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US President Donald Trump has announced alterations to a landmark environmental law, in a controversial move to allow projects to go ahead with less oversight. Mr Trump touted changes to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) as a "historic breakthrough". He said they would speed up reviews of major infrastructure projects. But critics say the changes amount to the dismantling of the 50-year-old law and are a giveaway to polluters. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970, the NEPA is considered to be the bedrock of environmental safeguards in the US. Under the law, federal agencies are required to be transparent and consult with the public before embarking on infrastructure projects that could impact the environment. But under the changes unveiled by President Trump, the time window for the review process will be shortened. This will speed up approval for projects such as mines, roads, pipelines and power plants. "This is a historical breakthrough that means better roads and highways," Mr Trump said, announcing the changes at a hub for delivery firm UPS in Atlanta, Georgia. "We are reclaiming America's proud heritage as a nation that gets things done." Mr Trump's choice of venue was symbolic, because the changes will expedite the expansion of the I-75, a major road for lorry drivers in Georgia. What else do we know about the regulatory changes? Speaking in Atlanta, Mr Trump said his administration was "completely modernising the environmental review process" for infrastructure projects. Mr Trump, a property magnate before he became president, said he had personally been frustrated by the "ridiculous process", which was "the single biggest obstacle to infrastructure projects". As part of the changes to the NEPA, the review time frame will be cut "down to two years or less", Mr Trump said. "What we're doing, the two years won't be the exception, it will be the rule. This will reduce approval time for highways alone by 70%," Mr Trump said. Ahead of the announcement, a White House official told US media: "The new regulations will modernise, simplify and accelerate the environmental review process necessary to build a wide range of projects in the United States, including roads, bridges and highways." What do environmental groups say? Environmentalists have condemned the changes as a cynical attempt to avoid scrutiny and circumvent the communities most affected by pipelines and other projects. The Center for Biological Diversity, an advocacy group, said the move will "weaken safeguards for air, water, wildlife and public lands". "This may be the single biggest giveaway to polluters in the past 40 years," said Brett Hartl, the group's director of government affairs. Greenpeace USA accused the Trump administration of "a blatant attempt to silence the working-class communities of colour" who were "resisting the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure". What is President Trump's record on environmental protection? Wednesday's announced changes are part of a much broader environmental rollback directed by the president, who has appealed for electoral support from America's beleaguered mining and farming communities. Since taking office in 2016, Mr Trump has slashed regulations on oil and gas development, weakened fuel emission standards for automobiles and proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act - a law credited with keeping hundreds of species from going extinct. So far, the administration has rolled back more than 100 environmental rules, according to New York Times analysis. In January this year, while announcing other changes to environmental policy, Mr Trump criticised existing "job-killing regulations", while insisting the US would maintain "world-class standards of environmental protection". "We have some of the cleanest air and cleanest water on Earth," Mr Trump said. The US is the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases. A report found carbon dioxide emissions rose by 3.4% in 2018 - the largest spike in eight years - after three years of decline.

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France is honouring its health workers at scaled-down events to mark the national celebration Bastille Day, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Authorities cancelled the traditional military parade but instead held a tribute to those tackling the virus. Invited audience members included families of French workers who died of Covid-19. The annual events mark the storming of Bastille prison on 14 July 1789, seen as the start of the French Revolution. It is the first time officials have called off the annual military parade through the capital Paris since the end of World War Two in 1945. President Emmanuel Macron gave a rare televised interview after ceremonies in the morning, in which he answered questions about the coronavirus pandemic and the state of the economy. How has France been celebrating? Around 2,000 French soldiers gathered for a ceremony in the Place de la Concorde. It began with a tribute to Gen Charles de Gaulle, who 80 years ago famously called on France to resist the Nazi German occupation in a radio address from the BBC in London. Though there has been no parade on the Champs-Elysées, the troops were honouring all those mobilised to tackle the coronavirus outbreak - including health workers and the armed forces. It comes the day after the French government agreed on pay rises worth €8bn (£7.2bn; $9bn) for French health workers. A traditional fly past included military aircraft as well as a transport plane used to carry Covid-19 patients at the height of the pandemic in France. Some 2,500 specially invited audience members - including the families of health workers who died during the pandemic - watched events from socially-distanced seating. Officials from four nations who took in French patients - Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland - were also invited to watch. Events have been closed to the public, although they were being televised. Many areas of Paris have been shut to prevent crowds gathering. Traditional fireworks by the Eiffel Tower will take place at 23:00 local time as a "symbol of the resilience of our capital and our nation and a tribute to all the everyday heroes who worked during the duration of the epidemic", a joint press release by city officials said. What about the coronavirus? In his televised interview, Mr Macron said he was in favour of making face masks compulsory in public indoor spaces to curtail the coronavirus pandemic, adding such a measure could come into force from 1 August. Masks are required on public transport across France, but are not mandatory in enclosed public spaces. France mostly has its national outbreak under control, but a number of public health officials have warned recently of the risks of a second wave, and Mr Macron mentioned during the interview that the outbreak was accelerating a bit. He also warned of a massive increase in unemployment, predicting that there could be another 900,000 jobseekers by spring 2021. Mr Macron cancelled the annual tradition of the televised interview on the day he took office in 2017. But critics have attacked his handling of the pandemic and his lack of television appearances. Po[CENSORED]r French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe resigned earlier this month as Mr Macron reshuffled his government in the wake of disappointing local election results. A court announced an inquiry into the French government's handling of the coronavirus response just hours after his resignation. France has confirmed more than 200,000 cases and some 30,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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A funding package of £705m to boost infrastructure on Britain's border with the EU has been announced by the government. Plans include border control posts and 500 more Border Force personnel. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the move would help the UK "seize...opportunities" post-Brexit. The funding follows a leaked letter from International Trade Secretary Liz Truss raising concerns about the readiness of Britain's ports. The UK left the EU on 31 January and is now in an 11-month transition period, during which existing trading rules and membership of the customs union and single market apply. What the UK's relationship with the EU will look like when the transition period ends will depend on whether a trade deal is reached. Customs checks on EU goods will be delayed until July 2021. The new funding will include up to £470m to build port and inland infrastructure, and £235m will be allocated for IT systems and staffing. It comes after a leaked letter, first reported by Business Insider, suggested Ms Truss had expressed concerns about the government's plans to phase in checks on EU goods coming into the UK after the Brexit transition period. Ms Truss reportedly warned fellow ministers that failing to impose full border controls until July could see increased smuggling from the EU, lead to legal challenges at the World Trade Organization, and even weaken the union with Northern Ireland. The UK government has ruled out extending the transition period in order to reach a deal. Mr Gove said: "With or without further agreement with the EU, this £705m will ensure that the necessary infrastructure, tech and border personnel are in place so that our traders and the border industry are able to manage the changes and seize the opportunities as we lay the foundations for the world's most effective and secure border." Relat

