V1 - the text and the border !

Small phones don’t necessarily have to be lesser than their bigger counterparts. There’s no rule that top-end spec has to be just for phones with larger displays, and that’s been made clear in Apple's iPhone 12 family with the introduction of the iPhone 12 mini. As smartphones have grown in size, especially over the last five years, manufacturers have forgotten about smaller devices with easy-to-hold designs and displays where you reach every corner with just one hand. Instead, phone manufacturers have looked toward phones with larger screens, bigger cameras and just a larger overall footprint to squeeze in new top-end technology. There are great benefits to larger phones, but it cuts out a significant part of the market. What happens if you want a top-end camera and chipset, but you have small hands? Exactly how many people are looking for smaller phones is unclear, but anecdotally we hear often that people don't just want a large phone in their pocket. Not every Android manufacturer has dropped the 3.5mm headphone jack, but a large majority of the top-end phones that you can buy no longer feature the technology and it’s undeniable that Apple was the first major player to make that leap. The Apple effect So could the introduction of a smaller iPhone mean similar for Android over the coming months and, even more likely, the next few years? Ben Wood, Chief of Research at CCS Insight, told TechRadar, “I think there is little doubt that there will be a team of engineers and designers working in every phone maker on a mini-variant of their flagship smartphone range for 2021. “Where Apple goes, others tend to follow and given how successful we expect the iPhone 12 mini will be, we believe other phone makers will feel compelled to join the party.” This isn’t the first time we’ve seen phones from a major manufacturer that sport top-end spec in a shrunken size. For example, Sony Xperia Z Compact line offered similar spec to the flagship model but in a smaller form. The Sony Xperia 5 II offers a similar idea to the Compact models - something we haven’t seen for a few years now - but the branding has been dropped, and with a 6.1-inch 21:9 display this isn't likely to be classed as small by everyone. Apple's iPhone is rarely the first to bring new innovations to market, but it does have a big impact on the rest of the phone space. For example, the iPhone 7 was the first mainstream phone to drop its 3.5mm headphone jack. Android phone makers all over the world watched as the company claimed it took ‘courage’ to make the move, and then a lot of those companies followed in the years to come. Now, almost all the devices on our best smartphone list lack a 3.5mm headphone jack. That's a trend across the vast majority of the market, and it's generally justified as a way to free up space within a phone for extra components such as a bigger battery.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Raspberry Pi Foundation its Founder Eben Upton should feel flattered . . . again. FriendlyELEC, a lesser-known Chinese board manufacturer, is poised to release a Raspberry Pi clone called the NanoPi R4S. First spotted by CNX Software in a hidden page on FriendlyELEC's Wiki, the NanoPi R4S is listed as having dual Ethernet ports and a Rockchip RK3399 Arm CPU that has two 2-GHz Cortex-A72 cores and four 1.5-GHz Coretex-A53 cores for a total of six cores. It also sports either 1GB of DDR3 or 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and dual USB 3.0 ports, but no form of video-out so presumably you'll be controlling it remotely using SSH or VNC. At 66 x 66 mm, the square-shaped NanoPi R4S is notably smaller than a Raspberry Pi 4 (88 x 58 mm), but actually a little taller than its nearest Pi competitor, the Raspberry Pi 3A+ (65 x 57mm). It doesn't have a GPIO like a Raspberry Pi, but it does have a 5-pin header with two I2C and two SPI pins, along with a 3-pin USB 2.0 header and a Debug UART. It gets power via USB Type-C connection where, like the Raspberry Pi 4, it needs a 5V / 3A power supply. which has the same RK3399 CPU, along with a 40-pin GPIO, HDMI out, a set of PCIe x2 pins and dual CSI camera ports. Since the NanoPi R4S uses the same processor as the NanoPi M4V2, it probably will support the same operating systems, which include FriendlyDesktop 18.04 (a port of Ubuntu), Android 10 and Lubuntu 16.04. Clearly, with no screen and no Wi-Fi and no GPIO, the NanoPi R4S is no Raspberry Pi killer, but depending on what it ends up costing, it could be a solid solution for users looking to build inexpensive home servers. First spotted by CNX Software in a hidden page on FriendlyELEC's Wiki, the NanoPi R4S is listed as having dual Ethernet ports and a Rockchip RK3399 Arm CPU that has two 2-GHz Cortex-A72 cores and four 1.5-GHz Coretex-A53 cores for a total of six cores

Wreak vengeance for the Valorian Knights We are just six days away from the launch of Gearbox's epic fantasy adventure, Godfall. The publisher has released a final launch trailer emphasizing the third-person adventure's lush locations, amazing effects, and hard-hitting, ground-shaking combat. As one of the last of an ancient party of warriors known as The Valorian Knights, players must battle through the elemental realms on an almost foolhardy quest, facing impossible odds en route to a showdown with the mad god, Macros, who has violently conquered the realm of Aperion, leaving it on the precipice of total extinction. Already skilled in hand-to-hand combat, the Valorian Knights are able to enhance their armor, weaponry, and skills with the use of "Valorplates," Zodiac-inspired relics which add buffs and effects when applied to your protagonist. Fine-tune your knight as befits the realm, and then you can start dishing out the vengeance to everyone standing in your way. Godfall launches on PC via Epic Games Store on November 12. It will launch on PS5 in Japan, Canada, and North America, with most other territories following one week later on November 19. Various special editions are also available to pre-order. Gearbox has released a new trailer for its dazzling action-RPG Godfall, showcasing the powerful Valorian Knights as they tear through armies of otherworldly enemies in a stunning and luminescent fantasy universe. The trailer focuses on the combat mechanics of Godfall, featuring a myriad of ranged and melee attacks, as well as acrobatic and lightning-quick evasive maneuvers and devastating finishing blows. Godfall will offer five different classes, an arsenal of death-dealing weapons, and customisable "Valorplates" - Zodiac-inspired armour that will offer new skills and benefits to its bearer. It all looks quite cathartic and equally as appealing visually. Also revealed by Gearbox is a series of special editions that will be made available for Godfall's launch. The standard edition of Godfall will be available for around $60, while an $80 Deluxe Edition also secures the title's first expansion pack. The $90 "Ascended Edition" includes the above items, alongside in-game bonuses such as gold Valorplate, shield, and weapon skins, an exclusive Vertigo Valorplate skin and a "Zodiac Knight" lobby card. These editions will be available on both PS5 and PC. Finally, a selection of pre-order bonuses has been announced. Customers who pre-order any edition of Godfall will bag a "Starter Kit" of augments and trinkets, chrome Valorplate skins, an exclusive Typhon skin, and the powerful lightsword wielded by Zer0 in Gearbox' own Borderlands 3.

