DH1 : 1vote DH2 : 6vote @-Apex the winner

Queen Elizabeth II may seem stoic in front of the public, but she actually is “much livelier in private”. The monarch’s life behind the palace doors is the topic for one of People‘s cover stories. In the article, royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, quoted a source at the Queen’s country estate in Norfolk, as saying, “‘You can hear her laugh throughout that big house.’ She has a big laugh!” Besides, the monarch can also be self-deprecating, reports the outlet. Smith recalled how the Queen was watching a rerun of Prince Charles-Princess Diana wedding ceremony on TV when she spotted herself and said, “‘Oh, there’s my Miss Piggy face’. She has the ability to laugh at herself.” Queen Elizabeth II is quite fun-loving too. Her dressmaker and close confidante Angela Kelly was quoted as saying how the royal enjoyed herself while getting photographed for her portrait for Diamond Jubilee in 2012, where she gave “series of poses, slipping her hands in and out of her pockets and placing them onto her hips, mimicking the stances of a professional model.” “Barry (Jeffrey, the photographer) and I felt we were experiencing something really special: a moment never to be repeated,” Kelly further said. The Queen is known to be an animal lover too so she returns to them every time she wants to relax — her last living dorgi (crossbred corgi and dachshund) Candy and her stable of distinct English breed ponies.

What is it? The recent rationalisation of Jaguar’s XF has cut prices in eye-catching fashion. As you may have read elsewhere, there are now only three engine options available and four trim levels, in addition to the choice between four-door saloon and five-door estate bodystyles. Never mind an equivalent Audi A6 or similar, though: the mid-level, mild-hybrid XF D200 diesel wagon we’re looking at here is more than £5000 cheaper than a like-for-like Audi A4 Avant in TDI S line quattro trim at list price. Don’t expect a discount on the Jag, mind you. With this realignment, the firm says, the price you see is the one you’ll pay - but, thankfully, it sounds as though you won’t mind that too much. Has Jaguar finally got this car’s specification and position right, then, just as so many fleet drivers are wedded to living their motoring lives in high-riding SUVs, and others are moving into electrified options? We’ll see. There’s certainly no plug-in hybrid model in the XF range, and the word is that there isn’t one coming, either. Still, Jaguar is anticipating plenty of interest from fleet drivers opting out of their company schemes with car allowances, and from those simply buying with their own money. And exactly how long those options remain financially viable on a combustion-engined car like this isn’t something that’s in Jaguar’s control, so the company is probably right not to worry about it anyway. The 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium diesel powering our test car is the most economical and the cheapest engine in the new XF range, for which is claimed a WLTP combined fuel economy of up to 54.2mpg (D200 RWD Sportbrake) and CO2 from 137g/km. What's it like? Plenty of mid-cycle facelifts may be about little more than a new stereo system here or a fresh set of instruments there, but this really isn’t one of them. The XF’s interior will be near enough unrecognisable to plenty of owners of the existing car. The tastefully dulled, subtly sculptural chrome trims immediately catch the eye, but when you explore the darker corners of the driving environment, you find matching perceived quality improvements in other places, too. The car’s various clusters of buttons and knobs, on the steering wheel and the centre console, are much more neatly presented and better finished than they used to be as well. Remember that black rubberised look and feel that the car’s secondary switchgear used to have? It looked all right for a bit, but you’d have bet on it wearing badly. Well, that’s all gone, replaced by chunky-feeling chrome window switches and illuminated toggle buttons on the steering wheel's spokes. The XF’s new Pivi Pro infotainment screen - some 11.4in on the diagonal, a lot squarer of aspect than the old car’s set-up, and with a slightly convex display that makes it appear to hug the curve of the dashboard quite nicely - is also a huge improvement on what went before it. It’s standard on even entry-level S-grade cars (although the new widescreen digital instrument pack, which is also very good, isn’t), and it’s easy to use and - as far as we could tell on a two-hour test drive - reliable and robust with its software. The line of shortcut buttons on the left of the display and the easy configurability of the home screen to suit the functions you access most often are as key to this as the system’s responsiveness. Seat comfort up front is very good. If you’re taller, there’s a chance you might notice a slight shortage of telescopic steering column adjustment