The sleeping giant may be about to awaken.

Hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico is forecast to ramp up over the next couple of weeks. “Weather models have flipped the switch on the Atlantic hurricane season and see multiple areas of development possible starting mainly this weekend,” weather.us meteorologist Ryan Maue said.  

One storm could spin up in the Caribbean over the next couple of days and potentially affect Florida over the Labor Day weekend. Looking further ahead, “there is the potential for two or three tropical features spinning over the Atlantic by the second weekend in September,” AccuWeather meteorologist Dan Kottlowski said.

The next tropical storm or hurricane in the Atlantic basin will be called Florence.

One of the reasons for the predicted uptick in activity is that wind shear, which tends to rip apart developing hurricanes, appears to be decreasing. “There are signs now that wind shear may drop over a significant part of the Atlantic basin over the next couple of weeks,” according to AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno.

However, it’s still too early to predict exactly where or when any storm might form or whether a storm will affect land areas.  

“When models start suggesting tropical cyclone development many days in advance in multiple parts of the Atlantic basin, while they might not be right about exactly when and where, it does indicate that the atmosphere is changing and it’s about to get busy overall for September,” Weather Channel hurricane expert Rick Knabb said.

Regardless of what happens this year, 2018 will be hard-pressed to top the calamitous 2017 season, which featured monster hurricanes such as Harvey, Irma and Maria. Overall, 10 hurricanes formed in the Atlantic last year, well above the average of six.

The prediction for a busy September this year also follows an unusually quiet August for the Atlantic. For the first time since 2013, no hurricanes formed in August in the Atlantic basin.

“A quiet August does not guarantee a quiet Atlantic hurricane season,” said Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach. For instance, he said that in 1961, no hurricanes formed in August, but four major hurricanes blew up in September of that year.

It’s not surprising that the tropics are coming alive at this time. September is the peak month for Atlantic hurricanes, recording more hurricanes in that basin than any other month on record, the Weather Channel said.

The calm start to the Atlantic season is a stark contrast to the wild and woolly Pacific season, where 14 storms have already formed, including Hurricane Lane, which drenched Hawaii.

Two tropical storms, Miriam and Norman, are currently spinning in the eastern Pacific Ocean, both far from land. Both are forecast to become hurricanes within the next day or so, the National Hurricane Center said.

Miriam should curve to the north, away from Hawaii, but Norman could have some impact on Hawaii within the next seven to 10 days, Maue said. 

 

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WASHINGTON – One of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers tried to defend Wednesday the White House looking into regulating Google, but he didn’t provide any further explanation for how that would get done.

“Well, first, there are independent agencies that look into this all the time,” said Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, during an interview on Fox Business Network. “And it’s our job at the White House, really, to be looking at the 21st century economy, not the 20th century economy, right? Like, so we can’t be just really good at buggy whips, we’ve got to think about what’s going on right now.”

Hassett said Internet search engines, such as Google’s, are “a really, really interesting thing because they have these search algorithms, basically care more if somebody important links to a page than if somebody unimportant links to a page.”

More: Trump aide says president weighing regulations on Google search engine that he considers ‘rigged’

More: Why your Google results may not look like President Trump’s

More: Trump says Google results are ‘rigged’ against him but here’s what happens when you search for Hillary Clinton

He said that “mainstream media” news about Trump may automatically get more hits in a search than other sources or “it could be that it’s something else,” Hassett said on FoX’s “Mornings with Maria” show. Trump and some of his Republican allies in Congress have charged that social media companies are biased against conservatives.

“And the question is, that in a 21st century economy, you know, what is the right of the American government in this space? What should we be looking at? And I think that it’s right for us to think about those things,” Hassett said.

Hassett’s comments came a day after Larry Kudlow, the president’s top economic adviser, told reporters that the administration is “taking a look” at regulating Google. So far, no one at the White House has given any details about what those regulations might look like.

Kudlow spoke after Trump tweeted accusations that Google’s search engine is “rigged” against him.

Google said in a statement Tuesday that its search engine is not designed to promote any particular political ideology but tries to generate “high-quality content.”

“Search is not used to set a political agenda, and we don’t bias our results toward any political ideology,” said Riva Sciuto, a Google spokeswoman. “We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.”

 

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The WTA has criticised US Open rules which saw French world number 31 Alize Cornet given a code violation for taking her shirt off on court.

Cornet changed her shirt during the break between the second and third sets during her first-round defeat by Johanna Larsson, but realised it was back-to-front and switched it on court.

