Is today one of those days when you just don’t feel like entering the kitchen? Worry not! We are here with an easy yet delicious solution (read: recipe) for you. If you love salads, you must check out this recipe that chef Anahita Dhondy recently shared. “Perfect for easy evenings at home, looks fancy and tastes delicious,” she said. And we completely agree! Thai Cucumber salad Ingredients 3 – Cucumbers For dressing 2 – Red chillies 2 tbsp – Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp – Honey ½ tsp – Soy sauce ½ tbsp – Any vinegar Salt and pepper to taste Fresh mint Fresh coriander Handful of toasted peanuts *Wash and cut the cucumbers and make holes in them with a small cap. *Whisk everything together to make the dressing. *Pour the dressing and mix. *Top with crushed peanuts. *Mix everything and serve chilled.

Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Health recorded 5,214 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. This brings the country’s total number of confirmed infections to 265,165. Morocco also reported another 3,946 COVID-19 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The total number of recovered COVID-19 carriers in Morocco is now 216,851. The national recovery rate is 81.8%. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health counted 69 more COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 4,425. The mortality rate stands at 1.7%. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Morocco is 43,889 as of 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10. Morocco counts 984 patients with severe symptoms, including 161 of today’s newly-identified patients. Approximately 76 are under intubation, while 380 are under non-invasive ventilation. According to the ministry, the occupancy rate of intensive care beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients stands at 37%. Health authorities in Morocco excluded 15,769 suspected COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Approximately 3,266,235 suspected COVID-19 carriers have tested negative for the virus since the pandemic broke out in Morocco on March 2. COVID-19’s geographic distribution throughout Morocco Health authorities in the Casablanca-Settat region confirmed 2,381 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, in addition to 12 fatalities. Casablanca-Settat has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities of any region in Morocco. The region of Rabat-Sale-Kenitra confirmed 1,209 new cases. Rabat-Sale-Kenitra also recorded 14 additional deaths. The region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima followed in today’s case numbers, reporting 458 new cases and four new deaths. The region of Marrakech-Safi confirmed 220 new COVID-19 cases and six additional fatalities. The Souss-Massa region recorded 206 new COVID-19 cases and four more fatalities. The region of Draa-Tafilalet reported 143 new cases and two additional deaths. The Oriental region confirmed 139 new cases and 13 more deaths. The Beni Mellal-Khenifra region reported 133 additional cases and four additional fatalities. The region of Fez-Meknes confirmed 100 additional COVID-19 cases and eight more deaths. The Guelmim-Oued Noun region recorded 79 new COVID-19 cases and two new fatalities. The regions of Laayoune Sakia-El Hamra (109 new cases) and Dakhla-Oued Eddahab (37) did not report any COVID-19-related deaths today.

Twitter user @@kopite7kimi dropped a post on a new RTX 3050 that is possibly in the works, this SKU is rumored to be equipped with 2304 CUDA cores and a 90W TDP on a GA107 die, indicating Nvidia is already planning or has already begun production of this GPU. All we get is potential specifications for the 3050, so obvious salt and such applies. We still don't know when this card is going to launch, or its potential price. All we know is that Nvidia needs to replace its current entry-level GTX 1650 Turing lineup at some point, and an Ampere successor makes sense. Again, #rumors, but it's interesting to see this GPU being called an RTX card. This implies that the entire RTX 3000 series lineup will feature ray-tracing acceleration and Tensor cores for DLSS and Nvidia Broadcast capabilities. That's in stark contrast to the previous Turing generation where Nvidia split it's consumer graphics cards into two lineups, the GTX 16-series, and the RTX 20-series. The GTX prefix of course signifies a lack of RT cores and Tensor cores, which made sense to keep the cost down for those parts on a 12nm process. Compared to the current generation GTX 1650 Super, which has 1208 CUDA cores, theoretically the RTX 3050 almost doubles that to 2304 CUDA cores. However, due to the Ampere architecture, this doesn't necessarily mean a near doubling in performance. The Ampere architecture has two sets of CUDA cores: One is only for FP32, and the other is FP32 or INT32, and spends a fair amount of time doing INT32 operations. This is why you get so many of them in the GeForce RTX 3070, GeForce RTX 3080, and GeForce RTX 3090). For games in particular, Ampere GPU performance doesn't scale quite as you'd expect based on the theoretical TFLOPS figures. However, games are becoming more and more FP32 intensive as time goes on, so Ampere's performance could improve as it ages. Ampere also has other advantages, with second generation RT cores and third gen Tensor cores. If we want to gauge how fast the RTX 3050 might be, we can look at current Ampere GPUs for a good comparison. Let's take the RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 3070 for example. The 3070 has 5888 CUDA cores and the 2080 Ti 4352 CUDA cores (26 percent less). The two GPUs are basically equal in performance, depending on the games being tested. That means the 3070's CUDA cores potentially 30-35 percent weaker than the 2080 Ti's CUDA cores. There are of course other factors, chief of which being the 2080 Ti's 11GB of memory on a 352-bit bus (vs. 8GB on a 256-bit bus), but at least it gives us a baseline of how performance scales with Ampere GPUs. If we apply that math to the supposed RTX 3050, the RTX 3050 would perform just above a GTX 1660 Ti / Super and just below an RTX 2060. That's purely from a CUDA core standpoint, and other elements come into play. Offering ray tracing and DLSS would naturally put the RTX 3050 ahead of the 1660 Super / 1660 Ti in features. The big question, besides whether any of this is even true, is price. The 1050 Ti and 1650 were both in the $150 ballpark. RTX 3050 would likely push higher up the chain, but if it's priced under $200, the RTX 3050 could be a great entry-level card that would help bring DLSS and ray tracing to the masses. It would also be a great fit for modest gaming laptops. Obviously, there's plenty of speculation right now and Nvidia hasn't confirmed the existence of GA107 or RTX 3050. Still, with Intel and AMD pushing higher up the chain on integrated graphics performance, it makes sense for entry-level cards to increase in price, performance, and features. In the meantime, we're still waiting for the official RTX 3060 / RTX 3060 Ti launch, as well as AMD's Big Navi, and there are a lot of missing pieces on the RTX 3050 puzzle.

