Scottish police are investigating online threats made against JK Rowling after the author condemned the attack on Salman Rushdie.
Key points:
JK Rowling received threatening messages after tweeting her support of Salman Rushdie
One user replied “you are next”
Rushdie, 75, was stabbed at a lecture in New York
The Harry Potter creator tweeted that said she felt “very sick” after hearing the news and hoped the novelist would “be OK”.
A user replied “don’t worry you are next”.
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Rowling shared screenshots of the threatening tweet and said: “To all sending supportive messages: thank you police are involved (were already involved on other threats)”.
A spokeswoman for Scotland’s police said: “We have received a report of an online threat being made and officers are carrying out enquiries.”
Rushdie, 75, was stabbed at a lecture in New York on Saturday and suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye.
He remains in a critical condition, however his son Zafar Rushdie said his father’s “defiant sense of humor remains intact”.
Rushdie’s agent earlier confirmed the author was removed from a ventilator and is “on the road to recovery,” and able to talk and joke.
The attack was met with global shock and outrage, as well as praise for the Indian-born author who has weathered death threats and a US$3 million bounty on his head for three decades.
Author Salman Rushdie has lived with a bounty on his head for decades. (Reuters: Andrew Winning, file)
The Indian-born author’s 1988 book The Satanic Verses was considered blasphemous by many Muslims, and the book was banned in Iran, where the country’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death
His accused attacker Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty on Saturday to attempted murder and assault charges.
Traumatic brain injuries, severe dislocations, and broken bones are some of the injuries Graeme Maw has seen come through the Townsville University Hospital from electric scooter (e-scooter) accidents.
Key points:
A Townsville Hospital emergency physician says around one person a day presents to the hospital with injuries
Data shows that 70 per cent of patients with e-scooter injuries are male, with the majority in the 18 to 30-year-old age group
The RACQ says a crackdown on non-compliant e-scooter users is needed to improve safety
Emergency physician Dr Maw says staff would support a ban on the two-wheeled devices, as new research shows half of the riders are making potentially life-threatening decisions on Queensland roads.
He said approximately one person per day was presenting to the hospital with injuries ranging from skin abrasions to significant head trauma.
“Lots and lots of soft tissue injury, extensive grazing and abrasions. Lots and lots of lacerations that require suturing up,” Dr Maw said.
“Often, these patients go on to suffer relatively significant long-term impacts from these sort of injuries.
“There was one young man who came off a scooter after drinking. He came in deeply unconscious and was sent to intensive care. He went from being a functioning member of society with a job to spending months and months in hospital and rehabilitation.”
Dr Maw says about one person per day presents with an e-scooter injury.(Supplied)
The Townsville University Hospital has been collecting data on the frequency of e-scooter accidents since the ride-sharing devices arrived in the city in 2020.
Dr Maw said about 50 per cent of patients presenting to an emergency were not wearing a helmet, and more than 75 per cent were under the influence of alcohol when an incident occurred.
The data showed 70 per cent of patients presenting to the hospital with e-scooter injuries were male, with the majority in the 18–30 age group.
The data shows 70 per cent of patients presenting to Townsville University Hospital with e-scooter injuries are male.(ABC North Queensland: Rachael Merritt)
But Dr Maw said the true extent of cases was being under-reported.
“It’s not just the people riding the scooters. We’ve had a few innocent bystanders knocked over,” he said.
“Not everybody who comes off an e-scooter ends up going to the emergency department.
“A lot of patients head to GPs, private hospitals, and some may not seek medical attention at all.”
Calls for help becoming ‘more frequent’
Queensland Ambulance Senior Operations Supervisor Wayne Paxton, from the Townsville district, said paramedics were responding to an e-scooter crash at least once or twice a week.
“It’s starting to become more and more frequent over the weeks and weekends,” Mr Paxton said.
“The types of injuries we deal with can vary from a small cut or abrasion to something like a head injury or fractured leg or shoulder injury.”
Doctors say they have seen cases of traumatic brain injury in Townsville since the scooters were introduced.(ABC North Queensland: Rachael Merritt)
Amid the rising cost of fuel, Mr Paxton said more regional Queenslanders were choosing the cost-effective mode of transport.
He said their popularity would likely continue to rise but warned riders to be aware of the risks.
“I’ve been to accidents where the helmet has been on, but they haven’t done the strap up, and it has come off during the fall,” he said.
“If we don’t have the right education and don’t wear protective equipment … it can certainly lead to serious injuries and, worst-case scenario, more deaths.”
