Category Archives: Progress

PARSONS, W.Va. The announcement that Virgin would be building the certification center for its new hyperloop technology came to the area back in October. While construction may still be months and months away, staff with the company explained that theyre already looking to support its new home.

Hyperloop is really focused on being a positive part of the community and working together to make the certification center a success for the locals, the state, and then globally, said Project Development Lead Kelsey Kirby.

With that in mind, Kirby spoke at the regular meeting of the Tucker County Commission on Wednesday to talk about what the new project has to offer the county and the wider region. Commission President Lowell Moore said hes looking forward to many new jobs in the area.

After theyre up and running, I think a lot of it will be in the engineering department, but West Virginia is going to do a lot too. The colleges and West Virginia University, I think that will draw in a lot of our students from them, and I think itll make employment for them to where they can stay in West Virginia rather than go out of state, said Moore.

And thats a goal that many people share around the state. Kirby is a West Virginia native herself. She said the new facility would go a long way towards helping students see the different career paths available to them without leaving their home state.

We are very excited about the opportunity that hyperloop presents to the young people really excited about STEM. And so certainly one of the things thats a personal passion and one of many of the engineers on the hyperloop team is to share that excitement around science and education, said Kirby.

See the original post here:

Virgin Hyperloop and Tucker County Commission discusses the benefits and progress of the project - WBOY.com

To say Ive been anticipating Cyberpunk 2077 would be a gross understatement. I vividly remember watching the very first teaser trailer eight years ago in 2012, my curiosity brimming. Eight years later, here we are. Welcome to Part One of our review in progress.

As we wrote last week, we will not be crunching to get our review out quickly. We are taking a review in progress approach where youll see several of these articles, culminating in a final verdict. Additionally, look forward to a technical analysis of Cyberpunk 2077 wherein Ill dive into the groundbreaking ray tracing technology implemented in the game. This review in progress will specifically discuss my impressions of the open world, Night City, and some thoughts on the PC functionality.

First, I would be remiss if I did not discuss the bugs. You dont need to look far to see just how buggy Cyberpunk 2077 is in its current state. Indeed, our own Managing Editor, Bradford, wrote up an editorial with his thoughts on the whole release fiasco.

I sympathize with those afflicted by the bugs. I really do. Spending your hard-earned money on a product you were anticipating for eight years, only to have that product be completely borked, is simply unacceptable. CDPR have even acknowledged this.

That being said, I would be completely dishonest if I did not mention that I simply have not encountered any bugs. I realize that sounds crass, but its the honest truth. For whatever reason, my experience has been bug-free. Ive encountered only two issues after more than 20 hours of play. One is a texture streaming issue on a billboard which I encountered once.

The other involves the sound of my footsteps not triggering when I first load into the game. This is remedied by simply loading that save again which takes no more than five seconds while running on my M.2 NVME. This second issue is incredibly fleeting, yet still worth bringing up. But to say this is anywhere near on par with the more egregious bugs people have experienced would be wholly inaccurate and drive a false equivalence. At worst, these issues are mild annoyances and nowhere near the scale and impact of the reported bugs.

In our group of friends, I along with one other started the game on the Nomad lifepath. We both havent encountered any bugs. Bradford began his lifepath as a Corpo and has experienced virtually all the bugs. Initially, we hypothesized that the frequency of bugs may be tied to lifepath, but this was quickly quashed when Bradfords Stadia playthrough began as a Nomad and he experienced a few bugs there.

At this point, I honestly do not know why my experience has been bug-free. This isnt to say that this will continue. But as of this writing, after more than 20 hours of play, I simply havent experienced any bugs. And it would be dishonest of me not to explain that in a review. I must stress: this review is reflective of my specific experience on my PC. At the end of the day, while I must acknowledge the state of the game at large, I cannot review the experience of others.

