What is it? Yet another all-electric crossover wouldn’t normally generate ripples, but what about one that has more torque than a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, that will out-drag Porsche’s 911 GT2 of the phenomenal 997 generation and, of course, that can seat more people than both cars combined? Given the same crossover also costs only what an Audi SQ5 with some options costs, it's worthy of discussion. This is the Mustang Mach-E GT, which arrives to crown Ford’s range of electric family cars. It comes with four-wheel drive only, and while there exist lesser versions of the Mach-E with two driven axles, those cars use a smaller motor at the front, whereas the GT totes the same powerful motor at both ends. The result is 480bhp with 634lb ft and one very carefully tuned ESP system, although there are other features unique to the GT. The wheel and tyre package, which consists of EV-specific Pirelli P Zeros and intricate 20in alloys, is one of those features, but of even more significance are the multi-mode magnetorheological dampers and an upgraded Brembo brake set-up, which uses 385mm discs up front in an attempt to contain the monstrous 2198kg kerb weight. There are also increases in negative camber at both axles and a 10mm drop in ride height, which along with the blacked-out ‘grille’ (gone is the body-coloured panel) and chin spoiler give the car an unmistakable stance. In searing Cyber Orange, our test car looked genuinely punchy, although Ford’s stated mission goes further than aesthetics. Evidence of that can be found in a new drive mode known as Untamed Plus. It slackens the ESP intervention and also kills the short-term power boost function that can overheat the battery. The programme exists to make the GT more suitable for track driving, with freer handling and more dependable power output at the cost of lower peak power. Overall, this car aims to solidly build on the encouraging dynamics of the regular Mach-E, rather than provide something purely for the speed junkies (although it absolutely does this, too, taking just 3.7sec to hit 62mph). The noble goal here is to make an everyday EV that’s really worth driving. What's it like? On the road, though, the picture is mixed. Let’s start with the good bits. The Mach-E is quick – not quite embed-your-spine-into-the-backrest quick but quick enough to drop any Volkswagen Golf R or even Mercedes-AMG A45 at speeds of up to about 65mph, when acceleration begins to tail off. Throttle response is also predictably crisp in any of the driving modes but especially so in the dubiously named Untamed, which maximises performance and response from the dual-motor powertrain. The car has reasonably good breadth, too. It’s an affable motorway cruiser but on cross-country routes remains sure-footed with fine body control and good traction unless you properly provoke the chassis. Rougher patches of Croatian Tarmac do, however, suggest that British roads might not be particularly kind to this car, with the back axle feeling especially reactive and unsettled at times. As for what this car does best, that is its adjustability. Rotating the GT on the throttle isn’t difficult thanks to its colossal torque output and electric motors that can summon that torque in its entirety just 0.5sec after you’ve requested it via your right foot. This easy adjustability exists despite the fact that the GT’s propulsive division of labour between the axles has actually been set up for a more neutral 40:60 split front to rear, compared with 30:70 for the regular AWD model. And perhaps that’s just as well. The GT’s slips into oversteer smoothly but suddenly, which explains the draconian nature of ESP intervention. More finesse in the tuning and with it an ability to sustain gentle oversteer, albeit still within the reassuring confines of the electronic safety net, would immediately make for a more entertaining car. Holding the Mach-E GT back is its steering. The pick-up is fine and the weight is natural enough by class standards, but the gearing seems to slow down once you’re into the meat of the corner. Why not take advantage of the car’s body control and give it the steering the pace this chassis could handle? As it is, the GT can often feel a little relucant to change direction and get its big snout hoving towards the apex. Another frustration is that to access the car’s fun-loving oversteer balance, you need to be driving with quite some commitment. At lower speeds, and in slower corners, an understeer balance is dominant and it robs the car of the kind of low-level satisfaction you find with good sports saloons like the BMW 3 Series. Ford has near-total control of the division of power here, with torque vectoring by braking and independent electric motors, but it hasn’t found a consistent dynamic identity for the Mach-E GT, which seems to swing from feeling humdrum to wild and back again on a corner-by-corner basis. Hmm. The regular Mach-E RWD also has a sweeter natural balance, although its more elasticated-feeling steering – familiar from ICE fast Fords – is also more of an acquired taste. In short, the GT is not necessarily the most satisfying car to drive in the line-up. Should I buy one? Clearly, there’s more to learn about this car than any brief drive, especially one on foreign roads, can convey. With recognisable brand DNA in the dynamics, Ford feels on the right path to unlocking an EV that’s genuinely good to drive, much like Porsche has with the Taycan. However, for all its performance and approachability, the £65,000 Mach-E GT doesn’t quite deliver like it could, and British roads may make life harder for it still. Link : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/ford/mustang-mach-e/first-drives/ford-mustang-mach-e-gt-2021-review

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has accused the EU of blackmail in a heated debate with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen over the rule of law. The clash in the European Parliament follows a top Polish court ruling that rejected key parts of EU law. Mrs von der Leyen said she would act to prevent Poland undermining EU values. In response, Mr Morawiecki rejected "the language of threats" and accused the EU of overstepping its powers. Poles overwhelmingly support being part of the EU, opinion polls suggest, but Poland's right-wing nationalist government has increasingly been at odds with the union on issues ranging from LGBT rights to judicial independence. The latest row has come to a head over an unprecedented and controversial ruling by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal that in effect rejects the core principle that EU law has primacy over national legislation. The case, brought by the Polish prime minister, was the first time that an EU member state's leader had questioned EU treaties in a national constitutional court. 