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The common thread behind the desire to end the childcare scheme as well as a push from the Coalition backbench to end the JobKeeper wage-subsidy program early is concern about the fiscal cost of such programs. Despite the fact that the government will and should run deficits topping $130 billion for the next two years, there has been a reflexing return to the debt and deficits mantra to which the government was wedded prior to COVID-19.

Yet the way to deal with the debt accrued to get the country through the COVID-19 crisis is to shrink it away as a share of Gross Domestic Product by growing the overall economy. With the government able to borrow long-term for less than 1 per cent, the carrying cost of even $260 billion of new debt is tiny between $2 billion and $3 billion a year out of a $500 billion a year budget.

The real question is how do we get that economic growth?

One possibility is through population growth from immigration. That has been a big part of Australias economic growth story in recent years, but seems unlikely to continue in the foreseeable future. International movement of people is likely to be subdued generally, and there is already pressure from some quarters for the Australian government to restrict immigration and prioritise local workers.

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A second possibility is to increase the productivity of the existing workforce. This has proved hard in recent times, with labour productivity below 1 per cent per annum for the last 5 years and was even negative in 2019. In an economy with increased automation and few game-changing labour-productivity enhancements since the 1990s computer revolution this avenue will likely continue to be hard.

The most likely path to growth is from increased labour force participation. Australias participation rate is quite strong relative to other advanced economies, but there is room to get above our roughly 66 per cent rate. That requires getting parentsespecially womenback into the workforce.

To do so we need a taper, rather than a radical rollback, of childcare support. A gradual reduction in the increased subsidies brought in last month, not cutting them off entirely. That might mean a sliding scale that reduces the current 100 per cent-free model to 90 per cent next quarter, then 80 per cent, and so on.

Of course, free childcare is not the only, or even the best model or use of government funding going forward. Last year we proposed a plan where households could continue to use the pre-COVID childcare subsidy scheme without modification, or opt to forego those arrangements an instead receive a tax deduction for child-care expenditures up to an annual cap.

Having the option to stick with the CCS means that no household could be worse off, but a significant number would be better offmore than 205,000 households, representing 22.5 per cent of households with children. The average couple with children would be $618 per annum better off and households in the bottom 20 per cent -40 per cent of the income distribution would be an average of $626 a year better off.

And from an economy-wide perspective, the plan would boost labour force participation by providing increased access to affordable childcare while removing the high effective marginal tax rates for working extra hours that can sometimes mean that parents can, perversely, earn less on a net basis by working more, once actual tax rates and the loss of childcare subsidies from additional income are factored in.

There were important issues about getting parents who want to back into the workforce, as well as the gender-wage gap which stands at 14 per cent before COVID-19. Those issues are still with us, but we now also need to consider how to boost economic growth in a very challenging environment.

One way to do that is to continue with the current free childcare scheme, although taper it off gradually.

Another attractive way to achieve those goals is by increasing labour force participation through well-designed subsidies. That may not involve free childcare forever, but it certainly does involve repurposing the subsidies introduced in April along the lines of our plan, rather than doing away with them altogether at the end of June.

Rosalind Dixon is a Professor of Law and Director of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public law. Richard Holden is a Professor of Economics at UNSW Sydney.

Read more:
Replace free childcare scheme with tax deductions to kickstart economy - Sydney Morning Herald

Allan Border. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Cricket has affected severely due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. No international cricket has taken place since March with even the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL) also being postponed until further notice. Even as some of the boards are pondering resuming the sport behind closed doors, the doubts continue to linger over the happening of the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in Australia later this year.

Reports suggest that the postponement is inevitable and the ICC is likely to confirm the same any time in the next week. Moreover, the ICC event not happening in October-November opens up a window for the IPL to take place. Speculations are being made that the BCCI might look to host the T20 extravaganza in India during this period depending upon the situation in the country.

However, former Australia cricketer Allan Border is against it. He stated that the IPL shouldnt replace the World event and also didnt seem to be happy with it. According to him, the ICC tournament should always take the precedence and also suggested the other boards to not send their players to feature in the cash-rich league if it goes ahead.

[Im] not happy with that, the world game should take precedence over local competition. So, the World T20, if that cant go ahead, I dont think the IPL can go ahead. I would question that decision [to replace it] its just a money grab, isnt it, that one? The World T20 should take precedence, for sure. The home boards should stop their players going to the IPL if thats the case, he said while speaking in ABCs Grandstand Cafe radio program.

Allan Border understands that India is responsible for the major income in world cricket but also cautioned that if IPL takes precedence over T20 World Cup, it would send a wrong signal to world cricket. That would be just shut the gate, you know, India running the game. Theyre pretty close to it now, but I suppose if youre responsible for 80 per cent of global [cricket] income, youre going to have a fair say in what goes on, I get that.

But I think the world game cant allow that to happen. I dont think you can have India superseding what the international game has in place. That would be going down the wrong path, the 64-year-old added.

Originally posted here:
Its just a money grab Allan Border against IPL 2020 replacing T20 World Cup later this year - CricTracker

talkSPORT rounds up all the latest transfer news and football gossip at Liverpool.

Getty

Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has urged Kai Havertz to snub a move to the Premier League and continue his progress at Bayer Leverkusen

The 20-year-old midfielder has been linked with 90million moves to Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona.

All eyes are on the Bundesliga at the moment and when you score goals and play good football it is no surprise that teams like Liverpool want you, Berbatov toldBetfair.

I would like to see Havertz in the Premier League at some point, but not right now. I think it is a bit too early for him, I want to see him play more games, score more goals and get more confidence and maturity.

I think he should stay at Leverkusen and develop even more and get that experience which will help him for when the time comes to go somewhere else.

Liverpool will sell THREE players this summer to fund a move for RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner.

The Reds have long wanted Werner but the financial fallout of coronavirus means they will be unable to splash the cash this summer.

However, The Athletic say they will look to raise the necessary funds for him by cashing in on Xherdan Shaqiri, Harry Wilson and Marko Grujic.

The three have fallen out of favour at Anfield but would help recoup a large chuck of what Werner would cost.

Sadio Mane is overtaking Kylian Mbappe as Real Madrids main target this summer.

According to Le10Sport, the La Liga club are frustrated with PSG over negotiations for Mbappe.

And now they are set to move onto to Mane as Zinedine Zidane looks for a replacement for Karim Benzema.

It looks increasingly likely that Liverpool will lose one of their attacking stars in the coming months.

Timo Werner has become the target of phone calls from Jurgen Klopp, who hopes to bring the Germany forward to Liverpool.

The RB Leipzig ace, who has 102 career goals to his name at the age of 24, is allegedly keen on joining the Anfield outfit rather than staying in Germany and joining Bayern Munich.

Klopp has been calling Werner over a move to Liverpool as he prepares for the potential departure of either Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane.

Both attackers have been linked with Real Madrid and, according to Le10Sport, Klopp is considering Werner as his priority signing to replace whichever one leaves.

Liverpool look set to win the race for Leicester City centre-back Caglar Soyuncu, AS claim.

Man City and Barcelona are also said to be interested in the 23-year-old but the Reds are the favourites to sign the Turkey international.