A mainly rebel-held province in north-west Syria has confirmed its first coronavirus case, sparking fears of a devastating outbreak in crowded camps holding displaced people. A doctor contracted the virus at a hospital in a town in Idlib near the Turkish border, aid groups said. They said the doctor was self-isolating and his contacts were being traced. The hospital where the doctor worked has been closed, said a World Health Organization official in Turkey. For months aid groups have issued stark warnings about the risks of a coronavirus outbreak in north-western Syria. Last year, the Syrian government launched an offensive to retake Idlib - the last opposition-held province in the region - from jihadist forces. Almost one million people have fled their homes in the area since last December, with many of them now living in overcrowded refugee camps with inadequate healthcare facilities and little clean water. There are fears the virus will spread rapidly through these vulnerable po[CENSORED]tions, overwhelming an already ravaged healthcare system. Around six million people in total are estimated to be internally displaced within Syria, where a civil war has been raging since 2011. A fragile ceasefire is currently place in Idlib. International charity Save the Children says that the truce needs to hold if there is any chance of containing the disease. "Now more than ever, guns need to remain silent, the ceasefire needs to hold and all efforts have to be geared towards the aid and health response," Sonia Khush, Save the Children's Syria response director, said. She said the confirmation of the first case in Idlib was "a major blow to the millions of civilians - mainly women and children - living in this area". Syria has officially recorded 372 cases of coronavirus, including 14 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University in the US, which is tracking the pandemic. But given the lack of testing, the number of infections and deaths are thought to be higher. As of 30 June, just 1,661 tests have been carried out in north-west Syria, according to Save the Children. The charity said it understood there was only one testing facility in the region.

The AMD Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition made its first appearance in the wild back in May, courtesy of 3DMark. Today, NEC has confirmed the CPU's existence by listing it as a component inside its Lavie N15 laptop. According to the listing spotted by @momomo_us, the Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition is an eight-core, 16-thread APU that likely belongs to Ryzen 4000 U-series (codename Renoir) family. Therefore, the 7nm octa-core processor should be based on the same Zen 2 CPU and Vega GPU microarchitectures as other chips in that lineup. NEC keeps the details to a minimum, but states that the Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition comes with a 1.8 GHz base clock and 4.2 GHz boost clock. It would appear that AMD might have dialed back the boost clock a bit, since the Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition was boosting close to 4.3 GHz in the aforementioned 3DMark submission. If NEC's information is accurate, the Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition would have the same base and boost clock speeds as the Ryzen 7 4800U, suggesting that the two are very close relatives if not the same chip. AMD Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition Specifications It's still unclear if the Extreme Edition actually brings any noticeable benefits over the Ryzen 7 4800U. However, there is one theory that could explain this Extreme chip's existence. The Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition could be equivalent to AMD's HS-series concept. In addition to launching the Ryzen 4000 H-series mobile processors, AMD also brought the HS-series to the market with its current this generation of APUs. With the exception of the Ryzen 9 model, the HS-series variants share the same clock speeds as their H-series counterparts but at a lower thermal envelope. The H-series CPUs have a 45W TDP (thermal design power) and 35W to 54W cTDP (configurable TDP) rating, but the HS-series strictly sticks to 35W. In the U-series' case, the chips are already at 15W with a 10W to 25W cTDP, so perhaps the Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition has a higher TDP, maybe around 20W or at the maximum 25W. The clock speeds listed for the Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition are also identical to those of the Ryzen 7 4800U. If the Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition doesn't have higher clock speeds, than its only advantage could be more thermal headroom to sustain the boost clock speeds for a longer period of time. It's also possible for the chip to come equipped with improved integrated graphics, but nothing so far implies that. There's still a lot that we don't know about the Ryzen 7 Extreme Edition.