'A direct challenge' On Tuesday, Mrs von der Leyen told the European Parliament that the European Commission - the EU's executive - was "carefully assessing this judgement". She said the situation had to be resolved, but she was adamant: "This ruling calls into question the foundations of the European Union. It is a direct challenge to the unity of the European legal order." Vowing to take action, Mrs von der Leyen set out three ways the European Commission could respond to the Polish court judgement. The options, she said, were legally challenging the court ruling, withholding EU funds and suspending some of Poland's rights as a member state. The European Commission is yet to approve €57bn (£48bn; $66bn) of Covid-19 recovery funds earmarked for Poland, and may not do so until the dispute is settled. In a speech that ran over his allotted time, Mr Morawiecki said Poland was "being attacked" by EU leaders and it was "unacceptable to talk about financial penalties". "Blackmail must not be a method of policy," said Mr Morawiecki of Poland's ruling conservative-nationalist Law and Justice party. Seeing this fiery debate in Strasbourg, you might wonder whether this so-called Polexit is a real prospect - given that it appears there are two very different legal, political and cultural perspectives set on a collision course. But the resounding answer amongst those I've spoken to is no. On the EU side, one diplomat recently told me they believed the EU couldn't survive another exit. So there are huge political calculations to weigh up here, as well as legal ones. President von der Leyen is under mounting pressure to take action. It's a major test of her presidency. You could see on Tuesday she wished to impress upon MEPs she was ready, if needed, to take a tough line. Yet last Friday, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to urge compromise over confrontation. There is an argument to say that, if the EU opted for strong action, it could just serve to escalate the crisis and push Poland further away. But, if it decides on a more conciliatory course, does the bloc look weak and undermine its entire legal basis? line Mr Morawiecki said the Polish court ruling on 7 October had been misunderstood and only questioned one area of EU treaties. He said EU treaties must not threaten a member state's constitution, which outline laws and principles that specify how a country should be governed. The Polish court ruling and the European Commission's response to it has divided opinion among the political leaders of EU member states. Luxembourg's Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn, said the clash threatened the existence of the EU, while Germany's Minister for European affairs, Michael Roth, said the union must not compromise on its founding values. But Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said linking issues about the rule of law to funding risked inflicting "unimaginable harm to European Union unity". Mr Nauseda offered to mediate EU talks after a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda. PM downplays Polexit fears The tribunal ruling has raised concerns that Poland - like the UK - could exit the EU in a so-called Polexit. But Mr Morawiecki has repeatedly insisted the country has no plans to leave the union. "We should not be spreading lies about Polish Polexit," he told the European Parliament. ANALYSIS: Polish court ruling stokes fears of Polexit Unlike the UK before its Brexit referendum in 2016, support for membership of the EU remains high in Poland. Mass protests have been held by Poles who back remaining a member. Earlier this month, more than 100,000 people gathered in the capital, Warsaw, to show their support for Poland's EU membership. At one rally, Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council and now leader of the opposition party Civic Platform, called on people to "defend a European Poland". Link : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58955375

You were already moderator here. And i have seen your working skills. Nothing except a PRO.

The Exige and Evora have been killed off and the Emira has yet to go on sale. I expect you wouldn’t have trouble securing a slot for an Evija, but that comes with a snag in the form of a bill for two million quid. So while we wait for the brave new world of Lotus to unfurl, we thought it might be fun to revisit some cars from the past that were technically not Lotus (don’t let the firm hear you use Lotuses or worse Loti as a plural) but which simply wouldn’t exist without a considerable amount of help from the heroes of Hethel. So we start with what, at least in Europe, is the rarest of all. In the UK, there’s just one – and you’re looking at it – or possibly two at most. It’s the Kia Elan. Remember that? My recollection was that once production of the M100 Elan had stopped in 1995, Kia asked Lotus to build a few more and badge them Kias for sale in South Korea. And not for the first time, how I recall things happening and how they actually happened are at significant variance. What actually happened was that Kia literally bought not only the rights to the car but all the tooling, too. The only snag was that General Motors (which owned Lotus at the time) wouldn’t let Kia use any of its parts – a considerable inconvenience when you consider that one of those parts was an engine from GM-owned Isuzu. Undeterred, Kia pressed on, replacing 162bhp worth of turbo 1.6-litre engine for a 151bhp atmo 1.8-litre unit of its own. It changed the rear lights and replaced the orange GM dials with some white-on-black ones. It also raised the revolutionary suspension, mounted on ‘rafts’ to counteract torque steer, apparently to cope with poor road surfaces in the domestic market. Kia did briefly consider selling its new roadster in Europe, even though GM wouldn’t have allowed the Elan name to be used, but the Kia Sports – as it would have been known – never materialised over here. But at some stage, this sole Kia Elan did. I was never much of a fan of the M100 Lotus Elan on which it is based. Dynamically highly capable though it was, I felt it mistook fast for fun, offering rapid, effective but less than involving transport. Ultimately, I just didn’t see why people would buy it when the rear-driven Mazda MX-5 was so much more fun, cheaper and better looking. And, sadly for Lotus, the market saw it the same way. But as an alternative kind of classic, the Kia Elan is fascinating. First, it seems suspiciously well built, its fit if not its finish probably some distance beyond what Lotus was capable of achieving. And its engine isn’t bad at all, even if I don’t much care for the gearbox to which it’s attached. It needs revs, but that’s no bad thing, and it even manages a plausible hard-edged howl as it heads for the redline. I also suspect that it’s considerably lighter than the Isuzu turbo motor, because while I remember nothing but varying shades of understeer from the Lotus Elan, you can neutralise the Kia’s propensity to wander wide of the apex just by shutting down the throttle. Cheap Chinese tyres probably help, too... What has been preserved, despite its rubber and raised ride height, is the way it combines an astonishingly high cornering limit with frankly bizarre ride quality. You can see how softly sprung it is from outside, but within it feels beautifully controlled and unerringly accurate. Even the steering, despite its ugly airbag wheel, is better than I recall. Link : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/handling-lotus-revisiting-kia-elan-2021

I see you are active, but keep this the way you are going. Pro.

