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Everything posted by Agent47

  1. Name of the game: Maneater Price: 21,59$ Link Store: https://store.steampowered.com/app/629820/Maneater/ Offer ends up after X hours: 20 July Requirements: Minimum : Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel Core i5-5300u Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD 5500 DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 20 GB available space Reccomended : Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or Higher Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 390 or Higher DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 20 GB available space
  2. Nickname : Agent 47' Age: 20 Profile Link: https://csblackdevil.com/forums/profile/80671-agent-47/ How much time you can be active in Forum & TS3: 5-7 daily Link of Reviews you have posted recently: ... How much you rate VGame Reviewers Team 1-15: 16 Why do you want be part of the Reviewer's team: Helping the team to be alive again Any suggest you want to make for your Request: Not now thanks.
  3. The first example of Skoda's all-new, fourth-generation Fabia supermini has left the production line in the Czech Republic, as the firm prepares its Ford Fiesta rival for an early 2022 market launch. The Czech manufacturer claims to have invested €110 million (£94 million) in adapting its Mladá Boleslav production line to build the new supermini alongside its Kamiq and Scala siblings. The fourth-generation Fabia is said to be the most spacious car in the supermini segment, thanks to significant increases in dimensions across the board compared with its predecessor. It makes the landmark shift onto the Volkswagen Group’s MQB-A0 supermini platform, as used by the Audi A1 Sportback, Seat Ibiza and Volkswagen Polo, ditching the PQ architecture used in various iterations since the Mk1 Fabia arrived in 1999. These much more modern underpinnings accommodate “improved comfort features and numerous advanced safety and [driver] assistance systems,” as well as a range of more efficient powertrains. The hatchback is due to be launched in the UK early next year, priced from around £13,500, plus Skoda has confirmed that the unique estate version will return as well, most likely in 2023. The Fabia is 111mm longer than before, at 4108mm, and 48mm wider, at 1780mm. Its wheelbase has been extended from 2470mm to 2564mm to improve the space inside, especially in the rear, while the boot, up by 50 litres to 380 litres, is said to be the largest of any supermini on sale today. The new Fabia’s design cues are only evolutionary but bring it more closely into line with newer Skodas, including the Scala, Kodiaq and Enyaq iV. Slim headlights (LED as standard), new foglights and and a reshaped bumper are the most obvious changes at the front, while the new-look rear also mirrors the latest Skodas, with the brand’s name spelled out across the bootlid, optional LED brake lights and a more prominent spoiler. Head designer Oliver Stefani hailed the new Fabia as “much more dynamic and grown-up” than the Mk3 and said: “We’ve deliberately not changed the essence of the Fabia: as is typical of a Skoda, it’s a functional and practical everyday companion.” A highlight of the redesign is the improved aerodynamic efficiency afforded to the supermini. Its drag coefficient of 0.28Cd is down from 0.32Cd before and said to be “a record in the small car segment”. Skoda highlights aero-enhancing active cooling shutters at the front that, when closed, can apparently save “up to 0.2 litres” of fuel per 62 miles at a constant speed of 75mph, equating to 5g of CO2 per kilometre. The new spoiler, reshaped door mirrors and ‘side finlets’ contribute to the improved efficiency, too, by minimising turbulence around the rear end. There are even newly designed plastic trims for the wheels and added underbody panels for improved airflow. What’s more, the new Fabia is said to be stabler than the outgoing one, with a “robust body structure” and a “high degree of torsional stiffness”.