Apple's last event of 2020 is kicking off in around five minutes time! With Apple promising One More Thing, we're expecting the company to finally reveal its new lineup of Macs and MacBooks powered by its own ARM-based processors, rather than Intel chips. Why should you care what processor your MacBook runs? Good question. By creating its own 'Apple silicon' chips, Apple will have almost complete control over the hardware, as well as the software, that powers its Macs and MacBooks. This should hopefully result in better-optimized devices that offer improved performance, quicker boot times and longer battery lives. It could be the most exciting change to Macs and MacBooks for a very long time. So, hopefully we'll see some of those today when the event kicks off at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT on November 10 (and 4am November 11 AEST for Australians). We'll show you how to tune it in our how to watch Apple's One More Thing event article, but if you can't view the video, or would like some expert commentary, then keep your eyes glued to this live blog, where we'll be spilling all the latest news, analysis and reactions throughout the event. Apple event live blog: let the Mac onslaught commence! All times are in PST 11:01: OK... one more thing for us. We have info on the new MacBook Air (2020), new MacBook Pro 13-inch (2020), Mac mini (2020) and the M1 processor, so check those out! 10:47: Oh and one more thing... it's the guy from those old adverts. And that's the end! We'll be getting these new devices in soon so we can put Apple's claims to the test. 10:46: Tim Cook is now summing up. Promises that in 2021 Apple will bring more experiences. And that's it! Lots of info, lots of comparisons, lots of claims. 10:44: Oh and the chime is back. For people who care about that. 10:43: So, to sum up: New MacBook Air with M1 - Starts at $999 New Mac mini with M1 - Starts at $699 New MacBook Pro 13 with M1 - Starts at $1299 Order: Starting today, November 10 Available: Next week 10:43: Ooh you can order them today! And will be available next week. Big Sur is dropping on Thursday. 10:41: Starts at $1,299. Improved studio mics and webcam. The 'ultimate expression of what the M1 can do'. Guess that rules out it coming to the 16-inch MacBook Pro for the moment, then. 10:39: "World's fastest compact pro notebook". And has 'simply amazing' battery life of 20 hours for video playback. Longest battery life ever in a Mac. Apple is usually quite good with its battery life promises, so this is exciting. 10:38: Powerful performance, sleek design and 2.8 times faster performance. Three times faster than a Windows laptop in its class, according to Apple. Apple is being very vague about its comparisons, to be honest. Doesn't mean much. 10:37: And now.. it's the MacBook Pro 13-inch! It gets an M1 upgrade as well 10:35: $699. That's $100 less than the previous model - which we were big fans of. Offers an 'enormous' jump in performance. 10:33: You can play games, like Baulder's Gate III, and it's 1/10th the size, but five times faster than top selling desktops in its price range. 10:32: Mac mini is back! Yey, love the Mac mini. M1 comes to Mac mini with a three times faster CPU, and six times the graphics performance. 10:29: Best in class security with TouchID and Apple Pay thanks to M1 and macOS Big Sur. Starts at $999! Same as the last model. 10:28: SSDs are up to 2x faster thanks to M1 and latest flash tech. And there's no fan. So the new Air is completely silent. That's great news for anyone who hates a whirring laptop! Up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing, and 18 hours of video (6 hrs more than previous model). Longest battery life in a MacBook Air. 10:27: This is the biggest graphical leap for a MacBook Air, Apple claims. So you can game, edit 4K videos, faster than 98% of PC laptops - again a massive claim. 10:25: It's the MacBook Air. 'Will completely redefine what a thin and light MacBook can do.' The world's best selling 13-inch laptop, apparently. 10:24: So, Big Sur looks like it'll run pretty well on the new M1 hardware! And now we're on to the first Mac with M1! What can it be?! 10:21: New Macs do something no mac can do before - run iPhone and iPad apps directly on your Mac - thanks to M1 chip. This was something many of us were looking forward to. Now we're getting a video of some app devs talking about what this means for them and their apps. Took some devs a day, apparently, to transfer their apps to Apple Silicon. 10:20: One app can run on all your Macs - basically there will be two versions of the app, one for Intel Macs, one for M1-based Macs. Thanks to Rosetta 2. Seamlessly runs apps built for Intel chips on M1. And apps actually run better on M1?!?! Witchcraft if true. 10:18: Craig's now talking about graphics performance and power efficiency. Comes with hardware-verified secure boot, plus other advanced secure features. macOS Big Sur is built from its 'core' to take advantage of M1. 10:15: Now Craig Federighi is talking about macOS Big Sur, and how well it performs on the M1 chip. Macs now instantly boot up, just like iPhones and iMacs. 10:14: 'World's fastest integrated graphics' Apple claims. That's a bold one. It's an 8-core GPU, and "Most advanced graphics processor Apple has created, which offers "twice the graphic performance than PC chip at third of the power." Hmmm. Again, big talk from Apple. 10:12: They are throwing a LOT of jargon out at the moment, and very quickly as well. Apple's talking a big game with these CPUs. Can it deliver, though? 10:11: "Delivers performance at lowest possible power - world's best CPU performance per watt" 10:10: This is an 8-core CPU, with it claims, 'World's fastest CPU core'. With four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. It's basically a BIG.little design we've seen before in mobile ARM chips. 10:07: The M1 chip. "The next generation of Mac" 10:09: John Ternus is now here. Explaining how Apple Silicon has been powering Apple devices for years now. And it's coming to Macs. 10:06: First mention of Apple Silicon! This video is obviously not live, but pre-recorded. 10:05: Now getting a nice video of people using Macs in various locations. Apple is clearly still proud of its Mac devices. 10:04: 'We love the Mac, it's in our DNA' says Cook. 'Mac business grew by 30% last quarter.' 10:03: Tim Cook's here and has mentioned that Apple has brought more devices than ever before, including the Apple Watch SE and Series 6 and iPhone 12s. This is the third major launch event this year, which considering the circumstances, is pretty impressive. 10:02: And we're on. Some nice shorts of Apple's campus in Cupertino. Not been. Looks... clean. 09:59: Almost there! Remember to check out our how to watch Apple's One More Thing event guide to watch along at home 09:56: We're not just around 5 minutes from the event kicking off. I've got my dinner (remember, I'm in the UK so it's not that odd to be eating now), and will stuff it into my face while Apple stuffs all our faces with Mac and MacBook goodness. Sort of. 08:57: With Apple moving its Macs and MacBooks to its own processors, many people may be wondering if this means Apple and Intel are parting ways forever. We don't think so. Both companies have been at pains to say that they're continuing to work together on products, and it's likely that Apple's high-end productivity machines, like the 16-inch MacBook Pro and Mac Pro, will continue to have Intel processors – for now, at least. 08:10: Rumors suggest we'll be seeing new MacBooks, but it's also likely that Apple is working on new Macs as well. While we may not see new Macs or iMacs today, we may get hints about when we can expect desktop Mac PCs to arrive with 'Apple silicon' processors. 10:07: The M1 chip. "The next generation of Mac" 10:09: John Ternus is now here. Explaining how Apple Silicon has been powering Apple devices for years now. And it's coming to Macs. 10:06: First mention of Apple Silicon! This video is obviously not live, but pre-recorded. 10:05: Now getting a nice video of people using Macs in various locations. Apple is clearly still proud of its Mac devices. 10:04: 'We love the Mac, it's in our DNA' says Cook. 'Mac business grew by 30% last quarter.' 10:03: Tim Cook's here and has mentioned that Apple has brought more devices than ever before, including the Apple Watch SE and Series 6 and iPhone 12s. This is the third major launch event this year, which considering the circumstances, is pretty impressive. 10:02: And we're on. Some nice shorts of Apple's campus in Cupertino. Not been. Looks... clean. 09:59: Almost there! Remember to check out our how to watch Apple's One More Thing event guide to watch along at home 09:56: We're not just around 5 minutes from the event kicking off. I've got my dinner (remember, I'm in the UK so it's not that odd to be eating now), and will stuff it into my face while Apple stuffs all our faces with Mac and MacBook goodness. Sort of. 08:57: With Apple moving its Macs and MacBooks to its own processors, many people may be wondering if this means Apple and Intel are parting ways forever. We don't think so. Both companies have been at pains to say that they're continuing to work together on products, and it's likely that Apple's high-end productivity machines, like the 16-inch MacBook Pro and Mac Pro, will continue to have Intel processors – for now, at least. 08:10: Rumors suggest we'll be seeing new MacBooks, but it's also likely that Apple is working on new Macs as well. While we may not see new Macs or iMacs today, we may get hints about when we can expect desktop Mac PCs to arrive with 'Apple silicon' processors. 06:44: Well, the Apple Store is now down. This usually happens when Apple is about to launch new products, but it's annoying if you wanted to buy something else, I guess. 06:28: Apart from new MacBooks and Macs, there are rumors of Apple AirTags being shown off today. These little devices will apparently clip on to your belongings, and if you lose those items, you should be able to use your iPhone, Mac or iPad to find them. It sounds quite handy, but hopefully they aren't the most exciting products Apple will show today, otherwise, I'm gonna just go back to bed. 05:00: Apple is up and tweeting – well its social media team is. There's just one tweet, and it's about today's event. Still no clues on what the event could be about (but we have a good idea). 04:00: It's (most likely) new Mac and MacBook day today! Yey! Now, before you get too concerned, I'm not actually awake at 4am to cover the Apple event. I'm excited, but not that excited. While this liveblog will be in PST time, I'm actually based in the UK, where it's actually 12pm. A much more respectable time to write about Apple. And almost time for lunch. Yum