From a technical and visual standpoint, I had pretty high expectations for Cyberpunk 2077. People who know me well will tell you that its quite difficult to impress me when it comes to visuals and graphics. Cyberpunk 2077 has completely surpassed those high expectations.

The sense of scale in Cyberpunk 2077 is truly awe inspiring. I have played many open world city games, the most prominent being GTA V and the more recent Watch Dogs titles. However, as impressive as those cities were for the time they released, they didnt blow me away, not even Watch Dogs Legion with its admittedly impressive ray tracing.

Cyberpunk 2077s Night City is the single most immersive city I have ever experienced. There are many factors which drive this immersion. For one, the sheer sense of scale in Cyberpunk 2077 is unlike anything Ive experienced before. The world design team have done an incredible job rendering the city in all its physical might. The buildings shoot far up into the Californian sky as they leer over you.

But even here, its not the same three or four building assets used over and over again. Virtually every space in Night City appears bespoke. That means the towering buildings arent all just monoliths of glass and steel, rather theyre all different shapes interconnecting with each other through walkways, railways, bridges, and more.

This scale extends to street level. On PC, the streets are packed with people and vehicles. There is so much movement everywhere. Streets are littered with heaps of trash, walls are plastered with graffiti, neon signage is everywhere.

Night City is not so much about detail outright as it is about density of that detail. I have never seen anything like this ever before. Cyberpunk 2077s world has the detail and intricacy of more linear game like The Last of Us 2 but implemented for an entire city. To test this, I often find myself walking into back alleys which are clearly off the beaten path. But even here, this density of detail persists. Its truly mind boggling.

The first person perspective helps tremendously in this regard (for the record, I prefer first person to third person). And in Cyberpunk 2077, it is used as a powerful tool to help sell the scale and immersion. For example, when I stand on the street any street I can see the dense crowd and cars in my immediate foreground.

However, theres a layer above that if you simply look up which includes street lights and neon signage. And theres a layer above that with perhaps a rail line or two with even more signage. And theres a layer above that providing the canopy of the building tops along with any aerial vehicles flying overhead.

And then theres the audio. The audio design is exemplary. When paired with the visual density, the ambient sounds of the city, crowds, vehicles, and plethora of ads calling out to you combine to comprehensively trick your brain into believing that you are physically in Night City. This effect is compounded when you get to a naturally dense area like a market. Its glorious.

For this reason, I find myself walking everywhere in Cyberpunk 2077. Apart from those quests which necessitate a car ride, I walk to my destination simply to absorb the world and truly live in it. I really do feel like a citizen. So powerful is this immersion that when I stop playing for the night, I often need a minute to simply decompress. This sounds like hyperbole, but I assure you its not. I am so thoroughly enthralled by Cyberpunk 2077s world. When you pair all this with ray tracing and HDR, the end result is, quite simply, stunning. Cyberpunk 2077 is truly a masterpiece of world design.

As for my gameplay, I rolled a Nomad focusing primarily on stealth and hacking. So far, this is proving to be quite a powerful combination. I tend to play stealth in any game I can so Im happy to see that type of gameplay encouraged in Cyberpunk 2077. If I can avoid direct conflict/combat, I will. Note, this isnt the best stealth Ive experienced in games. But its far from the worst. CD Projekt RED have made sure to provide plenty of options for each encounter to suit the multiple play styles out there. And for me, thats sneaking my way through, hacking people to make them more vulnerable, disabling camera systems, and the like.

However, for those instances where weapons are drawn, Ive found the gunplay to be competent. Again, its not as kinetic as DOOM, but Im not expecting that. DOOM is a first person shooter. Therefore, it follows that its key mechanic, gunplay, absolutely must be unimpeachable. Cyberpunk 2077 is not a first person shooter. Its an RPG. And for an RPG, Ive found its gunplay to be satisfying. Personally, Im focusing primarily on suppressed pistols and sniper rifles.

A quick note, this section will not be my usual comprehensive tech analysis. That will be a separate article and video so stay tuned. Instead, I will discuss the broader observations and annoyances Ive had with the PC controls and overall options.