Iran has denied a report that a leader of militant group al-Qaeda was killed in its capital Tehran in August. The New York Times newspaper reported that Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, al-Qaeda's second-in-command, was shot dead in the street by Israeli agents following a request from the US. Iran said it had no al-Qaeda "terrorists" living in its country. Abdullah is accused of planning the deadly attacks on American embassies in Africa in 1998. Abdullah, who is more commonly known by his alias Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was gunned down along with his daughter by two assassins on a motorbike on 7 August, the New York Times reports, citing anonymous US intelligence officials. The report claimed that Iran had initially sought to cover up al-Masri's death, with Iranian and Lebanese media reports describing the victims of the 7 August shooting as a Lebanese history professor and his daughter. However, Iran's foreign ministry denied the report on Saturday, saying: "From time to time, Washington and Tel Aviv try to tie Iran to such groups by lying and leaking false information to the media in order to avoid responsibility for the criminal activities of this group and other terrorist groups in the region." There was no immediate comment from either US or Israeli officials. What's happened to al-Qaeda? Africa's Sahel becomes latest al-Qaeda battleground Al-Masri was one of the founding members of the jihadist group which has wreaked devastation across the Middle East and parts of Africa and carried out the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US. He was accused of being behind the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people in 1998. He had been in Iran since 2003, initially under house arrest but later living freely, American intelligence officials quoted in the New York Times said. Any link between Iran and al-Qaeda would be highly unusual - the two sides have fought each other in conflicts, and represent the two main and sometimes opposing groups of Islam - Iran is largely Shia Muslim, while al-Qaeda is a Sunni jihadist group. Al-Masri still appears on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist list, where a $10 million reward is offered for information leading to his arrest.

The UK government is set to confirm it wil bring forward a ban on the sale of new combustion-engined cars from 2040 to 2030 in an effort to speed up widespread electric vehicle (EV) adoption – but hybrid cars are set to be allowed until 2035 under the revised proposals. According the Financial Times the widely anticipated move will be confirmed next week as part of a wider package of green initiatives announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The annnouncement has reportedly been delayed several times since this autumn due to the government focus on tackling coronavirus. A proposal to end sales of petrol and diesel-fuelled cars (including hybrids and plug-in hybrids) by 2040 was first announced in 2018 as part of the government’s strategy to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, before transport secretary Grant Shapps said earlier this year that such action could be taken by 2035 or even as early as 2032 if possible. Members of the public were offered the chance to submit their views in an online consultation process that closed at the end of July this year. While the new ban on pure combustion engined petrol and diesel cars has been brought forward, the news that hybrid cars can be sold until 2035 will be a boost to the industry, given that EVs still account for a relatively small percentage of total orders. It is not yet clear what type of hybrid systems will be allowed during that five-year period. Criticism of the planned ban tends to centre around the limited state of the UK’s public charging network, which is widely thought to be incapable with accommodating an influx of EVs. The Guardian reports that the government’s ambitious new plan comes in response to assurances from unnamed sources that the infrastructure will be ready by 2030. In May last year, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) voiced concern that the original 2040 date wasn't soon enough to meet the net-zero target, calling upon the government to “continue to support strengthening of the charging infrastructure, including for drivers without access to off-street parking”. In response, the government doubled its EV charger fund allocation to £10 million in an effort to encourage EV uptake in urban areas in January this year. It also suggested that some of the money could be used to develop a publicly accessible charger monitoring platform, which could then be integrated into sat-navs and route-planners. It remains unclear what effect the pandemic has had on the government’s bold infrastructure improvement programme, which included the installation of 3600 new streetside charging points this year. In a letter sent to Grant Shapps recently, three Labour shadow ministers called on the government to bring the combustion ban forward to 2030. Matthew Pennycook, Kerry McCarthy and Alan Whitehead said 2030 would be “an ambitious and an achievable phase-out date for new ICE vehicles”. Pennycook added: “2030 is an ambitious but achievable date by which to phase out the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, one that would give a new lease of life to the UK car industry whilst combatting climate breakdown and cleaning up the air that dangerously pollutes so many of our towns and cities. “But as well as accelerating the phase-out, the government must also set out a credible plan to get there – one that backs the low-carbon jobs and industries of the future and ensures that workers and communities are properly supported in the transition to a fairer and cleaner economy.

The new MacBook Air (2020) was announced at Apple's November 10 launch event. Even though we've already seen the MacBook Air (2020) earlier this year, this new model comes with some pretty big changes under the hood. That's because, unlike earlier models, the new MacBook Air (2020) ditches the Intel processor for Apple's own ARM-based chip, the new Apple M1. It also comes with macOS 11 Big Sur pre-installed. This, Apple promises, is the biggest change to macOS in years, and is built from the ground-up to take advantage of the M1 chip in the new MacBook Air (2020). According to Apple, this custom chip will allow the new MacBook Air (2020) to perform better and run longer whilst on battery, while bringing other big performance benefits as well. New MacBook Pro 13: specs, price and availability New Mac mini: everything you need to know Apple M1 chip: learn about Apple's new silicon All applications that you usually run in macOS on Intel-based MacBooks will work fine with the new MacBook Air (2020), thanks to some software wizardry with Apple's Rosetta tool, which allows apps to run on the new architecture. Apple claims the new MacBook Air is three times faster than other laptops in its class, and faster than 98% of PC laptops sold in the past year. Its neural engine is nine times faster than the previous MacBook Air, and its SSD is up to twice as fast thanks to the M1 and the latest flash technology. Also, with the low-powered M1 chip, it doesn't need a fan for cooling, making it completely silent. As for battery life, we knew the new 'Apple silicon' would be more power-efficient, so it's no surprise that the new MacBook Air has the longest battery life of any MacBook Air – up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing, or up to 18 hours of video, according to Apple. All this comes with a 13-inch Retina display, auto face recognition, and more. Here's what we know about the MacBook Air so far. Cut to the chase What is it? Apple's latest lightweight 13-inch MacBook When is it out? You can order it right now How much will it cost? Starting at $999 / £999 / AU$1,599 New MacBook Air (2020) release date and price At Apple's new MacBook Air (2020) launch event, the company stated that its revamped thin and light laptop is now available to buy, with units shipping out from November 16. Prices for the new MacBook Air (2020) start at $999 / £999 / AU$1,599. As usual, there are a number of specifications available at launch, and you can further customize these to get the MacBook Air (2020) that best suits your needs and budget. Here are the configurations we know about so far, and their prices: $999 / £999: 8GB/256GB, 7-core GPU, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD $1,249 / £1,249: 8GB/512GB, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD For comparison, the MacBook Air (2020) launched earlier this year for $999 / £999 / AU$1,599, which was actually cheaper than the launch price of the MacBook Air (2019). So, you're getting the new MacBook Air (2020) for the same price as the earlier model, which is great news. The fully maxed-out version of the MacBook Air (2020) comes with a 1.2GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD, and costs $2,249 / £2,249 / AU$3,349. Will we see a similar top-end configuration for the new MacBook Air? New MacBook Air (2020) specs Apple also announced details of the new MacBook Air (2020) specs and configurations. The base configuration comes with an Apple M1 chip, with an 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU, plus a 16-core 'Neural Engine'. There's 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD storage, plus a 13-inch Retina display with True Tone. Touch ID is included, and there are two Thunderbolt ports. Then there's a version with an Apple M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU. That extra core could make a noticeable difference in the graphics performance of the new MacBook Air (2020) – Apple has promised that it'll be able to play modern games, something past MacBook Airs couldn't really do. It has 8GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage as well, plus the same Retina display with True Tone, Touch ID and two Thunderbolt ports.