A political row has broken out in India after gold was found being smuggled into the country in diplomatic baggage. Customs officials at the international airport in the southern state of Kerala found more than 30kg (66lb) of gold hidden inside bathroom fittings. The package was addressed to the United Arab Emirates' consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. The UAE has denied any knowledge of the package and said a former local employee had been arrested. Local reports suggest another person has also been detained. In a statement on Twitter on Tuesday, the UAE's embassy in the Indian capital Delhi said an investigation had been launched after the discovery was made. "The [Emirati] authorities have stressed that the culprits who not only committed a major crime but also sought to tarnish the reputation of the UAE mission in India will not be spared," the embassy said. "We remain committed to cooperating with Indian authorities in getting to the root of the crime." The UAE's ambassador to India told the Gulf News newspaper that the former worker at the consulate had been dismissed several months ago "because he was not doing his job". The chief minister of Kerala has faced calls from the opposition to resign over the case, although he has denied any involvement. A senior official in the state has been removed from his post, however. According to a report by Reuters news agency, the lack of international flights because of the coronavirus pandemic has led to a fall in the amount of gold smuggling to India, as well as a rise in the price of gold. Somasundaram P.R., head of the World Gold Council's Indian operations told Reuters: "Smuggling can be expected to go down substantially in the current scenario. Smuggling logistics were also severely affected during lockdown. He expects smuggled volumes this year to be significantly below the 115 - 120 tonnes of gold that was smuggled into India in 2019.

There's not much between the new Core i9 10850K and the existing Core i9 10900K, benchmarks suggest. An Intel Core i9 10850K processor has been spotted online, and it appears to be destined for desktops. The Core i9 10850K appears to bear a great deal of similarity to the Core i9 10900K at 10 cores and 20 threads, with perhaps only 100MHz distinguishing the two CPUs from one another. Word comes from serial leaker TUM_APISAK on Twitter, who spotted the new entry to the enthusiast Comet Lake lineup over on the Geekbench database. It suggests the Core i9 10850K will sport a 3.6Ghz base clock and 5.17GHz maximum frequency, which equates to a boost clock around the 5.2GHz mark. There's little more to glean from the result beyond that. The actual benchmark results show relatively performance parity with the existing i9 10900K, yet Geekbench isn't known for its stupendous accuracy and reliability for raw side-by-side comparison. The same chip and architecture but clocked slightly slower—you know what to expect. Usually a partway stepping such as this is reserved for mobile parts, such as the Intel Core i7 10850H or Core i9 10885H. It's not often that Intel would squeeze another into the enthusiast desktop stack post-launch. That could suggest the chip is destined for a life beyond boxed parts, instead finding itself as a go-to within system builder-made machines. Only time will tell—and by the looks of it we shouldn't have to wait too long to find out. The chip has surfaced just as the initial wave of B460 motherboards have arrived, such as the ASRock B460 Steel Legend and MSI MAG B460M Mortar WiFi. Similarly, Geekbench has also turned up Intel's next big launch ahead of schedule, too. Intel Tiger Lake chips have been spotted littering the benchmarking database by TUM_APISAK and _rogame over on Twitter, and that suggests the Intel Xe-powered mobile processors can't be that far off now. Take the results with a grain of salt, but Geekbench suggests performance from the Intel Core i7 1165G7 to be on par with the discrete Nvidia MX350 GPU. At least within two generations of Lenovo laptops. There's plenty brewing up over at Intel to be on the lookout for over the coming weeks. However, will its desktop ambitions be snuffed by AMD's refreshed Ryzen 3000 CPUs, or is this mystery Core i9 Comet Lake perhaps something to do with the Matisse Refresh? We'll see all that shakes out starting tomorrow, once AMD's latest CPUs break cover.

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners will receive vouchers of up to £5,000 for energy-saving home improvements, the chancellor will announce. Rishi Sunak is due to set out a £2bn grant scheme in England for projects such as insulation as part of a wider £3bn plan to cut carbon emissions. The Treasury said the grants could help to support more than 100,000 jobs. Labour said renters appeared to be left out and called for a "broader and bigger" plan to cut carbon emissions. Under the Green Homes Grant, the government will pay at least two-thirds of the cost of home improvements that save energy, the Treasury said. For example, a homeowner of a semi-detached or end-of-terrace house could install cavity wall and floor insulation for about £4,000 - the homeowner would pay £1,320 while the government would contribute £2,680. The scheme will launch in September, with online applications for recommended energy efficiency measures, along with details of accredited local suppliers. Once one of these suppliers has provided a quote and the work is approved, the voucher is issued. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Business Secretary Alok Sharma added that the poorest households could receive up to £10,000 towards costs, and that double glazing would also be covered by the scheme. He continued: "What [the scheme] ultimately means is lower bills for households, hundreds of pounds off energy bills every year, it's supporting jobs and is very good news for the environment." The government said about half of the fund - which is due to be spent in one financial year - will go to the poorest homeowners, who will not have to contribute anything to the cost. Better insulation could save some people £600 a year on energy bills, the Treasury said. Mr Sunak said the investment would also help to "kick-start our economy" by creating thousands of jobs and providing business for existing skilled workers, as the UK recovers from the economic shock of coronavirus. "As Britain recovers from the outbreak, it's vital we do everything in our power to support and protect livelihoods across the nation," he said. 'The jobs factor swayed the day' Insulation gives a triple benefit. It saves on bills, cuts carbon emissions from heating, and - crucially as the UK's economy creaks - it creates thousands of jobs for tradespeople crawling in attics and fiddling with draught proofing. England can't reach its climate targets without a major housing refit, but until now the Treasury has been reluctant to help - because it means transferring cash from the public purse to private bricks and mortar. Now the jobs factor has swayed the day and some campaigners are delighted - the £2bn figure is more than they expected. Labour approves of the investment, but says it does little to help people in cold, rented homes. It warns the programme must be carried on year after year to keep the jobs and increase the emissions savings. The grants are part of a wider £3bn "green investment" package due to be announced in the chancellor's summer statement on Wednesday, to support efforts to rebuild the economy after the pandemic. The plan aims to create tens of thousands of new jobs while helping the UK meet its 2050 target of achieving net zero carbon emissions. It will involve improving insulation in public buildings such as schools and hospitals and retro-fitting low-carbon heating technology to social housing. The Conservative manifesto had pledged £9.2bn for improving the energy efficiency of low income housing and public buildings. Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband welcomed the plan but stressed that it was not "comprehensive". "It appears there is almost nothing for the people who rent the 8.5 million homes in the social rented sector and private rented sector, which has the worst energy efficiency standards. That means one-third of people are left out," he said. Mr Miliband said the government needed "a much broader and bigger-scale strategy" to meet its target to reduce carbon emissions to net zero, including investing in nature conservation, increasing renewable energy, supporting manufacturers to be greener and improving transport. Meanwhile, Rosie Rogers, senior political advisor at Greenpeace UK, said the UK still wasn't "playing in the same league" as other countries, such as Germany, which is investing €40bn (£36bn) in green jobs and energy efficiency, or France, which pledged €15bn to tackle the climate crisis in June. The UK Treasury said the figures are not like-for-like.