Soyuncu has been outstanding for Leicester this season taking over the mantle from Harry Maguire following his move to Manchester United last summer.

Adama Traore is reportedly a summer transfer target for Premier League heavyweights Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City.

The Wolves star has been one of the top-flights most improved performers this season with four goals and seven assists.

He has become a regular fixture in their side after starting just five league games last term following an 18million move from Middlesbrough.

Le10sport claim the Premier Leagues big guns are interested in signing 70m-rated Traore.

Icon Sport - Getty

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is pulling out all the stops to sign Kylian Mbappe having reportedly contacted the players dad.

Mbappe, 21, is one of the worlds most sought-after players and has been touted with Real Madrid in a move that could eclipse Neymars world-record transfer to PSG in 2017.

However, Liverpool have also been linked with the forward having won the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup in 2019. They also have a 25-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

And thats put them in contention to sign the World Cup winner, who has 30 goals for Paris Saint-Germain this season.

French outlet Le10 Sport reports that Klopp is so desperate to land Mbappe, hes even called the Frenchmans dad.

Trent Alexander-Arnold would love to see special talent Jadon Sancho at Liverpool.

Borussia Dortmund and England forward Sancho is expected to move to England this summer with Manchester United seemingly leading the chase for him.

Alexander-Arnold said: If he came to us, hed make our team better.

So, Id be more than happy for him to come because I played with him at England and hes a special, special, special, special talent.

Timo Werner has reportedly ruled out a move to another Bundesliga club when the transfer window opens.

The Germany international, who has scored 21 goals in 25 league matches this term, is Liverpools top target this summer andis said to have a 51million release clause that expires on June 15.

According to Bild, he is not willing to move to another club in the German top flight and a move to Anfield is his preferred option.

Meanwhile, Liverpool chiefs fear they may miss out on Werner as they can not meet with the player because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jurgen Klopp wants to bring him to Merseyside but his plans to meet the player in person to finalise the deal have been thrown up in the air due to the virus, German outlet Bild claim.

Klopp hoped to convince Werner to join personally but the current travel restrictions could scupper the transfer.

Sadio Mane could be tempted to join Real Madrid, according to his Senegal team-mate Keita Balde.

The Liverpool forward is being heavily linked with a move to Spain later this year.

I dont know what his decision is, Balde told AS. In a year or two, you may want to change.

I dont think he wants to be there forever. He is a smart boy and he knows what is good for him and what he has to do.

getty

Liverpools plans to build a dynasty under Jurgen Klopp have come under threat with Germany reportedly earmarking the Reds boss as the long-term successor to Joachim Low.

Klopp is one of the hottest properties in management after steering the Reds to Champions League glory last season and guiding them to within only six points of their first English league title in three decades.

The 52-year-old put pen to paper on a new deal last December to keep him Anfield-bound until 2024.

Despite insisting he will see out his deal, Germany have decided he is the right man to take over from Low in the near future, The Mirror claim.

It is believed Klopp has told bosses at Anfield that Liverpool will be the last club he manages and sees a transition to the national team as a natural step for him to take.

Timo Werner would reportedly have his preference of shirt number if he seals a move to Liverpool in the summer.

Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah currently occupy the No.9, No.10 and No.11 shirts respectively.

But the Express claim Werner would have his pick of any squad number.

Liverpool have zero interest in bringing Philippe Coutinho back to Anfield.

It has been claimed recently that the Reds could look into re-signing Coutinho amid news Barcelona are looking sell once the transfer window re-opens.

The Brazilian has been on loan at Bayern Munich this season and scored nine goals in 32 appearances.

But his future remains unclear and The Mirror say Liverpool are not interested.

The 27-year-old could potentially join a Premier League rival with clubs likely to be keen.

Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren is attracting interest from Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham.

The 30-year-old Croat is out of favour at Anfield and looks set to leave the club soon.

Teamtalk claim the Premier League trio are looking to keep Lovren in England and will move for him when the transfer window opens.

Lovren has made just nine league appearances this season.

The rest is here:
Liverpool transfer news and gossip: Kai Havertz urged to snub Reds, Klopp phoning Werner, Real step up Mane - talkSPORT.com

The notorious APT group continues to play the video game industry with yet another backdoor

In February 2020, we discovered a new, modular backdoor, which we named PipeMon. Persisting as a Print Processor, it was used by the Winnti Group against several video gaming companies that are based in South Korea and Taiwan and develop MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games. Video games developed by these companies are available on popular gaming platforms and have thousands of simultaneous players.

In at least one case, the malware operators compromised a victims build system, which could have led to a supply-chain attack, allowing the attackers to trojanize game executables. In another case, the game servers were compromised, which could have allowed the attackers to, for example, manipulate in-game currencies for financial gain.

The Winnti Group, active since at least 2012, is responsible for high-profile supply-chain attacks against the software industry, leading to the distribution of trojanized software (such as CCleaner, ASUS LiveUpdate and multiple video games) that is then used to compromise more victims. Recently, ESET researchers also discovered a campaign of the Winnti Group targeting several Hong Kong universities with ShadowPad and Winnti malware.

About the Winnti Group naming:

We have chosen to keep the name Winnti Group since its the name first used to identify it, in 2013, by Kaspersky. Since Winnti is also a malware family, we always write Winnti Group when we refer to the malefactors behind the attacks. Since 2013, it has been demonstrated that Winnti is only one of the many malware families used by the Winnti Group.

Multiple indicators led us to attribute this campaign to the Winnti Group. Some of the C&C domains used by PipeMon were used by Winnti malware in previous campaigns mentioned in our white paper on the Winnti Group arsenal. Besides, Winnti malware was also found in 2019 at some of the companies that were later compromised with PipeMon.

In addition to Winnti malware, a custom AceHash (a credential harvester) binary found at other victims of the Winnti Group, and signed with a well-known stolen certificate used by the group (Wemade IO), was also used during this campaign.

The certificate used to sign the PipeMon installer, modules and additional tools is linked to a video game company that was compromised in a supply-chain attack in late 2018 by the Winnti Group and was likely stolen at that time.

Interestingly, PipeMon modules are installed in %SYSTEM32%spoolprtprocsx64; this path was also used in the past to drop the second stage of the trojanized CCleaner.

Additionally, compromising a software developers build environment to subsequently compromise legitimate application is a known modus operandi of the Winnti Group.

Companies targeted in this campaign are video game developers, producing MMO games and based in South Korea and Taiwan. In at least one case, the attackers were able to compromise the companys build orchestration server, allowing them to take control of the automated build systems. This could have allowed the attackers to include arbitrary code of their choice in the video game executables.

ESET contacted the affected companies and provided the necessary information to remediate the compromise.

Two different variants of PipeMon were found at the targeted companies. Only for the more recent variant were we able to identify the first stage which is responsible for installing and persisting PipeMon.

PipeMons first stage consists of a password-protected RARSFX executable embedded in the .rsrc section of its launcher. The launcher writes the RARSFX to setup0.exe in a directory named with a randomly generated, eight-character, ASCII string located in the directory returned by GetTempPath. Once written to disk, the RARSFX is executed with CreateProcess by providing the decryption password in an argument, as follows:

setup0.exe -p*|T/PMR{|T2^LWJ*

Note that the password is different with each sample.

