# Ret-H@CKer

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France has hit its highest recorded temperature - 45.1C (113.2F) - amid a heatwave in Europe that has claimed several lives. The new record was measured in the southern town of Villevieille. The previous record was 44.1C during a heatwave in 2003 that killed thousands. Health Minister Agnès Buzyn has said "everyone is at risk" from the high temperatures. France's weather service has issued an unprecedented red alert for four areas. Those are all in the south, but most of the country remains on orange alert, the second highest level. Swathes of the continent are experiencing extreme heat. Germany, France, Poland and the Czech Republic have all recorded their highest-ever June temperatures. Why Europe's heatwave is so unusual In Spain firefighters are battling Catalonia's worst wildfires in 20 years. Eight provinces are on red alert while temperatures are expected to rise above 42C in many areas. The Italian ministry of health has reported emergency levels of heat in 16 cities. First loss of life Several people are believed to have lost their lives as a result of the extreme temperatures, including two who died from suspected heatstroke in Spain. One, a 17-year-old farm worker in Córdoba, went into convulsions after cooling down in the farm swimming pool, while an 80-year-old man died on a street in the northern city of Valladolid. In France, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said a drowning was taking place every day and warned that the heat was making people "take risks". On Thursday a 33-year-old roofer died after being taken ill as he worked on a building site in the western city of Rennes, where the temperature was 35C in the shade. A six-year-old Syrian child was also in a serious condition after being thrown into the air by the force of a water jet from a fire hydrant that had been opened by residents in Saint Denis, north of Paris. In the UK, police warned people of the dangers of cooling off in rivers and lakes after a 12-year-old girl drowned in the River Irwell in Greater Manchester. Why is it getting so hot? Meteorologists say hot air drawn in from northern Africa is responsible, caused by high pressure over central Europe and a storm stalling over the Atlantic. In southern France, the areas of Gard, Vaucluse, Hérault and Bouches-du-Rhône are expected to see temperatures between 42C and 45C on Friday. French authorities have stepped up restrictions on water use to combat the heatwave's effects, while 4,000 schools are now closed or have special measures in place to welcome pupils. In a TV interview, Ms Buzyn said she was concerned about the increase in calls to emergency service numbers as a result of the heatwave. She called on members of the public to avoid "risky behaviour" like leaving children in cars or jogging outside in the middle of the day. Is climate change to blame? Linking a single event to global warming is complicated. While extreme weather events like heatwaves occur naturally, experts say these will happen more often because of climate change. In pictures: Europe seeks relief from the heat A guide to coping with the global heatwave Heatstroke - the heatwave killer Records going back to the late 19th Century show that the average temperature of the Earth's surface has increased by about one degree since industrialisation. A climatology institute in Potsdam, Germany, says Europe's five hottest summers since 1500 have all been in the 21st Century. Scientists are concerned that rapid warming linked to use of fossil fuels has serious implications for the stability of the planet's climate.

Intel announced here at its Israeli Development Center (IDC) Day in Haifa, Israel that its Nervana Neural Network Processor for Inference, of NPP-I for short, comes as a modified 10nm Ice Lake processor that will ride on a PCB that slots into an M.2 port (yes, an M.2 port that is normally used for storage). Intel also removed key portions of the Ice Lake processor, like the graphics cores and display blocks, to make room for AI accelerators. The worl The world of AI is upon us, poised to fundamentally change local compute on our phones, laptops, and desktops, but the majority of AI workloads still happen in the data center. Compute-heavy training workloads create complex neural networks that run object recognition, speech translation, and voice synthesis workloads, to name a few, but that's not where the work stops. The real key to employing the power of AI at scale lays in deploying the finished models to chew through the daily task of sorting and analyzing the world's data in a task called inference. Inference workloads are much lighter than training, so they don't require the racks of powerful GPUs and FPGAs used to create the models, but like all forms of compute, it does eventually boil down to cost. That means performance-per-watt and cheap upfront pricing is more important for inference, and that's where Intel envisages its NPP-I accelerators slotting in (quite literally) to offload Xeon servers from inference-intensive workloads, thus freeing the bigger chip up for general compute tasks. Intel took the base Ice Lake design (pictured above) and modified the processor's die to customize it for AI workloads. The device still uses the standard Ice Lake package with the CPU and platform controller hub (PCH) on a single board, but Intel removed the GPU and display blocks on the die and replaced them with a custom-designed AI engine tailored for specific types of inference code. The company also added DSP engines that it could use for algorithms that aren’t specifically tuned for the fixed-function accelerator blocks, affording a bit of needed forward-compatibility for the fast-moving AI space. Intel hasn’t shared finer-grained details of the accelerator blocks, but they likely use a series of repeating elements, much like a GPU. With Gen11’s beefy memory subsystem already in place to feed the beast, the company likely swapped out the graphics execution units (EU) with customized logic (or modified the existing units) while retaining the interconnects and complementary structures between the units. The CPU still features several x86 Intel architecture (IA) compute cores, though Intel hasn’t provided a specific core count, that wield the Sunny Cove microarchitecture. Intel’s Oren Gershon, the GM of Inference Products Engineering, did vaguely mention that the company removed a few of the ‘other cores’ to make room for the extra componentry, so it is possible that these quad-core Ice Lake processors now function as dual-core models. Credit: Tom's Hardware Intel mounts the package on different forms of add-in cards, like the M.2 version pictured above, which can then slip into the standard M.2 port on a server motherboard, or on larger add-in cards that slot into a standard PCIe slot. Unlike some custom silicon designed for AI, like Google’s TPU, this device is broadly hardware-compatible with almost all existing modern servers. The approach is also scalable: You can add as many NPP-I’s to the server as needed, especially with PCIe risers that house multiple M.2 ports. Intel says the NPP-I falls into a similar thermal design power (TDP) range as the Ice Lake processors, meaning they’ll top out around 28W, but noted that the M.2 interface’s 15W limitation hinders power delivery to the smallest devices. NPP-I’s connected to larger add-in cards can operate at the highest TDP ratings, meaning they offer much more performance. Credit: Tom's HardwareIntel will provide software that orchestrates moving inference ‘jobs’ to the accelerator entirely, which will then notify the Xeon CPU when the work is done. The offloading eliminates the Xeon’s back-and-forth communication across the PCIe bus with other types of accelerators, which is taxing for the CPU because it generates interrupts and requires data movement. In contrast, the NPP-I works as a self-contained system with its own I/O accommodations (PCH) that allow it to access the data required for processing. AI workloads tend to ingest data voraciously, which would make the relatively slim PCIe 3.0 x4 connection seem like a bandwidth bottleneck, but Intel assured us that it has tested data-intensive video analytics workloads and didn’t encounter limitations. Instead, Intel said those classes of workloads are actually compute bound. The x86 cores also support Intel’s VNNI deep learning instructions that leverage AVX-512 to boost performance. Intel says that affords a final level of flexibility that accommodates nearly any type of AI workload, in particular those that aren’t well suited for the DSP or AI engines. Intel also provides a compiler that tailors code to the NPP-I’s accelerators and is working with Facebook, which served as the company’s “definitional’ partner during development, to ensure the Glo compiler also supports the device. The device also supports all standard languages, like PyTorch and TensorFlow, among many others, with little to no alteration. Most importantly, Gershon says the NPP-I has leading efficiency that is “Surprising, much better than a CPU or GPU by multiple orders.” Inference applications are far more prevalent than training in the data center, and affordable power efficient devices will sell en masse to hyperscalers and cloud service providers (CSP), meaning this could become a lucrative segment for Intel. The firm doesn’t envisage these devices coming to retail, per se, but the company does expect CSPs to expose them via cloud-based instances in the future. Intel hasn’t backed its bold efficiency claims up with performance data yet, but the company now has devices sampling to early customers and says high volume manufacturing is slated for later in the year. We’re sure Nvidia, which offers its Tesla T4 GPUs for inference workloads, and Qualcomm, which developed its own M.2-capable Cloud AI 100 processor, are also watching closely.

