#Drennn.

Depuis le 10 janvier 2019, une crise présidentielle est en cours au Venezuela, rendant incertain le tenant de la présidence. Celle-ci oppose le président sortant, Nicolás Maduro, à Juan Guaidó, soutenu par le Parlement, qui considère illégitime la réélection du premier. Juan Guaidó s'autoproclame président par intérim le 24 janvier 2019 et obtient la reconnaissance de plusieurs pays. L'élection présidentielle de mai 2018 a abouti à la réélection du président sortant Nicolás Maduro. Toutefois, de nombreuses irrégularités ont été relevées, menant plusieurs observateurs à douter de la validité de l'élection5,6 et à considérer que Maduro gouverne le pays de façon dictatoriale, mais sans efficacité7,8,9. Des personnalités politiques nationales et étrangères ne peuvent croire que Maduro ait été légitimement élu10. Dans les mois précédant son investiture le 10 janvier 2019, Maduro est encouragé à démissionner par plusieurs États et organisations internationales dont le Groupe de Lima (hormis le Mexique), les États-Unis et l'Organisation des États américains, l'insistance croissant après l'investiture de l'Assemblée nationale le 5 janvier 201911,12,13. L'Assemblée nationale a été privée de la plupart de ses pouvoirs en 2017 après être passée à l'opposition en 201614. Nicolas Maduro et son gouvernement reçoivent le soutien de l'Assemblée constituante, tandis que Juan Guaidó est soutenu par l'Assemblée nationale, contrôlée par l'opposition. Bien que l'élection de Maduro a été saluée par la Chine, la Russie, le Mexique, et l'Alliance bolivarienne pour les Amériques, de nombreux pays et organismes internationaux ont soutenu l'Assemblée nationale dans son rejet de la légitimité de Maduro, dont certains ont coupé leurs relations diplomatiques, et d'autres ont appelé à la démission ou à la destitution de Maduro. Maduro a répondu à ces accusations en dénonçant « l'impérialisme américain », et a comparé l'ingérence étrangère au colonialisme. Juan Guaidó, nouvellement élu président de l'Assemblée nationale du Venezuela, a entamé des motions[Quoi ?] pour former un gouvernement de transition dès qu'il a pris ses fonctions le 5 janvier 2019 ; selon lui, que Maduro commence son mandat le 10 janvier ou non, le Venezuela n'aurait pas de président légitimement élu19. Au nom de l'Assemblée nationale, il fut l'un des premiers à dénoncer le maintien de Maduro à la présidence, estimant que le pays était de facto"tombé en dictature" et n'avait plus de dirigeant20, et que l'Assemblée nationale se considérait en état d'urgence. C'est dans cette déclaration qu'il a appelé pour la première fois au coup d'État, exhortant « les soldats qui portent leur uniforme avec honneur de faire un pas en avant et de faire appliquer la Constitution » qu'il a demandé « aux citoyens leur confiance, leur force, et de nous accompagner sur cette route ». Il a alors annoncé qu'il tiendrait un cabildo ouvert le 11 janvier, qui prit la forme d'un meeting dans les rues de Caracas où l'Assemblée nationale annonça que Guaidó prenait le pouvoir comme lui permettait la Constitution du Venezuela, ainsi qu'un projet de destitution du président Maduro. Il était aussi prévu lors de ce cabildo ouvert de laisser parler des dirigeants d'autres partis politiques et de syndicats, des femmes, et des étudiants. Les dirigeants d'autres partis n'ont pas parlé de leurs dissensions, mais de ce qu'ils considèrent comme la faillite de la révolution bolivarienne qu'ils appellent donc à renverser. Les étudiants ont été représentés par Rafaela Requesens (en) (présidente de la Fédération des centres d'étudiants de l'Université centrale du Venezuela) et Marlon Díaz ; Requesens a appelé à l'unité, militant pour que tous les Vénézuéliens de tous bords politiques œuvrent avec les organisations internationales qui les soutiennent à la destitution de Maduro. José Elías Torres, de la Fédération unifiée des travailleurs vénézuéliens, a lu un manifeste de leurs opinions, prêtant allégeance à Guaidó. La première réponse de Maduro au cabildo fut de traiter l'opposition de « petits garçons », décrivant Guaidó comme « immature ». Plus menaçante, Iris Varela, ministre des Services pénitentiaires, indiqua qu'elle avait déjà choisi une cellule pour Guaidó, et lui demanda de nommer rapidement un cabinet afin de la laisser se préparer pour eux aussi.

Countries that want to buy Russian armaments must be aware of the possible consequences. This was warned by a senior US administration official commenting on the supply of Russian Su-35 fighters in Egypt. The representative referred to the CAATSA Anti-American Countermeasures Act. He has already had a similar situation with China, with India, with Turkey, which is a NATO ally. That is why we would like to call on countries wishing to maintain and broaden their relations with the United States in the military sphere to accept this law very seriously, "he said. In mid-March, Russian Commerce News reported that Russia and Egypt had signed a contract for the delivery of Cairo's Su-35 fighter jets. Additional publications were published in 2020-2021. Russia's Federal Military and Technical Cooperation Office earlier reported that Russia and Egypt in the second half of 2018 did not enter into airplane delivery contracts.

Mihaela Rădulescu, PRO TV's FERMA showcaster, revealed to us, in an exclusive interview, how the 18 contestants behind the cameras are doing, how difficult is actually the life on the Farm and who are the sensational moments we're going to see at the Farm. Mihaela, what relationship do you and Cristi Bogzan have with your competitors? Are you impartial "bystanders," mentors or friends? We have somehow divided our roles - "good cop, bad cop", but we are not linear, we adapt to what happens in FERMA every day. Cristi is more constant to be authoritarian and more distant, and I'm still listening to what's hurt. We both abstain from showing any sympathy or antipathy, we try not to interfere with the internal affairs of the house, but ... we all know and we want to observe the rules and not get the major sparks of any conflict. Read also: Silviu Ţolu, the model that posed with Gigi Hadid. The person who encouraged him to attend the Farm How do you think, from a subjective perspective, that your competitors are doing it? I'm their fanfare from the very beginning. I admire it because it resists without phone, without loved ones, without chocolate, without internet, movies, alignments ... You said subjectively, so I figured out what limits I would have :)). Some have adapted right away, others have begun to ruin, human is everything that's going on there, eventually. Then I am surprised that some did not know how to hammer on the hammer or cut it, but, behold, they all learned something for the rest of their lives. How hard is it for them to be pulled out and tossed so far away from that good bubble, from their comfort zone? Depends on what they're uploading. Rengle, for example, said that this whole thing with the Farm is a personal experiment, he wants to find out more about him, about his limits. When you have a solid motivation, you can adjust more easily, I think. When you do not know exactly what you want and why you get into this, it starts to irritate you all. We have very beautiful and strong characters here, but we also have aspirants :). I am fascinated by their evolution, their capabilities, and even their good or ... hysterical reactions. Mihaela, how is the shift you were talking about, how is it without stylish dresses, heels and scene effects? Much simpler, actually. Much closer to ... me. I feel great in jeans, jerseys, sweaters, hats, cowboy hats, jackets ... It's a natural dress that is very matched with the mood of a reality. Sure, I kept my stylistic sense and I do not even dress up like a piste, but I feel great in clothes that are not on stage. Mihaela, before you filmed, you said that "FERMA" is a reality show that tests limits, outlines frustrations, fears, but also unprecedented ambitions so far. After you were filming, do you think you could tune this statement through some concrete examples? Look, I'll give you a concrete example - Ame, the first competitor to leave FERMA. I was very dear to myself, it was the kind of sunshine, so, always on the smile, positive and totally out of the showbiz. Doctor and instructors of zumba, beautifully educated, piano and good manners. He lost the duel because he did not even know how to nail, cut or cut wood with the ax. Sure, we forgive every impotence, that she just ate years of beautiful learning to be a Doctor, but so she also discovered she had some limitations. It's not fundamental, we just do not all know how to do it all, but in Farm you do not resist without even knowing the country's basic work. How is it possible to follow the evolution of such different people? And what, in fact, is the biggest challenge for the people there at the end of the day? It's like an action movie, you cling, you want to see what's next, which one, who with whom. Think only that you are suddenly thrown in intimate cohabitation with a group of people you do not know at all, who are not your friends, and with whom you have to share the bedroom, sometimes the bed, the bathroom, the food never enough. and daily air. You sleep and wake up with the same faces. Some are consistent, some are changing, some are seeing work, others are digging for others. It's funny, it's exciting, it's even irritating, but it all makes you want to see where each goes. I think the most exciting challenge is psychic resistance, the balance that you have to find without too much support. What do you make this adventure at Farm to be a memorable one for them? We give them as much as they did not think they could go - without sweets, no meat, no touch, no telephones or any other form of communication - only work, difficult duels, cold, surprises not always pleasant, major changes in regulation the previous seasons, and a mentor that everyone is afraid of, because Cristi is the one who gives them tasks, rewards or punishes them. You have one minute (only one) in the Super Bowl ad slot and you can not sell it. With what You have one minute (only one) in the Super Bowl ad slot and you can not sell it. What time from Farm did you fill it up? The faces of the six competitors who fired the unsuccessful lot and were sent to live in an isolated mountain cottage without running water, no toilet, no shower, no time is known. Their faces when they saw the bench where they would sleep 3 girls and 3 boys, fitted with the same faces a week after two, when panic was gone, fear and ambition, the power to make that home a place and from that close family. Everything is a human experiment and it's damn inspirational. You get to appreciate everything that until then was worth nothing at all, because it was at your fingertips, you can enjoy yourself and build with your hands something that you have never tried in playing ever. If you were to make an unofficial promo for FERMA, how would that sound? Why do we need to forget? There are a lot of ideas - Miss Romania greatly cherishing the cow, Brigitte redeeming godly for all, the millionaire Pastram digging their pit of their future toilets, the wolves screaming in the woods at night to archer all the competitors, the tears of annoyance competitors coming out of the Farm, I in the snow to the knees, to get to the Farm or go with the off-road ATV because we were totally snow-capped, Cristi and his sensational lessons of survival in the wild ... Hard to choose ... After everything you've seen in FERMA so far, do you think you could live, say, six months a year on a real farm in the mountains? Honestly not. It's not a choice I would make in any life scenario, but if it would force my life to get to a farm, I would not have either left hand. I'm skilled at housework, garden, farm, I knew how to do things, and now I've learned a lot. Who's doing better on the farm, boys or girls? It is a very interesting equality in many respects. We have ambitious, hardworking girls with few exceptions - but you'll catch yourself who does not like work. Source:here