But the chair umpire gave her a warning – a decision the WTA called “unfair”.

US Open organisers said they “regret” that Cornet was given a code violation.

A WTA statement said the umpire’s ruling “was not based on a WTA rule, as the WTA has no rule against a change of attire on court” and added that “Alize did nothing wrong”.

Cornet, 28, lost 6-4 3-6 2-6 to Sweden’s Larsson in the searing New York heat.

In a statement, the United States Tennis Association (USTA), which organises the US Open said: “All players can change their shirts when sitting in the player chair. This is not considered a code violation.

“We have clarified the policy to ensure this will not happen moving forward. Fortunately, she was only assessed a warning with no further penalty or fine.

“Female players, if they choose, may also change their shirts in a more private location close to the court, when available. They will not be assessed a bathroom break in this circumstance.”

On Tuesday, temperatures close to 38C (100F) at Flushing Meadows were made more stifling by humidity levels of more than 50%, with five male players forced to retire because of heat-related issues.

Former Australian tennis player Casey Dellacqua called Cornet’s warning “ridiculous” while five-time Grand Slam doubles champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands said it was “weak”.

Participants of the Memory and Aging Project at Washington University’s Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center found out they had an increased chance of developing Alzheimer’s after an analysis of the condition of their eyes. Now researchers think a simple eye exam could help detect the deadly disease, and save lives in the future. 

In the early 1980s, Hervé Villechaize was a trailblazing star, an actor who overcame discrimination and incredible odds to land major film roles, and became a household name thanks to a fantastical hit TV drama. He was the most famous actor with dwarfism in the country — and most people couldn’t name a second.

Nowadays, that same description could apply to Peter Dinklage, the Emmy-winning actor who portrays Villechaize in an upcoming HBO movie, My Dinner with Hervé, and who couldn’t personally be more different from the hard-partying Villechaize, who committed suicide in 1993 after a downward spiral of diminishing roles and chronic physical pain.

The Game of Thrones star spent years trying to get My Dinner with Hervé made along with writer-director Sacha Gervasi, who as a young journalist (played by Jamie Dornan in the film) spent three wild days with Villechaize just before the actor’s death. The film chronicles Villechaize’s final hours, with flashbacks from throughout his turbulent life.

Below, Dinklage discusses the film for the first time in a relatively rare interview (“I only talk about projects that are dear to me,” he notes), tackles a “whitewashing” claim about the film as well as talks about the progress (or lack thereof) of dwarf actors in Hollywood.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your impression of Hervé when growing up?
PETER DINKLAGE: I knew who he was from Fantasy Island and the James Bond movie. He’s the guy in the white suit saying, “The plane, the plane” on a show I didn’t really get to watch because my mom and dad didn’t have a television — they were those kind of parents. And he’s the guy being stuffed into a suitcase by Roger Moore in The Man with the Golden Gun. That’s all. When Hervé passed away in 1993, I was young and didn’t really explore him as much as I should have. But I caught up.

I was particularly impressed that he got fired from Fantasy Island after demanding equal pay with his costar, which is such a current issue in Hollywood. That was pretty bold move in the early 1980s.
Yes, oh my gosh. And we address that in the film. All of us have times where we feel slighted and he was a huge reason why that show was successful. He would walk down the street and he would get [fans yelling] “the plane, the plane!” 24 hours a day. I know that feeling. Being a dwarf, we tend to stand out in a crowd. I think that probably got to him after many years and felt like he deserved as much as his costar and I completely understand that. But how it’s handled is the trick.

I read that he had a business card which said, “I am not available for Santa’s helper, baby New Year, elves …Thank You” — which reminds me of that story about you turning down a K-Mart Santa’s elves commercial despite being penniless early in your career.
Yeah, it’s funny. Why humiliate yourself for something you love doing? I didn’t want to be miserable doing what I loved. To be fair, Hervé lived in a very different time than I lived in. Hopefully, in 20 or 30 years we will be more enlightened as a society, especially from the time we’re living in right now, which doesn’t feel all that enlightened. There are people who break molds, break stereotypes, and in a strange way I feel like Hervé did that. He didn’t take any prisoners. He knew who he was and embraced it fully.

There are a couple pictures of him wearing a T-shirt that I actually wear in the film — not the exact same shirt but it says the same thing. The shirt says “Bionic Midget.” “Midget” is sort of like the n-word if you’re a small person [especially] if you’re hearing it from somebody who is using it derogatorily. I can say the word. It’s not a great word. But he beat people to the punch with the word, and he had a big middle finger up to anyone who tiptoed around any issues they had. Which I also respect. Sometimes I think we tiptoe around the issue so much we never address it. He was lovely in that way. He offended a lot of people, but that was part of his joy as well.