Ten Democrats have clashed in the first TV debate of the race to oust President Donald Trump from the White House. Liberal firebrand Elizabeth Warren, who has been gaining momentum, took centre stage at the heated forum in Florida. Candidates sparred over healthcare and immigration, and a couple of underdogs gulped much-needed political oxygen with a few well-timed zingers. Ten other Democrats in the crowded field, including Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, will battle on Thursday night. Who shone in first Democratic debate? Millions of voters were expected to tune in for America's biggest political debates in years. What were the flashpoints? In Wednesday night's two-hour debate in Miami, the candidates at times engaged in shouting matches as they vied to grab the limelight. Ms Warren, a Massachusetts senator who has been surging in opinion polls, was one of only two contenders to say she supports replacing private medical insurance with government-run healthcare. Taking aim at her rivals, Ms Warren drew loud applause as she said: "There are a lot of politicians who say, 'oh, it's just not possible'… what they're really telling you is, they just won't fight for it." "Well, healthcare is a basic human right and I will fight for basic human rights." Only New York Mayor Bill de Blasio backed her. But Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar said: "I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years." Former US congressman John Delaney also warned against such a policy. Beto O'Rourke, another ex-congressman, was first to show off his command of Spanish, saying that a stable democracy should "listen to all voices". But the one-time liberal golden boy found himself under heated attack from former Obama housing secretary Julian Castro, the only Latino in the race. Mr Castro challenged Mr O'Rourke to support his plan to decriminalise illegal immigration, lecturing his fellow Texan to "do your homework". Two little-known candidates bickered over foreign policy, underscoring disunity among Democrats about overseas intervention. Ohio congressman Tim Ryan insisted the US must stay "completely engaged" in the Middle East. But Tulsi Gabbard, an anti-war Hawaii congresswoman, hit back: "Is that what you will tell the parents of those two soldiers who were just killed in Afghanistan?" Who stood out? The studio audience also cheered Ms Warren as she delivered an impassioned soundbite on economic populism, looking to cement her surge in the opinion polls. "Who is this economy really working for?" she said. "It's doing great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top." Ms Warren, the only top-tier candidate on the stage, concluded: "We need to make structural change in our government, in our economy and in our country." New Jersey Senator Cory Booker was the only candidate who did not raise his hand when asked whether he would sign back on to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as it was originally negotiated under the Obama administration. When Washington state Governor Jay Inslee boasted of his record on reproductive rights, Ms Klobuchar drew applause for retorting: "There's three women up here who have fought pretty hard for a woman's right to choose." The key issues for 2020 Democrats How do you win the US presidency? Mr Inslee recovered later when asked by a moderator what is the biggest geopolitical threat to the nation, and he replied to loud acclaim: "The biggest threat to the security of the United States is Donald Trump." Mr de Blasio distinguished himself on a question about gun violence, saying: "There's something that sets me apart from all my colleagues running in this race and that is for the last 21 years I've been raising a black son in America." He said his son, Dante, has to use "special caution because there have been too many tragedies between our young men and our police". What was the president's reaction? All the top 20 Democratic candidates need to demonstrate they have the electoral viability and political grit to defeat the Republican president. But Mr Trump, who is running for a second term in office next year, seemed unimpressed as he watched the debate aboard Air Force One en route to Japan for a G20 summit. He unleashed on the debate host, NBC, after it cut to a commercial break halfway through because of a glitch with the microphones. His re-election campaign said the debate showed that Democrats were proposing "a radical government takeover of American society that would demolish the American Dream so many are gaining access to under the growing Trump economy". Who will take on Trump? Two big beasts of the Democratic political jungle, Mr Biden and Mr Sanders, will offer competing visions for America on Thursday. Front-runner Mr Biden, a former US vice-president making his third White House bid, is a pragmatic centrist who is regaining his footing after gaffes and about-turns. Snapping at his heels is Mr Sanders, a Democratic socialist who is promising a "political revolution", including free healthcare for all and paying off America's $1.6tn (£1.25tn) student debt mountain. Youthful mayor Pete Buttigieg, whose dark horse campaign has been rocked by the police shooting of a black man in his home city of South Bend, Indiana, will be closely watched, too. Senator Kamala Harris, the only black woman in the race; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who has campaigned on women's issues; and entrepreneur Andrew Yang will also jockey for attention. The line-up for both nights was chosen at random by NBC. The eventual Democratic White House nominee will be crowned at the party convention in July next year, before the presidential election in November.