Lets begin with the graphics menu. CDPR have done a good job exposing a host of several options. In fact, there are multiple different options just for shadows. I appreciate this granularity as it allows us, PC gamers, to tune the experience to our liking. Additionally, each post process option is broken out. As you can see, I loathe film grain, lens flares, and chromatic aberration. Thankfully, CDPR allows me to disable all of these independently.

However, its not all perfect. For example, youll notice there is no antialiasing setting. Cyberpunk 2077 employs TAA, or temporal antialiasing. Given the various graphical techniques leveraged by a modern game engine for handling lighting, shading, and the like, TAA is the only real antialiasing solution competent enough to treat the image.

But in Cyberpunk 2077, there is no way to disable antialiasing. In fact, you cant even select which type of TAA youd prefer. While I understand why TAA is required, it would still be nice to choose the strength of that TAA in this options menu. Im a PC gamer. Expose all the options to me and let me decide what to adjust.

Additionally, the accessibility settings overall are lacking when compared to other games like The Last of Us Part 2 and Watch Dogs Legion. Its inexcusable for arguably the biggest game of the generation to sorely lack comprehensive accessibility options. This issue is compounded when Cyberpunk 2077s launch state brought on epilepsy triggers.

Key bindings are limited to a single binding per command. Again, for a studio which has gone to great lengths positioning the PC version as the premiere version of the game, a lack of secondary key bindings is inexcusable. Moreover, the keyboard controls feel unfinished. For example, I could not find a walk toggle option. I am constantly jogging. In order to move slowly, when following a character during a story moment for example, I have to keep tapping W to inch forward. But if you tap WASD too quickly, youll dodge. It seems the only option you have to move slowly is to crouch. What? Why? WHY?!

Mouse settings fare a tad better by providing independent sliders for sensitivities. But here again, these fall short. There are no options for mouse acceleration, nor any options to select input like Raw Mouse Input. Come on, CD Projekt RED.

As I mentioned at the top, you can look forward to a tech analysis where Ill deep dive into the ray tracing implementation in Cyberpunk 2077. Theres quite a lot to cover simply because CD Projekt RED have seemingly thrown in the kitchen sink when it comes to packing this game with bleeding edge technology.

Look forward to an article and, like my Assassins Creed Valhalla analysis, a video where you can see the ray traced glory for yourselves. Trust me when I say that Cyberpunk 2077 goes so far beyond the ray tracing in the recently released Watch Dogs Legion. Its simply the best looking game I have ever seen.

Following this tech analysis, Ill have a second review in progress where Ill discuss the various systems of the game, the progression, skills, perks, attributes, and more. After that, well have a final verdict on our hands summarizing the game as a whole.

Stay tuned. Thanks for your patience. We have a lot more Cyberpunk 2077 coverage coming your way.

Read more:

Cyberpunk 2077 PC Review In Progress: Part One - MMORPG.com

Brian Mac Grory, MB BCh BAO, has won the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association's 2020 Stroke Progress and Innovation Award (first place) for his research examining treatment for central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO), a rare type of stroke affecting the eye. The study performed by Mac Grory and colleagues found that clot-busting medications, if given within 4.5 hours after the eye stroke, improved the chances of vision recovery for patients with CRAO. This research, published July in Stroke, offers the best observational evidence for treating CRAO with thrombolysis that is currently available.

This award is a fitting recognition for Dr. Mac Grorys research, which answers a critically important question on an underrecognized and undertreated medical condition, said Department Chair Richard OBrien, MD, PhD. This study has the potential to change medical practice worldwide.

CRAO causes sudden blindness in one eye and at present there is no available treatment. Clot busting thrombolytic therapy was one potential option, but until now there was no evidence that this therapy could be effective. CRAO is also rare, making up less than 1% of all strokes, compounding the difficulty of studying it effectively.