range, or the closeness of the car’s roofline, because the XF has never been the biggest or most accommodating of executive options. Compared with the latest BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, its back seats in particular do feel relatively small, although they’re still usable and comfortable for all but the tallest adults. Boot space is a very useful 550-odd litres up to the window line, although you lose the car’s underfloor storage if you go for mild-hybrid diesel (which carries its 48V battery and power inverter under there) whereas you’ll keep it if you have a P250 or P300 petrol version instead. Not that I’d let that put me off. This new gently hybridised Ingenium diesel does have the occasional funny driveline engagement when you’re just tipping into the throttle pedal, as it juggles that transient blending of its electric and combustive power sources. They’re pretty rare, though. Most of the time, it just offers usefully stout-feeling mid-range torque, paired with good refinement and equally good economy for a car of its size. During mixed-speed touring, I suspect an indicated 50mpg would be achievable with a fairly light load on board. Jaguar’s Ingenium four-pot diesel engines seemed a bit vocal and meek, teamed with what could feel like dull-witted transmissions, when they were introduced five years ago. This phase of mild hybridisation has made a perceptible difference to how torquey they feel on the road, though, and mechanical isolation has been incrementally improving over the years in parallel. (The new XF has an active noise cancellation system that works to dampen the effect of its various sources of noise on your senses.) The car’s eight-speed gearbox may be the last piece of the puzzle for Jaguar to sort. It still seems to hesitate at times, but also to rush its engagements and actuations at lower speeds and at other times. It isn’t the sharpest-feeling thing, either, when you start to flick the nicely chunky, metallic shift paddles the XF now has, but that shortcoming isn’t enough to take the shine off what is a very rounded and increasingly well-polished powertrain. This diesel, and Jaguar’s lower-level P250 turbo petrol, are now the only XFs that can be had with a rear-driven mechanical layout. (The diesel can be had in four-wheel-drive form, too.) If you’re attracted to this car for the reasons we’ve always rated it as pretty consistently the best-handling and most rewarding mid-sized executive option on the market, it’s certainly worth seeking out one of the rear-driven options. Our test car (on optional 20in alloy wheels and adaptive dampers) rode with the suppleness and fluency you’d expect of a mid-range Jaguar, but also handled with fine cornering balance and a clear but progressive sort of incisiveness that made it an easy pleasure to simply guide along. Steering isn’t overly direct but it’s accurate, intuitive and perfectly weighted, with no perceptible spongy or elastic feel, so you can place the car with confidence and judge grip levels similarly. There’s enough torque to momentarily animate the chassis into gently positive attitudes around slower bends, and generally to engage with a rear-driven executive car with a sensible but not overwhelming grip level and a healthy dose of natural handling poise the way that a keener driver might like to. The XF has modern driver aids and electronic convenience features, but they’re fully switchable ones and, by and large, they don’t come between you and the enjoyment of the driving experience. The one mechanical difference between an XF saloon and Sportbrake remains the wagon’s fitment of self-levelling rear suspension, which is there to compensate when hauling heavy loads or towing. It doesn’t impose any undesirable dynamic tolls on the car, though. Ride isolation seems equally good at the back as it is at the front axle, and the car’s ride frequency is very well balanced over longer-wave inputs. Should I buy one? As unlikely as this may have seemed 10 years ago, this could be Jaguar’s last throw of the dice with a classic mid-sized saloon. It has simplified and streamlined the XF’s line-up as much as it can, to take both cost of production and complexity out - and with some success. At the same time, it has clearly done its utmost to put refinement, sophistication and luxury feel back into this car and has worked effectively there, too. You do get a sense that it may all be so that they’re able to stand back and say “we gave it our best shot, you know”, when the last old-school Jaguar four-door rolls off the Castle Bromwich production a few years from now. I suppose only time will tell. Clearly, Jaguar can’t hold back the tide of change in the new car market, much as it may be able to take a slightly bigger slice of a pie that’s shrinking with every year that passes. With this revised XF, it certainly deserves to do that much. And with its replacement, sad as it may seem, less traditional thinking is clearly what’s required.