Motherboard manufacturer ASRock has listed the specifications for eight unnanounced AMD desktop APUs (Accelerated Processing Units) in the company's processor support list database. The next-generation APUs, codenamed Picasso, are set to replace the current Raven Ridge family. Raven Ridge chips are based of the Zen CPU and Vega GPU microarchitectures. GlobalFoundries produces these parts with the 14nm manufacturing process. Picasso, on the other hand, is rumored to feature the updated Zen+ CPU microarchitecture while retaining the Vega GPU microarchitecture. GlobalFoundries will reportedly produce the Picasso chips on the 12nm node. AMD has the habit of offering different variants of the same APU. The PRO variants reportedly comes with better chip quality and brings improved security and enterprise features and a longer warranty. Their performance should be near identical to their non-PRO counterparts. The GE variants, on the other hand, perform slightly slower than the base models. The reason is because the GE variants focus heavily on being energy-efficient and adhere to the 35W TDP (thermal design power) envelope. While AMD recently announced the Ryzen 3 3200G and Ryzen 5 3400G at E3, the chipmaker has yet to reveal the GE models. According to ASRock's data, the Ryzen 3 3400GE and Ryzen 5 3400GE brings minimum improvements over their predecessors. Basically, we're looking at a 100 MHz higher base clock. Ryzen 3 PRO 3200G & Ryzen 5 PRO 3400G Model Cores / Threads Base Clock L2 Cache TDP Ryzen 5 PRO 3400G 4 / 8 3.7 GHz 2MB 45W - 65W Ryzen 5 PRO 2400G 4 / 8 3.6 GHz 2MB 65W Ryzen 3 PRO 3200G 4 / 4 3.6 GHz 2MB 45W - 65W Ryzen 3 PRO 2200G 4 / 4 3.5 GHz 2MB 65W AMD seemingly gives the Ryzen 3 PRO 3200G and Ryzen 5 PRO 3400G the same 100 MHz upgrade to their base clocks. The new chips retain the same core, L2 cache and TDP numbers. Ryzen 3 PRO 3200GE & Ryzen 5 PRO 3400GE Model Cores / Threads Base Clock L2 Cache TDP Ryzen 5 PRO 3400GE 4 / 8 3.3 GHz 2MB 35W Ryzen 5 PRO 2400GE 4 / 8 3.2 GHz 2MB 35W Ryzen 3 PRO 3200GE 4 / 4 3.3 GHz 2MB 35W Ryzen 3 PRO 2200GE 4 / 4 3.2 GHz 2MB 35W When it comes to the PRO GE models, we continue to see the same 100 MHz increase in the base clocks. Athlon 320GE & Athlon 300GE Model Cores / Threads Base Clock L2 Cache TDP Athlon 320GE 2 / 4 3.5 GHz 1MB 35W Athlon 220GE 2 / 4 3.4 GHz 1MB 35W Athlon PRO 300GE 2 / 4 3.4 GHz 1MB 35W Athlon 300GE 2 / 4 3.4 GHz 1MB 35W Athlon 200GE 2 / 4 3.2 GHz 1MB 35W Up to this point, the Athlon 300GE is the only Picasso chip to break the mold. The Athlon 300GE features a 200 MHz higher base clock than the existing Athlon 200GE. The Athlon PRO 300GE will also operate at the same 3.4 GHz base clock as the Athlon 300GE. Lastly, the Athlon 320GE shows a 100 MHz upgrade to the base clock in comparison to the Athlon 220GE.