Safety not being taken seriously
With more regional Queensland cities such as Mackay, Rockhampton and Bundaberg taking part in the e-scooter rollout, a recent survey by the state’s peak motoring body found half of the riders admitted to reckless driving behaviour.
Andrew Kirk, principal technical researcher at RACQ, said a crackdown on non-compliant e-scooter users was needed to improve safety, as well as a stronger education campaign.
“Nearly one in 10 riders have had an accident, and over half of those have been injured,” he said.
“That comes down to lack of safety equipment, going too fast and riding in the wrong areas.”
A statewide survey of e-scooter users by RACQ found only a third of riders were aware of the road rules.(ABC North Queensland: Lily Nothling)
Mr Kirk said RACQ had been in talks with e-scooter rental companies to incorporate new technologies, such as onboard cameras, to improve user safety and did not want to see them pulled from the streets.
“It’s getting cars off the road, so it’s reducing vehicle emissions and reducing traffic congestion,” he said.
“They do have a big role to play in Australia’s net-zero goals.
“Most bike riders have adapted to the fact you have to have a helmet on, but for e-scooters we just need to change that mentality to get people to do the right thing.”
Zoom has issued a patch for a bug on macOS that could allow a hacker to take control of a user’s operating system (via MacRumors). In an update on its security bulletin, Zoom acknowledges the issue (CVE-2022-28756) and says a fix is included in version 5.11.5 of the app on Mac, which you can (and should) download now.
Patrick Wardle, a security researcher and founder of the Objective-See Foundation, a nonprofit that creates open-source macOS security tools, first uncovered the flaw and presented it at the Def Con hacking conference last week. My colleague, Corin Faife, attended the event and reported on Wardle’s findings.
As Corin explains, the exploit targets the Zoom installer, which requires special user permissions to run. By leveraging this tool, Wardle found that hackers could essentially “trick” Zoom into installing a malicious program by putting Zoom’s cryptographic signature on the package. From here, attackers can then gain further access to a user’s system, letting them modify, delete, or add files on the device.
Reversing the patch, we see the Zoom installer now invokes lchown to update the permissions of the update .pkg, thus preventing malicious subversions pic.twitter.com/00xjqKQsXs
“Mahalos to Zoom for the (incredibly) quick fix!” Wardle said in response to Zoom’s update. “Reversing the patch, we see the Zoom installer now invokes lchown to update the permissions of the update .pkg, thus preventing malicious subversion.”
You can install the 5.11.5 update on Zoom by first opening the app on your Mac and hitting zoom.us (this might be different depending on what country you’re in) from the menu bar at the top of your screen. Then select Check for updates, and if one’s available, Zoom will display a window with the latest app version, along with details about what’s changing. From here, select update to begin the download.
Australian actress Milly Alcock was working as a dishwasher and living in her mum’s attic when she got the call to star in House of the Dragon
By Bridie Pearson-jones For Daily Mail Australia
Published: | Updated:
Australian actress Milly Alcock has revealed the exact moment her life changed forever when she got the call to star in the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon.
Just two years ago, the 22-year-old was living in her mum’s attic and washing dishes in a restaurant to make money, but now she’s set to become one of TV’s biggest new stars thanks to her role in the popular fantasy franchise.
Speaking to Stellar magazine, the Sydney-born star revealed how she dropped out of school to pursue acting and how she ‘froze’ when her agent told her she’d landed the coveted role in House of Dragons.
Australian actress Milly Alcock (pictured) has revealed the exact moment her life changed forever when she got the call to star in the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon
Recalling the moment she discovered she was going to play a young princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in the new Game Of Thrones prequel, she said: ‘I never thought this would happen to me.’
‘I was washing dishes in a restaurant, living in my mum’s attic. This does not happen to people like me, so it was incredibly quick, ‘she said of the call that changed her life from her.
‘I froze, and took a deep breath and said to my friend, “Do you have wine?” Then I called my mum.’
The Sydney-born star revealed how she dropped out of school to pursue acting and how she ‘froze’ when her agent told her she’d landed the coveted role in House of Dragons
The star also explained how she dropped out of school to pursue her Hollywood dreams.
‘I was like, I either have to sit all of my exams in rural Australia or I was just going to drop out of school.
‘So I dropped out because it was never really my thing,’ she added.
Milly dropped out of school to pursue acting, and ended up working as a dish washer to make ends meet before her big break
Milly is a relative unknown in Hollywood at the moment but is expected to become a huge star after the series is released.