Agadir – The annual Morocco-US joint military training exercise “African Lion” will resume in June 2021 after having been reduced in scale in 2020 due to COVID-19. From January 20, until January 30, a delegation of the US army has been scouting the locations where the military maneuvers are set to take place. The exercise will involve more than 10,000 troops coming from the US, Morocco, as well as Senegal and Tunisia. African Lion is the US Africa Command’s (Africom) largest training operation on the continent. The plans for the 2020 operation included 9,000 troops, 7,000 tons of military equipment, maritime and air exercises, as well as the use of F-16 and KC-135 aircraft. The news comes following talks that took place in November 2020. The Moroccan-US delegation stated in November that the annual African Lion exercise “represents an opportunity to show the strong and continuous strategic partnership between the United States and Morocco, although both nations are facing COVID-19.” The maneuvers have been running uninterrupted since 2003 until they were scaled down last year due to COVID-19-related concerns. Morocco and the US jointly organize the African Lion exercises in partnership with other countries. The exercises aim to strengthen the participants’ capacity in combating extremist organizations, as well as maintaining peace and security. “We face a number of shared challenges, [but the US and Morocco] will continue to capitalize on our already very strong relationship to meet these challenges,” said US General Andrew Rohling last November.

The Raspberry Pi Pico is a radical change from previous Pis, because it’s not a Linux computer, but a a microcontroller board like Arduino . The biggest selling points of the Raspberry Pi Pico are the price, $4 and the new RP2040 chip which provides ample power for embedded projects and enables users of any age or ability to learn coding and electronics. If you have a Windows, Apple, Linux computer or even a different Raspberry Pi, then you are already well on your way to using the Raspberry Pi Pico in your next project. The Raspberry Pi Pico is vastly different to any model before it. It is the first device to use RP2040 “Pi Silicon” which is a custom System on Chip (SoC) developed by the Raspberry Pi team which features a dual core Arm Cortex M0+ running at 133 MHz, 264KB of SRAM and 2MB of flash memory used to store files. The one downside of the Raspberry Pi Pico is that there is no wireless connectivity. The RP2040 is the first microcontroller in the Pi range and this brings with it a new way of working. The Pico is not a computer, rather we need to write code in an external application on a different computer and “flash” the code to the microcontroller over USB. In our tutorial on how to get started with Raspberry Pi Pico, we explain how to connect a PC to the Pico and use it to upload MicroPython code. Writing code for the Raspberry Pi Pico is handled in C/C++ or MicroPython, the latter being the officially supported language for general and education use, as confirmed by James Adams, Chief Operating Officer of Raspberry Pi. MicroPython on Raspberry Pi Pico MicroPython is a version of Python 3 for microcontrollers. It was created by Damien George and first used with the PyBoard development board back in 2014. Since then, more devices have adopted this easy to use language and there is a further fork of MicroPython,CircuitPython created by Adafruit which adds further enhancements for their range of boards. Writing MicroPython code for the Raspberry Pi Pico is possible using the Thonny Python IDE, which is available for all the major OSes, and it is the most accessible way to get started with your Pico. A fork of MicroPython, CircuitPython has been released for RP2040 boards. Created by Adafruit, CircuitPython has an impressive library of pre-written modules for sensors, LCD / OLED / LED screens and output devices such as thermal printers. Flashing CircuitPython to the Raspberry Pi Pico is as simple as flashing MicroPython, and it is reversible should you wish to revert back to MicroPython or C/C++. C/C++ Writing code in C/C++ is made possible via two methods. Firstly we can write the code directly in a text editor of our choice and then follow a workflow to build the files which are then flashed to the Pico. Or we can use a graphical workflow and have Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code handle the creation, build and flash process in one application. Arduino have announced that they will be adding support for the RP2040 to their Arduino IDE, which will simplify the C/C++ workflow immensely and bring it more inline with how Arduino hackers have worked for many years. 26 × multi-function 3.3V GPIO pins 2 × SPI, 2 × I2C, 2 × UART, 3 × 12-bit ADC, 16 × controllable PWM channels 8 × Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines for custom peripheral support. Castellated module allows soldering directly to carrier boards. Operating at 3.3V, the Raspberry Pi Pico has a 40 pin GPIO, but it does not share the same form factor as the Raspberry Pis before it. We have GPIO pins for digital inputs / outputs, pulse width modulation (PWM) and for specialist communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART/Serial. The GPIO also has three Analog inputs, something other Raspberry Pis lack, that use variable voltages to connect to, for example, a potentiometers, joystick or light-dependent resistor. The GPIO pins themselves feature castellations, small cutouts that permit the Raspberry Pi Pico to be soldered in place into a project or carrier board. More importantly, we can also solder header pins to the Pico and use it in a breadboard. See our tutorial