Mac Grory and Matthew Schrag, MD, PhD, from Vanderbilt Universitys School of Medicine pooled data from multiple studies performed in the USA, Germany, France and Australia in which patients with CRAO were given a clot-busting medication and analyzed the results. The resulting article, Intravenous Fibrinolysis for Central Retinal Artery Occlusion, was published in Stroke, the top journal in the field of vascular neurology. Other key figures in the study included Sven Poli, MD, (Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Tubingen, Germany), Martin Spitzer, MD, PhD, (University Hospital Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany), Max Nedelmann, MD (Sana Regio Klinikum, Pinneberg, Germany), Benoit Guillon, MD (CHU de Nantes, Nantes, France), Celia Chen, MD, and Andrew Lee, MD, (both from Flinders University Medical Center, Adelaide, Australia), David Greer, MD, (Boston University School of Medicine), Karen Furie, MD, MPH, (Brown University) and Patrick Lavin, MD (Vanderbilt University School of Medicine).

Mac Grory will build on the findings of this study with his work in the forthcoming Duke Eye Stroke Center, which will aid in the treatment of this CRAO and other forms of strokes that affect vision. This multidisciplinary center will feature national experts in neurology as well as neuro-ophthalmology, hyperbaric medicine, interventional radiology, and emergency medicine, and other fields.

The Stroke Progress and Innovation Award recognizes research that encourages new paths, new methods and new ways of thinking and awards a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place each year. It is open to all research published in Stroke. The award will be presented at the International Stroke Conference in March 2021. Read more about other recipients of the award here.

Read the original post:

Mac Grory wins AHA/ASA 2020 Stroke Progress and Innovation Award - Duke Department of Neurology

CAIROWith hundreds of women flooding social media in recent months with accusations of sexual harassment and assault, a growing #MeToo movement is taking Egypt by storm. Their online testimonials have garnered massive public support and prompted reforms to the countrys sexual harassment laws, like granting anonymity to victims and witnesses in sexual assault cases. More broadly, they are challenging the culture of victim-blaming that is often associated with sexual harassment and assault in Egypt.

Activists are hoping to build on this momentum in a country where gender-based violence has become all too common. After the Arab Spring protests in 2011 again brought the issue of sexual harassment to light, a United Nations survey in 2013 found that 99.3 percent of Egyptian women respondents said they had experienced sexual harassment, while 96.5 percent said they had experienced sexual harassment in the form of touching. ...

See the original post:

Egypts #MeToo Activists See Progress, but the Road Ahead Is Long - World Politics Review

Lower Manhattan

While New York City real estate has significantly improved its carbon footprint over the past10 years, its progress is slowing, jeopardizing the city's emissions target, which it views as critical to avoid climate disaster.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the citys large and midsized buildings fell over 22% since 2010, mainly due to the increased use of cleaner electricity and steam, according to a new Urban Green Council report this week. However, the rate of improvement has slowed over time, posing a barrier for the city to reach its goalofan80% pollutant decrease from 2005.

This report is a monument to our citys progress and a call to action for us to work harder and faster to lower harmful emissions, Mark Chambers, director of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Office of Sustainability, said in a release.

The 50,000 large and midsized buildings included in the report total5% of buildings in the city and contribute over a third of itsoverall emissions. These also make up half of the citys building emissions, which have gone down 8% over the past decade, according to the Urban Green Council.

This 10-year data set not only guides NYCs climate approach, it can inform decisions in other cities so we can get to a low carbon future faster, Urban Green Council CEO John Mandyck said.

New laws enacted to help propel a decrease in emissions seem to have had a positive impact on new construction, according to Urban Green Council. Among multifamily properties, which make up a huge portion of the buildings included in the report, those builtafter2010 use half theenergyofbuildings 10 years old or more.

In addition to energy codes that went into place in 2010, the commercial industry was forced to pivot on energy use in 2019, when the city passed the Climate Mobilization Act, which imposed strict emission limits for large and midsized buildings.

