Mr.Talha

Intel is already prepping its next-gen successor to the Phantom Canyon NUC known as NUC 12 'Serpent Canyon' which would offer 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs and Xe-HPG based DG2 graphics chips. In a slide that was leaked over at Weibo (via HXL), it can be seen that the enthusiast variant of the NUC 12 series which will be known as Serpent Canyon, will be replacing the NUC 11 series. The PC will offer two key components, a brand new CPU architecture in the form of Alder Lake and a new in-house GPU option in the form of Xe-HPG powered DG2. The NUC 12 'Serpent Canyon' series will come in three flavors, the top variant will feature an Alder Lake Core i7 CPU with up to 16 GB Discrete graphics. This will be followed by a Core i7 variant with up to 12 GB Discrete graphics and finally, we have the entry-level Core i5 variant with an 8 GB GPU. Leaked specifications for Xe-HPG DG2 SKUs confirm that 16 GB, 12 GB and 8 GB GPUs do exist so that's what we are going to end up getting in the next-gen Mini PCs from Intel. Now it isn't explicitly mentioned which GPU the NUC 12 will be offering but considering that the Mini PC launches next year, it is pretty much confirmed to offer Intel's Xe-HPG based DG2 GPUs. The discrete graphics will offer HDMI 2.1, Mini DP 2.0, and DP 2.0 outputs. As for the rest of the specifications, it looks like the Intel Alder Lake CPUs will be attached to dual-channel DDR4-3200 SODIMMs (1.2V) with up to 64 GB capacities. This confirms that Alder Lake CPUs will have support for both DDR5 and DDR4 memory baked within their memory controller. In terms of I/O, the NUC 12 will rock support for 2 Gen 4x4 and 1 Gen 3x4 (2280) M.2 drives, the Optane Memory M10/H10 solution, front and rear Thunderbolt 4 ports, Intel 2.5GbE (i225-LM) for LAN, Intel Wireless-AX411 (Bluetooth 5.x + WiFi 6E), a total of 6 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports & 2 USB 2.0 ports (internal headers), a 3.5mm headset jack, 7.1 channel digital audio via HDMI or DP ports, a beam-forming, quad-mic array with Alexa support and a power input for 19V (230/330W) C13 AC power plug. As for the design, Intel will keep the Skull logo featured on the NUC 12 and will be RGB-lit plus users will have the option to replace it and customize it themselves. A Vertical stand would be included in the package along with a 3-year warranty. Currently, there are no Alder Lake CPU configurations that have been mentioned but we will know in the coming months as we get closer to launch.

The president of the UK's upcoming climate change conference is under fire for travelling to more than 30 countries in seven months. Several places visited by Alok Sharma were on the Covid red list - but he used an exemption for ministers to avoid quarantine on his return. The government said face-to-face meetings were "crucial" ahead of the COP26 climate summit. But opposition parties have accused Mr Sharma of hypocrisy. Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford called his itinerary - which was all published on government websites - "inexplicable". He said government ministers should "demonstrate that we too mean business" in tackling climate change if they want the public to follow suit. Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said it was "completely and utterly irresponsible" for the minister to come back from red list countries without quarantining. The Daily Mail - which first reported the story - also claimed Mr Sharma held a meeting with Prince Charles days after returning from Bangladesh - a red list country - before going on a visit to a primary school. Mr Sharma tweeted pictures of his meeting with the prince, including one showing participants sitting inside without wearing masks. He is currently in Brazil - also a red list country - and has tweeted that he is having "constructive meetings". Mr Sharma left his post as business secretary in January to take over the presidency of COP26 - the United Nations climate change conference due to take place in Glasgow in November. Since then, he has met with dignitaries across the globe to discuss climate commitments ahead of the conference - despite the ongoing pandemic. Asked by the BBC's Nick Robinson in June how he defended his air travel when he is leading on environmental policy, he said it was "really important" to meet other governments to discuss plans and the visits had been "targeted". But Mr Drakeford said ministers "couldn't exempt themselves" from changes required to tackle climate change. Hypocrisy' He told BBC News: "I accept that there are some crucial meetings where being in the same room with other people does bring a new dimension to your ability to make progress. "[But] was that necessary 30 times in the lead up to COP26? That, I think, is a completely different matter. "We need to maximise the way in which we avoid travel, and we avoid adding to the emissions that creates and we need to lead by example, and I am afraid that is not what we are seeing." The Green Party's Baroness Jones also said she "despaired at the inability of Tory ministers to grasp their hypocrisy of talking about our climate emergency then behaving as normal." But Conservative Culture Minister, Caroline Dinenage, said Mr Sharma had a "huge job" with the upcoming conference and success could "only be achieved by these really strong collaborative conversations that [he] has been pursuing around the world". And Allegra Stratton, the PM's spokeswoman for COP26, said Mr Sharma had travelled to "meet key players and negotiate success for us all," and was doing "vital work". A government spokesman added: "Helping the world tackle the climate emergency is an international priority for the government. "Virtual meetings play a large part, however face-to-face meetings are key to success in the climate negotiations the UK is leading as hosts of COP26 and are crucial to understanding first-hand the opportunities and challenges other countries are facing in the fight against climate change." It is also understood the government plans to offset the emissions associated with travel by Mr Sharma and other UK officials in the run up to COP26.