A firm engaged in the business of providing software related consultancy services in Oracle ERP approached the Tamil Nadu bench of the AAR seeking ruling on whether the services provided by it to foreign client of a GST-registered IT company, Doyen Systems, shall be treated as export of services. NEW DELHI: Firms providing information technology software related services to overseas client of an Indian business would be liable to pay 18 per cent GST, the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) has said. A firm engaged in the business of providing software related consultancy services in Oracle ERP approached the Tamil Nadu bench of the AAR seeking ruling on whether the services provided by it to foreign client of a GST-registered IT company, Doyen Systems, shall be treated as export of services. In the said case, the original contract was between Doyen Systems and the US client, and a part of the service was contracted to the applicant firm, who would be paid consultancy fee for his services. The applicant had entered into agreement with Doyen Systems. The foreign client was to pay consideration to Indian IT company and as per independently agreed upon contract value, which had no relevance/reference to contract between Doyen Systems and the applicant. Applicant was of the view that he directly rendered the service to foreign client and was paid consideration by Doyen Systems on behalf of foreign company. The AAR while passing its ruling said there are two sets of contract -- one between applicant and Doyen Systems for providing professional and consultancy services, and second between Doyen Systems and its foreign client for providing software support services. The applicant is not party to the second contract. AAR observed that applicant's contention of being an agent to Doyen Systems cannot be substantiated merely because the applicant is in e-mail correspondence with the employees of foreign clients of the Indian company. It doesn't mean that he is 'carrying on the business of supply of services' on behalf of company as required under definition of agent. The AAR said that the applicant provides services as a 'Consultant' engaged by Doyen Systems'. "The services provided by the applicant to Doyen Systems Pvt Ltd is a supply of services under CGST/TNGST Act and the applicant is liable to pay relevant tax on such supply," the AAR said. AMRG & Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said the Authority has ruled that taxpayers providing information technology software related services to overseas client of an Indian business would be liable to pay GST at the rate of 18 per cent. "The Government should contemplate and pass on a tax neutral status to services sector for all indirect exports, as the procedural law has matured and technology is stable after three years of implementation. With this tweaking, GST would move to phase–II of 'Ease of Doing Business', whereby overall cost of capital in IT services sector could be further rationalised," Mohan added.

The £3.3m 007-themed limited edition features machine guns, smoke screens and revolving numberplates Aston Martin has completed its first DB5 Continuation model, built to celebrate the British marque's long-running connection with James Bond. The first DB5 Aston Martin to built in more than 50 years, the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation was created in association with Bond filmmaker EON productions. Just 25 cars will be built to mark the release of Bond's 25th outing, No Time to Die, with each featuring replica versions of the gadgets seen in the 1964 film. Rotating numberplates, an oil spray system that deploys from behind the tail-lights and a smoke screen are joined by 'machine guns' that pop out from the front bumper, a 'bulletproof' rear deflector that raises from the boot, front and rear battering rams, and simulated tyre slashers. A removable roof panel representing the original DB5’s famous ejector seat, albeit one that isn't actually capable of firing passengers out of the car, is an optional inclusion. Inside, the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation is an exact match for the screen car, with an armrest that disguises the gadget switchgear, a simulated radar screen in the centre console, an under-seat weapons tray and a telephone in the driver's door, along with a flip-up gear knob. More than 4500 hours went into construction, with each car receiving original body panels and a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated in-line six-cylinder engine that produces 290bhp. It is mated to a five-speed transmission and the rear axle features a mechanical limited-slip differential, although the continuation cars aren't road-legal. “To see the first customer car finished, and realise that this is the first new DB5 we have built in more than half a century, really is quite a moment," Paul Spires, head of Aston Martin Works, said. When the company first announced that it was planning 25 continuation replicas of the DB5 used in the Goldfinger film, the big question was how it would deliver on the original car’s huge tally of gadgets. Ahead of production, the firm’s Works Division revealed several of the gadgets under development in the programme, led by Academy Award-winning special-effects creator and Bond film veteran Chris Corbould. Corbould said he had to think “for about a second and a half” when asked to work on the project, but admitted there have been serious challenges in making features that are both convincing and repeatable. “If we were doing an oil slick in a film, then we could fill the boot with equipment and put out about 50 litres in a couple of seconds,” he said. “Here, it has to fit into a much smaller space and it has to be able to work again and again.” There was also the need to consider health and safety. Although the Goldfinger DB5s aren't road legal, Spires said the company does have to make sure they won’t harm anyone. “We have had to make all of this work within the limitations of health and safety,” he said. Corbould has worked on every Bond film with the exception of Octopussy since The Spy Who Loved Me, including the forthcoming 25th outing of the franchise, where the DB5 will make its latest cinema appearance. All 25 of the Goldfinger cars – priced at £3.3 million including VAT – have reportedly been sold. Customer deliveries will continue through the second half of 2020.