When did you first want to portray him?
I didn’t. I was terrified of portraying somebody who actually existed. [Writer-director Sacha Gervasi and I] started our conversations 14 years ago when it wasn’t a full script. He came to see me in a play in New York and we started talking about Hervé, and about his experience and his time in Hollywood. TV in the ’80s were very different than now. You couldn’t jump into the world of films and vice versa, you were pigeonholed. Sacha felt when he met him in the ’90s it was like stepping back into another time. Hervé was still holding onto his Fantasy Island heyday.

The film took such a long time to make. What were some of the obstacles?
“Why?” was the big question. Embarrassingly, it was my response too: “The guy in the white suit who says ‘the plane, the plane’? Why do we make that movie?” There are big questions asked in the early stages of anything. Why make a show about dragons? But in the script, Sacha peeled back the layers of the onion and it’s the most brilliant story. It also takes a long time to get anything made. Thank god HBO finally came through. My close relationship with them helped. HBO is a perfect place for this, the more I thought about it.

What was most challenging about this role?
His energy level. Hervé lived pretty hard and I had to match his energy. And during a lot of the film he doesn’t feel physically very well at all. So it was those two things. He’s such a complicated man. He was such a bright light and everybody around him loved him so dearly. But he burned too brightly. Obviously, it’s a common tragedy in Hollywood. But he lived much longer than anybody expected him too. He was also in a tremendous amount of pain due to his dwarfism, both physical and spiritual, and he just couldn’t take it anymore. 

As an Emmy winner who’s gone through some same issues personally and professionally as Hervé, one would think your casting would be considered ideal. But since the film’s announcement there has been some criticism claiming Hervé was half French and half Filipino and that your casting amounts to whitewashing. 
I’m glad you brought that up. The internet is the best thing and the worst thing. The funny thing about the backlash is it addresses what we address in the film about not judging a book by its cover. Hervé was judged by how he looked, and cast and perceived to be who he is accordingly. It says [Villechiaze was half-Filipino] on Wikipedia. Family members can’t change information on there. My daughter’s name was “Zelig” on Wikipedia for a long time. Her name is not Zelig. I don’t know who is able to put information up, but there are so many things on there that aren’t true.

There’s this term “whitewashing.” I completely understand that. But Hervé wasn’t Filipino. Dwarfism manifests physically in many different ways. I have a very different type of dwarfism than Hervé had. I’ve met his brother and other members of his family. He was French, and of German and English descent. So it’s strange these people are saying he’s Filipino. They kind of don’t have any information. I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes or sense of justice because I feel the exact same way when there’s some weird racial profile. But these people think they’re doing the right thing politically and morally and it’s actually getting flipped because what they’re doing is judging and assuming what he is ethnically based on his looks alone. He has a very unique face and people have to be very careful about this stuff. This [movie] isn’t Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Personally, I would never do that, and I haven’t done that, because he wasn’t. People are jumping to conclusions based on a man’s appearance alone and that saddens me.

I tried to figure out where the claim originated. It wasn’t in any obituaries or archived stories about the actor that I found. I did find a spin-off version of his Wikipedia page that sourced the claim to a now defunct site called “Notable Filipinos.”
Maybe people were thinking of The Man with the Golden Gun, which was shot in Southeast Asia, and Fantasy Island, where he’s on an island, and that, compounded with how he looked, made some think he must be from that part of the world. But that’s also part of the mystery and fun of this movie. He was so many things and he was proud of the myth of himself as well. Everybody I met — his brother, his girlfriend, people who worked with him — said he was “so proud.” If [being Filipino] was part of his heritage he would have been very proud of that. Hervé would be laughing at this right now, and part of me is too. But when I start to be accused of things that are not truthful and not real, that’s when you want to say, “Okay, calm down.” 

You mentioned how Hervé was pigeonholed after Fantasy Island. Have the number of opportunities for roles, and the quality of those roles, changed for dwarf actors since then?
I would like to think so. I try to be optimistic about it. I never really set out to change the parameters of casting. I just like good writing. The fame thing for me is a little hard. I don’t enjoy it. Hervé enjoyed it more than I do. Maybe that’s the difference between myself and Hervé. He embraced it fully like he embraced life. He lived pretty hard. I’m a much more private person. Not to say Hervé wasn’t private — he had a private side — but he enjoyed the spotlight much more than I do.