Video title : They Got a TRUCK FULL of FAIL! 😅 | Funny Fails | AFV 2020 Content creator ( Youtuber ) :America's Funniest Home Videos Official YT video :

Kate Middleton recently stepped out wearing a pair of diamond and pearl earrings. Turns out, the earrings actually belong to Queen Elizabeth II. The Duchess of Cambridge was attending a commemorative service on the occasion of Remembrance Day that is observed to honour the armed forces community, the British and Commonwealth veterans who were involved in the two world wars and in later conflicts. Kate appeared in a black Alexander McQueen coat with big white buttons, and a black Philip Treacy hat, teamed with the egg-shaped pearls, reported harpersbazaar.com. Queen Elizabeth was reportedly spotted wearing this pair of pearl earrings during a royal walkabout in 1977, in honour of the Silver Jubilee. This is, however, not the first time that the Duchess was spotted wearing the Queen’s jewels. She was seen wearing the pair in 2019 at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined The Queen and Members of the Royal Family for the annual Remembrance Day Service at The Cenotaph,” Kensington Palace mentioned in its official Instagram account. “This year the Royal British Legion encouraged us all to take to our windows and doorsteps for a two minutes’ silence at 11am on Sunday November 8, to remember and honour those who have sacrificed themselves to secure and protect our freedom,” it added.

my vote for DH1 , i like the artist

Toyota has given the Gazoo Racing treatment to its C-HR crossover, ushering in sportier styling, suspension tweaks and “sharper dynamic performance”. The new C-HR GR Sport model has been developed with input from Toyota’s Le Mans- and WRC-winning performance division, which is playing a significant role in the expansion of the Japanese brand's line-up, having helped to create the GR Supra and GR Yaris. The C-HR GR Sport is marked out from the standard car with a black finish for the headlights, foglight housings an central bumper section. The background of the Toyota badge also receives black detailing, as does the front grille. Further emphasising the GR Sport’s sportier appearance is the addition of a more aggressive front spoiler and black door mouldings, while the rear gains black reflector surrounds and a new under-bumper trim panel. The C-HR GR Sport rides on a set of new performance-inspired, two-tone 19in alloy wheels and receives suspension revisions that are claimed to "improve body roll and pitch control". The front and rear springs have been stiffened by 10% and 15% respectively and the shock absorbers have been tuned to increase damping force. Buyers can choose from eight new paint colours to complement the black detailing, including an exclusive grey-and-black combination. Inside, the C-HR GR Sport adopts a red-and-grey theme, with the steering wheel and shift lever sporting a perforated leather finish with red stitching. Rear privacy glass, LED headlights and heated front seats are equipped as standard. The C-HR GR Sport will be available with the same 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre petrol-electric hybrid powertrains as the standard car. More details regarding pricing and further specification will be released closer to the model’s launch in early 2021.