This is it, then. The first-ever electric-powered BMW M model. Given the outstanding pedigree of the German firm’s performance-oriented combustion models down the years, much is riding on the i4 M50. Based on the upcoming second-generation 4 Series Gran Coupé, alongside which it is produced in Munich, the powerful new four-door saloon joins the i3, iX3 and recently introduced iX in what will become a 12-strong line-up of electric models under BMW’s i sub-brand by the end of 2023. The £63,905 M50 is one of two initial i4 models planned for sale in the UK from November. Along with the milder, £53,405 rear-wheel- drive eDrive40, it will challenge the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S, as well as the upcoming Audi A6 E-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQE, for four-door electric car supremacy. Like the new iX, the i4 is based on an adapted version of BMW’s CLAR platform. It has been heavily modified to accommodate an electric powertrain, which includes a large battery bolted to the floorpan. This acts as a structural element, providing the body with added stiffness and helping to maintain a 50:50 weight balance. In its styling, the i4 is close to the look of the concept revealed early last year, with traditional cab-backward proportions and only detailed changes setting it apart from the 4 Series Gran Coupé. These include a blanked-off grille housing ultrasonic and radar sensors, a uniquely styled front bumper with minimal air ducting and thin LED headlights that form a tapered effect within a bold-looking front end. Further back, there are new touch-sensitive door grabs, aerodynamically optimised wheels ranging from a standard 17in diameter on the eDrive40 to an optional 20in on the M50, a unique rear bumper housing an i4-specific diffuser and, for the range-topping M model, a subtle rear spoiler lip. Dimensionally, the i4 is 76mm longer, 25mm wider and 6mm taller than the current 3 Series saloon, at 4785mm, 1852mm and 1448mm respectively, with a 4mm-longer wheelbase of 2856mm. Inside, a free-standing curved display houses 12.3in and 14.9in digital screens for the instruments and infotainment system atop a lightly modified dashboard from the 4 Series Gran Coupé. It is all controlled via a new eighth- generation iDrive system, which supports a new ‘Hey BMW’ voice activation function as well as new customisable features. There is also Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring and a new over-the-air function that can update software via an embedded 4G SIM card. The air-con controls, meanwhile, are easily accessible via the infotainment system. The rest is more typical M-car fare. There’s a thick-rim leather-bound multi-function steering wheel; the driving position is not quite as low as we’re used to on more sporting BMW models, but the standard front sports seats provide plenty of support and electronic adjustability; and a broad centre tunnel running through the interior forms the basis of a control panel that features a rather conventional gearlever in place of the slider mechanism used by the iX along with driving mode controls and a rotary controller for the iDrive system. Accommodation up front is quite good, although it’s compromised in the rear by a raised floor, required for the packaging of the battery, and a sloping roof line that robs head room. Boot space, meanwhile, is put at 470 litres, extending to 1290 litres when the split folding rear seats are stowed. Unlike a Taycan, there is no provision for luggage storage under the bonnet. An electric motor on the front axle produces 254bhp and 317lb ft and another on the rear generates 308bhp and 269lb ft. Combined, they give 536bhp and 586lb ft, which is 33bhp and 107lb ft more than the latest M4 Competition can deliver. Energy comes from an 80.7kWh lithium ion battery that operates at 400V for a claimed range of 259-324 miles. There is a familiarity about driving the i4 that will no doubt appeal to existing BMW owners. The controls and operation of many interior features are very similar to those of the marque’s combustion models. The throttle calibration is sweetly balanced, mating excellent pedal weighting with a good degree of sensitivity. In combination with the responsive nature of the electric motors, this makes for engaging properties even at lower speeds in an urban environment in Comfort mode, where the M50 operates almost exclusively in rear-wheel drive using its rear motor alone. However, it’s at higher speeds on the open road where the i4 really comes alive. Here, the powertrain combines the efforts of both motors to deliver rapid four-wheel-drive performance. Despite the motors being asked to haul well over two tonnes, the i4 proves very rapid when dialled into Boost mode. So configured, it is claimed to crack 0-62mph in just 3.9sec. Link : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/bmw/i4

Ireland's deputy PM has warned governments doing trade deals with the UK that it is a nation that "doesn't necessarily keep its word". Leo Varadkar made the comment after Dominic Cummings suggested the UK had always intended to tear up the Brexit deal it signed with the EU in 2019. Boris Johnson's ex-adviser said the plan had been to "ditch the bits we didn't like" after winning power. Mr Johnson fought the 2019 election on a "Get Brexit done" platform. During the campaign, he repeatedly claimed the withdrawal agreement he had negotiated with Brussels - including the Northern Ireland Protocol - was a "great" deal that was "oven ready". EU to offer fewer NI border checks on British goods EU to table new proposals for NI Protocol Will NI protocol talks lead to truce or trade war? The UK now wants to change the deal to allow goods to circulate more freely between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. EU officials are travelling to London later to present their proposals for the border - but they are unwilling to rewrite the protocol and their proposals are unlikely to satisfy Brexit minister Lord Frost, who laid out the UK's plans for an entirely new protocol on Tuesday. 'Babbling' Mr Cummings - who has turned against Mr Johnson since being removed from Downing Street at the end of 2020 - claims the prime minister never understood what the withdrawal agreement really meant. He tweeted: "What I've said does NOT mean 'the PM was lying in General Election 2019', he never had a scoobydoo what the deal he signed meant. "He never understood what leaving Customs Union meant until November 2020." When the prime minister did finally comprehend, said Mr Cummings, "he was babbling 'I'd never have signed it if I'd understood it' (but that WAS a lie)". The former Vote Leave campaign chief said that when Mr Johnson entered Downing Street in 2019, the country was facing the "worst constitutional crisis in a century" with much of what he called the "deep state" angling for "Brino" [Brexit in name only] or a second referendum. "So we wriggled through with best option we could and intended to get the trolley [his nickname for Boris Johnson] to ditch bits we didn't like after whacking [Labour leader Jeremy] Corbyn. We prioritised," he said. 