She made her first appearance on the small screen in the Channel 10 series, Wonderland, which premiered in 2014.
She later appeared in the Australian series Janet King and the Foxtel drama, Upright.
The Australian actress posed for a stunning shoot with Stellar magazine to promote the series
House of Dragon is a Game of Thrones prequel series by HBO.
It is based on portions of Martin’s 2018 novel Fire and Blood and will be set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
Milly will star alongside Emma D’Arcy, who will play the older Rhaenyra Targaryen in the series, and Matt Smith.
The countdown is on for Game Of Throne fans as its prequel House of the Dragon will hit screens on August 21. Pictured is Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
Every time Palawa woman Nala Mansell walks past the statue of former Tasmanian premier William Crowther, she says, it is “a reminder of the atrocities committed to William Lanne.”
Key points:
William Crowther, a 19th-century naturalist, surgeon and politician, cut off and stole the skull of Aboriginal man William Lanne after he died
Earlier this month, a council committee unanimously agreed that Crowther should no longer be commemorated.
The full council will vote tonight on whether the bronze statue will be removed or partially removed, with a report identifying the potential for an alternative
However, Ms Mansell might not be walking past it for much longer, as Hobart City Council tonight considers a motion to remove the controversial statue from where it stands in Franklin Square.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this story contains references and images of deceased persons and content which may cause distress.
Crowther — a 19th-century naturalist, surgeon and politician — cut off and stole the skull of Aboriginal man William Lanne after he died in 1869.
Then Crowther replaced the skull with that of another man in an attempt to conceal the act.
As campaign coordinator for the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, Ms Mansell said it was upsetting that the statue of Crowther was still standing.
“It’s so hard to comprehend how people cannot understand the offensiveness of glorifying a man who is responsible for mutilating a human being simply because of their race,” she said.
“To Aboriginal people, William Lanne represents our struggles, our treatment, our dispossession and everything we fought for over 220 years.”
Dr Maddison said the removal of the Crowther statue could be the first of its kind in Australia. (Supplied: Sarah Maddison.)
University of Melbourne Australian Center director Sarah Maddison said the conversation in Australia around controversial monuments is a growing one.
“There’s certainly been ongoing pressure and campaigning to either remove or dismantle statues celebrating Australia’s most famous colonisers, [such as] Governor Macquarie in New South Wales.”
A growing movement
Campaigning has been boosted in recent years in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, in line with a resurgence in the Black Lives Matter movement.
It saw a series of Confederate statues taken down and, in England, the statue of a Bristol slaver was thrown into the bay.
Foldable day. Yesterday, Samsung unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4. Xiaomi has followed them with its new Xiaomi MIX Fold 2, and now Motorola officially presents its Moto Razr 2022. This is the successor to the first Moto Razr, now touching the high-end and being more ambitious.
8, 12, or 18 GB of RAM 128, 256, or 512 GB of internal memory
rear-camera
50MP 13MP UGA
front camera
32MP
Software
android 12
Battery
3,500mAh 33W
connectivity
5G SA/NSA NFC WiFi AC
Price
5,999 yuan
Overdose of power and secondary display
This new Moto Razr 2022 arrives with the best Qualcomm processor, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 with TSMC process. The processor is accompanied by 8 and 12 GB RAM configurations, with a base memory of 128 GB. We can upgrade to 256 or 512 GB, the same configurations found, for example, in Samsung’s Z Fold4.
The battery, as we are used to seeing in this type of device, is somewhat scarce. We are talking about 3,500mAh with 33W fast charging, a figure that will have to prove whether or not it is enough for the 6.7 inches of the device. The format is similar to that seen in the previous Razr: clamshell type with a panel that folds vertically.
When the mobile is folded, we find a secondary screen of 2.7 inches. This has a lower resolution than the main one and refreshes at 60Hz, instead of the 144Hz of the main screen. It is more oriented to allow us to see notifications and interact lightly with the phone.
Finally, indicate that this foldable has a dual camera of 50 + 12 megapixels, with the ultra-wide-angle as a secondary camera. The selfie is 32 megapixels. Of course, it arrives with Android 12, customized with Motorola’s lightweight layer.
Pricing and Availability of the Moto Razr 2022
The Moto Razr 2022 has been presented in China at 5,999 yuan. It remains to be seen how it is, in case it arrives in the international market.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
It’s very hard not to have a lot of fun in the surf zones around Telo, off northern Sumatra.