Nous avons reçu ces jours-ci une lettre si spéciale que nous voulons la partager avec nos clients, nos collaborateurs et tous ceux qui contribuent à ce que le Grupo Porcelanosa soit une fenêtre ouverte sur la créativité, le talent et le leadership d’un secteur emblématique. « En mai dernier, ma petite fille (8ans) a visité votre usine avec ses camarades de classe. Elle est revenue enchantée de tout ce qu’elle y a vu : les dimensions, l’organisation, les bicyclettes (surtout celle de la “ruladora”), les techniques utilisées pour voir la résistance des nouveaux matériaux, la salle avec les photos des célébrités… Elle a halluciné. Elle a dit textuellement en revenant: « Je n’avais jamais vu tant de beauté dans une usine.» Il a fallu regarder tous les catalogues qu’on lui a donnés et… voilà le motif de ma lettre. Cet été nous faisons des travaux dans la maison et nous voulions mettre du parquet mais… grâce aux catalogues de Porcelanosa, nous allons faire poser un de vos grès qui imite le parquet et qui est superbe. Étonnant, non ? Sachez que les visites des enfants ne sont donc pas inutiles, et ce n’est pas en changeant le sol de ma maison que je vais vous faire vivre, mais ces enfants et leurs familles ne sont pas prêts d’oublier que Porcelanosa est une grande marque. Merci. » Eva Vidalros. La lettre d’Eva et la description enthousiaste de sa fille nous comblent d’orgueil et de joie. Et nous renforcent dans nos valeurs et nos défis: travailler dans le présent, créer le futur, atteindre l’excellence.

The automotive industry in Italy is a quite large employer in the country, it had over 2,131 firms and employed almost 250,000 people in 2006.Italy's automotive industry is best known for its automobile designs and small city cars, sports and supercars. The automotive industry makes a contribution of 8.5% to Italian GDP. Italy is one of the significant automobile producers both in Europe and across the world. Today the Italian automotive industry is almost totally dominated by Fiat Group; in 2001 over 90% of vehicles were produced by it. As well as its own, predominantly mass market model range, Fiat owns the upmarket Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands and the exotic Maserati. Italian cars won in the European Car of the Year annual award one of the most times among other countries (including Fiat most that any other manufacturer) and in World Car of the Year award also. The Italian automotive industry started in the late 1880s, with the Stefanini-Martina regarded as the first manufactureralthough Enrico Bernardi had built a petrol fueled tri-cycle in 1884. In 1888 Giovanni Battista Ceirano started building Welleyes bicycles, so named because English names had more sales appeal,and in October 1898 he co-founded Ceirano GB & C with his brothers Matteo, and Ernesto to build the Welleyes motor car. As they encountered challenges of scale and finance they contacted a consortium of local nobility and business-men led by Giovanni Agnelliand in July 1899 Fiat SpA purchased the plant, design and patents – so producing the first F.I.A.T. – the Fiat 4 HP. The Welleyes / F.I.A.T 4 HP had a 679 cc engine and was capable of 35 km/h (22 mph). Isotta Fraschini was founded in 1900, at first assembling Renault model automobiles. The automobile industry grew quickly and manufacturers included Aquila Italiana, Fratelli Ceirano, Società Anonima Italiana Darracq - Darracq, Diatto, Itala, Junior, Lancia, Società Ceirano Automobili Torino, S.T.A.R. Rapid, SPA, and Zust. During the first and the second World Wars and the economic crisis of the 1970s, many of these brands disappeared or were bought by FIAT or foreign manufacturers. Fiat 124, 1967 European Car of the Year, the ancestor Soviet (Lada) and Turkish (TOFAŞ Murat 124, TOFAŞSerçe) mass car industry Fiat 127, 1972 European Car of the Year, the catalyst of Spanish (SEAT) and Yugoslavian (Zastava) automotive industry Over the years Italian automobile industry has also been involved in numerous enterprises outside Italy, many of which have involved the production of Fiat-based models, including Lada in Russia, Zastava and Yugo in the former Yugoslavia, FSO (Polski Fiat) in Polandand SEAT (now part of Volkswagen) in Spain. In the 1960s and 1970s Italy restored own large auto industry that was 3rd or 4th in Europe and 5th or 6th in the World. In 1980s Italy overtook the United Kingdom but has conceded to Soviet Union that, like Spain, Poland and Yugoslavia, found large-volume production of cars by Italian FIAT help. The 1970s and 1980s were a time of great change for the car industry in Europe. Rear-wheel drive, particularly on family cars, gradually gave way to front-wheel drive. The hatchback bodystyle, first seen on the Renault 16 from France in 1965, became the most po[CENSORED]r bodystyle on smaller cars by the mid-1980s. Fiat moved into the hatchback market at the small car end in 1971 with the 127 hatchback, followed by the Ritmo family car in 1978. By the end of the decade, the more upmarket Alfa Romeo and Lancia marques had also added hatchbacks to their ranges. The Italian motor industry's flair for innovative design continued in the 1980s, with its Uno supermini (1983) and Tipo family hatchback (1988) both being voted European Car of the Year mostly in recognition of their up-to-date and practical designs. The Uno was one of the most po[CENSORED]r cars in Europe throughout its production life, although the Tipo was not so po[CENSORED]r outside Italy. The Uno's replacement, the Punto, was launched at the end of 1993 and achieved similar success to its predecessor, while its earlier Cinquecento played a big part in boosting the size of the city car sector in Europe during the 1990s. It entered the new compact MPV market in 1998 with the quirky six-seater Multipla, having already entered the full size MPV market halfway through the decade with the Eurovan as part of a venture with Peugeot. In 1990s Italian auto industry became again 3rd in Europe and 5th in World with annual output near 2 million (with 2,220,774 maximum in 1989). But in 2011 it fell below 800,000 for the first time in half a century and is now 6th place in Europe and 19st place in the World. Italy today remains one of the significant players of car design and technology, and Fiat has large investments outside Italy including 100% stake in the American automaker Chrysler as of January 2014. Fiat's fortunes have been helped since 2007 by the huge success across Europe of its new Fiat 500 city car, although the 500 is manufactured in Poland and Mexico, rather than in Italy.