Malcolm Wilson has been there, seen it and done it all in a rally career spanning more than 40 years. This is a man who rallied through the fabled Group B era, has represented Ford in the World Rally Championship in one shape or form through three decades and experienced the buzz (and stress) of running both Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz in the same team. So what does he really think about his sport’s embrace of hybrid technology from 2022? Wilson is hard to impress. He is from Cumbria, after all. Has it genuinely, honestly got his juices flowing? “Honestly, yeah,” he replies with a smile. “After I went to spectate up in our forest during testing, I was excited, absolutely. There’s no question that it’s rallying’s biggest revolution… probably even bigger than the Group B era.” At the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed, Wilson’s M-Sport team and Ford revealed the new Puma Rally1 that will compete in the new-look WRC next year. The compact crossover, which will replace the Fiesta supermini, popped and banged its way up the hillclimb with the best of them, offering an all too familiar and well-loved soundtrack. When Formula 1 turned full hybrid in 2014, the complaints drowned out the feeble sound of the turbocharged 1.6-litre V6s, but it should be a different story on the WRC’s special stages. “It’s a sensible step for rallying, because everyone knows how difficult it is to accept change, and we don’t want to lose the noise and atmosphere,” says M-Sport team principal Richard Millener. “We’re reflecting the cars that are currently out there in showrooms and on the road. It’s an exciting opportunity for us.” Given the way of the world, it’s beyond time that rallying embraced hybrid technology, if nothing else to ensure that the WRC’s three manufacturers (Ford, Hyundai and Toyota) remain committed while giving others on the outside a reason to consider diving in. Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance, came over from the US to witness the Puma Rally1’s debut. “Knowing about the electrification we have coming on all of our road cars, with mild hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles, we’ve wanted to compete somewhere with electrification,” he says. “Looking at the different [motorsport] series that exist with hybrid or fully electric [cars] and what are still to come, we were really happy with what the FIA and WRC put together as the new car for 2022. And as we’ve always partnered with M-Sport in the rally world, we wanted to continue that relationship, with an opportunity to do a new car with new rules.”

Legspinner Mitchell Swepson claimed a career-best 3-12 as Australia ended its losing run in Bangladesh with a hard-fought three-wicket victory in the fourth Twenty20 on Saturday. Swepson, one of the two changes by Australia, used his googly and quicker deliveries to perfection to limit Bangladesh to 104-9. Bangladesh, which had already clinched the five-match series, created a chance to make it 4-0 by reducing Australia to 65-6 in the 11th over but Ashton Agar and Ashton Turner batted sensibly to help the side overhaul the target with six balls remaining. Agar was key in the 105-7 winning total, making a run-a-ball-27 with two fours and one six. After combining for a match-changing 34 runs with Turner, Agar was dismissed by fast bowler Shoriful Islam when the side was six runs from victory. Australia won with Turner on 9 and Andrew Tye on 4. Offspinner Mahedi Hasan broke through in the first over, dismissing captain Matthew Wade for 2. But Dan Christian appeared set to win the match on his own when he struck Shakib Al Hasan for five sixes in his one over. Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood (2-24) continued his good form, giving the side early success by dismissing Soumya Sarkar on 8 and Shakib on 15. Swepson then dismissed Mahmudullah and Nurul Hasan — both for ducks — in consecutive deliveries. Bangladesh managed to get past 100 thanks to Afif Hossain’s 20 and Mahedi Hasan’s 23. The fifth and final T20 is on Monday. The arrival of fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman shifted the momentum when he removed Christian after his 39 off 15 balls. Australia, for the fourth consecutive match, failed to deal with Mustafizur’s cutter and slower deliveries. Mustafizur baffled Alex Carey (1) with a slower cutter, then Mahedi (2-17) and left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed (1-17) made further inroads. Mustafizur finished with more remarkable figures of 4-1-9-2. Bangladesh also had no answer to Swepson’s disciplined bowling after captain Mahmudullah decided to bat first. Opener Mohammad Naim top-scored with 28 before falling to Swepson’s quicker delivery.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58123371 The US says children born abroad using assisted reproductive technology can now qualify for citizenship, in a move seen as a win for same-sex couples. To be eligible before, babies born overseas needed to be genetically related to the American parent. The change follows lawsuits from couples whose children were born using surrogates and other methods. Experts estimate the new policy will affect hundreds of families living outside of the US. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy, announced Thursday, means children of married couples where at least one parent is an American and one is related to the child, are eligible for citizenship and family benefits. The agency's director, Ur Jaddou, said this new interpretation of the law is meant to ensure "fair access and support for all families and their loved ones". There are likely hundreds of couples this decision will affect, though the exact figure is unclear, according to Aaron Morris, executive director of the LGBT advocacy group Immigration Equality. "In denying that their children were citizens, they were also disrespecting the marriage of the parents," Mr Morris adds. "It was like a double injury to all these families." James Derek Mize and Jonathan Gregg were one of those families. Their daughter, Simone, was born in the UK using a surrogate in 2018. While Mr Mize and Mr Gregg are both US citizens, Simone was denied citizenship because she was genetically related to only Mr Gregg - who the government ruled had not physically been in the US long enough to pass on citizenship. The US also did not recognise both fathers as Simone's parents. Mr Mize tells the BBC that the situation was "stressful and confusing". "There was really no end in sight," he says. "We didn't know if it was going to be a six-month situation, a year or three-year long situation, or a decade. We had no idea." Ultimately, a federal judge in Atlanta ruled that Simone was a citizen - but stopped short of striking down the government's policy. Mr Mize on Friday expressed a sense of relief. He expects that many couples who were reluctant to have a "stateless" child will be more open to assisted reproductive technology - like in-vitro fertilisation - while abroad. "It's not abstract. Real people are now able to move forward because of the policy change," he says. "We literally feel there are families being created now, that otherwise wouldn't have been, because of this." In May, a similar family policy reversal was announced by the US Department of State, which said the change considers the "realities of modern families" and advances in reproductive technologies since the regulations were enacted in 1952.

