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The US House of Representatives has taken the first step toward demolishing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. The Republicans passed a budget measure that eases passage of a new law and would overcome any Democratic block. But lawmakers in both parties remained concerned about a lack of replacement for the law, known as Obamacare. The political showdown raises a big question mark over medical coverage for more than 20 million Americans. The measure passed in the House nearly on a party-line vote, 227-198, delivering a blow to President Obama's legacy a week before he leaves office. It instructs four committees on Capitol Hill to draft repeal legislation by 27 January. The Senate passed the resolution by 51-48 on Thursday. Can Obamacare be repealed? US patients await Obamacare's fate "By taking the first step toward repealing Obamacare, we are closer to giving Americans relief from the problems this law has caused," House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement following the vote. "This resolution gives us the tools we need for a step-by-step approach to fix these problems and put Americans back in control of their health care." Obamacare has provided healthcare subsidies and medical coverage for millions who are not covered through work. It has banned insurers from refusing coverage to people who are already ill, and curbed medical charges to the sick and elderly. But the law has been rocked by rising premiums, large fees and national insurers exiting the marketplaces. Egged on by Donald Trump, Republicans have vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act but conservatives have not yet agreed on a new plan. Exit player Media captionWhat do Americans think of Obamacare today? Republicans have provided few details on their plans to replace Obamacare. It is expected the replacement would seek to end the statute's unpo[CENSORED]r requirement that many individuals buy coverage and that larger companies provide it to workers. However, experts say these mandates are needed to keep the insurance marketplace solvent. Media captionResidents of Kentucky, one of the unhealthiest states in America, talk to the BBC about their hopes and concerns about Obamacare Mr Trump's choice for health and human services secretary, Tom Price, will play a key role in shaping the planned overhaul. The Georgia congressman has previously touted his own Obamacare replacement plan. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said this month that repealing Obamacare would cost about $350bn (£286bn) over the next decade. Republicans hope a budget reconciliation bill - which would strip Obamacare of funding - will now be drafted in committee and could pass a month after that. It would be able to pass with a simple majority in the Republican-controlled Congress, making it filibuster-proof.

Welcome To CSBD ! Enjoy & HF !

Welcome To CSBD ! Enjoy & HF !

Welcome back JAVED ! Enjoy & HF !

AMD Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster at CES this week revealed a few additional details regarding the company’s upcoming Ryzen series of CPUs such as the fact that it’ll keep Ryzen around for at least four years – roughly the same amount of time AMD spent developing its Zen microarchitecture. There’s a lot of excitement in the air and it’s not just because we’re in the middle of CES week. AMD hasn’t been competitive with Intel in what feels like ages, a realization that has allowed Intel to take its foot off the throttle in recent years. Its latest Kaby Lake processor series, for example, is hardly any better than the Skylake chips before it (and Broadwell before it and so on). The hope among enthusiasts is that Ryzen is enough of a threat to force Intel to once again get serious about innovation. AMD is well aware of the situation and isn’t taking the opportunity lightly. Jim Anderson, senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s Computing and Graphics business, told PCWorld that they aren’t going to do a paper launch of Ryzen. It’s something they’ve done in the past but aren’t going to mess with this time around. Instead, Anderson said Ryzen chips will be available from day one. The key word there is “chips” as in, multiple chips, not just the high-end eight-core, 16-thread model that AMD has been talking up in recent demos. What’s more, AMD product manager Jim Prior revealedto the publication that every Ryzen chip you can buy can be overclocked (assuming you have a capable motherboard, of course). It’s also worth mentioning that only the high-end X370-based AM4 motherboardswill support Radeon CrossFire / Nvidia SLI multi-card setups. AMD’s Rob Hallock said data has shown that those who buy mainstream PCs simply don’t get into multi-GPU setups. What’s more, the most po[CENSORED]r Radeon cards for CrossFire are the highest-end (expensive) models which aren't what mainstream users will be going after. As for Zen’s lifespan, Papermaster said they aren’t going tick-tock (in reference to the tick-tock release cadence that Intel had utilized for many years before abandoning it with Kaby Lake). Zen, he said, will be tock, tock, tock. Here’s to hoping that roadmap pans out.