If the rumors are true, then the new AMD Radeon RX 6800 (not the RX 6800XT) is 50% better at mining for cryptocurrency than the current crypto champ, the Nvidia RTX 3090. When factoring in the associated costs of cryptocurrency mining, as explained by Videocards, the RTX 3090 can generate about $3.37/£2.63/AU$4.72 of cryptocurrency a day, or about $103/£80/AU$144 a month. The RX 6800, meanwhile, can potentially mine about $5.00/£3.90/AU$7.00 a day, or roughly $152/£118/AU$213 a month. The rumored mining performance was initially posted – appropriately – on Chinese messaging service QQ and later reprinted on Chiphell. As of right now, this is simply a rumor so it shouldn't be taken as gospel, but it's, nonetheless, an understandably upsetting one for many. How to mine for cryptocurrency The best Bitcoin wallets The best GPUs of 2020 How cryptomining could inflict stock shortages on the new Radeon RX 6800 Like a spectre of unfettered capitalism haunting the PC gaming scene, cryptominers have been swooping in for years now and paying exorbitant prices for GPUs, which they then use 24/7 to crunch complicated math problems that then generate bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. While the crush of miners buying up GPU stock across the board has slowed since the dizzying heights of the Bitcoin boom a few years back, the demand has steadily returned. Now, with the launch of more powerful graphics cards from both Nvidia and AMD at a lower price than the previous generation cards they are replacing, it looks like the cryptominers may once again aggressively buy up stock. Already, one of the biggest issues with the Nvidia Ampere graphics cards launch was that the GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 sold out at every retailer within seconds of going on sale. This may have been a function of bots and eBay profiteers who snatched up the cards before the PC enthusiast and gaming public could get through the checkout process. If it turns out that the RX 6800 – which is the least expensive of the three AMD RX 6000 series cards to be announced so far – is beating out the current GPU-profitability champ when it comes to mining, it is all but guaranteed to be a prime candidate for crypto-mining-related shortages. Fortunately, AMD seems to be anticipating this and looks to have a new GPU in the works specifically designed with cryptominers in mind. Hopefully that will give the rest of us a chance to get one of these new cards ourselves.

After launching his new startup three years ago, World Wide Web founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee has announced that the enterprise version of Inrupt's Solid Server is now available. Inrupt was created to deliver on Sir Tim Berners-Lee's original vision of a free and open web that is available to everyone as the company's technology allows organizations and governments to build applications that put users back in control of their data. Lee did so by building Inrupt on top of MIT's open source project Solid which is “a proposed set of conventions and tools for building decentralized social applications based on Linked Data principles”. Solid lets users choose where their data resides and who is allowed to access it by decoupling content from applications. As a user's data is no longer tied to a particular application, they can seamlessly switch between apps and personal data storage servers without losing their data or social connections while avoiding vendor lock-in. We've assembled a list of the best wireless routers on the market These are the best Windows 10 VPNs around Also check out our roundup of the best proxy service providers In a press release, Sir Tim Berners-Lee provided further insight on what led him to create Inrupt in the first place, saying: “The web was always meant to be a platform for creativity, collaboration, and free invention - but that’s not what we are seeing today. Today, business transformation is hampered by different parts of one’s life being managed by different silos, each of which looks after one vertical slice of life, but where the users and teams can’t get the insight from connecting that data. Meanwhile, that data is exploited by the silo in question, leading to increasing, very reasonable, public skepticism about how personal data is being misused.” Personal Online Data Stores In order for users to gain greater control of their personal data online Inrupt uses Personal Online Data Stores or Pods for short. These Solid Pods are used to store a user's data across applications, websites and more so that their data stays with them regardless of which platform or software they use. With the company's Enterprise Solid Server, developers will be able to build applications using an SDK that allows them to take advantage of Inrupt's Pods and access the data they contain. The main difference between Pods and conventional apps is the fact that a user decides who can access their information and app developers would need explicit permission from a user to do so. Inrupt already has a trusted cohort of early adopters using its technology including the BBC, NatWest Bank, the NHS and the Flanders Government. Now that the company has made its Enterprise Solid Server available to organizations, businesses can begin creating applications that will leverage Inrupt's Pods and hopefully usher in a new era of data ownership for consumers.

Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Health recorded 3,170 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. This brings the country’s total number of confirmed infections to 259,951. Morocco also reported another 3,104 COVID-19 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The total number of recovered COVID-19 carriers in Morocco is now 212,905. The national recovery rate is 81.9%. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health counted 84 more COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 4,356. The mortality rate stands at 1.7%. This is the highest number of COVID-19-related deaths Morocco has confirmed in any single day. The second highest death-count was that of November 4, with 82 fatalities. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Morocco is 42,690 as of 6 p.m. on Monday, November 9. Morocco counts 959 patients with severe symptoms, including 50 of today’s newly-identified patients. Approximately 73 are under intubation, while 333 are under non-invasive ventilation. According to the ministry, the occupancy rate of intensive care beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients stands at 36%. Health authorities in Morocco excluded 15,933 suspected COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Approximately 3,250,466 suspected COVID-19 carriers have tested negative for the virus since the pandemic broke out in Morocco on March 2. COVID-19’s geographic distribution throughout Morocco Health authorities in the Casablanca-Settat region confirmed 1,177 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, in addition to 37 fatalities. Casablanca-Settat has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities of any region in Morocco. The region of Rabat-Sale-Kenitra confirmed 953 new cases. Rabat-Sale-Kenitra also recorded nine additional deaths. The Oriental region confirmed 279 additional COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths. The Souss-Massa region recorded 228 new COVID-19 cases and eight more fatalities. The region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima followed in today’s case numbers, reporting 165 new cases and three new deaths. The region of Marrakech-Safi confirmed 148 new COVID-19 cases and five additional fatalities. The Beni Mellal-Khenifra region reported 83 new cases and five additional deaths. The region of Fez-Meknes confirmed 46 additional COVID-19 cases and four deaths. The Draa-Tafilalet region reported 25 new cases and one additional death. The regions of Dakhla-Oued Eddahab (48 new cases), Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra (16 new cases), and Guelmim-Oued Noun (2) recorded no additional deaths today.

Chinese search engine Baidu has released an app that allows users to play high-end games atop their under-equipped devices. The app essentially allows users to run resource-intensive games and apps on its cloud servers, instead of their own devices. Baidu, po[CENSORED]rly known as China’s Google, calls this app the ‘Cloud Phone’, since in essence it allows users to have a virtual phone on top of their original device. Use these best remote desktop software for accessing remote computers These are the best business smartphones Distribute your IT costs with our list of the best cloud computing services Phone-as-a-service Baidu is the first of a growing number of Chinese firms racing to market smartphones that run on the cloud, according to a report in KrASIA. China’s largest phone maker Huawei, launched a similar service aimed at enterprise users earlier this year. According to KrASIA, Chinese tech-giant Alibaba also seems to be interested in such subscription-based streaming app services as well. As per Cdrinfo, on the other end of Baidu’s ‘Cloud Phone’ is an ARM server and ARM virtualisation technology, supposedly developed independently by Baidu. Besides streaming games, which really isn’t all that innovative, Baidu’s cloud phone also offers "cloud VR". This service supposedly encodes both display and audio on remote cloud computes before streaming them to the user’s devices. Cdrinfo writes that this allows users to enjoy VR content without the headsets, which seems counter-intuitive. We haven’t been able to verify the claims independently. But the possibility of leveraging the cloud for enabling low-end devices to punch above their weight seems like a smart move. If anything, this is one way to circumvent the planned obsolescence in devices. Baidu’s service costs RMB 4 (US$0.6) per day, with discounts for monthly and yearly subscriptions. Keep your infrastructure costs down by using these best IAAS services

