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my vote V2 good text and effect.

Craving Christmas cheer early this year Here are some top tips for decorating that will keep partners, children, pets and even the environment happy – however long your festive season hristmas has come early, or at least many of us would like to think so. Trees have gone up earlier than usual this year, which is hardly surprising – they reinvent a living room you’ve spent far too much time in over the past few months. Plus, getting on with Christmas gives us something to enjoy, as well as making the end of this wretched year feel closer. Still, it can bring out the humbug. How do you deck the halls while keeping everyone happy? Here is some expert advice. How early is too early?“In this climate, it’s never too early. It’s the only thing we’re going to have to look forward to this year,” says Ged Comerford, operations director for The Christmas Decorators, a company that heaps sparkle and baubles on department stores and celebrity homes.Maxine Brady, an interior designer and blogger, agrees. “At the moment, I don’t think normal rules apply.” People will, she thinks, decorate their windows, similar to the NHS rainbows we put up in the spring, “so that people walking around will get that Christmas feel”. She thinks people are going to make a big effort this year, “and probably start earlier”.For real trees, Comerford says a Fraser fir or Nordmann will last longer. “Central heating will dry a tree out,” he says, though he is sceptical that there’s much more you can do to prolong its look other than keeping it away from radiators or fireplaces. However, the National Christmas Tree Association recommends keeping your tree in a stand that holds water – about a litre for each inch of trunk diameter.Consider a not-a-Christmas tree If the thought of getting a Christmas tree up in November is too much, go for something less obviously festive. Last year, Hannah Bullivant, a stylist, couldn’t face being responsible for killing a tree, so instead she put up a large branch she rescued from a friend’s bonfire and decorated it. “It was free and had no environmental impact,” she says. Brady, who styles Christmas shoots for brands and magazines, doesn’t always have her own tree. “I get a really lovely seasonal bunch of flowers and I put foraged twigs in it with baubles on them.” Compromise creates goodwillYou may be a tasteful minimalist, but your partner, flatmate or children are into full-on tinsel and multicoloured lights. Bullivant got her two children an artificial tree from a charity shop. “They’re allowed to let rip with tinsel and all their favourite baubles,” she says. And, to the joy of everyone, it’s kept in their bedroom.Brady acknowledges that Christmas decorations can get weighted with sentimentality. “My mother has some from her childhood in the 50s, which are beautiful, but they are a bit past their best,” she says. To keep everyone happy, she suggests “having different corners of your home that you dress up with different decorations”.Real or fake?A surprising number of disagreements centre on pine needles – many people maintain it doesn’t feel like Christmas without that lovely fragrance. If a real tree is a no-no for you or your carpet, you could sneak in other scented vegetation. “One of the ways I get that lovely smell in the house is by making a big wreath,” says Bullivant, who runs online wreath-making workshops. “I will use foraged fir and larch. I still have the greenery, just not the huge tree.”Decorations to treasureThere are trends in Christmas decorating – this year, Comerford says, there has been demand for metallic shades, and a comeback for rose gold, while Brady says there has been a fashion for art deco-inspired opulence and vintage rose colours, as well as rainbow brights and neon.But “it’s not about starting from scratch each year”, says Brady. “I don’t think that’s very eco-friendly. You don’t have to buy masses of new decorations to update your look – maybe a pack of six quirky decorations that slightly shift the mood of your tree.”Bullivant’s family has a tradition where her children each choose a new bauble each year. “Maybe don’t buy anything that is too on-trend,” she says. “Buy stuff that you really love.”Eco-friendly festive findsA locally grown tree, or UK-grown at least, with an FSC certification is the most sustainable option. If it’s growing in a pot, and you manage to keep it alive for years to come, that’s even better – otherwise arrange to have it collected and recycled (usually as chippings) afterwards, rather than sending it to landfill. Otherwise, some companies offer potted trees to hire.An artificial tree, while reusable for years, is still plastic, creates high emissions to manufacture and transport, and will eventually end up in landfill (usually made from PVC, they are almost impossible to recycle). For decorations, “think about items you already have”, says Bullivant. She has repurposed shells collected from the beach, teacups and her kids’ toy cars. “One of my favourite things is to tie beautiful bits of ribbon on, and reuse them for gift wrapping through the year. Last year, I made tiny little posies of dried flowers, and they looked really sweet. You don’t have to buy baubles to have a beautifully decorated tree.”Consider stepping away from the tinsel, which looks a bit straggly after a few years and then ends up in the bin – better to buy or make strings decorated with anything including paper, pine cones or pom poms.Decorate like a professionalWhen choosing a real tree, look for one that’s bushy. If the artificial tree is coming out again, says Brady, “fluff it up to space out all the branches. Then start with your lights – the more the merrier.” The rough calculation, she says, is that for every foot in height, use about 100 lights. Don’t bother putting lights at the back if the tree is against the wall. “I would zigzag across the tree working your way up to the top.” You can also wrap lights up the “trunk” (easier and less prickly on a fake tree). “That will make it glow from inside.”Then, arrange baubles by size – bigger ones on the bottom, smaller towards the top. “Keep stepping back to see where the holes are.” She says a few oversized baubles will make it look really professional.For her, the devil is in the detail. By removing the loops of string the decorations came with and replacing them with florist’s wire, shaped into an S-hook, “you can hook the baubles on at any point on the branch, while the string is quite hard to put on a branch, especially if you want to put a large bauble right at the back.”Trees for small spacesIf space is limited, a miniature tree, some attractive twigs (or small version of Bullivant’s Christmas branch) is the answer. Decoration should be in proportion, says Brady. “The simpler the better – if you load loads of stuff on it, it might look a bit overwhelmed.” Plus a small tree might be less oppressive if you get overexcited now and end up sick of Christmas by the first week of December.