New York is faring better than the rest of the world in terms of environmental mitigation efforts in buildings, a buildings and construction report released by the United Nations this week shows. Emissions hit a new record last year, increasing the gap between its current emissions and international goals by the middle of the century.

Rising emissions in the buildings and construction sector emphasize the urgent need for a triple strategy to aggressively reduce energy demand in the built environment, decarbonize the power sector and implement materials strategies that reduce lifecycle carbon emissions, Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, said ina release on the global findings.

See the rest here:

NYC Buildings Reduced Emissions By 22% Over The Past Decade, But Progress Has Slowed - Bisnow

Yahoo Finances Julie Hyman, Myles Udland, Brian Sozzi, and Jessica Smith speak with Senator Jeanne Shaheen about the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulus progress.

MYLES UDLAND: As our viewers know, we have been following the progress-- or lack thereof-- on conversations down in Washington, DC to get an additional stimulus bill passed by the end of this year. And joining us now to talk more about this issue is Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire. We're also joined by Yahoo Finance's Jessica Smith.

And Senator Shaheen, I'd love to begin the conversation by just outlining, in your view, from your vantage point, where we are today with just two weeks left in the year?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well, I think we're way overdue to provide real relief to the people of this country, those who are about to lose their unemployment the day after Christmas. We know 12 million people are in that category. Those small businesses that are worried about-- particularly restaurants and hospitality businesses that are worried about how they're going to get through the winter-- we had a small business hearing last week, and 25% of our small businesses have closed since the pandemic began. They need additional relief.

We have hospitals that are in financial distress. We have-- we need more help to distribute this vaccine. We need to help states and local communities that are on the front lines. And so, this help is way overdue. And I'm very proud to have been part of a bipartisan group to have put together a bill that we gave at the beginning of this week to leadership-- both majority Leader McConnell and Democratic Leader Schumer. I understand they're working from the broad outlines that we provided, but it is time now to put aside our differences and to get this help that people need.

JESSICA SMITH: Thanks, Senator. Jessica Smith here. We have heard a lot this morning about Senator Toomey's demands that the Bill bar the Fed from restarting its emergency lending programs. What do you think about that demand, and does this potentially derail the talks at this point?

Story continues

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well, it shouldn't. Senator Toomey should be willing to accept a provision that said this can work through the-- as long as COVID is-- the pandemic lasts. I mean, that was part of the reason that the emergency authorities were put in, to address emergencies. This is an emergency. Let's allow this to continue. It's not acceptable that Senator Toomey's problem is that he doesn't like Janet Yellen. Well, you know, that's-- there's a time and a place to talk about that. He'll have a vote on the Senate floor about whether he wants to approve her, but we need to make sure that the authorities are there to deal with this emergency.

That's one of the problems with the current administration. They have not dealt with this pandemic, and provided the urgency that they should have provided.

JULIE HYMAN: Senator, it's Julie here. Gosh, we have had this conversation about so many different things over the past several years, haven't we? Where it gets down to the wire.

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Right.

JULIE HYMAN: And then Congress eventually manages to pull this out. Can we expect anything different in the next four years? I mean, is this just how things are going to be in Congress forever, that you have a very tight, between the two parties, and this always happens?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well, I think there's something very different that's happening now, and that is that we had a bipartisan group, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. We started with eight of us and we added to our ranks, that said, it is time to see action out of Congress, to provide help for those people who need it as the result of this pandemic. We started working right after the election. We worked until Monday, and we turned over to leadership on the Democratic and Republican side, actual written language. We consulted with the committees within the Senate about when there were questions. We compromised on so many issues to provide real help for people.

And we said to each other that this is the way it should work. We should be able to work together to address the urgent needs of the American people. And we are not going to stop with this. I question whether we would be in this position, when whether the leadership would have resumed negotiations without the work of this bipartisan group. So I think we will continue to talk and to try and work together to get things done, to try and move leadership and so many people within this process who are just way too partisan and aren't willing to compromise to get things done.