Italy has given permission for 180 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean to disembark from a charity-run ship. The decision comes after a stand-off that lasted more than a week. The Ocean Viking, operated by rescue group SOS Méditerranée, declared a state of emergency on Friday with tensions running high. There were fears for their safety and that of the crew. They are expected to be transferred to a government vessel in Sicily on Monday and will spend two weeks in quarantine. Medics have already tested those on the Ocean Viking for Covid-19. Results are expected on Monday. The migrants are from a range of countries including Pakistan, Eritrea and Nigeria. They had fled the coast of Libya when they were rescued in four separate groups between 25 and 30 June. They include 25 minors, most of whom are unaccompanied by adults and two women, including one who is pregnant. The ship had been awaiting permission to allow the passengers off the vessel in either Italy or Malta. As time went on, those on board had become desperate to reach land while others, unable to contact friends and family to let them know they were safe, had become distraught, AFP news agency reports. A doctor for SOS Méditerranée said he had noted "enormous psychological discomfort on the ship", where the situation was "almost out of control, for guests and crew". An interior ministry source told AFP that a medical team had been sent to the ship ahead of disembarkation. SOS Méditerranée said on twitter that the "unnecessary delay of this disembarkation has put lives at risk". More than 110,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year. More than 1,200 died during the attempt, according to the International Organisation for Migration. It is thought that warmer weather during summer could lead to an increase in the number of attempts.

Admittedly, there's not many options on the market if you're looking for a thin mini-ITX motherboard for Intel's 10th Generation Comet Lake-S processors. Nonetheless, ASRock has launched two new viable options in the shape of the B460TM-ITX and H410TM-ITX. We wouldn't blame you if you think you're seeing double. ASRock practically baked the B460TM-ITX and H410TM-ITX with the same mould. Aside from the chipset, the two motherboards come with identical features. They utilize a 4-phase power delivery subsystem and draw power from a DC jack and a single 4-pin power connector. The setback of this design is that the motherboards can only accommodate Comet Lake-S processors with a maximum TDP (thermal design power) of 65W. The presence of two SO-DIMM DDR4 memory slots means you can use up to 64GB of DDR4-2933 memory in a dual-channel configuration. Storage options are the same on both models. There are two SATA III ports and a single PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 port for PCIe-or SATA-based drives up to 80mm in length. This is where the similarities stop though. Out of B460 and H410 chipsets, only the first supports RAID arrays. So if you plan to use a RAID array, the B460TM-ITX is the motherboard that you need. In regards to graphics outputs, both Intel motherboards provide you with three options. You get two HDMI 1.4 ports, one of which is located in the rear panel and the other and an internal port. One LVDS port is also present. Neither motherboard come equipped with wireless connectivity. The single Gigabit Ethernet port, which is based off the Realtek RTL8111H controller, is your only gateway to the Internet. However, ASRock has thoughtfully placed a M.2 Key-E port on the motherboards so you can always add a wireless adapter if you want to break free of cables. On the audio side, the motherboards utilize the Realtek ALC233 audio codec and supply two 3.5mm audio jacks. To round of the tour, the rear panel os both motherboards house a serial port, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports with ESD protection. Two internal USB 2.0 headers deliver another two USB 2.0 ports each. ASRock didn't announce the pricing or availability for the B460TM-ITX or H410TM-ITX.

US President Donald Trump is presiding over an event to mark 4 July celebrations at Mount Rushmore, despite concerns over coronavirus. In a speech at the South Dakota landmark, he said it would "stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom". "This monument will never be desecrated, these heroes will never be defaced," he told a cheering crowd. Mount Rushmore features the carved faces of four US presidents. Activists have long taken issue with the monument, which was created on land sacred to the Sioux tribe. Two of the former presidents depicted - George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - were slave-owners. The president's decision to hold an event there has been criticised at a time when statues of Confederate generals and slave-owners are being re-evaluated, and in many cases pulled down, amid anti-racism protests. What else is Trump expected to say? President Trump is expected to denounce "cancel culture", and the toppling of monuments during recent anti-racism protests. A Trump campaign official said he would rail against people trying to "tear down" the United States. "The left wing mob and those practicing cancel culture are engaging in totalitarian behaviour that is completely alien to American life - and we must not accept it," the official said, summarising Mr Trump's expected comments. A fireworks display will also be held at the pre-Independence Day event, which 7,500 people are expected to attend. Masks will be available but not required, and social distancing will not be strictly enforced. Welcoming people to the event, South Dakota's Republican Governor Kristi Noem echoed the president's tone on protesters, accused them of "trying to wipe away the lessons of history". "This is being done deliberately to discredit America's founding principles," she declared. The fireworks will be the first at Mount Rushmore in over a decade, after a ban was imposed over environmental concerns. The monument is surrounded by a national forest and some fear the display could set off wildfires in the dry brush, though local officials have said the risk is low. Friday's gathering is the latest to be held by President Trump during the coronavirus pandemic, as he attempts to fire up his supporters ahead of November's presidential election. Oklahoma and Arizona recently hosted large events, raising fears they could spread Covid-19 as cases continue to rise nationwide. On Friday, the US recorded its largest single-day total of new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic. What have Native Americans said about the event? Native American groups have criticised Mr Trump's visit for posing a health risk, and for celebrating US independence in an area that is sacred to them. Many Native Americans do not celebrate Independence Day because they associate it with the colonisation of their tribal homelands and the loss of their cultural freedoms. The Mount Rushmore landmark was carved between 1927 and 1941, but the land it lies on - in the Black Hills of South Dakota - was taken from the indigenous Lakota Sioux by the US government in the 1800s. "The president is putting our tribal members at risk to stage a photo op at one of our most sacred sites," said Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Ahead of the event, a group of mostly Native American protesters blocked a main road to the monument with white vans, leading to a tense stand-off with police. They were eventually cleared from the road by police officers and National Guard soldiers, who used smoke bombs and pepper spray, local reports say. The vans were towed away and several protesters were arrested after the police declared the road block an "unlawful assembly", local newspaper the Argus Leader reported.