A strange metal monolith has been discovered in the Utah desert by a helicopter crew, leaving local authorities baffled. Wildlife officials spotted the "unusual" object while counting sheep during a flyover in a remote south-eastern area of the US state. They said the structure had been planted in the ground between red rock. There was no indication who installed the monolith, which was about 10 to 12ft (3.6m) tall. In an interview with local news channel KSLTV, the helicopter pilot, Bret Hutchings, said: "That's been about the strangest thing that I've come across out there in all my years of flying." Mr Hutchings said a biologist counting big horn sheep in the helicopter was the first one to spot the structure from the sky. "He was like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, turn around, turn around!'. And I was like, 'What?'. And he's like, 'There's this thing back there - we've got to go look at it!'," Mr Hutchings said. Mr Hutchings speculated that the monolith may have been installed by "the some new wave artist", or a fan of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the 1968 film directed by Stanley Kubrick. Imposing black monoliths created by an unseen alien species appear in the movie, based on the writing of novelist Arthur C Clarke. The Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau released images of the rectangular-shaped metal object in a news release last week.It said authorities would determine if "they need to investigate further". "It is illegal to install structures or art without authorisation on federally managed public lands, no matter what planet you're from," the department said. The department has not disclosed the exact location of the monolith, fearing explorers may try to seek it out and "become stranded". The big horn sheep wildlife officials were counting are native to many parts of southern Utah, where the terrain is rugged.

my vote V2 good text and effect .

hello adriana because i had a study and i was very busy so i had to leave the team until I finished my work and now i decided to return after finishing work Helping members who want to learn on Photoshop, responding to requests, giving gifts to members, and I will be happy to give them to them and I will always be there to help members etc. No i never thought before this to go to another community because i started here and will stay here #Regards.

Happy Birthday 🌺🌺🌹

BMW’s all-new, eagerly anticipated S1000R is lighter and more sophisticated than ever before.The new bike replaces the old S1000R introduced in 2014 which was based on the original S1000RR superbike, although its four-cylinder engine was detuned from 193bhp to 160bhp (rising to 165bhp in 2017).Six years on, however, its star was starting to fade in the face of improved competition and, following the arrival of BMW’s all-new 204bhp S1000RR last year, a new R was only a matter of time. And here it is, based heavily on the latest and greatest RR, but significantly reworked. The 5kg lighter engine has been retuned to maximise midrange and produces an unchanged peak power of The chassis is also based on the latest RR’s, which contributes to the overall 6.5kg weight reduction and features slightly sharper steering geometry. The frame’s a little slimmer and the handlebar position is adjustable. Brakes and suspension come straight off the RR along with the option of BMW’s Dynamic Damping Control (DDC) semi-active suspension. The 2021 S1000R also gets an impressive 6.5in colour TFT display. The bike’s also been given a major styling makeover and has a striking LED headlight (BMW’s adaptive, 'steering' headlight is also an option). Two models will be in dealers late spring: the base S1000R at £12,055 and the up-specced S1000R Sport, with uprated electronics and DDC at £14,000. BMW G310R gets 2021 makeover BMW has also significantly updated its entry-level, A2-compliant G310R. Its 34bhp, 313cc single gets improved throttle response, an automatic idle speed booster to help prevent stalling and an anti-hop clutch.New four-way adjustable clutch and brake levers should also appeal to novice riders while the bike also gets a subtle styling update including new LED headlight. It’ll also be available late spring, priced at £4875. Spy pics show that BMW are testing a new version of their S1000R to take on the latest crop of high-tech super nakeds. The current model has been around since 2017 and while it’s still a very good machine, it’s lacking in the tech department. This new bike appears to change all that but let's begin with the heart of the machine: the motor.Related articles on MCNBike review: 2014 BMW S1000RSpyshots of new Triumph Speed TripleDucati Multistrada V4 almost ready despite Covid lockdownThe new S1000R is powered by the 999cc inline-four from the S1000RR but the big question is whether it will have the new ShiftCam technology. ShiftCam can unlock extra power at the top end, without compromising the midrange, all while staying on the right side of emissions laws.It’s been an instant hit in the S1000RR but it was left out of the new S1000XR because it’s expensive to implement and that bike isn’t chasing top end power. There’s no way of telling from the outside if it’s fitted or not but we’re actually hoping it’s not – the S1000R doesn’t need loads more power and we’d rather have the extra money in our pockets. Without the fancy cam, we’d be hoping for around 175bhp. The new engine also means it’s gained the new frame from the S1000RR, likely with the new suspension set up. Where it will really benefit from new tech though is in the electronics. The addition of a whole host of clever new tech like we’ve seen on the S1000RR, which should not only help you go quicker on track but also stay safer on the road. That said the S1000RR has a single button that turns all the rider aids off if you want to go wild – hopefully this does too. Also helping to tame the beast is what appears to be a set of wings, suggesting even BMW are getting in on the act. BMW aren’t known for adding things just for show, so chances are if they are wings then they’ll help to keep the front tyre on the floor at speed. The old dash too has gone in favour of a full colour TFT, likely taken from the S1000XR. That means lots of creature comforts such as Bluetooth connectivity as well as heated grips, cruise control and sat nav in the dash. Matching the rest of the BMW range, the front calipers are now Hayes instead of Brembo, while the suspension appears to be semi-active Marzocchi units.There’s been no official word from BMW about the new bike but we’d expect it to be unveiled later this year, with bikes in dealers by late Spring 2021. As superbikes go the S1000RR is well-priced, so without ShiftCam we’d expect the S1000R to start from £13,000. Best get saving.