AMD's Ryzen 4000 (codename Renoir) mobile APUs haven't even been out for a year yet, and there's already talks of a potential refresh on the horizon. The Ryzen 7 5700U, which reportedly goes by the alias Lucienne, is the first of the Ryzen 5000 APUs to show up in benchmarks. It's unclear what AMD has in plans for Lucienne or what recipe the chipmaker is using for the Ryzen 5000-series chips. The branding alone is enough to cause confusion with company's recently released Ryzen 5000 (codename Vermeer) desktop processors, which are based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture. Geekbench 5 picks up the Ryzen 7 5700U as Renoir, implying that Lucienne could turn out to be rewarmed Renoir silicon. If that's the case, we're still looking at a combination of Zen 2 cores and Vega graphics. The Ryzen 7 5700U purportedly checks in with eight cores and 16 threads along with 8MB of L3 cache. You can look at the Ryzen 7 5700U in two ways. You can say it's essentially a Ryzen 7 4700U with simultaneous multithreading (SMT) enabled or a simple rebranded Ryzen 7 4800U. At any rate, it's still a 15W APU that targets mobile devices. The Geekbench 5 submissions (via Tum_Apisak) expose the Ryzen 7 5700U with a 1.8 GHz base clock. It's identical to that of the Ryzen 7 4800U, but 200 MHz lower than the Ryzen 7 4700U as a result of SMT. However, the Ryzen 7 5700U beats both Renoir chips when it comes to boost clock speeds. Apparently, the Ryzen 7 5700U can boost to 4.3 GHz, 100 MHz and 200 MHz higher than the Ryzen 7 4800U and Ryzen 7 4700U, respectively. The optimizations don't just stop at the processor side either. The Ryzen 7 5700U seemingly received an upgrade on the graphics engine as well. The flagship Ryzen 7 4800U features eight Vega Compute Units (CUs) at 1,750 MHz, while the Ryzen 7 5700U's graphic frequency scales to 1,900 MHz. It's just a 8.6% increase, but an improvement nonetheless. There are only a couple of Ryzen 7 5700U submissions as compared to a ton of Renoir submissions. Therefore, take the results with a grain of salt as the performance uplift is still unclear without a proper review. For the sake of comparison, we'll use the best results for the Ryzen 7 5700U to show the best-case scenario.

Ethiopia's prime minister has accused forces in the northern Tigray region of carrying out a massacre of civilians. Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopian federal troops had "liberated" the western part of Tigray in "a victory for the innocent civilians of Mai-Kadra that were brutally massacred". In a separate statement, Mr Abiy also said "bodies of members of the army, who were shot while their hands and legs were tied", had been found. Tigrayan officials deny the atrocities. Witnesses blamed forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) for Monday's killings - first reported by human rights group Amnesty International. Fighting between government forces and the TPLF broke out last week. Getting information is hard, with phone lines and the internet down. Why there are fears of civil war in Ethiopia Fake news being shared over Ethiopia conflict This would be the first large-scale killing of civilians in the conflict. There has been long-standing tension between Ethiopia's government and the TPLF, which controls Tigray, the country's northernmost state, and it has boiled over into military clashes, including air strikes by federal forces. As a result, thousands of civilians have crossed the border into Sudan, which says it will shelter them in a refugee camp. Who were the victims? Amnesty said the killings happened on the night of 9 November. The human rights group said it had confirmed that "scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the South West Zone of Ethiopia's Tigray region". It had seen and "digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers". Amnesty said the victims appeared to be labourers not involved in the conflict. It is not clear where they came from. It said witnesses had spoken of wounds "inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes". Some witnesses said the attacks were carried out by forces loyal to the TPLF after they had been defeated by federal troops in an area called Lugdi. Ethiopia's prime minister said his forces had liberated an area that had been subject to "gruesome and fatal attacks" at the hands of TPLF. "Committing crimes and injustice is very normal for the greedy junta," Mr Abiy said in a Facebook statement. Referring to army soldiers he said were shot when their hands and legs were tied, he added, "the cruelty was heartbreaking". Mr Abiy's government later announced it had appointed Mulu Nega Kahsay as an interim administrator for the province as part of its efforts to oust the regional leadership. His government has also issued arrest warrants for Tigray officials. The UN has said that vital aid supplies to hundreds of thousands of people in northern Ethiopia are at risk because of the conflict there. Why has fighting broken out now? Mr Abiy ordered the military operation against the TPLF after he said its fighters had crossed "the last red line". He accused them of attacking a military camp hosting federal troops on 4 November, calling the action "treasonous". There have since been a number of clashes and air strikes in Tigray, with Mr Abiy saying government forces had made major gains. The TPLF was the most powerful member of Ethiopia's ruling coalition for many years, but Mr Abiy curbed its influence after coming to power in 2018 and the TPLF refused to join a unified party. Tigrayan leaders say they have been unfairly targeted by purges and allegations of corruption. Mr Abiy accuses some TPLF leaders of being "fugitives from justice" and opposing his moves to reform the way Ethiopia is run.