  4. More than 60 people have died after a fire in a coronavirus isolation ward at a hospital in the Iraqi city of Nasiriya. Much of Iraq's health care system is in poor condition after years of conflict and angry relatives of the victims have been protesting outside the facility. The cause of the fire at the al-Hussein hospital is unclear, but reports said it began after an oxygen tank exploded. Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered the arrest of the head of the hospital. State media put the death toll at 64, with nearly 70 others injured. The speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Mohammed al-Halbousi, tweeted that the blaze was "clear proof of the failure to protect Iraqi lives, and it is time to put an end to this catastrophic failure". Reuters news agency reported clashes between demonstrators and police at the scene, and two police vehicles set ablaze. The new ward had space for 70 beds and was built just three months ago, medical officials told the Associated Press news agency. A health official said that at least 63 people were inside when the fire began. "I heard a big explosion inside the coronavirus wards and then fire had erupted very quickly," a hospital guard told Reuters. A search operation is continuing. In April, an exploding oxygen tank started a fire that killed at least 82 people and injured 110 at a hospital in the capital Baghdad. Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi resigned after that fire. The coronavirus pandemic has severely strained Iraq's health service, already suffering from years of war, neglect and corruption. Iraq has recorded 1.4 million infections and reported more than 17,000 deaths from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The country has given at least one dose of a vaccine against Covid to just over one million of its roughly 40 million citizens, the World Health Organization says.
  5. Check PM please :)))

  6. China's President Xi Jinping has warned that foreign powers will "get their heads bashed" if they attempt to bully or influence the country. He delivered a defiant speech at an event marking the centenary of the ruling Communist Party on Thursday. Mr Xi also said Beijing would not allow "sanctimonious preaching", in remarks widely seen as directed at the US. It comes as China faces criticism over alleged human rights abuses and its crackdown in Hong Kong. Relations between the US and China have worsened in recent times over trade, espionage and the pandemic. The issue of Taiwan is also a major source of tension. While democratic Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign state, Beijing views the island as a breakaway province. The US, under its own laws, is required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself should Beijing use force to take the island back. On Thursday Mr Xi said China maintains an "unshakeable commitment" to unification with Taiwan. "No one should underestimate the resolve, the will and ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said. The 100th anniversary celebrations on Thursday morning saw military jet fly-pasts, cannon salutes and patriotic songs played. A carefully vetted crowd were in attendance in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, many of whom were not wearing masks. The country has seen a media blitz in recent weeks promoting a party-approved version of China's history. Hong Kong is also marking its handover anniversary on the same day. What stood out in Xi's message? Mr Xi, who spoke for around an hour, reiterated the role of the party in modern China, saying that it has been central to the country's growth and that attempts to separate it from the people would fail. "Only socialism can save China, and only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China," he said, referring to the system under which the party embraced markets to reform the economy. He added that "we will never allow anyone to bully, oppress or subjugate China". "Anyone who dares try to do that will have their heads bashed bloody against the Great Wall of Steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people," he said. Xi Jinping, modern China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, wore a light grey suit which appeared to be identical to the one worn by the Communist Party founder in the famous portrait that adorns one side of Tiananmen Square. Mr Xi praised his people for the "new world" he said they had created. What he was also saying was that this is a world that could not have come into being without the Party. At one point military jets flew over the crowd in formation of the number 100; flown by pilots loyal to the Party and the people. It's easy to forget when you live here but a key part of the Communist Party strategy has been to try to morph the Party and the machinery of government and the perception of the nation of China into one. They attribute any success, progress, advancement - and there has been phenomenal economic advancement - to the people and the government but most of all the Party. Just to make sure the message went out loud and clear, at the end of the ceremony, the crowd sung a song called "Without the Communist Party There Would Be No New China".