The content of the RARSFX is then extracted into %TMP%RarSFX0 and consists of the following files:

Note that in the event of a folder name collision, the number at the end of the RarSFX0 string is incremented until a collision is avoided. Further, not all these files are necessarily present in the archive, depending on the installer.

Once extracted, setup.exe is executed without arguments. Its sole purpose is to load setup.dll using LoadLibraryA. Once loaded, setup.dll checks whether an argument in the format x:n (where n is an integer) was provided; the mode of operation will be different depending on the presence of n. Supported arguments and their corresponding behavior are shown in Table 1. setup.exe is executed without arguments by the RARSFX, and checks whether its running with elevated privileges. If not, it will attempt to obtain such privileges using token impersonation if the version of Windows is below Windows 7 build 7601; otherwise it will attempt different UAC bypass techniques, allowing installation of the payload loader into one of:

depending on the variant. Note that we werent able to retrieve samples related to Interactive.dll.

Table 1. setup.exe supported arguments and their corresponding behavior.

This loader is stored encrypted within setup.dll, which will decrypt it before writing it to the aforementioned location.

The location where the malicious DLL is dropped was not chosen randomly. This is the path where Windows Print Processors are located and setup.dll registers the malicious DLL loader as an alternative Print Processor by setting one of the following registry values:

HKLMSYSTEMControlSet001ControlPrintEnvironmentsWindows x64Print ProcessorsPrintFiiterPipelineSvcDriver = DEment.dll

or

HKLMSYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlPrintEnvironmentsWindows x64Print Processorslltdsvc1Driver = EntAppsvc.dll

depending on the variant. Note the typo in PrintFiiterPipelineSvc (which has no impact on the Print Processor installation since any name can be used).

After having registered the Print Processor, PipeMon restarts the print spooler service (spoolsv.exe). As a result, the malicious print process is loaded when the spooler service starts. Note that the Print Spooler service starts at each PC startup, which ensures persistence across system resets.

This technique is really similar to the Print Monitor persistence technique (being used by DePriMon, for example) and, to our knowledge, has not been documented previously.

Additionally, the encrypted payload, CrLnc.dat, extracted from the RARSFX is written to the registry at the following location, depending on the installer:

This encrypted registry payload is then loaded, decrypted and executed by the previously registered Print Processor library. The whole PipeMon staging and persistence is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. PipeMon staging and persistence

We named this new implant PipeMon because it uses multiple named pipes for inter-module communication and according to its PDB path, the name of the Visual Studio project used by its developer is Monitor.

As mentioned previously, two different PipeMon variants were found. Considering the first variant, we couldnt retrieve the installer; thus, we dont know for sure the persistence technique that was used. But considering that this first variant of PipeMon was also located in the Print Processor directory, its likely that the same persistence mechanism was used.

PipeMon is a modular backdoor where each module is a single DLL exporting a function called IntelLoader and is loaded using a reflective loading technique. Each module exhibits different functionalities that are shown in Table 2.

The loader, responsible for loading the main modules (ManagerMain and GuardClient) is Win32CmdDll.dll and is located in the Print Processors directory. The modules are stored encrypted on disk at the same location with inoffensive-looking names such as:

Note that .hwp is the extension used by Hangul Word Processor from Hangul Office, which is very popular in South Korea.

The modules are RC4 encrypted and the decryption key Com!123Qasdz is hardcoded into each module. Win32CmDll.dll decrypts and injects the ManagerMain and GuardClient modules. The ManagerMain module is responsible for decrypting and injecting the Communication module, while the GuardClient module will ensure that the Communication module is running and reload it if necessary. An overview of how PipeMon operates is shown in Figure 2.

Win32CmDll.dll first tries to inject the ManagerMain and GuardClient modules into a process with one of the following names: lsass.exe, wininit.exe or lsm.exe. If that fails, it tries to inject into one of the registered windows services processes, excluding processes named spoolsv.exe, ekrn.exe (ESET), avp.exe (Kaspersky) or dllhost.exe. As a last option, if everything else failed, it tries to use the processes taskhost.exe, taskhostw.exe or explorer.exe.

The process candidates for Communication module injection must be in the TCP connection table with either 0.0.0.0 as the local address, or an ESTABLISHED connection and owning a LOCAL SERVICE token. These conditions are likely used to hide the Communication module into a process that is already communicating over the network so that the traffic from the Communication module would seem inconspicuous and possibly also whitelisted in the firewall. If no process meets the previous requirements, the ManagerMain module tries to inject the Communication module into explorer.exe. Processes belonging to the Windows Store Apps and processes named egui.exe (ESET) and avpui.exe (Kaspersky) are ignored from the selection.

Table 2. PipeMon module descriptions and their respective PDB paths

Additional modules can be loaded on-demand using dedicated commands (see below), but unfortunately, we werent able to discover any of them. The names of these modules are an educated guess based on the named pipes used to communicate with them:

Inter-module communication is performed via named pipes, using two named pipes per communication channel between each individual module, one for sending and one for receiving. Table 3 lists the communication channels and their corresponding named pipes.

Table 3. PipeMon communication channel and their respective named pipes

The %CNC_DEFINED% string is received from the C&C server and %B64_TIMESTAMP% variables are base64-encoded timestamps such as the ones shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Example timestamps used with named pipes

Figure 2. PipeMon IPC scheme (original PipeMon variant)

The Communication module is responsible for managing communications between the C&C server and the other modules via named pipes, similar to the PortReuse backdoor documented in our white paper on the Winnti arsenal.

Its C&C address is hardcoded in the ManagerMain module and encrypted using RC4 with the hardcoded key Com!123Qasdz. It is sent to the Communication module through a named pipe.

A separate communication channel is created for each installed module. The communication protocol used is TLS over TCP. The communication is handled with the HP-Socket library. All the messages are RC4 encrypted using the hardcoded key. If the size of the message to be transferred is greater than or equal to 4KB, it is first compressed using zlibs Deflate implementation.

struct CCMSG{ BYTE is_compressed; CMD cmd;};struct CMD{ QWORD cmd_type; DWORD cmd_size; DWORD cmd_arg; BYTE data[cmd_size - 16];};

struct CCMSG

{

BYTE is_compressed;

CMD cmd;

};

struct CMD

{

QWORD cmd_type;

DWORD cmd_size;

DWORD cmd_arg;

BYTE data[cmd_size - 16];

};

struct beacon_msg{ BYTE isCompressed = 0; CMD cmd_hdr; WCHAR win_version[128]; WCHAR adapters_addrs[128]; WCHAR adapters_addrs[64]; WCHAR local_addr[64]; WCHAR malware_version[64]; WCHAR computer_name[64];}

struct beacon_msg

{

BYTE isCompressed = 0;

CMD cmd_hdr;

WCHAR win_version[128];

WCHAR adapters_addrs[128];

WCHAR adapters_addrs[64];

WCHAR local_addr[64];

WCHAR malware_version[64];

WCHAR computer_name[64];

}

Figure 3. C&C message and beacon formats

To initiate communication with the C&C server, a beacon message is first sent that contains the following information:

The information about the victims machine is collected by the ManagerMain module and sent to the Communication module via the named pipe. The backdoor version is hardcoded in the Communication module in cleartext.