Premium memory for HPC applications. If you're interested in premium memory products, you'll be glad to hear that SK Hynix is, at last, kicking off mass production of its HBM2e memory modules. SK Hynix' HBM2e modules operate over a 1024-bit memory interface, which at a frequency of 3.6 GHz translates to an aggregate total bandwidth of 460 GB/s. Of course, it's important to note that these are the figures per stack of HBM2e memory, and coupling multiple units into each device will lead to further increases in performance. SK's HBM2e modules are based on eight-layer tall DRAM stacks. Each layer has a capacity of 16 Gb, and thus the total capacity per HBM2e stack tallies up to 16 GB. "SK hynix has been in the forefront of technology innovation that contributes to human civilization with achievements including the world's first development of HBM products," said Jonghoon Oh, Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at SK hynix. "With the full-scale mass-production of HBM2E, we will continue to strengthen our presence in the premium memory market and lead the fourth industrial revolution." Naturally, we can't expect to be seeing this new memory in consumer graphics cards anytime soon. HBM2e is a premium memory product, catering to a very specific audience. Specifically, we can expect HBM2e products to land in HPC, AI, server, and research-oriented GPUs. Among the benefits of HBM2e are, as its name implies, higher bandwidth than the more commonplace GDDR6 memory featured in most products, as well as more efficient operation, higher capacities, and a more compact total package. HBM allows manufacturers to place the memory on the same silicon interposer as the GPU, saving valuable PCB space in tight places.

The US economy created jobs at a record pace in June as firms took on more staff after the coronavirus downturn. Payrolls surged 4.8 million, the most since the Labor Department began keeping records in 1939, helped by the reopening of factories and restaurants. It follows May's jobs rebound, when 2.5 million joined the labour market, and comes after consumer spending data saw a jump in activity. But a recent spike in Covid-19 cases has raised fears for continued growth. June's rise is far higher than the 3 million jobs many economists forecast would be create last month. However, separate Labor Department data also showed that in the week ending 27 June, initial claims for unemployment fell only slightly, to 1.43 million, on the previous week. Oxford Economics called it a "worryingly small decline". Companies, including in populous states like California, Florida and Texas, plan to scale back or delay reopening due to the fresh coronavirus outbreaks, which would hold back hiring. This week, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged the rebound in activity, saying the economy had "entered an important new phase". But he warned that continuing growth would depend on "our success in containing the virus". And despite two straight months of jobs growth, employment is still about 16 million below its pre-pandemic level, with the rate just above 11.1%.

