pep for nipping around town, though, and doesn’t feel too strained on faster roads either – though you’ll certainly need to stir the five-speed manual gearbox more than you would in a more powerful car. The Picanto’s interior feels incredibly premium for such a small car, with high-quality materials and the option for high-end features such as heated seats or a big infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. It’s not quite as chic as some of its rivals, but the Kia Picanto is a wonderfully sensible city car that’ll do stellar duty for a first-time driver. Price new: From £10,995 Lease this car: From £157 per month Ford Fiesta Even if you didn’t learn to drive in a Ford Fiesta chances are you’ll still be familiar with this massively po[CENSORED]r supermini. It’s been the best-selling car in the country for years and for good reason – British buyers can’t get enough of its perky character and ease of operation. Driving a Fiesta just feels right – Ford’s perfected the formula to the point where even an unexperienced driver can feel right at home behind the wheel in a matter of moments. Insurance for the basic (but still well-equipped) Trend model starts at Group 4, when equipped with the peppy 1.1-litre Ti-VCT engine. Better yet, all models come with all the equipment you could reasonably want, including air-conditioning, remote central locking, and a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It looks cool without trying too hard, drives like a dream and should prove cheap and dependable to own and run. What could possibly be better than that? Price new: From £16,640 Lease this car: From £175 per month Fiat 500 Fiat’s retro baby is massively po[CENSORED]r – since it was launched in its current form back in 2007, it’s sold thousands of examples in the UK, and plenty of those have been as a first car. It’s easy to see why the 500’s so po[CENSORED]r among young buyers. It’s cute and dinky, with pastiche styling that’s not overdone – the 500 may be common on the roads, but that doesn’t make it any less desirable. Basic 500s are cheap to buy, too, though the price does begin to climb if you peruse the options list. Don’t think of that as too much of a negative, though – you can personalise a 500 like very few other cars on the road, meaning that your model doesn’t have to be the same as anybody else’s. Insurance groups for the basic 1.2-litre engine start at a low 5 – which is ideal, as it’s the engine we’d recommend, blending strong efficiency with more than enough power for a city car. Price new: From £13,020 Lease this car: From £150 per month Peugeot 108 The 108 is part of a trio of city cars which also includes the Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo. Mechanically, these three models are nearly identical, but we think the 108 is the most attractive of the bunch - it's available in a selection of funky colours and, if you're buying used, a range of two-tone finishes. You can even opt for a 108 Top, which is Peugeot shorthand for a full-length fabric sunroof turning this tiny city car into a dinky psuedo-convertible. Though insurance groups start at a comparatively high 6, this won't be a problem for many because of Peugeot's 'Just Add Fuel' finance offer. This is available to drivers as young as 18, and lumps purchase cost, VED and yes, insurance into one easy-to-digest monthly payment. The 108 isn't really a class-leading city car any more, as it's a little gutless and unrefined - but it's good fun to sling around town, has a well-laid-out interior and a great reputation for reliability inherited from its Toyota underpinnings. It's also one of the smallest of its kind on sale, making it an absolute doddle to drive and park. Price new: From £12,785 Lease this car: From £190 per month Skoda Fabia The Skoda Fabia may not be the most desirable first car next to style icons like the Fiat 500 or MINI; instead, it's a pragmatic choice. Available as a five-door hatch or a truly cavernous estate, the Fabia has space aplenty in both the back seat and the boot, while its dashboard is a model of simplicity and intuitiveness. Remarkably, considering the Fabia's comparatively large size, it starts in insurance group 1 with a 75hp engine. The lower-powered 60hp petrol, which we don't recommend as it struggles with the Skoda's bulk, is in insurance group 2. Price new: From £14,605 Lease this car: From £213 a month Hyundai i10 What's not to like about the Hyundai i10? This is a car that so effectively proves small doesn't have to mean cheap-feeling, cramped or unrefined, it almost makes you wonder why anybody bothers with anything larger. The i10 can seat four comfortably in an amazingly small footprint and retains one of the largest boots of any city car, making it ideal if you're the first of your friends to get a driving licence. It's not just the space on offer - the i10's interior is exceptionally good. It's well-designed, well-screwed together and packed with equipment, even some more familiar to larger cars like a fully-featured infotainment touchscreen. The basic 67hp 1.0-litre engine isn't a pocket rocket but it's more than enough for everyday use and doesn't feel too out of its depth on the motorway, and the ride is particularly comfortable, too. Low running costs and a long warranty help matters further. The only sticking points are a slightly high purchase price and insurance groups starting at a high 5 - but i10s tend to be driven sensibly, so you may be able to negotiate a lower quote. Price new: From £12,820 Lease this car: From £177 per month Nissan Micra Okay, no teenager in the country lusts for a Nissan Micra - with an image that's more blue rinse than Blue Lagoon, the particularly fashion-conscious can look away now. But look at things more pragmatically and you'll notice that the Micra is big, it's handsome, it's safe, and it's in insurance group 1. The current Micra really isn't deserving of its retirement-home image, either. It shares a lot of its technology, including its engines, with the Renault Clio, and while we wouldn't consider the 71hp 1.0-litre option