More than 1,000 workers at Ford's Bridgend engine plant have said they are prepared to strike if the firm does not reverse its decision to close the site, according to a union. The factory is due to shut in autumn 2020 with the loss of 1,700 jobs. Ford blamed "changing customer demand and cost" for the closure, and denied Brexit was a factor. Unite union balloted members to see if they would be prepared to strike, with 1,031 voting in favour and 207 against. "They are willing to take on Ford and fight hard to secure a future for their world-class plant," Unite Wales regional secretary Peter Hughes said. Ford set to close Bridgend plant in 2020 "The consultative ballot clearly demonstrates that the workforce are not prepared to lie down and quietly accept their fate. "They are not prepared to let Ford deliver an act of unprecedented industrial sabotage, the ramifications of which would be devastation of the Bridgend area and the Welsh automotive supply chain." The closure news comes months after Ford said it was cutting its Welsh workforce by 1,000, with 370 going in a first phase. Investment in a new petrol engine, called Dragon, was scaled back, while production of an engine for Jaguar Land Rover is due to end this year. Ford Bridgend loses out in global race Electric cars hope for Bridgend Brexit shutdown cuts car output by 45% First Minister Mark Drakeford has held talks with the company over its planned closure. He tweeted: "Today I spoke to senior Ford executives to again express my disappointment about the decision to close the Bridgend Plant and press them to reconsider. "The conversation was constructive, with an emphasis on the need to support the workforce and wider community, as well as identifying opportunities for the future." Timeline to closure 2008: Ford announces it will operate as a single global company - meaning its Bridgend engine plant had to compete with the firm's other factories across the world, not just in Europe 2015: Bridgend secures investment for Dragon petrol engine project - with 250,000 engines a year, although it has capacity for 750,000 a year 2016: The planned Dragon investment is reduced to £121m and the number of engines is cut in half to 125,000 2017: Ford projects a reduction of 1,160 workers by 2021 and confirms production of Jaguar Land Rover engines - which involves half the workforce - will end in 2020 2018: Workers making Jaguar engines face a five-day shutdown as a knock-on effect from JLR's temporary production halt. Ford's European boss warns a no-deal Brexit would be "pretty disastrous" Jan 2019: Ford plans to cut 370 jobs the first phase of redundancies which will total 990 by 2021. The Dragon project was scheduled to employ about 500 June 2019: Ford announces it plans to close the plant in September 2020, citing three reasons - the phasing out of one engine model, the end of the Jaguar Land Rover contract and a decline in the demand for the new three-cylinder engine

Boris Johnson has admitted he would need EU co-operation to avoid a hard Irish border or crippling tariffs on trade in the event of no deal. In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the favourite to be next prime minister said: "It's not just up to us." But he said he did "not believe for a moment" the UK would leave without a deal, although he was willing to do so. Asked about a row he had with his partner, he said it was "simply unfair" to involve "loved ones" in the debate. Reports of the argument on Friday with his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, dominated headlines over the weekend after the police were called to their address in London. The interview comes after Sky News said it would have to cancel a head-to-head debate on Tuesday between the two leadership contenders as Mr Johnson had "so far declined" to take part. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd told Radio 4's Today programme she found Mr Johnson's decision to ignore live TV debates "very odd" and urged him "to reconsider". Meanwhile, the other candidate, Jeremy Hunt has promised to boost defence spending by £15bn over the next five years if he becomes prime minister. Boris Johnson: What's his track record? Jeremy Hunt: What's his track record? Who chooses the next PM? Johnson tax plan 'would benefit wealthy' In an interview with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Johnson said the existing deal negotiated by Theresa May "is dead". He insisted it was possible to broker a new deal with the EU before the end of October because the political landscape had changed in the UK and on the continent. "I think actually that politics has changed so much since 29 March," he said, referring to the original Brexit deadline. "I think on both sides of the Channel there's a really different understanding of what is needed." Watch Laura Kuenssberg's interview in full Read the full transcript Compare the candidates At the moment, the UK is due to leave the EU on 31 October after the PM's Brexit deal was rejected three times by Parliament. Mr Johnson said he would be able to persuade Brussels to resolve the Irish border issue - a key sticking point - despite repeated warnings from EU leaders that that was impossible. He said there were "abundant, abundant technical fixes" that could be made to avoid border checks. When challenged that these do not exist yet, Mr Johnson replied: "Well, they do actually, you have in very large measure they do, you have trusted trader schemes, all sorts of schemes that you could put into place." But, he admitted, there was "no single magic bullet" to solve the issue. A plan full of ifs and buts Mr Johnson's really controversial gamble is to say he could do a new trade deal with EU leaders before the end of October. And he says he would be able to do that before resolving the most controversial conundrum - how you fix the dilemma over the Irish border. He clearly believes he has the political skill to pull that off. He and his supporters would say that is a plan. But it is a plan that is full of ifs and buts - either heroic or foolhardy assumptions to imagine that EU leaders and Parliament would be ready to back his vision - and back it by Halloween - on an extremely tight deadline. The political pressure is on, not just to get it done quickly, but done in a way that does not harm our relations with the rest of the world and the livelihoods of people living in this country. In terms of the controversies over his personal life, it is absolutely clear even now - when he is on the threshold of No 10 - that Boris Johnson thinks there are questions he simply does not have to answer. And for a politician about whose character many people have their doubts, that is going to follow him around unless and until he is willing to give more. Mr Johnson said if he was elected he would start new talks as soon as he reached Downing Street to discuss a free trade agreement. He also said he hoped the EU would be willing to grant a period of time where the status quo was maintained for a deal to be finalised after Brexit. He called this "an implementation period", but accepted this was not the same as the implementation period in the current draft treaty agreed with the EU. 'Don't be a coward,' Hunt tells Johnson Neighbour defends Johnson row recording Is it OK to tell someone to 'man up'? No-deal Brexit: What you need to know Mr Johnson committed to passing new laws as soon as possible in order to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK. The former foreign secretary also suggested EU leaders might change their attitude to renegotiation because they have Brexit Party MEPs they do not want in their Parliament and want to get the £39bn that has been promised as part of the so-called divorce bill. He also said MPs could be more willing to back a revised deal because they realise both main parties face "real danger of extinction" if Brexit is stalled. 'Good reason' Mr Johnson refused again to give more detail of what happened at his home in the early hours of Friday. He has faced three days of questions over his private life after the row with his partner Carrie Symonds. "I do not talk about stuff involving my family, my loved ones," he said. "And there's a very good reason for that. That is that, if you do, you drag them into things that really is... not fair on them." Instead of his private life, he said the public actually want to know "what is going on with this guy"? "Does he, when it comes to trust, when it comes to character, all those things, does he deliver what he says he's going to deliver?" Despite widespread criticisms from his fellow Conservatives that he cannot be trusted, Mr Johnson said that anyone questioning his character was "talking absolute nonsense". He also refused to respond to accusations from leadership rival Jeremy Hunt that he was being a "coward" for avoiding more head-to-head TV debates, promising that if elected he would "govern from the centre right" because the centre "is where you win". Ms Rudd, who is supporting Mr Hunt, said Mr Johnson was making a mistake by shying away from the debates and said he needed to "go further" in explaining his Brexit plan. "This is an incredibly difficult situation and Boris needs to explain how he will deal with both sides of the Conservative Party that have concerns and try and break the impasse with the European Union. "Enthusiasm and optimism is not sufficient." Responding to claims that a dozen Tory MPs would be prepared to bring down a government heading to a no-deal Brexit, she said: "I think that's about right. I think it's slightly less than that, but it's certainly more than two."