The brand's first all-new battery-electric vehicle, a 'performance utility vehicle' that it says is "inspired" by the Mustang, is set to debut later this year. It will have a WLTP-certified range of 600km between charges, or 370 miles. The Mach 1, named in reference to its Mustang-derived styling features, has been confirmed as a globally engineered model, with UK deliveries starting in 2020. Few other details of the car have been released at this stage. Ford is also working on an electric crossover, codenamed CX430, which will be built on the C2 platform used for the new Focus. That machine has been in Ford’s product plan for several years. Opinion: why Ford needs more crossovers The CX430 will be additional to the Kuga and, since it is based on the front-wheel-drive C2 platform, it is expected to be conventional hatchback-like, with a slightly raised driving position. Ford has identified ‘white paper’ models like the CX430 to replace saloons and hatches in its US line-up. Further crossovers with Mustang design cues and front-drive chassis are a strong possibility because they combine “the best attributes of cars and utilities, such as high ride height, space and versatility”. Ford to ditch Fiesta and saloons from US line-up by 2020 If the vehicles are sized appropriately, European sales are likely. Ford's push into EVs followed news that Ford is dropping the Fiesta (below), Focus, Fusion and Taurus from its North American line-up. The end of the Fiesta in the US had been rumoured for some time, because fuel prices have dropped and the economy has recovered, allowing US buyers to return to their preferred larger vehicles. Decisions on the replacements for the Fusion and Taurus have been pending for a couple of years too. Ford’s new CEO, Jim Hackett, has acted decisively and made the announcement at a financial conference in the US, momentously ending Ford’s 110-year presence in the US passenger saloon market. “We are committed to taking the appropriate actions to drive profitable growth and maximise the returns of our business over the long term,” said Hackett. Analysts said Ford had previously signalled that the mix of car models in its range was forecast to drop to just 10% in the US, leaving 90% of its sales as SUVs and trucks. “This pull back is really just an admission of the stark North American market reality, especially for American brands,” said IHS Markit analyst Colin Couchman. “Buyers keep shifting to SUVs and crossovers. 'Big-three' sedan [saloon] sales have been very dependent on poor-quality fleet sales.” Ford US rivals Chrysler and Dodge have taken similar action under Fiat ownership, killing the mid-sized 200 and Dart saloons and instead investing in Jeep SUVs and Ram pick-ups. Between them, Chrysler and Dodge sell just two saloons – full-sized rear-wheel-drive platform twins, the 300 and Charger. Ford will retain only the Mustang and Focus Active passenger cars on sale after 2020, although its bread-and-butter SUVs and trucks such as the Explorer and F-Series pick-up continue. The end of the Fusion and Taurus can also be seen in the context of a drive to simplify and reduce Ford’s global platforms to just five. Currently, it has 11. When Alan Mulally took over as CEO in 2006, it was 17. In the future, Ford strategy will revolve around an emerging-markets small-car platform (Ka), the C2 (Focus), a mid-sized SUV platform (Explorer), an electric car platform (Mach 1) and full-sized truck platform (F-Series). The loss of production volume of the Fusion raises a question over the future of the Mondeo in Europe, because they share the same platform. In the short to medium term, Ford Europe is understood to have mapped the future of the Mondeo to the mid-2020s, although the picture after that remains fluid. “The Ford Mondeo remains a core part of our product line-up in Europe. We have upgrades coming for Mondeo later this year and Mondeo continues to deliver on its promise of great driving dynamics, leading technologies and competitive pricing,” Ford said in a statement. Details of the autumn upgrade are understood to include a new 2.0-litre diesel engine, codenamed Panther, which will be EU6d-compliant for the new WLTP driving cycle, with its real-world emissions and fuel economy testing, plus a new interior and tweaks to the exterior styling. The interior changes are tipped to include a new dashboard moulding incorporating the Fiesta/Focus-style infotainment system with a high-set tablet-style touchscreen. However, to keep the Mondeo in production to the mid-2020s, Ford Europe will have to fund developments to keep up with legislation without the volume of the US Fusion to offset costs. Analysts believe Ford Europe is prepared to do this for the next five to seven years, helped by a reasonable degree of financial stability, since it has been reliably profitable for the past two years and has had a strong start to 2018. But the crunch will come around 2020-2022 when Ford Europe will have to decide whether to go it alone with its own Mondeo replacement. At last year's Geneva motor show, Ford Europe boss Steve Armstrong told Autocar it was too early to consider the future of the Mondeo, although he conceded that the large saloon sector continues to shrink. “We are constantly updating the car, from new transmission and engine options to a hybrid version and the Vignale trim. The interest is strong and we are a way off having to consider replacing it,” he said. A lifeline for any new Mondeo is the Focus’s new C2 architecture, which is understood to be sufficiently flexible to allow multiple track widths, wheelbases and firewall heights. This allows a large variety of vehicles to be spun off a single component set, like Volkswagen’s adaptable front-wheel-drive MQB set-up. High-cost items such as the electrical system and powertrains can be carried over from the Focus to the Mondeo. But justifying the unique development and tooling costs for a new body and interior and chassis tuning and certification costs will be a bigger challenge, as sales will be small. A planning volume of around 60,000 a year could be expected. Ford’s component costs won’t be able to take advantage of the huge volume that rivals such as the VW Group can. Ford’s sales volume in Europe of all hatchback models – the Ka, Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo – is forecast to be 520,000 units this year, plus a further 36,000 saloons. By the time Ford needs to make key investment decisions about the Mondeo, Ford’s hatchback volume is forecast to fall by another 40,000 units. When the first Mondeo was launched in 1992, it contributed 350,000 units alone but was already on the slide to 250,000 for the Mk2 Mondeo in 2000. VW can plan on a volume of all brand variants of the MQB A/B Polo/Golf/Passat of around five million. At the key decision-making moment in 2021, Ford’s SUV sales are forecast by IHS Markit to have risen to nearly 400,000 units. That is key production volume for overall planning purposes but, in the decade from 2011 to 2021, Ford Europe’s ratio of hatchback to SUV sales will have moved from 10:1 in favour of hatchbacks to just about an equal split of 1:1, reflecting the huge increase in po[CENSORED]rity of SUVs. Given the continuing slide in sales of volume-brand large saloons and hatchbacks, and the rise in po[CENSORED]rity of SUVs, it is hard to see market demand for the Mondeo providing sufficient volume to keep the nameplate alive. One possible conclusion is that Ford Europe ideally needs to find a partner to share volume on future hatchback developments to maintain a presence with all nameplates in the European market. Bronco set for comeback in 2020: While Ford is betting on its upcoming electric car, it’s also bringing back a famous name, the Bronco, to reinvigorate its SUV line-up. The original Bronco arrived in 1966 and become an iconic model for Ford but was withdrawn in 1996. The last we saw of the Bronco was a concept shown in 2004. But last year, Ford said the name would return on a global SUV in 2020. It will take on the Jeep Compass and be more rugged than Ford’s current mainstream SUVs as the firm bids to reclaim the off-road market.