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV1vQBxi44E
  8. Happy birthday ❤️ ! I wish you all the best in your life !

    1. Dark-ImmoRtal^

      Dark-ImmoRtal^

      Thank you Bro  ❤️ 

  9. What goes up must come down, except when we’re dealing with high-performance cars like the E46- generation BMW M3 CSL and the McLaren 12C, one of which has gone down then up in value while the other has dropped steadily. The result is that these two disparate machines can now be had for the same outlay. The BMW cost £58,455 new in 2003 and dipped as low as £20k in the jaws of the financial crisis, but last April, a 10k-miler sold online for £73k plus fees. The McLaren 12C retailed at £168,500 on its debut a decade ago, but of 12 examples listed on a classifieds site, seven are £68k-£70k with 15k-40k miles. You can buy a 12C for more, a CSL for less, but there’s sizeable overlap where both are contenders for a £70k pot of cash. You’ve already guessed a 12C costs more to run, but imagine if one business had years of experience with both, was more affordable than dealer networks, was willing to detail common faults and could provide directly comparable running costs. One place does: Thorney Motorsport, near Silverstone. Owner John Thorne built his reputation with M3s, often on the race track, and branched out into VXR Vauxhalls via the Lotus Elise-based VX220. Vauxhall even appointed Thorney Motorsport an official troubleshooter for cars that dealers struggled to rectify. Thorne has personally raced in the BTCC and has built Yamaha factory chassis for the Dakar rally raid. Six years ago, Thorney moved upmarket into McLarens, identifying it as a niche that didn’t have the independent aftersales support of, say, Porsches or Ferraris. Thorne has run his own 12C for six years, taking it apart to learn more. He was, he says, astonished by the comparison with the VX220: “An 11-man team designed the 12C and nine of them were involved with the VX220 at Lotus. You can definitely see that in how they’re put together, even if the materials are different.” Currently, Thorney has 350 McLarens on its books, making it the biggest buyer of McLaren parts outside the UK dealer network, with a £300k annual spend. Typically, Thorney deals with 12C geometry that’s easily knocked out of alignment, or wear items like upper arms, lower arms and Z-bar links. There are, of course, horror stories, including gearbox failure related to input shaft issues. McLaren replaces the gearbox for £27k, but Thorney has developed its own driveshaft seals, input seals and bearings and, says Thorne, “we can now repair any gearbox around the world for £7500”. Cam phasers are prone to wearing, especially if engines are revved hard before fluids are warmed or run low on oil. That’s a top-end rebuild for £10k. So, yes, 12C ownership can be ruinous if things go really wrong. Back to top But Thorney charges £95 per hour plus VAT and servicing should average around £1500 annually over three years – about £500 for a small service, £2500 for biggies. Thorney also offers warranties for £2850 annually to isolate owners from unexpected shocks. When you go to drive the 12C, its fine breeding is immediately apparent: you lift a dihedral door, step over a chunk of carbonfibre tub and sit down with backside lower than knees and fantastic visibility through a widescreen windscreen. Press the starter and the twin-turbocharged V8 rouses with its belchy industrial monotone – lacking exoticism perhaps, but now a telltale McLaren signature. Unusually delicate steering makes this potentially intimidating car feel surprisingly benign – slower and more natural than a Ferrari 458’s, and significantly more feelsome than both it and even the 720S. The ride quality also stands out, soaking up imperfections while taking nothing from this car’s eagerness to carve through corners. It feels low, wide and on the nose, with a striking lack of mass over the front axle. Despite McLaren’s march of progress, a 12C remains fearsomely rapid. The first cars had 592bhp and 443lb ft, but all were offered the 616bhp upgrade soon after (with the same torque rating), which, I think, also smoothed out a sometimes shunty delivery. There’s still lag to a significant 3500rpm or so, but it kicks hard enough thereafter to get the rear tyres spinning and feels downright furious at 7000rpm. There’s no question that this feels a pure-bred supercar, something that parking it alongside a BMW – even a very special one – only highlights.