US President-elect Donald Trump has posted a series of tweets condemning those who oppose good relations with Russia as "'stupid' people, or fools". Mr Trump vowed to work with Russia "to solve some of the many... pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!" His comments came after an intelligence reportsaid Russia's president had tried to aid a Trump election victory. Mr Trump said Democrats were to blame for "gross negligence" in allowing their servers to be hacked. In a series of tweets on Saturday, Mr Trump said that having a good relationship with Russia was "no bad thing" and that "only 'stupid' people, or fools, would think that it is bad!" He added that Russia would respect the US more when he was president. Mr Trump said frequently during his election campaign that he wanted to improve ties with Russia. He has also repeatedly questioned US intelligence claims of Russian hacking in the election campaign. Mr Trump tweeted on Saturday: "Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed!" He was referring to the Democratic National Committee, whose email accounts were hacked during the election campaign. Key findings from the report - full excerpts here: Hacking into the email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and top Democrats Using intermediaries such as WikiLeaks, DCLeaks.com and Guccifer 2.0 persona to release the information acquired from the hackings Using state-funded propaganda and paying social media users or "trolls" to make nasty comments After being briefed by intelligence chiefs on the report on Friday, the president-elect declined to mention Russia, but did say he had "tremendous respect for the work and service done" by those in the US intelligence community. He also insisted the election outcome was not affected. Trump Tweetwatch: 'I'm a big fan' of intelligence agencies When presidents and spies fall out What Trump's tweets tell us In the wake of the report, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that voting machines and other election databases would be classified as "critical infrastructure" and given more protection from cyber-attacks. The unclassified part of the report says that the Kremlin developed a "clear preference" for Mr Trump. Image copyrightAFP Image captionA US report said Vladimir Putin had "ordered a campaign" to influence the US election Russia's goals, the document added, were to "undermine public faith" in the US democratic process and "denigrate" his Democrat opponent Hillary Clinton, harming her electability and potential presidency. "We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election," it said. It gives no detailed evidence of Mr Putin's alleged role. The report says Mr Putin liked Mr Trump because he had vowed to work with Moscow and the Russian leader had had "many positive experiences working with Western political leaders whose business interests made them more disposed to deal with Russia, such as former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder". Mr Putin has called Mr Trump "a clever man"who should "quickly understand" his role. Russia has not commented on the report but has previously denied the claims about influencing the election. Last week, President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the US over the alleged hacking. Russia has said it will not reciprocate. On Saturday, Mr Trump confirmed that Dan Coats, a previously vocal critic of Russia's annexation of Crimea, would be his new national intelligence director. Russian reaction - where's the evidence? By BBC Monitoring The Kremlin has yet to react to the report but state media rubbished it. "The headline-grabbing accusations are based on TV programmes, posts on social networks and material from entertainment publications," Russia's most-watched TV station Channel One said. Official state Rossiya 1 TV viewed the report through the prism of future relations between the two countries. Its Washington correspondent Alexander Khristenko said the report was an "attempt to undermine the president-elect's legitimacy". "Donald Trump himself remained critically-minded about the intelligence services' conclusions," he said, adding that "this is clearly not the sort of reaction from Trump that Washington hawks were counting on."

Welcome To CSBD ! Enjoy & HF !

As Askf said if u use your phone when he is charging the battery get more hot , and some times its destroyed like what hapends to me i think u should buy new one or let your phone 24 h in charge whithout using it i try this way and it works ! Hope this solve your problem ! Have a sweet night !

Hello, I have the solution for your probleme its hapend to me alot of times and that becouse of the network but u dont need to restart your net or anything just whene u conect server dont press directly on enter just wait 2-3 sec then chose your team with your mose ! Hope this help u , GL !