Sitting on the veranda of a semi-detached log cabin managed by members of the indigenous Truku tribe, I close my eyes and draw breath. The air is thick with a sweet, nocturnal symphony of insects and chirruping cicadas, which envelops me like a swooning lover beneath a sky studded with twinkling white jewels. Under the cover of almost perfect darkness nestled between the sleeping giants of Taroko National Park’s mountains, the secluded Taiwanese plateau thrums with the electricity of urgent, unstoppable, unseen life. Mother Nature holds sway here and she can be ferocious. During humid summer months, monsoon and typhoon seasons follow in quick succession, deluging a small island state less than half the size of Scotland or Ireland, which experiences hundreds of tremors every year from shifts in the ocean’s tectonic plates off its eastern coast. Roughly 70 per cent of the island is mountainous, concentrating a po[CENSORED]tion of 23.58 million Chinese Taiwanese, mainland Chinese and indigenous peoples in Taipei to the north and Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan along the western coast. Venturing off these beaten tracks demands sturdy hiking boots, waterproof clothing and reasonable levels of fitness. I arrive in the urban jungle of the capital after a 13.5-hour flight from London, and pay due reverence to the blue-green glass curtain walls of Taipei 101, once the world’s tallest skyscraper until Burj Khalifa in Dubai reached even higher for the stars. Pomp and pageantry abounds, from the ceremonial rifle-twirling of hourly changing guards at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to the theatrical handiwork of chefs at Din Tai Fung (dintaifung-uk.com), who fastidiously fill, pleat and steam thousands of signature xiaolongbao soup dumplings. Before the sun sets, we undertake our first climb, scurrying up Elephant Mountain (so-called because one side looks like the trunk of a prostrate pachyderm) to savour the panoramic views of a cityscape as it flickers with ochre light. There are nine national parks on the island and Taipei provides a gateway to the scenic splendour of Yangmingshan. During a 90-minute drive north from the capital, we flirt with motion sickness on winding roads, stopping briefly to admire heaving boughs of cherry blossom, rhododendrons and blushing pink azaleas at the month-long Yangminghan Flower Festival. It’s just a short distance from the meticulously tended display through Beitou district to the start of Xiaoyoukeng Trail, which is dominated by the twin peaks of Mount Qixing. Rising 1,120 metres into this morning’s overcast skies, the dormant volcano is the highest vantage point in the park for hikers. Fumaroles and steam vents at the base spew sulphurous emissions across jagged crystal formations and wind-sheared grasslands on the northern slopes. Bilingual warning signs about poisonous snakes and wasps on the trail inspire nervous glances into the arrow bamboo groves, which provide a gently swaying guard of honour at the start of the 1.6km ascent. Further up, vegetation has been battered into submission by monsoons, but groves of bird-lime trees – which usually grow at higher altitudes – take root in the unusual climatic conditions. Chinese silvergrass flourishes close to the zigzagging trail – its robust flower spikes are tinged red by the sulphur fumes. As the uneven stone pathway rises, becoming so steep in places that I’m forced to use hands and feet to clamber up rain-slicked steps, I feel my legs burn. Rhythmic intakes of air almost drown out occasional hoots of wheeling birds, concealed within the rolling mist. Roughly an hour after we begin the climb, the wooden marker of the summit materialises out of the swirling vapour. On a clear day, you can see the Datun volcano group to the north and the confluence of the Keelung and Xindian into the mighty coiling serpent of the Dan Shui River. Today, Mother Nature has a chest cold and rewards our exertions with coughs and splutters of icy air. The vertiginous descent along the East Peak path has a couple of heart-stopping moments when my hiking boots threaten to lose grip and I imagine tumbling headfirst into the dense broadleaf forest that provides shelter to weevils, assassin bugs and scarab beetles. Thankfully, I defy gravity and placate my shaking legs with a soothing dip in the Lengshuikeng hot spring pool at the end of the trail. The 40-degree cascade of water feels delicious against my skin.

The former US vice-president posted a video on Twitter saying he will in future respect personal space. Mr Biden stressed he has only ever intended to build a "human connection", rather than make anyone uncomfortable. He has not yet announced whether he will join the 2020 Democratic field. Joe Biden stumbles in age of #MeToo Joe Biden, the touchy-feely politician "Social norms are changing, I understand that, and I've heard what these women are saying," the 76-year-old Biden said in a video that looked like it had been recorded in a mobile phone. His statement follows accusations against him of unwelcome touching from four women in recent days. Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state assembly member, last week said that Mr Biden had kissed her on the back of the head at a campaign event. This week a second woman, Amy Lappos, said Mr Biden had rubbed noses with her at a fundraiser in 2009. On Tuesday, Caitlyn Caruso, a 22-year-old former college student, told the New York Times that at an event three years ago Mr Biden rested his hand on her thigh "even as she squirmed in her seat to show her discomfort" and hugged her "just a little bit too long". A 59-year-old writer DJ Hill told the newspaper that at a fundraising event in 2012 Mr Biden put his hand on her shoulder and then started dropping it down her back, which made her "very uncomfortable". The reaction among Democrats has been mixed. White House hopefuls Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Amy Klobuchar had called upon Mr Biden to answer the accusations. But House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Mr Biden, saying the allegations should not disqualify a presidential run. In the wake of the controversy, a pro-Trump political action committee, the Great America, released a video titled "Creepy Joe Biden". The video, which uses cable TV footage of Ms Flores detailing her Biden encounter, suggests the former vice-president is setting a bad example for US children.

Motor shows are brilliant, aren’t they? Where else can you see the very latest metal, get all excited and then realise that you can’t afford any of it? Never mind that you now have sore feet, aching calves and indigestion from that burger, the main take away from the Geneva motor show is going to be that you can’t… Either the latest thing is going to cost a fortune or be filed under ‘interesting concept that will never get made’. There is an alternative: a people’s motor show that includes old models that have depreciated and other oddities. Step this way. A is for Aston Martin and news that it will make a mid-engined supercar is, I suppose, par for the big-brand course. It hasn’t done that before, apart from the prototype DBR1. We would be inclined to buy a Virage: relatively affordable and head turning, and not DB derivative. Hand-built almost 30 years ago and in need of a rebuild now, 1992 examples can start at £59,990. That brand-new BMW 7 Series facelift: they’re not getting any prettier, are they? Instead, go for a proper 750 Sport from 2002-08 with 108,000 miles – £6495 from a trade seller with a warranty and all depreciated out. Just check the electrics and suspension. Goodness me, the Honda e prototype is so cute. Well, it was. Seems to be a five-door now and is all electric. We would stick with the cute hybrid that not enough people bought in the pocket-rocket shape of the CR-Z. One owner from 2010 with 55,000 miles is £5890. A full history is all you need for reassurance. Renault Clio? Sure, there is a new one with a high-tech interior, but there’s a slew of pre-registered cars in your local ‘showroom’. They’ve all got the big dog-bone grille and look like the new ones, but are cheaper. A 2018 1.2 Play with just over 1000 miles is £8630 when previously it was £13,950, so be prepared to feel smug. The new Volkswagen Beach Buggy looks grim rather than fun and inevitably it is electric, but the whole point of the original was a buzzing air-cooled engine and wacky GRP bodykit. A 1978 GP long-wheelbase with a 1600cc engine can be just £7495. Less than the battery lease. Otherwise, look for cracked bodywork and a rusty floorpan. Not everyone seems to be a fan of the all-new Toyota Supra. Each to their own, of course, but the last time we officially imported one to the UK in the shape of the Mk4, it was reassuringly ‘out there’ with the pram-handle rear wing. These are £9000-plus, with show and extreme cars at £20,000-plus. The previous generation is cooler and cheaper from £2500 with an MOT. Will anyone actually care that the Skoda Superb has been facelifted? Probably not. Reason enough, then, to seek out a slightly used one. There are some nearly new cars available at money off, but better to get a 2011 3.6 DSG with four-wheel drive that sounds very useful. With 97,000 miles, that will be £5750. It won’t have been used as a taxi. A new 208 should liven up Peugeot, but better to shop for the previous model. A Puretech Allure 1.2 with just over 5000 miles can be bought from a main agent or car supermarket for £9999. There is only one serious sports car and it still makes sense, even if the roof is missing. A cabriolet really isn’t designed as a hard driving machine and if you want to pose then be honest, any Porsche 911 will do. A 2005 997 with 60,000 miles is £23,995 at a specialist. Still looks very contemporary and all you have to worry about is scored cylinder bores and the old IMS (intermediate shaft bearing) issue. Nice to see an iconic name coming back, and what is more evocative than the Bentley Blower-inspired Continental GT special edition? It will cost a big fortune, so let’s spend a slightly smaller one on a Bentley Continental 6.0 W12 GT Speed. You’ll pay £39,000 for a 2010 with 60,000 miles and you can get a special-edition ‘Series 51’. Facelifts are coming at us faster and more furiously than ever. The Mercedes-Benz GLC is a case in point, so why bother upgrading to the latest SUV iteration when the current one still does a job? A 2015 220d 4Matic Sport with 48,000 miles is £22,295. Just out of warranty and no real issues, apart from cosmetic ones. Here’s the thing: Seat’s new electric hatchback can’t be bought until, well, at least next year. So you could get all excited about it but delay the gratification. Instead with £10,000 to spend, get a 2014 Leon 2.0 TDI FR, which will do comfortably more than 70mpg. There will be 35,000 miles on the clock, but it delivers everything a buyer would need, including an FR bodykit. Hanging around the supercar stands is going to be depressing. There is a new Pagani, Koenigsegg Agera RS successor and Lamborghini Huracán Evo. So how could we deal with that, or the fact that there isn’t the relaunched TVR to drool over? Answer: buy the best Sagaris you can find. It still looks incredible. Buy a 2006 with a full three-year engine warranty from a specialist and it is going to be at least £70,000. The Smart Forease+ has been a long time coming and an even more funky electric open-top could be the answer to an awful lot of environmentalists’ dreams. Well, one who wants a speedster-style Smart at least. However, rather than join any sort of waiting list or harbour reservations about the roof, there is an alternative. A third-generation Smart Fortwo Cabrio 55kW Electric from 2014 with 16,000 miles at £10,000 has to be a possibility. So all is not lost in Geneva, especially when you find a great value old-shape Ssangyong Korando. A 2017 2.0SE for £10k.