  10. The death toll has risen to five after the collapse of an apartment block in Florida, authorities say. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the number unaccounted for has now dropped to 156, with three more of the recovered bodies identified. "Our top priority continues to be search and rescue and saving any lives that we can," she told reporters. Part of the building collapsed early in the morning on Thursday while many residents slept. As yet the cause of the collapse remains unclear. But an engineer's report from 2018 was made public on Saturday, which highlighted "a major error" in the original design of the seafront Champlain Towers. It said the fault prevented water draining away from the base of the building. Miami collapse: What happened? A visual guide Fearful relatives hunt news of Miami missing In pictures: Rescuers search rubble of Miami building President Joe Biden tweeted that he had offered "assistance as needed" to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. "My heart is with the community of Surfside as they grieve their lost loved ones and wait anxiously as search and rescue efforts continue," he posted. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter 1px transparent line Teams have been using machines, drones and specially trained dogs in their efforts to find survivors. Rescue efforts were briefly hampered on Saturday after a fire broke out underneath the rubble. The missing include people from Israel and Latin America, according to reports. Paraguay's foreign ministry said six of its nationals had been registered as missing, including relatives of the country's first lady. Local officials have provided families with hotel rooms and food as they wait for news about their loved ones. What issues did the 2018 report raise? The engineer, Frank Morabito, said the lack of proper drainage was "a systemic issue" that stemmed from a flaw "in the development of the original contract documents". He flagged what he called "major structural damage" to the concrete platform beneath the swimming pool deck. "The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas," he wrote. "Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially." The engineer also referred to "abundant cracking… of columns, beams and walls" in the garage. His report didn't suggest the 40-year-old building was at any imminent risk of collapse but he urged that the concrete repairs be carried out in "a timely fashion". It is unclear if the problems highlighted contributed to the structural failure. Champlain Towers had been due to undergo a multi-million dollar refurbishment this year. Morabito Consultants later issued a statement on Twitter, confirming they had written the report in 2018. "At the time of the building collapse, roof repairs were underway, but concrete restoration had not yet begun," the statement said. The firm does not perform any construction work but said it was brought in by the condominium association in June 2020 to prepare a repair and restoration plan. Governor DeSantis has promised that authorities will find out what happened saying "anybody affected by this directly wants that answer". What happened to the building? The building contained 136 apartments and 55 of them collapsed early on Thursday, leaving piles of debris. Resident Barry Cohen was in bed in a section of the building that survived when the collapse happened. "It sounded like thunder, and my wife and I, we went out on the balcony; it looked like a bomb had exploded," he told the BBC. "When we opened the door, there was no building there, it was just a pile of rubble," he said. Eyewitnesses described hearing what sounded like thunder before seeing a huge cloud of dust in the aftermath of the collapse.
  11. The new Porsche 911 GT3 has gained a "more understated" Touring Package which brings toned-down styling and a six-speed manual gearbox. As with the previous-generation 911 GT3 Touring, the new addition to the line-up is mechanically identical to the 503bhp standard GT3, revealed earlier this year, but with a number of key revisions aimed at drivers with "a pronounced passion for understatement and classic driving pleasure". Equipped with the six-speed manual gearbox, the 911 GT3 Touring weighs 1418kg, or 1435kg with the optional seven-speed PDK automatic - the same as the standard GT3. In typical Touring style, the huge fixed rear wing has been removed in favour of a concealed, automatically extending item, while bespoke styling cues include aluminium window trims, a colour-coded front splitter, a 'Touring' rear badge and tinted headlights. Inside, it's marked out by way of a unique leather finish for the seats, steering wheel, gearstick, centre console and armrests, as well as black aluminium tread plates and dashboard. Prices match the standard GT3, starting from £127,820, and we can expect performance figures to remain roughly identical, too: 0-62mph in 3.4secs and a 199mph top speed. The Touring moniker was first used for a variant of the 1973 911 Carrera RS. Similarly conceived versions of the 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster went on sale in 2019, badged 'T'.