Glary Utilities is a free system cleaner and performance booster for your Windows PC. The easy-to-use and intuitive interface features one-click functionality and easy, automated options that give you the choice of either a 1-Click maintenance or a custom selection of operations. It includes over twenty system utilities that allow you to customize your scan and features options such as a Registry Cleaner, Spyware Remover, Startup Manager and Shortcuts Fixer, all of which will improve your computer performance. The Windows Boot Time monitor, which sits in the middle of the main interface window, tells you how long Windows is currently taking to boot on your PC and then compares that with other Windows users. From here you can then access and manage a list of the programs that load on Windows startup and delay some of them if necessary. This comprehensive system utility supports 44 languages and promises to speed up the whole process of scanning and analyzing your PC.

Google and Intel have always been good business partners, which is evident considering that the majority of the Chromebooks on the market employ Intel processors. However, Intel's Ice Lake has apparently fallen out of favor with Google as Chrome OS will not be supporting the chipmaker's upcoming 10th-generation processors. The relationship between Google and Ice Lake could have gone downhill when Intel failed to deliver on its Cannon Lake processors, which were rumored to power Google's now-defunct Pixelbook codenamed Meowth. Google's disappointment was evident as the tech giant later dropped support for Cannon Lake processors in Chrome OS. As discovered by media 9to5Google, Google had disabled a few obsolete boards from Chrome OS last month. The list of affected includes "iclrvp" (Ice Lake Reference Validation Platform) and "dragonegg" that are reportedly based around Intel's 10nm Ice Lake parts. The message specifically states that Google will not be pursuing ICL (short for Ice Lake). Google's decision to not run with Ice Lake chips doesn't mean that it's getting a divorce from Intel. There is concrete evidence that Google is already working with Intel to bring Tiger Lake (TGL) support to Chrome OS. Tiger Lake processors, which are slated to come out next year, seemingly come out of Intel's 10nm oven. The new chips are expected to combine Intel's Willow Cove architecture with its Xe Graphics. However, let's not forget that Google recently added support for AMD's Ryzen 3000-series APUs (Accelerated Processing Units) to Coreboot, so we should see Chromebooks with AMD Ryzen processors very soon.

Tesla has said it is updating the battery software in some of its models following two recent incidents where cars caught fire. The electric carmaker said it would soon begin rolling out the software update on Model S and Model X vehicles. It follows reports that a parked car caught fire in Hong Kong, following a similar incident in Shanghai. While Tesla is still investigating the incidents, the firm is taking action "out of an abundance of caution". In a statement, the carmaker said: "As we continue our investigation of the root cause... we are revising charge and thermal management settings on Model S and Model X vehicles via an over-the-air software update that will begin rolling out today, to help further protect the battery and improve battery longevity." In relation to the incident in Hong Kong, it said: "Our team was onsite to offer support to our customer and establish the facts of this incident. We are glad that everyone is safe." Last month, Tesla said it was investigating a video on Chinese social media that appeared to show one of its vehicles bursting into flames in Shanghai. Tesla investigating China car explosion Tesla cuts jobs as cars 'too expensive' The recent incidents come as the firm is already facing challenges. Tesla reported a loss of $702m for the first three months of the year and predicted another loss for the current quarter. Earlier this year, the company said it would cut its workforce by 7% after the "most challenging" year in its history. Previous incidents involving Tesla vehicles catching on fire seem to have happened while the cars were moving. In 2018, a Tesla car driven by British TV director Michael Morris burst into flames, following another such incident involving a Model S model in France in 2016. A series of fires involving Tesla Model S cars took place in 2013.