Lenovo has refreshed its po[CENSORED]r ThinkPad X1 line with new internals and features. The core design of the X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga and X1 Tablet remains largely the same, but these updates keep the line competitive with other professional-oriented laptop and tablet options on the market. The X1 Carbon is still one of the most portable 14-inch laptops on the market, and Lenovo has made the fifth-generation model slightly thinner (15.95mm) and lighter (1.12kg). The move from an Intel Skylake to Intel Kaby Lake CPU has resulted in an extra four hours of battery life; Lenovo now claims the Carbon is good for 15.5 hours of usage. Like previous units, the display is available in either 1080p or 1440p IPS LCD variants, and Lenovo has crammed these 14-inch panels into the area normally occupied by a 13-inch display. Other improvements include the addition of two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, and the ability to pack both WiGig and Qualcomm's X7 LTE modem in the one unit. An IR camera with support for Windows Hello facial recognition is included alongside a fingerprint reader for maximum security, and Lenovo's signature ThinkPad keyboard and trackpad are still as good as ever here. You can kit out the X1 Carbon with up to 1 TB of PCIe SSD storage and 16 GB of RAM. The new X1 Carbon will be available in February starting at $1,349. The X1 Yoga has received many of the X1 Carbon's upgrades: Intel Kaby Lake CPUs provide up to 16 hours of battery life (10.5 hours in the OLED model); there's two Thunderbolt 3 ports included; and both LTE and WiGig are found in the same model. Entry-level units pack a 14-inch 1080p IPS LCD, although an upgrade to the 1440p OLED brings 100% Adobe RGB coverage. This laptop is still very portable and features a 360-degree hinge, although it's slightly thicker and heavier than past models. One of the key improvements here is the redesigned keyboard, which now retracts fully flat while the device is used in its tablet mode, improving comfort and longevity of the keys. In laptop mode, you'll still get a ThinkPad typing experience. The included ThinkPad Pen Pro stylus has been updated with a soft elastomer tip that creates a more natural writing experience when used on the display. The X1 Yoga will also be available in February, starting at $1,499. As for the X1 Tablet, the main improvement here is the inclusion of Kaby Lake CPUs. The rest of the tablet's specifications, including the 12-inch 2160 x 1440 display and the attachable keyboards with additional battery life, remain largely unchanged from the previous model. The X1 Tablet will be available in March starting at $949.

Acer has launched a new high-end ultrawide monitor that caters to those who prefer high refresh rates above everything else. The Predator Z301CT is a 30-inch display with an 1800R curve and a modest resolution of 2560 x 1080, but the star of the show here is a refresh rate that can go as high as 200 Hz with 4ms response times. To achieve such a high refresh rate, Acer has used VA LCD technology, so you won't be getting the same qualities as a top-end IPS LCD. However, this panel does have rated contrast of 3,000:1 and 178/178-degree viewing angles, plus it supports 16.7 million (8-bit) colors and 100% sRGB coverage. Brightness is rated at 300 nits. As this is monitor is branded 'Predator', there are a number of gamer-friendly features, including Tobii eye tracking and G-Sync. Eye tracking is a particularly interesting feature that seems to be increasing in po[CENSORED]rity, especially in some high-end gaming laptops, and the number of games that support the technology is increasing at a reasonable pace. The Z301CT comes with HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2a inputs as well as a USB 3.0 hub. The stand supports both height, swivel and tilt adjustments. Interested gamers will be able to purchase this display in February for $899. Alongside the Z301CT, Acer has bolstered their Predator line with the XB252Q and XB272, 24.5- and 27-inch variants of a 1080p TN LCD with a maximum refresh of 240 Hz. Both panels support Nvidia's G-Sync and Ultra Low Motion Blur technologies, and both sport 1,000:1 contrast ratios and 400 nits of brightness. Acer does claim these panels achieve 100% sRGB reproduction, although viewing angles of 170/170-degrees aren't great. Prices and release dates for the XB252Q and the XB272 are unknown at this stage, although with G-Sync and high refresh rates, they should slot in towards the top of the 1080p display market.