  12. US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are preparing sit down for their first, highly-anticipated summit. The talks in Geneva, Switzerland, come at a time when both sides describe relations as being at rock bottom. Issues include arms control, sanctions and US allegations of Russian cyber-attacks and election interference. No major breakthroughs are expected but there are hopes of finding small areas of agreement. The summit is set to begin at around 13:00 (11:00 GMT). What do young Americans admire about Russia? What Putin really wants from Biden From Air Force One to Beast - Biden's travel kit It comes on the tail-end of Mr Biden's first foreign trip as US president, in which he has also attended meetings with G7 and Nato leaders. Going into the summit, Mr Biden has stressed that he has the backing of his Western partners. The meeting will be held in a villa overlooking Lake Geneva. The choice of Geneva as the setting harks back to the Cold War summit between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. However, there is little prospect that Wednesday's summit will match that meeting either for personal rapport or political thaw, BBC Moscow correspondent Sarah Rainsford reports. Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser, told journalists in Moscow that the US-Russia relationship was "at an impasse", and there was "not much" ground for optimism. Neither currently has an ambassador in-country, and Russia recently included the US on its official list of "unfriendly states". However, Mr Putin told state TV there were "issues where we can work together", starting with new nuclear arms control talks, discussing regional conflicts including Syria and Libya, and climate change. "If we can create mechanisms for working on those issues, then I think we can say the summit was not in vain," he said. Similar messages have been given by the US. A senior official told reporters they were "not expecting a big set of deliverables out of this meeting". But Mr Biden has said it is an important step if the two countries are able to ultimately find "stability and predictability" in their relations. He says he hopes to work with Mr Putin on areas where co-operation is in the interests of both countries. In the run-up to the talks, the US president - who has previously described Mr Putin as a killer - called the Russian leader "a worthy adversary". So what can the summit achieve? Analysis by Gary O'Donoghue, Geneva It might restart some contact - that is one of the things that is hoped for. If you think that for the last few months there hasn't been an ambassador in Moscow and Washington from either side - that is really a pretty poor state of affairs. They will also try to find some common areas, particularly on things like arms proliferation where there is a mutual interest in preventing further growth of nuclear weapons arsenals. Beyond that, there is some talk of climate change - the Americans are not really convinced that Vladimir Putin is a convert to the climate change cause, but it is something that they are keen to try to explore with him. After that it is about red lines: Trying to stop Russia - as the Americans see it - interfering in elections, launching cyber-attacks and encouraging people to launch ransomware attacks.
  13. You were accepted. Welcome to the team. Topic Closed.
  14. Life with an MX-30: Month 1 Welcoming the MX-30 to the fleet - 5 May 2021 Whatever your opinion on the unstoppable rise of the SUV, there’s no disputing that such cars facilitate the acceleration of electrification. First, they’re generally raised off the ground, which allows for a whopping great block of lithium ion to be strapped to their undersides. Second, SUVs generally prioritise practicality over driving thrills, so any adverse dynamic impact stemming from the heft of electric innards isn’t of huge concern to the majority of buyers. And third, with the engine, gearbox and propshafts out of the way, there’s room for a much more capacious cabin than perhaps we’ve become used to. All of which serves to explain why most mainstream manufacturers have chosen SUVs to be their first electric cars (not forgetting, of course, their overwhelming po[CENSORED]rity with the modern consumer). But then there’s Mazda, that automotive salmon usually found swimming against the current of convention. Rotary engines, compression- ignition petrol motors, slick Kodo design language that helps even its most mainstream models stand out: there are many reasons it’s among the most petrolhead-friendly brands in the mainstream sphere. So what of its first fully electric car, the MX-30? Well, it’s certainly a Mazda: the rear doors open backwards, the centre console is clad in cork and the engineers have made a concerted effort to preserve some of the brand’s trademark dynamic balance. But with nearly everyone doing the whole electric SUV thing nowadays, can those quirks really be enough to make it the pick of the crop, or could this be a rare example of Mazda choosing panache over practicality? What you will really want to know, and what we’re quickly finding out, is whether its 35.5kWh battery pack – a common talking point – can provide enough range for daily use. It’s the same size as that used in the notoriously short-legged