Turkey's ruling AK Party has lost control of Istanbul after a re-run of the city's mayoral election, delivering a stinging blow to President Erdogan. With nearly all ballots counted, main opposition party candidate Ekrem Imamoglu had a lead of 775,000 votes, a huge increase on the margin of 13,000 he achieved in the earlier election. That victory in March was annulled after the AKP alleged irregularities. The result ends 25 years of AKP rule in Istanbul. The AKP's candidate, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, conceded to his opponent. On Twitter, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote: "I congratulate Ekrem Imamoglu who has won the election based on preliminary results." Mr Erdogan had previously said that "whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey". He has ruled the country since 2003 both as prime minister and now president, becoming the most powerful leader since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic. Ambitious mayor takes on Turkish president Erdogan: Turkey's pugnacious president In his victory speech, Mr Imamoglu, of the Republican People's Party (CHP), said the result marked a "new beginning" for both the city and the country. He said his supporters had "fixed democracy". "We are opening up a new page in Istanbul," he said. "On this new page, there will be justice, equality, love." He added that he was willing to work with Mr Erdogan, saying: "Mr President, I am ready to work in harmony with you." With 99% of votes counted, Mr Imamoglu had 54% of the vote and Mr Yildirim 45%. President Erdogan - the most powerful leader Turkey has seen in modern times - has just been dealt the biggest blow of his career. This result shows that he made an incredible miscalculation by calling for the election to be re-run. It will likely hasten splits in his ruling AKP and amplify talk of the post-Erdogan era. He will stress that he's in power for the foreseeable future - elections are not scheduled until 2023 - but many will expect them earlier. The result in Istanbul feels like it could be a precursor to them. So how did the opposition win? Ekrem Imamoglu gave people the profoundly positive message they craved and rebuffed smears with smiles. It was hugely effective, and showed the CHP has finally worked out how to counter the president. It has waited 25 years to control this city and long felt incapable of success. It is savouring this moment - after all, it could be a watershed one. Who were the candidates? Mr Imamoglu, 49, is the mayor of Istanbul's Beylikduzu district but his name was barely known before he ran in the March election. Mr Yildirim was a founding member of Mr Erdogan's AKP and was prime minister from 2016 until 2018, when Turkey became a presidential democracy and the role ceased to exist. He was elected Speaker of the new parliament in February and before that served as minister of transportation and communication. Why was the previous result annulled? Mr Imamoglu's victory of 13,000 votes in March was not enough for Mr Yildirim to accept defeat. Why Erdogan's big ambitions could come tumbling down The ruling party alleged that votes were stolen and many ballot box observers did not have official approval, leading the election board to demand a re-run of the vote. Critics argue that pressure from President Erdogan was behind the decision. Jubilation on the streets By Cagil Kasapoglu, BBC Turkish, Istanbul Hundreds of supporters of Mr Imamoglu gathered in his stronghold, Besiktas. The cautious optimism that was prevalent during the early stages of vote counting gave way to a mood of total jubilation. Hopeful youngsters celebrated and proudly waved Turkish flags. Others held banners with pictures of Atatürk on them. Some even wore masks of Mr Imamoglu. Many of these young people have only ever known President Erdogan's AKP in government. For them, this is an opportunity to push for change across the country. "Many young people desperately want to leave Turkey," Ayca Yilmaz, a 22-year-old university student told me. "But now, we might consider staying here. We are hopeful once again."

There has never been a better time than now to develop smart applications. Users across the globe are capturing data digitally, whether this is in the physical world through sensors or GPS, or online through clickstream data. This means there is a critical mass of data available, and there is also enough affordable computing capacity in the cloud for companies and organisations of all sizes to use it effectively. Furthermore, an algorithmic revolution has taken place, because of which it is now possible to train trillions of algorithms simultaneously, making the whole machine learning process much faster. During the past 50 years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) were fields that were only accessible to an exclusive circle of researchers and scientists. That is now changing, as packages of AI and ML services, frameworks, and tools are today available to all sorts of companies and organisations, including those that don't have dedicated research groups in this field. Startups are using AI algorithms for amazing tasks, like searching for tumours in medical images, helping people learn foreign languages, or automating claims-handling at insurance companies. Entirely new categories of applications are being created, where a natural conversation between humans and machines is taking centre-stage, including building chatbots for everyday consumer requests, such as accessing the latest news updates, game scores, or weather. At Amazon, we work with billions of historical order information data, which allows us to create AI/ML-based models for many different kinds of functionalities. For example, programming interfaces that developers can use to analyse images, recognise faces and objects, or convert text to speech. Ultimately, there is something to be found for everyone who wants to define models, train them, and then scale. Matchmaking site Shaadi.com uses Amazon Rekognition, which adds image and video analysis to applications by identifying objects, people, text, scenes, and activities. Great photos are critical in helping Shaadi.com users find their right match. Amazon Rekognition helps the company quickly and affordably automate its highly complex process of identifying incorrect photos and inappropriate content.Shaadi.com estimates this has cut the team's manual work by half. One of the most advanced areas of application is e-commerce. AI supported pre-selection mechanisms help companies to remove complexity from their customers' decision-making. The more possibilities there are, the more difficult it becomes for the customer. Our best-known algorithms come from this field: filtering product suggestions based on one's purchase history of products with similar attributes, or on the behaviour of other customers who were interested in similar things. In B2B and B2C businesses, it is critical that goods are available quickly, so there are algorithms today that can predict the daily demand for goods. This is particularly complex for fashion goods, which are available in many different sizes and variations, and for which reorder possibilities are very limited. Amazon retail tackled this issue and has now made the technology available to other companies as a web service. Applied in robots, AI can free people from routine activities that are physically difficult and often stressful. For example, letting intelligent robots learn from humans how to identify the right goods, take on various orders and navigate their way autonomously through the warehouse on the most efficient route. In medicine, AI supports doctors in analysing X-ray CTs or MRT images. The World Bank uses AI to implement infrastructure programmes, development aid and other measures in a more targeted manner. What we need is a pragmatic optimistic view of the emerging possibilities. AI enables us to reduce tasks in our work where machines can do a better job than us. Not with the goal of making ourselves redundant. Rather, to refocus our skills on more meaningful tasks and projects in the workplace and for everything that we humans can do better than machines. That is what we should strive for. If we don't, we will ultimately forego the economic and societal opportunities that we could have grasped.

Microsoft announced during the Build developer conference in May that it was rethinking Windows 10's command line tool. The new utility, which the company unimaginatively dubbed the Windows Terminal, was today released as a "very early preview" on the Microsoft Store. The new app features an updated interface with support for custom themes, multiple tabs, and numerous other personalization options. Because text is such a core part of the app, Microsoft also included GPU-accelerated text rendering as well as support for multiple fonts and emoji. (Because if there's anything command line users need in a utility it's the ability to render the "100" emoji in all its crimson glory.) Windows Terminal won't immediately replace Command Prompt. Microsoft told us at Build that it was considering options for making Windows Terminal the new default command line tool, but for now, the company is maintaining the status quo with Command Prompt. That's partly for compatibility reasons, but it likely stems from the fact that Windows Terminal isn't exactly ready to make a grand debut. Microsoft said in the Store description: "This very early preview release includes many usability issues, most notably the lack of support for assistive technology. Much of the internal work to support this is complete and it’s our top priority to support assistive technology very soon." We suspect that Windows Terminal might not have even been released yet if it wasn't given a mid-June launch date at Build. Windows Terminal is being developed as an open source project. Interested users can follow the app's progress on GitHub or, if they like, contribute to its development themselves. Microsoft hasn't yet revealed when it plans to release a non-preview version of the program.