But yes, I’d like to think more opportunities are out there, but cynically it’s hard to speak to it without sounding like I’m not being critical of somebody else’s choices. I just know what I want in my career and I respect the choices of actors who are my size, or not, make. And I understand bills have to be paid. But it does perpetuate things. Not to get too political about it, but it’s a stereotype that still exists. Dwarf tossing still exists. There are still people of my size dressing up as elves at Christmas time. And if everybody continues to do that, then it won’t stop. But my daughter doesn’t think I’m a mythical creature. Unicorns don’t exist, but I do. It’s tricky, what we put out there, to perpetuate for future generations.

There are clearly more roles on reality TV, which has been inspired by the success of Little People, Big World. People seem to have mixed opinions on whether such shows are helpful.
Right. Anything that sheds light on certain topics is helpful and informative. Anything that makes the unknown become known is helpful. It’s just how it’s handled. There are many different stories out there. You just want to be careful not to pigeonhole an entire group of people into one idea of what that is.

Ultimately, what do you hope people take away from watching your film?
I love finding stuff out about somebody I assumed was one thing and they weren’t at all. It sheds light on somebody and challenges your assumptions. I saw the Netflix documentary Wild Country where your judgment is constantly being shifted. I think that’s what [My Dinner with Hervé] does. Everybody has an expectation going in, as does Danny Tate — played brilliantly by Jamie Dornan, who stands in for Sacha in the movie. Sacha went in with a judgment about this guy and Hervé changed Sacha’s life. You never know who you’re sitting next to, what secrets they have, who they are, what their pasts are comprised of. You might think you know but you don’t. And that’s the fun of life.

My Dinner with Hervé premieres on HBO on Saturday, Oct. 20. 

Congressman Ron DeSantis, the Republican nominee for Governor, warned Floridians on Fox News not to “monkey this up” by embracing the agenda of Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee.

“The last thing we need to do is monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state,” DeSantis said in an interview this morning about running against the Tallahassee mayor.

The Florida Democratic Party responded immediately.

A historic win and a fiery beginning:

“It’s disgusting that Ron DeSantis is launching his general election campaign with racist dog whistles,” FDP Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo said in a news release.

Gillum spokesman Geoff Burgan said the campaign was letting the FDP respond. “DeSantis’ comments speak for themselves,” Burgan said.

Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist and political consultant who frequently contributes to Telemundo, took to Twitter to criticize DeSantis.

“As a Floridian, it was my hope this Governor’s race would be about the pressing issues facing our state -rising tides, algae outbreak, trade, economy, jobs,” Navarro said. “I had hoped it would not be one were racism was front and center. That hope lasted all of 10 hours.”

Stephen Lawson, communications director for the DeSantis campaign, said in an email that “Ron DeSantis was obviously talking about Florida not making the wrong decision to embrace the socialist policies that Andrew Gillum espouses. To characterize it as anything else is absurd.”

Contact Schweers at jschweers@tallahassee.com.

 

 

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Tempur-Pedic filed a lawsuit against Mattress Firm accusing the retailer of “conspiring” to sell products that bear a strong resemblance to its mattresses.

The allegation marks an escalation of a bitter feud between the two companies after Mattress Firm last year ended its contract to sell Tempur-Sealy International mattresses in its more than 3,300 U.S. stores.

Mattress Firm, the nation’s largest mattress retailer, is reeling from declining sales, overexpansion and a financial scandal at its parent company, Steinhoff International.

Tempur-Sealy’s North American division said in court papers that Mattress Firm has been selling a product marketed as “Therapedic,” “copying the look and feel of the entire Tempur-Pedic brand and consumer experience.”

“MF’s products, and the environment in which MF is selling them, are so strikingly similar to Tempur-Pedic’s products and sales environment that consumers will inevitably be confused and harmed,” Tempur-Pedic North America lawyers said Tuesday in the lawsuit. “Consumers will incorrectly believe that MF is still an authorized seller of Tempur-Pedic products when it is not.”

Tempur-Sealy, which has faced declining sales since losing the Mattress Firm deal, demanded that the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida take action to block its rival from selling the Therapedic products.

More: There’s a fierce battle over your bed: Industry goes to the mattresses

More: With Mattress Firm reeling, Serta Simmons merges with bed-in-a-box company Tuft & Needle

More: Online sales boom for mattresses squished into boxes

After the Tempur-Sealy contract cancellation last year, Mattress Firm signed a deal to get mattresses from Tempur-Sealy rival Serta Simmons, which is not involved in the latest fight.