'Alarming' In July this year, Mr Cummings told the BBC's Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg the Irish government had also wanted to "fudge things" and "it suited both sides to sign up to something that was not what either side had really wanted and which punted difficult questions into the future". In his latest tweets, Mr Cummings dismissed suggestions that abandoning elements of the deal would mean breaking international law. "Our priorities meant e.g. getting Brexit done is 10,000 times more important than lawyers yapping re international law in negotiations with people who break international law all the time," he said. Mr Varadkar told RTE television: "I hope Dominic Cummings is speaking for himself and not for the British government. "But those comments are very alarming because that would indicate that this is a government, an administration, that acted in bad faith and that message needs to be heard around the world. "If the British government doesn't honour its agreements, it doesn't adhere to treaties it signs, that must apply to everyone else too. "At the moment they're going around the world, they're trying to negotiate new trade agreements... "Surely the message must go out to all countries around the world that this is a British government that doesn't necessarily keep its word and doesn't necessarily honour the agreements it makes. "And you shouldn't make any agreements with them until such time as you're confident that they keep their promises, and honour things, for example, like the protocol." Theresa May's former chief of staff, Lord Gavin Barwell, has, meanwhile, warned the UK's proposal for changing the Northern Ireland protocol has "no chance of success and is going to do even further damage to our relationship with our nearest neighbours". "My problem is if you agree something and fight an election saying what a fantastic deal this is - and then almost immediately afterwards you start to try and unpick the thing - the danger is the people you negotiating with think you didn't agree it in good faith in first place, and that makes it much more challenging when you try to renegotiate it," he told an Institute for Government event. He said he did not like the current Northern Ireland Protocol - but argued that the UK government had to meet the EU "half way". Link : https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-58898117

Accepted. Make sure to read the Journalists desk after you rank will be added.

Autocar Subscriber Extra is our package of exclusive benefits for our magazine subscribers. One of these is a weekly behind-the-scenes email newsletter from our editors. For a limited time, we're giving all Autocar readers free access to these newsletters and columns. You can subscribe to Autocar magazine with our Summer Sale offer here and save 50% on your first 13 issues. You may have read in this week’s magazine the story that came off the back of James Attwood’s interrogation of Porsche’s technical chief, Michael Steiner. Steiner fleshed out one of the biggest current talking points on Planet Petrolhead, which is that the 718 range will in 2022 sprout bespoke electric versions of the Boxster and Cayman. This we already knew. What we didn’t know is that the platform for these machines will house the battery pack not along the floor of the car, as is typical for EVs, but behind the rear bulkhead, where the 718’s flat four (or, in the case of the new GTS, flat six) traditionally nestles. Autocar Subscriber Extra is our package of exclusive benefits for our magazine subscribers. One of these is a weekly behind-the-scenes email newsletter from our editors. For a limited time, we're giving all Autocar readers free access to these newsletters and columns. You can subscribe to Autocar magazine with our Summer Sale offer here and save 50% on your first 13 issues. You may have read in this week’s magazine the story that came off the back of James Attwood’s interrogation of Porsche’s technical chief, Michael Steiner. Steiner fleshed out one of the biggest current talking points on Planet Petrolhead, which is that the 718 range will in 2022 sprout bespoke electric versions of the Boxster and Cayman. This we already knew. What we didn’t know is that the platform for these machines will house the battery pack not along the floor of the car, as is typical for EVs, but behind the rear bulkhead, where the 718’s flat four (or, in the case of the new GTS, flat six) traditionally nestles. It’s an intriguing and encouraging idea. Although it means the centre of gravity of the pack and most likely also of the entire car will be higher, positioning the heavy battery cells as such should allow Porsche to more faithfully replicate the petrol car’s lovely handling balance and, crucially, retain the low-slung driving position. As someone who in general finds the handling of electric performance cars – even very good ones – almost too neutral, I like the sound of this approach. If we’re going to enjoy electric performance cars with little or no soul in the powertrain department, they’re going to need to make up for it with an expressive and biddable chassis. And putting the driver as close to the road as possible will help. None of this will be easy to execute, but the news shows Porsche is at least thinking about the problem in the right way, especially when it must be so tempting to resort to the ‘skateboard’ battery layout. Many manufacturers will simply combine that with the phenomenal torque control that’s possible with individual electric motors for each of the rear wheels, and then put the PR machine into overdrive with stories of how much quicker and more secure the EV model is than the ICE one ever was. Thanks, but that is something we really don’t want or need in two-seat sports cars. Porsche’s approach does, however, leave me wondering what the GT car of the future looks like in the electric era. Front-engined, rear-driven coupés such as the Aston Martin DB11 and Ferrari Roma have a different flavour of handling from cars like the 718 Cayman or Lotus Exige but it’s no less enjoyable. In fact, I think I prefer GT-car handling. With it, you can more easily and safely have fun on roads you’re sight-reading and in weather conditions that are less than ideal. The slow-in, fast-out approach with a chassis that telegraphs its intentions well is just as satisfying as driving a perfectly balanced mid-engined machine. By way of some very non-scientific postulation, I’m pretty sure most people would have more fun driving a Caterham Seven than an Ariel Atom. So the GT-car handling character is well worth preserving – but how? Porsche’s approach does, however, leave me wondering what the GT car of the future looks like in the electric era. Front-engined, rear-driven coupés such as the Aston Martin DB11 and Ferrari Roma have a different flavour of handling from cars like the 718 Cayman or Lotus Exige but it’s no less enjoyable. In fact, I think I prefer GT-car handling. With it, you can more easily and safely have fun on roads you’re sight-reading and in weather conditions that are less than ideal. The slow-in, fast-out approach with a chassis that telegraphs its intentions well is just as satisfying as driving a perfectly balanced mid-engined machine. By way of some very non-scientific postulation, I’m pretty sure most people would have more fun driving a Caterham Seven than an Ariel Atom. So the GT-car handling character is well worth preserving – but how? Link : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry-news/subscriber-extra-what-future-noblest-breeds