It will use a new platform, is designed, engineered and built in the UK and, for the first time, won’t feature a diesel engine. The Japanese manufacturer has released only disguised prototype shots and a preview image zoomed in on the headlight detail of the new model. However, the prototype images show that the overall profile of the new car is familiar. The front end has been inspired by the design of the new Juke, albeit with a less radical interpretation. Nissan Europe product planning boss Marco Fioravanti claims the overall design objective has been to offer “the best stance in the segment”, with a “more muscular yet dynamic image”. A wider track, bigger-diameter wheels and a stronger shoulder line are claimed to enable this. The new car is bigger than today’s, but not significantly so to ensure that it remains a true C-segment model. It’s 35mm longer, with 20mm of that length added to the wheelbase and the rest in the front overhang. It’s also 32mm wider and, unusually, 25mm taller thanks in part to an increase in the Qashqai’s ride height. The boot is 50 litres larger than the outgoing model’s, too. Underpinning the Qashqai is a new version of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF-C platform, overhauled to enable greater electrification. Nissan says it allows a reduction in weight but an increase in stiffness – key to improving both efficiency and dynamics. The platform uses a greater proportion of ultra-high strength steel than the old car’s (up from 20% to 30%) and the underfloor structure is more rigid as Nissan aims for the highest possible safety rating in the imminent, more stringent crash tests. There is also structural bonding in key body joints to improve strength further. Overall stiffness is up 41% on the outgoing car. Despite all this, Nissan has reduced the weight of the car’s body-in-white by 60kg. Contributing to this is the use of composite materials for the bootlid and fuel cap, while using aluminium for the doors and bonnet has saved 21kg. The suspension layout is familiar. For two-wheel-drive Qashqais with wheels up to 19in, a torsion beam rear set-up is used. Four-wheel drive models and those with 20in wheel get a multi-link arrangement. Nissan claims the torsion beam set-up’s new, vertically aligned spotting and dampers allow “a settled, composed ride, while maintaining excellent anti-roll performance”. The multi-link set-up, now mounted to the sub-frame via bushes to reduce road noise, is said to offer a “best-in-segment balance between ride comfort and dynamic response”. Powering the new Qashqai is a slimmed-down, fully hybridised engine line-up that doesn’t feature a single diesel. The standard engine choice is a 1.3-litre turbo petrol incorporating a 12V mild-hybrid system. Nissan claims a 12V system is “the best proposal for cost versus benefit”, rather than a 48V system. It’s available with 138bhp as a manual, front-drive-only model, or 155bhp equipped with a CVT automatic gearbox. A four-wheel-drive, CVT-only version tops the range. Nissan says the new CVT gearbox, which replaces the dual-clutch transmission used in the outgoing model, offers the “best of both worlds”, with the low-speed smoothness typical of a CVT combined with ‘stepped’ changes to reduce the ‘rubber band’ effect associated with that transmission type. Also available, and expected to account for a significant proportion of sales, is a new e-Power hybrid variant. Details are scarce at this stage but it will put out 188bhp through the front wheels only. The e-Power system isn’t a plug-in hybrid but instead uses an internal-combustion engine as a generator to charge a battery, which then drives an electric motor via an inverter. This is supposed to provide a similar driving experience to an EV around town. The system has proven po[CENSORED]r in Japan, but Nissan claims it has been “adapted for European conditions”. The Seat Ateca rival’s host of new tech features includes a more advanced ProPilot drive assistance package. This has more sophisticated sensors to allow, for example, the predictive forward collision warning to follow two cars ahead, rather than just the one immediately in front. The autonomous braking has been tweaked for more smoothness, with an increased speed range, and the lane-keeping tech has been made smoother and more natural, while being able to self-steer in cornering forces up to 0.2g. Alongside a system that can automatically slow your car to the legal limit, there’s one that reduces speed ahead of corners, junctions and so on.

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Nintendo Switch [reviewed], PC, PS4] Developer: Edelweiss Publisher: Xseed Games, Marvelous Released: November 10, 2020 MSRP: $39.99 Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin feels simultaneously bigger and smaller than expected. First, the goods news. Sakuna seems big in the sense that the story – a tale of redemption for a spoiled-brat goddess who's exiled on an island overrun by demons – is surprisingly in-depth and thoughtful. Edelweiss put a lot of care into its Japan-inspired mythos, premise, and characters. To sum it up, Sakuna's fate is intertwined with an eccentric family of mortals that has somehow managed to stroll into the heavenly realm. Hijinks ensue, and they're all left with no choice but to band together, cultivate rice to raise Sakuna's strength, and ultimately reclaim the wretched island to set things right. It's an all-around fantastic setup for a game built around a daily and seasonal grind. Generally speaking, in the morning, you'll do some quick chores like pulling weeds and tending to the crops as needed in your cozy 3D homestead. At any point, you can pop open an expansive island map and warp to a 2.5D action-platformer level in which you'll pummel baddies like pig beasts, skeletal warriors, and evil flocks of birds. More often than not, I had plenty of time to clear one full level and poke around in another before deciding to head home. When night falls and enemies grow stronger, you'll want to go back for dinner (to temporarily boost your stats) and nourishing sleep (to heal). Apart from Sakuna's RPG stats that you'll gradually improve over time, she has a separate "exploration level" that you'll need to rank up by completing each level thoroughly. Different levels have different alternate objectives beyond just making it to the end. Sometimes, you'll need to use certain weapon types or slay creatures at night once you're powerful enough. Other times, you might need to think outside the box to reach tucked-away items or clear a (once-tricky) boss in under 30 seconds. The more you raise your exploration rank, the more levels you'll unlock on the map, and the further the story (which is mostly told in cutscenes back at the homestead) will progress. On a few occasions, I only vaguely knew what I was expected to do next. In general, it's a good idea to keep up with your rice each season, chat with your makeshift family as much as possible, and fully finish every level that's available. Here's the less-than-good news. Sakuna also feels smaller than expected in the sense that the action-platforming levels don't evolve enough. What you see in the trailers is pretty much what you get. To be clear, I really like the just-complicated-enough combat system – in a strange way, it reminds me of Super Smash Bros. and Kirby Fighters – and I think the "divine raiment" grapple/dodge ability is fun to wield while it lasts. I enjoyed jumping around, flinging foes, and smashing them into crowds. I can't speak as highly about the level design, though. It's fine. Not exciting, or dull, just... fine. I did appreciate seeing new mechanics like noxious air and levitating pools of water, but they can only go so far. After a few hours of unlocking combat abilities/techniques and mastering aerial-focused combos, you'll have experienced most of the high points. Many of the stages and enemy encounters feel more or less the same. At a certain point, it's a matter of exploring to find secret nooks, earning XP and materials, crafting better gear, and fighting the same powered-up foes (even bosses!) over and over again. It's a shame that Sakuna's favorable first impression doesn't hold up across the entire experience. It never quite got to the point where I wanted to quit playing, but there were moments where motivation slipped. In the end, the low-key soothing grind and desire to follow the story kept me going strong. That, and growing rice is satisfying. The more effort you put in, the better stat gains you'll get out. I loved painstakingly clearing out rocks, prepping the soil, creating fertilizer with the right ingredients, spacing the plants just so, tinkering with water levels, pulling weeds, and processing the crops with several hands-on steps. It's extensive! The simulation starts on a simple note before layering in more concepts. Before you can ever get bored, it either adds new twists or speeds up the existing process. ] Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 8.1/10 Processor: Intel Core i5-7500 Memory: 6 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 750 Ti DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 7 GB available space