BMW and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) are to join forces on developing electric car technologies. The car giants said they would work together to develop electric motors, transmissions and power electronics. Both firms have struggled to maintain profit margins amid falling car sales and higher costs as well as the need to invest in future technologies. Car firms are being forced to make low emission vehicles to meet more stringent anti-pollution rules. There have been a number of similar tie-ups aimed at sharing the costs of developing electric cars. Volkswagen and Ford, for example, are working together on new vehicles. Meanwhile, rivals FiatChrysler and Renault are exploring a $35bn tie-up. BMW board member Klaus Froehlich said: "Together, we have the opportunity to cater more effectively for customer needs by shortening development time and bringing vehicles and state-of-the-art technologies more rapidly to market." Tie-up BMW and Jaguar Land Rover said they will save costs through shared research, shared production planning, and by jointly buying electric car components. Jaguar Land Rover is still run by former BMW managers, including Ralf Speth the company's chief executive who spent 20 years at BMW prior to joining JLR. BMW has been developing an electric motor, transmission and power electronics in one housing that it calls "Gen 5" of its "eDrive" technology. A joint team of BMW and JLR engineers in Munich will further develop this Gen 5 technology, then both companies will produce their own electric drivetrains, BMW said. JLR will produce these drivetrains at its Wolverhampton plant, which employs 1,600 people. Nick Rogers, Jaguar Land Rover's engineering director, said: "We've proven we can build world-beating electric cars but now we need to scale the technology to support the next generation of Jaguar and Land Rover products." Car manufacturers are increasingly open to sharing electric car parts because the technology is expensive. "Carmakers are much less precious about sharing electric car technology because it is much harder to create product differentiation with electric car tech. They all accelerate fast, and everybody can do quality and ride and handling," according to Carl-Peter Forster, a former chief executive of Tata Motors and a former BMW executive. JLR is owned by Indian car giant Tata Motors.

The US will impose additional sanctions on Iran in a bid to prevent the country obtaining nuclear weapons, President Donald Trump says. He said economic pressure would be maintained unless the leadership in Tehran changed course. "We're putting additional sanctions on," he told reporters. "In [some] cases we are moving rapidly." It comes after Iran announced it would exceed internationally agreed limits on its nuclear programme. The limit on its stockpile of enriched uranium was set under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. In return, relevant sanctions were lifted, allowing Iran to resume oil exports - the government's main source of revenue. But the US pulled out of the deal last year and reinstated sanctions. This triggered an economic meltdown in Iran, pushing the value of its currency to record lows and driving away foreign investors. Iran nuclear crisis in 300 words US-Iran relations: A brief history How US sanctions have hit Iran Iran has responded by scaling back its commitments under the nuclear deal. "If Iran wants to become a prosperous nation... it's OK with me," Mr Trump said. "But they're never going to do it if they think in five or six years they're going to have nuclear weapons." "Let's make Iran great again," he added, echoing his campaign slogan from the 2016 presidential election. How have US sanctions hit Iran? The reinstatement of US sanctions last year - particularly those imposed on the energy, shipping and financial sectors - caused foreign investment to dry up and hit oil exports. The sanctions bar US companies from trading with Iran, but also with foreign firms or countries that are dealing with Iran. This has led to shortages of imported goods and products that are made with raw materials from abroad, most notably babies' nappies. The plunging value of the rial has also affected the cost of locally produced staples such as meat and eggs, which have soared in price. Iran has responded to the economic pressure by violating some of the nuclear deal's commitments. It has also accused European countries of failing to live up to their promises of protecting Iran's economy from US sanctions. What is the bigger picture? President Trump's announcement that additional sanctions will be imposed on Iran comes at a time of escalating tensions between the two countries. On Thursday, an unmanned US drone was shot down by Iranian forces in the Gulf. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the drone's downing was a "clear message" to the US that Iran's borders were "our red line". But US military officials maintain the drone was in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at the time. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a high-ranking officer in the IRGC, said another military aircraft, carrying 35 passengers, had been flying close to the drone. "We could have shot down that one too, but we did not," he said. The shooting down of the drone followed accusations by the US that Iran had attacked two oil tankers with mines just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Mr Trump has said he does not want war with Iran, but warned it it would face "obliteration" if conflict broke out.