Republicans are to drop a plan to gut the independent body that investigates political misconduct, after an outcry. President-elect Donald Trump had criticised Republicans after they voted to strip the Office of Congressional Ethics of its independence. "Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!" Mr Trump said in a tweet. The proposal was dropped in an emergency meeting at the new Congress, unnamed lawmakers told the US media. Mr Trump made cleaning up corruption in Washington a key theme of his campaign, and he ended his tweet with "#DTS", an acronym for "drain the swamp". Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan had argued unsuccessfully against the vote but on Tuesday he defended the proposal. "I want to make clear that this House will hold its members to the highest ethical standards and the Office will continue to operate independently to provide public accountability to Congress," he said. Trump: No more Guantanamo releases Trump v the car industry Decoding Trump's N Korea tweet How might Trump 'drain the swamp'? Ford Motors cancels $1.6bn Mexico plant A win for Trump - Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington Donald Trump's tweets have teeth. The president-elect took to social media to express his displeasure with the move and within hours those legislative efforts were abandoned. The independent ethics investigators had been a source of discomfort for members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, and there was significant interest in limiting their ability to conduct inquiries. Even after Mr Trump's tweets, many congressional Republicans appeared reluctant to back down. House Speaker Paul Ryan, an initial opponent of the measure, issued a statement defending the change. That ended up being little comfort to the party rank and file, however, as pressure increased for them to bend to Mr Trump's political will. In his first confrontation with congressional leadership, the president-elect displayed his dominance. Mr Trump now has a valuable talking point when discussions inevitably turn back to his own ethical questions, such as how he will handle potential conflicts of interest involving his sprawling business empire. He has made it a bit easier, at least for now, to claim he's standing behind his drain-the-Washington-swamp campaign rhetoric. Media captionThe new US congress is most diverse ever - but is it enough? Under the change: The watchdog would no longer be independent Lawmakers would vote to determine if a fellow member of congress has broken the law The body would be prevented from receiving anonymous tips Accusations against lawmakers would not be made public, as they are currently Senior Republican Congressmen Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy had urged their party to seek bipartisan support and to wait to push for the change later. But Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte submitted the proposal against the advice of his own party's leaders. Mr Trump's tweets about the ethics committee came on a busy morning for the president-elect's Twitter account. He also warned North Korea about its nuclear ambitions, attacked Obamacare costs and sparked a row with General Motors over its manufacturing operation in Mexico, which the car firm disputes.

At least 39 people, including at least 15 foreigners, have been killed in an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey's interior minister says. A gunman opened fire in Reina nightclub at about 01:30 local time (22:30 GMT), as revellers marked the new year. Suleyman Soylu said efforts were continuing to find the attacker, who was believed to have acted alone. At least 69 people were being treated in hospital, the minister added. Four were said to be in a serious condition. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attackers were trying to "create chaos" and pledged to "fight to the end" against terrorism. ADVERTISEMENT 'Inhuman' Addressing reporters, Mr Soylu said: "A manhunt for the terrorist is under way. Police have launched operations. We hope the attacker will be captured soon." Live: Istanbul attack updates Only 21 of the victims had been identified, he said. Fifteen or 16 were foreigners, he said, and at least three of the Turkish victims may have been employees at the club. "This was a massacre, a truly inhuman savagery,'' he said. Image copyrightEPA Image captionThe attack happened at a po[CENSORED]r club in Istanbul Media captionTurkey attack survivor: "There were bodies on the floor" Image copyrightREUTERS Image captionAt least 69 people were injured in the attack Early media reports suggested the attacker may have been wearing a Santa Claus outfit, but newly-obtained CCTV footage shows the suspected attacker in a black coat outside the club. Mr Soylu said the gunman was wearing a coat and trousers, but "we were informed that he was wearing different clothes inside". 'Several bodies' Reina nightclub, in the the Ortakoy area of Istanbul, is an upmarket venue on the banks of the Bosphorus. Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said the attacker killed a policeman and a civilian outside the club before entering and opening fire. "Before I could understand what was happening, my husband fell on top me,'' the Associated Press news agency quoted Sinem Uyanik, who was inside the club, as saying. "I had to lift several bodies from (on) top of me before I could get out. It was frightening.'' There were reportedly as many as 700 people in the nightclub at the time of the attack, some of whom jumped into the water to escape. Image copyrightREUTERS Image captionReina nightclub has a prime location on the Bosphorus Image copyrightREUTERS Image captionReina nightclub, seen here in a file picture, is one of the most exclusive in Istanbul The Turkish authorities have imposed a media blackout on coverage of the attack, citing security and public order concerns, but it does not extend to official statements. Some media reports spoke of more than one attacker and Dogan news agency reported that some witnesses claimed the attackers were "speaking Arabic", but there is no confirmation of this. IS threats: By Rengin Arslan, BBC Turkish, Istanbul Despite there being no official statement about who might be behind this brutal attack, the finger of blame is being pointed at the so-called Islamic State. In the last two years of attacks in Turkey, Kurdish militants have mostly targeted military forces and police, while IS is known to target civilians. IS leaders have threatened Turkey and called on their followers to carry out attacks inside the country. Turkey began a ground operation against IS as well as Kurdish groups inside Syria four months ago. In a statement, President Erdogan condemned those trying to "demoralise our people and create chaos with abominable attacks which target civilians". "We will retain our cool-headedness as a nation, standing more closely together, and we will never give ground to such dirty games." US President Barack Obama, who is on holiday in Hawaii, was among the first international leaders to make a statement after being briefed by his team. "The president expressed condolences for the innocent lives lost, directed his team to offer appropriate assistance to the Turkish authorities, as necessary, and keep him updated as warranted," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement. Image copyrightAFP Image captionPolice are searching the city for the attacker, who left the scene Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the "cynical" murder of civilians. "Our shared duty is to decisively rebuff terrorist aggression," he said in a telegram quoted on the Kremlin website. Turkey and Russia are working together on efforts to end the fighting in Syria, though they support different sides in the conflict. Istanbul was already on high alert with some 17,000 police officers on duty in the city, following a string of terror attacks in recent months. Many were carried out by so-called Islamic State (IS) or Kurdish militants. Less than a fortnight ago, Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by off-duty Turkish policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas as he gave a speech in the capital Ankara. After the shooting, the killer shouted the murder was in revenge for Russian involvement in the conflict in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Deadly attacks in Turkey in 2016 Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image captionScene of explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district on 13 March 10 December: Twin bomb attack outside a football stadium in Istanbul kills 44 people, Kurdish militant group claims responsibility 20 August: Bomb attack on wedding party in Gaziantep kills at least 30 people, IS suspected 30 July: 35 Kurdish fighters try to storm a military base and are killed by the Turkish army 28 June: A gun and bomb attack on Ataturk airport in Istanbul kills 41 people, in an attack blamed on IS militants 13 March: 37 people are killed by Kurdish militants in a suicide car bombing in Ankara 17 February: 28 people die in an attack on a military convoy in Ankara