This small island group floating near the Equator, between Nias and the Mentawai chain, tends to avoid the full-flush impact of major Indian Ocean swells. Instead it harbors dozens of smaller reefs, many of them tucked in the lee of various equally small island outcrops, down which peel waves of the crazy-enjoyable kind.
Maybe that’s why Torren Martyn and Aiyana Powell picked it as a place to cruise for a bit on their needessentials-backed sailing adventure through SE Asia.
Like, you wouldn’t exactly blame anyone, would ya.
Ace contributor Andrew Shield just happened to be in the same place at the same time, shooting for the Pinnacles resort in the northern part of the group, and captured these images of the pair at play in the watery fields of Telo.
The two or three resorts in the area meant they weren’t alone, but nobody seemed to mind.
“Torren and his girlfriend have been dividing their time between the north and south of Telo,” says Shieldsy. “They have been leaving their yacht on anchor and mainly motoring to the waves in a little inflatable tender.
“On the two days of the right barrels, it was fairly busy, but Torren was really patient and made a lot of fans just by waiting his turn, and he probably only had maybe four or five proper set waves. As usual (surfer, artist, regular Telo) Phil Goodrich was on the best ones, and he and Torren had a lot of time to chat between sets. Kindred spirits perhaps?
The little inflatable tender and the little zippy right.
“Everyone was blown away by Torren’s style.” Sneaky bit of twinnie tuberiding.
Board switch for this immaculate min-barrel. It’s a surf zone known for rider-friendly waves, even if sometimes it takes a sailboat to get there.
Yep, this one. The Martyn-Powell dream machine at anchor.
“Everyone was blown away by Torren’s style and the forehand layback barrel he had was a talking point at the Slideshow I did for the guests after that session. They had a goofy foot friend whose name I never got. He surfed real well though, and it was impressive seeing someone surf that wave so well on their backhand.
“Aiyana is real graceful and stylish as well, and she caught a lot of waves on the second smaller day and surfed them really well. She even surfed a couple switch.
“They were at the Left a couple of days ago and the grommet guests staying here were buzzed that Torren called them into a couple of waves.Seems like a good vibe when they’re around.”
Easy!
“Whaaat?” The much discussed forehand layback barrel.
Aiyana switching it up.
Phil the artist, going deep.
Best of all, it’s extremely warm.
Boats can be scary, but the results are not. Waiting for another little set in the Equatorial glass.
***
What’s the future hold for this tight little island group tucked between Nias and the Mentawais? Pretty fun week coming up, but maybe a quiet spell after that
Tottenham and Chelsea played out a controversial English Premier League draw but that was only half the show as both coaches were sent off in wild scenes after full-time.
After a running battle throughout the match, things got truly heated after the final whistle when Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel and Tottenhal boss Antonio Conte were both awarded red cards after an intense handshake sparked wild scenes following the 2-all draw.
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Earlier in the match, Conte’s overexuberant celebrations of Spurs’ first equalizer resulted in the two coaches being booked for squaring up.
Tuchel then responded by running down the touchline in celebration when Chelsea retouched the lead through Reece James 13 minutes from time.
But Harry Kane’s 96th minute equalizer meant Conte had the last laugh.
Tuchel was not happy at the Italian for not making eye contact during a handshake at full-time, which sparked another melee between both sets of coaches and players.
Conte looked to be going for a quick shake, while Tuchel held onto the Italian’s hand and dragging him into the confrontation.
Conte could be heard over the pitch mics saying “What do you want?” as both sides returned to the pitch in defense of their managers.
As players and staff rushed in, security was forced to separate the pair and break up the wild scenes on the pitch.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Tuchel said the issue was sparked as Conte did not look at him in the eye during the handshake.
“I thought when we shake hands you looked in each other eyes, he had a different opinion,” said Tuchel.
“It (the red cards) was not necessary but a lot of things were not necessary. Another poor decision from the referee.”
Tuchel revealed his main source of anger due to the fact both of the Tottenham goals could have been disallowed.
Tuchel was unhappy the Spurs’ Rodrigo Bentancur sliding challenge on Kai Havertz went unpunished, while Tottenham’d Richarlison was off-side and in the eyeline of Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy in the first goal.
In the second goal, Cristian Romero dragged Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair which led to the corner for Kane’s last-gasp equaliser.
“Both (Tottenham goals) cannot stand. Only one team deserved to win,” Tuchel added.
“We dominated for 90 minutes. We were sharp, we were hungry, it was a top performance. I’m sorry for all my players that we didn’t get the result we deserved.
