THE MERCEDES-BENZ A-CLASS L SEDAN REVEALED VIRTUALLY BEFORE AUTO CHINA 2018 DEBUT.
The notchback model is a variant developed solely for the Chinese market and is being produced exclusively at Beijing Benz Automotive Co.
Shortly before the first A-Class hatchbacks reach customers in Western Europe in May, a new variant of the compact-class family - the A-Class L Sedan – is ready for its premiere at the Auto China (25 April to 4 May 2018) in Beijing. The notchback model is a variant developed solely for the Chinese market and is being produced exclusively at Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd (BBAC), a joint venture between Daimler and its Chinese partner BAIC Motor.
For 18 months, culinary historian Allison Reynolds trawled through old recipe books trying to discover the origins of this famous Australian snack.
"The thing you have to remember is the Anzac biscuit wasn't called this before 1915 because that's when the acronym came in after Gallipoli," Ms Reynolds said.
The biscuits quickly became a popular food to send to Australia's overseas forces, due to their accessible ingredients, easy cooking method, and lack of eggs that meant the biscuits kept well.
Ms Reynolds has traced the first printed 'Anzac biscuit' recipe to a 1917 Australian publication called the War Chest Cookery Book.
However, whilst this recipe used the famous biscuit title, it didn't resemble the recipe as we know it today.
Instead, it was a housewife's small South Australian notebook that helped date the origins of a more authentic Anzac biscuit recipe.
Anzac Day: Your guide to Brisbane's dawn services and parade.
Current serving Australian and defence force personnel in uniform and veterans in uniform or wearing their service medals will be able to travel free on all TransLink services on the day (excluding the Airtrain).
"Accompanying Australian and international veterans, spouses, family members wearing the medals of servicemen and women and children participating in official proceedings wearing their full, official uniform representing Scouting, Girl-Guides and military associations will also be entitled to travel for free," TransLink said.
You could get a lift into the city, but that could end up involving a whole lot of walking.
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Thunderstorms and scattered rain is expected around parts of the Gold Coast this afternoon and into the weekend.
The weather bureau expects about 10mm of rainfall around coastal areas this afternoon, while inland suburbs including Springbrook and Tambourine Mountain could see thunderstorms and rain up to 30mm.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Harry Clark said the Gold Coast is also likely to receive rainfall over the weekend and into next week.
“We’ve seen scattered shower activity develop over the last few hours with most activity happening further inland,” Mr Clark said.
“Over the next few hours we can expect heavy showers in isolated inland areas. Around the Coast we can expect showers up to 10mm.
Volkswagen has announced its upgraded, Euro 6 emissions-compliant 3.0-litre turbo-diesel destined for the VW Amarok V6 will produce no less than 200kW on overboost.
That’s an extra 10kW over its standard 190kW output, and 20kW more than the existing 165Nm Amarok V6’s overboost figure of 180kW.
Crucially, along with 580Nm of torque, it means the most powerful Amarok engine will develop both more power and torque than the 190kW/550Nm 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel in the upcoming Mercedes-Benz X 350d.
Volkswagen says the top-shelf Amarok V6 engine will make peak power between 3250 and 4000rpm, and maximum torque from as low as 1400rpm and extending to 3000rpm.
The news was confirmed overnight by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Europe, where the upgraded V6 TDI engine will power range-topping Amarok Highline and Aventura models.
Pictured here, the latter first appeared in concept form at last year’s Frankfurt motor show and comes with extras like a black roof liner, black nappa leather, body-coloured sports bar and new 20-inch ‘Talca’ wheels.
As we’ve reported, the Aventura will not be sold in Australia but the cleaner, more powerful EU6 diesel V6 will debut here in the range-topping Amarok Ultimate (which currently tops the range at $68,490 plus on-road costs).
Matched with 4MOTION permanent four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission, the 200kW Amarok Ultimate TDI580 is likely to top $70,000. The X 350d will cost around $80,000.
Volkswagen Australia has confirmed the 200kW V6 will then filter down to a new Highline Black Edition. The standard Amarok Highline is currently priced at $60,490 plus ORCs and, along with the entry-level $55,990 Amarok Sportline, remains powered by the existing EU5-compliant 180kW/550Nm engine.
However, motoring.com.au understands the Amarok’s standard TDI550 V6 will also be offered in base ‘Core’ equipment guise, which is currently available only with a four-cylinder twin-turbo 2.0-litre TDI engine and priced between $43,990 and $47,990 plus ORCs.
That should see the Amarok V6 priced from under $50,000 for the first time, further increasing the proportion of V6 sales, which already comprise about 70 per cent of Amarok sales in Australia.
US rapper Kendrick Lamar has given hip-hop an unexpected moment of institutional critical acclaim, taking out the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his 2017 album 'DAMN.'.
He was the first musician from outside the classical or jazz worlds to win the award, which recognises the artistic brilliance of a particular piece of music.
The judges described the album as:
"A virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life."
Prize administrator Dana Canedy told The New York Times the win was "a big moment for hip-hop music and a big moment for the Pulitzers".
The Pulitzers, particularly the music category, have long focused on more traditional forms of artistic expression.
The prize was first awarded in the 1940s but it took until 1997 for a jazz winner to come along — Wynton Marsalis for his orotorio Blood on the Fields.
The previous four winners were classical or operatic, and this year Lamar beat out a string quartet work and a "five-movement cantata for chamber choir, electric guitar and percussion".
It was named Best Rap Album at the Grammys — one of five Lamar won that night — and topped many publications' end-of-year lists. The track HUMBLE. won the Hottest 100.