Last week’s decision by Consumer Reports not to award Apple’s new MacBook Pros a “recommended” rating brought some controversy. But the organization says it is standing by the results of its battery tests and won’t be running them again. Apple’s latest laptops became the first ever MacBook Pros to miss out on Consumer Reports’ coveted rating, after it found their battery life to be wildly inconsistent. The nonprofit discovered that the runtimes of all three machines varied by more than 10 hours in three consecutive tests. The13-inch model with the Touch Bar ran for 16 hours in the first trial, 12.75 hours in the second, and just 3.75 hours in the third. The 13-inch model without the Touch Bar worked for 19.5 hours in one trial but only 4.5 hours in the next. And the numbers for the 15-inch laptop ranged from 18.5 down to 8 hours. It’s those higher figures, which are almost double what Apple says the laptops are capable of, that have caused 9to5Mac to question the validity of the tests. The publication emailed Consumer Reports’ director of electronic testing, Maria Rerecich, suggesting the experiment should be repeated, but she believes such an action is unnecessary. “In this case, we don’t believe re-running the tests are warranted for several reasons. First, as we point out in our original article, experiencing very high battery life on MacBooks is not unusual for us – in fact we had a model in our comparative tests that got 19 hours,” she replied. “Second, we confirmed our brightness with three different meters, so we feel confident in our findings using this equipment. Finally, we monitor our tests very closely. There is an entry logged every minute, so we know from these entries that the app worked correctly,” Rerecich added. The tests also prompted Apple’s VP of Marketing, Phil Schiller, to make a statement. He said the Cupertino company was working with Consumer Reports to find an explanation for the results, which apparently do not match Apple's own extensive lab and field testing. A large number of MacBook Pro owners say the new machines’ poor battery life is a major problem. A 9to5Mac reader poll found the largest group were reporting the laptops lasting five hours or less before running out of juice. Earlier this month, Apple removed the ‘time remaining’ battery life estimate in the newest version of MacOS Sierra in response to the complaints.