Face it: you are not the same person as when you were 20 years old. As you get older, it changes from your brain to your metabolism. Your body is in continuous transformation and that's why your diet should be too. With each decade that passes, the risk increases that you can suffer serious health problems and your diet plays a very important role in the prevention of many diseases. The good news is that the sooner you start concentrating on building new eating habits, the more your life expectancy will grow. We should be great, but the reality is very different. By following some lightning diets we come across the well-known "rebound effect" because we eat the same thing once we lose the weight we wanted ... And when you reach 40, the impact is much greater than before. As we approach middle age, the metabolism slows down and muscle mass is lost, which means that the regimens of years ago no longer serve us just for nothing. Quiet, you just have to start to follow the tricks to lose weight appropriate to your age as those collected by 'Men's Health'. At 30: eat for your heart Life hits you. You no longer feel like a youngster and the responsibility of work and independence (if you have been lucky) keeps you busy and less active, which can reduce your energy and metabolism and make you gain weight more easily. And the more fat, the higher your blood pressure will be. Your task is to eat a balanced diet and several snacks throughout the day. This will ensure that your brain has a constant supply of nutrients when you need it. Since hypertension is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and deaths, control of blood pressure is a valuable prognostic to prevent major problems. The choice of a proper diet is essential to prevent it and especially for those people with genetic predisposition to have high blood pressure. Most cases can be controlled by changes in lifestyle. A diet low in sodium and rich in potassium reduces the vasoconstrictor effect on the blood vessels produced by adrenaline. Angel Planells, spokesperson for the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, mentions that it is an obligation to consume plenty of seasonal vegetables rich in potassium: especially garlic and onion, parsley, watercress, carrots, cabbage, spinach, tomato and cucumbers. Also legumes, whole grains and blue fish. On the other hand Planells ensures that cereals and refined flours, milk and dairy products, red meats, saturated fats (such as butter or pork fat) alcohol, sugar, sausages, coffee and spices like pepper and curry are the ones that should be avoided . At 40: devours fruits After 40 years, it is easier and faster to take weight and more difficult to get rid of them. Thanks to the deceleration of the metabolism, you could be burning 300 fewer calories than when you were 20 years old, according to the American Council on Exercise. While at an early age, diseases such as cancer or cardiovascular problems are not a concern, the risk rises after 40. In fact, cancer is the leading cause of death in women between 40 and 50 years old. , followed by heart disease, diabetes and stroke. At 50: eat for your bones After 50, most people lose interest in taking care of themselves and when they want to realize they weigh 15 kilos more and are not able to take them off. In the case of men, testosterone plays an important role, since it is a hydrophobic molecule, which adheres to body fat and helps build muscle. It also keeps insulin regulated in the body, which helps prevent diabetes. The problem? That the levels of testosterone decrease with the years, at a rate of around 1% per year after 50 years, which considerably facilitates the storage of fat, especially in the abdominal area.

Cheollima Civil Defense, a self-styled human rights group, reportedly fled with computers, a phone and hard disks. The group denied using force in the 22 February incident, saying it was "not an attack". However, a Spanish high court judge said the 10 assailants shackled, beat and interrogated embassy staff. It remains unclear why the raid took place. The group added: "It is to protect those who seek our help, and those who take great risk to protect others, that we cannot share more about the event at this time." It said it had "shared information of enormous potential value" with the FBI, the US intelligence agency, "under mutually agreed terms of confidentiality". The break-in occurred just days before a key summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam. What happened in the raid? On Tuesday Judge José de la Mata lifted a secret decree on the investigation, according to a document from Spain's High Court. The break-in began at 16:34 (15:34 GMT), it said, and most of the intruders fled at 21:40. The judge said the group had "identified themselves as members of a human rights movement seeking to liberate North Korea". One of their number, named as Adrian Hong Chang, allegedly gained access to the embassy by asking to see the commercial attaché, whom he claimed to have met previously to discuss business matters. His accomplices burst in once he was inside, the judge said. The sorry fate of diplomat defectors What it is like to vote in North Korea The group are accused of interrogating the attaché and trying to persuade him to defect. When he refused, they left him tied up in the basement, the judge said. Two other members of the break-in group were named as US citizen Sam Ryu, and a South Korean, Woo Ran Lee. The judge said that embassy staff were held hostage for several hours. One woman managed to flee, escaping through a window and screaming for help. Concerned neighbours quickly called the police. When officers arrived they were greeted by Adrian Hong Chang, posing as a North Korean diplomat in a jacket with a Kim Jong-un lapel badge. He told the police that all was well, and nothing had happened. That evening most of the group fled the embassy in three North Korean diplomatic vehicles, the judge said. Mr Hong Chang and some others left later via the back entrance using another vehicle. They split up into four groups and headed to Portugal, the court document said. Mr Hong Chang - a Mexican citizen who lives in the US - allegedly contacted the FBI to give his version of events five days later. What do we know about this group? Cheollima Civil Defense (CDC), also known as Free Joseon, is committed to overthrowing North Korea's ruling Kim dynasty. A video posted on its website and YouTube page purports to show one of the intruders smashing portraits of North Korea's communist leaders inside the Madrid embassy. CDC first came to prominence after taking credit for getting Kim Jong-un's nephew, Kim Han-sol, safely out of Macau after the assassination of his father. Kim Jong-nam - who was the North Korean leader's estranged half-brother - was murdered at an airport in Malaysia in 2017. Kim Han-sol: The open-minded nephew of Kim Jong-un Kim Han-sol has expressed his desire to go back to North Korea, and has referred to his uncle as a "dictator". 'Exposed from the shadows' Analysis by Laura Bicker, BBC News, Seoul The Cheollima Civil Defense has been a topic of conversation among journalists for months. Now, courtesy of Spanish High Court papers, we have the names of some of those suspected of being behind the raid on the North Korean embassy in Madrid. But there are still so many questions. Adrian Hong Chang was the leader, according to the Spanish High Court. Mr Hong Chang is a well-known North Korean human rights activist. He has helped defectors flee North Korea in the past. But where would he get the funding and the know-how to carry out an operation such as this? Mr Hong Chang is also said to have handed over all the documents and computers taken from the embassy to the FBI. Just days later reports started to appear in the US media giving more details about the raid, including sources linking the incident to the Cheollima Civil Defense. The group claims in its statement that this was a "betrayal of trust". The intelligence they gathered has certainly not saved them from potential prosecution, and they are now at risk of possible North Korean reprisals. Mr Hong Chang is undoubtedly a wanted man. Not only by the Spanish High Court, but most probably by Pyongyang. This operation has exposed a group which was once in the shadows and put it firmly in a legal spotlight where it may not want to be. What have authorities said about who is behind it? Sources close to the investigation reportedly told Spanish newspaper El País that the operation was planned perfectly, as if by a "military cell". And the attackers seemed to know what they were looking for. Spanish authorities suspect US intelligence agencies and their allies could have been involved in the attack, according to daily papers El País and El Confidencial. Victims of the alleged assault have reportedly told investigators the men spoke in Korean. El País even reports that two of the group have links to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA declined to comment to the BBC. Asked if there was any US government involvement in the raid, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told a regular news conference on Tuesday: "The United States government had nothing to do with this." Why would anyone attack the embassy? Reports say the attackers could have been looking for information on North Korea's former ambassador to Madrid, Kim Hyok-chol, who was expelled from Spain in September 2017 over North Korea's nuclear-testing programme. Mr Kim is now serving as a key envoy in North Korean talks with the US, and helped organise the summit in Vietnam. He also travelled to Washington DC with Kim Jong-un's right-hand man, Kim Yong-chol, in January.