The format of the beacon message is shown in Figure 3 and the supported commands are shown in Table 5.

Table 5. List of commands

* The argument supplied for this command type is ignored

As mentioned earlier, the attackers also use an updated version of PipeMon for which we were able to retrieve the first stage described above. While exhibiting an architecture highly similar to the original variant, its code was likely rewritten from scratch.

The RC4 code used to decrypt the modules and strings was replaced by a simple XOR with 0x75E8EEAF as the key and all the hardcoded strings were removed. The named pipes used for inter-module communication are now named using random values instead of explicit names and conform to the format\.pipe%rand%, where %rand% is a pseudorandomly generated string of 31 characters containing only mixed case alphabetic characters.

Here, only the main loader (i.e. the malicious DLL installed as a Print Processor) is stored as a file on disk; the modules are stored in the registry by the installer (from the CrLnc.dat file) and are described in Table 6.

Table 6. Updated modules

Module injection is not performed using the reflective loading technique with an export function anymore; custom loader shellcode is used instead and is injected along with the module to be loaded.

The C&C message format was changed as well, and is shown in Figure 4.

struct CCMSG{ BYTE is_compressed; CMD cmd;};struct CMD{ QWORD cmd_type; DWORD cmd_size; DWORD cmd_arg; BYTE data[cmd_size - 16];};

struct CCMSG

{

BYTE is_compressed;

CMD cmd;

};

struct CMD

{

QWORD cmd_type;

DWORD cmd_size;

The rest is here:
No Game over for the Winnti Group - We Live Security

Following months of anticipation and a well-publicizedpush from the Chicago arm of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her administration have introduced an ordinance that would reverse the ban on, and streamline the permitting of, coach houses and other types of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that already exist or could be built on vacant residential lots or as additions to existing buildings.

Prevalent across older Chicago residential properties, coach houses are small and often garage-less rear outbuildings also known as laneway houses, rear houses, granny flats, or carriage houses. Currently, coach houses (also a Chicagoan catchall term for any additional freestanding structure on a property, modern or not, that could be used for habitation) cannot be used as primary standalone residential units without cumbersome and expensive zoning changes. The ordinance, which has been formally introduced to the City Council and will be reviewed by the zoning and housing committees, would strike the ban on ADUs as a means of boosting density and generating affordable housing in the city.

As the Chicago Sun-Times explained earlier this month, ADUs have effectively been outlawed in the city since a 1957 overhaul of the citys zoning codes. Coach houses, however, continued to pop up across the following the ban while existing structuresand there are many, roughly 2,400 per data shared by the Chicago Cityscape blogwere grandfathered in.

A typical Chicago coach house. (Daniel X. ONeil/Flickr)

The need for safe and affordable housing is likely to increase as more households in the Chicago region face unemployment and rising economic uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, wrote the ULI in a report, Unlocking Accessory Dwelling Units in Chicago, published earlier this month. Accessory Dwelling Units provide an innovative way for Chicago to address the growing housing challenge by adding to its inventory of affordable housing, providing financial stability for homeowners and by energizing neighborhoods.

Per Steven Vance of Chicago Cityscape, who broke the news of the ordinances arrival, the law, if adopted, would take effect on August 1, 2020, a date that coincides with the mandatory implementation of the 2019 Chicago Building Code for all renovation and new construction projects. Chicago Cityscape notes that the ordinance categories ADUs into two categories: Coach houses and conversion units, the latter of which entail renovations and/or additions to existing buildings over 20 years old. Only units built according to this code would be considered conversion units; units that exist on or before July 31, 2020, that seem like conversion units are not considered conversion units, elaborated Vance.

Furthermore, the ordinance states that coach houses cannot be built on a lot with a conversion unit, although property owners in the appropriate residential zoning districts can potentially build or add more than one coach house or conversion unit on a single lot, just not both. There are, however, some stipulations depending on the size and age of the existing front residential building on the lot. There are also rules that dictate the affordable nature of coach houses and conversions when multiple units are involved. Chicago Cityscape gets into the nitty-gritty of special rules that applyor dont applyto specific residential zoning districts.

Whats more, existing coach houses can be modified and potentially expanded, while newly built coach houses will be limited to a maximum of 700 square feet or 60 percent of the required rear setback. There are no direct limits on the size of conversion units.

The ordinance also stipulates that ADUs and conversion units cannot be used as Airbnb properties and do not require additional parking.

Much like the ULI, the Lightfoot administration sees the rehabilitation of existing coach houses as well as the construction of new ADUs and conversion units as a necessary way to boost much-needed affordable housing in the city. These new living spaces, as the administration points out, are pandemic-friendly, to boot.

The administrations proposed ADU ordinance is not only a way to increase available housing throughout Chicago, it is also a safety and stimulus effort, designed to allow for very gentle density within existing neighborhood character, the Department of Housing explained to the Sun-Times in a statement. In fact, if ever the need arises again, ADUs will create a type of density that could allow for multi-generational households to remain close, but also create options for social distancing in a basement unit or coach house on the same property.

This all being said, although the ordinance, which has been in the works for well over a year, has now been introduced to City Council, its not entirely clear when it will be taken up considering the unprecedented circumstances.

The rest is here:
Chicago introduces highly anticipated ADU ordinance - The Architect's Newspaper

After Universals City Walk partially reopened its gates last Thursday, attention was focused back on Disney and what details they would share on their reopening of Disney Springs. which will take place Wednesday May 20. Well, those details are now in and here they are.

Face masks: All visitors, employees and cast members over the age of 3 will be required to wear a face covering of some sort at all times except when dining.

Temperature screenings: All visitors temperatures will be taken upon arrival. Any person that has a temperature of 100.4 or higher will be retested in an additional facility if their temp is at or higher than 100.4 twice, they will not be allowed in and neither will their group.

Physical distancing and capacity control: Disney will limit the number of people allowed in and in certain areas- there will be markings for lines and other additions to ensure social distancing is upheld.

Cleanliness: Disney is making an effort to add more disinfection as they take care of their facilities. They also have hand washing and sanitation stations which they encourage visitors to use.

Cashless transactions: Disney is discouraging the use of cash.

Parking garages and entrances: In the first phase of reopening visitors will be directed to park in two garages: the orange garage and the lime garage- all surface lots will be closed and entrances will be limited.

When Walt Disney World moves into its first phase of its reopening on Wednesday with the partial reopening of Disney Springs, its likely to be a bit of a test to see how team members and the public react.

While our theme parks and resort hotels remain temporarily closed, the phased reopening of Disney Springs is a welcome milestone as we navigate through this unprecedented time together as responsibly as we can, Matt Simon, vice president of Disney Spring wrote in a post on the Disney Parks Blog Saturday.

Rest assured, there is plenty of magic awaiting you at Disney Springs it just may feel a bit different than before, Simon wrote.