Intel pulled the wraps off its 'Intel Server GPU' today, unveiling a discrete graphics card for servers manufactured by its partner H3C. The new card consists of four separate Iris Xe Max discrete graphics chips, formerly codenamed DG1, that are also used as discrete GPUs in laptops. Instead of the typical use case for server GPUs, like machine learning workloads, the four processors work in tandem to process Android cloud gaming and media transcode and encode workloads for real-time video streaming. Intel says it has now delivered on its GPU roadmap for 2020, and that it recently powered-on the Xe HPG discrete gaming graphics card, meaning it appears to be on track for a 2021 release. Additionally, Intel says it has released the design of its Xe HPC GPU, Ponte Vecchio, for development and is awaiting the first power-on testing. Intel's new server GPU replaces the company's Visual Compute Accelerator (VCA) that used three Xeon E3 processors and their onboard Iris integrated graphical processors (IGP) for similar tasks. The first Intel Server GPU comes as the XG310 from H3C. The PCIe 3.0 x16 add-in card (AIC) has a full-height, 3/4 length form factor and uses an 8-pin connector for auxiliary power. Intel recommends four cards per server as the optimal configuration. As with Intel's Iris Xe Max GPUs, each GPU LPDDR4X memory that interfaces with the chip over a 128-bit connection that feeds 96 execution units, but Intel has boosted capacity from 4GB to 8GB. The chip itself is fabbed on Intel's 10nm SuperFin process. Naturally, the card support Intel's Deep Link feature that allows the GPUs to process workloads simultaneously. Intel also announced the Gold release (1.0) of its OneAPI Toolkits would arrive in December. OneAPI is a cross-architecture programming model designed to simplify programming across GPU, CPU, FPGA, and AI accelerators, and it works with both Intel hardware and chips from other vendors. The end goal is to make code easily portable between scalar (CPU), vector (GPU), matrix (accelerators), and spatial (FPGA) processors. OneAPI provides unified libraries that will allow for applications to move seamlessly between Intel's different types of compute and supports AVX-512 and DL Boost. The OneAPI toolkits will be available for free in the Intel DevCloud, but the company also offers commercial versions that provide support from Intel's technical consulting engineers. Additionally, Intel's Parallel Studio XE and System Studio tools will immediately transition to OneAPI. Intel will hold a OneAPI Developer Summit in November and share further details during the SuperComputing 2020 conference. 10:41: Starts at $1,299. Improved studio mics and webcam. The 'ultimate expression of what the M1 can do'. Guess that rules out it coming to the 16-inch MacBook Pro for the moment, then. 10:39: "World's fastest compact pro notebook". And has 'simply amazing' battery life of 20 hours for video playback. Longest battery life ever in a Mac. Apple is usually quite good with its battery life promises, so this is exciting. 10:38: Powerful performance, sleek design and 2.8 times faster performance. Three times faster than a Windows laptop in its class, according to Apple. Apple is being very vague about its comparisons, to be honest. Doesn't mean much. 10:37: And now.. it's the MacBook Pro 13-inch! It gets an M1 upgrade as well. 10:25: It's the MacBook Air. 'Will completely redefine what a thin and light MacBook can do.' The world's best selling 13-inch laptop, apparently. 10:24: So, Big Sur looks like it'll run pretty well on the new M1 hardware! And now we're on to the first Mac with M1! What can it be?! 10:21: New Macs do something no mac can do before - run iPhone and iPad apps directly on your Mac - thanks to M1 chip. This was something many of us were looking forward to. Now we're getting a video of some app devs talking about what this means for them and their apps. Took some devs a day, apparently, to transfer their apps to Apple Silicon. 10:20: One app can run on all your Macs - basically there will be two versions of the app, one for Intel Macs, one for M1-based Macs. Thanks to Rosetta 2. Seamlessly runs apps built for Intel chips on M1. And apps actually run better on M1?!?! Witchcraft if true.

Intel pulled the wraps off its 'Intel Server GPU' today, unveiling a discrete graphics card for servers manufactured by its partner H3C. The new card consists of four separate Iris Xe Max discrete graphics chips, formerly codenamed DG1, that are also used as discrete GPUs in laptops. Instead of the typical use case for server GPUs, like machine learning workloads, the four processors work in tandem to process Android cloud gaming and media transcode and encode workloads for real-time video streaming. Intel says it has now delivered on its GPU roadmap for 2020, and that it recently powered-on the Xe HPG discrete gaming graphics card, meaning it appears to be on track for a 2021 release. Additionally, Intel says it has released the design of its Xe HPC GPU, Ponte Vecchio, for development and is awaiting the first power-on testing. Intel's new server GPU replaces the company's Visual Compute Accelerator (VCA) that used three Xeon E3 processors and their onboard Iris integrated graphical processors (IGP) for similar tasks. The first Intel Server GPU comes as the XG310 from H3C. The PCIe 3.0 x16 add-in card (AIC) has a full-height, 3/4 length form factor and uses an 8-pin connector for auxiliary power. Intel recommends four cards per server as the optimal configuration. As with Intel's Iris Xe Max GPUs, each GPU LPDDR4X memory that interfaces with the chip over a 128-bit connection that feeds 96 execution units, but Intel has boosted capacity from 4GB to 8GB. The chip itself is fabbed on Intel's 10nm SuperFin process. Naturally, the card support Intel's Deep Link feature that allows the GPUs to process workloads simultaneously. Intel also announced the Gold release (1.0) of its OneAPI Toolkits would arrive in December. OneAPI is a cross-architecture programming model designed to simplify programming across GPU, CPU, FPGA, and AI accelerators, and it works with both Intel hardware and chips from other vendors. The end goal is to make code easily portable between scalar (CPU), vector (GPU), matrix (accelerators), and spatial (FPGA) processors. OneAPI provides unified libraries that will allow for applications to move seamlessly between Intel's different types of compute and supports AVX-512 and DL Boost. The OneAPI toolkits will be available for free in the Intel DevCloud, but the company also offers commercial versions that provide support from Intel's technical consulting engineers. Additionally, Intel's Parallel Studio XE and System Studio tools will immediately transition to OneAPI. Intel will hold a OneAPI Developer Summit in November and share further details during the SuperComputing 2020 conference.