The sport has surged this year as boys – and, increasingly, girls – find an accessible way to test their skills and raise their spirits illfields Park in Hackney, east London, is filled with the sound of tiny wheels gliding on concrete after the nearby schools finish for the day. Children in checkerboard shoes and hoodies have come to skateboard at dusk. It is a few days before the start of the second lockdown.Nieko, aged eight, tells me he took it up a few months ago because he just “likes riding around”. His mother, Joanne, a product designer, says she is pleased to get him off the internet. It is, she says, like the old-school days when people would knock on your door and invite you to the local park.Finnbar, 10, says he started in August: “I find it fun to skate everywhere [and] practise my ollies [jumps]. I’m getting all right at them.”Similar scenes were being repeated around the country, with a surge in skateboarding since the start of the pandemic. “We expected it from when the Olympics started,” says Neil Ellis, head of digital engagement at Skateboard England, but we didn’t expect this increase that’s come through Covid. The skateboard shops have had their best sales ever.” Ellis has been skateboarding for 23 years and has never seen a situation where you couldn’t get hold of a board. “But this year there’s a worldwide shortage.” Although skateparks are now closed again during the second lockdown, it has been the same story everywhere. “They’ve just had their best summers ever,” he says. AdvertisementThis huge uptick can partly be explained by the surge in interest in outdoor activities because of the pandemic. “It’s a sport that you can do on your own,” says Ellis. Plus it’s unusually accessible. “You just need a flat bit of ground – car parks are ideal,” says Danni Gallacher, who has been skateboarding for the last 13 years and runs Girl Skate UK.But it goes deeper. Ellis believes the community around skateboarding is a benefit in a bumpy year. “Everyone supports each other … skateboarders have rallied together.”The focus involved in the act of skateboarding is a draw for many – and something that has become particularly precious during the pandemic. From quilting to colouring, activities that require mindfulness have been blossoming. “It’s escapism,” says Ellis. “You go skating with your friends and everything feels normal.”For Zuleha Oshodi, 24, who works in fashion and has been skateboarding seriously for the last two years, “it’s that ability to go and lose yourself for a few hours”. She came to it when she was “in a weird place – I’d just lost my job, I’d just finished uni, I was a bit, like, I don’t know what I’m doing with my life.”Skateboarding was, she says, “that thing I could do that made me feel alive again”.Many relatively new skateboarders, such as Annie McCormack, 28, agree. She has been skating for about two months, and has set up a girls’ skating collective in Hull. “I’ve had a history of mental disorders, and skating makes you remove any of those thoughts because you have to concentrate on that skill,” she says. “For those moments or hours, you skate, you’re in another zone.”Patience – another quality that is proving particularly useful in 2020 – is also encouraged by the perseverance needed to skate. An antidote to the instant gratification of social media, it takes time, effort and hundreds of tries to successfully land tricks, something that Gallacher describes as “humbling”.Much of skateboarding’s recent growth has been thanks to women and girls finding their way to the sport. Once associated with lad culture, skateboarding’s inclusivity has been growing over the last five years, according to Gallacher, who has been running skateboarding workshops for women in Sheffield over summer.AdvertisementAccording to Ellis, the number of female skateboarders has grown by 24% over the past 12 months, to about 112,000. He, and some of the 11-year-old girls skating in the local park, namecheck Sky Brown, who will be 13 when she represents Britain at next year’s Olympics, as a source of inspiration. It was finding another female skateboarder that encouraged Oshodi. The fear of falling and being laughed at has kept many away from the sport in the past. But “it was a lot easier if you had one other safe-space type of person. I’d fall over, she’d fall over, we’re both girls, we’re doing this.” Now, she says, “go to any skatepark and there will be girl skaters. Sometimes there will be more girls than guys.”In a difficult year, many are finding peace on ramps and in parks. For 27-year-old illustrator Liisa Chisholm, who has been skating for seven years, “skateboarding is all about love, and that’s something we could all use a little bit more of.”