China has announced a ban on all ivory trade and processing activities by the end of 2017. Conservation groups hailed the decision as "historic" and a "game-changer" for the future of elephants. The move follows a resolution at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in South Africa in October. China has the biggest ivory market in the world - some estimates suggest 70% of the world's trade ends up there. The war on elephants ADVERTISEMENT Why elephants are seeking refuge in Botswana Ivory can reach $1,100 (£850) per kilogram in China. 'Great leadership' China's State Council announced the details of the ban on Friday. The commercial processing and sale of ivory will stop by 31 March, and all registered traders will then be phased out, bringing a full halt to the market by the end of the year. Conservation group WWF welcomed the latest news, calling it a "historic announcement... signalling an end to the world's primary legal ivory market and a major boost to international efforts to tackle the elephant poaching crisis in Africa". Media captionAlastair Leithead on the poaching problems in Botswana Elly Pepper, deputy director of wildlife trade for the Natural Resources Defense Council, praised China for its "great leadership" on the issue. "Setting such an aggressive timeline to close - once and for all - the largest domestic ivory market in the world is globally significant. "It's a game changer and could be the pivotal turning point that brings elephants back from the brink of extinction," she said. While the international market in ivory has been closed since 1989, legal domestic markets have continued in many countries around the world. A surge in the killing of elephants over the past seven years has seen po[CENSORED]tions across Africa shrink by a third, according to the recently published Great Elephant Census. China had backed the Cites resolution in October, surprising participants with the strength of its support for a ban. Some delegates said Beijing had wanted an even stronger resolution.

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HandBrake has a record of sorts to announce today: After more than 13 years in development the po[CENSORED]r video transcoding software is now ready to exit beta with version 1.0.0. That doesn’t mean earlier builds weren’t stable, of course, as it was already the go-to tool for those who want to convert existing video files into space-efficient formats to play on a bunch of devices. Among the new additions is a set of new video presets for the latest smartphones, tablets, consoles and streaming devices. The app now offers support for Google's VP9 video codec, hardware-accelerated HEVC encoding on Intel Skylake and newer processors, as well as the Opus audio codec. Video improvements include Auto anamorphic mode, a smarter and more efficient replacement for Strict anamorphic mode, new Decomb/Deinterlace filter settings and improved defaults, the Rotate filter is now available from HandBrake’s GUI, and several performance improvements. For those that want to rip their DVD collection there’s now the option to select specific DVD titles and chapters to rip, improved subtitle support and the option to queue up multiple encodes. The Windows version also has the option to pause and resume encoding, and if you stop encoding part way through, HandBrake now finalizes the partial file to make it playable. Handbrake is free, multi-platform (Mac, Windows and Linux) and open-source. You can download the latest version and read the full change log in our downloads section.