It’s possible I missed it after 40 years of the Audi Quattro and 30 years of the Honda NSX, but amid all the automotive anniversaries that have been celebrated in 2020, I don’t recall too much bunting strewing the streets in celebration of the fact that this is the year in which the Ford Escort XR3 hit its fifth decade. Perhaps that’s not terribly surprising, but we should pause even just for a moment to consider that it has now been four decades since Ford’s fast family hatchback has been running up against what is now eight successive generations of Volkswagen Golf GTI. I wonder how many of those encounters it has actually won? Few if any of the early skirmishes, I would warrant, and probably fewer still after the Golf GTI rediscovered its mojo for its fifth generation in 2004. So why is this contest between the brand-new Golf GTI and the still fresh Focus ST going to be any different? It all looks very familiar on paper. As ever, the Ford has the statistical lead, although we know from experience that, in the real world, that might not count for much at all. There’s a chunk more power and torque for the Focus (34bhp and 35lb ft respectively) for not much additional weight, leading to a 0.6sec gap opening up from rest to 62mph, despite these cars’ traction-limited front-drive configurations. The Focus is cheaper, too, although by less than a grand in the showroom, so not as much as in the past. Then again, it comes positively groaning under the weight of all its standard equipment. Put 19in rims, adaptive damping, electrically adjustable and heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and a reversing camera on the Golf and the gap widens considerably. The first surprise once you’re on board is that the interior of this Golf has lost some of the class of its predecessor. Of course, it’s now all ultra-high-definition screens, in line with the modern vogue, and it’s full of clever stuff like ventilation controls labelled ‘cool my feet’ and a pulsating engine start/stop button, while you can choose for your interior to be lit in any of 30 different colours. I would trade it all for some better-quality plastics and simple ergonomics that don’t require you to dive through menus to find what you need. If, for instance, you want to suppress or switch off the electronic stability control, you have to go into vehicle settings, then swipe through until you find ‘brakes’ (which isn’t where I would first think of looking), ask it to turn off the systems and then be patronised by Volkswagen telling you that it doesn’t recommend you do so before it forces you to confirm your ill-advised choice with another stab of the screen. I would rather just press a button. Not that the Focus offers a more palatable alternative, and you only have to park it next to a Fiesta costing half the money to see that Ford is stretching the art of parts-bin commonality a decent distance further than it cares to go. Actually, the Focus’s systems are less complicated and more easily understood than the Golf’s (surely a first?), and if their blue-lit graphics weren’t quite so nasty, that might be a sizeable blow landed against its rival. But despite my reservations about the Golf, the Focus’s cockpit feels even cheaper and lacking in occasion. For a car costing the uncomfortable side of £30,000, it could and should be better than this. However, I know this car and know that, on the right road, I won’t be overly troubled by the inelegance of its displays. Exmoor lies before us, so grab a gear and go. In the very first instant, the Focus is slightly disappointing. The steering feels slightly artificial in the way that electrically assisted racks often do when coming off centre and the gearchange is reasonable but no more. But as soon as you start to work the engine and suspension, it begins to make sense. A great deal of sense. It’s startlingly good on these roads. The engine brims with more character than you would attribute to a turbo four, while the clever front suspension and electronically controlled limited-slip differential inject all that torque straight to the street surface without dither or delay. It’s annoying that you can’t separate the engine and damper maps in Sport driving mode, but it’s so lively even in standard settings that it’s usually best to leave the button unpressed. But where it elevates impressive point-to-point pace into a genuinely special experience is when you push harder and discover that, instead of starting to struggle, it goes on getting better and better. It never wilts, at least at public-road effort levels, and never suggests that you’ve had all the fun that you can handle. Grip is superstrong, its poise into the apex beyond question. You always know where the nose is going and, even with the stability merely in Dynamic mode, it’s so throttle-adjustable that you can place the back wherever you like. It may not be quite so rapid as the previous-generation Focus RS, but it’s sharper, more communicative and more predictable. With this ST at your disposal, you find yourself wondering whether Ford’s decision not to replace the RS is that great of a loss after all. Or at least I do. After a display like that, what can we expect from the Golf? Something less pyrotechnical perhaps, but at least as inwardly satisfying, for that’s what these cars have always done. They don’t wow and amaze, they impress and enthuse. Except it’s not quite like that this time. Our Golf came with optional adaptive dampers, which allow you to choose (through the Individual option of the standard driving mode function) one of 15 preprogrammed maps for your shockers. This is fun to play with, although you still want to be only about three clicks off fully soft for a typically undulating British country road. It all smacks of something rather racier than we’ve come to expect from a Golf GTI. And that’s what it delivers. Don’t be delayed too long by the statistics that say the Golf is rather slower than the Focus. In reality, the gap is there but is smaller than you would think and doesn’t appear much of a shortcoming, even in the highly artificial scenario where you have the two cars to make the comparison, so owners shouldn’t be troubled at all. The Golf has a good engine, too – not quite as characterful as the Focus’s, perhaps, but at least as smooth and allied to an even better gearshift. In other areas, though, the Focus is clearly ahead. The Golf’s chassis is more incisive than it used to be, but it doesn’t hit its marks like the Focus, nor can you steer it anything like as effectively with your right foot. It has excellent traction and faultless mid-corner stability, but that lovely feel of the old Golf that was key to its cross-country charm as it breathed its way effortlessly across the landscape has been sacrificed to give the car more sporting chops. Is this a sensible trade-off for its undoubted additional edge? I’m not so sure. The Golf hasn’t just moved closer to the Focus philosophy in the way it handles: not too surprisingly, the ride has gone the same way as well, which is a less desirable trait. The Focus is predictably firm, even when not in Sport mode, but there’s a consistency in what it does. The ride isn’t great, but it’s good enough for this kind of car and you always know what you’re going to get. The Golf’s ride is similarly firm now – or close to it – but uncharacteristically uneven. You will be on the point of concluding that it does actually ride better than its rival when a change in road surface will unsettle it and have you concluding that, no, the Focus does it better. The Golf is probably still better overall, but by a smaller margin than ever. It’s curious, this new Golf. It’s not a clunker by any stretch, but nor does it seem likely to be remembered as one of the greats, like its Mk2, Mk5 and Mk7 forebears. There’s no question in my mind that Volkswagen has tried to vary the formula, but in its attempt to sex up the Golf, something got lost along the way. The little-spoken truth is that although we think of the Golf GTI as the archetypal hot hatch, it has in recent years increasingly become the exception to a rule that says such cars have to be road warriors in hatchback form. It has delighted in taking the other view – the view that prioritises feel, comfort and flawless proficiency over the more rough-and-ready, up-and-at-’em approach that others take. And some of that has gone now. By contrast, what Ford has done with the Focus that so impresses is that instead of moving its skillset in one direction or the other, it simply expanded it. That fast-Ford character we know so well has been retained in full. In fact, it’s sizeably enhanced. This is a car that loves the open road. It’s a driving machine to its boots. And yet so too is it an easy car with which to live. Sure, its cabin looks grim, but it works well enough, while its ride and refinement are, well, almost Golf GTI-like. Don’t mistake me: I do like the new Golf GTI, just not as much as I had expected to. It’s like those quiet, quirky kids at school who are always happy to do their own thing until one day they decide to conform and, by trying to be more like the others, give up something of themselves. And for a car whose character was already so distinct and charismatic, that’s a pity. The Focus ST suffers no such identity crisis. It knows exactly what its job is and delivers an entirely convincing performance from the moment action is called. It wins.

