SliCeR

At the age of 30, Anubhav Kumar suffered from a fatty liver and kidney stones, all resultant of an unhealthy and largely sedentary lifestyle. An inspiring video on the internet acted as the big changer for Anubhav, who gave himself a goal to lose weight and is now a motivation to many like him, and has also written a self-help book. To know how he lost 20 kilos in record time, read his transformation story below and gain helpful tips: Name: Anubhav Kumar Occupation: Software engineer Health problems due to obesity are quite common. I myself suffered from a fatty liver and kidney stones. One fine day, I went on a walk with my sister to the park. She casually showed me a Youtube video of women in her fifties and how healthy her medical reports were. The video showed how the doctors admired the woman and complimented her by saying her vitals are as good as a young child's. This very line in the video gave me a strong jolt of inspiration to start my weight loss journey and get my health back on track. I felt if that lady in her 50s could do it, why couldn't I in my 30s? That was the big turning point and I am happy to have never looked back. Health problems due to obesity are quite common. I myself suffered from a fatty liver and kidney stones. One fine day, I went on a walk with my sister to the park. She casually showed me a Youtube video of women in her fifties and how healthy her medical reports were. The video showed how the doctors admired the woman and complimented her by saying her vitals are as good as a young child's. This very line in the video gave me a strong jolt of inspiration to start my weight loss journey and get my health back on track. I felt if that lady in her 50s could do it, why couldn't I in my 30s? That was the big turning point and I am happy to have never looked back. I just did brisk walking and nothing else to lose weight. Initially, it was difficult for me to walk even 5000 steps but kept doing. Slowly, with the right determination, attitude, hunger for success, I was able to increase from 5000 steps to 15k a day to 20K+ sometime. My aim was to have control over my calories and do simple cardio movements like brisk walking regularly. Fitness secrets I unveiled: Real fitness lies in your mind. If you are mentally fit, you will feel physically brisk and healthy. If no, no diet, fitness regime, doctor or dietician can help you achieve your goals or lose weight. Set a goal in mind, be true to yourself before you decide to start your journey. Motivation comes from within. The following things helped me stay ahead in the game: a. Self-control is crucial and is the only secret to my weight loss. Actually, you have to go through many changes in your habits. Changing habits takes time & not easy actually when it comes to leave unhealthy food & a poor lifestyle & switch to a healthier one. I trained my mind how to say NO to junk food and Big YES to healthier ones. b. Be disciplined. I was very particular about foods I was eating, waking up early in the morning, saying no to junk foods, tracking calories on daily basis, tracking my total steps every day, going for a brisk walk daily, drinking at least 10 glasses of water without fail, etc throughout my weight loss journey. I think, now I have trained my mind enough not to lose focus because now it's not only about my fitness but as an influencer it is like my responsibility not to lose focus, at least for people who believe in me. What’s the most difficult part of being overweight? Every person who feels overweight or suffers from bad health will agree to this- poor self-confidence, low self-esteem, the risk of catching diseases and poor health in general. Nobody wants that in life. What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? I aspire to have a lean, athletic and aesthetically pleasing body and help others achieve their goals. The biggest change for me has been that I now help people to stay fit (mentally and physically) in life by sharing ideas, insights, and motivation through my Instagram account at "@anubhav.mission" and my personal blog at www.anubhavkumar.in . Sharing ideas and motivating people for a healthy lifestyle helps me stay highly motivated. People now see me as a fitness influencer and helps me engage in fitness talks. If you keep yourself engaged in fitness talks, you stay involved and motivated for fitness in life. I even wrote a self-help ebook called "Willingness Meter" to help people stay active physically and mentally in life. I started to follow a strict diet plan and track my daily calories, the burn using an app on my phone. Walking is good too. Initially, even dragging myself out of bed was difficult. But I downloaded an app and tracked my daily steps. My first goal was to lose 10 kilos by taking at least 10,000 steps every day. So I kept that goal in mind, restricted my calories accordingly and saw the changes happen! I used to eat around 1400 calories per day. Slowly, I reduced it to 1100 calories by adding low-card meals. I reduced my daily intake of 8 chapatis to 2 and filled the gap with more veggies and weight loss-friendly foods like oats. I also focussed on eating more fibre, low-carb sources like mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, green beans, papaya etc. Veggies and fruits became my new friends. If you limit your calories, restrict junk food and follow simple workouts like brisk walking 10k steps a day, it is more than enough and this is how I achieved my weight loss goal. You do not even need to join a gym if you are doing these two things properly. Lastly, dedication & motivation are the only things that will keep you energetic throughout your journey. I know one thing, motivating others when on the same mission works best for your own motivation. But, you have to be very particular about your mission before motivating others. You can not motivate others with zero results. And, this is why I planned to motivate other online & created a new Instagram account, wrote a self-help book, share ideas through my blogs. Books are the best motivators & gurus in life. I always prefer reading books, let it be any topic. Self- help books are my favourite & is the best source for your self-inspiration

Spain has now recorded more than 50,000 official coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data released on Monday by the Health Ministry. The report showed 24,462 new infections and added 298 Covid-related fatalities to the overall death toll since Thursday, which was Christmas Eve. The total number of victims now stands at 50,122, although the real figure is likely to be much higher given the number of people who died in the first wave without having been given a diagnostic test for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the 14-day cumulative number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a key indicator with regard to the progress of the pandemic in the country, has fallen 14 points to 246.19 since the last report was made public. Last Monday the figure was 262, above the 250-mark considered to be high risk by the Health Ministry. The Balearic Islands, Extremadura – which this weekend toughened up restrictions for New Year’s Eve celebrations – and Madrid are the regions with the worst epidemiological data right now. The total number of confirmed infections now stands at 1,879,413 in Spain since the start of the pandemic, according to the ministry’s figures. The past two weeks have seen a total of 115,775 confirmed infections. Fernando Simón, the director of the Health Ministry’s Coordination Center for Health Alerts (CCAES), called for caution when interpreting the fall in the cumulative number of coronavirus cases. “While it is lower than a week ago, the public holidays don’t allow for the evaluation of the data,” he said during a press conference on Monday to present the latest report. “We could be seeing a stabilization of the trend, but we must be prudent with the interpretation. The figures for hospitalizations and ICUs are better, but we cannot drop our guard.” Simón pointed to the high number of diagnostic tests being carried out, which returned an 8.6% positivity rate in the latest report. In the last week, 408 people with Covid-19 have died in Spain. Of these, 77 died in Andalusia, 35 in Aragón, 36 in Asturias, six in the Balearic Islands, 16 in the Canary Islands, seven in Cantabria, 22 in Castilla-La Mancha, 35 in Castilla y León, 27 in Catalonia, one in the North African city of Melilla, 54 in the Valencia region, 19 in Extremadura, 32 in Galicia, nine in Madrid, 15 in Murcia, 10 in Navarre, one in the Basque Country and six in La Rioja, according to a summary prepared by news agency Europa Press. Simón said on Monday about this data that “for two or three weeks we have been observing a fall in the number of deaths, although they continue to be many people. We have also observed a fall in the fatality rate.” Ten percent of hospital beds are currently occupied by coronavirus patients, which is a total of 12,172 people. Of these, 2,022 are in intensive care units (ICUs), which currently have a 21.14% occupation rate by Covid patients. The regions with the highest pressure on their intensive care systems are Catalonia (32.32%) and the Balearics (30.11%). The ministry data was presented while a Inter-territorial Health Committee meeting was taking place, in which the Health Ministry and Spain’s regions – which are in charge of their own healthcare systems – were analyzing the data from the pandemic, with a view to a possible toughening of coronavirus restrictions during the upcoming New Year celebrations. Also being discussed was a one-day delay on Monday of the delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines, due to a logistics problem encountered by the manufacturer that affected the arrival of doses in Spain and several other European countries. The vaccination campaign in Spain began symbolically on Sunday, but is due to start being rolled out to senior home residents and their carers today.

As 2020 is coming to an end, few people will be sad to see it go. Sure, for most this was a terrible year but for some people it brought new opportunities forward. For BMW electrified vehicles it was the best year yet and things are not showing signs of slowing down. Awards kept pouring in from all around the world, confirming the good work the Bavarian car maker has been putting in. The BMW 330e was the most acclaimed model, with the most titles on its side. The plug-in hybrid model won the “Goldenen Lenkrad” by “Auto Bild” and “Bild am Sonntag” and the “Auto Trophy” by “Auto Zeitung”. Back at the start of the year, British magazine “What Car?” had named the BMW 330e Sedan “Best Executive Car” and “Best Plug-in-Hybrid”, and added an “Electric Car Award” to the collection in August 2020. The plug-in hybrid also earned the “Best Company Car” prize from both “Autocar and “Parkers” magazine. The 330e wasn’t the only winner though. The brilliant BMW X5 xDrive45e was also recognized by various outlets around the world. It won the “Electric Car Award” from What Car? in the UK and was also named “Best Large Premium SUV” by “Auto Express” magazine and “Best Large Plug-in-Hybrid” by online portal “Car Buyer”. Meanwhile, “Car Buyer” handed the title of “Best Large Company Car” to the BMW 530e Sedan. The BMW iX3, even though it may not be on sale everywhere just yet, also managed to snag a couple of accolades recently. This happened in China, where the car is already available in dealerships and where it is being made. The national publications “miaodongche30”, “Auto World”, “sohu.com” and “zhongshulaila” rated the BMW iX3 as the new arrival of the year against the other electric vehicles on sale in China. Here’s to an even better 2021!