you need for that low insurance group a particular firecracker, it's more than adequate for a first car. The Micra also has a stylish interior with plenty of equipment - especially on top-spec versions which retain the group 1 insurance classification. We're particular fans of the Bose stereo, which adds speakers in the headrest for a more immersive music experience. Price new: From £14,500 Lease this car: From £182 per month Volkswagen T-Cross You might be surprised to see a small SUV on this list. But remember, not every young person is a care-free hippy with flowers in their hair. Young people with kids will benefit hugely from the T-Cross. It's not all that much bigger than a hatchback like a Ford Fiesta, but it is taller, making it easier to get a child's seat in and out of. The boot is clever too. It's deeper than the Volkswagen Polo supermini, while most models will have a variable-height boot floor too. Good for getting tall items in there. In terms of cash, it is the most expensive on the list. Leasing and PCP finance deals mean it's only a touch more expensive than other cars on this list on monthly payments. While Admiral reckons it's among the cheapest cars in the UK to insure for young people. Price new: From £18,360 Lease this car: From £202 per month

After criticism last year for an early rollout, Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate disease, according to an interim analysis of the vaccine's Phase 3 trial results. The preliminary findings were published in The Lancet on Tuesday and are based on data gathered from 19,866 participants, of which around three-quarters (14,964) received two doses of the vaccine and a quarter (4,902) were given a placebo. Sixteen cases of symptomatic Covid-19 were confirmed in the vaccine group 21 days after participants received the first vaccine dose. Sixty two cases were found in the placebo group -- equating to an efficacy of 91.6%. The trial included 2,144 people over the age of 60 and a sub-analysis conducted on this group revealed the vaccine was well tolerated and had a similar efficacy of 91.8%. The team also analyzed the efficacy of the vaccine against severe and moderate Covid-19 disease and 21 days after the first dose no severe or moderate cases were reported in the vaccinated group, while 20 were reported in the placebo group. Serious adverse events associated with vaccination were also rare -- less than 0.2% in people who received the vaccine. The majority of side-effects that were reported were mild side, such as pain at the injection site, flu like symptoms and low energy levels, according to the study. The analysis includes only symptomatic cases of Covid-19, however, and the authors note more research is needed to understand the vaccine's efficacy against asymptomatic Covid-19, transmission and how long protection may last. The majority of participants in the trial were also white so further research is needed to confirm the results across other ethic groups. The trial is also ongoing and is aiming to include a total of 40,000 participants. Dr. Inna V Dolzhikova, co-lead author of the study, said the analysis suggested the vaccine had "high efficacy, immunogenicity, and a good tolerability profile in participants aged 18 years or older." Dolzhikova works at Russia's Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, which developed the vaccine. The people in the trial were given PCR Covid-19 tests when they received the second shot. They took a further test if they reported symptoms of respiratory infection. The Sputnik V vaccine is a two-dose adenoviral vector vaccine using two different adenoviruses for each dose, with doses administered 21 days apart. With this type of vaccine, an adenovirus is altered so that it can deliver a piece of genetic material from the virus that causes Covid-19 into the body and get cells to express the spike induce found on the virus and induce an immune response. It's an approach similar to the vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. The authors say that using a different adenovirus vector for the booster vaccination may help create a more powerful immune response. One advantage of adenoviral vaccines is that they do not need to be stored and transported in extremely cold temperatures, scientists say. Sputnik V only needs to be refrigerated and costs $10 per dose, according to Russian Direct Investment Fund, which funded vaccine production and is responsible for selling it globally. "This is a useful addition to the published data on Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness," Dr. Julian Tang, clinical virologist at the University of Leicester. But he highlighted that "median follow up was 48 days from the first dose, so the study cannot assess the full duration of protection." The vaccine's production has been funded by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is also responsible for selling it globally. The vaccine is already approved in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia and the Palestinian territories. Sputnik V has so far been administered to more than 2 million people worldwide. Russia drew criticism from scientific circles last year when it approved Sputnik V for public use in August -- before the crucial Phase 3 trials had been completed. "Despite the earlier misgivings about the way this Russian Sputnik V vaccine was rolled out more widely -- ahead of sufficient Phase 3 trial data -- this approach has been justified to some extent now," Tang said. "The vaccine trial results are coming thick and fast as high infection rates in areas where Phase 3 clinical trials provide increasing amounts of data that together encourages us to believe that vaccines will soon be able to drive down the human cost of Covid-19," added Alexander Edwards, associate professor in Biomedical Technology at the Reading School of Pharmacy, University of Reading. "Manufacturing may remain a bottleneck for months to come, so the more vaccines available, the better for global health," he said.

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