So, should the tempered reopening of Disney Springs be taken as a sign that Disney will soon be reopening its theme parks and resorts the short answer is no.

As the park reopens, it will institute the new policies in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities and government agencies.

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Disney Springs to require face masks, temperature checks as it partially reopens on Wednesday - positivelyosceola.com

True sports cars, in the sense that we all have come to know them nowadays, are few and far between. There are many out there trying to claim sports car status even some with four doors want to be sports cars. To us, a true sports car has only two doors, rear wheel drive, bucket seats and yes, maybe even a manual transmission!

So it was that we welcomed a week with the new Hakone Edition of the Toyota 86 sports car (formerly a Scion FR-S) that came with all of the above features, and we were more than eager to show its stuff out on the road, especially if there were a lot of curvy mountain grades involved.

The sports car is available in both a manual and automatic transmission, as are most of todays sports cars, but after a week in the manual we would definitely have to recommend it. Its much more fun to drive, especially around the Utah mountains, and as a big bonus, its about $1700 less expensive.

We had to ask the questions as to why the Hakone Edition? It is a tribute to a famous stretch of road in Japan about two hours southwest of Tokyo named the Hakone Turnpike. The famous road is on many a car enthusiasts bucket list, so Toyota chose to pay tribute to it this year with a sports car with the same name.

The 86s interior sported some unique additions including tan and black Alcantara seats, a tan Toyota 86 logo embroidered on the passenger side dashboard, with this tan stitching being carried forth throughout the cabin. The Hakone also comes with a beautiful green paint, matched with 17 spoked bronze wheels and an all-black spoiler on the tail.

Its not often that we need to refill the gas tank in one of our test drive vehicles, especially by Saturday morning, considering we didnt receive the FR-S until late in the day on Wednesday, it was a quick two day tank of gas. This goes right to the fun to drive portion of the 86s DNA. We each had and entire day with the car and had each used our fair share of fuel motoring around during our turn as it was.

Considering we averaged right at 32 mpg for the week, we had racked up almost 300 miles on the odometer by Saturday morning, and had to add to our dwindling fuel supply; after all, letting the little sportster just sit in the drive was not going to be an option.

As we are both progressing somewhat in age, we found that once in the coupe it was much easier to spend as much time as possible getting to our destination, as it proved to be somewhat harder to extract ourselves from 86. It was easier to just stay in the car and enjoy the ride, so maybe it wouldnt be the best mid-life crisis car, though it was still oh so much fun to drive!

Throughout the entire week we spent with the Toyota it seemed we could always find a little somewhere else to go or a longer way to get there yes driving in the 86 was really that enjoyable. It is basically a sports car that is affordable to a much larger segment of the market.

The 86 comes complete with everything we would want from a sports coupe including a fine 4-cylinder, 2-liter, 205-horsepower Subaru Boxer engine. About the only complaint that we had during the entire week was that the low end torque was not that great. What this translated to mostly was off the line it was not a dragster, but through the turns at higher speeds it couldnt be beat Eliminating the traction control did enable Craig to get some spin from the tires in first and second gear.

There was a back seat included in the Scion, but with any normal two adults occupying the front seats you would be hard pressed to get anyone into the rear seats, especially if they were over the age of 5. It did prove, however, to be a good place to throw stuff if needed as we got into the small sportster.

The exterior styling of the 86 is really what we felt set it apart from any of the competition, with the Toyota website listing a few, such as the Mazda Miata, Honda Civic coupe and Genesis coupe. The designers at Toyota have done an excellent job giving it the looks of a real contender. It made us really stand out in the crowd, and it also makes it more visible to the local authorities.

The climate controls are very simple and easy to use there are heat and air conditioning and it is limited to the front seats, not that anyone in the back is going to complain. New this year is a dual zone system that kept us happier, together, in early March!

There is also a 7-inch touch screen display that controls the radio and Bluetooth functions in the 86. Ours did not include SirrusXM radio but did have HD radio capabilities. The Bluetooth worked seamlessly, hooking up our phones and also streaming audio from them. We didnt even miss the satellite radio.

The Toyota 86 is one of the best and most affordable coupes we have had the opportunity to drive. We do need to point out that it is a rear wheel drive vehicle, so getting around in the snow would be an experience here in Utah. Most likely, you would have to put it in the garage on those nasty days.

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Sunday Drive: Toyota 86 gets a special edition for 2020 - Daily Herald

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Six casinos in or near the Coachella Valley are opening their doors Friday to guests who are ready to gambleonslot machines andcard games, despite a request from Gov. Gavin Newsom to stay closed.

Newsomsent a letter to California tribeson May 15 urging them not to reopen their gaming facilities. But tribes are sovereign nations and don't have to follow local or state stay-at-home orders. Several popular casinos in the San Diego areaopened earlierthis week.

Casinos are considered higher-risk workplaces because of the volume of people they bring in and fall under Stage 3 of the governor's reopening plan. Other businesses in Stage 3 have not been allowed to reopen yet.

Memorial Day: What you can and can't do this weekend in the Coachella Valley

Coronavirus FAQ: Everything you need to know

When the doors to Spotlight 29 Casino near Coachellaopened at 10 a.m., after aclosure that's lasted more thantwomonths, someone from the crowd yelled out Freedom!

By that time, more than 150 people were already in line to get in.

Over 200 people had entered the casino by 10:15 a.m. Employees at the entrance said people began lining up just after 8:30 a.m., with some saying they had driven from as far as the Los Angeles area and Orange County.

Guests had to get their temperatures checked by security as they pulled up in their vehiclesto help curb the spread of COVID-19. Security staff declined to tell The Desert Sun whether they had turned anyone away.

Everyone who entered the casino was required to wear a face mask, with one provided if needed. Blue latex gloves were also offered, but not requiredto enter.

I saved a lot of money the last couple months, quarantined inside," joked Larry Potter, who drove by himself from Banning."Hopefully I dont lose it today."

Adam Levy, assistant director of marketing for Spotlight 29, said theTwenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indianswasmeticulous in organizing theopening, following guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventionand Riverside County.The casino opened only one entrance, so staff could turn people away in their cars, if needed.

I saved a lot of money the last couple months, quarantined inside. Hopefully I dont lose it today.

Levy said capacity is 2,200, but the casino is only allowing 500 people in at a time to start. That will hopefully change in time, he said.The casino is not hosting a buffetfor safety reasons, Levy added, and that was the only complaint hedheard on Friday.

Inside the casino,staff were enforcing social distancing and facial coverings. Staff wipeddown machines, too. Naturally, not everyone was 6 feet apart at all times, but staff were doing their best to enforce it.

At least two women, Cori Francis and Cheryl Pegram, both of Cathedral City, said they planned to go to the other Coachella Valleycasinos reopening Friday.

This has been the craziest time of my life," Francis said."Hopefully this is the start of things returning to normal.

Pegram said she had "dreamt of this moment" when she could get out again.

The Spotlight 29 Casinoand the Tortoise Rock Casino near Twentynine Palms werethe first to open in the valley Friday,followed by the Agua Caliente casinos in Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs.