The story made headlines around the world - a meteorite crashes through the roof of an Indonesian villager's home and turns out be worth millions, changing his life forever. It was suggested that the find was worth $1.8m (£1.36m), making the man an overnight millionaire - and if he wasn't, they debated whether he'd been short-changed selling it to US buyers. But neither of those things is true. The meteorite is not worth millions, and no-one has been ripped off. This dream come true is not quite as it first seemed. A rock falls on a house...Let's get back to the actual story - fairy tale or not, it is fascinating. Josua Hutagalung, a coffin maker in a village in Sumatra, was minding his own business in early August when he heard a noise from above and - seconds later - a loud crash coming from his house. At first, Josua was too scared to check what it was: the unknown object had come through his roof with such speed and force that it had cut right through the metal roofing and buried itself 15cm (6ins) deep into the soil floor. He eventually dug out a strange small boulder weighing about 2kg (4.4lb). "When I lifted it, it was still warm," he told the BBC's Indonesian service. "That's when I thought that the object I was lifting was a meteorite from the sky. It was impossible for someone to throw a rock that big on to the roof of the house." It's not every day that a boulder from space crashes through your roof, so Josua posted pictures of the exciting find on Facebook. And the news began to travel, far beyond his village, through Sumatra and Indonesia before reaching international ears. Meteorites are essentially ancient rocks that have hurtled through space and - by pure chance - crash landed on earth. Unsurprisingly, there is scientific interest in them. Questions range from where they come from to what they're made of and what they can tell us about the universe. Added to this is collectors' interest. Meteorites are more than four billion years old - older than our own planet - so it's easy to see the fascination they hold. US meteorite adds to origins mystery The man who owns 1,000 meteorites'Diamonds in the sky' treat for stargazersAnd it was these collectors who became interested in Josua's stone, eager to buy it. But in August, global travel was all but shut down because of Covid and getting on a quick flight to Indonesia was impossible.That's when some potential buyers in the US contacted fellow meteorite enthusiast Jared Collins, an American living in Indonesia, and asked whether he could help.He made it to Sumatra, met Josua and inspected the boulder for authentication and to make sure it was properly stored. Contact with water, for instance, would have quickly damaged the meteorite. "It's incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to hold something that is a genuine, physical remnant from the very early stages of the creation of our solar system," the American told the BBC this week. "I immediately noticed its distinctive jet black interior and a thin light brown, pock marked exterior, which was created when it was travelling through the atmosphere."It also had a very unique smell which is hard to explain in words."Once the buyer in the US agreed with Josua on a price, the meteorite was sold, with Jared as the intermediary.Both sides stress that the undisclosed amount was fair and that no-one got cheated in the deal. It was, however, nowhere near the figure that began popping up in headlines across the world - not even close.A potential goldmine So where did the $1.8m price come from? It's a mix of a hopeful seller and some amateur maths. Aside from the one large rock of about 2kg, there were a few smaller bits of the meteorite found near Josua's home. Some of those were also sold and two of them ended up on Ebay in the US. The asking prices are $285 for 0.3g and $29,120 for 33.68g. If you break that down, it equates to about $860 per gram. Multiplied with the weight of the large boulder, you arrive at $1.8m."When I read that figure, I had to laugh," Laurence Garvie, a research professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, told the BBC. An international authority in the field, he was able to inspect parts of the Sumatra meteorite and did the official classification for it."I've seen this story so many times before," he adds. "Someone finds a meteorite and they look on Ebay and think it's worth millions because they see small fragments sold for a large amount."An extra-terrestrial mudball'But that's just not how it works."People are fascinated by owning something that's older than the Earth, something that's from space," Prof Garvie explains. "So you might have people willing to pay a few hundred or thousand dollars for a small piece. But no-one would pay millions for a larger boulder." In fact, the price usually goes down as the size of the piece increases. He also doubts that anyone would buy the pieces offered on Ebay for the asking price. Experts expect they might fetch maybe half. So if the market value of a meteorite is almost impossible to determine, then what's the actual value of the rock from Sumatra? The Arizona professor says it's about 70-80% clay, basically "an extra-terrestrial mudball"."It's dominated by a bit of iron, oxygen, magnesium, aluminium and calcium - that's probably worth one dollar, two if I'm generous."He thinks it might have been about one metre across when it entered the Earth's atmosphere. Breaking up upon entry, only a few pieces would have made it to the ground - one of which crashed through the roof of Josua Hutagalung's house.The building blocks of early lifeThe one thing that's certain about meteorites is the scientific value of such finds.The meteorite found in Sumatra is a carbonaceous chondrite, "remnants of the early solar system offer a window back in time to events that occurred prior to planet formation", Jason Scott Herrin, of the Earth Observatory Singapore, told the BBC.

English motorsport venues have been handed a £6 million cash injection from the government to help see them through winter and offset the earnings lost through lack of spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic. Part of a larger £300 million scheme announced earlier today, known as the 'Sports Winter Survival Package', owners and operators of major English circuits; including Silverstone, Goodwood and the British Automobile Racing Club will be able to apply for the funding to help see them through to the 2021 season. Related articles on MCNHow to keep your bike's battery chargedHow to clean your motorbikeSet up your bike like a road test proMotorbikes at the 77th Goodwood Members' Meeting Also entitled to support are MotorSport Vision (MSV), who own Cadwell Park, Donington Park, Snetterton, Brands Hatch, Bedford Autodrome and Oulton Park. Funding for each activity was allocated through a needs-based assessment process, plus submissions made from the individual sports."We promised to stand by sports when we had to postpone fans returning. We are doing just that by delivering another £300 million on top of existing business support schemes," Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said. "Britain is a sports powerhouse, and this Government will do everything we can to help our precious sports and clubs make it through Covid."Motorsport in the UK was dealt a massive blow in 2020, with spectators prohibited at larger events, such as all rounds of the British Superbike championship. The Silverstone MotoGP was also cancelled as part of a restructured season in mainland Europe, too. Speaking about this year's closed off racing season, Silverstone Managing Director, Stuart Pringle, said: "The cancellation of MotoGP and the fact we were left with no option but to run all other events behind closed doors this season has resulted in an 80% drop in revenue for Silverstone in 2020 so this news is extremely welcome. "We have not yet seen the full details of the support package so cannot comment on how much of an impact it will have on our immediate future but the news is certainly positive."Sports Minister, Nigel Huddleston, added: "Over the past few weeks we have worked tirelessly with sport governing bodies and clubs across the country to fully assess what support is needed, as a result of the decision to postpone the return of fans."We know the vast majority of sports - many of which operate on tight financial margins - have been making serious cost reductions, such as locking down grounds, taking up the furlough scheme for many staff and halting excess payments."The largest portion of the available funding went to rugby union, which recieved a sizeable £135 million. Following them was £40 million for horse racing and then £28 million for football. Sitting just below motorsport is tennis at £5 million and then basketball and netball, which both get £4 million each. The first portion of the money is expected to be delivered in the coming weeks. Confusion still surrounds whether or not you can legally ride recreationally during the current England lockdown.Several legal firms and riding groups believe that as the law states you are legally entitled ‘to leave your home to visit a public outdoor place for the purposes of open air recreation on your own, with members of your household or with one person outside that group’ that, as the road is an open public space, this means you are okay to ride for pleasure as long as you stay on public land (but you can’t go to a motocross track, for example).Where things get slightly murkier is with the Government’s advice, which recommends reducing the number of journeys you take. "Riding your motorcycle for pleasure wouldn’t be classed as essential travel or qualify under the exceptions listed," said Chief Constable for Northamptonshire and keen motorcyclist, Nick Adderley. "I don’t think you could argue it’s exercise either. I’m equally frustrated having to leave my bike in the garage." These conflicting stances are not helped by the Government’s refusal to offer further clarity when asked by MCN – so the debate looks set to continue until the lockdown in England, put in place to protect the NHS, ends on December 2. See the latest legislation at www.legislation.gov.uk.