“There was a clear foul on Kai Havertz and the situation goes on and on. Clear off-side on Richarlison off-side and since when can you pull hair on a football field? It’s ridiculous.”
However, after the match, Tuchel admitted it got too heated on the sidelines.
“It was hot from the temperature and hot between the benches and hot on the field and hot between the spectators,” Tuchel said with temperatures soaring above 30 degrees Celsius in the English capital.
“There’s no hard feelings. I feel like it was a fair tackle from him and a fair tackle from me.
“We did not insult each other, we did not hit each other, we were fighting for our teams and from my side there’s absolutely no hard feelings. I’m surprised that we both got a red card for that.”
Conte batted away several questions about his tete-a-tete with Tuchel, but admitted a gap between the sides remains despite Spurs’ improvement.
Chelsea won all four meetings between the sides last season, three of them after Conte took charge in November.
“In my opinion it is better to talk about the game,” Conte said. “Chelsea showed to be a really good team, but compared to last season we did a bit better.
“The difference is clear. This team won the Champions League two years ago, last year won the Club World Cup, got to the final of the FA Cup and Carabao (League) Cup.
“There is a difference between Chelsea and Tottenham but we are here to reduce this gap. Last season we lost three times, this time we drew so it’s a little step forward.”
Denys McKelson, 78, says he’s “lucky enough to have his caravan to sleep in”, but covering the costs of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) on his pension income is now out of reach.
“My thoughts are purely, ‘How far is the pension supposed to stretch?’,” Mr McKelson asks.
He worked until the age of 70 and now lives in his van, currently parked at his daughter’s house in Brisbane.
“With COVID very active, why are pensioners no longer able to get the RAT kits for free with our pension card?
“Cost of living is going up. I buy the exact same food items, and I get much less for my money these days. Vulnerable people are not going to have the money to spend on RATs,” he says.
With the cost of living increasing, 78-year-old pensioner Denys McKelson says “vulnerable people are not going to have the money to spend on RATs.”(Supplied)
Mr McKelson is referring to the federal government’s move to end concessional access to RATs at the end of July.
Under the scheme, concession card holders — including those with a Pensioner Concession Card, Low Income Health Care Card or Seniors Card — could access up to 10 free RATs over three months from pharmacies.
In announcing the end of the scheme last month, Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said the prices of RATs had “come down dramatically”.
“The concessional RAT program was set up a time when it was borderline impossible to obtain RATs and those who were lucky enough were paying close to $30,” a spokesperson for minister said.
They’re now down to around $8 to test.
The spokesperson said the former government and state governments designed this program to end on 31 July.
‘Significant cost if you’re not affluent’
Pensioner Andrea Lindsay says access to RATs needs to be made easier.(Supplied)
Andrea Lindsay says she is in good health and lives in a good location.
“For anyone that isn’t fairly affluent, the cost [of RATs] is quite significant. It’s just not going to encourage people to be careful,” she says.
Ms Lindsay volunteers at a plant nursery as well as an op shop with other seniors in Melbourne.
“I won’t be doing these things, volunteering, if I can’t be confident about keeping people safe,” she says.
She, too, has noticed the hit from the free RAT test scheme ending at the end of July.
“If we want to encourage people to be active in the community and be responsible, [access to RATs] better be made easier.
“And pensioners aren’t the only ones [who] are in a low-income group.”
Council on the Aging (COTA) Australia chief executive Ian Yates said his organization would have preferred the federally-funded free RAT scheme for concession cardholders to continue.
“Pensioners don’t need a financial barrier to test at the same time as the costs of living are rising on many basic goods, including food,” he said.
He added that the Commonwealth’s withdrawal had largely been covered because most states now have free RAT schemes in place.
“[That] demonstrates the need for this support. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests are also free in all jurisdictions and the Commonwealth is still providing them free for visitors to aged care facilities.”
Where can I find a free RAT kit in my state?
Yes, there are still ways people, including pensioners, can access free COVID-19 tests.
Here is the latest information on finding a free RAT kithopefully, located near you.
queensland: You can get free RAT kits at Queensland Health’s RAT distribution points, which are listed here, if you hold an eligible Commonwealth Concession card. You can get up to five RAT kits per month and collect up to three months’ supply during a single visit if you hold an eligible concession card.
NSW: Free RATs are available for priority cohorts in NSW at any one of the following 200 neighborhood and community centers across the state, which can be found here. Eligible people include:
people with disability, immunocompromised people, and their carers
Commonwealth Concession Card holders from NSW
Pensioner Concession Card holders
Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card holders
Health Care Card (including Low Income Health Care Card) holders
Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold, White or Orange Card holders.