on how to solder Raspberry Pi Pico pins for more details. Retailing for $4, the Raspberry Pi Pico is a cost effective means to tinker with electronics projects and study physical computing. We can use the power of Pico at the heart of robotics and motorized projects, collect data using sensors for temperature, humidity, light and pollution and we can learn the basics of programming and electronics. The Raspberry Pi Pico is currently the only board to offer the RP2040 but it won’t be that way for long. Adafruit have announced two new boards based upon the RP2040. The Feather 2040 and ItsyBitsy 2040 follow Adafruit’s own range of board layouts and bring extra features such as battery charging, larger storage capacity, STEMMA QT and Neopixels to the mix. Arduino have announced that they are working on the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect, a variant of the RP2040 with WiFi and Bluetooth. SparkFun have also released the own board based upon the RP2040 which sees their design add a micro SD card and larger onboard flash storage to accommodate projects and corresponding files. Pimoroni have announced the smallest RP2040 based board, aptly named the Tiny2040, this board has less GPIO pins than most, but it has a large onboard flash storage just like SparkFun's board. The RP2040 may be the new kid on the block, but it has already brought lots of alternatives to the table, and this is just the start for this low power, high speed chip. First and third part accessories are the life blood of the Raspberry Pi and maker communities. They bring extra features and enable projects to be realised more easily. With the Raspberry Pi Pico's new form factor there is a need for new accessories and the first to market at Pimoroni, a UK based official Raspberry Pi reseller. They have released 12 new accessories for the Pico, nine of which are available at launch. They range from simple breakout boards enabling multiple addons to be used at once, to advanced audio output devices and a VGA Demo board which uses the Programmable IO of the RP2040 to create DVI video signals. If your interest are more LED inclined then the Unicorn Pack sees 112 RGB LEDs ready to dazzle your eyeballs. Tutorials and Support The best things about Raspberry Pi is the great community and the thousands of tutorials that have been created. From basic to complex there are great tutorials to help you learn new skills. Right now the Raspberry Pi Pico is so new, that there are only a handful of tutorials available, but as this $4 makes its way across the world, more enthusiasts, such as those who work at Tom’s Hardware will create new ways to help you get the most out of the Raspberry Pi Pico.

Employees are being asked to juggle a broader range of applications than ever as a result of the shift to remote working, new data suggests. As per the latest report from identity management firm Okta, businesses now deploy 88 distinct applications on average, rising to 155 in the technology sector (up 17% in the past year). The top 10% of companies by scale of application deployment, meanwhile, are said to utilize 199 different apps or more. This metric has been trending upwards for years, but the pattern has only been accentuated by the pandemic, which saw businesses scramble to bring in collaboration, security and employee engagement software in a bid to support a newly remote workforce. Here's our list of the best collaboration tools right now We've built a list of the best video conferencing services around Check out our rundown of the best productivity software out there “When it comes to interacting with co-workers, customers, partners, vendors and others on a common platform, we see that for many companies a ‘good enough’ solution isn’t actually good enough. We’re seeing that ‘one size fits all’ is not fitting, at all,” said Okta. Applications galore According to a poll of 9,400 Okta customers, Microsoft 365 remains the application suite deployed by the largest percentage of companies, but cloud-based services that allow businesses to operate remotely have leapt up the list. Recording 35% year-on-year growth, AWS is now the second most used platform. Meanwhile, video conferencing service Zoom and e-signature firm Docusign have surged into fifth and eighth place respectively, unseating a number of established incumbents. “This year, as the pandemic became a global concern, our worlds were flooded with change. We turned to technology to stay afloat,” explained Okta. “Families scrambled to get equipped, companies rushed to support their remote workforces and quickly develop new online experiences for customers. And as the pandemic accelerated, tech solutions once preferred only by ‘early adopters’ because survival tools for companies across all industries.” The gravity of the change brought about by the pandemic is also underlined by the top ten fastest growing applications of the year, nine of which are brand new to the list. Amazon Business leads the way with 341% growth year-on-year, followed by collaboration applications Miro (+301%) and Figma (+236%) and project management platform Monday.com (+149%). Security products Fortinet FortiGate, VMware Carbon Black and 1Password also recorded significant growth this year as companies sought out ways to secure corporate data outside of the traditional security perimeter. While remote workers may benefit from a variety of tools, as businesses seek out best-in-breed examples in each category, the proliferation of applications will also pose distinct challenges for less tech-savvy staff. Balancing this equation will be a central challenge for businesses moving forward, with remote working set to continue for the foreseeable.

