Ford Pushes Next-Gen Mustang Launch To 2021
All-wheel drive and a hybrid powertrain are still on the docket.
Ford is dropping nearly every car from its lineup beginning in 2019. The Fiesta and Focus will be the first to go, and only the Focus Active and Mustang will remain. But when the last sedan – the Fusion – shuffles off sometime in 2020 or 2021, the Blue Oval will debut an all-new version of its iconic pony car that same year. And it promises to offer more than the current model.
According to Automotive News, the new Mustang won't arrive until 2021. That's a year later than Ford had initially promised. When it does show up, it will ride on one of Ford's five new modular platforms. That means it should share some components with the new Explorer and upcoming Lincoln Aviator.
Though it will retain its rear-drive bias, Ford could offer an all-wheel-drive version of the Mustang for the first time ever. It would compete directly with cars like the Dodge Challenger GT. There have also been reports of a hybrid model, too, which is scheduled to show up sometime shortly after the pure gas-powered model in 2021.
"Mustang is still going to be a strong, well-proportioned vehicle," Chief Designer Darrell Behmer said in an interview with Automotive News. "The modular architectures will still give us flexibility; it's not going to bastardize Mustang."
But the Mustang's DNA won't be limited to one vehicle. The rest of the range could have pony car-inspired cues. Ford has already confirmed an all-electric SUV dubbed the Mach 1, which will draw inspiration from the iconic Mustang – even the new Explorer appears to adopt a more aggressive look.
Odell Beckham, Jr. becomes the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL
The New York Giants called it a "lucrative contract extension" and "generational money." After signing on the dotted line, Odell Beckham, Jr. described it as "such an amazing feeling."
Facebook Watch video service launches worldwide
Facebook's Watch video-streaming service is rolling out worldwide, just over a year after its US launch.
Users will be able to choose from a range of shows - from both established brands and new players - and have the ability to view clips saved from their News Feeds.
The firm plans to allow all content creators to feature advertising breaks, so long as they hit certain metrics.
Until now, only select publishers had been given the opportunity.
To begin with, only videos shown to audiences in the UK, US, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand will have this facility.
The revenue split will be 55% to the creators and 45% to Facebook.
Facebook had intended to reveal the roll-out on Wednesday, but brought forward the announcement after details leaked. As a consequence, some users may not be able to access its pages yet.
US economic growth revised up to 4.2% for the second quarter
The US economy grew at a faster pace than initially thought in the second quarter, according to revised figures.
The Commerce Department's second estimate for the April-June period put growth at an annualised 4.2%, slightly up from the previous figure of 4.1%.
It was the best quarterly figure for nearly four years and put the economy on track to hit the Trump government's goal of 3% annual growth.
The news helped send Wall Street share markets higher.
Many economists had forecast a downward revision of growth to about 4%.
On a non-annualised basis, the economy grew 1% during the quarter. During the same period, the UK economy grew 0.4%.
The upward revision reflected more business spending on software than previously estimated and less imports of oil. Growth was driven by one-off factors such as a $1.5 trillion tax cut package, which helped boost consumer spending.
The new estimate was based on a more complete set of data than previously available and will be revised again next month.
US defence spending rose 6% in the quarter, the biggest increase in nine years. But there was also downward revisions to consumer spending and construction.
Puerto Rico mayor derides Trump actions
The mayor of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan says President Donald Trump's response to the hurricane that devastated the US territory last year is a "stain on his presidency".
Carmen Yulin Cruz's comments came a day after officials said 2,975 people had died in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria last September.
The revised death toll is nearly 50 times the previous estimate of 64.
"The Trump administration killed the Puerto Rican with neglect," she said.
Speaking to CNN, she added: "The Trump administration led us to believe that they were helping when they weren't really up to par."
The territory has struggled to repair its infrastructure and power grid since the storm, and is asking US Congress for $139bn (£108bn) in recovery funds.
Ms Cruz criticised Mr Trump personally for his response to the crisis, referencing a photo op during which the president threw rolls of paper towels to a crowd of hurricane survivors.
"Shame on President Trump for not even once - not even yesterday - just saying: 'Look, I grieve with the people of Puerto Rico.'" she said.
"This will be a stain on his presidency for as long as he lives. Because rather than come here to support us, he came here to throw paper towels at us, and we will never forget and we will always remember."
President Trump praised the federal response to the hurricane-ravaged island in the weeks following the storm. But critics accused him of showing more concern for residents in Texas and Florida after they were hit by hurricanes.
During a visit to Puerto Rico in October, Mr Trump suggested officials should be "proud" the death toll - at the time only 16 - was not as high as "a real catastrophe" like Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
BAHAMAS AND TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS PUBLIC FORECAST 29TH AUGUST, 2018
GENERAL SITUATION: THE COMBINATION OF AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IN THE VICINITY OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS ALONG WITH A WEAK MID LEVEL TROUGH OVER THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT POCKETS OF UNSETTLED WEATHER ACROSS THE ISLANDS TODAY.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BOATERS SHOULD REMAIN VIGILANT FOR POSSIBLE WATERSPOUT ACTIVITY AND BEACHGOERS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS SHOULD CONTINUE TO EXERCISE CAUTION DUE TO MODERATE TO ROUGH SURF CONDITIONS AND THE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT EAST COAST BEACHES.
ALL AREAS
WEATHER: VARIABLE CLOUDINESS, HOT AND HUMID WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THE CHANCE OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT CAUTION REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS. BOATERS SHOULD ASLO BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN OR NEAR HEAVY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS …EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS OVER OPEN WATERS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND 4 TO 7 FEET OVER THE OCEAN IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 92F 33C HEAT INDEX: 105F 41C
OVERNITE LOW TEMPERATURE: 79F 26C
SUNRISE: 6:50AM SUNSET: 7:30PM
MOONSET: 9:25AM MOONRISE: 9:45PM
HIGH TIDE: 9:23AM LOW TIDE: 3:34PM
HIGH TIDE: 9:38PM LOW TIDE: 3:55AM THUR.