Accepted

A four-and-a-half-star car for less than half price is the deal with this BMW M235i that we’ve alighted on. The 2015 coupé has done 52,000 miles, it has a full service history and it’s painted in must-have Estoril Blue. Annoyingly, the dealer levies a £250 admin fee. Not impressed: seems like a way of sneaking in a bit extra under the cover of a lower screen price. Still, back to the car. It has a turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six that produces 322bhp and 332lb ft of torque. It’s a smooth-revving motor and comes alive with a delicious howl at around 6000rpm. Mercifully, there’s very little turbo lag. Economy, even under hard driving, is around 30mpg. Our find has the six-speed manual gearbox, which can yield 0-62mph in 5.0sec. It’s much rarer than the otherwise excellent ZF eight-speed automatic, which shifts gears in a blink and which snips 0.2sec off the sprint time. That might be a dealbreaker for some, but the manual is the one to choose for its more authentic experience. In any case, it feels much quicker than the official figure suggests. A coupé it may be, but the M235i is practical. It’s a full four-seater with a massive boot that’s easily capable of swallowing a few suitcases. It’s not short of equipment, either. Sporty 18in alloy wheels, leather seats, dual-zone air conditioning, automatic headlights and a DAB radio are all standard. The only thing that you might miss is the limited-slip differential, which was an option on later models. Our reviewer reckoned the M235i has future classic stamped all over it. Seven years on, we won’t disagree. Especially not for £17,190. Volkswagen Scirocco 2.0 TSI GT, £10,200: It still looks so fresh that it’s hard to believe the Mk3 Scirocco is based on the Mk5 Golf. Still, its cabin and a drive around the block will confirm that it’s no spring chicken. That’s why we’ve been cautious and opted for a reasonably priced 60,000-miler.

When PR Sreejesh was in primary school, at a village 30 kilometres east of Kochi, his physical education teacher was convinced that he had unearthed the next sporting sensation. Sreejesh was good at everything — he could hurl the discus and javelin a fair distance, he could leap, smash and spike, he was in both volleyball and basketball teams, could perform the long jump as well as high jump. Sometimes, he could run too, though he himself despised running. He revelled in every sport, expect hockey that is. So versatile was Sreejesh that he was referred to GV Raja Sports School, the government-run primary sports school in state capital Thiruvananthapuram, where he could hone whatever sporting skill he wanted. It was difficult to convince his sceptical parents, who were farmers, before his teachers dangled the golden carrot of those times. “Sports quota, government job.” Sreejesh too was gung-ho, except when the moment of departure arrived, an ineffable heaviness weighed his mind down. “I had never stayed away from them, and the day I was to board the train, I broke down. I didn’t want to leave. I am usually a confident boy, but that day, I felt uneasy,” he had once recollected to this reporter. Thiruvananthapuram, just 200km away, seemed like eons away. An unfamiliar culture, food habits and surroundings, a faraway universe from his family, friends and farms. But as the train chugged along the lovely backwaters and rivulets on that scenic route, Sreejesh rearranged his morale. At the end of the three-hour-journey, as he set foot in Thiruvananthapuram, he suddenly felt grown-up and confident, and ready to face the world. “I felt a sudden wave of confidence, as if my life was going to change, that this was the beginning of my real journey,” he said. Life was to change beyond Sreejesh’s wildest imagination. At the school, he passed by a group of teenagers playing hockey. He had little clue that this was to be his destiny. The next day, he walked into the throws arena. He was left shocked by the physicality of fellow trainees. “I felt like a worm.” He stopped by the basketball and volleyball courts. “I seemed like a dwarf.” He deliberated on football. “No, it involved a lot of running”. Cricket? “No, I didn’t get the kicks.” Finally, he made friends with a couple of hockey guys who were his age and of similar physique. He used to hang around with them and would sometimes wield the stick, but without much success.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58110308 Australians living overseas could be "trapped" in Australia if they return, after the nation's government tightened its border rules without notice. Since March last year, the country has banned its citizens from leaving the country as part of its Covid strategy. That restriction has not previously applied to Australians who usually live in other countries. But they will now need to apply for an exemption for outbound travel - in line with rules for other Australians. Australia's tough border rules have been controversial. Critics say this change - in effect from 11 August - will further punish families and deter citizens from returning. The government said the measure aimed to reduce the risk of Covid cases entering the country, as it grapples with its worst outbreaks in a year. Australia already has a weekly limit on incoming travellers and bans foreigners from entry unless they have an exemption. Its policies are among the strictest globally. Last month, it halved the number of permitted arrivals due to Delta variant outbreaks. Many Australians have expressed outrage at the latest move, branded by some as barbaric. Alexandra Phelan, who lives in the US, tweeted she was "waking up to news that I'm effectively exiled from my country". While the closed-border policy has been mostly supported in Australia, many have also criticised its impact on citizens. The BBC has been told of cases in the past year where Australians have been unable to leave to care for sick or dying loved ones, or to retrieve their children from relatives. Legal experts have questioned whether Australia's rules breach constitutional rights by effectively preventing some citizens from being able to return. The government has said Australia will not re-open until at least 80% of its po[CENSORED]tion is vaccinated, likely to be sometime next year. The current total is 19%. More than half of Australia's 26 million people are currently in lockdown, due to Delta outbreaks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Sydney - the worst-hit city - has recorded over 4,300 cases in its outbreak. On Friday, New South Wales state reported 291 new cases - its highest daily number in the pandemic so far.