When it came to accepting blame for the Commonwealth Games athletes not being seen by TV viewers of the Closing Ceremony, he did not stint on self-reproach.
The Games’ chairman appeared on Seven’s Sunrise ready to give himself a good belting.
“You can have a blame game from now until eternity but the reality is, I’m chairman of the organising committee, the buck stops with us. I’m not interested in blaming anyone but us,” Mr Beattie said.
“That’s our fault ... that’s my fault ... I apologise to you and anyone else.”
He continued the calm remorse of which Queenslanders would be familiar, saying: “That (the entry of athletes) wasn’t shared with viewers. That was clearly a stuff-up. If I get a chance I’ll apologise to (Australian flag-bearer) Kurt [Fearnley] this morning.”
Perhaps thinking he had not lashed himself viciously enough, Mr Beattie took to Twitter: “The speeches were too many and too long. I was part of that and I acknowledge it. Again, we got that wrong.
“It is very simple. I should not have spoken.”
Mr Beattie was Labor Premier of Queensland from June 1998 to September 2007 and quit of his own volition. You don’t get that type of record by being a cookie-cutter politician.
One of his strategies was to give voters what they wanted — a politician admitting mistakes. And he did it with a robustness which raised questions about whose side he was on.
The joke those days was that if there were a march through Brisbane protesting against Peter Beattie, it quite likely would be led by the premier.
One example of this came when he ended a petrol subsidy and transferred the savings to reduce the cost of vehicle registration, ensuring motorists from other states could not benefit from the lower fuel prices north of the Tweed.
But voters believed they were being dudded and no amount of explanation would soothe them.
Mr Beattie’s advisers told him the hostility would not go away and he agreed to reverse his decision.
“But not yet,” he ordered, wanting another week for the public anger to flourish.
Sure enough, a week later, Mr Beattie was out in public admitting he had made a mistake, he had stuffed up and the buck stopped with him. The voters were right, and he had listened to them.
It was a brilliant political move, although it involved dumping a sensible policy and some cynical manipulation of public attitudes.
Peter Beattie gets things done, which is why he was put in charge of the Commonwealth Games, was given a senior position with the NRL and has a slot on Sky News, not to mention nearly a decade as premier.
His secret wasn’t the overdone apology. It was what usually followed.
When premier, Mr Beattie would admit his mistake, but then tell voters that he was the best person to correct it. And for close to 10 years, they agreed.
The Closing Ceremony will be a mark against his management of the Commonwealth Games, but stand by for the apologies to be followed by an exhaustive itemisation of what he got right.
A World War Two nurse and a current squadron leader have met for the first time as part of the annual Anzac Appeal, which aims to highlight the role of Australia’s women in uniform.
Despite being born at the opposite ends of the 20th century, Betty Cornford and Rebekah Herron have a lot in common.
Both women are nurses, with Mrs Cornford serving in WWII and Ms Herron continuing to wear the uniform today.
The pair also share an understanding of life in war zones.
"A number of injuries every day… it was mainly rifle shooting wounds,” Mrs Cornford recalled to 9NEWS, while Ms Herron spoke about wearing body armour in an aircraft and flying into a war zone.
"You say to yourself, 'how did I get here?'," she said.
Meeting for the first time this month, the veterans discovered they had followed similar paths around the world.
Mrs Cornford served in Palestine and New Guinea; more recent conflicts and humanitarian needs saw Ms Herron also serving in the middle east and the pacific.
It was in a Port Moresby hospital that Mrs Cornford was introduced to a young soldier fresh off the Kokoda track named Dudley Cornford. It wasn't a regular courtship, with Mr Cornford confined to a hospital bed.
She helped him recuperate from malaria, and it wasn’t before long the soldier asked her to marry him.
Mrs Cornford proudly brings her medals out on Anzac Day - recalling those no longer with her, including her husband.
Seventy years on, she said hasn't given up hope of peace one day breaking out on our troubled planet.
Daniel Ricciardo storms to Chinese Grand Prix win with sensational drive.
The Australian benefitted from quick thinking from the Red Bull team, which pitted both its drivers at opportune moments during the 56-lap race in order to wrestle control of the race from Ferrari and Mercedes.
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished second and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen third but the driver of the day was without a doubt Ricciardo, whose daring passing moves had the commentators gasping in disbelief.
It was Ricciardo's sixth win in Formula 1, with every one of those wins coming from outside a top three grid position, cementing his status as one of the most exciting drivers in the sport.
His pass on Lewis Hamilton on the turn 14 hairpin from well back was particularly audacious, seemingly catching the four-time world champion by surprise.
"Sometimes you've just got to lick the stamp and send it," Ricciardo said of the move.
"I don't know what it is, I don't seem to win boring races. They're all pretty fun. I didn't expect that," he said after the race.
Pole issues and a shortened runup meant Eliza McCartney was unable to reach her normal heights at the Commonwealth Games.
The 21-year-old Kiwi jumped 4.70 metres to claim silver, 5cm short of Canada's Alysha Newman at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast on Friday night.
It backed up the bronze medal she won at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but her jump was 12cm short of her personal best, which she mainly put down to jumping on a bigger pole.
"I certainly had the height and know I can clear those heights, so it was a little bit disappointing I couldn't pull it out today, but in saying that I gave it everything I had.
"I was on the biggest poles I've ever used and it can be really difficult. I just wasn't quite getting around it enough, which is quite difficult on the big poles. It's all learning really. I'm young, I've hopefully got another 10 years of a career ahead of me so I've just got to take it as a learning."