Lenovo on Wednesday announced a smattering of new ThinkPad notebooks and accessories, some of which will ship with exciting new technology like Intel’s Optane solid state drives. Lenovo has four new ThinkPad T-Series models in the pipeline – the T470, T470p, T470s and the T570 – as well as the budget-minded L470 / L570, the ThinkPad Yoga 370, the ThinkPad 13 and the ThinkPad X270. All new ThinkPads will be offered with Intel’s new Kaby Lake family of Core processors and Windows 10 pre-loaded with a Microsoft Signature Image that ensures a bloatware-free start right out of the box. Each system will also support Microsoft’s Windows Precision touchpad drivers which should enable a consistent experience across all ThinkPad devices. Select models like the ThinkPad T470 and the T570 can be configured with an Optane drive utilizing Intel’s highly anticipated XPoint technology. Easily the most intriguing aspect of the new machines, the Optane drives Lenovo is using feature a capacity of just 16GB. Looking back at a leaked Intel roadmap, we see that these drives are likely codenamed Stony Beach which Intel described as a system acceleration product. In other words, the first wave of Optane drives like the ones Lenovo is using will likely be used as a cache for slower yet larger storage devices. As the technology matures and prices come down, 3D XPoint-based drives will probably replace traditional SSDs, assuming of course that the tech is able to deliver on its performance promises and gains a large enough following. Other noteworthy features on select systems include touch fingerprint readers and IR cameras to enable Windows Hello login as well as USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3. Design-conscious consumers will also appreciate the fact that Lenovo has added a new silver color option on select models. Pricing and availability are as follows: ThinkPad Yoga 370 – starts at $1,264 – available from March 2017 ThinkPad T470 – starts at $914 – available from February 2017 ThinkPad T570 – starts at $909 – available from March 2017 ThinkPad T470s – starts at $1,099 – available from February 2017 ThinkPad T470p – starts at $1,049 – available from March 2017 ThinkPad 13 – starts at $647 – available from January 2017 ThinkPad L470 – starts at $799 – available from March 2017 ThinkPad L570 – starts at $809 – available from March 2017 ThinkPad X270 – starts at $909 – available from March 2017 Lenovo also announced a new USB Type-C dock ($199.99 starting in January) and a Thunderbolt 3 dock ($279.99 come February) as well as a pair of new ThinkVision monitors, the ThinkVision P24h and the ThinkVision P27h priced at $259 and $329, respectively. Both will be available starting in March 2017. Expect to see more from Lenovo in the lead-up to CES 2017 next week.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said the prospect of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal based on a two-state solution is in grave jeopardy. And he insisted UN condemnation of illegal Jewish settlements on occupied land was in line with American values. Israel's PM said Mr Kerry's speech was "obsessively focused" on settlements. Earlier, US President-elect Donald Trump tweeted in support of Israel, saying he would not allow it to be treated with "disdain and disrespect". He urged Israel to "stay strong" until he assumed office next month. Media captionNetanyahu: John Kerry blamed Israel for lack of peace On Friday, the US chose not to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to Israeli settlement construction, leading to an angry response from Israel. The issue of Jewish settlements is one of the most contentious between Israel and the Palestinians, who see them as an obstacle to peace and the creation of a viable Palestinian state. More than 500,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. Image copyrightEPA Image captionThe UNSC resolution calls for Israel to stop settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem What is the two-state solution? A "two-state solution" to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is the declared goal of their leaders and many international diplomats and politicians. It is the shorthand for a final settlement that would see the creation of an independent state of Palestine on pre-1967 ceasefire lines in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, living peacefully alongside Israel. The United Nations, the Arab League, the European Union, Russia and the United States routinely restate their commitment to the concept. Blame and bitterness keep peace at bay Reconsidering the two-state solution Mr Kerry said: "The two-state solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It is the only way to ensure Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state. That future is now in jeopardy." He added: "The Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution, but his current coalition is the most right-wing in Israeli history with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements. "The result is that policies of this government, which the prime minister himself just described as more committed to settlements than any Israel's history, are leading in the opposite direction. They are leading towards one state." In his reply, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was disappointed with the US secretary of state's speech, which he said was "unbalanced". Mr Kerry, he said, had "paid lip service to the unremitting Palestinian campaign of terrorism" against Israel. The conflict, Mr Netanyahu added, centred on the Palestinians' refusal to recognise Israel's right to exist, but Mr Kerry "does not see the simple truth". Image copyrightAFP Image captionDonald Trump has taken a strongly pro-Israel stance A spokeswoman for the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Hanan Ashrawi, told the BBC that Palestinians had adhered to past agreements but the Israelis had not. "We have accepted the two-state solution and we've acted accordingly and we have honoured all our commitments as per the declaration of principles and the agreements," she said. "Unfortunately it's Israel that has violated all its commitments, all the agreements and that is constantly now stepping up, as John Kerry said... its settlement activities and in an insane manner that is... specifically planned to destroy the two-state solution." More to come? By Paul Adams, BBC diplomatic correspondent Barack Obama began his presidency with a flurry of diplomacy aimed at breaking the Arab-Israeli deadlock. It did not work and pretty soon, a succession of Arab revolutions and wars gave the president more pressing things to think about. Now, at the eleventh hour, another flurry, which has angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But could it help set the scene for future diplomacy? France is organising a peace conference in mid-January and it has been suggested that decisions taken there could form the basis of another UN resolution before 20 January, when President Obama leaves office. However, Donald Trump has made it clear he has no plans to push Israel into a corner. In two tweets issued on Wednesday morning New York time, Mr Trump said: "We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. "They used to have a great friend in the US, but... not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (UN)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!" Critics have urged the president-elect to use more conventional channels to communicate on international matters. Mr Netanyahu replied on Twitter: "President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel!" The UN resolution passed last Friday stated that the establishment of settlements "has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace". The US decision to abstain infuriated Mr Netanyahu, who has taken diplomatic reprisals against the countries that voted in favour of the resolution. Meanwhile, an Israeli committee has postponed a vote to authorise construction of almost 500 new homes in Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem. The move apparently follows a request from Mr Netanyahu's office.