I don’t recall having a single conversation with my late father about politics - where did my boys get their views from y wife and I have tried our utmost to keep our children unaware of our personal politics. I remember at school hearing children say things about Tories and Labour that even then stood out as opinions they were parroting from home. My parents were always ambiguous about their political views, and I don’t think they were firmly entrenched on either side. I don’t recall having a single conversation with my late father about politics.This all came back to me when our second son showed us a TikTok he had made. It was him with a Trump filter on, which made him look like my wife and Donald’s lovechild, and he said, “Hi, I’m Donald Trump and I am going to win this election because I’m a big racist.” Or something like that. Leesa and I were taken aback by two things: one that he had formulated views on Trump, and two that he had decided to move into character comedy rather than stand-up. I asked him why he thought Trump was racist, and he said that everybody knows that, before our eldest piped up and said, “He denies climate change and thinks disinfectant cures Covid – he’s an idiot.” How you interpret that, completely depends on which side of the political fence you lie. I could easily argue that this shows exactly how poisonous Trump is; even children think he’s a prick. Then people would share the article and say things such as, “Are we really expected to believe his children actually said that?” and “This Libtard makes up things his kids have said.” However, I could just as easily write an article about the bias of the free press and the prevalence of social media, meaning that even my previously apolitical children have been swayed. It’s tricky to know how to feel about this. Our children now have political views as a result of the social media they have been consuming. That feels like an invasion of sorts, but at the same time, developing opinions on the issues of the day is part and parcel of growing up. What also helped salve the shock was that their views sit in fairly close alignment with our own. I don’t know how I would have felt if my son had shown me a TikTok with him in Trump garb saying, “I’m Donald Trump and, if anything, I haven’t shown enough support for white supremacists!” I don’t think Leesa would have minded. We decided to engage with them about it, and say that although these are convenient soundbites to throw around, you need to do a bit of digging to see if there is anything to support those assertions. It’s not healthy to jump to assumptions and slogans, and you’re better off doing research to aim for a more nuanced take. I was going to continue, but both boys had already left the room and were on their PlayStation. My wife then had to listen to me have a mini breakdown about how the kids find me boring. We are, in truth, pretty relaxed about the whole affair now. I realise that, even if we don’t openly talk about politics at home, we clearly give signals about our views and values all the time – from the choices we make in our everyday lives, and through conversations that aren’t overtly political. We trust that our kids will arrive at a healthy set of balanced views, that ideally sit in exact alignment with ours. But if they come to me and talk about supporting Chelsea, they’ll all have to leave.

Aid agencies are calling for an immediate temporary ceasefire in northern Ethiopia to allow aid to reach civilians affected by fighting. The UN wants humanitarian corridors set up after two weeks of conflict between Ethiopia's military and forces backing the leadership in the Tigray region. Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed in the clashes. On Friday Ethiopia's government said it had captured the city of Aksum and the town of Adwa. The government said that forces battling its military in both areas had "surrendered".However, the claims have not been independently verified and information is difficult to confirm because phone and internet connections have been down since the beginning of the conflict.Aksum is one of the largest cities in the Tigray region and the mountainous town of Adwa is also considered strategically important.Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: The long, medium, and short storyAfrica Live: More updates from around the continentFact-checking misleading images in Ethiopia conflictEarlier this week, central government forces seized two other towns in Tigray - Shire and Raya - and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his army was advancing on the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle. Ethiopia has so far rejected calls for talks over the crisis, seeing its operation as internal "law enforcement". The conflict is rooted in long-standing tension between powerful regional party the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia's central government. When Mr Abiy postponed a national election due to coronavirus in June, tension escalated between the two sides. The TPLF sees the central government as illegitimate, arguing that Mr Abiy no longer has a mandate. How bad is the situation? Aid agencies have no access to the conflict zone, but they fear that thousands of civilians may have been killed since fighting erupted at the beginning of November. At least 33,000 refugees have already crossed Ethiopia's border into Sudan and the UN refugee agency has said it is preparing for up to 200,000 people to arrive over the next six months if the fighting continues On Friday, the TPLF was accused of firing rockets into the city of Bahir Dar in the neighbouring Amhara region. The Amhara government said there were no casualties and no damage caused. But the reported incident in Amhara, which has a long-running border dispute with Tigray, has raised concerns that the conflict could extend into a wider war after regional forces were sent to support federal troops. Tigray crisis: Why there are fears of civil war in EthiopiaMarooned by conflict: 'My little brother needs medicine'Meanwhile, the UN has raised concerns about the influx of refugees into Sudan, which it says could destabilise a nation already supporting about a million people displaced from other African countries.The refugees arriving in Sudan, the majority of whom are believed to be children, are hungry and frightened, aid agencies say, and an immediate ceasefire would allow them to help thousands of civilians still trapped inside Ethiopia. A researcher for the human rights organisation Amnesty International in Ethiopia, Fisseha Tekle, said the conflict must be conducted in accordance with international law, which requires the protection of civilians "including access to humanitarian services". "As much as possible, human rights organisations, like Amnesty, should be given access to monitor the human rights situation," he said Aid agencies are appealing for $50m (£38m) for food and shelter for the new arrivals.

my vote V2 good text and effect.