Honda E and only 40% larger than the battery used for the plug-in hybrid version of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class. This made me nervous; the official range is put at 130 miles (I’m seeing around 117 displayed after a full charge), but I live in a flat and do more miles than the average London dweller. Surely this can’t be a match made in heaven? So far, I’ve made it work. Free overnight parking on my local streets means I can take the Mazda round the corner after dinner, plug it into a Ubitricity lamp-post and pick it up after my morning coffee (before the parking wardens come prowling). It’s not ideal – these streetside chargers operate at less than 5kW, so even a 25% to 50% top-up takes a good few hours – but remember, it’s not a big battery, so it’s usually full when I come back to it, and I won’t have paid much for the privilege (24p per kWh). Admittedly, I have been doing a lot of tootling about in congested West London, which is the sort of environment in which the short- range MX-30 is destined to be most po[CENSORED]r. But when subjected to my patented half-lap-of-the-M25 endurance test, the MX-30’s displayed miles consistently match actual distance travelled, and the range doesn’t plummet as fast as I thought it might at a 65mph cruise. In blunt numerical terms, on my longest non-stop trip so far, I covered 62 miles – mostly motorway but with some country lanes and gridlocked London arteries thrown in – and got home with 37% battery remaining. If the battery were any bigger (and thus heavier), I think the MX-30 would lose the dynamic edge it enjoys over its contemporaries. Compared with the numb and disengaged helm of many rivals, it feels more than keen and agile enough to enliven the errand run. In corners, it turns in crisply, holds itself pleasingly upright and lets you get back on the power quickly without the scrabbling and skipping that can blight the experience in similarly positioned cars. So what else has become clear in the first 500 miles? Well, Mazda’s refreshingly logical approach to infotainment ergonomics continues to stand out among large-screened and touch-control-heavy contemporaries, and I’m particularly pleased that neither the central display nor the gauge cluster shows any more information than is necessary: range, radio station and speed. Why try harder? The back seats are a slightly more contentious issue. The ‘suicide’ doors are a neat touch, but they’re so small as to prevent entry to all but the most compact of passengers. Not that anyone bigger would want to try; one of my neighbours jokingly called the MX-30 “the world’s first two-seat electric SUV” in reference to its tiny rear bench.
  15. The White House has defended the president's top coronavirus adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, amid scrutiny of his recently released work emails. Dr Fauci has been the face of the nation's Covid-19 response, drawing both praise and criticism. And press secretary Jen Psaki said Dr Fauci had been an "undeniable asset". But emails have raised questions on whether he backed Chinese denials of the theory that Covid-19 leaked from a lab in Wuhan. A trove of Dr Fauci's emails covering the onset of the coronavirus outbreak were released this week to media under a freedom of information request. Why are people talking about Dr Fauci's emails? In one email sent last April, an executive at a health charity thanked Dr Fauci for publicly stating that scientific evidence does not support the lab-leak theory. In an interview with CNN, Dr Fauci said the email had been taken out of context by critics and he had an "open mind" about the origin of the virus. In his defence, Ms Psaki said at her daily press briefing on Thursday: "The president and the administration feel that Dr Fauci has played an incredible role in getting the pandemic under control, being a voice to the public throughout the course of this pandemic." There is no proof Covid-19 came from a lab, but US President Joe Biden has ordered a review into the matter that angered China, which has rejected the theory. Chinese authorities linked early Covid-19 cases to a seafood market in Wuhan, leading scientists to theorise the virus first passed to humans from animals. But recent US media reports have suggested growing evidence the virus could instead have emerged from a lab in Wuhan, perhaps through an accidental leak. What did Fauci tell CNN? On Thursday, Dr Fauci maintained there was nothing untoward in an email exchange between himself and an executive from a medical non-profit organisation that helped fund research at a diseases institute in Wuhan, the Chinese city where Covid-19 was first reported. The NIH, which is a US public health agency, gave $600,000 (£425,000) to the Wuhan Institute of Virology from 2014-19 via a grant to the New York-based non-profit group EcoHealth Alliance, for the purpose of researching bat coronaviruses. Peter Daszak, head of EcoHealth Alliance, emailed Dr Fauci in April 2020, praising him as "brave" for seeking to debunk the lab leak theory. "Many thanks for your kind note," Dr Fauci replied. Dr Fauci told CNN on Thursday it was "nonsense" to infer from the email any cosy relationship between himself and the figures behind the Wuhan lab research. "You can misconstrue it