When 22-year-old Gabby Petito didn't return home from her cross-country road trip, her case sparked a firestorm of national media coverage and social media attention. Americans with their own missing relatives have been left wondering why their cases have not received the same interest. She was found dead in a Wyoming national park. Her partner refused to speak to the police, then vanished. Millions of people followed along on newspaper front pages, cable news shows and social media. Every new development in the Gabby Petito case has been amplified and analysed by sleuths, professional and amateur. Amid the suggestions and conspiracy theories, a flood of tips helped lead law enforcement to where Ms Petito lay dead. Missing blogger Gabby Petito confirmed dead Missing girl re-unites with mother after 14 years The amateur sleuth who searched for a body - and found one But for hundreds of thousands of other missing Americans, particularly non-white victims, public attention has been scarce. Researchers call it "missing white woman syndrome" and Michelle N Jeanis, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, says it has been in existence for decades. Ms Jeanis studies the relationship between missing persons and the media. She contends the news media's use of a "cautionary tale framing" around white women as victims is lucrative to the industry and reinforces systemic social biases, especially on social media. "Young, beautiful, typically middle class, white women are incredibly newsworthy when bad things happen to them," she told the BBC. In her research, Ms Jeanis found that social media often functions similarly to traditional media in such cases, so "white individuals get far more likes, shares and all forms of [social media] engagement than individuals of colour". Here are the stories of three people still hoping for answers. Greg Day no longer has "good days", only "OK days". He wishes he could hear his kids laugh again. In July 2012, his 28-year-old daughter, Dawn, was found floating face-down in the waterways of Fremont County, Wyoming. Then, almost exactly four years later, his other child, Jeff, also aged 28, was also found dead. "Greg Day believes that both of his children were murdered," says Lynnette Grey Bull, a confidante of the Day family and founding director of the "Not Our Native Daughters" non-profit. The organisation is one of many seeking to raise awareness of the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women in North America. According to the Justice Department, Native women are killed at 10 times the national average. In Wyoming alone, where Ms Petito went missing, more than 700 Native Americans were reported missing over the last decade. Few have seen their cases resolved or taken seriously. "I've sat with families that I couldn't give any answers to," says Ms Grey Bull, who sits on the state's task force on missing and murdered indigenous people. "It's a heavy burden to carry these stories and voices." According to her, Mr Day has sent in tips and penned a personal letter to the Fremont County attorney general this year. Like so many others though, he has received no justice and little help. "The bottom line for us as Natives is we're always disregarded," Ms Grey Bull tells the BBC. "The statistic that lies over my head is that I am the most stalked, raped, murdered and sexually assaulted of every ethnicity in this country," she says. "Why are our cases not paid attention to?" Military veteran David Robinson II has been searching for his youngest son Daniel, 24, for three months. Daniel was born without a left hand but it did not prevent him from playing everything from football to the trombone. Graduating with honours from the College of Charleston, the amateur rock collector followed his heart into the field of geology. His father remembers him as mild-mannered but funny, the kind of person that "brings everybody together". Daniel was last seen leaving his job site in Buckeye, Arizona in his blue-grey Jeep Renegade. A local rancher found the vehicle in a ravine about two months ago, but the trail has since run cold. David still has faith his son is alive and he has moved to Arizona, upending his own life, to keep the pressure on investigators. Buckeye police have sent out off-road vehicles, drones and dogs, but he says their efforts have not been serious. He claims to have conducted his own search operations with over 200 volunteers nonstop for seven weeks. The family has also set up a GoFundMe and a petition to support their efforts, but David fears precious time has been lost. The massive interest in Gabby Petito's disappearance has left him with mixed emotions. "To become a national story, to have the FBI and other agencies working on it, it's everything I wanted for my son," he says. "The sad part is the family had to grieve the outcome [her death], but they have a little sense of closure. I don't have any. When his friend Lauren Cho walked away from their bus, Cody Orell saw that she was upset about something, but did not think much of it. "I didn't pry into it then, but of course now I wish..." he told the local Hi-Desert Star newspaper in July. Known to her friends as "El", Ms Cho, 30, sang soprano as a teen and went on to become a music teacher. In search of a fresh start, she quit her job over the winter and joined Mr Orell's cross-country road trip. She reportedly planned to run a food truck at their final destination: Bombay Beach, California. But later, the duo would use their converted bus as living quarters and Ms Cho would become a private chef to her friend's Airbnb nearby. On 28 June, when she walked away from their bus home, she took no phone, food or water. Search and rescue operations could not even find her tracks. A police helicopter has found no trace. The Petito case has drawn interest anew in Ms Cho's disappearance. On a Facebook page called "Find Lauren Cho", its administrators wrote: "We realise that on the surface, the public information for both cases share some similarities. Ultimately, these two cases are NOT the same and the differences run deeper than what meets the public eye." "Somebody knows something," they concluded hopefully. Link : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58669582