JESSICA SMITH: Senator, your bipartisan group that you worked on was not able to come to an agreement on the two most contentious issues, the state and local aid, and liability protections. So is there any chance at this point that that is going to be resolved next year when lawmakers have not been able to figure this out for six-plus months at this point?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: I think we will continue to work on that. And the fact is, there's a lot of help in this COVID relief package that we put together-- the bipartisan group-- and that I think much of what we put in there is continuing under the leadership negotiations that can provide help to state and local governments, help for housing, rental assistance, help for food, so much support for nutrition programs, help for distributing the vaccines that are real costs to states right now, and help for schools. There's this big support for K through 12 education and higher education.

So there are a number of things in this bill, even though we weren't able to get support for state and local governments, that should provide help for communities, and certainly, for those people who need help.

JESSICA SMITH: Leadership right now is talking about a stimulus check in the range of $600. Do you think that's going to be enough to satisfy lawmakers like Senator Sanders and Senator Hawley who have pushed for $1,200 checks?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well I'm not sure we can always satisfy the people who are at either extremes ideologically, but hopefully, we can satisfy those people who understand that most legislation is a compromise and we've got to get there, and we don't have any more time to mess around now. It's time to get this deal done. The American people have been waiting for months, and it's getting too-- it's getting late. They need help. Our small businesses need help. Our hospitals need help, and they need it now.

JULIE HYMAN: Senator, I think a lot of Americans would definitely agree with that sentiment. I want to look a little bit forward to the seating of the next Congress, the next administration. And I know you're enmeshed in these negotiations right now, but what do you think Congress's first priority is going to be, and should be, as you get underway in 2021?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well, I think it is what President-elect Biden has identified. We've got to address this pandemic. We are not going to be able to get our economy back, get our lives back to normal, until we've gotten control of the coronavirus. We have very good news this week with the Pfizer vaccine beginning to be distributed and it looks like the FDA, today, is going to approve the Moderna vaccine. So I'm getting those vaccines out, getting people vaccinated, making sure that they get distributed everywhere they're needed, is really critical. I think that is job number one.

I think job number two is going to be to continue to provide help for those people who are suffering. To get our economy back, we need a stimulus package. What we're talking about now is not stimulus. What it-- it's emergency relief. But we need we need to look at how we can inject help into the economy. I think we need a major infrastructure package that would include, as part of it, making a commitment to get broadband to every household in America. Because what we've seen from this pandemic is the disparities that exist because we have some people who have access to high-speed internet, and some people who don't. And in 21st-century America, that defines opportunities.

And Senator, just finally, you touched on it a bit there, but I just wanted to ask about the-- any hope you have that the incoming administration might be more constructive on national messaging around the pandemic, and if you are more hopeful now about what the next year might look like then you may have been a few months back?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Oh, I am much more hopeful. And I think as President-elect Biden has said, and has modeled, mask-wearing, social distancing, trying to avoid super-spreader events, handwashing, following CDC guidelines, and focusing on the science. And it's very disappointing that we are where we are with over 300,000 Americans who have tragically died, that we have over 17 million Americans who have gotten the coronavirus. And it didn't have to be this way. It's disappointing that this pandemic has been politicized. I expect that to end when Joe Biden takes office.

MYLES UDLAND: All right, Senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire. Senator, thank you so much for taking some time--

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Nice to talk with you.

MYLES UDLAND: --to talk with us. Have a great new year.

JEANNE SHAHEEN: You too.

Read the rest here:

Stimulus progress: 'we're way overdue to provide real relief to the people of this country': Sen. Shaheen - Yahoo Finance

There was word that Eduardo Rodriguez was making significant progress in his return from myocarditis. Now we have proof just how far the pitcher has come.