So many unusual and negative things have happened in 2020, it’s easy for people to dismiss the good. I’ve always a been a glass-half-full optimist and this year was no different. Despite all the turmoil that has upended our lives, there have been pockets of goodness and kindness and love and fun. Let me share my favorites of this past year with you. 1. Lexy Burke: Have you heard of serial tippers? Or people who go from restaurant to restaurant leaving substantial tips that can really make a difference to a hard-working server who relies on tips. One of the first to do so as part of the “Venmo Challenge” was Lexy Burke of Nashville, Tennessee along with her husband, country singer Austin Burke. Most of the time, they tip $1,000, collected by followers who send whatever amount they’d like via Venmo. I started following her on TikTok (@lexylately) months ago and now also follow her on Instagram (@lexyburke). It is so heartwarming to see the reactions of those who are the recipients of such kindness. The two are former servers and Lexy remembers one especially tough night where her last customer left her a $1,000 tip. That gesture inspired her vow to pay it forward and that’s what she has been doing ever since the restaurants re-opened in May. She knows what a hard hit they've been taking during the pandemic. Last time I checked they had raised over $159,000 that they were able to give away in tips. 2. Curbside pick-up: This isn’t something that is new. It’s been probably two years since I first started using Walmart’s free grocery pick-up. I love being able to sit on my phone in bed and place my grocery order and let someone else do my shopping. My dad often utilized Applebee’s curbside pick-up since his mobility was limited. But I love that so many other stores and restaurants are now doing it to help keep people safe and healthy. I literally haven’t been in a grocery store since March — with the exception of three trips into Trader Joe’s (since they don’t offer curbside pickup). And I know the layout of TJ’s so well and had my list ready — one trip was 7 minutes from the time I got in the door to check-out to get $120 in groceries. I’ve also made a handful of visits to the Dollar Store to quickly run in and out since they also don’t offer it. But, it’s been 9 months of pulling up to Walmart, Aldi, Strack and Van Til, Gordon Foods or Produce Depot. And most of the restaurants I’ve been to are offering it. I hope this is something that a lot of places can maintain later on. My sister and I were talking about it one day and saying that we wished it had been available when our kids were babies and toddlers. There’s nothing worse than having to wake a sleeping 9-month month old to take them out of the car for a quick errand. 3. Eurovision: Over the past 9 months, I have tuned into a lot more television series’ and movies that I normally would. When I invest the time to watch something, I want to it be funny. Not dramatic, not scary. Sometimes I like suspenseful, action stuff but nine times out of 10 I’m going to pick a silly comedy. This was a couple hours of escaping reality and laughing — and with some catchy tunes that stayed in my head for days. Ja Ja Ding Dong, anyone? 4. 'King of Staten Island': OK, I know that I just said I prefer comedies, but when one of my kids suggests a movie and is willing to watch it with me, I will jump at the chance to spend some time together. Pete Davidson wasn’t a favorite comedian at all, but when my son told me that in real life his father was an FDNY firefighter who died on 9/11, I felt immediate sympathy for him and wanted to see the movie, especially when I found out it kind of mirrored his real life. It’s one of the few non-comedy movies I watched this year. We rented it at home early in the pandemic and it was worth the $19.99 rental fee and the two hours of viewing time. 5. Twins the New Trend: I was immediately smitten with these twins from Gary the first time someone posted them on Facebook and it showed up in my feed back in the summer. The then 21-year-old brothers post reaction videos on their YouTube channel of them watching music videos for the first time. Two went viral immediately — their reaction videos to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.” There have been days I have started watching their videos and over an hour has passed by quickly while I watched video after video. Check them out on YouTube and Instagram under TwinsTheNewTrend. They’re adorable and delightful and it's so good to see their appreciation of music that was released before their time and from genres different than those they usually listen to. They currently have amassed 740K subscribers on YouTube and their most viewed video has over 8 millions views. 5. Twins the New Trend: I was immediately smitten with these twins from Gary the first time someone posted them on Facebook and it showed up in my feed back in the summer. The then 21-year-old brothers post reaction videos on their YouTube channel of them watching music videos for the first time. Two went viral immediately — their reaction videos to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.” There have been days I have started watching their videos and over an hour has passed by quickly while I watched video after video. Check them out on YouTube and Instagram under TwinsTheNewTrend. They’re adorable and delightful and it's so good to see their appreciation of music that was released before their time and from genres different than those they usually listen to. They currently have amassed 740K subscribers on YouTube and their most viewed video has over 8 millions views. 7. Teachers who have had quite a chore this year adapting to help kids learn from their desks/living rooms/family rooms/beds and trying to keep them engaged. 8. Trick-or-treating candy chutes: With so many things being canceled this year, I was glad that trick-or-treating was able to go on — at least in my community. People got creative in ways to distribute candy and social distance. My husband constructed a candy chute and I enjoyed seeing the kids in costume hold their bags at the bottom of my stairs while I dropped miniature candy bars down the chute. 9. Recovering from COVID: After being hospitalized for pneumonia I’m happy to be back home, even if I’m still having ongoing symptoms after nearly two months. Our whole house was affected, but we're all still here to go on to celebrate the new year. 10. Cake by Sarah: A friend posted a super cool cake early in the spring. And soon another friend posted a similar cake made by the same person. And then I seemed to be seeing her cakes more and more and started following her on Instagram (@darjeelinglime) and the cakes she makes are absolutely amazing. She customizes them according to the customer's request and when my son was turning 17, she made a really cool cake with a Fallout theme (it’s a video game) along with a little parakeet to represent his bird, Bellow. She did an amazing job. I did have to go to the north side of Chicago to pick it up, but it just gave me an excuse to pick up some good food while in the neighborhood. 11. FaceTime: I know this video chat feature has been around for a while, but I had only used it a handful of times before March. Early on during the pandemic my sister and I committed to walking each afternoon and doing a video chat while we walked. It helped keep us both on track and gave us an outlet to vent and a chance to keep up with each other's lives and everything going on in the world. Later it was a lifeline to my mom who resided in a nursing home and couldn't have in-person visits. Other family members joined in on calls and by fall we were also doing FaceTime calls with my husband’s relatives in Germany. 12. Ghostbuster’s Quarantine: A couple young friends of mine, sisters Gianna and Isabella Essany, made a movie during the early weeks of the pandemic and it was truly one of the highlights of the year. They are huge "Ghostbusters" fans and you can see their movie (which is over an hour long and looks very professional) on YouTube if you search for “Ghostbusters Quarantine 2020 Fan Film Not For Profit” by user EssantiallyUs. I love that the show biz gene has been passed down from their father, Michael Essany, who has hosted the talk shows "7 on Ridge" and the "Michael Essany Show" (which ran for two seasons on E! Entertainment Television). Their talented mom, Christa, is instrumental in scripting, filming and editing. They’re a fun family and I love seeing how creative they are in putting together their videos. They’ve been filming a second movie and just posted "Ghostbusters: Krampus Fan Film," so look that one up, too. 13. TikTok: I’m one of the middle-aged white moms who became enamored with this app while in quarantine. I knew about it before (my son even included me in a video a couple years ago that ended up with around 80K views) and I had the app on my phone already. But since the pandemic began, I check it almost every day. Sometimes I just scroll through those I’m following, sometimes I scan videos on the “For You” page and sometimes I even make a video. I’m on TikTok as “ChicagoFoodieSisters” if you’d like to take a peek. Some of my favorite accounts (besides @lexylately mentioned above) are: @cookingwithdarryl - a north suburban dad who does cooking videos @heresyourmonkeycontent - The adventures of George the Monkey that actually had me researching getting a pet monkey (turns out it’s illegal to own one in Illinois - bummer!) @lowcarbstateofmind - another suburban