The Triumph Tiger 850 Sport is a new base model Tiger for next year, which replaces the base-spec Tiger 900 as a more accessible entry into the range. Before we get into the mechanics of the bike too much, let’s clear up the name. So for a start the 850 is no relation to the old 1050 Sport – a po[CENSORED]r adventure sports model that was killed off by tightening emissions standards. Also, despite the 850 name, the engine is the same 888cc triple used in the Tiger 900. There’s no difference in bore, stroke, cams or other hard parts, instead all the changes are in the mapping. It’s pretty much the same trick that BMW pulled when it came to differentiating their F750GS and F850GS models. The result is a peak power of 84bhp @ 8500rpm, down from 93.9bhp @ 8750rpm, and peak torque of 60ft.lb @ 6500rpm, down from 64lb.ft @ 7250rpm. Bringing the power and torque in earlier, with a slightly lower peak, should make the new Tiger 850 Sport easier to handle for new riders. It should also make it simple to manage through traffic around town, if that’s your plan. The new model is also A2-licence compliant, which is a boon for new riders because the old base model Tiger 900 wasn’t – even though the fancier models were. The chassis, suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres remain the same as the base model but it was nifty stuff anyway including Brembo Stylema brakes (it was only two years ago they were the preserve of £24,000 superbikes…) and Marzocchi suspension. Related: Best A2 motorbikes Where the really clever stuff happens is in the electronics, which are closer to the Tiger 900GT. That means the 850 Sport gets the full-colour 5in TFT dash (but no connectivity), two riding modes (Road and Rain), ABS, switchable traction control, LED lighting throughout with a daytime running light and even a useful power socket for your phone. You can also buy all the same fancy accessories as the rest of the Tiger 900 range, as well as luggage sets to increase the overall touring capabilities. Arguably most amazing of all is that even with all the extra bits and pieces you get with the new model, the price has come down by £200 to £9300. What’s more, because the engine is less stressed, service intervals have been extended to 10,000 miles, while the bike itself comes with a two-year unlimited mileage warranty. Not bad for an entry-level machine. How does all that compare to the competition? Well if you add LED lights and a TFT dash to the base model F750GS, it comes to £9290 – funny that. The GS has a three-year warranty and weighs less than the Triumph but it is slightly less powerful. The big difference is that with BMW you can spec all the really flash stuff (electronic suspension etc) onto the softer model, whereas with the Triumph you’d have to go for the full-fat 900s if you want all the additional toys.

It’s an ingredient forgiving of an empty cupboard, can be treated in myriad ways, is relatively easy to cook and is utterly sustainable. Perfect! Before mussels can be cooked, they must first be chosen. The process is a bit like selecting jurors for trial: you start with a random pool assembled by someone else, and eliminate any that are obviously disqualified – the broken, the dead. Some you can interrogate a little: tap any open mussels sharply against the side of the sink, and if they close up in response, they’re OK. One or two may be subject to peremptory challenge – you’re allowed to get rid of them without giving reasons, just because you don’t like the look of them. It’s not hard, but there’s a level of responsibility involved. You also need to tug off their beards – generally a bit of whatever it is they were clinging on to when they were harvested, in most cases the rope they were grown on. Sometimes, they need a bit of scrubbing, but the mussels sold in nets on the supermarket fish counter are pretty clean – they’ve already been subjected to a level of abrading on your behalf. You can scrape off any remaining barnacles with the blunt edge of a butter knife, but honestly, unless you’re planning to photograph your dinner, I wouldn’t bother. Mussels are an affordable and sustainable seafood, farmed under conditions that have few environmental drawbacks, and may even benefit local ecosystems. We really should be eating a lot more of them. However, when we speak of 17 different ways to cook mussels, we must quietly acknowledge there is really only one way: you need to steam them open. Virtually all mussel recipes start this way, and a fair proportion of them end this way. At its most primitive, this might mean slapping them on a barbecue rack for a few minutes with the lid closed, but you can add an element of control by wrapping them up in a foil parcel first, along with some butter, garlic, shallots and white wine. This is basically an outdoor version of the classic moules mariniere, here perfectly described, in all its glorious simplicity, by Felicity Cloake. There are hundreds of recipes that are essentially variations on this theme. When it comes to other flavours, mussels are nothing if not compatible. Chef José Pizarro offers mussels with wine and chorizo. Skye Gyngell favours Alice Waters’ version, with fennel, creme fraiche and saffron. In place of white wine you can use dry cider, as Nigel Slater does or perry, with sage and clotted cream, like Nathan Outlaw. The general message is: lots of combinations work, and less is often more. Don’t be afraid to mix and match, or to leave out what you have not got. For a south Asian spin try Nik Sharma’s turmeric and lime mussel broth. If the ingredients are different – ghee, garam masala, coconut milk – the process is eerily familiar. Jackie Middleton’s spicy mussels, lap cheong and coconut makes for a quick, unfussy, and yet ridiculous impressive weekday meal. She describes it as a reward for a well-maintained pantry, but mussels, as we have seen, also reward a poorly maintained pantry, so there’s hope for all of us. If you’ve got the patience, mussels can be subject to further treatment beyond steaming. Slater is wont to spread them on a baking tray, cover them in bacon, horseradish and breadcrumbs and shove them under a hot grill for a few minutes. He is also partial to a mussel and grapefruit salad, which you may need some time to get your head round. Advertisement Yotam Ottolenghi’s battered mussels are deep fried and served with a walnut tarator – a rich sauce made from garlic, walnuts and breadcrumbs. Rosie Sykes’ mussels with tomato and fregola is concocted in one roasting tin, with the mussels only going in for a quick steam at the end. And no, I didn’t know what fregola was until I looked it up. It appears to be a pasta masquerading as a grain. Mussels serve as a starting point for many other Italian pasta dishes – generally speaking, spaghetti, with linguine reserved for clams, although I couldn’t find this rule written down anywhere, and there are lots of examples of it being ignored, so don’t make a special trip to the shops. One such example is Jamie Oliver’s grandad’s mussel linguine. Just to be clear, the grandad in question is not Oliver’s, but that of his Italian mentor, Gennaro Contaldo. Mitch Tonks does a similar thing with spaghetti, bay leaf and chilli. Like any good bay recipe, it works without the bay. Soup is one of the easiest things you can make with mussels – and the handiest, since a kilo of them is often more than you need for a meal for two, but perhaps not quite enough for four. Soup offers you flexibility. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall adds smoked pollack, celery, potatoes and cream to make a thick, substantial chowder. Slater’s clear mussel soup, on the other hand, uses a very restricted palate – lime, chilli, sugar, salt – that takes advantage of the mussel’s affinity with coriander. You may well suspect that mussels also have quite an affinity with Nigel Slater – he’s never not enthusiastic about them. Finally, Gill Meller’s pickled mussels make a delicious – not to mention rather elegant – snack served with good bread and cold butter. This is not so much a method of preservation as a slow way of cooking. The mussels should steep for a few hours in the fridge before serving, although they can also be eaten straight away, which is, once you’re aware of the option, hard to resist. The Guardian aims to publish recipes for sustainable fish. For ratings in your region, check: UK; Australia; US.