https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/08/07/the-burmese-army-is-making-a-bad-pandemic-worse Than than soe has not had a day off since covid-19 began charging through Myanmar at the end of May. She runs a charity in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, which transports covid patients to hospitals and corpses to cemeteries. Her organisation collects as many as 60 bodies a day. “We are very tired but we keep going,” says Ms Than Than Soe. Two volunteers recently got infected and died Covid is ravaging Myanmar. Daily cases, taken as an average over seven days, have hovered around 5,000 since mid-July, but limited testing means that this is probably an underestimate (see chart). The share of tests that return positive results has exceeded 35% since mid-July, which suggests widespread, uncontrolled transmission. Only Iran and Mexico have higher positivity rates. Myanmar, which borders countries that are home to about a third of the world’s po[CENSORED]tion, risks becoming a “super-spreader state”, according to Tom Andrews, the un’ s expert on the country. Almost every South-East Asian country is experiencing its worst outbreak yet, and for many of the same reasons: low rates of testing and vaccination, weak or overwhelmed health-care systems and the presence of more transmissible variants such as Delta. But Myanmar offers the virus particularly hospitable conditions, thanks to the army. After a coup in February, testing, contact-tracing and treatment of covid ground to a halt. Public hospitals emptied of medical workers, thousands of whom joined protests against the coup. When a state bordering India reported an outbreak in June, the junta was too busy quelling resistance to do much about it. In any case, lockdowns are impossible to enforce when people believe their lives are in danger. Violence unleashed by the coup has spurred many Burmese to take flight. Some 230,000 people fled their homes between February and June, bringing the total number of displaced people in Myanmar to 680,000. The camps where some have found refuge often have limited health care. The jungles where others flee have none. But the struggle to find medical assistance has become a national problem, shared by refugees and city folk alike. Myanmar had few doctors to begin with. In 2018 there were just 0.7 for every 1,000 people—fewer even than in India, which had 0.9. Their number has been depleted by the junta. The regime has arrested top health officials, including the former head of the national vaccination programme. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of health workers have gone underground. The security services have attacked medical personnel and facilities, killing at least 18. Junta officials reportedly entrapped, and later arrested, three doctors by posing as covid patients seeking treatment. Many hospitals have closed their doors; the un believes that just 40% of health-care facilities are still functioning. Almost all those that are open are full, according to the Myanmar Red Cross Society. Many people who are ill are treating themselves at home. They are keeping doctors like Moe Oo (not his real name) busy. Through his telemedicine service, which he offers free of charge, he is teaching patients how to check their vital signs and oxygen levels, and inject antibiotics or insulin. Many find it tricky to perform such tasks, he says. But they are the lucky ones. Drugs and other medical supplies are in short supply. Shortages of oxygen have been exacerbated by a rule banning the sale of the life-saving gas to residents of Yangon unless they get permission from local officials appointed by the junta. Dr Moe Oo has watched, helpless, as four of his patients, gasping for air, have succumbed to the virus. Myanmar is counting around 360 deaths from covid each day. This is one of the world’s highest fatality rates, relative to po[CENSORED]tion. Yet it is probably an undercount, something which the junta has implicitly acknowledged: it is building ten crematoriums in Yangon, which will be capable of dispatching more than 3,000 bodies a day

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It’s fair to say that the BMW 1 Series isn’t the maverick it used to be. Gone is the rear-wheel-drive layout and the option of a rorty straight-six engine. Instead, this third-generation model, introduced in 2019, features more conventional front- and four-wheel-drive set-ups and offers three- and four-cylinder engines only. Nevertheless, there’s still a lot to like about this 1 Series, especially if you shop for a used one. There’s plenty of performance on offer, for starters, even in base 118i form: it has a 1.5-litre turbo triple petrol with 138bhp. Diesel cars begin with the 113bhp 116d and work through from there to the 2.0-litre 118d with 148bhp and the 187bhp 120d, which has four-wheel drive. In terms of fast 1 Series variants, there’s the 128ti, with a 261bhp 2.0-litre engine, and the M135i. The latter is the most powerful car in the current line-up. It has a 302bhp turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine that sends its power to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It’s quick, punchy and can do 0-62mph in only 4.8sec Fuel economy isn’t an issue in any 1 Series. The 116d gets an impressive official average of 61.4mpg, while the 118i can boast 47.1mpg. Even the M135i achieves a decent 35.3mpg. The trim levels are SE, Sport and M Sport. SE models have 16in alloys, LED headlights, climate control, front and rear parking sensors and an 8.8in infotainment screen. Sport brings bigger, 17in wheels and more supportive sports seats in the front, along with dual-zone climate control. M Sport gets you sharper exterior and interior styling touches, plus 18in alloys. M Sport Plus Pack models have upgraded 19in wheels, as well as adaptive suspension to stiffen or soften the ride accordingly. The 1 Series gives a strong initial impression of its sportiness on the road, with quick steering and little body lean in corners. Grip is good and, with the M Sport Plus Pack’s excellent brakes, it stops keenly.