Mattress Firm has closed hundreds of stores over the last year and is said to be considering bankruptcy. Among other issues, the company is grappling with the fallout from an intense competition with online bed-in-a-box rivals like Casper and the consequences of heavy discounting.

Tempur-Pedic accused Mattress Firm of having “intentionally directed” companies called Sino-US and Sino-CH to make “mattresses that look confusingly similar” to its own and to create similar branding and marketing materials.

Mattress Firm did not did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment Wednesday morning. Tempur-Sealy declined to comment, saying it doesn’t discuss pending litigation.

The two companies have squared off in court before. After their deal ended in early 2017, Tempur-Sealy filed a lawsuit accusing Mattress Firm of selling its mattresses without authorization. A judge eventually prevented Mattress Firm from selling Tempur-Pedic mattresses, according to Tempur-Sealy’s lawsuit.

“Now, barely a year later, MF is at it again,” Tempur-Pedic said in the latest lawsuit.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

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As England return to action after a memorable World Cup, manager Gareth Southgate is gearing up to face a number of big issues.

Is the time right to start bringing through some promising members of the next generation? Who could be the team’s crucial creative midfield player? Who should support Harry Kane in attack? And how can England get the very best out of Raheem Sterling?

Following the disappointment of defeat by Croatia in England’s first World Cup semi-final for 28 years, Southgate is set for his first two chances to build on the warmth and goodwill generated by their displays in Russia.

He names his squad on Thursday for their first two post-World Cup matches – as they host Spain in the new Uefa Nations league at Wembley on 8 September and Switzerland in a friendly at Leicester’s King Power Stadium three days later.

How seriously will Southgate approach these games?

Very.

The new Uefa Nations League is designed to elevate international breaks above the normal level of friendlies – but Southgate is still sure to experiment.

He has a good base to build on. England’s public feel genuine affection for Southgate and his modest, humble squad thanks to the way they went about their business on and off the field in Russia.

By getting to within 90 minutes of a first World Cup final since 1966, England regained the popularity lost after failures at South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, not to mention Euro 2016.

Southgate will want to demonstrate that he can continue that development against an elite country such as Spain. So do not expect him – or England – to take these games lightly.

Who could be England’s next generation?

England were fielding a settled team by the World Cup’s conclusion. Yet there is room for fresh faces, with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill and Leicester striker Jamie Vardy retiring from international duty in recent days.

In addition, some players are reaching the later stages of their career, such as Manchester United’s Ashley Young, a regular on the left-side in Russia, who is now 33.

This gives Southgate the chance to bring England’s next generation into his senior plans.

Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, at just 18, is a glittering young talent who is surely earmarked to take that left-flank slot occupied by Young.

Further forward, attention will focus on two teenagers from Manchester City’s present and past, Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho.

Foden, player of the tournament when England won the under-17 World Cup in October 2017, may have had limited opportunities so far at City but manager Pep Guardiola fully appreciates his value and talent, as do those of influence within the international set-up.

Sancho, a former City youth team-mate of Foden, is on the same path to a full England career.

Vardy’s decision to retire leaves an attacking vacancy for the 18-year-old – even though he is more of a wide player.

Sancho, another member of that successful England Under-17 side, has shown he has ambition and single-mindedness, having left the Etihad Stadium in August 2017 for Borussia Dortmund.

That move is paying off. He won high praise for his contribution from the bench in Dortmund’s 4-1 win over RB Leipzig at the weekend.

Everton’s Ademola Lookman has also been on Southgate’s radar for some time but his career has stalled because of his apparent determination to return to RB Leipzig, where he had a successful loan spell last season.

This, plus the arrival of Richarlison and the rejuvenation of Theo Walcott, means he has been marginalised under new Everton manager Marco Silva.

One player who looks certain to return to the England frame, with Cahill having departed the scene, is Liverpool defender Joe Gomez.

Gomez would have been a World Cup contender but for an ankle injury sustained playing for England against the Netherlands in March.

The 21-year-old has been in outstanding form alongside Virgil van Dijk at the heart of a Liverpool defence yet to concede this season.

He has looked comfortable in an England shirt, and is adaptable, having played with some distinction at right-back.

Not all of this young brigade will surface in England’s squad on Thursday. But all add to the growing feeling around St George’s Park that the senior side’s future is one of rich promise.