Lotus’s first brand-new series-production model in more than a decade is a stunning mid-engined, two-seat sports coupé with supercar-aping looks, a high-quality interior and the option of four-cylinder turbo power supplied by Mercedes-AMG. The Emira (pronounced ‘eh-meer-ah’) will eventually be priced from £59,995 and is pitched at what Lotus believes to be a gap in the market below higher-performance versions of the Porsche 718 Cayman. It will go on sale in all key global markets next spring, initially powered by the Toyota-sourced supercharged 3.5-litre V6 from the outgoing Exige and Evora, before the 2.0-litre AMG unit follows in the autumn. The first version on sale will be the limited-run First Edition, which brings the V6 engine and a choice of manual or automatic gearboxes for £75,995. Bespoke First Edition touches include a set of two-tone 20in alloy wheels, branded brake calipers, a tyre pressure monitoring system, black contrasting lower trim and 12-way adjustable heated seats. Buyers can choose from six exterior and seven interior colours, while the standard-fit Design Pack brings privacy glass, a black Alcantara headliner and sports pedals. The First Edition is also equipped with the Drivers Pack which offers the choice of 'Tour' or 'Sport' suspension, and can be specified with either Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport or Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. The Emira will be Hethel’s final non-electrified car. It follows the limited-run Evija electric hypercar in this promising new era for Lotus under the majority ownership of Geely, which is funding not only new cars but also new facilities and manufacturing processes with the aim of products being built to a higher and more consistent quality. Underpinning the Emira is Lotus’s new Sports Car Architecture, which was developed using the extruded and bonded aluminium chassis technology first used by Lotus on the Elise of 1996. The car is 4412mm long, 1985mm wide and 1225mm high, with a wheelbase of 2575mm, making it just a fraction larger than the Evora. While the architecture is nominally a development of that older car’s, only the wheelbase remains the same. The tracks have been widened, larger 20in wheels can be fitted and the Emira has dramatically different proportions to the Evora. The first deliveries will be special, higher-spec Launch Edition cars using the Toyota V6, which will be offered with a manual or automatic gearbox. The AMG four-pot (which became available through a new technical partnership between Lotus and AMG, born of Geely’s stakeholding in AMG parent firm Daimler) has been given its own tune for Lotus, along with a bespoke air intake and exhaust. It will come exclusively with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Both versions of the Emira have their engines mounted transversely and powering the rear axle alone. Lotus hasn’t yet confirmed final performance figures for either version of the Emira, rather that there will be a range of outputs between 355bhp and 395bhp, alongside maximum torque of up to 317lb ft. The 0-62mph time will be less than 4.5sec and the car will be able to reach a top speed of more than 180mph. CO2 emissions, meanwhile, will officially be below 180g/km. In terms of design, the Emira takes heavy influence from the new Evija, sitting low and wide with prominent intakes, short overhangs and bulky haunches among its defining characteristics. Styled by Lotus design boss Russell Carr, the Emira has been made more usable and fitted with more technology than any Lotus before it. That modernisation push extends most obviously to LED lighting at the front and rear and, on the inside, a 10.25in touchscreen for an infotainment system that includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, along with a 12.3in digital driver’s information display. Link : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/all-new-lotus-emira-priced-75995-first-edition-trim

France's defence minister has cancelled talks with her UK counterpart amid the row prompted by a new security deal between Britain, the US and Australia. Paris is angry after Australia signed the Aukus pact to build nuclear-powered submarines, pulling out of a major contract with France in the process. UK PM Boris Johnson said France had nothing to worry about from the deal. But Florence Parly's meeting with UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in London this week has been called off. Lord Ricketts, a former British ambassador to France who was due to co-chair the two days of talks, confirmed the meeting had been "postponed to a later date". 'Very friendly relationship' Foreign Office minister James Cleverly told BBC Breakfast that "all bilateral relationships go through periods of tension", but added: "I have absolutely no doubt that ultimately our relationship with France will endure." He said the pact with Australia and the US was intended to "strengthen and deepen" the relationship with two long-standing defence partners and to support high-tech manufacturing and technology companies across the UK. The Aukus agreement brokered last week, widely seen as an effort to counter China's influence in the contested South China Sea, ended a deal worth $37bn (£27bn) signed by Australia in 2016 for France to build 12 conventional submarines. Submarine deal delivers France some hard truths Aukus pact could signal power shift in Asia-Pacific French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has described it as a "stab in the back" that constitutes "unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners". And in a virtually unprecedented step among allies, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered the recall of the French ambassadors to Washington and Canberra. The European Union has said it was "analysing" the impact of the Aukus agreement on its trade negotiations with Australia, which are due to resume in October. Speaking on a flight to New York, where he will take part in the UN General Assembly, Mr Johnson said France should not "worry" about the alliance, insisting that Anglo-French relations were "ineradicable". The prime minister said Britain and France had a "very friendly relationship", which he described as being of "huge importance". "Our love of France is ineradicable," he told reporters. "Aukus is not in any way meant to be zero-sum, it's not meant to be exclusionary. It's not something that anybody needs to worry about and particularly not our French friends." Mr Johnson is being joined on the trip with new Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who launched her own defence of the agreement in an article for the Sunday Telegraph. Ms Truss said the deal showed the UK's readiness to be "hard-headed" in defending its interests and had the potential to create hundreds of new skilled jobs. Meanwhile, Australia has defended scrapping its deal with France in favour of the Aukus pact. Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected accusations that Australia had lied, saying France should have been aware it was prepared to break the deal. Speaking on Sunday, Mr Morrison said: "Ultimately, this was a decision about whether the submarines that were being built, at great cost to the Australian taxpayer, were going to be able to do a job that we needed it to do when they went into service and our strategic judgement based on the best possible of intelligence and defence advice was that it would not." The agreement means Australia will become just the seventh nation in the world to operate nuclear-powered submarines. The pact will also see the allies share cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and other undersea technologies. But it has been criticised by China, which has accused the three powers of having a "Cold War mentality". And on Monday, North Korea, which has its own closely-watched nuclear weapon and missile programmes, warned it could spark a "nuclear arms race". "These are extremely undesirable and dangerous acts which will upset the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region," state media KCNA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying. Link : https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58620220