Liquid Software Leader Delivers New Capabilities for CI/CD, SecOps, Helm, and Coins the Necessity of “BinOps” to Manage the Growing Flow of Software Packages JFrog, the Universal DevOps technology leader known for enabling liquid software via continuous update flows, has unveiled new capabilities to address the growing problem of software distribution bottlenecks. The newly introduced CDN-based and Peer-to-Peer software package distribution mechanisms empower companies to overcome the challenge of frequently delivering large volumes of artifacts to internal teams and external clients. The announcements took place at JFrog’s annual swampUP user con .. The explosion of both hybrid and edge infrastructure, and the increased adoption of cloud-native apps that rely on compounded artifacts can create a “firehose” distribution problem, increasingly clogging networks with a stream of software updates. Distribution challenges will continue to grow, with IDC predicting there will be more than 520 million brand new digital apps and services added by 2024. Peer-to-Peer and Cloud-Based Distribution Enable Digital-First Economy Unveiling the new Peer-to-Peer artifact download capability, JFrog is serving companies that need to distribute coordinated software updates for hundreds and thousands of connected machines that are updated in parallel but cannot sacrifice speed and security. By breaking the artifact down into smaller pieces and allowing those pieces to be shared between peers on the same network, JFrog can accelerate download speeds by orders of magnitude and increase resilience by expanding beyond a single point of failure. JFrog has also delivered a new CDN-based package distribution function that solves the challenge of distributing software to large communities of external users or partners. This mechanism works in cases where companies need a simple, SaaS-managed solution to enable external downloads, such as distributing software that can be downloaded by anyone including drivers, plugins, and commercial software products, or updates for partners and users. “DevOps in a digital-first economy demands the need for speed and security throughout the entire software release cycle all the way to the edge. We provided our community with the first purely hybrid, end-to-end DevOps and DevSecOps platform, and now we’re extending all the way to EdgeOps,” said Shlomi Ben Haim, co-founder and CEO of JFrog. Kavita Viswanath, General Manager JFrog India said “Major enterprises are facing a clear challenge in distributing packages quickly and fearlessly across their organizations, as well as to clients and partners. The DevOps revolution will not be completed without providing a comprehensive, powerful binary distribution mechanism; this is our commitment to developers, and it is developers’ responsibility to their organizations.” New Upgrades Streamline Pipeline Assembly and Build Testing In a massive upgrade to their Binary Operations (or “BinOps”) toolset, JFrog has also announced new features for its JFrog Pipelines solution that encompasses continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD). JFrog has expanded on its existing selection of pre-built common functions, known as “Native Steps,” by allowing users to build their own library of reusable pipeline steps via an Extensions Development Kit (EDK). Now DevOps teams can encapsulate frequent and common actions in their pipelines, offering a much simpler solution than traditional approaches which often involve plugins that conflict with each other, creating a “plugin hell” for users. Extensions can be run in parallel, allowing pipelines to run with multiple extension versions simultaneously. “As the world continues to move towards massive delivery of software, the ‘BinOps’ path of managing your software releases becomes more critical than ever,” said Yoav Landman, CTO and co-founder of JFrog. “Shifting binaries to the left and using immutable release binaries as early as possible in the software delivery pipeline is the only way to achieve robust, trusted and secure releases and maintain stable metadata that relates to these releases. We are proud to lead the way of BinOps with the JFrog Platform.” The First Free, Security-Focused Central Repository of Helm Charts Is Now Available for the Community Lastly, JFrog has added to their portfolio of public artifact centers with a fresh offering focused on managing the increasing volume of microservices-based and containerized applications. Dubbed “ChartCenter,” the free service from JFrog will provide immutable Helm Chart management for developers, who face increasing complexity in managing Helm, Docker and Kubernetes deployments as they grow in the enterprise. About JFrog JFrog is on a mission to enable continuous updates through liquid software, empowering developers to code high-quality applications that securely flow to end-users with zero downtime. JFrog is the creator of Artifactory, the heart of the end-to-end Universal DevOps platform for automating, managing, securing, distributing, and monitoring all types of technologies. JFrog products are available as open-source, on-premise, and on the cloud on AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. As a leading universal, highly available enterprise DevOps solution, the JFrog platform empowers customers with trusted and expedited software releases from code-to-production. JFrog is trusted by more than 5,600 customers, and top global brands depend on JFrog to manage their binaries for their mission-critical applications. JFrog is privately held with offices across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has ordered the European Union's ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours. Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa's expulsion came hours after the EU placed sanctions on 11 Venezuelan officials. They were sanctioned for acting against the national assembly headed by opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Mr Guaidó declared himself interim president last year but has failed to remove Mr Maduro. The opposition leader has the backing of the EU and the US. In his announcement on Monday broadcast on state television, speaking of the EU, Mr Maduro said: "If they can't respect Venezuela, then they should leave it." He added: "A plane can be loaned for her [Pedrosa] to leave." Venezuela's air space is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier on Monday, the European Council said the 11 officials were added to the sanctions list "because of their role in acts and decisions undermining democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela". There are now 36 Venezuelan officials who have been placed under EU sanctions, it said. Those newly-added to the list include Luis Parra, who in January declared that he, not Mr Guaidó, was the rightful Speaker of the assembly. Mr Guaidó declared himself interim president last year, arguing that Mr Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate. His position at the head of the opposition-led National Assembly was the basis of his claim to be Venezuela's legitimate head of state. He is recognised as such by more than 50 countries, including the US, the UK and most in Latin America and the EU Speaking on Monday, Mr Maduro said the EU "recognises a puppet as president". Some four million people have fled Venezuela since 2015, according to the United Nations, amid a severe years-long political and economic crisis. The oil-rich country suffers from high unemployment and shortages of food and medicine, and hundreds of thousands of people are said to be in need of humanitarian aid.