Southgate’s other big questions

England lack a crucial creative midfielder; that was clear as Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic helped Croatia take July’s World Cup semi-final away from Southgate’s men in Moscow.

There must be great frustration at the manner in which Ruben Loftus-Cheek, impressive in short spells in Russia, is sidelined once more at Chelsea, after a fine season on loan at Crystal Palace.

Jack Wilshere, having left Arsenal for West Ham, is surely facing a fight to revive his England career. Ross Barkley, who played all three of England’s games at Brazil 2014 but did not make the squad for Russia, is still in the early throes of rebuilding his career at Chelsea.

Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook is highly regarded and Southgate will be pleased to see Harry Winks working his way back at Tottenham after a long injury absence.

Southgate made do and mended in Russia by using Jordan Henderson as the pivot with Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard working around him – but is this really a long-term solution?

Southgate must also decide whether to persevere with Kyle Walker on the right side of a three-man central defence. Walker looked a work in progress, understandably, in that unaccustomed position at the World Cup but he has been ousted at right-back by Kieran Trippier, one of England’s real stars in Russia.

Then there are the goalkeeping possibilities. Everton’s Jordan Pickford is the established first choice after a brilliant World Cup but his deputy Jack Butland has started the new season in the Championship, with Stoke City not selling him during the summer.

Will this count against him? Unlikely, as Southgate is an ardent admirer.

Joe Hart may yet find his way back into contention after joining Burnley, stepping in for the injured Nick Pope – Southgate’s third choice in Russia – and playing ahead of Tom Heaton, a keeper who would have had England ambitions of his own.

In attack, England are reliant on captain and World Cup Golden Boot winner Harry Kane, so who will Southgate choose in support?

Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck are options, but Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson has made a fine start to the season.

Danny Ings, whose attempts to carve out an England career were cut short by serious knee injuries, has also started to flourish at Southampton.

Can Sterling finally find the spark?

The debate surrounding Raheem Sterling’s effectiveness provided the backdrop to England’s World Cup campaign.

Sterling’s many supporters rightly lauded his work-rate, clever running, pace and resilience. His detractors, with equal justification, pointed to his acute lack of end product.

He has started the season in outstanding form at Manchester City and the feeling persists that he just needs one spark to ignite for England.

Sterling does need to change a narrative shaped by two goals in 44 England appearances and none in his past 26. He had one shot on target and one assist in Russia.

This is not criticism. It is a statement of fact.

Southgate has huge faith in a player whose ability, attitude and place in the squad is beyond question – but England will hope those statistics improve, starting against Spain at Wembley.

Image: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Have you ever pined for a big, bulky gaming laptop that lets you turn the screen away from you? At its press conference in Berlin ahead of the IFA trade show, Acer launched one such machine and called it the Predator Triton 900. 

The Triton 900’s screen is a 4K, Nvidia G-Sync enabled touchscreen fixed on a hinge and can be brought a bit closer to you for a more immersive experience. You can also fully flip it away from you, which Acer calls the “display mode.”

It’s unclear how the Triton 900 would perform as a tablet — it looks possible, but it would probably be a bit too bulky and heavy for some use cases. 

Try as I might, I couldn’t really think of a very good use case for this form factor (Acer wouldn’t let us touch it; maybe things would be different if I had a chance to actually try it out), but the Triton 900 does have a couple of cool other features that make it worthy of your attention. 

First, it has a mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting and a trackpad on the side that can easily be switched into the numerical pad when you need it. 

It also has two of Acer’s new AeroBlade 3D fans, whose serrated blades and clever design increase performance (10% more airflow compared to the previous generation of the product) while keeping fan noise low. 

Acer didn’t share all the specs for the Triton 900, but it’s the top of the company’s Triton line so it will likely be a beast. Price and availability are also unknown at this point. 

Each month, EW’s books staff selects some of their favorite recent reads, whether new releases or older titles they’ve just caught up on. In addition, you can check out all the books EW has covered over the past month here, including reviews and interviews. These picks are perfect for book clubs, beach reads, and (hopefully) sustained breaks from your iPhone. Read on for more, and check out our column from last month here.

Conversations With Friends, by Sally Rooney

Have you ever felt compelled to move to a foreign city, surround yourself with impossibly snobby intellectuals, and spend all your time drinking expensive wine and writing poetry? Well, Conversations With Friends is kind of like that, only better. Better in the sense that you don’t actually have to pay for the move or the wine, and because it’s far juicier than what would inevitably happen to me if I abandoned my life to go back to school in Europe.