All Hong Kong's pro-democracy lawmakers have resigned after Beijing forced the removal of four of their colleagues. On Wednesday Beijing passed a resolution allowing the city's government to dismiss politicians deemed a threat to national security. Shortly afterwards the opposition lawmakers said they would leave the city legislature in solidarity. For the first time since Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 the body has almost no dissenting voices. BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonnell says the legislature was already stacked in favour of the pro-Beijing camp. The dismissal of the four legislators is viewed by many as the latest attempt by China to restrict Hong Kong's freedoms - something Beijing denies. China introduced a controversial and far-reaching national security law in Hong Kong in late June, which criminalised "secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces". Why students abroad fear Hong Kong's new law China's new law: Why is Hong Kong worried? Hong Kong activist hailed as the 'real Mulan' The law was introduced after years of pro-democracy and anti-Beijing protests. It has already led to several arrests of activists and has largely silenced protesters. Hong Kong Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai told reporters following the lawmakers' removal: "We can no longer tell the world that we still have 'one country, two systems', this declares its official death." Hong Kong - formerly a British colony - was returned to China under the "one country, two systems" principle, which allowed it to retain more rights and freedoms than the mainland until 2047. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has called the Chinese resolution "a further assault on Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and freedoms under the UK-China Joint Declaration". "This campaign to harass, stifle and disqualify democratic opposition tarnishes China's international reputation and undermines Hong Kong's long-term stability." Human rights organisation Amnesty International has also condemned the move. "Bulldozing through arbitrary decisions via the Chinese government makes a mockery of the rule of law," Asia-Pacific regional director Yamini Mishra said. The territory's leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, is pro-Beijing and is supported by the central government there. What happened on Wednesday? The new resolution passed by China's National People's Congress Standing Committee says that lawmakers should be disqualified if they support Hong Kong independence, refuse to acknowledge China's sovereignty, ask foreign forces to interfere in the city's affairs or in other ways threaten national security. It also allows the Hong Kong government to directly remove lawmakers without having to approach the courts. Moments after that resolution passed, four lawmakers - Alvin Yeung, Kwok Ka-ki and Dennis Kwok of the Civic Party and Kenneth Leung of the Professionals Guild - were dismissed. All four of them are considered moderates and they have never supported Hong Kong independence. "If observing due process and fighting for democracy can lead to being disqualified, it [disqualification] will be my honour," Dennis Kwok said. The Chinese government and its surrogates in Carrie Lam's administration have - in recent times - used specific problems as a series of excuses to introduce wholesale, Draconian changes which will remain in place long after whatever hurdle it is has been cleared. In this case, four legislators had, controversially, been ruled ineligible for the next Legislative Council election. However, because the term of the current legislature had been extended for a year, due to a delayed vote, they had been able to remain in their existing positions. Carrie Lam wanted them gone straight away so she says she asked Beijing to introduce a new law enabling their immediate dismissal. In reality, who knows whether Hong Kong's leader requested this move or was told it was going to happen by the Communist Party's senior leadership? Either way, now the city government has been empowered to remove any pro-democracy politician who is seen to have acted with insufficient loyalty to the motherland in the future. Crucially, the courts can be bypassed under the new rules and, now that the Hong Kong government has said that the concept of the separation of powers has never actually applied in the city, the executive branch is able to dismiss members of the legislature and their view is that this is not really anything to worry about. Presentational grey line What reasons are being given for the lawmakers' removal? Speaking to the media, Ms Lam said the four council members who were disqualified had already been found to not fulfil the requirements to stand in the now-postponed elections next year. She added that although she "welcomes diverse opinions in the Legislative Council" these had to be expressed "in a responsible manner".