Libya (/ˈlɪbiə/ (listen); Arabic: ليبيا‎, translit. Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya,[dubious – discuss]is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest. The sovereign state is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzanand Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, and is the 16th largest country in the world.Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world.The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over one million of Libya's six million people.The second-largest city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya. Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age. The Phoenicians established trading posts in western Libya, and ancient Greek colonists established city-states in eastern Libya. Libya was variously ruled by Carthaginians, Persians, Egyptians and Greeksbefore becoming a part of the Roman Empire. Libya was an early centre of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century, when invasions brought Islam to the region. In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli, until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. Ottoman rule continued until the Italian occupation of Libya resulted in the temporary Italian Libya colony from 1911 to 1947. During the Second World War, Libya was an important area of warfare in the North African Campaign. The Italian po[CENSORED]tionthen went into decline. Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951. A military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I. The "bloodless"coup leader Muammar Gaddafi ruled the country from 1969 and the Libyan Cultural Revolution in 1973 until he was overthrown and killed in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. Two authorities initially claimed to govern Libya: the Council of Deputies in Tobruk and the 2014 General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli, which considered itself the continuation of the General National Congress, elected in 2012.After UN-led peace talks between the Tobruk and Tripoli governments,a unified interim UN-backed Government of National Accord was established in 2015,and the GNC disbanded to support it.Parts of Libya remain outside either government's control, with various Islamist, rebel and tribal militias administering some areas.As of July 2017, talks are still ongoing between the GNA and the Tobruk-based authorities to end the strife and unify the divided establishments of the state, including the Libyan National Army and the Central Bank of Libya. Libya is a member of the United Nations (since 1955), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the OIC and OPEC. The country's official religion is Islam, with 96.6% of the Libyan po[CENSORED]tion being Sunni Muslims.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy cast his vote in Kiev A comedian with no political experience has won the most votes in the first round of Ukraine's presidential elections, according to exit polls. They say Volodymyr Zelenskiy - who played the president on TV - received 30.4% of the vote, with current leader Petro Poroshenko second on 17.8%. The two - who have expressed largely pro-EU opinions - are set to take part in a run-off election next month. Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko appears to have been eliminated on a projected 14.2%. "I'm very happy but this is not the final result," Mr Zelenskiy told the BBC's Jonah Fisher minutes after the exit polls were announced. Mr Poroshenko described his forecast second place as a "harsh lesson". The interior ministry says hundreds of electoral violations have been reported, but foreign observers say the vote appeared to be mainly smooth. A total of 39 candidates were on the ballot paper, and with none receiving 50% the top two will go forward to the run-off on 21 April. The Ukrainian president has significant powers over security, defence and foreign policy and the ex-Soviet republic's system is described as semi-presidential. Who is Volodymyr Zelenskiy? The comedian who could be president Mr Zelenskiy is aiming to turn his satirical TV show Servant of the People - in which he portrays an ordinary citizen who becomes president after fighting corruption - into reality. He has torn up the rulebook for election campaigning, staging no rallies and few interviews, and appears to have no strong political views apart from a wish to be new and different. His extensive use of social media appealed to younger voters. Mr Zelenskiy's readiness to speak both Russian and Ukrainian, at a time when language rights are a hugely sensitive topic, gained him support in Ukraine's largely Russian-speaking east. How did we get here? Mr Poroshenko, a chocolate magnate and one of Ukraine's wealthiest people, was elected in a snap vote after former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was toppled in the February 2014 Maidan Revolution, which was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and a Russian-backed insurgency in the east. Ukraine's presidential elections: five things to know The next president will inherit a deadlocked conflict between Ukrainian troops and the eastern separatists, while Ukraine strives to fulfil EU requirements for closer economic ties. The EU says that about 12% of Ukraine's 44 million people are disenfranchised, largely those who live in Russia and in Crimea, which Russia annexed in March 2014. Mr Poroshenko aimed to appeal to conservative Ukrainians through his slogan "Army, Language, Faith". Petro Poroshenko voted with his wife He says his backing for the military has helped keep the separatists in check. He also negotiated an Association Agreement with the EU, including visa-free travel for Ukrainians. During his tenure the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has become independent of Russian control. However his campaign has been dogged by corruption allegations, including a scandal over defence procurement, which erupted last month. Yulia Tymoshenko stood for president twice before Yulia Tymoshenko served as prime minister and ran for president in 2010 and 2014. She played a leading role in the 2004 Orange Revolution, Ukraine's first big push to ally itself with the EU.

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This time around, in a video posted to its Weibo account, the Chinese company showed off the device working in tablet mode and, after folding, regular phone mode to illustrate how seamlessly it can be tucked up and put away… in this case atop a cup of noodles. Xiaomi has said it is developing a device — the previous video included a call-out for ideas and feedback — so the project isn’t likely as advanced as soon-to-launch products from Samsung, Huawei or lesser-known Chinese brand Royole. Unlike those three, Xiaomi’s offers two foldable edges instead of just one. That would appear to present a much tougher challenge in terms of design and logistics, but this new teaser (and there’s no doubt Xiaomi chose it carefully) seems to show impressive results. The phone folds nicely in terms of hardware and software, but you’d imagine those edges will make it thicker than others. It’s all ifs and buts for now, though, since Xiaomi isn’t giving up details of what this product might become… or even whether it will become one at all. But Xiaomi being Xiaomi, you’d imagine that when it does drop, it won’t just be the two folds that set it apart from the rest. The Chinese firm is massively price-sensitive, so you can expect that it’ll price any foldable phone it releases much lower than the $2,000 or so that Samsung and Huawei are asking for their gen-one efforts.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) is looking to expand the reach of its internal software that could be shared with other government entities, seeking direction for a solution that can be hosted on premises or in the cloud. The DHS has published a request for information (RFI), specifically seeking direction from the market on where the SAP ERP system it has in place can be further utilised. It has also asked suppliers to provide information about available products that would "extend the capability of SAP core ERP to meet the end-to-end corporate business process needs of the department, and its shared services clients, corporate business functions". "This RFI process provides an opportunity for respondents to inform the department's potential future procurement processes and the scope and description of products and services which may be procured by the department," DHS wrote in the RFI. DHS said it wants its future ERP functionality to be as standard and out-of-the-box as possible, with minimal, or no, customisation. The resulting solution must be cloud-ready, but DHS said it "may adopt an on-premises and greenfields solution using SAP S/4HANA/ECC6.0 or a cloud solution". "The solution is intended to be cloud-ready so that cloud solutions can be incorporated when and if these are approved and to the extent they are not incorporated initially," the RFI states. Where the department's non-core ERP requirements are concerned, it wants to implement "strong, underlying, flexible, and scalable ERP platform SAP S/4HANA and ECC6.0". It also wants to ensure its overall non-core ERP is future-ready and that the components included in it are capable of evolving as service delivery requirements change and that development activities are "undertaken in a way that maximises software reuse opportunities for the department". It also wants the solution to lull current user dissatisfaction. Under the department's Corporate Modernisation Programme, the DHS is required to provide corporate services under a shared services arrangement with other Commonwealth entities.