EXTENDED FORECAST: UPPER LEVEL TROUGHING WILL KEEP RAIN CHANCES ELEVATED WHILE A HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM ANCHORED NORTH OF THE AREA WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT MODERATE TO FRESH WINDS ACROSS THE ISLANDS INTO THE WEEKEND.
Cayman Islands speaker denies working with blacklisted Chinese company
Former premier and current speaker of the Legislative Assembly in the Cayman Islands, McKeeva Bush, has denied that his consulting firm is working with or consulting for China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). The parent company of CHEC, China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), was barred from being involved in projects financed by the World Bank in 2009 under its fraud and corruption sanctioning policy.
In a memo written on behalf of his company, WMB International Consulting Ltd, regarding his connections to CHEC, Bush indicated that he was in Belize in June “introducing” the Beijing-based firm to possible investments there, but he has said he is not working with them.
n 2013, as then premier, Bush faced opposition from Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) over his decision to negotiate with CHEC outside international procurement standards over the development of cruise berthing facilities in Grand Cayman.
The World Bank had stated that any firm directly or indirectly controlled by CCCC is ineligible for any World Bank financed contracts related to roads and bridges during the period 12 January 2009 to 12 January 2017, which automatically extended to CHEC as a major subsidiary of CCCC.
In its efforts to combat corruption in public sector contracting, the bank prohibits member countries from awarding World Bank-financed contracts to any of the firms or individuals that it has sanctioned.
CHEC rejected the concerns, stressing that it was not involved in and had never been involved in any activity that has attracted sanctions by the World Bank.
It said the issue related to 2003 and involved the China Road and Bridge Group, which was later taken over by CCCC in 2005. CHEC claimed its parent company came under the debarment in 2011 based on changes made at that time to the World Bank system.
The question of Bush’s continuing relationship with CHEC re-emerged in June this year, when Bush was reportedly in Belize consulting for Sinopharm, a Chinese pharmaceutical and health services firm, and introducing CHEC to possible business partners.
Bush told local media that his only connection to CHEC was that he introduced them to possible business in Belize.
“I am not a consultant for CHEC and have no relationship with CHEC in Belize or in Cayman,” Bush told Cayman News Service.
The Cayman Islands government admitted earlier this year that CHEC had submitted applications during the bidder pre-qualification stage of the latest iteration of the George Town cruise berthing facility. Since then it emerged that the Chinese firm had not continued with its bid.
Ed Sheeran won't release an album next year
Ed Sheeran's Divide was last year's biggest-selling album, shifting 2.7 million copies in the UK, but the star has no immediate plans to follow it up.
"I'd like to bring out a project next year that isn't an album," he told BBC News.
"Something that isn't pushed on radio. Something that's not what I usually do, that just clears the air a little bit."
He added he'd "happily" take a year off when his world tour ends next September before starting his fourth album.
The news may disappoint fans, but Sheeran pointed out that spending three years on tour was "weird" and he'd need time to decompress.
The star previously took a "gap year" between his second record, Multiply, and its chart-conquering successor - time he spent whitewater rafting, swimming with bull sharks (without a cage) and bungee jumping.
However, he admitted he had never stopped writing songs.
"I'll never not make music. It's my hobby," he told the BBC's Chi Chi Izundu. "I wouldn't enjoy life if I didn't do music.
"I don't see music as work. I see this [speaking to the press] as work. No-one picks up a guitar hoping one day they're going to be interviewed."
US Open 2018: Caroline Wozniacki into second round
Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki beat Australian Sam Stosur 6-3 6-2 to reach the second round of the US Open in New York.
Second seed Wozniacki, 28, broke the 2011 champion's serve three times in the first set and twice in the second.
The Dane will play Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in round three.
Fifth seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova beat Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-1 6-4 at Flushing Meadows.
The Czech, 28, broke serve twice to take the first set and won five successive games from 4-1 down in the second. She will face China's Yafan Wang next.
Kvitova, who reached the quarter-finals in 2017, said: "I'm not really looking too much ahead. I played great tennis here last year and it was amazing for me.
"So far this year it has been great too. It is good to be in the second round of another Grand Slam and to be playing good tennis."
Latvian 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-4 4-6 7-5 to set up a second-round meeting with American Taylor Townsend.
Japan's Naomi Osaka, seeded 20th, defeated German Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-2 and will play Romani's Monica Niculescu or Israel's Julia Glushko next.
Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Angelique Kerber will face Russia's Margarita Gasparyan on Louis Armstrong.
Top seed Simona Halep was knocked out in the first round on Monday
Florida shooting: EA suspends events after gamers killed
A major eSports tournament has been suspended by games publisher Electronic Arts (EA) after a shooting that saw two competitors killed on Sunday.
Three events have been cancelled while the firm conducts a "comprehensive review of safety protocols”.
EA’s chief executive Andrew Wilson said he was “filled with shock and grief” over the killings in Florida.
Taylor Robertson, 28, and Elijah Clayton, 22, were "respected, positive and skilled competitors”, he added.
Police named the killer, who later turned the gun on himself, as 24-year-old David Katz. Police said he targeted his victims but have not shared a possible motive.
The incident was partially captured on a livestream of the event being broadcast on video games site Twitch. Competitors were playing Madden NFL, EA's best-selling American Football title.
The shooting, which took place at the Jacksonville Landing shopping and entertainment complex in Florida, had prompted calls for greater security at eSports events.