When Taniya Ria moved to the Bronx from Bangladesh in 2019, she didn’t know a word of English. Within months, Taniya, now 12, was translating for her mother, making American friends in class and getting good grades. Then the pandemic arrived. This fall, she took classes on an iPhone from her family’s one-bedroom apartment in Parkchester, struggling to make sense of the teachers’ English through the tiny screen. Words and grammar she once knew evaporated, and so did her confidence. “This is the hardest school year of my life,” said Taniya, who is in sixth grade. “I feel like the year is going to waste.” While the disruptions of 2020 have threatened learning loss for nearly all students across the country, the toll has been especially severe for students who come from immigrant homes where English is rarely if ever spoken. In-person instruction is essential for these students, teachers, parents and experts say. Not only are they surrounded by spoken English in their classrooms; they also learn in more subtle ways, by observing teachers’ facial expressions and other students’ responses to directions. Teachers, too, depend on nonverbal gestures to understand their students. All these things are far more difficult to perceive through a screen. “You can’t take everything you do in an in-person context and move it online,” said Christopher Wagner, a member of the Citywide Council on English Language Learners. “So we need to figure out what does particularly work for our multilingual learners.” And beyond the classroom, these students, known as English language learners, absorb incalculable amounts of information about syntax, slang and vocabulary by simply hanging out in hallways and playgrounds with other students — experiences that have been lost for most New York schoolchildren this year. “For English-language learners, if you’re not having those casual, informal, low-stakes opportunities to practice English, you’re really at a disadvantage,” said Dr. Sita Patel, a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University who studies the emotional health of immigrant youth. Still, students like Taniya are toiling under the radar and struggle to even ask for help in the new virtual setting. During a music class, Taniya was confident she knew the answer to a question posed by her teacher, but her excitement was quickly dampened by a concern that she would mispronounce a word. Over and over again, she silently rehearsed saying the answer. But by the time she had mustered enough courage to speak, the iPhone she was using for class froze. When it rebooted, her classmates had moved on. She was silent for the rest of the period. “It’s hard for me to explain what I want to say correctly,” Taniya said. “And there are so many people in class, I get nervous about making a mistake.” Educators who work with English language learners are having their own difficult times. When Aixa Rodriguez, who teaches English learners at a Manhattan middle school, was in a classroom, she said she could intuit from her students’ posture and demeanor when they needed help. But now, her students are often on mute and off-camera. “I don’t know if they’re engaged or not, I can’t figure out who needs to be redirected, and so my ability to be effective is hampered,” said Ms. Rodriguez, who has been teaching English learners for nearly two decades. “I’m worried that the kids who are falling through the cracks will stop working as hard and stop pushing themselves,” she added. “They’re going to hit a point where they’re comfortable with their English and that’s it.” Nadal Bertin worries about that himself. Now 18, he moved to New York last November from Haiti, where he taught himself English as best he could and worked hard to earn school credits that would be accepted in the United States. He is determined to graduate on time this spring. “I have to get into college and make my family in Haiti proud,” Nadal said. “But I’m worried about my English.” Nadal saw his English improve greatly over just a few months while immersed in the language at his high school in Lower Manhattan. That’s no longer the case now that he’s in all-remote classes. “Doing classes online, I don’t speak English very much anymore,” he said. English language learners who need additional support for learning disabilities have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. When Huiyong Yu and her family came to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, from Hong Kong two years ago, her 12-year-old son struggled to learn English and did poorly in school. She felt he wasn’t getting the right support for his autism, so this year she enrolled him in a District 75 school to receive services like speech therapy. But his progress is still hampered by virtual learning, she said. “It’s hard for both of us to understand how to use Google Drive and Google Meet,” Ms. Yu said. “Because of that, sometimes he misses the homework.” Ms. Yu herself has been taking an online English course at University Settlement, a human services nonprofit working with immigrants in New York. After a long shift working at a senior center, she and her son work on their separate English homework. It’s become a bonding activity during the pandemic. “I just hope my son learns enough English that he can make some friends,” Ms. Yu said through a translator. Opportunities to practice English can be even harder to find for students in immigrant neighborhoods where other languages are predominantly spoken. Even the most highly motivated students may learn a new language at a slower pace if they’re not surrounded by people who speak that language, experts say. “E.L.L. students may lose more than other students and at a faster rate,” said Julie Sugarman, a senior policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. Sofia Green, whose family emigrated from the Dominican Republic five years ago, said her son, Sebastian, 14, was already most often speaking Spanish because that is what is spoken in his house and in his neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn. Now that he is in full-remote classes, her son is even less inclined to practice English, she said. “I feel that he’s slowly going backward, ever since he started online learning,” Ms. Green said in Spanish. “If he learned better English, it would help me and our family,” she added. “He could get a part-time job too, and that could help a lot.” In the Bronx, Taniya also feels at loss without the opportunities for off-the-cuff conversations with peers during lunchtime, gym period and in the hallway between classes — the times when she believes she made the most progress in learning English. “I feel like I became more shy because I can’t really talk with other students anymore in online class,” she said. “I feel like it’s all my fault.” Now, Taniya, who fan-girls about BTS, the K-pop group, and practices TikTok dances, rarely speaks or shows her face in class, unless it is to explain her slow internet. Now, Taniya, who fan-girls about BTS, the K-pop group, and practices TikTok dances, rarely speaks or shows her face in class, unless it is to explain her slow internet.

Timing is everything, they say, and the 1982 UK launch timing of BMW’s E30-generation 3 Series was spot on. Princess Diana’s wedding the year before had given spirits a boost and, in a couple of years, enough lucky people would begin to feel richer, thanks to rising wages and house prices and a booming stock market. The classy, good-to-drive E30 captured the mood perfectly and, thanks to its wide choice of bodystyles (two- and four-door saloons, convertible and Touring estate), engines (four- and six-cylinder) and transmissions and decent level of equipment, it quickly became the motor of choice for a generation of pushy drivers. Fast-forward almost 40 years and those same people, although now less pushy, are helping to rekindle interest in the E30, with the result that good ones now cost almost as much as they did when new and, in some cases, much more. You want an E30 M3, not covered in this guide? Depending on its condition and provenance, it will be between £40,000 and £190,000. The E30 was a big improvement on its predecessor, the E21 (1975-1982), with more secure rear-drive handling, a much-improved driving position and higher levels of smoothness and refinement. However, despite its superior engineering and construction, it rusted just as badly. The 1987 update brought improved protection in this respect. New buyers had a choice of four-cylinder 1.6- and 1.8-litre carburetted or injected engines and 2.0, 2.3 and 2.5-litre straight-six injected units. Power outputs were impressive for the time but nothing remarkable these days. You’ll find a 316 and 318 pretty underwhelming. The rortiest engine is the 168bhp 2.5-litre straight six in the 325iS but look out, too, for the special 134bhp four-pot in the 1989-on 318iS two-door; it was the most modern engine in the range. We found a tidy 1990-reg example with 147,000 miles for £6750. Given they were cheaper and the bigger sellers, the cooking 318i and 320i saloons are today the most numerous E30s, split roughly equally between manuals and automatics. Of the two, the 320i manual is the one to have but regardless, at this distance, condition is everything. Rust, particularly, will wipe away any smile. Convertibles, available in Baur-built and later BMW-built forms (the former retains the door frames) are reasonably plentiful but pricey. Definitely one to buy with your head rather than your heart. Martin Skeet, managing director, Silsoe Classic and Modern: “I remember when the E30 came out. Compared with everything else on the road, it looked sharp, smart and sophisticated. The M3 is still a formidable car. Today, half the calls we get are for BMWs of this period, but they all have serious rust issues. I’d say it’s the one thing you have to be wary of, and you should avoid any car with serious rust. Mechanicals can be fixed but rust is expensive to sort.” Buyer beware… ■ Engine: These are old engines that require oil and filter changes on the button. The oil spray bar at the top of the engine gets clogged, so listen for noisy valve gear. Sixes need a cambelt change every 36,000 miles. Check for a cracked head and coolant loss. Fours need a new chain every 100,000 miles. Be sure that the aluminium heatshield that attaches to the firewall and runs under the car isn’t holding water, causing the footwells to rust. ■ Transmission: Manual ’boxes are tough, but feel for notchy changes. Ditto autos, but also check for leaks where the transfer case meets the transmission. The auto can be sensitive to fresh ATF fluid, but it’s worth doing on a high-mileage car. ■ Brakes and suspension: Expect to have to change brake lines, suspension bushes and anti-roll bar drop links. Suspension strut cups suffer blocked drain holes that cause them to rust out and require rebuilding. ■ Body: Inspect the sills, wheel arches, base of the windscreen, valances and around numberplate light holes for rust. The battery tray in the boot rusts badly, too. Be sure the square lifting pads beneath the car haven’t been used as jacking points, causing them to rupture. Where fitted, check the sunroof slides; repairs are expensive.BMW 318i Auto, 1990, 195k miles, £2500: It’s a BMW, so don’t worry about that mileage. Instead, focus on its smart interior, smooth-changing ’box, new bushes and drop links, clean cam oil feed and new full exhaust system. There’s some light rust on wheel arches and front valance, but it has a full MOT.