Overview What is it? A convertible Ferrari Pista. Which means it’s the drop-top version of the Pista Coupe, itself a limited-run, track-biased über-488 - ‘Pista’ literally translating as ‘track’. Or ‘dancefloor’ depending on who you talk to, but that’s another story entirely. Anyway, it’s an origami-roof version of Top Gear’s ‘Supercar of the Year 2018’, and therefore the custodian of a great deal of weighty expectation, because no one really wants the Pista’s sterling efforts chamfered soft by a weaker, poseur-oriented sibling. That’s if you could accuse Ferrari’s fastest-ever, most-powerful and best-power-to-weighted convertible as not having enough bite to go with the racy aesthetic. Mind you, this one’s not a surprise, and the basics of the non-Pista Ferrari 488 Spider we know to be excellent: a neat little Z-fold, two-panel hardtop that electrically stows behind the seats (roosting over the engine) in about 14 seconds, up to speeds of 35mph. It still feels pretty cosy in there, mind - more like a lift-out roof panel than a full-on convertible - but there’s nothing wrong with the way it operates. Again, just like the standard 488 Spider, it looks excellent roof up or down, and darker-coloured cars hide the roof split lines better than light - and it doesn’t really lose any of the Pista’s ‘whoa’ factor when it turns up. Especially in yellow with a blue stripe. Saying that, spec all the lightweight options including full carbonfibre wheels and the Spider weighs around 50kg more than the ‘standard’ Pista, which is anything but standard, and itself up to 90kg lighter than a normal 488 GTB. All the other metrics are the same - so it’s got the same downforce and aero properties roof up, the same trick bits and carbonfibre extremities. Similar story with the engine, which is the same as the Coupe - a race-derived twin-turbo 3.9-litre V8 with 710bhp and 568lb ft, served up through a double-clutch ‘box and a selection of horrendously complicated differentials-slash-electronic programmes, capable of launching the car from 0-62mph in 2.85 seconds and on to a top speed of well over 200mph. I have no doubt it will hit these numbers. And just for reference, the Spider is indeed slower to 62mph than the Coupe, but if you can differentiate the 0.1 second difference when the Pista Spider launches and your face twangs back past your ears, you’re a more sensitive human than me. Basically it does everything a Pista does, but you always have the option of slinging back the roof and expanding your view/aural appreciation. Driving What is it like on the road? Let’s spoil the surprise - the Pista Spider goes as hard as the coupe, but you can hear it more clearly, and get a bit of a tan if it’s sunny. Dynamically there is a tiny, tiny difference, but it’s not enough to inherently change the way the car behaves. Yes, it weighs a little bit more than the Coupe, and if you’re on the right road, at a specific speed and have a Coupe to compare back-to-back, you might be able to figure out some minor correction of structural rigidity not found in the hardtop, but it’s negligible. So this one’s purely really down to personal choice, or whether you think a hard top track car is just that little bit purer of intention - which is absolutely valid. Just don’t go thinking that you’ll outrun someone in a Pista Spider with a Coupe, because you… uh… won’t. A lot of the impact comes from the engine, designed very specifically to mimic as much as possible the effects of a naturally-aspirated motor. Except that nothing atmospheric builds a wall of torque like this, or manages the boost so that each gear grabs hold of the forward view and headbutts you through it. It’s a monster. Each step on the Mannetino wheel-mounted switch brings a different character, faster shifting, harder edges. In Race mode, as that pedal drops and feeds digital amphetamine to the car’s ECU, strange things happen. Yes, air and fuel combine with a spark to make good things happen, but time and space get twanged like a guitar string, the world gets stretched like chewing gum. And your face looks like someone punched you hard in the forehead. The violent analogies seem to be the most appropriate. There’s wheelspin in third. And fourth if you’re heavy-handed and on a slightly slick surface. It’s streetfight quick - brutal and disorientating. But the best thing is that the Pista isn’t actually that much of a handful. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but getting to within 8/10ths of a Pista isn’t actually that hard - the combination of E-diff, side-slip control and all of Ferrari’s various other mechanical magics make it fairly easy to drive hard. Not easy to get the absolute maximum out of, but definitely no harder to drive than the 488 GTB, and some way short of the holy-cow-I’m-going-to-die razor edge of something like an F12tdf. It’s also interesting how natural all the tech feels. Once you start delving into the systems of the Pista, you realise there’s a set of controls so massively complex you have to sit down with expert instruction for several hours to prevent your brain simply liquefying and dripping out of your ears. But on the road it just feels… right. In fact, there are situations where the Pista feels almost four-wheel drive, dragging the front end around when you think it should wash wide, dealing with big bumps where you reckon it might just bounce. And the Spider does all of this with the exhaust howling harder than the Coupe, and the more intimate feeling of hearing those shotgun gearshifts engaging. Dropping from, say, fifth to second down through the gears for a tight hairpin is one of life’s great joys. Saying that, I probably need more hobbies.

The Juke Mk2, designed at Nissan's London studio, will be revealed towards the end of 2019 and go on sale in early 2020. It's the replacement for a model that's been on sale with few changes since 2010. With significantly less disguise than before, the new test mules show that the Renault Captur rival's design will evolve the distinctive shape of today's car but remain recognisable. Details such as Nissan's V-Motion grille, adapted from the Micra, will be brought in, with the back-end featuring a more angular look. In an exclusive interview last year, Nissan's global design boss, Alfonso Albaisa, claims the second-generation Juke “doesn’t look too much like the last one”, adding: “It doesn’t look like IMx [an electric crossover concept unveiled in 2017] or the new Leaf, either. It’s an urban meteor with a nasty attitude.” Albaisa quashed a rumour that the Juke replacement had been reviewed and rejected, saying: “[The Juke] is certainly coming soon. But it didn’t get ‘sent back’. I’m not sure where that story came from. It’s a very cool car, and it still has all of its attitude.” The original Juke was introduced at the 2010 Geneva motor show and helped to boost the po[CENSORED]rity of supermini-sized SUVs. In terms of sales, that class grew tenfold across Europe between 2010 and 2016, and by 2022, it's expected to double in size from its 2016 level of 1.13 million units. Juke sales have exceeded 100,000 per year in Europe four times to date, and the styling of the Sunderland-built car was considered an important contributor to that. “Our job was easier with the first one, because there was nothing else like it,” Albaisa told Autocar. “And that car’s success was so huge even given how polarising it looked. The second one couldn’t be derivative or evolutionary and still be a Juke. We’d almost have to change its name to Nancy otherwise.” The new Juke is likely to be built on a stretched version of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF platform, as used by the Renault Clio. It's expected to shun the naturally aspirated petrol engines that have accounted for much of its sales volume so far, instead using the turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder and 1.3-litre four-cylinder units used in the Qashqai. A 1.5-litre 109bhp diesel is likely to be offered, too, while four-wheel drive will be kept for automatic models higher up the range. Albaisa wouldn’t confirm whether the new Juke would be previewed by a show car, in the same way that the Qazana concept displayed at the 2009 Geneva motor show was used to test the water for the production car that followed. Given the riskiness of the original Juke’s styling and how well established the model has become, it’s likely that Nissan will maximise the impact of the new Juke by keeping it under wraps until the last moment.