Fiat Chrysler has made a "transformative" merger proposal for French carmaker Renault, the Italian firm said on Monday. The combined business would be 50% owned by Fiat shareholders and 50% by Renault stockholders. The carmaker said the merger would create a global automotive leader, with 8.7 million vehicle sales. Carmakers have faced pressure to consolidate amid major industry shifts, including towards electric vehicles. Shares in both companies rose strongly following the announcement. Renault PAR 56.150002 Current price 2.37% Percentage change 1.3 Price change Price (EUR) Fiat Chrysler (FCA) said the planned merger would create a "world leader in the rapidly changing automotive industry with a strong position in transforming technologies, including electrification and autonomous driving". Fiat said that if the firms' 2018 financial results were totted up, the combined company's annual revenues would be nearly €170bn (£149.6bn; $190.5bn), with operating profit of more than €10bn and net profit of more than €8bn. No plant closures would be caused as a result of the tie-up, the carmaker said. Robotics sale It will aim to save €5bn a year by sharing development costs on technology such as electric vehicles and self-driving cars. It is thought some managerial positions may be lost, but the companies will be keen to show that production-line jobs are being preserved. The new company will be based in the Netherlands and will be listed on the Milan, Paris and New York stock exchanges. To make the merger one of equals, the slightly-wealthier FCA will pay a special dividend of €2.5bn and sell its Comau robotics business. The proposal will be considered by the Renault board. Who will lead the new entity and what it might be called are not yet decided. New competitors If the plan goes ahead, Nissan and the French government will own about 7.5% apiece of the new, merged company. The French government favours the merger but wants more details before giving its final approval, a spokeswoman said. The Italian government may want to acquire a share of the new firm to balance France's stake, said a politician from the Northern League, the country's largest party, according to Reuters. By sales, the new company will be number four in North America, number two in the region which covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the biggest in Latin America. Industry shifts toward electric models, along with stricter emissions standards and the development of new technologies for autonomous vehicles, have put increasing pressure on carmakers to consolidate. Renault already has an alliance with Japan's Nissan, in which research costs and parts are shared. The companies own shares in each other, too. Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan's shares and Nissan owns 15% of Renault. The former chief executive of both Nissan and Renault, Carlos Ghosn, is awaiting trial following his fourth arrest amid allegations of financial misconduct. The allegations have put a strain on the 20-year-old alliance, which also includes Japan's Mitsubishi Motors. New entrants in the motoring sector such as Tesla, as well as cash-rich companies developing driverless technology such as Amazon and Google-owned Waymo, are putting pressure on older and often heavily indebted carmakers to keep up.

More than 500 critically endangered vultures have died of poisoning in Botswana, according to local officials. A total of 537 vultures and two tawny eagles were found dead in the country's north-east, though it's unclear when. The government suspects poachers who killed three elephants had laced their carcasses with poison. Conservationists have called the incident one of the largest documented killings of the threatened species. The government said the mass poisoning was "dangerous and harmful to the environment" and it urged members of the public to "desist from such illegal acts". Africa Live: Updates on this and other stories Why we should all love the vulture More about Botswana The area has reportedly been decontaminated and samples taken for a laboratory analysis. Vultures circling a carcass can be seen from miles away, so poachers often poison them to prevent their activity being tracked, reports the BBC's Africa correspondent Alastair Leithead. Most of the birds were white-backed vultures, which are classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Among the dead were also 17 white-headed vultures and 28 hooded vultures, which are "critically endangered" as well. Their deaths have occurred during the birds' typical breeding season, meaning that their offspring may also be affected. "As vultures are late maturing and slow breeders, the magnitude of losing just under 600 vultures in one week is incomprehensible," said Kerri Wolter, CEO and founder of conservation charity VulPro. In depth: The war on elephants Why elephants are seeking refuge in Botswana "The species cannot withstand these losses and it is impossible to recover the disappearance of these individuals and breeding pairs in our lifetime." Botswana sparked controversy last month after lifting its ban on hunting. The government argued that Botswana's booming elephant po[CENSORED]tion was damaging farmers' livelihoods and that elephants had killed several people in rural areas. Botswana has some 130,000 elephants, the world's largest po[CENSORED]tion.

NEW DELHI: Information technology firm Tech MahindraNSE 2.05 % Thursday said it has signed a multi-year contract with Airbus for cabin and cargo design engineering. "Tech Mahindra aims to capitalise on the specialised skills and competencies in growing cabin engineering business over the next few years. As air travel continues to surge worldwide, airlines are looking to deliver integrated comfortable and memorable, digital travel experiences through path-breaking 'Cabin Innovations'," the company said in a statement. No financial details of the partnership were disclosed. Airbus is a strategic customer and partner of the company, it added. Karthikeyan Natarajan, global head of engineering and IoT at Tech Mahindra, said the partnership will strengthen the company's aerospace engineering portfolio, especially in areas like cabin engineering and customer services. "It has been our constant endeavour to develop innovative engineering and digital solutions for our customers. This is a step towards further nurturing this key relationship and supporting Airbus in consolidating their global supplier base while driving business efficiencies and competencies in this process," he added. As part of its TechMNxt charter, Tech Mahindra is betting big on next generation technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things, cybersecurity, robotics, automation, blockchain and 5G.

DigiTimes reported today, citing sources at motherboard makers, that Intel plans to cut the pricing of its eighth- and ninth-gen processors by 10-15% and has already notified its partners of the change. If true, that could mean that pricing for some Intel processors could drop anywhere from $25 to a whopping $75 for pricier SKUs. The revelation seems quite fantastical, and while there are signals that Intel is ramping up for a more competitive environment as AMD launches its 7nm Ryzen 3000 series processors and EPYC Rome processors, there's also the possibility the report is inaccurate or overstated. We also aren't sure if these purported price drops will filter down to retail sales, or if they are targeted at OEMs. Those companies always pay lower pricing than retail, so the impact of the potential price cut may not be as pronounced for the final products. Historically, Intel has been known to charge premium pricing for its chips, which generally offer faster performance than competing parts, and a quick glance at Intel's pricing guides indicates that Intel has not lowered pricing for a single part, bar none, as it has grappled with the resurgent AMD's Ryzen lineup. Instead, Intel has released new product generations that come to market at lower price points. AMD says its Ryzen 3000 series chips will be competitively priced, provide performance parity in the all-important gaming segment, and generally offer more performance for the dollar in threaded applications, like productivity software. It's a tough sell for Intel to continue to charge a premium against chips that are nearly equivalent in some tasks, better in others, have lower power consumption, and come with a new PCIe 4.0 interface while Intel remains on PCIe 3.0. Regardless of the actual performance gains we'll see from the faster PCIe interface, new technology is always a big selling point.