While the Agua Caliente casinos werescheduled to open at noon, the Rancho Mirage facility opened its doors at 11 a.m.All entrances wereopen, with security checking people's temperatures inside. Masks were available for thosewho didnt bring their own.

Guests enter the Agua Caliente Resort Casino and Spa in Rancho Mirage after the casino reopened, May 22, 2020.(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

About 400 patrons were inside the Rancho Mirage casino by Friday afternoon, and shops and eateries likeWaters Cafe, Java Caliente, Swarovski and Sports Bar 360were bustling. Like at Spotlight 29, Purell hand sanitizer stations could be found all over the casino.Sanitation crews meticulously wiped down machines, and staff tried to enforce social distancing.

Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Tribal ChairmanJeff L. Grubbe paid a visit to his tribe's casinos Friday.

I walked the floors as we re-opened our casinos today, Grubbe told The Desert Sun in an email. All safety protocols are in place, and our team members and guests were appreciative that we are open again.It feels good to have nearly 1,500 team members back to work and to know that the Tribe is playing a big part in jump starting the Coachella Valley economy again.

In announcing its reopening, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians citedthe Riverside County Board of Supervisors' votesupporting tribal governments' reopening of their casinos with social distancing measures in place and personal protective equipment provided for staff.

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"The County of Riverside has no jurisdiction over tribal lands," Riverside County spokeswoman Brooke Federico said on Friday. "We ask that all businesses consider the ways they can implement safer practices for their employees and customers when considering reopening."

The Morongo Casino & Resort near Banningand the nearby original Casino Morongowere scheduled to open at 2 p.m., but actually opened their doors around11:30a.m. There was no line at first, but once the scheduled opening time came around the parking garage was packed.The casino marquee readMask required and Good times are back!

It was the most bustling of the casinos and had more than 150 people in line outside at 2:45 p.m., more thanthreehours after it opened. Signs were placed outside the entrance to the casino Friday afternoon to inform guests there may be a one- to two-hour wait.Several hopeful gamblers decided to give up after standing in the long line for 20 minutes, heading back to their cars.

Simon Farmer, executive director of marketing for Morongo Casino & Resort, said that the determination was made around 3 p.m. not to let additional guests in until more visitors exited. Farmer wouldn't share an estimate of how many customers were inside at the time, but he said fewer than the casino's total 4,000 slot machines were in use.

He said that the number of occupants allowed will be determined by casino management "in real time," depending on what staff members are observing on the floor.

As for opening the casino earlier in the day than the 2 p.m. scheduled time, Farmer saidmanagement felt there was no reason to wait any longer. First, VIPs were welcomed in at 9 a.m. for a first look of the expanded and renovated casino.

"As the day went on, we had such a force of team members here ready to serve our guests, ready to implement our new safety protocols and procedures, that we knew we were ready to let the guests that were waiting outside come inside," he said.

Security checks the temperature of occupants of vehicles coming into the Spotlight 29 Casino during its reopening in Coachella, May 22, 2020.(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

David Hakimfar and Sam Alishahi traveled tothe casino's reopeningfrom Los Angeles. They left with less money than when they entered, but it didn't dampen their spirits.

Together, we lost 400 bucks, with pleasure. Im happy that I gave money to the Indian reservation and I thank them, Alishahi said.

It feels like the foot of Gavin Newsom and (Los Angeles Mayor)Eric Garcetti has been taken off our throats and were getting a taste of freedom, Hakimfar added.

Once inside, each guest's temperature was taken, and masks were required. Video screens inside said Welcome back! and encouraged anyone with a fever to exit, see a doctor and come back soon.

Purell stations were set up throughoutand the entire staff at Morongo, from security guards to blackjack dealers, wore black or gray masks with the casinos name and logo.

The buffet was closed but most of the other eateries inside were open. The casino will be open 24-7 moving forward.

At the Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs and Agua Caliente Casino Rancho Mirage, visitors can expect the following new precautions because of COVID-19:

People walk into the Agua Caliente Resort Casino and Spa in Rancho Mirage after the reopening, May 22, 2020.(Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

Guests at the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians'Spotlight 29 and Tortoise Rock casinos can anticipate these changes:

At theMorongo Casino &Resort, owned by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, visitors will get their first glimpse at the newly completed 65,000-square-foot expansion and renovation project.Among other additions are new restaurants and a 30% expansion ofthe gaming floor.Most of the project wasdone before the casino had to close, but the project officially wrapped during the closure.

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Here are changes guests returning to the new casino and original Casino Morongocan anticipate:

Of casinos in the Coachella Valley, both the Fantasy Springs Casino and Augustine Casino have yet to make reopening dates public.

Jef Bauer, general manager of Augustine Casino near Coachella, said this week that the casino will not reopen before June 1.

"The Tribe is adamant that we not rush into reopening and that we put the health and safety of our team members and guests first," Bauer said in a written statement Friday. "We are taking a cautious and slow approach to this."

In early April, Bauer said in an interview with The Desert Sun that closures stretching into June would be devastating for tribes, with costs for reopening similar to start-up costs for a big gaming facility.

"Youre basically going to have to fire up all the enginesmarketing, hiring, Bauer said at the time. There could be all kinds of costs that you wouldnt even normally have during that time, and your revenues are coming in low. So, the expenses will just be crippling for some businesses, if were not able to get this under control soon and get open.

Fantasy Springs has been announcing new and rescheduled concert dates. The soonest upcoming event on the calendar that hasn't been canceled or postponed is a Chicago concert, set for Sept. 12. For a full list of upcoming shows, go tofantasyspringsresort.com.

Risa Johnson covers Native American affairs in the Coachella Valley and beyond. She can be reached at risa.johnson@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4737. Follow her on Twitter @risamjohnson.

Read or Share this story: https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/health/2020/05/22/morongo-casino-others-reopen-despite-newsoms-request-stay-closed/5242127002/

Read more from the original source:
'Dreamt of this moment': Reopening day is here for six casinos around the Coachella Valley - Desert Sun

The 2020 F1 calendar originally consisted of a record-breaking 22 different races.

Question marks hang over other races. The possibility of racing at Silverstone was thrown into doubt yesterday. The Singapore Grand Prix promoters have said their race can only go ahead on its originally scheduled weekend of September 20th and cannot be held behind closed doors criteria which are going to be challenging to fulfil.

Many postponed events are hopeful of returning to the championship later in the season. But Formula 1 chairman and CEO Chase Carey admitted the sport could end up racing at some tracks which werent originally on the 2020 schedule.

So where could it race? There are 21 venues which hold the FIA grade one certification necessary to hold F1 races which werent originally on the 2020 roster:

Hockenheims last F1 race was a thrillerHockenheimring, GermanyPrevious F1 races: 37

The most recent home of the German Grand Prix was dropped from the calendar at the end of 2019. However Germanys relative success in tackling the spread of the pandemic, plus the fact the Hockenheimring held a race last year, makes it an obvious candidate as a short-notice addition to the calendar. The truncated layout may be hard to love, but it can produce great races, especially when the weather lends a hand like it did last year.