Victory: Free RAT tests to eligible Victorians with disability can continue to access 20 free rapid antigen tests per visit from state-run testing sites and from Disability Liaison Officers, with the program to run until the end of September. To find out which testing sites have rapid antigen tests, visit here.
More information about Disability Liaison Officers is available on the vaccination for people with disability or special requirements page, here.
WA: A list of locations of where you can get free RATs is available here.
NT: Free RATs are available from a number of participating GP clinics, remote and urban primary health clinics and Aboriginal health clinics across the Northern Territory, listed here.
However, the NT government health site states supplies are provided for immediate use only and large supplies for future use are not provided.
SA: If you are a close contact with no COVID-19 symptoms, you can access free RAT kits from RAT Collection Points across the state. You must register before collecting your kits, and you can locate this here.
Tasmanian: Service Tasmania centers are collection points for free RATS for concession card holders. There are 27 centers located around the state, to find your nearest center call 1300 13 55 13 or visit the website here.
Or from your nearest respiratory clinics: People can still access free RATs from one of the 129 national respiratory clinics across the country, which you can locate here.
The original California beach buggy has been reinvented and electrified, leaving Volkswagen and its ID. Buggy behind.
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The classic Meyers Manx that triggered the explosion of dune buggy beach culture through the 1960s is back as a new electric car.
Owners of the original dune buggy included rock icon Elvis Presley, while movie star Steve MacQueen drove one in a scene from the 1968 film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ that sold for a record price of $US456,000 in 2019.
The Meyers Manx 2.0 looks much the same as the 1960s original with a cute minimalist body and headlights on stalks, but under the skin the newcomer could not be more different from the original — which used a fiberglass body dropped over a stripped-and-shortened Volkswagen Beetle.
Where the original two-seater designed by Bruce Myers in 1964 was usually powered by a wheezy four-cylinder Volkswagen engine and primitive suspension, the newcomer has been thrust into the 21st century with a custom aluminum chassis, modern suspension and electric drive.
It comes as Volkswagen has failed to advance its own retro dune buggy concept — revealed in 2019 as the ID. Buggy at the Geneva Motor Show — despite pushing its born-again electric Kombi into production as part of the ID family, with potential sales in Australia in 2024.
The arrival of the Meyers Manx 2.0 is timed perfectly for the upcoming California summer and the prototype will be unveiled next week at the Monterey Car Week near San Francisco as the order books are opened for the first 50 ‘beta’ customers who will get cars in 2023 before the start of full-scale production in 2024.
The headline numbers include a sub-5.0 second sprint to 100km/h, a range of up to 480 kilometers and twin electric motors providing rear-wheel drive, but there is no information yet on pricing.
Two battery sizes are set for production, with a 20 kWh basic model and an optional 40 kWh version, for a claimed range of 240 or 480 kilometers.
Myers Manx said the starter pack has a claimed 150kW and 325Nm, with an onboard 6 kW charging system — and optional fast charging up to 60 kW.
Styling work on the Manx 2.0 was done by Freeman Thomas, an American car industry veteran — Volkswagen, Porsche, DaimlerChrysler and Ford — whose design credits include Volkswagen’s new Beetle, the Audi TT and a string of Chrysler concept cars.
“It’s simple and endearing and taps into the spirit of playfulness. The ageless design brings out your inner child. It’s about passion,” said Thomas, who is also the CEO of Meyers Manx, in a company press release.
The Meyers Manx is not the only sixties classic to get the retro treatment recently, as an electrified Moke has also been developed in the UK — but more as a golf buggy or hotel runabout as it is not suitable for road use.
Myers — who named his dune buggy after the Manx cat, which has a shortened tail like his freedom machine — only produced around 6000 cars before he was forced to close his business 1971 because of heavy competition, although around 300,000 copycat cars are believed to have been built around the world.
Among the imitators in Australia were cars wearing Manta and Bugle Buggy badges.
Myers returned to business in 2000 to manufacture continuation kits for the original Manx — as well as adding the four-seater Manxster to his line-up — and died in 2021 aged 94, a year after selling the company to the venture capitalists behind the Meyers Manx 2.0 project.
Paul Gover has been a motoring journalist for more than 40 years, working on newspapers, magazines, websites, radio and television. A qualified general news journalist and sports reporter, his passion for motoring led him to Wheels, Motor, Car Australia, Which Car and Auto Action magazines. He is a champion racing driver as well as a World Car of the Year judge.