A month and a half after their rusty World Test Championship (WTC) finale outing, India’s seamers rediscovered their form in the first Test against England, producing a measured swing-and-seam bowling masterclass. Jasprit Bumrah, woefully off-kilter against New Zealand, regained his zip off the surface, and resembled his old self; Mohammed Shami embodied the virtues of patience in the first session and bore the fruits of his labour in the second; Mohammed Siraj did not get over-excited by the friendly conditions while Shardul Thakur justified his inclusion by taking crucial wickets. The transformation from a disjointed bunch of individuals to a callous company of sharpshooters was bewilderingly smooth. Here’s looking at the subtle alterations made by the Indian pace attack. Bowl fuller: That’s the sagely altruism about bowling in England. Bowling fuller is not as easy as it sounds — it’s often a matter of inches. And not just bowl full, but coerce movement, either off the seam or through the air. Besides, a bowler needs to know when to bowl that full ball. With the wine-red, hand-stitched Dukes ball, Bumrah against the fidgety Rory Burns did exactly that, striking on the fifth ball of the game. Shami would repeat the same act later in the day. First he baited Jos Buttler into an expansive cover-drive. Later, he pushed the ball a yard or two further into the batsman and made the ball deviate late into the pads. Jonny Bairstow, who like Buttler, doesn’t have a pronounced forward press, played from the crease at a Shami ball that pitched between the full and good-length zones. Even the silken Joe Root, in double-hundred touch, failed to keep out one from Thakur. Four LBWs and a bowled capture the full-length ball story. Hitting the corridor: Another fundamental in getting wickets in Tests anywhere in the world, but a difficult art to master. India’s seamers were not McGrath-Anderson like in accuracy but were substantially better than they were in the WTC final. Often in that game, in their over-keenness for the magical pitching-on-middle-and-hitting-off arc, they floundered, giving facile boundary-scoring outlets on the leg-side. When they tried to compensate, they over-reached by bowling too wide, which the Kiwi batsmen either slashed or left alone, on a surface that was apparently conducive to swing bowling. Here, they pounded the corridor more often — with the correct length — and made the English batsmen play and miss more.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-58078582 Research into people's experiences of so-called conversion therapy in the UK has been buried, campaigners say. A report - commissioned over two years ago - hit minsters' desks last December, the BBC has discovered, but has yet to appear. Boris Johnson has promised to ban what he called the "abhorrent" practice of conversion therapy. The government says the study will be published shortly when a consultation is launched. Conversion therapy is defined as an attempt to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a document signed by a number of health groups. The prime minister said in July 2020 he would put a stop to the practice. In the same interview, he said a study was examining "how prevalent" it was, adding: "We will then bring forward plans to ban it". What is conversion therapy and will it be banned? Groups criticise conversion therapy 'Groundhog Day' Act now on LGBT+ conversion therapy, ministers urged Research funded by the Government Equalities Office was commissioned when Theresa May was in Downing Street. It was led by Adam Jowett, of Coventry University's Psychological, Social and Behavioural Sciences department. In April 2019, the project called for people to share their first-hand experiences of conversion therapy, "whether it happened in a medical, commercial or faith-based context". But the findings have never been published despite a Freedom of Information request by the BBC showing that a final draft was received on 15 December 2020. Dr Jowett, who also chairs the British Psychological Society's sexualities section, called in May this year for a conversion therapy ban to be implemented "as soon as possible". Coventry University has been approached for comment. Matt Hyndman, co-founder of the Ban Conversion Therapy campaign group, said the report should have been published back in January. "It sounds like it's just been buried in a drawer somewhere and it's not that urgent." Campaigners have previously claimed the government has "dragged its feet" on the issue. Mr Hyndman said: "If they've commissioned a study which says conversion therapy is happening and it's quite severe and they've been delaying to ban it, it's not a good look." He added he didn't think more information was needed to move ahead with a ban. "We have so many stories of people and organisations that can attest to the harm it causes." It was confirmed in May's Queen's Speech that conversion therapy would be banned in England and Wales. But the government said a public consultation would take place first, in September, to ask how the legislation can best stop the practice while protecting the medical profession, defending freedom of speech and upholding religious freedom. A government spokesperson said: "Our approach is based on a range of evidence, which we will publish alongside the consultation, including the Coventry University report." Some groups had welcomed the consultation, including the Evangelical Alliance which represents 3,500 churches. Its UK director, Peter Lynas, said at the time that they wanted to avoid a situation where "a person can be accused of conversion therapy for praying with someone who freely chooses and asks for prayer". The Royal College of Psychiatrists has said it would be taking part to highlight why conversion therapy is "harmful" but also "to ensure clinicians can still help people fully explore their gender identity where appropriate." The UK government indicated that the consultation will be short, with legislation to follow "as soon as possible". The Scottish government says conversion therapy is an "abhorrent practice" and that it's waiting on details of the UK government's proposals. Northern Ireland's Department for Communities said that the "inhumane" practice should be ended and that the minister "wishes to explore all legislative options".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58095689 When Australian runner Nagmeldin 'Peter' Bol led the men's 800m Olympic track final on Wednesday, an entire nation held its breath, daring to believe. For the longest minute or so, Bol took the pack almost all the way, setting the pace at the front. Glued to screens across the country, Australians - millions of them in lockdown - willed him on, their first finalist in the event in 53 years. Alas, a fairytale ending wasn't to be. Going into the last bend, Bol was overtaken, and ultimately finished fourth. "I didn't know if I was going to win, but I knew one thing for certain," Bol said after the race. "That the whole of Australia was watching - and that carried me on." Bol's runs in Tokyo have set national records; in particular, his semi-final win on Sunday electrified Australia. Before the final, the potential for a new track champion, a 27-year-old man of Sudanese heritage, energised Australians of all backgrounds. Many read up every detail of his life story. Born in what is now South Sudan, Bol's family fled to Egypt when he was four, before migrating to Australia on humanitarian visas four years later. He went to school in Perth on a basketball scholarship, but his running talent was noticed by a sports teacher before being nurtured by her father and local coaches. Despite initially resisting the sport, he eventually moved to Melbourne to train full-time, and often spent time away from family for races in Europe. Just 10 years after entering the sport, Bol, at his second Olympics, has been in the form of his life. On Thursday, his achievement was widely celebrated. Many also noted how he had help evolve Australia's conversation about what national heroes could look like. "Seeing you run your heart out in green and gold gives us great hope for the Australia we know we can be," wrote Craig Foster, an asylum-seeker advocate and former Australian footballer. For the Sudanese-Australian community in particular, Bol's sudden surge to national attention brought much pride. Australia's press and politicians have drawn criticism for marginalising the community in recent years, especially with fear-mongering stories about gangs and violence. "As a South Sudanese Australian struggling with my own sense of identity and belonging, on Wednesday I'll get to forget that for a few moments, all thanks to Peter Bol, a young man and a symbol of what as a nation we can aspire to be, not just at the Olympics, but every day," wrote Nyadol Nyuon in a widely shared newspaper piece the day of the race. But she added that Bolt's achievements should not be "the standard one must attain to be accepted into society". In 2021, Bol should be able to held up as an Australian hero both with and without discussions of race, many have argued. "I want to untie his personal achievements from the yoke of 'the refugee', who was 'born in Sudan but fled the war-torn country when he was four', so that he may stand in his own glory," Nyuon wrote. Bol has also rejected being pigeon-holed. "I don't think people should be seen as a refugee or a migrant or something like that," he said in an interview last year. "I think it's better if we have a better conversation, to get to know the person, instead of the assumptions."