Nurburgring, GermanyPrevious F1 races: 40

Some of the same reasoning for Hockenheim obviously applies here, though F1 hasnt raced on the modern Nurburgring since 2013. Hockenheim therefore represents an easier in for the championship.

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Jerez, SpainPrevious F1 races: 7

Formula 1s motorbike counterpart Moto GP intends to start its postponed season at the twisty Andalusian circuit in July. F1 hasnt raced there since the dramatic, title-deciding 1997 European Grand Prix, and stopped testing at the circuit a few years ago.

Valencia (Ricardo Tormo)Previous F1 races: 0

Not the little-loved street circuit, which fell into disrepair after holding five wholly forgettable races and one cracker between 2008 and 2012, but one of F1s preferred former testing venues. Like Jerez, its more of a bike circuit, rather too tight for F1.

Magny-Cours: Club circuit turned grand prix venueMagny-Cours, FrancePrevious F1 races: 18

The remoteness which played against Magny-Cours when it hosted the French Grand Prix between 1991 and 2008 may work in its favour in the age of the Coronavirus. The track is a bit of an oddball, extremely smooth and with a very short pit lane which excites the kind of people who really like strategic races. Modern F1 cars would looks spectacular in the quick right-hander leading onto the back straight.

Fiorano, ItalyPrevious F1 races: 0

Yes, Ferraris test track has grade one status. At 2.9 kilometres its even shorter than Monaco, and so wouldnt meet the FIAs minimum F1 circuit length. Infrastructure would be a challenge too, and nine of the teams might object to one of their rivals having a bit of a home advantage

Imola, ItalyPrevious F1 races: 27

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari made noises about standing in for the Chinese Grand Prix before the pandemic took an awful toll on Italy. Its been modernised since it last held the San Marino Grand Prix in 2006, losing one of its many chicanes.

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Mugello, ItalyPrevious F1 races: 0

While Mugello (pictured top) has never held a round of the world championship, F1 last tested there as recently as 2012. Its not unlikely Zandvoort in that it has a quick, flowing layout which and offer little room for error. The Coronavirus cloud really would have a silver lining if this gem of a track got an F1 race.

F1 tested twice at Algarve in PortugalAutodromo do Algarve, PortugalPrevious F1 races: 0

One of the more interesting modern facilities, the Algarve track had the misfortune to be built just as F1 imposed strict limits on track testing. Aside from two visits in the 2008-09 off-season, F1 has stayed away. It is understood to have expressed an interest in welcoming the world championship.

Estoril, PortugalPrevious F1 races: 14

The best corners at F1s Portuguese home of the eighties and nineties have been neutered. The viciously tight Saca Rolhas (corkscrew, but not in the epic Laguna Seca sense) slows the approach to Parabolica, and the first two corners were tightened after F1 left in 1996.

Istanbul Park, TurkeyPrevious F1 races: 9

Widely considered one of the best creations by Formula 1s favourite circuit designer Hermann Tilke and thats not just damning with faint praised. Blessed with an expansive tract of land (albeit a long way from its titular host city), Tilke produced a layout which blends gradient, challenging corners such as the dramatic turn eight, and natural overtaking opportunities.

Moscow Raceway, RussiaPrevious F1 races: 0

A few too many corners crammed into a relatively confined space means gives Moscow Raceway the feel of a scaled-up go-kart circuit. Its best remembered for the DTMs inaugural visit, when a qualifying session had to be abandoned because president Vladimir Putins jet flew over, meaning the medical helicopter was not allowed to fly

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Dubai Autodrome, United Arab EmiratesGrand Prix circuit and International circuitPrevious F1 races: 0

Romain Grosjean would surely like the idea of racing here he won GP2 Asias first three visits to the track in 2008. Featuring a fairly quick opening sector, it has some potential as an F1 venue.

Vettel took three wins and his fourth title at BuddhBuddh International Circuit, IndiaPrevious F1 races: 3

And Sebastian Vettel would be first to call for a return to the former home of the Indian Grand Prix: He won all three F1 races at the Buddh International Circuit from pole position between 2011 and 2013. The track has developed some outrageous bumps since F1 left and was turned into a quarantine centre when the pandemic hit the region in March.

Fuji Speedway, JapanFull and shortPrevious F1 races: 4

Having been the scene of that epic 1976 championship-decider, then dropped from the calendar 12 months later, Fuji was welcomed back to F1 in the late noughties. However what had previously been a very quick track was heavily modified, especially at the end of the lap, where the dauntingly quick right-hander leading onto the main straight was replaced by several slow corners. The track therefore lost much of the spectacle a venue sat in the shadow of Mount Fuji deserved.

Korea International Circuit, South KoreaPrevious F1 races: 4

There arent many people clamouring for a return to South Koreas remote track outside Mokpo. The layout was derivative of many other additions to the calendar around the same time, there was little evident local enthusiasm for the race, and after four visits F1 never went back.

Kuwait Motor Town, KuwaitPrevious F1 races: 0

The newest track on this list is another Hermann Tilke creation which opened last year. It packs 20 corners into its near-six kilometre length with an up-tempo middle sector. Istanbuls quadruple-apex turn eight, mimicked at Circuit of the Americas, has another replica here too.

Sepang joined the F1 calendar in 1999Sepang, MalaysiaPrevious F1 races: 19

While F1 prompted the building of Malaysias first F1 track in 1999, Moto GP has out-lasted it at the venue. Quick corners, punishing humidity and volatile local weather often created memorable races here.

Losail International Circuit, QatarPrevious F1 races: 0

Losails tight, slow corners lend it more to motorbikes than F1 cars. Floodlighting allows competitors and fans to avoid the punishing midday heat.

Buriram International Circuit, ThailandPrevious F1 races: 0

How about a home race for Alexander Albon? Buriram is another Asian track which has taken Moto GP to heart.

F1 went the wrong way around IndianapolisIndianapolis (Grand Prix circuit)Previous F1 races: 19

Indianapolis hosted the world championship when the Indy 500 was a points-scoring race from 1950 to 1960, despite not being run to Formula 1 rules. The championship proper raced there from 2000, on a little-loved road circuit inside the oval, but succeeded largely in disgracing itself with a contrived finish in 2002 and a six-car farce three years later. IndyCar races more successfully on a revised version of the track, but nothing is ever going to compare to that mighty oval.

What, no Kymiring?

The newly-built Kymiring is expected to become Finlands first F1-standard track, but doesnt have its FIA grade one certification yet.

Which of these tracks would make good venues for F1 pandemic or otherwise? Have your say in the comments.

See the rest here:
The 21 other tracks F1 could race at in 2020 - RaceFans

Ahead of its launch on the Test Server tomorrow, here's everything revealed about the new season of Rainbow Six -- Operation Steel Wave.

Jump to:

Firstly, we have Hvard "Ace" Haugland, a Norwegian member of the Nighthaven mercenary group run by Kali.This two speed, two armour operator acts as R6's fourth hard breacher as his SELMA gadget is a "sequentially exploding hard breach" charge which he can throw onto reinforced walls. However, if thrown on a surface that is non-explosive, the gadget will not detonate and will be retrievable.