The winter season is unofficially here. In India, while we normally have to wait until Diwali to announce the arrival of winters, this year, we have started feeling the chills from October itself. The autumn/fall weather is when the temperature begins to dip. As a result, the body starts making some adjustments, too. This time is crucial because you ideally need to take care of yourself, along with your hair and skin, since they get affected the most because of the drop in humidity in the air. To make you skincare transition smooth, here are some simple things you can do at home; read on. * Taking a shower: Normally, people like taking long showers under hot water, simply because it feels good. But if you want your skin to behave, you need to shorten your shower time and use water that is only lukewarm and not extremely hot. The latter takes away the moisture from the skin and makes it excessively dry and itchy. * Moisturise your skin: Apply a generous amount of moisturiser twice a day. The first time is when you step out of the bath. This is when the skin is most vulnerable and needs the goodness of a good moisturising lotion. The second time would be before you hit the bed, as part of your night skincare routine. You can also use coconut oil if you want to go completely natural. * Apply sunscreen: This may seem odd to you, but just because you are mostly at home, it does not mean you give up on your basic skincare rules. The sun is still there, throwing its UV rays around. Without sunscreen lotion, you can get premature wrinkles, skin allergies and infections, sun burns and even the risk of cancer. The weather/season has not got nothing to do with it. * Using a body soap: Use one which you know is all-weather friendly and suits your skin type. Remember, in winters, the skin reacts differently than it does in summers. And in the northern part of the country, the winters can be really harsh. The least you can do is replace your harsh soap with one which is milder in nature and suits you. * Eat, Sleep, hydrate, repeat: This is must. You need to eat healthy, because what you feed your body is what it reflects on the skin. Sleeping is also important because when you rest, your skin cells repair themselves — a good 8-hour sleep every night is a must. Additionally, you must also drink a lot of water to flush out toxins from your body and keep it clean. What do you think about these skincare tips?

Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Health recorded 5,836 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. This brings the country’s total number of confirmed infections to 252,185. This is the highest number of COVID-19 cases that Morocco has recorded in 24 hours. The second highest daily count was that of yesterday, November 4, with 5,745 new infections. Morocco also reported another 4,602 COVID-19 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The total number of recovered COVID-19 carriers in Morocco is now 205,556. The national recovery rate is 81.5%. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health counted 70 more COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 4,197. The mortality rate stands at 1.7%. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Morocco is 42,432 as of 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 7. Morocco counts 935 patients with severe symptoms, including 203 of today’s newly-identified patients. Approximately 67 are under intubation, while 505 are under non-invasive ventilation. According to the ministry, the occupancy rate of intensive care beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients stands at 36%. Health authorities in Morocco excluded 14,157 suspected COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Approximately 3,219,259 suspected COVID-19 carriers have tested negative for the virus since the pandemic broke out in Morocco on March 2. COVID-19’s geographic distribution throughout Morocco Health authorities in the Casablanca-Settat region confirmed 2,409 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, in addition to 21 fatalities. Casablanca-Settat has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities of any region in Morocco. The region of Rabat-Sale-Kenitra confirmed 1,060 new cases. Rabat-Sale-Kenitra also recorded 11 additional deaths. The Oriental region confirmed 686 additional COVID-19 cases and 11 more deaths. The Souss-Massa region confirmed 501 additional COVID-19 cases and one death. The region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima followed in today’s case numbers, reporting 381 new cases and 10 new deaths. The region of Marrakech-Safi confirmed 289 new COVID-19 cases and three additional fatalities. The region of Beni Mellal-Khenifra reported 176 new cases and six additional deaths. The Draa-Tafilalet region confirmed 103 more cases and registered two additional COVID-19-related fatalities. The Fez-Meknes region confirmed 93 additional COVID-19 cases and two deaths. The region of Guelmim-Oued Noun confirmed 66 new cases and one new fatality. The region of Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra confirmed 45 new cases and one new death. The region of Dakhla-Oued Eddahab confirmed 27 new cases and one new fatality.

Nickname : @Revo 324 Tag your opponent : @The GodFather Music genre : Latin Number of votes ( max 7 ) : 6 Tag one leader to post your songs LIST : @Hossam Taibi