I picked up this book, which just released on paperback, after Rooney made news for her recent Man Booker nomination for Normal People (out in the U.S. in April). I was craving something highbrow yet enticing, and it more than delivered. Its protagonist is Frances, who attends university in Dublin alongside her best friend (and former flame), Bobbi, and the two meet a semi-famous photographer who quickly takes them under her wing. They become ensconced in her world of dinner parties, book openings, and swanky beach houses, and, for Frances’ part at least, ensconced with her handsome yet brooding husband, Nick.

Nick is a mildly successful actor (okay, that’s being generous) who is prone to bouts of depression and infidelity. It doesn’t take long for the two to begin an illicit affair, which brings a fascinating level of complexity to the group’s social gatherings. The book is basically just a diary from Frances on everything that happens to her during the course of this most adult of semesters, but it reads like both fantastic escapism and a heartfelt insight into the mind of a 21-year-old girl, which, much to my consternation, is getting further and further away from my grasp.

The whole thing should probably come with a trigger warning, because certainly no reader is going to come away from this novel feeling better about the institution of marriage or the possibility of monogamy. It’s kind of like reading all those sordid updates about Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s still-ongoing divorce: It makes you sad, but it’s just too good to look away. —Seija Rankin

The Cost of Living, by Deborah Levy

I missed this slim work of memoir from Levy despite being a fan of her fiction — especially her Booker-shortlisted novel Hot Milk from a few years ago. This is the second installment in her “working autobiography,” the first of which was even shorter. It’s supposedly a planned trilogy, so now’s the perfect time to get in on this fascinating literary experiment.

This isn’t the kind of memoir propelled by extraordinary circumstances or perseverance; it’s rooted in the mundane, one writer’s attempt to make sense of her life, peaks, valleys, and all. I wasn’t sure about it as I went on, but ended up reading both The Cost of Living and its predecessor, Things I Don’t Want to Know, back to back. The writing’s gorgeous and pointed, irresistible to dive into. But it’s the ideas that make this such a compelling, provocative page-turner.

What makes Levy a great writer of nonfiction is how observant she is. The book’s two main events, if we’re to call them that, are the death of her mother and the end of her marriage. The former leads to more esoteric musings on womanhood, the assignment and erasure of female names and spaces. The latter propels a moving story of relocation and rebirth, as Levy moves her two young daughters into a small apartment and ruminates on the subtle transformations of her day-to-day life.

If this sounds a little slight for your taste, I strongly recommend giving it a try anyway. Everything flows beautifully here: She describes the new apartment evocatively and crisply; her interactions with various women, familiar and new, inform a powerful and humane feminist argument; asides like a spontaneous electric-bike ride or the realization of an unbuttoned shirt are described playfully, with whimsy and care. And everything moves swiftly. This book is many things — edifying, emotional, delicate — but it is not indulgent. It’s so sharp and affecting and filled with wisdom that, just maybe, you’d be fine if it were. —David Canfield

French Exit, by Patrick deWitt

This is a particularly, ahem, rich moment in time for stories about the obscenely wealthy to start proliferating and booming in popularity — and indeed, here we are. It feels like all I’ve been hearing about this summer is the infectious decadence of Crazy Rich Asians, the Shakespearean sweep of Succession, the trashy resort hookups of Love Island. Not that I’m immune, of course: I didn’t wait long to see Crazy Rich Asians, and I devoured Succession over a few nights. (And, yes, adopted the show’s signature “F— off” as a catchall comeback.) Fantasy and tragedy alike, these glitzy tales are proving endlessly satisfying.

Perhaps my favorite piece in this summer of pop culture opulence? Patrick deWitt’s French Exit, which hit shelves last week. You may recognize the author’s name from The Sisters Brothers, a spin on the 19th-century western (which has been adapted into a film starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly, out Sept. 21). French Exit is, conversely, blisteringly contemporary, beginning on New York’s Upper East Side before traveling across the Atlantic by cruise ship, settling in Paris.

To be fair, this isn’t a novel about high-society East Coasters basking in their wealth; it’s a jagged satire about what happens to the one percent when all (well, most) of the money goes away. There are three main players in this story: Frances, the tart widow of a dastardly lawyer whose scandals leave her bankrupt (and her socialite life in tatters); Malcolm, her lazy, unmotivated son and housemate; and their cat, Small Frank, described in plain terms as an ugly old thing who Frances is convinced possesses the spirit of her late husband. After some wheeling and dealing with an estate liquidator, Frances comes away with a few hundred thousand in cash and grudgingly takes an old friend’s recommendation to relocate. She takes Malcolm and Small Frank but leaves behind Malcolm’s fiancée, Susan, for whom she doesn’t have much affection. (If only she knew the right time to order gazpacho.)