Each SELMA charge thrown on a reinforced then explodes in three stages, with each stage located below the previous and each hole being approximately the same size as one set of Hibana X-KAIROS pellets, to create a full-body sized hole in totality. An unreinforced hatch can also be opened with one SELMA charge, but two charges are necessary for reinforced ones.

This gadget, of which he has three of, also can be used to as soft destruction on unreinforced walls, or to destroy gadgets such as Goyo shields and Maestro Evil Eyes that are in the vicinity of the extensible explosive arms of each SELMA charge. However, outside of destroying defender gadgets, the explosives do no damage to operators themselves.

The gadgets themselves can be stopped from deploying by destroying the canisters with all of the usual hard breach denial used to counter Thermite and Hibana -- Bandit Batteries, Kaid Electroclaws, Mute Jammers, hacked Twitch drones, or by simply shooting the canisters off of a wall (including Evil Eye tasers) -- and can be interrupted by both Wamai and Jager while being thrown. Electrifying or shooting the extensible arms will not destroy the gadget, however.

However, due to the lack of a cooldown on his throwable, a Bandit trick attempt cannot successfully deny the opening of at least one single X-KAIROS set sized hole if Ace throws a charge each on two walls alongside each other. A properly timed Kaid electroclaw would thus be the only viable option in most scenarios.

What's more, unlike Hibana, Thermite, or Maverick, Ace can deploy his charges through drone holes or throw them in between the metal bars in destructible floors from above, thus allowing him to breach far more safely than any operator so far.

Concerning the loadout, he comes with a choice of the AK-12Assault Rifle (used by Fuze) or theM1014 Shotgun (used byThermite, Castle, and Pulse) for his primary, the P9 Handgun (used by the GIGN) for his secondary weapon, and a choice of either Smoke Grenades or Breaching Charges as his secondary gadget, giving him an opportunity to bring a second form of soft breach.

Next up is the new defender of Tentevwe "Melusi" Ilovu who represents the South African National Defence Force (SADF) and is R6's first three-speed Defender to be introduced since Alibi during Operation Para Bellum two years ago. Her three "Banshee Sonic Defense" gadgets are localised disruptors, which create a loud "buzzing" as a sound cue when attackers get within 6 meters of it and also have a line of sight to the gadget.

As well as this, it also slows down the affected attacker as if they were in Barbed Wire, making it a strong counter to entry fraggers, though the effect is less pronounced when a Finka boost is active. Of note is that the aim is unaffected, unlike an Ela Grzmot mine.

Both effects also are triggered byNkk, but not by the Iana hologram, and also work through a destroyed floor or a hatch.

The gadget can be disabled with Thatcher's EMP Grenade or a Shock Drone, and destroyed by both meleeing it -- which will be hard, with it slowing you down in the process -- orby targeting it with any explosive, such as an Ash or Zofia charge, grenades, or Kali'sExplosive Lance. Alternatively, if the gadget has been placed on a soft wall or floor, it can be destroyed from its mounting point through the wall or floor.

The gadget itself is rather large, must be mounted similar to an Evil Eye and only affects operators within a line of sight, meaning it cannot be hidden in a site and should be easily spotted with some drone work. The effects are singular, meaning that the slowing and auditory effects of multiple Banshees is not added together, but they are negated if placed behind a deployable shield despite a line of sight through the bulletproof slits.

Furthermore, the duration of the effects is non-finite, requiring destruction of the gadget for its effects to cease, and the effects affect all attackers in range of the Banshee instead of targeting just one attacker.

As well as this gadget, Melusi also brings with her either theT-5 SMGSubmachine Gun (used by Lesion) or the Super 90 Shotgun (used byFrost) for her primary, theRG15 Pistol (used by Ela and Zofia) as her secondary, and the secondary gadget options of Impact Grenades or a Deployable Shield.

Designed to be a "casual rework" without esports or likely even Ranked play in mind, the new-look House removes a lot of the clutter and adds a new stairway, four new rooms, and increased destruction throughout the map.

These new rooms all come on the south side of the house with two upstairs and two on the ground floor. On the first floor is the Music Room and TV Room below where the old Kids and Master Bedrooms used to be which makes up a new defensive objective in the Bomb game mode. Upstairs meanwhile, is the new Reading Room and Kid's Playroom areas with the bomb sites themselves not moving.

As well as these new additions, a new corridor has been added between the Girls' Bedroom site (where Construction used to be) and Bathroom, a doorway has replaced one of the Garage entrances, a new stairway connects Reading and TV Room, and a lot of the ceiling of the basement has been made destructible, allowing you to hold Garage from above.

As revealed during the Six Invitational panel three months ago, a new "Proximity Alarm" secondary gadget has been introduced for some operators, including Caveira, Mira, and Rook. The gadget, which is thrown similar to that of Wamai'sMag-NETs, starts beeping when an attacker comes within its radius alerting nearby defenders of their presence. It, therefore, acts as a possible Barbed Wire replacement gadget.

Unlike the Melusi'sBanshee Sonic Defense Primary gadget, these Proximity Alarms create a much higher pitched sound, can be destroyed by simply shooting them and have no slowing effect on the attacker.

In order to give her more of a surprise factor, whenAmaru swings into a barricaded window using her gadget, the wooden barricades now break just as she hits them, giving the defenders much less time to react. The defenders can still hear the Hook pulling her in, but it is now much quieter, meaning any other loud noises, such as gunfire, could obscure the sound. Her gun also now comes up more quickly than before after using the Garra Hook.

As well as this, when attempting to use her gadget to traverse up a hatch, the Garra Hook itself breaks the hatch rather than her needing to break it with her shotgun secondary, once again giving her the element of surprise. This is aimed at improving her pick rate and make her a more viable operator, as she currently has a pick rate similar to Clash at around 4% in high-level Ranked games.

Three changes have been made to the Ranked playlist.

Firstly, you must be level 50 to play Ranked, up from level 30, to dissuade cheaters from making new accounts and to encourage new players to learn more of the ins-and-outs of each map and operator before queuing into the playlist.

Secondly, a player can only reach Champion rank once they have played 100 Ranked games to hopefully make the achievement even harder to get and to give the game's anti-cheat more time to catch an offender before they earn the title.

Finally, each player will have a single rank across all regions, rather than each region counting your MMR separately. This means if you Rank into Gold I while playing in Europe, you'll still be Gold I in North American or Australian servers as well, and that there are now just 100 Champion ranked players across the world rather than in each region, further increasing the prestige of the title.

Both the new ping and replay systems showed off at the Six Invitational have been delayed from this Season due to the Coronavirus lockdown. They will still be coming in Year 5 at a later date.

The new "weapon attachment skins" are equipable cosmetic item similar to gun skins which change the colour of all attachments on the gun. On launch, there will be three free skins to chose from -- Grey, Black, and Tan -- with more coming in the future.

Finally, a new Elite Skin will be released with the new season in the form of the Echo Tenkamusou Ninja Elite.

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Check back here at SiegeGG for full coverage of Operation Steel Wave when it launches in a few weeks time.

See original here:
Operation Steel Wave Reveal: Two New Ops, Proximity Mines, Ranked and Balance Changes - SiegeGG