Donington Park’s paddock is awash with supercars. I don’t mean the impressive selection that you would find at a typical Goodwood Festival of Speed but industrial volumes that after 20 minutes of wandering around make you think that this is somehow normal. (Oh, there’s another Bugatti Chiron…) But this is five levels above normality. It’s known as the Michelin Secret Supercar Meet, although, judging by the crowds of smartphone-wielding teenagers at every junction between the M1 and the circuit, secret it is not. I’m here to meet the team from McMurtry Automotive and learn more about its unique Spéirling (pronounced ‘spearling’) prototype race car, which presently occupies half of pit garage 22 and is making the Ferrari 250 GT SWB parked next to it look obese. At 3200mm long and 1500mm wide, it’s around 30% smaller than the common Chiron, and with 1000bhp and less than 1000kg, its power to weight is 40% greater. No wonder McMurtry is bullish about a claimed 0-186mph (300kph) sprint time of less than 9.0sec. We first saw the Spéirling when it made its debut on the hill at this summer’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. In concept, it’s a fully electric, single-seat, closed-cockpit competition car, designed around LMP1 safety standards, with carbonfibre monocoque/body construction and a cleverly integrated battery pack. What sets the Spéirling apart, however, is its lack of downforce addenda, meaning that it can spear through the air without the need to counter the drag from a conventional rear wing. Instead, downforce is applied only when required, via an underbody fan that quite literally sucks the car to the track’s surface while generating a very un-EV 120dB of jet-like noise. If you feel electrified motorsport lacks that all-important aural drama, you need to hear the Spéirling’s fan at full chat. This is the kind of innovation that you would expect from the likes of McLaren or Ferrari, but in fact McMurtry was formed only five years ago. The brainchild of Sir David McMurtry, the prolific Irish inventor and businessman who was a key player in the development of Concorde’s Rolls-Royce Olympus engine, it now has a small but highly skilled workforce based in rural Gloucestershire. Tom Yates, formerly of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (the UK-based firm behind Mercedes’ seven consecutive Formula 1 titles) and now McMurtry’s managing director, shows me around the Spéirling before its star turn on track in the command of test and development driver and hillclimb supremo Alex Summers. This is McMurtry’s second-generation car, the first never having made a public appearance. “Car one was a huge learning exercise for us,” Yates tells us. “We made such strides forward having to deliver a complete car from a clean sheet. Today’s car is evolved from the first but has a slightly different design focus.” With its gullwing door lifted, I’m invited to sit in the Spéirling. My initial thought is that, even at only 5ft 7in tall, I’m clearly not going to fit – it just looks so damned small in there. But perception gives way to reality, and once I’m installed, it’s clear that McMurtry’s claim that a 6ft 7in helmet-wearing driver can be accommodated is genuine. You sit slightly reclined, bum down, the sides of the cabin close to your hips – a by-product of the battery effectively wrapping around the seat in a U-shape and partly being located beneath your legs. An adjustable pedal box helps you achieve a surprisingly comfortable driving position, with a pedal either side of the column necessitating left-foot braking. The accelerator has a long travel (to help meter the abundance of power, Summers later tells me), and once the prototype F1-style steering wheel is fitted, the only other controls appear. These comprise a paddle for taking manual control of the downforce fan (which otherwise operates automatically), a switch to vary the level of traction control and two or three other toggles to operate subsystems in the car. A digital display in the wheel’s centre keeps you informed. “Our focus from the beginning was to keep the car compact,” Yates says. “With an electric car, you pay a huge amount for any inefficiency, especially in terms of overall weight and the weight of the battery. So from the start, the car had to be low-drag and as light as we could make it – and that included making it a single seater.” For now, McMurtry’s aim is to develop a one-make race series for Spéirlings to showcase what’s possible for an EV-shaped motorsport future. But does that mean that a McMurtry road car is out of the question? “No, we absolutely intend to do a road car in time,” Yates says. “The concept has huge potential for the future of a driver’s car in the electric era, with its low weight and compact size, making it smaller than most current road cars. It also has a WLTP range of 350 miles, which is right at the sharp end of EVs at the moment.” Although the concept of a race car with fan-generated downforce is far from new (see above right), Yates says that with the Spéirling, its benefits are more about efficiency than purely enhancing mechanical grip. “We need to deliver compelling levels of downforce with very little energy consumption,” he explains. “With most race cars, you carry around the aerodynamics all the time, for which you pay a huge penalty in drag, and it means the cars are heavier, too.” There’s then the question about the technology’s application in an existing electric motorsport championship, such as Formula E. Yates makes clear that McMurtry wants ultimately to deliver both cars and technologies (for many of which it holds patents) and says that he would “love to have the conversation and find out”. For the time being, though, the focus is very much on continued development of the Spéirling. And that should take a step forward today, since the 10-minute exclusive session booked for the Spéirling is only the second time it has been driven properly on a major track. All eyes are on the small black projectile as it circulates Donington, looking unfeasibly rapid and composed. At an event like this, raising awareness of the car and brand is vital, so it’s reassuring when a small crowd forms around the car before it’s backed into the garage. And then a revelation. “It feels great,” says Summers. “But we ran it with little to no downforce: I forgot to turn the fans on! What that has proved is how good the base (chassis) tune is.” While this was never intended to be any more than a brisk demo run, Summers was pulling at least 147mph down the back straight – well within the car’s capped maximum of 200mph. Summers emphasises that this isn’t all about the headline numbers: “A lot of people are scared of the technology, insofar as it’s going to change the driving experience. But when you’re doing 150mph around here, you’re not thinking ‘it’s electric, it’s electric’, you’re just thinking ‘this is really fast’.”