Name of the game: Main Assembly Price: 15.99$ After Discount Link Store: Here Offer ends up after X hours: 2 February Requirements: MINIMUM: Système d'exploitation et processeur 64 bits nécessaires Système d'exploitation : WINDOWS® 7 (64-bit) Processeur : Intel® Core™ i3-4160 or AMD equivalent Mémoire vive : 4 GB de mémoire Graphiques : NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 750 or AMD equivalent Espace disque : 3 GB d'espace disque disponible RECOMMENDED: Système d'exploitation et processeur 64 bits nécessaires Système d'exploitation : WINDOWS® 7 (64-bit) Processeur : Intel® Core™ i5-4460 or AMD equivalent Mémoire vive : 8 GB de mémoire Graphiques : NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970 or AMD equivalent Espace disque : 3 GB d'espace disque disponible

What is it? We know how this goes, don’t we? A big Bentley arrives and we like it a great deal. Then a big Bentley with a smaller engine arrives and we like it even more. And thus we welcome the latest Bentley Flying Spur V8, the third generation of Bentley’s saloon that, with the demise of the Mulsanne, effectively becomes the flagship limo. Fortunately, we already know it is a much, much better car than either of its previous iterations, which, charged with being both a luxury saloon and a car capable of 200mph or thereabouts, couldn’t do isolation well enough in the face of the physical demands placed upon them. In being fast, they were insufficiently luxurious. This time, our experience of the early 6.0-litre car means we know it can do both, on account of it being based on the MSB platform developed for the Volkswagen Group (of which Bentley is a part) by Porsche, with heavy and early input from the brands that will use it. We’ve already found that with vast arrays of active dynamic technology, including rear steer and 48V active anti-roll bars, the 6.0 W12-engined car is deftly sprung and quiet, despite a double-ton top speed and 626bhp. But, as ever, the 4.0-litre V8 fitted here gives very little away. Power is ‘only’ 542bhp and torque a mere 568lb ft (rather than the 664lb ft of the W12) but it has 107kg lighter kerb weight to move around. The official weight here is 2330kg but we put a W12 on the scales at 2500kg exactly so let’s call it 2400kg, which means 226bhp per tonne rather than 240bhp per tonne. What's it like? Peak torque arrives at the same 2000rpm as in the W12. There’s very little in it, then, in terms of performance (it’s a not-quite 200mph car rather than an only-just 200mph car) but also, rather more pleasingly, it’s a slightly nicer car to drive. The noise is muted at low revs, a little V8-ish at high revs, but most of the time you’ll be unaware how many tiny bangs are taking place in front of you. You just have enough power any time you want it. The dual-clutch auto is good, too; perhaps marginally less refined than a full auto in town, but unnoticeably so most of the time. Speak to vehicle dynamics engineers about their favourite cars in any given range and it’s no surprise to learn that it’s usually the lightest one that they like the most. That’s how, once again, we feel here. The Flying Spur V8 feels just as well isolated and quiet as the bigger-engined alternative, with genuine luxury to its ride quality, albeit not quite as much silence or waft as you’d find in a Rolls-Royce Ghost. But despite a 2.2m width across the mirrors and a length of 5.3m, plus that kerb weight, what’s impressive about the Flying Spur is the way it can be coaxed along relatively modestly sized back roads while feeling like a smaller car than it is. It steers smoothly and confidently, corners well and goes over crests with well-contained body movements. You can feel its four-wheel steering getting involved to virtually shorten its wheelbase and aid agility but, it’s not an entirely unnatural feel. Fit and finish, meanwhile, are as strong as ever, so all the metals look like metal and it’s an occasional surprise when they don’t feel like it. Should I buy one? Current work practice means I couldn’t be driven while sitting in the rear seats, but there’s a whole bunch of leg room back there, and adequate head room, although the window line is quite high, so if you’re a backseat operator, the Flying Spur is for those who want a private limo rather than for show-offs. I think this is less ostentatious than a Rolls-Royce. But you probably knew that.

Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza Spencer, the twin nieces of the late Princess of Wales, Diana, have said they were unaware of how significant she was, until after her death. Recalling the moment Diana “protected” them from the paparazzi when they were children, the 28-year-olds told Tatler in an interview that they did not know just “how significant” the late royal was before her death, when they were all of five. “We always just knew her as our aunt. Growing up in South Africa, I really had very little idea of how significant she was in the world until I was much older,” Eliza was quoted as saying. She, however, added that she does remember her as being “incredibly warm, maternal and loving”. “She always made an effort to connect with us as children and had a talent for reading children’s hearts.” The twins recalled an incident that has particularly stayed with them all these years — that of when during a beach trip with their aunt Diana, they were approached by a photographer. Eliza said the situation could have been “quite terrifying”, but Diana managed to “distract the twins, even turning the situation into a game”. “Obviously it could have been quite terrifying for us, being so young and not understanding what was happening. But she turned it into a game of who could get back to the car first,” Eliza was quoted as saying, according to People magazine. “It was amazing how she protected us in a way that made us feel safe and not frightened.” Princess Diana died tragically in a car accident in August 1997 at the age of 36. Eliza said she recognised the “enormity of the loss” for her father and Diana’s brother Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, and the rest of the family. She, however, had no idea then what her death would mean for the rest of the world.

Rabat – Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Arancha Gonzalez Laya has presented Spain’s External Action Strategy that recommends strengthening dialogue and cooperation with partner countries, including Morocco. Laya presented the strategy to the Spanish Council of Ministers on Tuesday this week, underlining the need to consolidate dialogue with countries in North Africa, especially Morocco. The 100-page document calls for the organization of regular political consultations with Morocco and the holding of high-level meetings. The strategy also emphasizes the importance of “specific cooperation plans” with Morocco in “areas of common interest.” “In the case of Morocco, our great southern neighbour and indispensable partner, the common will of our Governments is to continue enhancing the excellent bilateral relations and extend them into new arenas,” the document reads. The document also emphasized the importance of the Morocco-Spain partnership, with Madrid seeking to expand cooperation in other areas, including parliamentary and entrepreneurial sectors. The plan also seeks to strengthen cooperation against irregular migration. Read Also: Spain PM Reiterates Support for UN-Led Process in Western Sahara “On migration matters, the plan is to continue to implement a comprehensive policy both in bilateral and regional contexts such as the Rabat Process, and support Morocco in its enforcement of new migration and human rights policy.” The Spanish minister said it will present the strategy to both chambers of the Spanish parliament. Under the strategy, the Spanish government seeks to work to strengthen cooperation with sub-Saharan countries to support their economic and social development. Spanish officials frequently express satisfaction with Morocco. Earlier this month, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has long advocated for furthering the “strategic” and “special” relationship between Rabat and Madrd, reaffirmed that Morocco is an essential partner for Spain. “Such countries are fundamental to our interests,” Sanchez said of Morocco. He also expressed hope to see the pandemic end soon for the Moroccan-Spanish high-level meeting to take place. The meeting was initially scheduled for December 17, 2020, but it was postponed to February 2021. The Spanish government said the decision was due to COVID-19 crisis. In recent months, observers questioned the official discourse about the postponement. Most analysts attributed the schedule change to a perceptible diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain. In December, Morocco’s Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani suggested in an interview that Morocco and Spain should start discussing the situation of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. “Ceuta and Melilla are among the points on which it is necessary to open discussion,” El Othmani said. El Othmani’s remarks angered the Spanish government, who summoned Morocco’s ambassador to Spain Karima Benyaich. During the meeting, Benyaich calmed tensions but reaffirmed Morocco’s unchanged position regarding Ceuta and Melilla, which the North African country considers as occupied territories. She assured, however, that El Othmani’s remarks do not mean that Morocco will seek to bring the topic to the center of bilateral cooperation discussions between Spain and Morocco. Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska angered the Spanish press last week when he called Morocco a strategic partner. The Spanish official did not comment on El Othmani’s recent remarks on Ceuta and Melila, leaving many Spanish media outlets frustrated at the absence of a direct and forceful response from the Sanchez government.