however you want," he said, "that email was from a person to me saying 'thank you' for whatever it is he thought I said, and I said that I think the most likely origin is a jumping of species. I still do think it is, at the same time as I'm keeping an open mind that it might be a lab leak." He added: "The idea I think is quite farfetched that the Chinese deliberately engineered something so that they could kill themselves as well as other people. I think that's a bit far out." The face of America's fight against Covid-19 Allies of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) infectious disease specialist say Dr Fauci's messages show nothing more than a dedicated public servant navigating the early days of a once-in-a-century pandemic. But conservative critics are suggesting Dr Fauci may have engaged in a cover-up, and even claim he perjured himself in testimony to Congress. How has the lab leak theory gathered pace? According to an investigation in Vanity Fair magazine published on Thursday, Department of State officials discussed the origins of coronavirus at a meeting on 9 December 2020. They were told not to explore claims about gain-of-function experiments at the Wuhan lab to avoid attracting unwelcome attention to US government funding of such research, reports Vanity Fair. Gain-of-function studies involve altering pathogens to make them more transmissible in order to learn more about how they might mutate. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that three employees at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill and were admitted to hospital in November 2019, just before the first reported Covid-19 cases. Days later, President Biden instructed US spy agencies to conduct a 90-day review into whether the virus could have emerged from a Chinese lab. His administration had previously deferred to the World Health Organization for answers on how the pandemic began. Why the lab-leak theory is being taken seriously What has Fauci previously said about the lab leak? During congressional testimony on 12 May, Dr Fauci emphatically denied the US had ever funded controversial gain of function research at the Wuhan lab. During a subsequent Senate hearing on 26 May, Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, asked how Dr Fauci could be sure that Wuhan scientists did not use the money for gain-of-function research. "You never know," Dr Fauci conceded, while adding that he believed the Chinese researchers were "trustworthy". What's the other political reaction? Former President Donald Trump - widely vilified last year when he raised the possibility that Covid-19 came from the Wuhan lab - said on Thursday that Dr Fauci had a lot of questions to answer. "What did Dr Fauci know about 'gain of function' research, and when did he know it?" Mr Trump wrote in a statement. He added: "China should pay Ten Trillion Dollars to America, and the World, for the death and destruction they have caused!" China's foreign ministry last week dismissed the Wuhan lab leak theory as "extremely impossible". Meanwhile, House of Representatives deputy Republican leader Steve Scalise demanded in a letter that Dr Fauci testify before Congress on the "US government's role in funding research that may have contributed to the development of the novel coronavirus". Covid-19 is known to have infected some 172 million people, killing more than 3.5 million.
  16. Your request will be in pending for 2 days, until then. maintain your activity in forum, and TeamSpeak3 also. But also remeber, this is your last chance, if you waste this last chance also. Then no coming back. Topic in Pending.
  17. #CONTRA for this request because you have not been serious through all the times you have joined Journalists project, and as the project Coordinator, I don't think you should come back. You had many chances, and you wasted all of them. So at the end is a big #CONTRA
  18. Croatian electric hypercar manufacturer Rimac is taking its radical C_Two concept into production with a raft of improvements and a new name: Nevera. The culmination of three years of development following the C_Two concept's unveiling in March 2018, the €2 million (£1.72m) Lotus Evija rival has been renamed in tribute to the strong and sudden storms that occur on the Croatian coastline. Rimac claims its engineers have "refined their new flagship on every level", using mostly bespoke, in-house-developed components in pursuit of the "ambitious performance targets" it outlined in 2018. In keeping with that aspiration, the concept's powertrain has been largely carried over into production. The Nevera still features a high-output motor at each corner, giving it a combined 1888bhp and 1741lb ft (an increase of 45lb ft), which, Rimac reckons, is a threefold increase on the output of a conventional combustion-engined supercar. Rimac highlights that the Nevera is 2.5sec quicker to 186mph than was initially planned, needing just 9.3sec. Claimed to be capable of accelerating from rest to 62mph in just 1.85sec and covering a quarter mile in just 8.6sec, the Nevera will be the fastest-accelerating production car yet built and its 258mph top speed puts it roughly on a par with the W16-powered Bugatti Chiron. Power is stored in an H-shaped 120kWh bespoke battery, which is claimed to