Crucial's Ballistix Max RGB portfolio aims to appease users on the more demanding end of the spectrum. As a result, the Ballistix Max RGB series simply comes in DDR4-4000 and DDR4-4400 flavors, and in capacities of 16GB (2x8GB) or 32GB (2x16GB). Its speeds aren't as jaw-dropping as the company's record-breaking DDR4-5100, but it's still plenty speedy for the vast majority of gamers -- at least on paper. The Ballistix Max RGB doesn't resort to fancy heatsinks or excessive RGB lighting to draw your attention. On the contrary, the memory modules feature a low-profile aluminium heat spreader with a discrete RGB light bar. Unlike the normal Ballistix (RGB) memory kits that are available in white, black and red, the Ballistix Max (RGB) only comes in a black trim. Crucial Ballistix Max RGB DDR4-4000 C18 2x16GB at Amazon for $399.99 Despite the addition of the light bar, the Ballistix Max RGB continues to measure 39.17mm (1.54 inches) in height, just like the other Ballistix iterations. A total of 16 RGB LEDs, which are divided into eight zones, lights up the Ballistix Max RGB. What makes the Ballistix Max RGB truely unique is the option to replace the light bar with your own custom, 3D-printed design. Of course, Crucial provides the necessary 3D files to do so on the company's website. There are two ways to play around with the Ballistix Max RGB's lighting. You can use Crucial's Ballistix M.O.D. (Memory Overview Display) software or your motherboard's RGB software. If you prefer the latter, it's important to keep in mind that only Asus Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light Sync and Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0 can control the Ballistix Max RGB. Each Ballistix Max RGB memory module from this kit is 16GB in capacity and features an eight-layer PCB. Sporting a single-rank design, the memory modules utilize Micron's D9XPF (MT40A2G8VA-062E:B) integrated circuits (ICs). At stock, the Ballistix Max RGB memory modules will operate at DDR4-2666 with 19-19-19-43 timings. If you're not into manual tweaking, the memory modules sport a single XMP profile that will automatically configure the frequency and timings to DDR4-4000 and 18-19-19-39, respectively, with a 1.35V DRAM voltage. For more on timings and frequency considerations, see our PC Memory 101 feature, as well as our How to Shop for RAM story. Our Intel test system consists of an Intel Core i7-10700K and Asus ROG Maximus XII Apex on the 0707 firmware. On the opposite end, the AMD testbed leverages an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and ASRock B550 Taichi with the 1.30 firmware. The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Gaming Trio handles the graphical duties on both platforms. The Ballistix Max RGB kit ranked last on the CPU performance charts, though it performed particularly well in the Microsoft Office tests. The Ballistix Max RGB's standing improved in the gaming tests and was faster than the Bolt XR DDR4-3600 C18 memory kit. The Ballistix Max RGB didn't have a better showing on the AMD platform. The memory kit came in last in both CPU performance and gaming charts. It's really not the memory's fault though. AMD's Ryzen 3000 processors typically allow synchronous operation between the Infinity Fabric clock (FCLK) and memory clock (MCLK) up to DDR4-3600, so anything past that tends to result in worse performance in many types of workloads due to the increase latency. Still, the Ballistix Max RGB delivered the best performance in Cinebench R20, HandBrake x265 and 7-Zip decompression workloads. The Ballistix Max RGB requires 1.35V to run at the advertised DDR4-4000 speed. By increasing the DRAM voltage to 1.45V, we got another 200 MHz out of the memory kit. We had to increase the timings to 20-20-20-40 to achieve stability though. The Ballistix Max RGB was more generous when it comes to optimizing the timings at DDR4-4000. We were able to get the CAS Latency from 18 down to 16 clock cyles. However, the tRCD, tRP and tRAS timings wouldn't allow any adjustments. Bottom Line Advertisement With a CAS Latency of 18, the Ballistix Max RGB DDR4-4000 isn't the worst memory kit in its category. But logically, it won't perform on par with similar offerings at C16 or C15. The Ballistix Max RGB DDR4-4000 will struggle behind less-expensive offerings like the DDR4-3600 C16 memory kits. The only card up the Ballistix Max RGB's sleeve is the wiggling room. It was possible for us to lower the CAS Latency from 18 to 16, which will give the Ballistix Max RGB a nice push in regards to performance. But of course, overclocking mileage is not something that neither we or Crucial can guarantee. The normal price tag for Crucial's Ballistix Max RGB DDR4-4000 C18 memory kit is $399.99 although sometimes you can find it for as low as $369. In that price point, the Ballistix Max RGB isn't so attractive for the average consumer. If you're looking for the best XMP performance, there are better options out there, such as the Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600 C16 memory kit that retails for $249.99.

A mysterious bitcoin wallet – the fourth-largest in the world – has unexpectedly been emptied. Wallet address 1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx held 69,369 bitcoins, equivalent to approximately $955 million, before a huge transaction suddenly took place, sending funds crashing to near zero. It is currently unclear who moved the funds but the account is believed to have potential ties to the Silk Road marketplace that was shut down in 2013. The Silk Road’s founder, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to life imprisonment two years later. “The movement of these bitcoins today, now worth around $955 million, may represent Ulbricht or a Silk Road vendor moving their funds,” Tom Robinson, co-founder and chief scientist of crypto-compliance provider Elliptic, said in a blog post. “However it seems unlikely that Ulbricht would be able to conduct a bitcoin transaction from prison. Alternatively, the encrypted wallet file may have been real, and the password has now been cracked - allowing the bitcoins to be moved.” We've put together a list of the best bitcoin wallets These are the best mining rigs on the market Also, check out our roundup of the best cloud mining providers Ill-gotten gains As Robinson mentions, it is possible that the account may have been hacked. It has been known that the bitcoin wallet in question has been circulating among hackers for a couple of years now, so if someone has been able to break the encryption and gain access, they could have transferred the funds. The wallet has previously lain dormant since April 2015. Regardless of who transferred the funds, it seems they won’t be able to spend them. Shortly after reports emerged of the wallet being emptied, the US Department of Justice announced that the huge bitcoin sum had been seized by the US Government after it was confirmed that they were criminal proceeds connected to the Silk Road. The seizure of the transferred funds does little to improve bitcoin’s credibility, with the cryptocurrency trying to move away from its previous association with illicit online activity. Nevertheless, the currency has enjoyed a good year, having enjoyed a steady climb in value since March. We've also highlighted the best mining GPUs