French Exit is built in layers like a cake, each to be enjoyed on a different frequency. The first act is probably my favorite, if only because it’s the most scathing. Frances emerges as an ingenious creation, Lucille Bluth by way of David Lynch; deWitt is so good and so funny as he simply traces Frances coming to terms with her limited cash flow, her life of extravagance slowly slipping away. The author gives her smarts and cunning and even a sneaky vulnerability, as she comes to rely on her son and reflects on her marriage — what she’s lost without it, and how much she ever really got from it. I could read her prowl around Manhattan demanding the finest while refusing to pay for it all day long. Her statements are curt, her insults withering. And Malcolm, through his rather pathetic interactions with Susan, provides dashes of pathos and profundity around them. “He was a pile of American garbage,” deWitt observes of him, via Susan. “And she feared she would love him forever.”

The cruise ship interlude dips into more surreal and meditative territory, as deWitt brings his characters into clearer focus. Then the book’s longer final act — Paris — manages simultaneously to turn more absurdist and empathetic. You feel the author’s affection for his characters catch up to him, willing them to happier, kinder endings than they likely deserve. I ate up every bit of nasty cynicism in this novel — indeed, preferred it — but the sappy shift didn’t bother me. It felt strangely cathartic, even, coming at the tail end of this particular summer. Who knew the most powerful, corrupt, and wealthy among us could break our hearts just the same? —David Canfield

The State of Affairs, by Esther Perel

It’s a beautifully privileged thing to have the time and luck to be constantly worried about the state of the world. To carry the sadness of others is to have enough mental space that isn’t used up by your own sadness (or maybe that’s just being a Pisces). But there I was, having just read Conversations With Friends and the upcoming Lake Success, which follows a slightly deranged hedge fund manager as an SEC investigation and his son’s recent autism diagnosis send him spiraling out of control. He leaves his family and takes off on a Greyhound to chase down his old college girlfriend, having himself a few, er, dalliances on the (very long) way to El Paso.

The combination of those two novels back to back had the effect of finding out that, say, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are divorcing (please never let that happen!). It’s not exactly uplifting, Valentine’s Day-card material. So where does a person turn when they need a book to renew their faith in a timeless institution? The venerable Esther Perel, of course.

Anyone who has ever watched a TED Talk or followed Gwyneth Paltrow will be familiar with the therapist’s unconventional approach to relationships (her most famous book is called Mating in Captivity, after all), and The State of Affairs is no different. It’s a provocative look at how our modern society has yet to adapt itself to fix our relationship problems, and yes, I really hope that Tom and Rita have read it — just to be safe.

It’s easy to get caught up in the flashy new novels that seemingly hit bookshelves by the dozen, so it feels like a refreshing change to dig into some highly researched nonfiction — and that we’re heading into back-to-school season is no coincidence here. Regardless of your relationship status, Perel has something to offer, and all the better to gird yourself for the inevitable next celebrity divorce. —Seija Rankin

August’s hottest books

Cherry: Nico Walker’s gritty, profane, and raw debut (written on a typewriter in prison) is drawn from his own experiences fighting in the Iraq war before falling into drug addiction and a life of crime. Read EW’s review.

Flights: This year’s surreal, transfixing winner of the International Man Booker Prize does not disappoint. Read EW’s review.

The Fall of Gondolin: Another “lost great tale” by J.R.R. Tolkien adds new dimension to Middle-earth, and much more. Read EW’s story on how the book came together, as well as our review.

The Third Hotel: The brilliant second novel by Laura van den Berg will haunt your dreams. It’s also one of the best books of the year so far. Read EW’s review.

Dopesick: Beth Macy’s sweeping reported look at the opioid epidemic illuminates an American tragedy. Read EW’s review.

Unhinged: No, the Omarosa memoir is not a book for the ages. Read EW’s review, as well as our guide to everyone the former White House aide calls out.

How Are You Going to Save Yourself: JM Holmes’ debut is a game-changing book on race and masculinity. Read EW’s review.

Pieces of Her: Karin Slaughter’s new standalone thriller is already in development as a TV series, and is another reminder of the author’s gift for suspense. Read EW’s interview with the author.