produce up to 1.4MW of power and gives a WLTP range of 340 miles. The power pack also forms a structural element of the car's monocoque chassis, increasing stiffness by 37%, and is placed to allow for 48:52 front-to-rear weight distribution. According to Rimac, the Nevera's central monocoque is the largest single-piece carbonfibre structure used across the entire automotive industry. The overall design remains familiar from the C_Two, but subtle tweaks to the diffusers, intakes and body panels are claimed to have improved aero efficiency by 34% over the first prototypes, while brake and engine cooling have been boosted by 30% at low speeds. Certain body panels - including the underbody plate, front bonnet, rear diffuser and spoiler - move independently according to airflow, and the Nevera can be driven in either 'high downforce' mode, which boosts downforce by a claimed 326%, or 'low drag', which improves aero efficiency by 17.5%. Eschewing conventional electronic stability and traction control systems for the 'All-wheel Torque Vectoring 2' programme, the Nevera can channel "the precise level of torque" as required to each wheel, making 100 calculations per second to enable "infinitely variable dynamic responses to road and track conditions". The Nevera's electrohydraulic regenerative brakes have been calibrated to react to the state of the battery and powertrain. If the battery is running hot, for example, kinetic energy will flow through the brakes back to the wheel, while the degree of power recuperation will be dialled up if the brakes are hot, to a maximum speed of 300kW. The braking system itself comprises 390mm Brembo carbon-ceramic discs mated to six-piston calipers and is claimed to provide fade-free and "exceptionally powerful" stopping performance. Uniquely, the Nevera uses a steer-by-wire system with varying levels of driver feedback available, which can be used in 'Driver Coach' mode - one of seven drive modes - as an artificial-intelligence-based tool that shows the "optimum racing lines and vehicle control" to the driver. Said to be a world first, the system uses an array of sensors, cameras and radars to offer audio and visual guidance as a driver navigates around a track. But Rimac stresses that the Nevera is as much a grand tourer as it is a track-focused hypercar. The minimalist interior, with its central divide between the two seats, leans heavily on three TFT screens for control of most functions. They also display comprehensive real-time telemetry data, downloadable to a laptop or smartphone.
  19. Sicilian Mafia boss Giovanni Brusca, whose grisly crimes include having a child's body dissolved in acid, has been released from prison. Dubbed the "people slayer", Brusca has confessed to his role in over 100 killings, including the assassination of Italy's top anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone. But Brusca became an informant, helping prosecutors hunt down fellow mobsters. His release after 25 years in jail has outraged his victims' relatives. He will now be on parole for four years. Who is Giovanni Brusca? Brusca, now 64, was a key figure within the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia group. In 1992, he detonated the bomb that killed Italy's leading anti-Mafia investigator, judge Giovanni Falcone, in one of the country's most infamous murder cases. Mr Falcone's wife and three bodyguards were also killed in the attack, when Brusca set off half a tonne of explosives under the road near Palermo they were driving along. The attack, followed two months later by the killing of Mr Falcone's colleague Paolo Borsellino, rocked Italy and resulted in tough new anti-Mafia laws. Brusca has confessed to his role in more than 100 murders. One of the most gruesome was the killing of Giuseppe Di Matteo, the 11-year-old son of another mafioso who had betrayed him. Brusca had the boy kidnapped and tortured before he was strangled and his body dissolved in acid - as a result, the child's family couldn't bury him. After his arrest in 1996, he turned state witness in order to reduce his sentence. He helped investigators track down the gangsters responsible for several Mafia attacks in the 1980s and 1990s. What has the reaction been? Brusca's release has prompted grief and anger among relatives of some of his victims. The wife of one of the bodyguards killed, Tina Montinaro, told the Repubblica newspaper she was "indignant". "The state is against us - after 29 years we still don't know the truth about the massacre and Giovanni Brusca, the man who destroyed my family, is free," Ms Montinaro said. Maria Falcone, the sister of the judge, said she was "saddened" by the news but that the law gave Brusca the right to leave prison. The secret lives of the Mafia hunters Who are the Sicilian Mafia? Growing up in the shadow of the mafia Several Italian politicians condemned Brusca's release. "After 25 years in prison, the mafia boss Giovanni Brusca is a free man. This is not the 'justice' that Italians deserve," said Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League party. "It is a punch in the stomach that leaves you breathless," Enrico Letta, the leader of the centre-left Democratic party, told radio station Rtl 102.5 on Tuesday.
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