V2 text blur, clear image, nice border

To say that tech has become monumental in our lives in the last year would be an understatement. For so many people, our laptops, phones and smart watches have been instrumental in doing our jobs, keeping in touch with loved ones and even prioritising a bit of self-care when everything got too much. But while we’ve been relying on tech to maintain as normal routine as possible in lockdown, we’ve also been assessing our relationship with it. Shows like The Social Dilemma have made us all more conscious of our social media use, and being so virtually connected has sparked tons of discussions around screen time. Quite ironically, the answer to our problems appears to be more tech, or rather, mindful tech. Speaking to women about how they utilise tech to manage their hectic lifestyles, from helping them get their jobs done to reminding them it’s time to kick their feet up, it seems that tech has gone from being our source of entertainment to our very own personal assistant. So whether you’re re-evaluating your relationship with tech or just need some time-saving tips, here’s how we’re all using our tech to manage our obscenely busy lives right now… ‘It might feel counterintuitive to say my Apple Watch has transformed my screen time for the better, but it’s been a godsend,’ says Amy, from Adelaide, Australia. ‘I can lock my phone in a draw and ignore it without fear of missing a calendar reminder or important WhatsApp message and I don’t have to risk being sucked into a two hour doom scroll on Twitter.’ ‘I’ve set the reminder app as a widget on my iPhone home screen so every morning when I wake up and look at my phone I’m faced with my to do list,’ says Lillian. ‘It’s great, especially given how many times I look at my phone, it’s always there. It just forces me to focus in one what I actually have to do that day and not waste any time, so it all gets done much more efficiently and I can actually enjoy the rest of the day!’ ‘When the nurseries closed in lockdown I had to balance childcare and working from home so the iPad became my saving grace,’ says Vicky, from Liverpool. ‘My daughter is obsessed with it, so I would throw on an educational TV show or YouTube video (and the occasional kinder egg unboxing video, don't ask) and she could sit right next to me engrossed in her shows while I worked away. Getting those few hours of peace meant I could often finish work early and spend actual quality time with her later on.’ ‘I use the “bedtime” function on my iPhone now because it really helps me not look at it so much in the evening and properly wind down,’ says Jessica, from Bath. ‘The aim is that I actually put my phone down at a certain time and don’t lie there watching TikToks all night, and it’s really helped. Just laying out that boundary helps me stop my work and social life bleeding into the time I’m meant to be winding down.’ ‘I don't have loads of time to keep up to date with the news and current affairs since having my son, so I totally rely on listening to news podcasts,’ says Rebecca, from London. ‘If I’m going for a run or taking him out for a walk in the pram, it really helps me to keep up to date with what's going on. That’s felt so important especially in the last year but also for my job. Plus, it feels like I'm carving out a bit of time for myself even when I'm just going for a walk to the supermarket.’ ‘I didn’t realise how unhealthy my social media usage was until watching The Social Dilemma and I started to add up how much time I spent mindlessly scrolling,’ says Emma, from Brighton. ‘I deleted all the apps off my iPhone and moved them onto my iPad so that I have to make a conscious choice to go and get the iPad when I want to scroll social media. It’s been life-changing if I’m honest, I’ve freed up so much more time in the day and I don’t feel the temptation, or rather dread, of a scrolling binge when I go on my iPhone.’ Life coach Rebecca Lockwood agrees this is a great way to re-establish your relationship with social media. ‘Removing social media apps from your smart phone onto an iPad makes them less distracting,’ she says. ‘You’ll be able to engage in them properly and effectively when you choose to give time to them rather than reacting to notifications.’ ‘I didn’t realise how little exercise I was doing, and how unfit I was, until I was given my Apple Watch last Christmas,’ says Michaela from Liverpool. ‘Even just knowing how many steps you’ve done that day or how your activity has changed overtime is so useful in encouraging you to get out the house – particularly in lockdown. It helped me realise I needed to make time for some exercise first thing in the morning which has forced me to prioritise a bit of self-care and to be honest, has made me way more productive at work too. ’

Hospitals are facing “unprecedented” levels of coronavirus cases, a senior health official has warned, as it emerged that there are now more Covid-19 patients in hospital in England than at the peak of the first wave. NHS England said it now had 20,426 people being treated for the virus in hospital as of 8am on Monday, surpassing April’s high of 18,946 on 12 April. Health officials in Wales and Scotland have also said they fear becoming overwhelmed. It came as the UK reported its highest figure yet for new Covid-19 infections recorded in a single day, with 41,385 lab-confirmed cases on Monday, the first time the daily figure has topped 40,000. Dr Yvonne Doyle, the medical director of Public Health England (PHE), said: “This very high level of infection is of growing concern at a time when our hospitals are at their most vulnerable, with new admissions rising in many regions.” The government said a further 357 people had died across the UK within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Monday, bringing the UK total to 71,109. Separate figures for cases where the virus has been mentioned on the death certificate, with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, showed there have now been 87,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK. The true figures for deaths and cases are likely to be higher as Scotland is not releasing death data between 24 and 28 December, and Northern Ireland is not providing case or death data over the same period. Doyle added that “despite unprecedented levels of infection”, the vaccine offered hope on the horizon. She urged members of the public to “continue to play our part in stopping the spread of the virus” as the Pfizer/BioNTech jab is rolled out. Hospitals are under mounting pressure. Saffron Cordery, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said that a lot of hospitals and paramedics were seeing an “incredibly busy period” and “really feeling that demand”. She put this down to the new Covid variant, “which is spreading more quickly”, but also the huge number of staff absences. “In some places they are seeing more than double normal levels of staff absence and they don’t have the temporary staff in sufficient numbers to compensate for it,” she said. She added that she was worried the bad weather would bring further difficulties to ailing trusts. “Chief executives are now dealing with snow as well as other things … so you have rising Covid staff absences and then staff not able to get to work due to snow. That is really difficult.” She said it would be a “very tough month” ahead. The NHS is preparing to expand Covid vaccination in January as additional supply becomes available.

According to FIA regulations, the carmaker had to build a street version to be granted a race-spec model. BMW built the E30 M3 between 1986 and 1991 to get the Group A Touring category's homologation and to race-it in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft). FIA required a production run of at least 5,000 street vehicles, but the commercial success was unexpected, and the Germans produced it in 17,184 units between 1986 and 1991. BMW introduced the M3 E30 at the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show as a street vehicle, but it intended to get an FIA approval for the Group A Touring category and race the car in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft). To get that, the German carmaker had to build at least 5,000 units, but the commercial success was tremendous. As a result, BMW sold 17,184 units between 1986 and 1991. It was a very successful track weapon and won the DTM twice, the World Touring Car Championship once, and dominated the Italian Superturismo Championship four times (the last three were back-to-back between 1989 and 1991). For the M3 E30 Rally version, BMW employed the British race and engineering company Prodrive to develop the car, and the result was stunning. It wasn't terrific against the all-wheel-drive monsters of Group A on loose surfaces, but it was fierce on dry tarmac, as it proved in the 1987 Tour de Corse Rally. A BMW M3 E30 in Rally-spec was offered on Bringatrailer.com with a reserved price of $59,000, but the reserve wasn't met in December 2020. The reasons are plenty, but most of them are related to the car's technical condition since the seller didn't provide details about servicing history, ECU version, and so on. In the end, it was too much of a gamble, and nobody risked that much. A DTM version, not street legal, was up for sale at a dealer in Germany, for $100,000. It was an actual race vehicle with its engine rebuilt in 2018 in race-spec rated at 279 hp. On the other hand, a mint-condition street vehicle BMW M3 E30 with just 33k miles on the odometer was auctioned at over $100,000 in Calgary - Canada and they can be even pricier. In the past decade, the E30 M3 more than doubled its value, especially for vehicles with less than 60,000 miles on the dash and a proven history record. Since these classic cars are driven less and less on public roads, sometimes it doesn't make sense to buy a street vehicle and go for the hard-core racing version. But then, if the proud owner would like to drive it at the local BMW meeting, the street version would be a much better choice. Leave us a comment below on what you think: would you go for the hard-core version, or the street one?

Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow from 12pm on Sky Sports Darts, with Jose de Sousa, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Nathan Aspinall headlining the afternoon action! In the meantime, check out the Sky Sports website and app for interviews, analysis and more! Evans is unnerved by MVG's seventh 180, as he fires in a D16 to hold throw. Evans pins D1 for a break of throw. He jokingly throws his hand in the air in celebration. A mere consolation? Or the beginning of an insane comeback? Evans pins D1 for a break of throw. He jokingly throws his hand in the air in celebration. A mere consolation? Or the beginning of an insane comeback? A 15-dart break of throw. Michael van Gerwen is one leg away from a fourth-round berth. Another quickfire leg, and the finish line is coming into sight for the Green Machine. MVG breaks the throw, and takes the set! Ricky Evans is averaging 102.5 right now with 5/9 on doubles, but is getting hammered right now! Mind games from MVG. He decides against a checkout on 164, with Evans waiting on 170. The Englishman gave a wry smile, but was unable to punish the Dutchman. Evans with an 11-darter. This is an astonishing standard from both players. Had he missed, MVG was waiting on a finish. 'Rapid' knows he must punish every slight slip-up from the world number one. That's what he did just there, and breaks straight back. The Green Machine is a joy to behold when he is in this form. Evans opened with visits of 96, 96 and 139 on his own throw. By the time he stepped up to his 170 effort, MVG was already sitting on 41. Another break of throw for the world number one. MVG seals the second set with an 11-darter. This is the Dutchman at his brilliant best, as he averages 108. Ricky Evans is not doing much wrong, but the top seed is operating on a different level right now. Evans missed the bull for a 167 out-shot. He shrugged his shoulders, but thought he would at least get back on the oche for a chance to clean up the remaining 25. MVG had other ideas, with a stunning 150 check-out. Evans breaks throw, and claps his hands in celebration. A 15-darter for the 32nd seed, as he asks questions of the tournament favourite. Evans missed D11 for a 124 out-shot. However, he was allowed to return, and cleaned it up. MVG pins D12 after Evans missed one shot at double. The Dutchman roars in celebration. Wright finds D10 - a segment which has been kind to him this evening - to hold throw. Clemens was on his shoulder, waiting on 60. Clemens isn't going to buckle. He holds his nerve - and his throw - with a 13-darter. The German Giant is just two legs away from the biggest result of his career. They're going all the way, folks! A strong set from Peter Wright, who wins three consecutive legs. The German Giant has the darts. Remember - there are no tie-breakers this year. It's first to three legs. There is life in this match yet! Gabriel Clemens hits back with a thunderous 144 out-shot. However, it was only a hold of throw. He badly needs to break Wright in the next leg. Survival instincts have kicked in for Wright! He found his radar on the outer ring just when he needed it - on the verge of falling 1-3 behind. Three legs without reply, and it's 2-2! "That's why he is the world champion," says Mark Webster in commentary, as Peter Wright lands a 98 checkout. Big, big leg coming up. Clemens misses two darts for the set. Wright stops the rot. A turning point? Clemens holds throw! Peter Wright has won just one of the last eight legs - and is on the brink of handing his opponent a two-set advantage. Clemens gets the break of throw! He puts in an 11-darter, and the world champion is in real trouble.

Living alone is becoming more common. According to the Asia Research Institute, the one-person household is the fastest-growing type of household in Asia. That’s because there are serious perks to living alone. You have your own space; you control your time, and no one will judge you for lounging in your pajamas all day. You can also avoid being interrupted by unwanted disruptions during your weekly Zoom calls. In a COVID-19 altered world, Malaysians are now spending most of their time at home – whether that’s learning how to cook their favourite restaurant dishes using DIY cooking kits, growing their own vegetables and plants, or simply seeking shelter from the outside. If this is your first time living alone or you’re looking for tips to improve your home living experience, here are some tips to help create a living environment that works for you. Here are some tips to keep you safe while living alone: Don’t forget to change the locks before you move in. For those of you who are renting, ask your landlord if they change locks in between rentals. If not, you can always offer to pay for it. It’s a worthwhile investment if you don’t want any uninvited visitors during your occupancy. Find out if there are any in-built home security features such as CCTV cameras, motion sensors, and home alarm systems that can boost the security of your new home. Stay in touch with your neighbours by joining an online chat group so you can get regular updates on what is happening around you. Have a first-aid kit on hand so you are prepared for minor accidents and injuries at home. Your first-aid kit should include essentials such as different sized bandages/plasters, sterile gauze dressings, a digital thermometer, and antiseptic cream. Now that you’re on your own, make sure you brush up on basic first aid skills too. As remote working becomes commonplace, it’s time you designated an actual home workspace that isn’t your kitchen countertop or bedroom. If possible, also invest in computer monitors, keyboards, and laptop stands that will promote good posture and make it easier for you to work from home. According to cognitive scientist Anja Jamrozi, there are five essentials for working well: having good access to natural light, a comfortable temperature, good air quality, comfy furniture, and a strategy to minimize distractions. You should try setting apart your workspace from the rest of the house by picking a corner or a room and dedicating that space as your new office. This creates boundaries and lets your mind know where to work and where to rest, promoting a healthier work-life balance. Want to add a splash of colour to your home? Try using a proper paint tape like the ScotchBlue™ Original Painter’s Tape to create the perfect geometric feature wall. This painter’s tape a great painting tool as it resists paint bleeding and removes easily after the paint dries, leaving you with a fine and crisp line art. Who needs virtual backgrounds for conference calls when you’ve got such an amazing real-life backdrop? A house isn’t a home until you’ve made it yours. According to Marie Kondo, an internationally renowned organizing guru who stars on Netflix: “The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.” Make room for the things that matter now by being intentional with what you keep and where you keep them. Declutter and organise along the way so your house won’t be a mess a few years from now. A good example of a space you can declutter is the bathroom, kitchen, and storeroom which can be a sanctuary or a battlefield depending on how it is organised. Visual appeal is key to making your space work, so don’t just scatter your items all over. Instead, make use of vertical spaces so everything can be kept neatly without taking up your floor space. Command™ products are made for that purpose, and now you can organize your belongings without the need to drill. Want to change the position of the hooks? Just pull the strips to remove the hooks and it will not leave any residue behind. Extra plus points for those of you who are renting! The general rule is that you should clean as you go to avoid big piles of mess. To help inculcate a good cleaning habit, invest in efficient, easy-to-use, and long-lasting household cleaning tools. Here are some tips for a stress-free clean-up during cooking and cleaning: Smelly kitchen scourers that are not very effective? Invest in quality kitchen scourers like Scotch-Brite™ Scrub Dots that can cut through tough stains, repel residue, and resist unpleasant odours. Dust allergy acting up when you sweep? When sweeping with a traditional broom, dust tends to take flight which can put you in a sneezing fit and at the same time cause the dirt to just settle elsewhere. Good quality sweepers are usually expandable and come with a refillable disposable cleaning cloth that attracts dust, dirt, and hair so they won’t fall out once it is picked up.