Game Informations. Developers : id Software. Released : December 1, 2017. Genre : A shooter game. Platforms : Microsoft Windows - PlayStation 4. Bethesda sure are the good guys this Christmas, eh? After coveting controversy with its review code policy over a year ago, the publisher’s really recaptured the adoration of gamers this holiday, supporting fledgling new formats like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation VR. And following on from last month’s transformative virtual reality adaptation of Skyrim, it’s last year’s DOOM reboot that the company’s got in its crosshairs. The question is: can the frenetic first-person shooter land the transition? DOOM VFR really, really tries. Unlike the Elder Scrolls adaptation, id Software’s opted to recycle locations from its 2016 title and build a new story around them. Essentially you play as a kind of scientist who dies right at the start of the game and leverages some clever coding to stay alive as a kind of artificial intelligence – or something. At the end of the day, it’s DOOM so the plot doesn’t matter at all, but the setup does provide some narrative justification for the title’s teleportation. Ah yes, teleportation – perhaps the most divisive mechanic in virtual reality right now. While you’re only forced to use this method of navigation with the PlayStation Move controllers, it’s an important game mechanic on the DualShock 4 and PSVR Aim Controller too, as it replaces the Glory Kills from the main game. Essentially, upon staggering your demonic adversaries, you can teleport into them to finish the job – a neat idea as it maintains the franchise’s frantic pace without prompting you to puke. Of course, you can also move with the left-stick if you’re using a controller that has one, while rotation options include smooth turning and customisable increments. As alluded, the PlayStation Move wands offer none of these controls, encouraging you to pivot on the spot like in SUPERHOT and rely on teleportation to get about. It feels extremely limiting when you’re playing with the motion controllers, and while a dash system does help with your mobility, it just doesn’t feel quite right. But to be honest, none of Sony’s accessories fit the experience as tightly as they should. Take the PSVR Aim Controller, for example: it’s great being able to hold the gun and aim with it, but DOOM VFR’s gameplay is designed around holding each gun in one hand, while the plastic firearm demands two appendages. As such, you’re stuck with a grenade just floating around in your peripheral vision, and later on in the campaign a grenade launcher instead. It’s not great. So what of the DualShock 4, then? Well you get all of the control options of the PSVR Aim Controller, but targeting is instead mapped to head tracking. This works absolutely fine, but it means that both of your weapons are locked to the centre of the screen, following your vision around like they’re protruding out of your neck. The thing is, the game is fully playable with whichever controller you choose, but we’d be lying if we said we felt truly comfortable with any of them. Which is a bit of a shame because DOOM in virtual reality is just about as mental as you’d expect it to be. The sense of scale isn’t quite as grand as other games – although coming face-to-face with Cacodemons is bloody cool – so instead the title impresses via its thrilling sci-fi setting. It just looks so, so pretty with PlayStation VR, as broken computer terminals fizz and illuminate the enormous firearms that you’re rolling around in your hands. The gameplay’s also stellar, too. Obvs. Despite the transition to virtual reality, this is the same destructive gunplay that you’ll remember from last year’s campaign, with superb weaponry and awesome alternative fire options. The teleportation Glory Kills feel good with PlayStation VR, and maintain the intense sense of speed of the series without going too over-the-top. It is quite an overwhelming experience at times, but we were able to play comfortably in two hours sessions. Unfortunately, it’ll only take you a couple of these sittings to beat the game, as it is rather short. To be fair to Bethesda, it’s priced the package appropriately, and multiple difficulty tiers as well as an array of collectibles at least give you a reason to run through it twice. There are also classic maps that you’ll unlock, which allow you to experience retro levels inside Sony’s futuristic facemask. System Requirements: MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions) Processor: CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 or AMD FX 8350 or better Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or better Storage: 17 GB available space Bethesda’s really tried to make DOOM work in virtual reality, but despite supporting all three of PlayStation VR’s control options, it doesn’t really feel like the title was designed with any of them in mind. That said, if you can ignore the flaws with whichever peripheral you choose, then the over-the-top action of id Software’s series translates well, and this is arguably one of the better looking virtual reality titles to date. It’s a little on the short side, but the price point reflects that, and the gunplay is still as intense as it’s ever been.

The spread of coronavirus infections has taken a "swift and very dangerous turn" in the US state of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has warned. "Over just the past few weeks, the daily number of cases have gone from an average of about 2,000, to more than 5,000," Mr Abbott said on Sunday. Several southern and western states have recorded a surge in cases after lockdown restrictions were eased. The number of reported infections in the US has now surpassed 2.5 million. Over 125,000 Covid-19 patients are confirmed to have died nationwide - more than in any other country. What's the latest on the surge in US cases? The spike has led officials in Texas, Florida and other states to tighten restrictions on business again, with warnings that hospitals may soon be overwhelmed. On Sunday, Mr Abbott said that as many as 5,000 people a day were being admitted to hospital for treatment. US Vice-President Mike Pence said that Texas would be issued additional Covid-19 testing kits for as long was necessary. "We are going to make sure that Texas, and your healthcare system in Texas, have the resources, have the supplies, have the personnel to meet this moment," Mr Pence said. The vice-president also urged Texans to wear masks "wherever its indicated", saying "we know from experience, it will slow the spread of the coronavirus". Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was speaking at a joint news conference with Governor Abbott on Sunday, said that a nationwide mandate to wear face coverings was "definitely long overdue". "We have the worst record of any country in the world," she added. In the Texas state capital of Austin, a requirement to wear face coverings in some circumstances in order to help mitigate the spread of the virus led to demonstrations on the city's streets by people objecting to the measure. On Sunday, Arizona also recorded a record daily increase of more than 3,800 cases. Hundreds of people reportedly travelled to rivers in the state to escape the hot weather. The reported increases in infections in southern and western states come after moves in recent weeks to re-open businesses, resulting in people from other areas pouring in. Responding to the level of new cases, Mr Abbott last week told bars to close and limited restaurants' indoor seating capacity to 50%. Restaurants had previously been allowed to operate at 75% capacity, and bars at 50%. In the Texan town of Galena Park, east of Houston, the mayor imposed an overnight curfew on Saturday and warned that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has also re-imposed restrictions, ordering bars in the state to stop serving alcohol on their premises. What is the overall situation in the US? On Sunday, Johns Hopkins University said the total number of cases in the country had risen to 2,539,544. While some of the rise was down to more extensive testing, the rate of positive tests in some areas is also increasing. Health officials estimate the true number of cases is likely to be 10 times higher than the confirmed total. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said that up to 20 million Americans may have been infected. The surge in cases was being driven by young people - those aged between 18 and 34 - testing positive, especially in the south and west of the US, said the head of the CDC, Dr Robert Redfield. The White House has said that the situation is stabilising in most of the country. At a coronavirus briefing on Friday, Mr Pence hailed the Trump administration's "truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward", highlighting improvements in job figures and retail sales.