A Covid-19 patient whose twins were delivered while she was in an induced coma said she struggled to believe they were hers. Perpetual Uke, a rheumatology consultant at Birmingham City Hospital, began to feel unwell in late March.She was later admitted to a critical care unit, placed on a ventilator and put in an induced coma to help her recover.Her babies were delivered by caesarean section at 26 weeks on 10 April.Sochika Palmer weighed just 770g (27oz) while her brother, Osinachi Pascal, weighed 850g (30oz). Ms Uke remained in her coma for another 16 days. It was really terrifying... every passing day I was hoping my wife was not among those who are dead," Mrs Uke's husband Matthew said. "We are a team, the idea she might not be there was really difficult to accept."When Ms Uke regained consciousness, it was the result the family had prayed for, but she said she was suffering "ICU delirium" and was "so confused".The mother-of-four said waking up two weeks after the delivery "was unbelievable" and although hospital staff said the twins were hers, she "didn't believe" it. Latest news from the West Midlands Baby born in lorry at 26 weeks meets paramedics How has giving birth changed during the pandemic? "When they showed me the pictures, they were so tiny, they didn't look like human beings, I couldn't believe they were mine," she said. The twins were discharged after spending 116 days in hospital and are "getting better as the days go by," Mrs Uke said. "I had never wanted them to go through this difficult path at the start of their lives. They couldn't see their mum for two weeks, which obviously made me very sad but, importantly, things had progressed well."

➥Age: 18 year ➥Contact(Steam, TS3, Discord etc): TS3 / Forum / Facebook / Instagram..etc ➥Experience in Adobe Photoshop(Months or years): 3 years ➥Obligatory attach your Gallery link (If you have one): ➥Any other editing program you use?: just Photoshop ➥What version of Photoshop do you mostly use?: Photoshop Cs6 ➥In what section you have your most contribution?: Requests & Gifts ➥Have you read all the sections' rules?: Yes ➥Have you read the community rules?: Yes sure ➥What/Who inspired you to work in Photoshop or/and to want to be a Designer here?: Myself ➥What can you say about you that will make us interested about your Photoshop skills & experience?(Minimum 10 words): i'm work in clear light colors so that my design is distinct from the other and the design is very clear

my vote V1 good text and effect.

We spotted a camouflaged three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee near our Ann Arbor, Michigan, headquarters this morning. The 2022 Grand Cherokee will be significantly redesigned, offering more interior and cargo space, for the first time since 2010. It should launch by the end of this year, arriving to customers early next. Jeep is planning a complete redesign of its po[CENSORED]r Grand Cherokee SUV, and it'll be the first major change since 2010. In addition to a two-row version, it will add a three-row model to its lineup, which will join the body-on-frame Wagoneer. We've spotted a camouflaged three-rower near our Ann Arbor, Michigan, headquarters, which means it'll arrive soon. The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee is expected to be launched by the end of this year and arrive at dealerships in early 2021. It'll have a slightly longer wheelbase than the previous model, riding on a version of the Alfa Romeo Giorgio platform from the Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV. The two-row and, of course, the three-row will both have significantly more interior room and cargo space. With all of the camo on this test vehicle we spotted, and with the longer wheelbase, elongated hood, and larger rear end, we expect the three-row model to have similar proportions as the Dodge Durango. Expect to see significant changes to the interior as well, making it more luxurious and better equipped than the outgoing model. Surely it won't be as nice as the Grand Wagoneer concept that was recently unveiled, but it wouldn't be a surprise if we saw a larger touchscreen make its way into the Jeep. It should also swap out the current model's shifter for a rotary knob, have digital gauges, and offer a host of driver-assistance features.Jeep's turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four, found in the Wrangler, will likely be the two-row model's base engine, and could have hybrid assistance. A Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 with eTorque assist will also be a more powerful option, likely the three-row's base engine. There will also be a plug-in hybrid introduced down the line, and the supercharged Hellcat V-8 could even find its way under the hood, because the three-row Durango now has a 710-hp Hellcat model. We will have more details about the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the coming months, and it should arrive early next year starting in the mid-$30,000 range.