hen the novelist John le Carré died earlier this month, among the passages quoted by journalists was a short excerpt from The Secret Pilgrim, published in 1990. In the book, the words are spoken by Le Carré’s fondly loved character George Smiley. “The privately educated Englishman – and Englishwoman, if you will allow me – is the greatest dissembler on Earth,” he says. “Was, is now and ever shall be for as long as our disgraceful school system remains intact. Nobody will charm you so glibly, disguise his feelings from you better, cover his tracks more skilfully or find it harder to confess to you that he’s been a damned fool.” The words are a cutting summary of the far-off era of upper class treachery and cold war subterfuge, but also fit the less romantic time of Brexit, the pandemic and a Conservative party whose leadership by two public schoolboys has so pushed us into disaster. Therein lies a huge part of the national tragedy that, amid stranded lorries, a shamefully high death toll and some of the greatest peacetime blunders this country has ever made, has recently seemed to be reaching some kind of awful climax. Of late, some of the best writing about the mess we are in has focused on Boris Johnson’s character flaws, which are undoubtedly a big part of the tale. But what has been rather less examined is the fact that his shortcomings blur into a much longer story about our longstanding ruling class, and its habit of creating crisis after crisis. Advertisement The year 2021 will mark the 80th anniversary of George Orwell’s inspirational essay, The Lion and the Unicorn, his warmly patriotic text about the English national character, and his belief that this country’s efforts in the early stages of the second world war were being compromised by the fact that he was still resident in “the most class-ridden country under the sun”. Here, too, there are plenty of characterisations of the English elite that seem as pertinent now as they were then. “Probably the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, but the opening battles of all subsequent wars have been lost there,” wrote Orwell, and as an Etonian himself he surely knew what he was talking about. Of the ruling-class politicians who had overseen Britain’s domestic travails during the 1920s and 30s while pursuing the disastrous foreign policies that culminated in appeasement, he said this: “What is to be expected of them is not treachery, or physical cowardice, but stupidity, unconscious sabotage, an infallible instinct for doing the wrong thing. They are not wicked, or not altogether wicked; they are merely unteachable.” Back when Conservatives at least partly understood such criticism and successively embraced first postwar consensus politics, then the populist meritocracy most spectacularly embodied by Margaret Thatcher, they were harder to malign as chancers and stuffed shirts. But in the buildup to Christmas, as I watched Johnson deny the nightmare of a no-deal Brexit, row back on his stupid promise of a normal Christmas and then yet again offer the prospect of a return to normality (this time, he seemed to suggest, by Easter), Orwell’s words once again made perfect sense. Since the election as party leader of David Cameron back in 2005, even if the Conservatives have stuck with a post-Thatcher view of the world, many of the inner circles of Tory politics have reverted to a way of doing things more rooted on the grouse moors of old than in the modern world. Johnson’s arrival at the top revived a familiar mixture of entitlement, superficiality and lives that most people would think impossibly opulent. We all know what those things have led to – a seemingly endless run of terrible decisions, from the calling of the 2016 referendum to the chain of stupidities that has defined Britain’s experience of Covid-19. Just to be clear: the downsides of a certain kind of privileged leadership have flared up on all sides of politics, from the messianic arrogance that led Tony Blair into the Iraq disaster, to Nick Clegg’s virtual destruction of the Liberal Democrats. But in the main, this is a Tory story. If your Christmas presents included the horrifically readable memoir, Diary of an MP’s Wife by Sasha Swire (whose husband, Hugo, was a minister under Cameron and part of his social circle), you will have a sense of what all this looks like up close. Johnson’s biographer, Sonia Purnell, described Swire’s book as a portrait of people who are “unserious, entitled, snobbish, incestuous and curiously childish” – obsessed with the subtle distinctions of taste and status that separate the middle from the upper class, and drawn to politics and power not out of any sense of mission or duty, but a dull belief that such things are what people like them do. Under Johnson, the same culture of entitlement and mutual back-scratching has hardened into the so-called “chumocracy”. Oligarchy is rarely an efficient or sensible way to govern, but that doesn’t seem to have got in the way. Just before Christmas, dismay about the Johnson government and its apparent distance from reality seemed to be reaching a peak. But then came the Brexit trade deal, and a familiar idea returned – not least in the rightwing press – that under the shambling exterior, the prime minister is some kind of swashbuckling genius. This is an archetype that depends on the glib charm cited by Le Carré, and draws on a deep well of deference. The reality is surely that a reckless project driven by the alumni of private schools (Johnson, Dominic Cummings, Nigel Farage, Jacob Rees-Mogg et al) has resulted in probably the only trade deal in history that puts up barriers to commerce rather than removing them, and will be rushed through parliament with a sickening disdain for any scrutiny. Combined with the economic effects of the pandemic, the result will be damage and uncertainty that is only just starting: all the talk about Brexit now being finished is further proof of the ditch we have been led into. The disasters, then, will continue to mount up, but will they result in any change? If history teaches us anything, it is that this country’s mixture of cap-doffing and unassailable privilege tends to keep even the most rotten hierarchies in place, and the saga grinds on. This is the essence of the very British mess that we seem unable to escape.

start vote: v1:v2:

It's not every day you drive to the lyrical strains of an Oscar-winning composer who has pulled out all the stops just for you. But such was my fate when I got behind the wheel of BMW's new iX3 sports utility vehicle to take it for its first drive on UK roads before it reaches customers in Summer. That's because it's the first BMW car for which Academy Award-winning movie composer Hans Zimmer has written a soundtrack in collaboration with the firm's sound designer Renzo Vitale. It's the first pure electric SUV to use sounds from the creator of such Hollywood blockbusters as Gladiator, Batman, and Pirates of the Caribbean - with an Academy Award for his original score for The Lion King. They give a welcoming chime when you press the Start button, and a farewell tone when you switch off. And once underway, driver and occupants of the near-silent vehicle enjoy a strong cinematic sense of rising crescendo from the synthetic sound as velocity increases. In future, it will also warn pedestrians of its imminent approach. But does the iX3 strike the right note? It's certainly entering a busy market with the likes of the Tesla Model-X, Ford's Mustang Mach-E, VW's ID4, Nissan's Ariya and the Skoda Enyaq, as well as Audi's e-tron, Mercedes-Benz's EQC, and Jaguar's I-Pace. Many may be relieved that the iX3 looks so normal. It lacks the much debated massive cartoonish grille on some of the most recent BMWs which have divided opinion. Other than seeing the driver on the 'wrong' side of the road, the left-hand drive version of the iX3 I drove is one BMW electric car that is unlikely ever to shock. Its looks are entirely conventional. Apart from the covered grille, the lack of exhaust and some specific trim and exterior tweaks, you'd be hard pushed to tell it from its petrol, diesel and hybrid siblings. That's not necessarily a bad thing unless you really want to boast about your eco-credentials. The rear end has also been sculpted to reduce air resistance and aerodynamically designed light-alloy wheels help reduce drag coefficient by around 5 per cent adding around 6 miles to the range. Order books for the iX3 are open now with prices from £58,850 for the electric BMW iX3 Premier Edition and from £61,850 for the Premier Edition Pro (which includes the synthetic sound). The iX3 does not qualify for the Government's tax-payer funded UK plug-in car grant of £3,000, which is capped at £50,000. Other variants are set to follow. The iX3 is part the first BMW range to offer customers a choice of pure electric drive, plug-in hybrid, petrol or diesel options – emulating a 'pick'n'mix' power choice strategy pioneered by French rivals Peugeot. By comparison, petrol and diesel combustion iX3 models start from £42,115 and hybrids from £49,250 – suggesting an electric mark up from around £16,000 and £9,000 respectively. The iX3 also the first model to be built for export at BMW's Shenyang factory in China operated by the joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive. The mantra of the firm with plants in the UK, US and beyond has long been that quality depends on being 'built by BMW' not 'built in Germany'. Out on the road the sprightly new 'green' SUV is sufficiently butch to be considered a bimmer – sprinting from rest to 62mph in 6.8 seconds up to a top speed limited at 112mph. It's comfortable and pretty engaging to drive but don't expect the ultimate driving machine. It's for active owners and small families, not would be racers. Running on 20 inch black aerodynamic wheels the iX3 offers drivers a range of up to 279 miles (on the new 'real-world' WLTP test cycle) – which would leave you about 21 miles short and needing a top up on a 300 mile run from London to Newcastle. BMW said the storage capacity of the battery has been 'substantially increased' with a gross energy content of 80 kWh delivering 74kWh of useable charge. On a fast DC charger of up to 150 kW it will charge up to 80 per cent in 34 minutes. Or you can give a 62 miles boost to the car's driving range with a swift 10 minute burst. But BMW says it would still need to make fewer and shorter charging stops than a comparable electric vehicle whose efficiency is compromised by larger and heavier high-voltage batteries. The slim, low-slung high-voltage battery sits low down in the underbody and lowers the car's centre of gravity by around 7.5 centimetres – or about three inches - compared with its conventionally powered BMW X3 siblings. Acceleration is pretty brisk, sporty and engaging. You can also fine-tune your driving style. Pull the drive-lever down to 'D' and the driver can choose a high, medium or low brake energy regeneration setting – increasing or decreasing the amount of resistance you feel when you take your foot off the accelerator. The higher the resistance, the more energy you recuperate for your battery. But slide it left into driving position 'B' allows you to drive with 'one pedal' style – with your foot only on the accelerator. Take it off and the intense braking kicks in immediately, boosting energy gain. In an adaptive setting, the intensity of the car's brake energy regeneration can also adjust according to the road conditions using data gleaned from the navigation system and the driver assistance system sensors. So it is maximised if you are approaching a junction or a vehicle on the road ahead. Out on the open road, it coasts if you take your foot off the accelerator. ' The iX3 is the first model to offer BMW's fifth-generation electric e-Drive – which bring the electric motor, electronic systems and transmission into one central unit. The same electric motor, power electronics, charging technology and high-voltage battery used in the iX3 to boost performance, power consumption and range will be fitted in the new BMW iX and BMW i4 models from 2021. The electric motor's power density is 30 per cent higher than existing fully electric vehicles and up to 93 per cent efficient - compared with under 40 per cent for combustion engines. The 188-cell battery is 20 per cent more powerful than existing ones. Inside is a fully-digital high-resolution 12.3 inch instrument cluster behind the steering wheel and a 10.25-inch central display with a choice of control via touchscreen, buttons, voice or gesture. Spoken commands are possible via the latest version of the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant by saying 'Hey BMW' or your personal call. The car's infotainment system is also compatible with Apple CarPlay Android Auto, allowing access to digital services such as Google Assistant, Google Maps, music-streaming like Spotify and Amazon Music, and WhatsApp messaging. The new cloud-based BMW Maps navigation system enables route arrival times and directions to fast charging points to be calculated with greater speed and precision. Standard equipment includes automatic tailgate, adaptive suspension, and a panoramic sunroof, electric seats, sun-protective glazing, and a hi-tech dashboard. Wireless phone-charging, heated front-seats, and parking aids are there too. There is a limited but sufficient choice of four exterior metallic body colours – my Mineral White, Carbon Black, Phytonic Blue, and Sophisto Grey – along with two exterior trim colours in brushed aluminium or black high gloss. Driver and passenger are cossetted inside in one of four shades of Vernasca leather. Split folding rear seat backrests mean boot capacity can be increased from 510 to a maximum of 1,560 litres. The BMW Operating System 7 allows for the car's software to be updated over the air. The new iX3 SUV is due on the market in Summer just as the Munich-based Bavarian automotive giant prepares to launch not only its new electric i4 coupe but also its hulking new flagship electric iX SUV which was unveiled earlier this month. But they'll all arrive in showrooms nearly eight years after BMW unleashed its once pioneering new i3 electric car – a ground-breaker both in terms of styling and technology – after which BMW appeared to lose its then lead in matters electric. Maybe the new iX3 will help it recharge its electric batteries. And there are 11 hybrids in the pipeline too.