What is it? Here's another review on a plug-in hybrid executive option from a German premium brand, I’m afraid. Apparently, everybody wants one. It must be true, otherwise why would there suddenly be so many? For now at least, the BMW X3 xDrive30e may be one of the more significant examples of this new tax-efficient band of cars, however. It’s an SUV, which will make it appeal to a great many for its practicality; unlike some electrified luxury SUVs, it might just be cheap enough to sneak onto your company car scheme; but mainly because it’s one of very few cars of its kind that qualifies for a 10% benefit-in-kind rating. Interested fleet ‘user-choosers’ who do some cross-shopping will notice that even the very latest versions of the equivalent Volvo XC60, Audi Q5 and Mercedes-Benz GLC ‘plug-ins’ don’t quite make it into the same tax bracket. The only other premium-branded, part-electrified, mid-sized SUV that does is the new Land Rover Discovery Sport P300e. For private buyers, UK prices on the car start just below £50,000, making it a good chunk more expensive than any other four-cylinder X3 and about level on price with the six-cylinder 30d diesel. Like most other X3s, it can be had in SE, xLine or M Sport trim, and in all versions it gets four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. There are one or two technical distinctions and sti[CENSORED]tions associated with the car, though, of which canny customers ought to be aware. It uses the same combination of a 181bhp four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and a 108bhp electric motor for power as BMW's other 30e derivatives, plus the same 12kWh lithium ion drive battery, which in this case sits under the back seats. Unlike in Volvo and PSA Group PHEVs, the motor is housed within the transmission and so drives through all four wheels, just as the piston engine does. But the X3's drive battery does displace the fuel tank, which is carried above the rear axle instead of in its usual berth, and that difference does adversely affect loadbay space just a little. M Sport trim is likely to be the most po[CENSORED]r choice in the UK market, with its racier styling touches, and in this case you can have it without worrying that the extra rolling resistance of the bigger wheels and tyres or the weight of the extra kit will tip your optioned-up car into the next tax bracket. It's possible to put enough optional kit on an X3 xDrive30e that you will end up paying 12% BIK rather than 10%, but M Sport trim doesn’t tip the balance on its own – not even if you have it with the 20in wheels and adaptive dampers of the optional M Sport Plus pack. If you don’t go for the optional adaptive suspension, be aware that 30e M Sport BMWs are the only ones that don’t get lowered, stiffened passive sport suspension as standard; they stick with the same springs and dampers as SE and xLine versions. Mostly because this is such a heavy car, I suspect. They do get enlarged M Sport brakes as standard, though, which would cost you extra on a 20d M Sport. What's it like? We tested the car in M Sport trim but without the M Sport Plus pack and the suspension and steering upgrades associated. It had the impressive performance and drivability we’ve come to expect from BMW’s plug-in hybrid options and most of the practicality, refinement and interior classiness of the wider X3 family, too. Perhaps not quite the ride and handling sophistication of other versions, however. Offering seating for five, the cabin remains spacious by class standards. It’s fitted out in a way that’s appealing on the eye and solid to the touch. The compromise in boot space isn’t a huge one; effectively, you lose the bottom three inches of load space across the boot floor. But for the initial lip, however, there’s no awkward lump in the loading area midway along its length. Boot space falls from 550 to 450 litres up to the windowline but, when looking at what is left from the X3’s boot opening, you would never guess the compromise was worth that much. If you go for M Sport trim, BMW includes the 10.3in ‘Operating System 7.0’ touchscreen infotainment set-up and 12.3in digital instruments for no extra cost. Standard digital connectivity in M Sport trim cars includes networked sat-nav services and Spotify music streaming (the latter, after a year, is by subscription only), as well as smartphone mirroring for both Apple and Android phones. Cheaper trims support only Apple CarPlay via a wireless connection. If you want wireless phone charging, a head-up display or an onboard wi-fi hotspot, you can get them as part of an optional Technology Package (£1900) which also upgrades the audio system. as a generally slick, well-rehearsed way of managing its power sources. Most town running will be done electrically. While the size and weight of the X3 clearly demand more of the 108bhp motor than the 30e versions of the 3 Series and 5 Series, it still copes quite well in urban environments, with enough pedal response and accessible power to make good progress through stop-start traffic. As you leave the city, you will rouse the piston engine if you want the car to accelerate briskly, which it will certainly do. But it’s still easy enough to get up to 70mph without burning any hydrocarbons – and you won’t be holding anybody up while doing so. Out of town, electric-only range isn’t quite worth the 31 miles in practice that the WLTP lab tests promise (although it might well be in exclusively urban running). On a typical UK office commute, you would probably see something between 20 and 25 miles of electric range on a full charge. Charging the battery back up to 80% from a 16-amp post or wallbox connection then takes just over two-and-a-half hours at a maximum charging rate of 3.7kW. Even when the drive battery is depleted, the powertrain still runs and performs very satisfactorily. Our testing suggested that a ‘range-extended’ fuel economy return in the low-40mpg range should be easy to achieve. Moreover, the engine starts and runs smoothly even at high loads and revs, which isn’t something you can say about many PHEVs. Because the car is clever enough to take data from the sat-nav and to decide for itself when to use its engine and when to shut it down, you can find that overall fuel economy is surprisingly good, even on longer journeys, only part of which can be powered electrically. Our test route was a 55-mile loop embarked on with 80% charge in the battery and concluded with just under 5%, which the trip computer recorded for fuel economy at just over 70mpg. You can, of course, easily find fault with the logic of presenting information like this. It would be a lot more honest and informative if the car’s petrol efficiency counter simply stopped running when the engine was shut down and there were a counterpart for electric running displayed just as prominently, wouldn’t it? For the time being, though, (and for as long as the prevailing thinking is that electricity is free and petrol efficiency is all that matters) this is what we will likely continue to get. And not only from BMW, I should add. If there’s a real disappointment here, it concerns the X3 30e’s ride and handling; which, ironically enough, is what often attracts people to BMW SUVs in the first place. Because as well as making this plug-in hybrid just a bit less fleet of foot than its saloon and estate relatives when running electrically, this car’s two-tonne kerb weight undoubtedly penalises it for close body control on uneven roads. BMW’s standard passive suspension certainly keeps tabs on lateral body control well enough and makes the car’s handling pleasingly agile and precise for a car of this size when its operating on smoother roads. Over a typical UK commute, you would likely seldom be anything other than very pleased with the car’s grippy tautness. But introduce it to a few sunken, testing B-roads and the chassis can come up notably short on ride fluency, suppleness and finesse. The body fusses laterally when one side of its axles are made to work harder than the other, and plenty of bouncy, underdamped movement can be allowed to unsettle the cabin at times. Bigger, pricier SUVs tend to have adaptive suspension to help deal with the inherent problem that this X3 has: that it has quite a lot of extra weight to carry and is carrying it at greater altitude than the average saloon or hatchback, so it’s likely to be felt all the more keenly. It’s not a huge problem for the car but, if you’re a keener driver, I reckon you would notice it. Should I buy one? For fleet drivers in need of a good-sized family car, who like SUVs but also enjoy a good drive, this is a very commendable option. Just make sure you get one with the M Sport Plus package and those adaptive dampers. BMW’s plug-in hybrid technology has, for the most part, now done for the X3 what it did for the 3 Series, 5 Series and elsewhere: preserved the dynamic selling point of buying a BMW while making the car a tax-efficient modern company car of the performance, refinement and polished drivability that you would hope for. If you charge it, it will reward you with excellent running efficiency, too. While other mid-sized SUV have less challenging dynamic briefs, happy to just be comfy and plush-feeling or roomy and capable, the X3 is expected to offer something on driver appeal. And, compared with other PHEVs, the X3 xDrive30e does that pretty well in most respects. All respects, potentially - as long as you get your order right.