Original Article, slightly amended for clarity: AMD recently announced that it's Threadripper Pro processors will come to retail outlets, but the company hasn't listed the official pricing yet. Seeing these chips come to retail outlets is a nice addition after they debuted for the first six months in uber-expensive pre-validated systems, like the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 that we recently tested with the flagship Threadripper Pro 3995WX. Thanks to a listing of the Threadripper Pro part numbers (via @momomo_us), we've now tracked down retail price listings at Compusource. At Compusource, you'll have to cough up $6,086 for the 64-core 128-thread Threadripper Pro 3995WX, $3,043 for the 32-core 3975WX, and $1,253 for the 16-core 3955WX. The increased pricing from Compusource represents the etailer's premium. While Threadripper Pro pricing is eye-watering, you'll get plenty of expanded functionality for your hard-earned dollars. AMD's powerful Threadripper Pro processors represent the ultimate in workstation power, easily beating the standard consumer-geared Threadripper chips in workloads that prize memory throughput. The chips rock up to 64 cores, 128 threads, and support up to 2TB of memory spread out among eight memory channels, not to mention 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0 connectivity. Threadripper Pro retail pricing is much friendlier than what we see with OEM systems, too – for instance, it costs $7,000 just to upgrade from the 12-core 3945WX in a Lenovo system to the 64-core 3995WX. At $5,489, the Threadripper Pro 3995WX commands a $1,499 premium over its consumer counterpart, the 3990X, but is less expensive than pricing for AMD's EPYC 7442 data center chip that comes with similar accommodations. Frankly, we expected higher suggested Threadripper Pro pricing to prevent cheaper workstation chips from cannibalizing AMD's data center EPYC models. The 32-core 3975WX lands at $2,749, a $750 upcharge over the consumer Threadripper 3970X. Curiously, AMD left a 24-core Threadripper Pro model out of the new lineup. The 16-core 3995WX lands at $1,149. The Threadripper Pro 3995WX doesn't have a 16-core Threadripper counterpart, instead, it competes with the $799 Ryzen 9 5950X that slots into mainstream motherboards. For $350 more, the 3995WX offers up four times more memory channels and 108 more lanes of PCIe 4.0 connectivity, but you'll have to pay handsomely for a workstation-class motherboard to house the chip and po[CENSORED]te eight memory channels, which is a pricey proposition all by itself. And you'll miss out on Ryzen 5000's stunning single-threaded performance. You’ll need a WRX80 motherboard to unlock the best of Threadripper Pro, but never fear, ASUS has listed the Pro WS Sage SE on its website and we should learn pricing and availability soon. This motherboard represents the ultimate in PCIe - it comes with seven PCIe 4.0 x16 slots and eight memory slots. The board also comes with a 16-phase power delivery substem, supports RDIMMs, and has a BMC chip for remote management. Gigabyte also has its WRX80-SU8 waiting in the wings, but the details are slight. We know the massive board (most likely E-ATX) also has seven PCIe slots and BMC features, two 10 GbE ports, two GbE ports, and a 7.1-channel audio system. If you want to see how these chips compare to standard Threadripper chips in a ton of benchmarks, including gaming, head to our recent review.

Google announced on January 26 that Chromebooks will be getting some new features thanks to the recently released Chrome OS 88 update. Not only will signing into devices and websites be faster, but you can also expect to personalize lock screens going forward. Should you buy a Chromebook? We've put together a list of the best laptops for students And we've highlighted the best cheap Chromebook deals The latest sign-in feature is thanks to WebAuth, Google's Web Authentication that was rolled out across Android devices back in 2019. Chromebooks users will be able to sign into websites that support WebAuth without needed site-specific passwords, and can instead opt to use the fingerprint (if your device has a scanner) or PIN that is used to access your device. These websites should provide a pop up to notify you if WebAuth is a supported option. You'll also be able to use your PIN or fingerprint as part of your two-step verification process, which will eliminate the need for security keys or authentication software on other devices. These new features should speed up web browsing and sign-in experiences, eliminating the need for site-specific passwords and security. You can now also personalize your Chromebook lock screen and display information like the current weather. The smart display feature will also tell you what music is currently playing on the device when locked and allow you to pause or skip tracks without having to unlock your Chromebook first. You can use your Google Photo album for images, or use the art gallery to update the existing lock screen background. If you want to try this yourself, head over to your Chrome OS Settings menu and select 'Personalization' to view screensaver options.

Cancelled !