Rodriguez, who missed all of 2020 due to the COVID-19-induced condition, was forced to ease back into regular athletic activity, even once the regular season concluded.

But each step of the way throughout the past few months the Red Sox have surmised that Rodriguez would be participating in a normal spring training, with Wednesday's video supporting that notion.

In Eduardos situation, the most important part is that hes healthy, right? Forget the baseball part of it, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said on MLB Network Radio earlier this week. He can have a regular life. Hes working out. Hes going after it, which is pretty exciting. He started playing catch. As of now, hes on pace to be ready for the start of the season. Obviously, were not going to push him. Were going to be very careful. Its something very serious. Im glad hes upbeat and hes going through his workouts as normal as possible."

See original here:

Eduardo Rodriguez shows off progress in throwing session - RADIO.COM

Ronnie O'Sullivan has reached the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix with a 4-1 victory over Barry Hawkins in Milton Keynes.

The Rocket started the match in fine form, rattling off a century to win the first frame comprehensively.

World Grand Prix

O'Sullivan: 'Flawless' Trump was unplayable

14 HOURS AGO

He followed it up with another sound performance, albeit without any big breaks, to double his lead in the second.

O'Sullivan was plagued by ill fortune in the third, with a fluent break of 58 curtailed by a foul, and a fluked snooker on Hawkins' part. It came down to a respotted black, which O'Sullivan sunk into the pocket.

Hawkins began the fourth with a break of 40. When he slipped up, O'Sullivan made a brisk 57 but a miss on the brown allowed Hawkins to return to the table. He mopped up all of the colours to get on the board.

With the 41-year-old's confidence suitably boosted he made a strong start to the fifth, but a miss on a routine red gave O'Sullivan a chance.

Though he fouled in bizarre fashion, scooping the cueball off the table, his safety game held up during a tough period of the frame, forcing Hawkins to foul.

OSullivan reveals why he played on for snookers with just black left

Eventually, though, he was able to pot a few reds and, when he cleared up to the pink, the match was his.

Next up, O'Sullivan faces Kyren Wilson in a rematch of the World Championship final this summer.

World Grand Prix

Trump powers past O'Sullivan to book World Grand Prix final spot

15 HOURS AGO

World Grand Prix

'It's going in!' - O'Sullivan pots white in strange opening frame against Trump

16 HOURS AGO

See the article here:

World Grand Prix 2020: Ronnie O'Sullivan continues progress with convincing win over Barry Hawkins - Eurosport COM

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Britain and the European Union have moved closer to sealing a new trade deal but it was still unclear if they would succeed, the blocs chief executive said on Wednesday.

Britain and the EU are in the final stretch of talks to keep an estimated one trillion dollars of annual trade free of tariffs and quotas beyond Dec. 31, when the United Kingdom finally transitions out of the worlds largest trading bloc.

With just over two weeks left, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he hoped the EU would see sense and agree a deal that respected Britains sovereignty, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the bloc favoured agreement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament: I cannot tell you whether there will be a deal or not. But I can tell you that there is a path to an agreement now. The path may be very narrow but it is there.

Her relatively upbeat comments on the long-running Brexit crisis helped nudge sterling upwards on currency markets. However, von der Leyen also said two issues were still unsolved.

We have found a way forward on most issues but two issues still remain outstanding: the level playing field and fisheries, she said. Issues linked to governance now have largely been resolved. The next days are going to be decisive.

The level playing field refers to EU insistence that Britain does not undercut it on environmental, labour and social standards, as well as state aid, while governance covers the resolution of disputes.

Von der Leyen said discussions about access to UK fishing waters for EU vessels were still very difficult.

Britain formally left the EU on Jan. 31 but has been in a transition period since then under which rules on trade, travel and business remain unchanged. It finally exits the blocs single market and customs union on Dec. 31.

Failure to agree a deal would erect trade barriers between the EU and Britain, snarl borders, send shockwaves through financial markets and cause chaos in supply chains across Europe as it also struggles with COVID-19.