Plans to introduce vaccine passports for access into nightclubs and large events in England will not go ahead, the health secretary has said. Sajid Javid told the BBC: "We shouldn't be doing things for the sake of it." He said the government had looked at the evidence, adding: "I'm pleased to say we will not be going ahead." It was thought the plan, which came under criticism from venues and some MPs, would be introduced at the end of this month. Under the scheme, people would have been required to show proof - whether of double vaccination, a negative Covid test or finishing self-isolating after a positive PCR test - in order to gain entry to clubs and other crowded events. The Night Time Industries Association warned the plans could have crippled the industry and seen nightclubs facing discrimination cases. There was opposition too from Tory MPs on the Covid Recovery Group and the Liberal Democrats, whose leader Ed Davey called them "divisive, unworkable and expensive". Who still needs a Covid passport and how do I get one? 'Vaccine passports make me reluctant to get a jab' Scotland to launch vaccine passports on 1 October Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Mr Javid said: "We just shouldn't be doing things for the sake of it or because others are doing, and we should look at every possible intervention properly. "I've never liked the idea of saying to people you must show your papers or something to do what is just an everyday activity, but we were right to properly look at it. "We've looked at it properly and, whilst we should keep it in reserve as a potential option, I'm pleased to say that we will not be going ahead with plans for vaccine passports." Asked if the government was "running scared" on the policy after criticism from its own backbenchers, Mr Javid rejected this, saying vaccine passports were not needed because of other things in the "wall of defence" including high vaccine uptake, testing, surveillance and new treatments. In the interview, Mr Javid also said: he wanted to "get rid" of PCR tests for travel and has asked for advice on the issue he was "not anticipating" any more lockdowns, although it would be "irresponsible to take everything off the table" if the UK's chief medical officers advised 12 to 15-year-olds should be vaccinated, "we can start within a week" and schools were already preparing for it. The UK's advisory body - the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) - has recommended against doing so except for children with particular health problems - but the final say is with the CMOs. The move to scrap vaccine passports appears to be a sharp U-turn by the government. On the same TV programme last week, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said the end of September was the right time to start the vaccine passport scheme for sites with large crowds because all over-18s would have been offered two jabs by then and it was the "best way" to keep the night industry open. 2px presentational grey line Analysis: A government under pressure By Ione Wells, BBC political correspondent The UK government had faced pressure from a number of its own Tory MPs, as well as from nightclubs and the events sector, to ditch plans for vaccine passports in England. First, there was a hint they were pushing ahead. Last week, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said they would be required in nightclubs and other indoor venues in England by the end of the month. Then came the row-back. On Friday, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said they would "almost certainly" be necessary for nightclubs this autumn, but said he'd prefer a more limited use of them. By Sunday at 08:30 BST, the health secretary said on Sky News that the government hoped to avoid having them, and within the next hour told the BBC they will not be going ahead with plans. Clearly there has been debate within government itself about their use but a decision has, for now, been made - even if the option will be kept in "reserve". 2px presentational grey line Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said the government's approach to Covid passports had been "shambolic from the start" and lacked any clarity from ministers about the purpose of the passports and how they would work. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael accused the Conservatives of needlessly sowing confusion among businesses for months and called for them to scrap the "unnecessary and draconian Coronavirus Act altogether". Some large venues such as football stadiums, live music venues and music festivals have already been asking people to prove their vaccination status to gain entry. An Office for National Statistics survey, covering 25 August to 5 September, found about 1 in 10 adults across Great Britain reported that they had been asked to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test to be allowed into a venue or event. On Saturday, Manchester United introduced Covid spot-checks on match days at Old Trafford, with the club saying it expected proof of full vaccination to become mandatory in the Premier League from 1 October. The Premier League said at the start of the 2021-22 season that fans would face random spot-checks of their Covid-19 status at grounds over the first few match days. Brighton, Chelsea and Tottenham have introduced mandatory checks for fans at their stadiums. Scotland is taking a different approach to England - they will bring in a vaccine passport for over-18s for entry to nightclubs and many large events from October. In Wales, ministers will decide next week whether to introduce the scheme. There are no current plans for a similar scheme in Northern Ireland. A series of key government announcements and decisions are expected in the coming days. On Monday, Boris Johnson is expected to outline plans for booster jabs. Mr Javid said that if the JCVI advised having a broad booster programme, he was "confident" it could start this month "as planned all along". And on Tuesday, the prime minister will set out his Covid Winter Plan for England, likely to include contingency measures that would be implemented if the NHS was at risk of becoming overwhelmed.