What is it? Plug-in hybrids such as this new Toyota RAV4 are an interesting phenomenon. With the ability to run for short periods of time on electricity alone you can see, on the one hand, how they might appeal as a safe, considered stepping stone in the journey from petrol power to a bonafide EV. On the other, they could just be nothing more than a cynical means of slashing your company car tax obligations - and one that’s a mere legislation change away from losing that prime positioning, too. But whatever your thoughts on the moral worth of these potential Cayman Island cars might be, this latest RAV4 PHEV is a pretty impressive example of the breed. Mechanically speaking, it’s not too dissimilar to the standard RAV4 Hybrid. There’s a 2.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine up front that’s mated to an electric motor, and which together drive the front wheels through an e-CVT. At the rear axle, there’s a second, smaller electric motor that lends the Toyota all-wheel-drive capability. And, unsurprisingly, it’s based on the Japanese firm’s TGA-K architecture. Of course, there are some key differences. The petrol engine now develops 182bhp instead of 176bhp; and the front electric motor’s output has been upped from the 118bhp figure it makes in the regular RAV4 Hybrid, to 180bhp here. The rear motor still produces 54bhp, but combined they lend the RAV4 PHEV a system output of 302bhp - making it the most powerful model in the range by a pretty hefty margin. The lithium-ion drive battery is obviously larger, too. It has a gross capacity of 18.1kWh - pretty beefy by current PHEV standards - and is mounted beneath the floor to lower the car’s centre of gravity. Toyota claims a WLTP-certified range of 46 miles (so it slots into that desirable 6% BiK bracket), while a full charge can be delivered in 2.5 hours from a dedicated wallbox. What's it like? You’ve got a choice of four different powertrain operating modes here, which I guess sounds quite fussy but actually they all work quite well out on the road. Start the car and it defaults to pure EV mode. Provided there’s enough juice in the battery you can travel at speeds of up to 84mph, and even if you hit the kickdown switch to summon a well of acceleration, the ICE motor won’t spark up. Toyota claims a 0-62mph time of 10sec when running on battery power, and performance is brisk enough to keep pace with the traffic. Throttle response is excellent, and forward progress arrives in a smooth, seamless fashion. Next is Auto EV/HV mode, which is effectively the same as regular EV mode, apart from the fact that the petrol engine will pipe up if you really mash the throttle. The transition from one power source to another is really smartly governed, and the petrol engine only makes itself heard if you stand on the throttle for prolonged periods of time. Then there’s HV mode, where the RAV4 runs as a regular hybrid (and a quick one at that); and finally there’s charge mode, which, well, charges the battery up while you’re driving. One aspect of running a plug-in car that can really set your teeth on edge is the draining effect that cold winter weather can have on electric range. The Citroen C5 Aircross PHEV I currently have as a long-termer, for instance, has been struggling to get more than 17 miles from a full charge - which is significantly less than its minimum 33-mile claim. Preconditioning - the process of warming the car up while it’s still plugged in - is key here, and when run as such, the RAV4 PHEV really impresses. Admittedly, I wasn’t able to match its 46-mile claimed range. But on a test route that took in all manner of dual carriageways, fast country A-roads and 20mph village lanes, the Toyota covered 36 miles before its battery gave up the ghost. And that was without me making a conscious effort to maximise efficiency, either. Then, when the car reverted back to running in regular hybrid mode, it still managed to average 49mpg over the remainder of our 90-mile test route. It’s an impressive system, this; performance, efficiency and electric range are all really strong. Provided you have a home charger that you can plug into, I’d wager that trips to the petrol pump will be few and far between. That this powertrain is implemented into a car that also rides comfortably, handles smartly, and steers through a pleasingly thin-rimmed wheel that’s accurate in its responses and really quite nicely weighted is an added bonus. There’s loads of room in the second row, too, and the boot is still a usefully large 520-litre affair despite the packaging tweaks made to accommodate the bigger battery. Should I buy one? The only snag is the price. It starts at £47,395, so it’s a natch more expensive than the excellent plug-in Land Rover Discovery Sport that toppled rivals from BMW and Volvo in an Autocar group test recently. It’s also a few grand pricier than the new Suzuki Across, which is effectively the exact same car only with a different badge on its nose. Standard equipment is nonetheless generous, but it doesn’t have the premium allure of those upper-class competitors - despite feeling exceptionally well-built. Nevertheless, this is an easily recommendable PHEV SUV - provided you’re into such things.

Samantha Akkineni is busy promoting The Family Man 2 and also sharing her looks on social media. While we really admire her style choices and she indeed brightens up our feeds with her varied looks, her latest look has left us with mixed feeling — there are parts we loved but others not so much. Check out below to know what we are talking about. Styled by Preetham Jukalker, the actor was seen in an olive green shirt with frill detailing on the shoulder, which reminded us of the statement sleeves trend. The full-sleeve shirt was styled with a pair of washed-out grey-black denim which featured fringes. The outfit was by designer Dhruv Kapoor. While we love the shirt, the frill-detailing on the denim was a tad bit much, making it look slightly OTT. Not only that, we feel if the shirt was tucked in it would have made for a cleaner and chic look. However, we love the matching footwear and big hoops. For makeup, she kept it simple and stuck to her glowing dewy base, nude lip colour, a generous dose of mascara, and a bit of kohl.