Beirut recovery effort gathers pace amid growing anger at Lebanon's leaders Search and rescue teams, firefighters and medics continued to comb through what remains of Beirut port on Friday, competing for space with men who were not wearing uniforms or displaying official status, and who several observers said were directing clean-up efforts. As international rescue teams arrived in the Lebanese capital to help with the recovery, the scene of the explosion appeared increasingly frantic, with ambulances and unmarked vans repeatedly entering the site. A Dutch team that had just arrived in Lebanon was initially kept away by Lebanese officials who insisted the sniffer dogs they brought with them were not allowed. “Then they sent them to parts that didn’t really matter,” said one senior official. “It has raised the suspicions of many here.
iPhone 12 Mini and 12 Pro Max begin preorders Friday, both expected to be in short supply The last of the 2020 iPhones go on sale Friday for pre-orders, a time-honored tradition that lets early adopters (hopefully) get the shiny new devices delivered to them by opening day. The preorders open at 8 a.m. ET. The iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max are scheduled for in-store sales on Friday, Nov. 13, starting at $699 and $1,099. Both are expected to be in short supply, due to manufacturing issues. Quick pre-order sellouts are expected. College Football Week 12 preview: Top teams back in action, Bedlam, coronavirus all storylines The college football season is plowing through the season despite several games getting postponed or canceled because teams and schools are still dealing with coronavirus cases. Texas A&M, Miami, Marshall, Texas and Louisiana are among the AP Top 25 teams who have had games canceled or postponed this week because of the coronavirus. Eleven games in total have been postponed or canceled in this week’s slate of college football games. There are still some important games still on the schedule. Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson are all in action.
Coronavirus live news: Auckland back in lockdown; Paris marathon cancelled as cases rise 1.29pm BST13:29 Britain’s NatWest is cutting at least 500 jobs across its retail business and closing one of its remaining offices in London as banks press on with cost-cutting in the face of a wave of expected loan losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The state-backed bank is finalising a voluntary redundancy round targeting cutting 550 full-time equivalent roles across its branches and ‘premier banking’ premium service, union Unite told Reuters.
Xbox Series X and Series S review: New game consoles attempt to lighten the load With the launch of the Xbox Series X and S, it’s not so much about better video game graphics as it is about making your life as a console game player better. Yes, Microsoft’s latest consoles, available Nov. 10, feature video games that will look better than its predecessors. But having spent time with the Xbox Series X ($499.99), the more exciting perks not only involve access to a larger library of games available to play, but spending less time waiting for those games to launch and load. Console launches have typically focused on the graphical leaps made between generations, as video games shifted closer to realistic high-resolution visuals. But with the arrivals of Xbox Series X and S, and Sony's PlayStation 5, out Nov. 12, graphics are taking a backseat at launch in favor of changes that attempt to remove the hassles of console gaming. For the Xbox Series X, it starts with the setup.
'Tis the season for solo pantos: Cinderella and co are going it alone ‘The length of each act should be the length of a child’s bladder,” Polly Lister laughs. “You never want it to spill over.” Due to Covid restrictions, panto dames and the back-ends of horses have been stuck without a stage this Christmas, but some theatres have found a way to keep the panto magic alive. Working within the restrictions of social distancing, the rule of six and the avoidance of mixing households, theatres up and down the country are offering a sudden burst of one-person shows. Lister is one of the solo performers hoping to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to the end of this miserable year. France sees spike in coronavirus cases, country going ‘wrong way,' PM warns A surge of coronavirus cases in France has Prime Minister Jean Castex warning that the country has been going the “wrong way” for two weeks as he urged citizens to step up their efforts to curb the spread. France recorded 1,397 new COVID-19 infections over 24 hours on Tuesday, almost double the number of cases from Monday, with 15 additional deaths, Reuters reported. "The epidemiological situation, which we are following very closely, is deteriorating: 2,000 new cases per day compared to 1,000 three weeks ago," Castex said at a press conference at a hospital in Montpellier, according to the BBC. France emerged from its strict lockdown in May with a seven-day average of 272 new infections. On Monday, the seven-day measure rose to 1,640 from 1,056 a week earlier, France24 reported. In response to the increase in cases, Castex announced that France is extending a ban on public gatherings of more than 5,000 people to Oct. 30.
GM fast-tracks electric vehicle plans, starts hiring near former Lordstown plant General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the company will bring new electric vehicles to market faster than anticipated as the automaker announced a major step forward Thursday in its self-driving car development. GM is also making strides in hiring and calling back workers at two of its facilities. GM said it has started hiring what will eventually be more than a thousand workers at its new EV battery plant near GM's former Lordstown Assembly factory in northeast Ohio. GM will start calling back workers to Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck starting early next year as it converts the facility to build EVs. Trump's latest batch of election lawsuits fizzle as dozens of losses pile up For a man obsessed with winning, Donald Trump is losing a lot. In the month since the election, the president and his legal team have come no closer in their frantic efforts to overturn the result, notching up dozens of losses in courts across the country, with more rolling in by the day. According to an Associated Press tally of roughly 50 cases brought by Trump’s campaign and his allies, more than 30 have been rejected or dropped, and about a dozen are awaiting action. The advocacy group Democracy Docket put Trump’s losses even higher, tweeting on Friday that Trump’s team had lost 46 post-election lawsuits following several fresh losses in several states on Friday. Trump has notched just one small victory, a case challenging a decision to move the deadline to provide missing proof of identification for certain absentee ballots and mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania.
Chinese state media dismisses attacks on Wuhan's huge pool party as 'sour grapes' Chinese state media has defended Wuhan residents after photos and video of a huge pool party went viral this week, saying complaints by foreigners were “sour grapes” . Thousands of people celebrated at a water park music festival in Wuhan this week, crowded in front of the stage, shoulder to shoulder. An AFP photo of the dance party drew some negative responses at Wuhan’s apparent return to normal life. A newspaper front page in Australia headlined the story as “China’s big party”, and “life’s a beach in Wuhan as world pays virus price”.
What's hot for tech holiday? 'Practical' gifts like routers and computer monitors Are you feeling practical? We're just a few weeks away from Black Friday and intense holiday shopping time during an era of COVID-19. Do you know what you'll be purchasing? Stephen Baker, a longtime analyst with the NPD Group, which tracks sales of consumer products, says to expect a holiday filled with non-sexy products like computer monitors, external mice and keyboards and routers. Yes, routers.