You don’t have to be good at art to enjoy the mood-enhancing benefits of nature sketching, as our writer finds out on an artist-guided session in London’s Epping Forest Hands up, who’s rubbish at drawing? Ha! Bet you’re not as bad as me. For years this rarely bothered me but, like so many of us in the first lockdown, I gloried in previously familiar green city spaces, and longed to record the joy they brought. A quick snap on my phone – destined to join hundreds not looked at again – never quite captured the moment. So I was intrigued to see that Walthamstow-based artist Sharon Drew was running “green sketching” sessions in Epping Forest, on the edge of north London, near her home and mine.This seemed a perfect Covid-safe activity – held outdoors, groups limited to five plus Sharon – and were also perfect, she assured me, for the untalented. And even pouring rain wouldn’t ruin them, because we could use watercolour pencils, which are “designed to work with water”. (I joined a session at the very beginning of November – before new restrictions obliged Sharon to cancel dates later in the month – but lockdown would seem to offer space and time to go to a green space alone or with family for a spot of doodling.) My daughter, Laura, agreed to come along to offer moral support, so as I tried to quash long-held feelings of inadequacy, we grabbed waterproofs and headed for a clearing in the south of the forest called Gilbert’s Slade. Our group were all women, a couple with some artistic training, most carrying bars of chocolate and flasks of coffee, as well as paper and pencils. Sharon gave us newbies boards, clips, watercolour pencils and slim sticks of charcoal, then set us all going on exercises to waken the creative brain: doodling randomly with a pencil in each hand, then trying to draw fallen leaves with our non-dominant hand. Strangely, my left-handed leaves gave me more confidence, not less. What I needed was to just get over myself, and I’d been helped in this by looking into the origins of “green sketching”. Sharon has used the forest for inspiration in her painting for decades, but got the idea for spreading the word about it to non-artists from an environmental scientist. Dr Ali Foxon was in Switzerland working with climate experts on a report about greenhouse gas emissions when she had an epiphany: yet another wordy, evidence-based document was not going to make one jot of difference to public behaviour and attitudes. What Ali found more worthwhile was sketching: a 10-minute doodle of trees, birds or flowers – while her baby slept in his pram – made her see natural beauty and filled her with delight. Spreading this joy could be the key, she thought, to making people care about nature. Great – but the point that hit home with me was that according to her, the quality of the sketch is irrelevant. It’s the process of drawing, not the look of the finished product, that matters. Ali launched her movement, Boggy Doodles, in 2016, with information, blog and courses (mostly cancelled this year, sadly). Sharon discovered it recently and says it “totally resonated” with her own approach. “And with the majestic Epping Forest in full autumn splendour on my doorstep, everything fell into place.” The day we were there the forest was glorious – all gold, copper and bronze – and mercifully it was dry, mild and reasonably still, which meant we could set to sketching tree bark and fallen logs with charcoal. The little black sticks are a reassuringly forgiving medium – blunders can be erased, covered up or muddled into something else – but charcoal easily gets washed away in heavy rain. We spent the last hour trying to capture a forest scene. Sharon suggested picking three trees and drawing them in relation to each other and their backgrounds. I settled on a couple of oaks and a hornbeam – my favourite tree, for its elegant fluted bark and the crazy angles it can grow at. Hoping not to embarrass myself too much, I made a real effort to catch the dark and brighter areas of the trunks, their textures, and the light feathery bracken and darker holly around them. I surprised myself with the idea of using an eraser to create the white shape of a silver birch in the middle distance. Mine looked more like a winter scene – I hadn’t managed to capture the fuzz of autumn leaves as well as the interlaced twigs and branches. But when the five of us brought our work together at the end, I wasn’t too ashamed: mine was the clumsiest, but not egregiously so. I had relished this chance for a real and physical creative experience – I can’t be the only one to feel bleak at the prospect of a new round of Zoom quiz nights and video drinks. Sharon talked about how it’s not always easy to work outdoors – with walkers passing and excited dogs running about – but I’d been so much “in the zone” I wasn’t aware of any of that. Ali Foxon quotes research showing how sketching calms a busy, anxious mind – it worked with me – and that training the brain to notice “little things” that spark joy boosts resilience to life’s challenges. While engaging with nature may well make us more keen on protecting it – in Robert Macfarlane’s words, “We will not save what we do not love – and we rarely love what we cannot name or do not see” – the benefits of sketching work the other way, too. After all, most of are going to have sore need of sources of calmness and resilience over the coming winter.

Hungary and Poland have blocked approval of the EU's budget over a clause that ties EU funding with adherence to the rule of law. The financial package includes €750bn for a coronavirus recovery fund.Ambassadors of the 27 member states meeting in Brussels were unable to endorse the budget because the two countries vetoed it.Hungary and Poland have been criticised for violating democratic standards enshrined in the EU's founding treaty.The EU is currently investigating both countries for undermining the independence of courts, media and non-governmental organisations. The clausethreatens to cost them billions of euros in EU funding. EU states had already agreed on the €1.1tn (£987bn; $1.3tn) budget for 2021-2027, and the coronavirus stimulus package after a marathon four-day summit in July. Ambassadors had voted through the clause that made access to EU funds conditional on adherence to the rule of law, because it only required a qualified majority, the German EU presidency said. But the budget and the rescue package needed unanimous support and were then blocked by Poland and Hungary. "We cannot support the plan in its present form to tie rule of law criteria to budget decisions," said Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki threatened a veto last week. On Monday, Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said the rule of law issue was "just a pretext"."It is really an institutional, political enslavement, a radical limitation of sovereignty," he said.But Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, addressing a conference shortly after the budget was blocked, said that "upholding the principles of the rule of law is an absolute necessity" because the sums being handed out by the EU to member states were so vast. In a tweet, Johannes Hahn, EU-Commissioner for Budget and Administration, said he was "disappointed" by the veto. He urged member states to "assume political responsibility and take the necessary steps to finalise the entire package"."This is not about ideologies but about help for our citizens in the worst crisis since World War Two," he added.The impasse will be debated by EU European affairs ministers on Tuesday and by EU leaders in a video-conference on Thursday. However, officials say a solution might take longer to find.

my name is Ashraf and i'm proud support my country Free Palestine 🌹