Saudi Arabia (/ˌsɔːdi əˈreɪbiə/ (listen), /ˌsaʊ-/ (listen); Arabic: السعودية‎ as-Saʿūdīyah), officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia(KSA; Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية‎ al-Mamlakah ʿArabīyah as-Saʿūdīyah, pronunciation (help·info)), is a country in Western Asiaconstituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. With a land area of approximately 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), Saudi Arabia is geographically the largest sovereign state in the Middle East, the second-largest in the Arab world (after Algeria), the fifth-largest in Asia, and the 12th-largest in the world. Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south; it is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba. It is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland and mountains. As of October 2018, the Saudi economy was the largest in the Middle East and the 18th largest in the world.Saudi Arabia also enjoys one of the world's youngest po[CENSORED]tions; 50% of its 33.4 million people are under 25 years old. The territory that now constitutes Saudi Arabia was the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations. The prehistory of Saudi Arabia shows some of the earliest traces of human activity in the world.The world's second-largest religion, Islam, emerged in modern-day Saudi Arabia. In the early 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad united the po[CENSORED]tion of Arabia and created a single Islamic religious polity.Following his death in 632, his followers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering huge and unprecedented swathes of territory (from the Iberian Peninsula in the West to modern day Pakistan in the East) in a matter of decades. Arab dynasties originating from modern-day Saudi Arabia founded the Rashidun (632–661), Umayyad (661–750), Abbasid (750–1517) and Fatimid (909–1171) caliphates as well as numerous other dynasties in Asia, Africaand Europe. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of mainly four distinct regions: Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia (Al-Ahsa) and Southern Arabia ('Asir).The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud. He united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been an absolute monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamistlines.The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called "the predominant feature of Saudi culture", with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade.Saudi Arabia is sometimes called "the Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca) and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam. The state's official language is Arabic. Petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province.Saudi Arabia has since become the world's second largest oil producer (behind the U.S.) and the world's largest largest oil exporter, controlling the world's second largest oil reserves and the sixth largest gas reserves.The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Indexand is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies.The state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment.An autocratic monarchy,the kingdom has the world's third-highest military expenditureand, according to SIPRI, was the world's second largest arms importer from 2010 to 2014.Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power.In addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah (a transliteration of المملكة العربية السعودية in Arabic) by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud (Ibn Saud). Although this is normally translated as "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" in English,it literally means "the Saudi Arab kingdom",[34] or "the Arab Saudi Kingdom". The word "Saudi" is derived from the element as-Suʻūdīyah in the Arabic name of the country, which is a type of adjective known as a nisba, formed from the dynastic name of the Saudi royal family, the Al Saud (Arabic: آل سعود‎). Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the personal possession of the royal family.Al Saud is an Arabic nameformed by adding the word Al, meaning "family of" or "House of",to the personal name of an ancestor. In the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynasty's 18th-century founder, Muhammad bin Saud Prehistory Anthropomorphic stela (4th millennium BC), sandstone, 57x27 cm, from El-Maakir-Qaryat al-Kaafa (National Museum, Riyadh) There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago.It is now believed that the first modern humans to spread east across Asia left Africa about 75,000 years ago across the Bab-el-Mandeb connecting the Horn of Africa and Arabia.The Arabian peninsula is regarded as a central figure in our understanding of hominin evolution and dispersals. Arabia underwent an extreme environmental fluctuation in the Quaternary that led to profound evolutionary and demographic changes. Arabia has a rich Lower Paleolithic record, and the quantity of Oldwan-like sites in the region indicate a significant role that Arabia had played in the early hominin colonization of Eurasia. In the Neolithic period, prominent cultures such as al-Magar whose epicenter lay in modern-day southwestern Najd flourished. al-Magar could be considered as a "Neolithic Revolution" in human knowledge and handicraft skills.The culture is characterized as being one of the world's first to involve the widespread domestication of animals, particularly the horse, during the Neolithic period.Aside from horses, animals such as sheep, goats, dogs, in particular of the Saluki race, ostriches, falcons and fish were discovered in the form of stone statues and rock engravings. al-Magar statues were made from local stone, and it seems that the statues were fixed in a central building that might have had a significant role on the social and religious life of the inhabitants. In November 2017 hunting scenes showing images of most likely domesticated dogs, resembling the Canaan dog, wearing leashes were discovered in Shuwaymis, a hilly region of northwestern Saudi Arabia. These rock engravings date back more than 8000 years, making them the earliest depictions of dogs in the world. At the end of the 4th millennium BC, Arabia entered the Bronze Age after witnessing drastic transformations; metals were widely used, and the period was characterized by its 2 m high burials which was simultaneously followed by the existence of numerous temples, that included many free-standing sculptures originally painted with red colours. Pre-Islamic The Worshiping Servant statue (2500 BC), above one metre in height, the statue is much taller than any possible Mesopotamian or Harappan models The earliest sedentary culture in Saudi Arabia dates back to the Ubaid period, upon discovering various pottery sherds at Dosariyah. Initial analysis of the discovery concluded that the eastern province of Saudi Arabia was the homeland of the earliest settlers of Mesopotamia, and by extension, the likely origin of the Sumerians. However, experts such as Joan Oates had the opportunity to see the Ubaid period sherds in eastern Arabia and consequently conclude that the sherds dates to the last two phases of Ubaid period (period three and four), while handful examples could be classified roughly as either Ubaid 3 or Ubaid 2. Thus the idea that colonists from Saudi Arabia had emigrated to southern Mesopotamia and founded the region's first sedentary culture was abandoned. Climatic change and the onset of aridity may have brought about the end of this phase of settlement, as little archaeological evidence exists from the succeeding millennium.[49] The settlement of the region picks up again in the period of Dilmun in the early 3rd millennium. Known records from Uruk refer to a place called Dilmun, associated in several occasions with copper and in later period it was a source of imported woods in southern Mesopotamia. A number of scholars have suggested that Dilmun originally designated the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, notably linked with the major Dilmunite settlements of Umm an-Nussi and Umm ar-Ramadh in the interior and Tarout on the coast. It is likely that Tarout Island was the main port and the capital of Dilmun.Mesopotamian inscribed clay tablets suggests that, in the early period of Dilmun, a form of hierarchical organized political structure existed. In 1966 an earthworks in Tarout exposed ancient burial field that yielded a large impressive statue dating to the Dilmunite period (mid 3rd millennium BC). The statue was locally made under strong Mesopotamian influence on the artistic principle of Dilmun. By 2200 BC, the centre of Dilmun shifted for unknown reasons from Tarout and the Saudi Arabian mainland to the island of Bahrain, and a major developed settlements appeared in Bahrain for the first time, where a laborious temple complex and thousands of burial mounds that dates to this period were discovered. By the Late Bronze Age, a historically recorded people and land (Median and the Medianites) in the north-western portion of Saudi Arabia are well-documented in the Bible. Centered in Tabouk, Median stretched from Wadi Arabah in the north to the area of al-Wejh in the south.The capital of Median was Qurayyah,it consists of a large fortified citadel encompassing 35 hectares and below it lies a walled settlement of 15 hectares. The city hosted as many as ten to twelve thousand inhabitants.The Medianites were depicted in two major events in the Bible that recount Israel's two wars with Median, somewhere in the early 11th century BC. Politically, the Medianite were described as having decentralized structure headed by five kings (Evi, Rekem, Tsur, Hur and Reba), the names appears to be toponyms of important Medianite settlements.It is common view that Median designated a confederation of tribes, the sedentary element settled in the Hijaz while its nomadic affiliates pastured, and sometimes pillaged as far away land as Palestine.The nomadic Medianites were one of the earliest exploiters of the domestication of camels that enabled them to navigate through the harsh terrains of the region. Colossal statue from al-Ula (6th–4th century BC), it followed the standardized artistic sculpting of the Lihyanite kingdom, the original statue was painted with white At the end of the 7th century BC an emerging kingdom appeared on the historical theater of north-western Arabia. It started as a Sheikdom of Dedan, which developed into the Kingdom of Lihyan tribe.The earliest attestation of state regality, King of Lihyan, was in the mid-sixth century BC.The second stage of the kingdom saw the transformation of Dedan from a mere city-state of which only influence they exerted was inside their city walls, to a kingdom that encompass much wider domain that marked the pinnacle of Lihyan civilization.The third state occurred during the early 3rd century BC with bursting economic activity between the south and north that made Lihyan acquire large influence suitable to its strategic position on the caravan road. Lihyan was a powerful and highly organized ancient Arabian kingdom that played a vital cultural and economic role in the north-western region of the Arabian Peninsula.The Lihyanites ruled over large domain from Yathrib in the south and parts of the Levant in the north.In antiquity, Gulf of Aqaba used to be called Gulf of Lihyan. A testimony to the extensive influence that Lihyan acquired. The Lihyanites fell into the hands of the Nabataeans around 65 BC upon their seizure of Hegra then marching to Tayma, and to their capital Dedan in 9 BC. The Nabataeans ruled large portions of north Arabia until their domain was annexed by the Roman Empire.

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