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#Contra Make you activity..

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58052902 Chinese authorities are targeting students as part of their latest vaccination campaign, as China sees its biggest virus surge in months. The government reported 71 new domestic cases on Wednesday - the highest daily count since January. A vaccination campaign for minors aged 12 to 17 is being expanded to try and combat the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. The latest cases have now spread to at least 16 provinces and municipalities. It is unclear how many in China are fully vaccinated, although authorities say more than 1.6 billion doses have been administered so far. China's Ministry of Education has asked local authorities to implement a programme targeting vaccinations of school students. Several provinces are already giving school students the jab, but the pressure is on to achieve the government's target of having 80 to 85 percent of the entire po[CENSORED]tion vaccinated by the end of the year. However, local media pointed to doubts over whether current prevention measures to combat the virus are still working. Experts quoted said the outbreak was under control but more efforts were needed to "plug the loopholes" in controlling the virus, alongside vaccinations and social distancing. The latest outbreak started in Nanjiang in the eastern Jiangsu province before spreading to the tourist destination of Zhangjiajie in central Hunan province. From there, tourists carried the virus to at least a dozen cities, including large hubs like Beijing and Chongqing. The city of Yangzhou, which is also in Jiangsu and has a po[CENSORED]tion of more than 4.5 million people, has been put under restrictions after 40 cases were detected. It's thought a 64-year-old woman, who travelled from Nanjiang to Yangzhou and visited po[CENSORED]r parlours to play cards, is responsible for the spike in the city. She is now being investigated by police for hiding her travel itinerary from authorities. Authorities in Wuhan have also started testing the entire po[CENSORED]tion of 11 million people after a handful of cases were detected. The city was thrown into the spotlight after the coronavirus first emerged there in 2019. The gambling hub of Macau is also testing all 600,000 residents, after the city recorded four new coronavirus cases. Local media has reported that some of the people who have tested positive were fully vaccinated, leading to discussion online about the threat of breakthrough infections and whether a booster shot is needed. Officials say vaccines continue to be effective against all the variants so far, and can protect people from severe symptoms and hospitalisations, according to The Global Times.