2020 was the year we learnt a lot of things, from what social distancing meant to what a sourdough starter was. But home baking aside, one thing we all got acquainted with quickly was social media app TikTok, which people embraced faster than you could binge watch all the episodes of Tiger King. TikTok’s addictive array of short clips proved the perfect antidote to the long weeks in lockdown where there became such a thing as too much Netflix. But Aussies haven’t just spent the year watching TikTok, they’ve also been making them, with several users turning into bona fide celebrities – here are some of the biggest stars that emerged on the app this year. With a mammoth 16.3 million fans on TikTok, Sarah Magusara wears the crown for being the most followed Australian on the app. The 19-year-old mum’s videos have gotten more than 900 million likes, with her dancing videos the most po[CENSORED]r. The Gold Coast woman also posts videos of her working out and with her one-year-old daughter Zamira. “I didn’t tell anyone I was pregnant until I was 21 weeks because I thought people would look down on me,” Sarah told Stellar magazine in August. “Instead, it was the complete opposite. Having a baby increased my audience. Young mums started following me and the feedback I received was really positive. I really love how they like my lifestyle.” With 1.1 million followers Anna Paul has built a huge mostly local fan base on TikTok thanks to her sunny daily vlogs, which usually get anywhere between 500,000 to upwards of a million views. As well as being famous for her daily recaps, Anna also posts openly about her cosmetic work, earning the money for her lavish lifestyle through her OnlyFans account. Anna told news.com.au back in July she started her TikTok back in 2018 when few had heard of the app. “I had TikTok when people would make fun of you for having TikTok,” she said with a laugh. “People were like, ‘Ew, why do you have TikTok, what is it?’” But the 21-year-old realised early on the app would one day blow up. “It was my first or second or third TikTok walking in my room, and I have a laundry chute in my bedroom in my closet,” Anna said. The video “blew up”, getting a million views with “so many people” reacting to the simple clip. “It was weird, but that’s when I was like, ‘Oh wow, this could be something’,” Anna said. “Even though it was only one little viral video I thought, wow this is a new way to get noticed.” If there was a first family of TikTok in Australia front and centre would be Mikayla Testa and Anna, who as well as being friends have a family connection. Mikayla is dating Anna’s brother Atis Paul and last year made headlines for complaining about Instagram losing its like count. But more recently she has started doing daily vlogs like Anna and has more 360,000 followers on TikTok. Sasha shares hilarious skits and videos with her seriously glam mum Therese, with the mother-daughter duo first going viral earlier this year. Back in March, Sasha posted a video she had secretly filmed of her bikini-clad mum giving her photo posing tips. The clip has since gone on to get more than 1.6 million views, with people commenting that Therese was the “winner of the best mum award”. “I loved how easy to use the platform was and how creative I could get with it while being true to my personality, so got totally addicted very quickly,” Sasha told 9Honey back in May.

The top four channels by viewership in both English and Hindi made windfall gains from government spending on ads in 2013-14. It’s mostly gone downhill since. Previously, we examined how the Indian government is spending ever more money on advertising and how substantial sums of it are funding the promotion of bigotry, especially by TV news. In the third part of our series, we take a close look at overall trends in how the government has been giving ads to leading news channels. We look at government ad money received by the top eight channels by viewership: Times Now, India Today, CNN News18, and NDTV in English; Zee News, Aaj Tak, NDTV India, and India TV in Hindi. Given the study covers the period from 2012-13, only channels that existed back then are considered. This is why channels such as Republic TV, Republic Bharat, and ABP News are not included even though they have featured among the most watched news channels in recent years. Overall trends All eight channels saw their ad revenues drop in 2012-13, only to see a spike the following year, ahead of the 2014 general election. In the Hindi segment, Aaj Tak saw the steepest drop in 2013-14, its government ad revenue plummeting to Rs 260.63 lakh from Rs 543.84 lakh the previous year. NDTV India suffered the least, losing Rs 100.53 lakh in the same year, according to data provided by the Department of Advertising and Visual Publicity in response to RTI applications. In the English news segment, CNN News18 saw its revenue drop to Rs 36.31 lakh from Rs 105.89 lakh the year before. India Today, on the other end, lost Rs 20.42 lakh to end up with a total of Rs 3.42 lakh. In 2013-14, they all profited from generous government ad spending, Hindi channels much more than English ones. Aaj Tak was the biggest beneficiary in the Hindi segment, getting Rs 775.33 lakh, three times as much as in 2012-13, followed by India TV, which received Rs 750.03 lakh. In the English segment, CNN News18 took the biggest piece of the pie, of Rs 166.26 lakh, and India Today the smallest, of Rs 96.81 lakh. From 2012-13 to 2018-19, the four top English news channels never received more government ad money than in 2013-14. It was the year the Manmohan Singh government substantially raised the share of ad spending on electronic media, to about 50 percent from 30 percent the previous year. Each year since then, they have received lesser and lesser ad money, save for a slight increase in 2016-17 for the three channels other than Times Now. From 2015-16, the four Hindi channels similarly saw government ad revenues shrink year after year from. By 2018-19, all eight channels had arrived at the same point: they received the least ad money since 2011-12. Rather surprisingly, given the government’s ad spending on electronic media increased that year. Overall, Hindi TV news channels have received much more government ad money than English channels since 2012-13. The least ad money received by any of the four English channels across the years was Rs 0.88 lakh by India Today in 2018-19, while the lowest amount received by a Hindi channel was Rs 16.46 lakh by NDTV India the same year. Similarly, the most received by an English channel was Rs 166.26 lakh by CNN News18 in 2013-14, as against Rs 805.14 lakh for Aaj Tak in 2016-17. Interestingly, the decline in government ad revenues for top TV channels has coincided with an upward trend in news viewership, which has grown by 46 percent in the last four years, from 2,952 billion viewing minutes in 2016 to 4,324 billion viewing minutes in 2019, according to a report by the TV ratings agency BARC. These are numbers for the news genre as a whole, though. Broken down, the numbers show that while viewership for Hindi channels grew by about 31 percent between 2016 and 2019, it declined for English channels. This is the third part of a series on how Indian governments advertise with the media. The first part detailed the funding of Sudarshan News channel. The second part explained how the Narendra Modi government is spending ever more on media ads and who this benefits. Mic Drop

> Opponent's nickname: @King_of_lion > Theme (must be an image): > Work Type: avatar > Size & Texts: size: 150×250 text: battle CSBD > How many total votes?: 10 > Work time: 24hour

V1 text & blur

CALGARY — A world-famous annual rodeo that survived the Great Depression, two world wars and a devastating flood seven years ago was felled by a microscopic virus this year and will have a different look if it’s allowed to go forward in 2021. Calgary Stampede president Dana Peers says planning is underway, with fingers crossed, to stage the celebration of cowboy life, which brings in a million visitors each year and gives the local economy a $282-million boost. “Who would have thought it would be a pandemic that would really take us to a whole new level of challenge?” Peers said in an interview. The Stampede first started on an annual basis in 1923. It had been held every year since, including in 2013 when Calgary and other communities in southern Alberta were devastated by flooding. The grounds were under water, but frantic efforts enabled the 10-day rodeo, fair and midway to go ahead. “Unlike the floods, where the waters receded and they allowed us to get in there and get the physical work done and move forward, here we are 10 months later and the pandemic hasn’t receded,” Peers said. “For that reason, we haven’t been able to turn around like we did in 2013.” Another challenge, Peers said, is there’s been little revenue, since most of the 1,200 events held at Stampede Park each year were also cancelled. A COVID-19 testing site was set up instead and the rodeo grandstand has been used as a courthouse to allow for physical distancing. Peers said he remains “very hopeful” the Stampede will be held in some form next year. Stampede officials are working with Alberta Health Services and Calgary’s Emergency Management Agency to find a way to hold it safely. He said the arrival of vaccines is also a positive. “We need to think about new ways to be able to have people (in the) park safely, to be able to social distance, to have those kind of events where people can feel safe,” Peers said. “I see 2021 as a bridge year. We’re hopefully going to … still have a Stampede. And by the time we get to 2022, hopefully we’re back to a situation where it would be more normal.” University of Calgary professor Aritha van Herk, who wrote “Stampede and the Westness of the West,” said event officials showed leadership by cancelling in 2020, but people are anxious for it to return. “You’re not a Calgarian unless you’ve participated completely, drunk too much, danced your feet off. Every part of it is part of the city’s character.” Van Herk said she expects the event will go ahead next year on a limited basis. “I bet they will try to do it in such a way that they really limit attendance and they’ll use this opportunity to rethink everything. We’ve been going for a 100 years. What can we make better?” The City of Calgary had already been hit with a financial crisis linked to a drop in oil prices, which led to layoffs and extensive amounts of empty space before the pandemic began. The president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development said the city has a perception problem, which hasn’t been helped by focusing on the Stampede and energy sector while ignoring the booming tech and financial sectors. “People think of us as only an oil and gas town … and yet there’s so much more going on and has been for the last several years,” said Mary Moran. “It doesn’t mean you abandon your heritage. We have to honour that.”