What is it? If you’re looking for an entry point to the latest BMW 4 Series Coupé line-up, this here 420i M Sport is it. You will, of course, have by now formed your own opinion about the styling of Munich’s latest two-door. Based on what I’ve read in various online comment sections, it would seem that there are a few people out there who don’t mind the way it looks, and I salute those individuals brave enough to actually stick their heads above the parapet and fess up to fancying its fanged face. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. But for what it’s worth, I think it looks as though design chief Domagoj Dukec had a Predator for a muse. “Draw me like one of your German grilles,” it said, while reclining on a chaise lounge. Probably. Anyway, the 420i M Sport Coupé starts at £39,870 and is expected to be the best-selling 4 Series variant here in the UK. Power comes from BMW’s B48 powerplant, and in this application the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine develops a modest 182bhp and 221lb ft. An eight-speed automatic transmission sends all of this to the rear axle, where it's then deployed to the road. Unlike the 420d diesel, the 420i goes without any form of mild-hybrid assistance. Suspension is by way of MacPherson struts and multiple links, with passive dampers and 18in alloys equipped as standard. Our test car, however, came with the £2500 M Sport Pro Package, which adds, among other things, adaptive dampers, 19in alloys, run-flat tyres and M Sport brakes to the equation. What's it like? Due to its long and heavy doors, the process of climbing aboard the 420i can be a bit tricky - particularly if you find yourself hemmed in in a tight perpendicular parking bay. Once inside, though, you’re greeted by a cabin that’s at once familiar in its layout and attractive in its appearance and material selection. The electronically adjustable seats position you suitably low down in the cabin and offer excellent underthigh and lateral support. You sit bang in front of a typically chunky M Sport steering wheel and BMW’s digital instrument cluster, which still looks a bit fussy and is tricky to read but is at least slick in its operation. Over your shoulder are two rear seats, although most adults would be keen to avoid these if possible. This car really a rather lovely place to spend time, not least because you can’t see its face from the driver’s seat. Thankfully, it’s really a rather lovely thing to drive, too. With its adaptive dampers knocked back into their softest setting, the 4 Series doesn’t feel quite as taut as a passively damped 3 Series and so on faster A-roads and motorways makes for an impressively comfortable yet controlled companion. There's perhaps a slight fussiness about its low-speed ride and its run-flat tyres generate a bit of road roar at pace, but I can’t imagine anyone would ever find themselves flinching at the idea of having to use a 420i for a proper long-distance drive or, indeed, on a daily basis. It handles sweetly, with its medium-quick, keenly weighted steering lending it a sense of agility and enthusiastic fleet-footedness that feels really quite special. It gives you a nice idea of how much grip you have at the front axle and, with a heightened level of lateral control, you can corner flat and quite fast, with little worry about running short of traction up front - even on a wet, slippery road. Pare back the traction control and give the throttle a prod through halfway round slower corners and you can make the back end momentarily step out in a controlled, progressive fashion, but otherwise the 420i carves its way through bends very tidily indeed. It really is a very enjoyable car to drive swiftly, but part of its charm is that it doesn’t necessarily make you feel obliged to do so all the time. Its engine is at least partly responsible for this. It’s certainly punchy enough when you need it to be, with minimal turbo lag under part-throttle acceleration lending it good responsiveness, and a strong mid-range allowing you to make reasonably swift progress when you need to. But with an at-times gravelly soundtrack and a tendency to feel a bit wheezy right at the top end, you never feel particularly inclined to chase revs and accrue big speeds on the road. Better to relax a bit and just enjoy the car's responsiveness and agility well within the limits of its dynamic ability. Should I buy one? For the slick, engaging manner in which it drives, I don’t see why you shouldn't consider the 420i. I really like that it makes for a comfortable grand tourer of sorts that can entertain on a good road when you want it to. I also like how it just gets the simple things like driving position, interior design and ergonomics in a general sense right and is relaxing to casually tool about in. The thing is, the 3 Series does all of that too - and it comes with the added practicality of a saloon or estate body. Surely part of the reason for buying a car like the 4 Series is the added style appeal that a coupé body brings. And I’m not sure this G22 model brings much at all to the table on this front – although perhaps I’ll warm to its appearance over time. As competent as it mostly is, I’m not sure this particular engine would be the one I would go for either. Short of the full on M and M Performance models, I think the four-cylinder diesel might actually be a better fit, if only for the greater fuel efficiency it would undoubtedly bring. The 38mpg figure I saw on my long-distance, mixed-roads test route isn’t exactly terrible, but the 420d wouldn't struggle to beat that. Even more tempting would be to wait for the six-cylinder 430d and M440d models. I know diesel is far from in vogue at the moment, but I can imagine both of those cars being pretty magnificent.

Bright Memory (PC, Xbox Series X/S [reviewed on an X]) Developer: FYWD Personal Studio Publisher: AGM Playism Released: January 12, 2019 (Early Access PC) / November 10, 2020 (Xbox) MSRP: $7.99 This is Bright Memory: a roughly 45-minute-long prologue to the longer, fully-featured Bright Memory Infinite, which isn't out yet. The prologue was released earlier this year on PC, but this week, it's slated for release on Xbox consoles as a sort of next-gen-launch exclusive. Note that it's technically 9PM pacific, so it's not quite time for "next-gen" to be "current gen" yet! I have a few more hours to relish in that nomenclature before I have to put next-gen in quotes from here on out. So where were we? Oh yeah, Bright Memory. It kind of came out of nowhere and it managed to ensnare players with its stylish presentation and adherence to wacky first-person-shooter action. It is wacky, mind. There's a vague story afoot right now, involving an agent named Sheila, the "Supernatural Science Research Organization" (haha), and some history with a mysterious villain named Carter (no relation). This thing gets started quick, as Sheila raids a sci-fi facility and then finds herself in a fantastical Tomb Raider-esque jungle zone battling demons in minutes. I absolutely love how weird it is. One minute you’re fending off military personnel and the next you’re fighting a bull demon thing and his skeleton warrior retinue. Or platforming in first-person. Or...anything can happen! The English voice cast has a delightful camp PS1 or Dreamcast-era feel to it and the pacing is a lot like those old-school light gun arcade shooters. You're constantly shuffled from place to place with some exposition, but Bright Memory keeps it light. Action-wise, it clearly uses action games like Devil May Cry as a reference point, all the way down to the "SSS" rating for performing well in combat. This is an FPS at heart, complete with a pistol, rifle, and shotgun loadout; but you also have a light blade, EMP pulse capabilities, fast reflexes, super sprints, and time-stopping powers. There's lots of moves, actually, some of which are enacted by double or triple button presses. It all reminds me of some of those old-school hardcore action combos: ones that allowed you to chain moves and account for cooldowns. Bright Memory is short, but it doesn't wait long to make you feel powerful. That said, getting a few things like the "XP upgrade" in a short prologue release isn't the best feeling, and the menus could use a lot of design work. Speaking of brevity, after around 30-45 minutes, the story just kind of...ends, and you can replay the first chapter again like an arcade game. That's it. On Series X, I experienced load times of around 10 seconds, even between deaths. I know what you're thinking: that's good! But it's not as fast as other next-gen games I've played across both consoles. "Optimized" might be a bit of a stretch, especially in regards to consistency with its visuals, but it works. Bright Memory has the potential to be great once Infinite arrives, but for now, it gets a very light recommendation with some provisos. It's not technically impressive even as a Series X launch title, but Bright Memory is worth pursuing either way if you grew up on classic action romps. CPU: i5-3470 INTEL or AMD Equivalent. RAM: 6 GB. OS: Windows 7 64 bit. VIDEO CARD: Nvidia GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7770.