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/07/31/why-have-some-places-suffered-more-covid-19-deaths-than-others Seventeen months into the covid-19 pandemic, plenty of questions about the catastrophe remain unanswered. It is still unclear how sars-cov-2 originated, for instance. Another puzzle is why some areas have had less destructive epidemics than others. Why has Florida had fewer deaths per person from covid-19 than the American average, even though restrictions there have been looser for longer? But researchers are getting closer to the “magic” variable: the factor that does most to explain variance in deaths from the virus. It turns out that this has little to do with health measures, climate or geography. Instead it relates to economics. The huge literature on the determinants of covid-19 infections and deaths finds that many widely assumed relationships do not always hold in the real world. Everyone knows that the old are most at risk; but Japan, where 28% of people are over the age of 65 compared with 9% globally, has seen remarkably few deaths so far. Some studies suggest that places that had bad flu seasons before the pandemic suffered less since; but other researchers have called that conclusion into question. There is no consistent correlation between the toughness of lockdowns and cases or deaths. Faced with these surprising results, a hunt has begun that is as morbid as it is nerdy. Wonks are searching for less obvious variables that do more to explain variation in deaths from covid-19. And so far the most powerful of them all is inequality—usually measured as the Gini coefficient of income, where zero represents perfect equality and one represents perfect inequality. In a recent exercise Youyang Gu, a data scientist, ran multiple versions of a model that seeks to find correlations between 41 different variables and American state-level deaths from covid-19. Only three variables “consistently have non-zero coefficients”, he finds: inequality, po[CENSORED]tion density and nursing-home residents per person. And of those three, inequality has the biggest effect. Look around the world, and it seems that Mr Gu may be on to something. Deaths from covid-19 have been lower in egalitarian Scandinavia (even in Sweden, which imposed few restrictions) than for Europe as a whole. France, where the Gini is 0.29, has seen far fewer excess deaths than neighbouring Britain, where it is 0.34. New York state has both extremely high inequality and a huge covid-19 death toll; Florida is less exceptional on both counts. Few other researchers rank the variables in the way that Mr Gu does. Yet our survey of the dozens of papers investigating the determinants of the toll from covid-19 finds that inequality has consistently high explanatory power. A recent study by Frank Elgar of McGill University and colleagues, looking at 84 countries, finds that a 1% increase in the Gini coefficient is associated with a 0.67% increase in the mortality rate from covid-19. Another, by Annabel Tan, Jessica Hinman and Hoda Abdel Magid of Stanford University, looks at American counties. They find that the association between income inequality and covid-19 cases and deaths varied over 2020 but was generally positive; higher inequality tends to lead to more suffering. There is a lot less research on the potential reasons behind this intriguing relationship. Three sound plausible. The first relates to pre-existing health. A study in 2016 by Beth Truesdale and Christopher Jencks of Harvard University found “modest evidence” of a link between higher income inequality and lower life expectancy. This may be because of what economists call a “concave” relationship between health and income: giving a rich woman an extra dollar in income probably improves her health by less than removing a dollar from a poor man harms his. People in worse health tend to suffer more from covid-19 (and indeed some other research has drawn links between inequality and pre-existing conditions that may aggravate the disease, such as obesity).

Dive into any niche world and you’re guaranteed to be amazed by the dedication, expertise and total commitment of those that po[CENSORED]te it. That was certainly the case when Autocar found itself pitched into the middle of a national-level radio controlled car racing event in a corner of a public park in Uxbridge, just north of Heathrow. Held in blistering heat on the morning of the British Grand Prix, it proved no less intense than the drama that was playing out at Silverstone – just without the 140,000-strong crowd. The brief was simple, if more than a little intimidating: at the invitation of Tamiya UK, the British arm of the Japanese kit building empire, we were challenged to build up one of its 1/10th-scale TT-02 chassis from the box for a junior member of the Autocar team – by that I mean my six-year-old son Elliott – to race in round four of the MB Models King of Clubs series at the grandly named West London Racing Centre. On one level that just sounded like fun, especially as I’d always fancied building one of Tamiya’s RC kits. On another, we had just three weeks to build the car and get Elliott up to speed on the driving. Gulp. I have to admit, I definitely took the lead ‘technical director’ role on the build, with Elliott wandering over from time to time to check out progress before going back to kicking his football about. At first glance, the instructions looked daunting (until I stopped trying to read the Japanese). But like anything, once you broke it down to one step at a time it became captivating – especially as I was building against the clock. The best bit was the lack of glue, my nemesis from childhood days building plastic plane kits. Here, there were just lots of screws and grease to be applied to the moving parts. But with everything bagged and labelled clearly, the chassis and its suspension soon began to take form. These kits really are pieces of miniature automotive art. The fully operational front and rear coil-spring damped suspension was so satisfying to piece together on the bathtub-type frame, although proper diffs on each axle left me wondering what massive error I’d just committed and would only find when it was time for testing. But the bit I was really worried about were the electronics: a 6V RS540 Sport Tuned motor – apparently with a best efficiency rpm of around 18,000! – mated to a separately supplied two-channel transmitter, receiver and steering servo. This bit looked really complicated. I didn’t pay too much attention to the many gearing options suggested and stuck to the basics, while my Dad – an RC enthusiast who dabbles in boats rather than cars – was a welcome consultant engineer to make sure it was all synced up and ready to roll. Although how he manages with all those wires on his own when he’s colour-blind, Lord only knows… Last job with little more than a week to go: spray-painting the plastic body (on the inside) and applying the stickers (on the outside). Tamiya had kindly sent me a kit right up my particular street: a fully Martini-liveried silver Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, just like the one Herbie Müller and Gijs van Lennep ran to victory on the 1973 Targa Florio. Proper! But I had to source the paints myself and when they arrived it was beyond time to get the masking tape out. As per the instructions, I went to work first on the fluorescent red bumpers – except the spray paint leaked under the tape. What an unsalvageable mess. At this point I sacrilegiously forgot about historical accuracy, sent a silent apology to Herbie and Gijs, and went for an all-over fluorescent scheme instead… Anybody want to buy an unused can of silver paint? In my defence, the easy-to-apply Martini stripes worked really well against the bright red – and at least it would be easy for Elliott to spot out on track. The build finished precisely three days before the race meeting, and although initial shakedown tests were surprisingly trouble-free (once engineer consultant Smith Sr Sr sorted the steering servo), Elliott was struggling with the controls. That’ll be because he’s six. And his bumbling old man hadn’t given him enough time to test. Elliott didn’t care, of course (again, because he’s six) – but on race day I was a bag of nerves, knowing full well we’d be diving into a world way beyond our paddling depth.