Rudy Giuliani is the man tasked with the seemingly impossible job of trying to prove Donald Trump was the alleged victim of voting fraud. The President’s personal lawyer has been scrambling around in a desperate bid to overturn the US election results since Joe Biden was announced president elect on November 8. But it seems his daughter Caroline – a loud and proud Democrat (and major fan of Kamala Harris, the first ever female vice-president elect) – thinks her dad should let it go. The 31-year-old has penned a humorous list of “self-care tips” to help “Trumpworld” accept defeat. And in light of her dad’s recent public downfall, which include the former 9/11 hero and New York mayor suffering an embarrassing hair dye fail and a humiliating cameo in the latest Borat film, people are urging Mr Giuliani to take note. RELATED: Should Donald Trump concede? Have your say in our online poll Among the many zingers Caroline wrote in her piece for Vanity Fairis a plea to stay away from artificial dyes while making “false claims of voter fraud in Philadelphia” – a clear message for her dad who was photographed with dark steams of dye rolling down his face at a recent press conference. She also urged to him to “take stock of your failures” – writing that “only sociopathic narcissists have delusions of grandeur, blaming others for their failings, often with tragic consequences”. Caroline also poked fun at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping fiasco, which saw her dad holding a press conference at a garden centre situated between a crematorium and an adult sex shop called Fantasy Island, rather than at – as had been expected – Philadelphia’s Four Seasons hotel. Some of her helpful nuggets of advice appear to be aimed at social media fan Donald Trump as she suggested staying off Twitter for a minimum of eight years, adding “forever” would be better. “Pack up any and all belongings from the White House. Then trek into the wilderness until you lose cell service and Twitter will no longer refresh. Stay until America is back on track. This may take anywhere from eight years to forever,” she wrote. She also implored sore losers to take up a new hobby, but stated “whining, lying, and grabbing women by the pussy are not skills”, which appears to be another not-so-subtle stab at the outbound president. Among all the laughs seemed to be a personal plea from Caroline to her dad. “Stop ignoring your relatives who just want you to allow the democratic process to unfold unobstructed. (Artsy daughters are especially insightful.)” Understandably, Twitter has erupted over the “hilarious” piece with many branding it “clever and courageous”. Your Vanity Fair piece is delightful. A breath of fresh air. I am happy for my daughter's generation. Your writing gave me a glimpse into a beautiful future. Please keep writing and publishing. Thank you A Mom — Mimi (@Mimi40202318) November 28, 2020 Last month Caroline went viral for another searing piece for Vanity Fair in which she publicly criticised her father and revealed she is voting for Joe Biden in a searing personal essay. In the essay she called Mr Trump’s administration “toxic” and his presidency a “reign of terror”, and calls her father, the former Mayor of New York City, the “president’s personal bulldog”.

The day after Christmas is known in the United Kingdom as Boxing Day, and it’s one of the most special days on the soccer calendar. There’s always a big slate of games across England and Scotland. Here’s a look at the top games to watch on TV and online this weekend.The first game of the weekend might be the best one of all. Manchester United roared into third place in the English Premier League with last Sunday’s 6-2 rout of Leeds, and now visits a Leicester squad that’s in second place by one point. The striker duel between United’s Marcus Rashford (12 goals in 21 games) and Leicester’s Jamie Vardy (13 in 15) should be great theater. READ MORE: Premier League TV analyst Danny Higginbotham joins Union’s broadcast team, NBC and CBS soccer studio shows Up in Scotland, Glasgow-based Rangers has a stunning 16-point lead over second-place crosstown rival Celtic. Though Celtic has played three fewer games, even if it wins them all, the gap would still be seven points — three games’ worth of results. A Rangers win over third-place Hibernian, based in Edinburgh, would be a big step toward ending Celtic’s run of nine straight Scottish Premier League titles. Fulham is already battling to avoid relegation, and this game is a big test. The club’s two Americans, centerback Tim Ream and left back Antonee Robinson, will have their hands full with Southampton attackers Theo Walcott and Danny Ings. Let’s say this as bluntly as possible: Celtic fans need to get over the idea that they’re going to get Mark McKenzie for a cheap price. And “cheap price” doesn’t just mean the absurdly low $1.25 million fee some Celtic fans thought was possible earlier this year. It means the full price that teams from England or Germany will offer to attract McKenzie to a higher level of soccer. It’s fine that McKenzie told Sky Sports this month he knows Celtic helped develop Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk into the world’s best centerback. But he can do better, and so can the Union — and that will be especially true if Celtic slips up any more this season. Hibernian is just one point back of Celtic right now, and fourth-place Aberdeen is one point back of Hibs. That raises the pressure on Celtic to win all of its games in hand. The spotlight should be on Chelsea here, and not just because of Hershey native Christian Pulisic. But it won’t be, and Blues fans know why. On the other side of London, Arsenal has been such a trainwreck that it’s one of the biggest stories of the season. The Gunners have just four wins in 14 Premier League games this season and sit in 15th place, just three spots above the relegation zone. Arsenal needs better defenders, and has for years. But the front office has failed to deliver it, partly because owner Stan Kroenke won’t let the team have the money it needs. The team needs a playmaker, but the one that it has, Mesut Ozil, has been exiled for reasons no one is willing to say. Ozil has been reduced to hosting Q&A sessions with fans on Twitter, and those fans have been reduced to stewing over their club’s ineptitude. Man City is on a nine-game unbeaten streak in all competitions dating back to Nov. 21. But that’s a little bit deceptive, because of the five Premier League games in that run, just one has been a win over a good team: at Southampton last Saturday. Will that be the spark that Kevin de Bruyne and company need to make a move up the standings? This game will tell us. Both of these teams have hit ruts lately. Wolves, led by Mexican striker Raul Jimenez, has just one win in its last four games. Harry Kane and Tottenham are on a three-game winless streak in the Premier League, including back-to-back losses to Liverpool and Leicester. Another English soccer holiday tradition is playing lots of games in a short time. Coaches and players rightly hate it, but TV money calls the shots just like it does in American sports. So both of these teams will be back on the field barely 48 hours after their last contest. Could it give Zack Steffen a shot at his first Premier League start?

In the view of increasing input costs, the BMW Group has decided to increase the price of BMW and MINI cars in India by up to two per cent from 4 January, 2021. The coronavirus pandemic is having a far-reaching effect on the automobile industry. The pandemic not only hampered sales but also disrupted the global supply chain. And let's not discount the financial and economic impacts of the coronavirus. A combination of this has compelled automakers in India to increase the prices of their vehicles from the next year. Carmakers like Maruti Suzuki, Kia, Mahindra, Renault, and Honda have decided to make their vehicles costlier from the next year. Adding to this list is BMW Group, which has decided to hike the prices of BMW and MINI cars' price in India. This price increment will come into effect from 4 January and will make the cars expensive by up to two per cent. Just like other carmakers, even BMW has ascribed the price hike to increasing input costs. It must be noted that BMW is not only the only luxury brand that has announced an impending price hike; Audi India too will make its entire portfolio costlier by up to two per cent from 1 January, 2021. Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India, said, "In an unprecedented year, the company has been focused on providing best-in-class products and unparalleled services to its esteemed clientele. From January 4, 2021, BMW Group India will introduce the new pricing for BMW and MINI portfolio, increasing the prices marginally by up to 2 per cent to offset the increasing input costs." JCW Rear BMW's current lineup in India includes locally assembled vehicles like 2 Series Gran Coupe, 3 Series, 3 Series GT, 5 Series,6 Series GT, and SUVs like X1, X3, X5, and X7. The company's portfolio also includes models like 8 Series Gran Coupe, X6, Z4, M2, M5 Competiton, X3 M, and X5 M, all of which reach our shores via CBU (completely built-up) route. Besides these, the group also retails MINI three-door version, MINI five-door version, Cooper, Clubman, etc. Read More