Apple is holding what's expected to be its last major product event on November 10, and we'll show you how to watch it live. Apple's 'One More Thing' event, takes place today, November 10, at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6PM GMT / 4AM November 11 AEST, and it's looking likely that the company will show off a whole new line of MacBooks, including the much anticipated ARM-based 12-inch MacBook. We could also see new iMacs and Mac PCs, plus the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2020), the follow-up to one of the best MacBooks ever. Apple's move away from Intel processors to its own 'Apple Silicon' CPUs is particularly exciting. It could mean we get MacBooks that are thinner and lighter than ever, with longer battery lives – and could even be a bit cheaper as well. Hopefully Apple will finally show off these devices today. If, like us, you can't wait to see what Apple has in store, then read on to find out how to watch the Apple 'One More Thing' event live. How to watch the Apple 'One More Thing' event live Apple will be hosting the One More Thing event livestream on its Apple Events website. If you visit there early, you can add the event to your calendar, and also get reminders to make sure you don't miss out. It looks like Apple is also broadcasting the event livestream on its YouTube channel. We've embedded the video below, so you don't have to leave this page to watch. What do we expect from Apple's 'One More Thing' event? As we mentioned earlier, we expect to see new MacBooks and Macs running on its own 'Apple silicon', based on ARM architecture. Basically, this means rather than using Intel processors, like all modern Macs and MacBooks do, it'll use a chip designed by Apple itself. This is potentially exciting for a number of reasons. By making the chip itself, like it does with its iPhones, Apple can tailor it so that it's optimized to run macOS (the operating system Macs use), as well as work better with the rest of the hardware in the Mac or MacBook. This could lead to better performing devices that are more energy efficient – so MacBooks could get a real boost in battery life. ARM-based chips are more often used in mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, though a growing number of laptops are now using them as well. These bring features we usually associate with smartphones, such as long battery lives (compared to regular laptops), instant-on boot times and always connected mobile internet to ARM-based laptops. Hopefully, we'll see these new ARM-based Macs and MacBooks get similar benefits. We've also been waiting to see more about AirTags, the long-rumored Tile-like accessories you clip on objects to track them using your Apple devices. We've been waiting for these to appear for what feels like ages, and after missing out Apple's Apple Watch 6 event in September and the iPhone 12 event in October, this could be the final chance for Apple to launch them in 2020. Unless it has a 'One More One More Thing' event later on. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, however.

AMD announced its new Ryzen Embedded V2000 SoCs today, which brings the company's Zen 2 architecture to the embedded market for the first time. Paired with the 7nm process, AMD doubled the number of cores to eight over the existing V1000 processors and provide up to twice the performance per watt and a 15% increase in instruction per cycle (IPC) throughput. That's not to mention a 30% uptick in single-threaded performance and 40% better graphics performance. The V2000 chips are designed for long-life applications in MiniPCs, industrial systems, thin clients, and handheld digital gaming applications, among other target applications. The processors are designed to prioritize power efficiency, long-term reliability, and long lifecycles over other factors, with sheer performance often being a secondary consideration. As such, it isn't surprising to find the chips with the previous-gen 7nm process paired with the Zen 2 microarchitecture, as opposed to the new Zen 3 process found on the Ryzen 5000 series processors. AMD splits the V2000 series into 35-54W and 10-25W models with configurable TDPs that tailor them for various applications. The 14nm V1000 series, announced in February 2018, comes with up to four cores, but the new models stretch up to eight cores and come armed with 8MB of L3 cache. Also, the chips jump from a minimum four-core configuration to six cores. As before, the chips come in a BGA package, so they aren't socketed. The V2000 processors still come with the PCIe Gen 3 connection (up to 20 lanes) instead of the PCIe 4.0 interface found on the consumer processors. This is a 25% improvement in the number of lanes, though, which offers expanded connectivity options in lieu of improved throughput. This is likely a decision to prioritize power consumption for the low-power target market, which doesn't need blazing-fast connectivity from peripherals. AMD also added support for USB 3.1 Gen2. As with all extended lifecycle processors, AMD plans for 10 years of availability and whips in its Memory Guard and Secure Processor features to keep the chips secure. As you would expect with twice the cores, AMD's provided benchmarks show a marked improvement in multi-threaded performance in Cinebench, but we also see up to a 30% gain in single-threaded work. The Vega graphics units also provide a 40% generational performance uplift over the previous-gen models. The performance deltas become are also pronounced when compared to Intel's Core i7-1010U and Core i7-9750H.

One of the most prominent Palestinian political figures, Saeb Erekat, has died with Covid-19, officials say. The 65-year-old passed away in Jerusalem at Hadassah Medical Center, where he had been admitted last month after being diagnosed with the disease. Erekat led the Palestinians in on-off peace talks with Israel for many years. Describing Erekat as a "brother" and a "fighter", Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of national mourning. Erekat was secretary general of the main Palestinian movement, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and an adviser to Mr Abbas. He helped negotiate the landmark Oslo Accords in 1993, which created the Palestinian Authority and gave Palestinians limited self-governance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the first time since Israel occupied the territories in 1967. Gazans struggle with pandemic and blockade Read more about the Palestinian territories President Abbas said the death of "our dear brother and friend, the great fighter, Dr Saeb Erekat, represents a great loss for Palestine and our people". Erekat announced on 8 October that he had tested positive for coronavirus but his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to the Israeli hospital from his home in Jericho in the West Bank 11 days later. Doctors said that treating him was a "huge challenge" because he had undergone a lung transplant three years ago and had a "weakened immune system and bacterial infection, in addition to coronavirus". Before his death he was put on a ventilator and placed in a medically induced coma. Erekat was a proponent of the so-called two-state solution - an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel - to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and recently condemned moves by Arab states to normalise relations with Israel without it. He called the UAE's decision in August to formalise ties with Israel as "a killer to the two-state solution" and said the US was "part of the problem and becoming more irrelevant in the Middle East" over its support for Israel under President Donald Trump. Israel opens tentative new chapter with Gulf Arabs Explainer: Israel, annexation and the West Bank Erekat also called for international sanctions on Israel over its occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, and for a boycott of Israeli companies operating in the occupied territories. His face was instantly recognisable. In the past three decades, when Palestinian and Israeli leaders met - in Madrid, Oslo, Washington, Camp David or Jerusalem - Saeb Erekat had a prominent place on negotiation teams. As a fluent English speaker, he often briefed international diplomats and journalists, summoning us to his office in Ramallah or his home in Jericho. Palestinians will feel his loss deeply at a time when relations with Israel are at a new low - and prospects for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, the goal of his life's work, look increasingly dim. However, on social media, some have also commented bitterly on the fact he died in an Israeli hospital. In recent months, Saeb Erekat was closely involved as the Palestinian leadership decided to halt its long-standing co-operation with Israel on security and civil matters in response to its plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. This meant the Palestinian Authority had stopped arranging transfers of ordinary Palestinian patients to East Jerusalem and paying for their treatment in Israel.