Season 3 of a high-profile cricket rivalry is loading against the backdrop of Olympics fervour. Virat Kohli versus James Anderson is a battle within the battle and its outcome might well impact the result of the five-Test series between India and England, which begins at Trent Bridge on Wednesday. Back in 2014, when Anderson dismissed Kohli for fun during the latter’s first Test series in England, mental health breakdowns weren’t en vogue in sport. A tally of 134 runs in five Tests was an all-time low for Kohli and much later, he spoke about how his mind bled during and after the tour. “I have gone through a phase in my career where it was the end of the world. I just didn’t know what to do, what to say to anyone, how to speak, how to communicate.” Mentally, Kohli fought as the lone ranger, didn’t buckle under pressure and returned strong. Four years later, in England, he scored 593 runs in five Tests, including two hundreds and three half-centuries. It also restored parity in the battle of the two greats. India lost the 2014 series 3-1 and Kohli’s failure was one of the reasons for the defeat. India went down 4-1 in 2018 despite Kohli scoring runs, although the scoreline didn’t reflect the true picture. One-all after ‘two seasons’ in one of the game’s most mouth-watering contests, and Season 3 starts on a greenish Trent Bridge pitch. The India captain kept it short when asked about his approach against Anderson for the series. “I will just bat. Questions will definitely come but we have studied enough.” Kohli is now 32 years old, with 7,547 Test runs and 27 centuries under his belt. The last of those centuries, however, came against Bangladesh in Kolkata in November 2019. The man from Burnley, England’s most successful Test bowler with 617 wickets, is excited about reigniting the contest. “Excited to playing against him again. You always want to challenge yourself against the best in the world and he certainly is that. As a batsman and captain, he has a huge influence on his team. So, it’s always a big wicket. It’s going to be a big challenge,” Anderson said at the pre-match press conference.

https://www.economist.com/china/2021/07/31/china-is-rapidly-building-new-nuclear-missile-silos On a hot and sticky day in the northern city of Tianjin, America and China held their highest-level meeting on Chinese soil since Joe Biden was sworn in as America’s president in January. But the encounter on July 26th between Wendy Sherman, America’s deputy secretary of state, and counterparts from China’s foreign ministry failed to clear the air. Instead, it merely deepened the gloom that hangs over the world’s most critical great-power relationship. According to an American spokesman, Ms Sherman promised “stiff competition” with China and raised its “ongoing genocide” in the far-western region of Xinjiang, among other sore issues. She suggested co-operation on tackling problems such as climate change, narcotics and Afghanistan. But that olive branch was snapped by Xie Feng, a deputy foreign minister, who said relations were at a “stalemate” and thundered that America’s aim was to “bring China down”. His boss, Wang Yi, told America to choose between improving ties or “clashes and confrontation”. Mercifully, the two nuclear-armed countries do not appear as close to military conflict as the Soviet Union and America sometimes did during the cold war. But as the diplomats were sparring in Tianjin, the Federation of American Scientists (fas), a research group, said it had spotted China building as many as 110 silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles (icbms) near the city of Hami, in eastern Xinjiang (see picture). A month earlier, the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies, an ngo in California, had identified 120 silos being built in Yumen, in the desert of Gansu, a neighbouring province. Both outfits found the sites by poring over satellite imagery from Planet, an American firm. Nuclear wonks were shocked. For decades, China has hewed to a policy of “minimum deterrence”, involving the maintenance of a relatively small arsenal that would allow it to hit back at aggressors but not wage an elaborate nuclear war. The Pentagon reckons the country has 200 or so operational warheads—about the same number as Britain or France—and only 100 or so icbms. (America and Russia have nearly 12,000 warheads between them.) The fas says the satellite pictures suggest the “most extensive” building of silos since the construction of them by America and the Soviet Union during the cold war. On July 27th America’s Strategic Command, which is in charge of nuclear weapons, reacted with a tweet: “This is the second time in two months the public has discovered what we have been saying all along about the growing threat the world faces and the veil of secrecy that surrounds it.” America’s State Department said the discoveries were “deeply concerning” and demonstrated that China was “deviating” from its long-established nuclear strategy.