SEE SENSE

Johnson, who won election last year pledging to get Brexit done and for Britain to take back control, said he hoped the EU would see sense and do a deal.

He emphasised the point at a press conference, when he said: Where we get to with the EU - well, again, that is very much a matter for our friends. They know what the parameters are.

His spokesman said no trade deal was still the mostly likely outcome. A later statement from Johnsons office said talks would continue over the coming days.

Britains parliament will begin its Christmas break on Thursday, but could be recalled at short notice and as early as next week to legislate if a deal is reached.

Merkel said the EU would prefer a deal but is prepared either way, adding there was no breakthrough yet.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who is at odds with Britain over fish quotas, said he wanted the best relationship with London.

FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen speaks during a debate on next EU council and last Brexit development during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium November 25, 2020. Olivier Hoslet/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

But the two sides have yet to narrow gaps on two of the thorniest issues: fishing rights in British waters and the level playing field.

An EU official told Reuters the bloc had rejected Britains offer of phased access to its waters over three years by EU fishing vessels and the sides were an ocean apart on the issue.

Von der Leyen hailed a big step forward in agreeing a so-called non-regression clause, which would ensure that our common high labour, social and environmental standards will not be undercut.

Sources said there were disagreements over balanced equivalence, which London saw as tying Britain to the EUs regulatory orbit, and a dispute resolution mechanism to determine whether competition was distorted and remedies if so.

Britain saw the EUs pitch for effective remedial measures as giving the bloc too much leeway to retaliate on trade.

Reporting by Francesco Guarascio, Marine Strauss, Gabriela Baczynska, William James and Elizabeth Piper in London, Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris and Paul Carrel and Michael Nienaber in Berlin, Writing by Robin Emmott, Gabriela Baczynska and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Giles Elgood and Andrew Cawthorne

Excerpt from:

Progress on Brexit but coming days will be critical, says EU chief - Reuters

Authorities on Friday lifted all evacuation orders, warning and road closures arising from the Valley fire, as crews continued to make gains in a blaze that destroyed 30 homes in East County and damaged several other structures.

As the battle moved into its seventh day, Cal Fire reported that the Valley fire was 39 percent contained and remained at 17,665 acres.

The fire ignited Saturday afternoon in the Japatul Valley southeast of Alpine, and spread rapidly in record heat that in many areas of San Diego County reached triple digits.

The weather has been more favorable over the last couple days as temperatures cooled, and Santa Ana winds that authorities feared would fan the flames and push them east to west were not as strong as anticipated.

San Diegos weekend weather forecast is in the mid-70s, with a warm up expected late Sunday into Monday.

While firefighters keep watch for fire growth, crews on the ground will spend the day continuing to build and strengthen fire lines, as well as dousing hot spots that may flare up.

The Cleveland National Forest remains closed. However, the countys parks department announced that it reopened the Lake Morena and Potrero campgrounds.

As of noon Friday, all evacuation orders were lifted and residents were allowed to return. That includes the reopening of:

Also gone are the evacuation warnings for Pine Valley, Descanso, Alpine, Viejas, Dulzura, Barrett Junction, Potrero, Carveacre, Japatul Valley, and Lyons Valley Road East to Barrett Lake Road.

The temporary evacuation shelter at Steele Canyon High School the last of the evacuation centers still open has been closed.

Although the roads are open, authorities ask that non-residents steer clear, noting that there could be traffic congestion while fire crews and utility teams continue their work.

Plus, extra deputies are move through the area, to provide public safety and prevent looting.

And for those who are in the area, authorities warn everyone to be careful around trees, power poles or any other tall items that the fire may have weakened.

Cal Fire said that with every day the fire stays within its current footprint, the threat to surrounding communities diminishes.

See original here:

All evacuations orders, warnings and road closures lifted as firefighters continue progress on Valley fire - The San Diego Union-Tribune